Opinion ID: 1866884
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Statutory Limitation of Liability.

Text: In considering the issues presented, we are concerned not only with the language of the statute as it existed at the time of the death of plaintiff's decedent, but also with how the statute read prior to the enactment of a 1989 amendment thereto. In order to show the statutory language both before and after the 1989 amendment, we set forth the amendment as contained in the session laws. Words added by the 1989 amendment are underlined, and words deleted are indicated by strikeover. Sec. 34. Section 321G.22, Code 1989, is amended to read as follows: 321G.22 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY BY PUBLIC BODIES AND ADJOINING OWNERS. The state, its political subdivisions, and the owners or tenants of property adjoining public lands or the right of way of a public highway and their agents and employees owe no duty of care to keep the public lands, ditches, or land contiguous to a highway or roadway under the control of the state or a political subdivision safe for entry or use by persons operating a an all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile, or to give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity on such the premises to persons entering for such purposes, except in the case of willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity. The state, its political subdivisions, and the owners or tenants of property adjoining public lands or the right of ways of a public highway, and their agents and employees are not liable for actions taken to allow or facilitate the use of public lands, ditches, or land contiguous to a highway or roadway except in the case of a willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity. This section does not create a duty of care or ground of liability on behalf of the state, its political subdivisions, or the owners or tenants of property adjoining public lands or the right of way of a public highway and their agents and employees for injury to persons or property in the operation of all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles in a ditch or on land contiguous to a highway or roadway under the control of the state or a political subdivision. The state, its political subdivisions, and the owners or tenants of property adjoining public lands or the right of way of a public highway and their agents and employees are not liable for the operation of a an all-terrain vehicle or snowmobile in violation of this chapter. 1989 Iowa Acts ch. 244, § 34. The first sentence of the amended act serves to negate any duty of the State to keep certain lands safe for entry or use by persons operating a snowmobile. The second sentence of the act serves to negate any legal liability of the State for action to allow or facilitate use of certain lands. The issue in the present dispute requires us to determine on what lands this negation of duty and negation of legal liability was intended to exist. The personal representative contends that the words contiguous to a highway or roadway modify all of the preceding words in the series, i.e., public lands, ditches, or land. Much of the argument of the parties involves a grammatical interpretation of the disputed language. The State urges that, because the words contiguous to a highway or roadway are separated from the preceding series of words by a comma and the word or, and is not followed by a comma, the modifying language only refers to the last preceding antecedent. That rule of statutory interpretation was applied in Iowa Comprehensive Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Fund Board v. Shell Oil Co., 606 N.W.2d 376, 380 (Iowa 2000). In resolving the present dispute, we need not rely on a literal or grammatical interpretation of the statute in order to discover the legislature's intent in enacting the 1989 amendment. In interpreting a statute, we may consider the previous state of the law, circumstances surrounding the statute's enactment, and the text both before and after the amendment. City of Waukee v. City Dev. Bd., 514 N.W.2d 83, 87 (Iowa 1994); City of Des Moines v. PERB, 275 N.W.2d 753, 760 (Iowa 1979). We examine amendments with an eye toward determining the legislative design which motivated the change. Jenney v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 456 N.W.2d 921, 923 (Iowa 1990). Our reading of the statute as it existed prior to the 1989 amendment leads to the conclusion that the words land contiguous to a highway or roadway in both the first and second sentences included both private and public lands. Consequently, the State enjoyed a negation of duty and negation of legal liability for snowmobile activities on public lands contiguous to a highway or roadway under the law as it previously existed. In interpreting statutes, we strive to give meaning to statutory changes the legislature has enacted. State v. Spoonemore, 598 N.W.2d 311, 312 (Iowa 1999). When an amendment to a statute adds or deletes words, a change in the law will be presumed unless the remaining language amounts to the same thing. Id.; State v. Phelps, 417 N.W.2d 460, 462 (Iowa 1988). When interpreting amendments, we will assume that the amendment sought to accomplish some purpose and was not a futile exercise. Hanover Ins. Co. v. Alamo Motel, 264 N.W.2d 774, 778 (Iowa 1978); State v. One Certain Conveyance, 211 N.W.2d 297, 299 (Iowa 1973). If we were to adopt the interpretation proposed by the personal representative, the 1989 amendment adding the words public lands would have served no purpose. We are convinced that this was not the intention of the legislature. We are instead convinced that it was the intention of the legislature in adding the words public lands to the first and second sentences of the statute in the 1989 amendment that the negation of duty and the negation of legal liability that is extended apply to all public lands wherever situated.