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Butler v. Dawson County5/20/1999
In the Court of Appeals of Georgia
P-033
Jason John Butler sued Dawson County and Angela Alexander for injuries he received in an automobile collision. The County filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Butler's suit against it was barred by sovereign immunity. The superior court granted the motion to dismiss the county and Butler appeals. For the following reasons, we conclude that the superior court correctly determined that the county was immune from suit and affirm.
The complaint alleged that on February 1, 1996, Alexander, who was intoxicated, negligently drove into Butler's lane of travel and caused the collision. The complaint claimed that Alexander should not have been driving at the time of the accident because she had been serving a sentence for revocation of probation for DUI. The complaint stated that despite the Dawson County jail officials' knowledge of Alexander's motor vehicle violations, and despite the fact that Alexander had no driver's license, the officials permitted Alexander to leave the jail to drive herself to a doctor's appointment.The complaint alleged that the county was insured and that, accordingly, the county had waived immunity to the extent of its coverage. The complaint stated that the county should have detained Alexander and that by and through Alexander had caused the accident. The complaint did not allege that the vehicle which Alexander was driving at the time of the collision was the county's.
Dawson County filed a motion to dismiss. In its order granting the motion , the superior court found that the vehicle Alexander was driving in the collision was her personal car. The court found that Alexander had been released from custody before the accident and that, accordingly, she had not been acting under the control or direction of the county at the time of the accident. The court rejected Butler's argument that the county had abdicated its responsibility to provide Alexander medical treatment, as required under OCGA § 42-5-2. The court noted that there were no allegations that Alexander was required to report back to the jail, nor were there allegations that anyone would follow up on her activities once she was released. The court concluded that once Alexander was released from the supervision of the jail officials, the county was not liable for her actions and that there was no waiver of the county's sovereign immunity under OCGA § 33-24-51 (a).
Pursuant to the 1991 amendment to the Georgia Constitution, "sovereign immunity extends to the state and all of its departments and agencies." Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX (e). This immunity also extends to counties. See Gilbert v. Richardson, 264 Ga. 744, 747 (2) (452 SE2d 476) (1994). "The sovereign immunity of the state and its departments and agencies can only be waived by an Act of the General Assembly which specifically provides that sovereign immunity is thereby waived and the extent of such waiver." Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (e). Furthermore, OCGA § 36-1-4 provides that a county is not liable to suit for any cause of action unless made so by statute.
Butler argues that because Dawson County had purchased automobile liability insurance, OCGA § 33-24-51 provides a waiver of sovereign immunity in this case. Butler contends that, as the opponent of the county's motion to dismiss, the pleadings should be construed broadly and in his favor, and that this construction precludes dismissal.
"We recognize the strict standard for granting a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim: such a motion should be granted only where a complaint shows with certainty that the plaintiff would not be entitled to reli
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