Opinion ID: 1805655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether the trial court erred by failing to grant appellant's motion to dismiss where the complaint was filed seventeen months after the time for filing suit had lapsed.

Text: ¶ 7. In their chief assignment of error, the State of Mississippi and Ishee assert that the Dampeers' suits are barred by the one-year statute of limitations. This action is governed by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. The Act is set out in full in Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1 et seq. (Supp. 1998). Section 11-46-11(3) reads as follows: (3) 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 ninety-five (95) days. The limitations period provided herein shall control and shall be exclusive in all actions subject to and brought under the provisions of this chapter, notwithstanding the nature of the claim, the label or other characterization the claimant may use to describe it, or the provisions of any other statute of limitations which would otherwise govern the type of claim or legal theory if it were not subject to or brought under the provisions of this chapter. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11 (Supp.1998). [1] ¶ 8. The Appellants correctly argue that section (3) of the governing statute laid out above demands that the complaint be filed within one year of the actionable conduct. The statute also provides that the limitation period be tolled for ninety-five days after the required notice of claim is filed with the chief executive officer of the governmental agency. Therefore, when the proper requirements of bringing a claim for injury against a governmental agency in the State of Mississippi are met, including the giving of the proper notice, the statute of limitations allows one year, plus ninety-five days in which to bring the claim. ¶ 9. In the instant case the accident occurred on June 12, 1994. The complaint was filed November 5, 1996, nearly two years and five months after the accident. This claim is barred by the applicable one-year statute of limitation. See Mississippi Dep't of Public Safety v. Stringer, No. 97-IA-00187-SCT, ___ So.2d ___, 1999 WL 353025 (Miss. June 3, 1999) (applying one-year Tort Claims Act statute of limitations to bar suit); Marcum v. Hancock County Sch. Dist., 741 So.2d 234 (Miss.1999). ¶ 10. We do not discuss whether the notice of claim substantially complied with the notice of claim provision under our recent authorities set forth in Reaves v. Randall, 729 So.2d 1237 (Miss.1998), and Carr v. Town of Shubuta, 733 So.2d 261 (Miss.1999). The Dampeers failed to timely file their complaints under any set of facts before us. The trial court erred in denying the motion to dismiss. We therefore reverse the judgment of the lower court and render judgment for the State of Mississippi and Robert Ishee and finally dismiss with prejudice the complaints filed herein. ¶ 11. REVERSED AND RENDERED. PRATHER, C.J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P.JJ., BANKS, McRAE, SMITH, WALLER AND COBB, JJ., CONCUR.