Opinion ID: 2831495
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Origin and Purpose of Sovereign Immunity

Text: Once again we are presented with questions about the parameters of sovereign immunity, the well-established doctrine “that ‘no state can be sued in her own courts without her consent, and then only in the manner indicated by that consent.’” Tooke v. City of Mexia, 197 S.W.3d 325, 331 (Tex. 2006) (quoting Hosner v. DeYoung, 1 Tex. 764, 769 (1847)). While sovereign immunity developed 3 The Tort Claims Act defines “employee” as “a person, including an officer or agent, who is in the paid service of a governmental unit by competent authority, but does not include an independent contractor, an agent or employee of an independent contractor, or a person who performs tasks the details of which the governmental unit does not have the legal right to control.” T EX . C IV . P RAC . & R EM . C O D E § 101.001(2). 4 as a common-law doctrine, we “have consistently deferred to the Legislature to waive such immunity.” Reata Constr. Corp. v. City of Dall., 197 S.W.3d 371, 375 (Tex. 2006) (emphasis omitted). Referred to as governmental immunity when applied to the state’s political subdivisions,4 Travis Cent. Appraisal Dist. v. Norman, 342 S.W.3d 54, 57–58 (Tex. 2011), sovereign immunity encompasses both immunity from suit and immunity from liability, Reata Constr. Corp., 197 S.W.3d at 374. Immunity from liability is an affirmative defense that bars enforcement of a judgment against a governmental entity, while immunity from suit bars suit against the entity altogether and may be raised in a plea to the jurisdiction. State v. Lueck, 290 S.W.3d 876, 880 (Tex. 2009); Wichita Falls State Hosp. v. Taylor, 106 S.W.3d 692, 696 (Tex. 2003). Although the doctrine’s origins lie in the antiquated “feudal fiction that ‘the King can do no wrong,’” modern-day justifications revolve around protecting the public treasury. Taylor, 106 S.W.3d at 695. At its core, the doctrine “protects the State [and its political subdivisions] from lawsuits for money damages” and other forms of relief, and leaves to the Legislature the determination of when to allow tax resources to be shifted “away from their intended purposes toward defending lawsuits and paying judgments.” Tex. Natural Res. Conservation Comm’n v. IT-Davy, 74 S.W.3d 849, 853–54 (Tex. 2002) (plurality op.); see also Tex. Dep’t of Transp. v. Sefzik,