Opinion ID: 1202759
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Heading: claims based on the oklahoma constitution

Text: The parents assert that the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act violates Art. II, § 6 of the Oklahoma Constitution which is as follows: The courts of justice of the State shall be open to every person, and speedy and certain remedy afforded for every wrong and for every injury to person, property, or reputation; and right and justice shall be administered without sale, denial, delay, or prejudice. We have held that the doctrine of sovereign immunity does not violate Art. II, § 6 of the Oklahoma Constitution. Neal v. Donahue, 611 P.2d 1125, 1128-1129 (Okl. 1980). Griggs v. State ex rel. Oklahoma Department of Transportation, 702 P.2d 1017, 1019 (Okl. 1985). The parents urge that the Tort Claims Act violates Art. 23, § 7 of the Oklahoma Constitution. That provision of the Oklahoma Constitution in effect at the time of the injuries sustained by the children was as follows: The right of action to recover damages for injuries resulting in death shall never be abrogated, and the amount recoverable shall not be subject to any statutory limitation, provided however, that the Legislature may provide an amount of compensation under the Workmen's Compensation Law for death resulting from injuries suffered in employment covered by such law, in which case the compensation so provided shall be exclusive. The doctrine of sovereign immunity was a well established principle of common law at the time the Oklahoma Constitution was created. In Neal v. Donahue, supra at 1129, we stated that the doctrine of sovereign immunity was a well established principle of common law when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted. However, wrongful death actions were unknown at common law. Wrongful death actions were unknown at common law, and any right of action surviving the decedent exists by virtue of statutory enactment. Thomas v. Cumberland Operating Co., 569 P.2d 974, 976 (Okl. 1977). When the Oklahoma Constitution was adopted the right of action to recover damages for wrongful death of a person was granted by Okl. Statutes 1893, §§ 4313 and 4314. See also, Compiled Statutes 1909, § 945, Revised Statutes 1910, § 5281; F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Todd, 204 Okl. 532, 231 P.2d 681 (1951). The constitution, Schedule Sec. 2, proposed to extend and continue in force all of the laws in force in the Territory of Oklahoma at the time of the admission of the state into the Union which were not repugnant to the constitution and not locally inapplicable. That, of course, included Section 4313, Oklahoma Statutes 1893. That was one legislative act which the framers of the constitution desired to keep intact, and to that end they included Section 7, Article 23 in the constitution. The intent and effect of that provision is that so long as the provisions of Sec. 7, Article 23, of the constitution remain as a part of the constitution, the legislature, or the people by initiative petition, may not withdraw, take away, annul, or repeal the provisions of said Section 4313, Oklahoma statutes of 1893. F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Todd, supra, 231 P.2d at 684. Article 23, § 7 creates no cause of action for the wrongful death of a person. Roberts v. Merrill, 386 P.2d 780, 786 (Okl. 1963). The purpose of Art. 23, § 7 was to embody into the fundamental law, the constitution, the statutory right of action for wrongful death. Roberts v. Merrill, supra; F.W. Woolworth Co. v. Todd, supra. School districts, as a part of the sovereignty of Oklahoma, were entitled to sovereign immunity when Art. 23, § 7 was adopted.  James v. Trustees, 18 Okl. 56, 90 P. 100, 13 L.R.A. (N.S.) 1219, 11 Ann.Cas. 938 [1907], holds that school districts are but auxiliary parts of the sovereignty, and the court declares it to be the law in Oklahoma that, in the absence of express statute imposing liability for negligence, there is no liability in a civil action for damages for neglect of public duty. Consolidated School District No. 1 v. Wright, 128 Okl. 193, 261 P. 953, 958 (1927). Oklahoma Statutes 1893, §§ 4313 and 4314, did not provide for wrongful death actions against the sovereign. [1] Cf. Hammons v. Muskogee Medical Center Authority, 697 P.2d 539 (Okl. 1985) (Provisions of Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act control, if applicable, as opposed to statute which governed wrongful death actions). Sovereign immunity was not abrogated by the wrongful death statutes in effect when Art. 23, § 7 was adopted. However, the parents' claim may be characterized as a wrongful death cause of action based on an allegedly proprietary function of the political subdivision. The parents assert that such cause of action existed prior to the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act and is protected by Art. 23, § 7, from any statutory limit on recovery. We find that the parents' assertion cannot prevail, however, because the maintenance of a public school water heater is a governmental function. Our Constitution requires the Legislature to establish and maintain a system of public schools. Okla. Const. Art. XIII, § 1. To fulfill this mandate the Legislature has provided a system of schools for the benefit of the entire state and its citizen. The Legislature has delegated powers to the Board of Education of each school district to execute the responsibilities of this system. 70 O.S. 1981 § 5-117. Section 5-117 gives the Board of Education the power to provide and operate cafeterias or other eating accommodations. The Board of Education also has the power to operate and maintain ... schoolhouses and school buildings... . 70 O.S. 1981 § 5-117. In holding that the transportation of pupils to and from the public schools was a purely governmental function, we set forth the following test: The criterion should be whether or not the acts done are essential and necessary, and are intended for the purpose of carrying into effect the comprehensive educational program contemplated by the Constitution and statutes of this state, and, if so, the performance of those tasks is a governmental function, and not a private enterprise. Consolidated School District No. 1 v. Wright. 128 Okl. 193, 261 P. 953, 955 (1927). The maintenance of a hot water heater is essential to the operation of any public school building in Oklahoma. Maintenance of school facilities is essential to carrying into effect the comprehensive educational program. Thus, maintenance of a hot water heater in a public school building is a purely governmental function. The Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act does not conflict with Art. 23, § 7 of the Oklahoma Constitution in the case before us.