Case Name: Bobbie P. MARSHALL, individually and as next friend of Jeremy Ray Marshall, Andrew Thomas Marshall, Brandon Matthew Marshall and Kristen Renae Marshall, Minors, Appellant, v. WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS and Beth Britt, Individually, Appellees
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2002-12-03
Citations: 831 So. 2d 1211
Docket Number: No. 2001-CA-01138-COA
Parties: Bobbie P. MARSHALL, individually and as next friend of Jeremy Ray Marshall, Andrew Thomas Marshall, Brandon Matthew Marshall and Kristen Renae Marshall, Minors, Appellant, v. WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS and Beth Britt, Individually, Appellees.
Judges: Before KING, P.J., IRVING, CHANDLER, and BRANTLEY, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 831
Pages: 1211–1216

Head Matter:
Bobbie P. MARSHALL, individually and as next friend of Jeremy Ray Marshall, Andrew Thomas Marshall, Brandon Matthew Marshall and Kristen Renae Marshall, Minors, Appellant, v. WARREN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS and Beth Britt, Individually, Appellees.
No. 2001-CA-01138-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Dec. 3, 2002.
Nancy Guy Armstrong, McComb, Marcie Tanner Southerland, Vicksburg, attorneys for appellant.
R.E. Parker, Jr., Clifford C. Whitney, Vicksburg, attorneys for appellees.
Before KING, P.J., IRVING, CHANDLER, and BRANTLEY, JJ.

Opinion:
CHANDLER, J.,
for the court.
¶ 1. The Warren County Circuit Court dismissed as time-barred Bonnie Marshall's action against the Warren County Board of Supervisors, which was brought under the Mississippi State Tort Claims Act. See Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1 through 11-46-23 (Supp.2001). Bonnie Marshall appeals, asserting that the circuit court erred in finding that the complaint was time-barred. We find that Marshall's action is time-barred.
FACTS
¶2. Bonnie Marshall's husband, Gerald, had a history of being hospitalized for depression. In July of 1999, he began to exhibit violent behavior. On July 31,1999, Gerald's mother, JoAnn Dornbush, went to the Warren County Chancery Clerk's office and filed an affidavit for his civil commitment. The Warren County Sheriffs Office took Gerald Martin into custody. However, an official with the chancery clerk's office told Dornbush that Gerald Martin's problems were related to drugs and alcohol, and the sheriffs office refused to hold him. He was released without any provision for his medical or psychological needs. One day later, he took an overdose of prescription medication and died several days later.
¶3. At some point in time, Marshall obtained legal counsel, and on March 1, 2000, counsel gave notice to Warren County of an asserted wrongful death claim. Warren County received this notice on March 6, 2000. It appears from the record that at some uncertain point in time, Marshall and her original counsel ended their agreement for representation, because on November 2, 2000, Marshall filed the present claim pro se. The record shows no subsequent appearance or filing by the original counsel. However, Marshall did obtain substitute counsel, who filed an amended complaint on February 9, 2001, and represents Marshall in her appeal.
ANALYSIS
¶4. There is no factual question before this Court. The circuit court found that the action arose on July 31, 1999. Warren County received notice of her claim on March 6, 2000. The action was filed on November 2, 2000. Neither party contests these facts. Rather, the determinative issue is the application of a statute of limitations of Mississippi State Tort Claims Act. An appellate court grants a de novo standard of review to the statutory interpretation of a circuit court. Roberts v. New Albany Separate Sch. Dist., 813 So.2d 729(¶ 4) (Miss.2002). The construction given to the 1999 amendment of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 11-46-11 (Supp.2001) is determinative in this case.
