Title: Board of County Commissioners v. Lewis
Citation: 203 Kan. 188, 453 P.2d 46
Docket Number: 45,305
State: Kansas
Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court
Date: April 12, 1969

203 Kan. 188 (1969)
453 P.2d 46
THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE COUNTY OF SEDGWICK, STATE OF KANSAS, Appellant,
v.
PAUL C. LEWIS, MARK E. LEWIS, CHARLES F. LEWIS, TED C. LEWIS, PAUL K. LEWIS, WILLIAM LEWIS, and DON E. LEWIS, a Co-Partnership Doing Business Under the Firm Name and Style of Lewis Brothers Hardware and Lesco Supply Company, Appellees.
No. 45,305

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed April 12, 1969.
Kenneth F. Beck, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Ernest McRae, of Wichita, was with him on the brief for appellant.
William C. Farmer, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Paul V. Smith, Douglas E. Shay, Leo R. Wetta, James R. Schaefer, Thomas A. Wood, and Larry L. Witherspoon, of Wichita, were with him on the brief for appellees.
Kent Frizzell, Attorney General, J. Richard Roth and Gary L. Rohrer, Assistant Attorneys General, were on the Amicus Curiae brief for the State of Kansas, in support of the appellant.
Philip E. Buzick, of Cosgrove, Webb &amp; Oman, and Harry W. Colmery, of Colmery, Davis, Bennett, Leonard &amp; McClure, of Topeka, and 30 other named attorneys were on the Amicus Curiae brief of American Oil Company, American Petrofina Co. of Texas, Apco Oil Corporation, Colorado Oil and Gas Corporation, Farmland Industries, Inc., Phillips Petroleum Company, Skelly Oil Company, Mobil Oil Corporation, Union Asphalts and Road Oils, Inc., and Wilshire Oil Company of Texas, in support of the appellees.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
FATZER, J.:
This action was brought pursuant to K.S.A. 19-232 to recover from the appellees overcharges and penalties for materials and supplies purchased from them by the appellant, the Board of County Commissioners of Sedgwick County. The record discloses the materials purchased were for use by the county in the maintenance of its roads and bridges, and for fire control equipment.
The overcharges occurred in the years 1961 and 1962. No demand was made until April 15, 1965, and suit was filed May 21, 1965. The district court granted summary judgment upon appellees' motion for the reason the provisions of K.S.A. 60-514 (3) were applicable to the factual situation in the case, and the action was barred by the statute of limitations.
Application of the general statutes of limitations to the state, its political subdivisions and agencies is the subject of specific legislation in K.S.A. 60-521, which reads:
The provisions of K.S.A. 60-514 (3) found applicable by the district court, read:
Did the district court err in holding the appellant's cause of action was barred by K.S.A. 60-514 (3), or to put it another way, did the cause of action arise out of the performance of any proprietary function or activity within the meaning of 60-521?
The law as it relates to the application of the general statutes of limitations on actions brought by the state, its agencies or subdivisions has been stated many times. The early case of State v. School District, 34 Kan. 237, 8 Pac. 208, was an action against the school district to recover on school district bonds and accompanying coupons, and it was held:
As indicated, the case states the rule applicable in this jurisdiction that the statutes of limitations will not run against the state or the sovereign authority unless the statute itself expressly so provides. In the instant case, the statute (19-232) under which the action is brought, makes no reference to the applicability of the general statutes of limitations, nor does it state implicitly or by reference or by implication that any limitation statute shall apply. The statute reads:
*191 In Osawatomie v. Miami County, 78 Kan. 270, 96 Pac. 670, the city commenced an action against the county to recover certain taxes. The county had retained and diverted part of the taxes levied by the city to its own treasury. It was held:
The opinion reaffirmed the rule set forth in State v. School District, supra, but made it applicable not only to the state but to political subdivisions such as counties, with respect to any litigation to enforce governmental rights. See Smith v. Higgins, 149 Kan. 477, 87 P.2d 544.
In Thomas v. Ellis County, 91 Kan. 443, 138 Pac. 409, it was held:
In this state each organized county is a body corporate and politic (K.S.A. 19-101) and is created for the purpose of convenient local government and exists only for public purposes connected with the administration of state government. A county is merely part of the governmental machinery employed in carrying on the affairs of the state and has no power except such as is given it for public purpose by the Legislature, except as it may be restricted by the state Constitution. (Harling v. Wyandotte County Comm'rs, 110 Kan. 542, 204 Pac. 763; Osborne County v. City of Osborne, 104 Kan. 671, 673, 180 Pac. 233.)
