Opinion ID: 1532348
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The History of Local Governmental Immunity and the LGTCA

Text: To understand the purposes and constitutionality of the notice provision of the LGTCA and the good cause exception, we must examine the status of local governmental immunity from the initiation of a suit, up to, and including the enactment of the LGTCA. We had the opportunity to explicate the historical development of local governmental tort immunity in Housing Authority v. Bennett, 359 Md. 356, 754 A.2d 367 (2000). As we noted in that opinion, [u]ntil the twentieth century, local governments generally had no immunity under Maryland common law in either tort or contract actions. Id. at 358, 754 A.2d at 368. In the early twentieth century, however, we adopted a distinction that had been developed earlier in other jurisdictions, and held that local governments enjoyed immunity in certain types of tort actions based on activity categorized as `governmental' but had no immunity in tort actions based on activity categorized as `private' or `corporate' or `proprietary.' Id. at 359, 754 A.2d at 368; see also DiPino v. Davis, 354 Md. 18, 47, 729 A.2d 354, 369-70 (1999) (A local governmental entity is liable for its torts if the tortious conduct occurs while the entity is acting in a private or proprietary capacity, but, unless its immunity is legislatively waived, it is immune from liability for tortious conduct committed while the entity is acting in a governmental capacity.). We recognized that regardless of the capacity in which the local government was functioning, it possessed no immunity for certain types of torts, such as nuisance actions, see e.g., Board of Education of Prince George's County v. Mayor & Common Council of Town of Riverdale, 320 Md. 384, 389-90, 578 A.2d 207, 210 (1990); tort actions arising under the Maryland Constitution, see e.g., DiPino, 354 Md. at 50-51, 729 A.2d at 371; and tort liability for violations of federal constitutional or statutory rights, see e.g., Ashton v. Brown, 339 Md. 70, 110-113, 660 A.2d 447, 467-68 (1995). Prior to the LGTCA, the immunity of local governments afforded through the common law based on activities categorized as governmental, was waived under specific circumstances by enactments of the General Assembly. See e.g., Md.Code (1957, 1998 Repl.Vol., 2004 Cum.Supp.), Art. 44A (authorizing the creation of housing authorities and effecting a limited waiver of any governmental immunity). Also, prior to the enactment of the LGTCA, some county governments were empowered to waive any governmental immunity that they would otherwise be entitled to under the common law. See e.g., Bradshaw v. Prince George's County, 284 Md. 294, 297-99, 396 A.2d 255, 258-59 (1979), overruled on other grounds by James v. Prince George's County, 288 Md. 315, 418 A.2d 1173 (1980) (holding under former Md.Code (1957, 1998 Repl.Vol.), Art. 25A, § 5(S) that Prince George's County possessed the power to waive its governmental immunity through its county charter); Md.Code (1957, 1981 Repl.Vol., 1986 Cum.Supp.), Art 25A, § 5(CC) (repealed) (limiting waivers of governmental immunity to the greater of $250,000.00 or the amount of insurance coverage). [11] Thus, prior to the enactment of the LGTCA, local governments enjoyed immunity from tort liability only with respect to non-constitutional torts based on activity classified as governmental, and such immunity could be waived by the General Assembly or local enactments. This limitation on the immunity from tort action with respect to local governments remains applicable today under the LGTCA. In 1987, the General Assembly enacted Chapter 594 of the Acts of 1987, which repealed prior statutory provisions and replaced them with the LGTCA. 1987 Md. Laws, Chap. 594, § 1. [T]he purpose of the LGTCA is to `provide a remedy for those injured by local government officers and employees acting without malice and in the scope of employment.' Faulk v. Ewing, 371 Md. 284, 298, 808 A.2d 1262, 1272 (2002); Moore v. Norouzi, 371 Md. 154, 165, 807 A.2d 632, 639 (2002); Ashton, 339 Md. at 107-08, 660 A.2d at 465. The Act affords a remedy to those injured by acts of local government officers and employees, while ensuring that the financial burden of compensation is carried by the local government ultimately responsible for the public officials' acts. Ashton, 339 Md. at 108, 660 A.2d at 466. Sections 5-304(a) and (b) of the LGTCA provide that potential claimants must give notice of impending claims within 180 days of the injury, and that such notice be given to designated government officials or other representatives: (a) Notice required.  Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, an action for unliquidated damages may not be brought against a local government or its employees unless the notice of the claim required by this section is given within 180 days after the injury. (b) Manner of giving notice.  (1) Except in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Harford County, and Prince George's County, the notice shall be given in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, bearing a postmark from the United States Postal Service, by the claimant or the representative of the claimant, to the county commissioner, county council, or corporate authorities of a defendant local government, or: (I) In Baltimore City, to the City Solicitor; (ii) In Howard County, to the County Executive; and (iii) In Montgomery County, to the County Executive. (Emphasis added). Md.Code, § 5-304(a), (b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. The notice requirement of Sections 5-304(a) and (b) are intended to apprise a local government of its possible liability at a time when it could conduct its own investigation, i.e., while the evidence was still fresh and the recollection of the witnesses was undiminished by time, `sufficient to ascertain the character and extent of the injury and its responsibility in connection with it.' Faulk, 371 Md. at 298-99, 808 A.2d at 1272, quoting Williams v. Maynard, 359 Md. 379, 389-90, 754 A.2d 379, 385 (2000), quoting in turn Jackson v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 233 Md. 164, 167, 195 A.2d 693, 695 (1963). We have expressly held that the LGTCA notice requirements are a condition precedent to maintaining an action against a local government or its employees to the extent otherwise not entitled to immunity under the LGTCA. Faulk, 371 Md. at 304, 808 A.2d at 1276; Grubbs v. Prince George's County, 267 Md. 318, 320-21, 297 A.2d 754, 755-56 (1972) (stating we have regarded it [the predecessor statute to the LGTCA, Md.Code (1957, 1972 Repl.Vol.), Art. 57, § 18] as a condition precedent to the right to maintain an action for damages); see also Neuenschwander v. Washington Suburban Sanitary Comm'n, 187 Md. 67, 77, 48 A.2d 593, 599 (1946) (stating that the notice is a condition precedent to the right to maintain the suit), overruled on other grounds by statute as stated in Arnold v. Prince George's County, 270 Md. 285, 311 A.2d 223 (1973); Leppo v. State Highway Admin., 330 Md. 416, 423, 624 A.2d 539, 542 (1993) (interpreting a statutory notice requirement in the Maryland Tort Claims Act to be a condition precedent to institution of a third-party action against the State); Redfern v. Holtite Mfg. Co., 209 Md. 106, 111-12, 120 A.2d 370, 372-73 (1956) (finding that statutory notice was a condition precedent to applying for payment for deaths pursuant to the Workmen's Compensation Act). We have previously defined a condition precedent as a condition attached to the right to sue at all. Waddell v. Kirkpatrick, 331 Md. 52, 59, 626 A.2d 353, 356 (1993). It operates as a limitation of the liability itself as created, and not of the remedy alone. Id., quoting State v. Parks, 148 Md. 477, 480, 129 A. 793, 794 (1925). The liability and the remedy are created by the same statutes, and the limitations of the remedy are, therefore, to be treated as limitations of the right. Id. Conversely, a statute of limitations affects only the remedy, not the cause of action. Id. A condition precedent cannot be waived under the common law and a failure to satisfy it can be raised at any time because the action itself is fatally flawed if the condition is not satisfied. This requirement of strict or substantial compliance with a condition precedent is of course subject to abrogation by the General Assembly, see, e.g., State v. Manck, 385 Md. 581, 870 A.2d 196 (2005) (recognizing the legislature's ability to enact statutes that abrogate the common law); Davis v. Slater, 383 Md. 599, 615-16, 861 A.2d 78, 87-88 (2004) (same); State v. Green, 367 Md. 61, 76-77, 785 A.2d 1275, 1283-84 (2001) (same), which it has done through the creation of the good cause exception to the LGTCA.