Opinion ID: 2364737
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public Entity Status as a Threshold

Text: The first analytical step in our sovereign immunity cases has often been determining whether the defendant was a public entity under section 537.600, RSMo Supp.1991. See, e.g., Stacy v. Truman Medical Center, 836 S.W.2d 911 (Mo. banc 1992) (discussing certain factors for determining status of hybrid entities). In some cases this is a difficult determination because there are a number of hybrid entities that are not easily classified as public or private. In this case, however, we need not spend much effort. The City of North Kansas City would have been entitled to sovereign immunity prior to September 12, 1977, and is a public entity within the meaning of section 537.600. Thus, the City is entitled to the sovereign immunity afforded by the statute and the common law.