In Jackson County v. Kaul, 77 Kan. 715, 96 Pac. 45, it was said:
*192 A county is a quasi-corporation and not a corporation as is a city. The distinction was pointed out and commented upon by Mr. Justice Brewer in Beach v. Leahy, 11 Kan. 23, and that distinction has subsequently been referred to and affirmed. (State, ex rel., v. Comm's of Pawnee County, 12 Kan. 426, 439; Eikenberry v. Township of Bazaar, 22 Kan. * 255, * 258, 31 Am. Rep. 198; County of Marion v. Riggs, 24 Kan. * 255, * 258; Pfefferle v. Comm'rs of Lyon Co., 39 Kan. 432, 436, 18 Pac. 506; State, ex rel., v. Wyandotte County Comm'rs, 140 Kan. 744, 748, 39 P.2d 286.)
In Smith v. Higgins, supra, it was said:
Moreover, the political and governmental functions and activities of organized counties do not partake at all of a private character. In exercising the powers conferred by the Legislature, counties are not engaged in the performance of a business transaction, nor do they act for the purpose of increasing the wealth of the county as a body corporate, nor do they provide any proprietary service to their inhabitants. (Pfefferle v. Comm'rs of Lyon Co., supra, p. 436.) In short, a county is not a corporate entity in the sense of being a business corporation for private purposes or for pecuniary gain or profit. In Silver v. Clay County, 76 Kan. 228, 91 Pac. 55, it was held:
That rule has been stated and affirmed in Gray v. Sedgwick County, 101 Kan. 195, 165 Pac. 867; State Highway Comm. v. Puskarich, 148 Kan. 388, 391, 83 P.2d 132, and Caywood v. Board of County Commissioners, 194 Kan. 419, 421, 399 P.2d 561.
The Caywood case presented the question whether Sedgwick County was immune from liability for its alleged negligence in the operation of a recreational area it established and maintained. In the opinion it was stated:
This court held that the county was not liable for damages for negligence unless liability was expressly imposed by statute, because the county like the state partakes of the state's immunity.
The recent case of McCoy v. Board of Regents, 196 Kan. 506, 413 P.2d 73, involved an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by the plaintiff while a patient in the University of Kansas Medical Center, and it was held:
In the opinion it was said:
It is apparent that the Caywood and the McCoy cases complement a long line of decisions establishing the general proposition that counties are mere administrative extensions of the state itself, and are not "municipal corporations" in the same sense as are the cities, which are given far greater powers and are endowed with *194 much larger measurers of corporate life. It follows that counties, being agencies of the state, partake of attributes of the state itself insofar as the application of the doctrine of sovereign immunity, the statute of limitations, and particularly the lack of ability to engage in proprietary functions and activities. See Jackson County v. Kaul, supra; Thomas v. Ellis County, supra; Harling v. Wyandotte County Comm'rs, supra, and State, ex rel., v. Wyandotte County Comm'rs, supra.
Applying the foregoing legal principles, it follows that 60-521 does not apply, nor was it intended to apply, to actions brought by the state or its subordinate political subdivisions such as counties, to enforce governmental rights. In the instant case, the county was not engaged in a proprietary function or activity  in fact and in law it could not engage in such a function or activity since there does not exist such a thing as a proprietary function at the state or county level.
The conclusion just announced decides this case. However, we note the materials and supplies purchased by the county in the instant case were for use in the road and bridge department and for fire control equipment. In Ahrend v. City of Kansas City, 173 Kan. 26, 243 P.2d 1031, the court held that a city purchasing cement for the repair of its streets was acting in its governmental capacity and not in its proprietary capacity. In the opinion it was said:
Assuming, arguendo, that the governmental-proprietary distinction did exist in county functions and activities, the result would be the same. In building and maintaining public roads and bridges and in preventing fires in its yards and buildings, a county performs those functions as a subdivision of the state in its governmental capacity and the purchase of materials to be used for those purposes is a governmental function.
*195 We hold that K.S.A. 60-521 has no application to the instant case. The authorities establish beyond question that the governmental-proprietary distinction does not apply to the state or to counties; and, further, it is a settled rule in this state that the purchasing of materials to be used in a governmental capacity is itself a governmental function.
It follows the district court erred in holding the cause of action was barred by 60-514 (3) and in granting the appellees summary judgment.
The judgment of the district court is reversed, and the cause is remanded to proceed to trial on the merits.