¶5. There is no controversy that the current notice and tolling provisions apply to this case. However, the previous version of the statute affected the circuit court's reasoning in its construction of the current version. All versions of the statute require that Mississippi State Tort Claims Act claims be brought within one year of when the cause of action arose. But, the pre-1999 version differs from the post-1999 versions on the determinative issue in this case: when and for how long the one-year statute of limitations is tolled when a plaintiff gives a governmental entity notice of a pending claim prior to filing an action based on that claim. Prior to the 1999 amendments, filing the notice tolled the statute of limitations for ninety-five days, and generally resulted in an action being timely filed so long as the required notice was given, and the action was filed no later than one year and ninety-five days after it arose. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11 (Supp.1998). See also State of Mississippi v. Dampeer, 744 So.2d 754(¶ 8) (Miss.1999). The amended statute, however, provides:
All actions brought under the provisions of this chapter shall be commenced within one (1) year next after the date of the tortious, wrongful or otherwise actionable conduct on which the liability phase of the action is based, and not after; provided, however, that the filing of a notice of claim as required by subsection (1) of this section shall serve to toll the statute of limitations for a period of . one hundred twenty (120) days from the date the . county . receives the notice of claim, during which time no action may be maintained by the claimant unless the claimant has received a notice of denial of claim. After the tolling period has expired, the claimant shall then have an additional ninety (90) days to file any action against the gov ernmental entity served with proper claim notice.
2002 Miss. Laws CL 380 (S.B. 3052).
¶ 6. In applying this statutory provision, the circuit court reasoned that the cause of action arose on July 31, 1999. The chancery clerk received notice of the claim on March 6, 2000, but Warren County chose not to respond to the claim. Consequently, the 120-day tolling period commenced on March 6, 2000, and ended on July 4, 2000, which was 120 days from the date on which the chancery clerk received the notice. The circuit court then reasoned that following July 4, 2000, Marshall had an additional ninety days in which to file her claim, and that the claim was time-barred after October 2, 2000.
¶ 7. Our supreme court construed the statutory amendment in Roberts v. New Albany Separate School District, 813 So.2d 729 (Miss.2002). The court found that Roberts' cause of action arose on August 8, 1998, and on August 3, 1999, she gave the required notice, which tolled the one-year statute of limitations for a full 120 days, after which she received the full benefit of the additional ninety day period in which to file her suit. Id. at (¶ 7). In the present case, the circuit court's reasoning has the effect of shortening the statute of limitations to less than one.year. As the Court found in Roberts, there is nothing to indicate that the Legislature intended to shorten the time frame for filing suit which was provided in the previous version of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 11-46-11 (Supp.2001). See Roberts, 813 So.2d at (¶ 5). Therefore, we find that the circuit court failed to correctly interpret the statutory amendment at issue.
¶ 8. However, the facts presented in Roberts are different from those of the present case. In Roberts, the plaintiff gave notice of her claim some five days before the one-year statute of limitations expired. Id. at (¶ 3). Therefore, the court found that when calculating the time of the tolling provision, she received the benefit of "the full measure of the 120 day period." Id. at (¶ 7). In this case, Marshall filed her notice of claim nearly four months prior to the expiration of the one year statute of limitations. Consequently, the 120-day tolling period expired during the one year time period. Keeping in mind that in amending Mississippi Code Annotated Section 11-46-11 (Supp.1998), the Legislature did not shorten the one year statute of limitations, we hold that the amended statute, 2002 Miss. Laws Chapter 380 (Senate Bill 3052), requires that a plaintiff receive, at a minimum, ninety days to file his action following the running of the one year statute of limitations.
¶ 9. Marshall did not file her action until ninety-four days after the one year statute of limitations had run. The amendment to the statute requires, "[a]fter the tolling period has expired, the claimant shall then have an additional ninety (90) days to file any action against the governmental entity served with proper claim notice." 2002 Miss. Laws Ch. 380 (S.B.3052). Giving the statute plain meaning, we must find that Marshall's action is time-barred.
¶10. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WARREN COUNTY IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO THE APPELLANT.
KING, P.J., BRIDGES, IRVING, MYERS AND BRANTLEY, JJ., CONCUR. SOUTHWICK, P.J., CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY McMILLIN, C.J., THOMAS AND LEE, JJ.
. This statute was amended yet again in 2002. 2002 Miss. Laws Ch. 380 (S.B. 3052). This amendment, however, made no alteration to the notice and tolling provisions at issue in this case, but deals with cases brought concerning people under legal disabilities.