Opinion ID: 2546361
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Governmental Claim

Text: [¶ 11] The claim presented by the landowners to the county sought compensation for loss of use of the property, devaluation of the property as a result of restrictions placed upon its use, and damages incurred in obtaining allegedly unnecessary and illegal permits. These allegations were characterized in the claim as resulting in inverse condemnation, an unconstitutional taking, and deprivation of due process of law. In the prayer for relief in their complaint, the landowners sought compensation for these three causes of action, and for arbitrary and capricious conduct in adopting and implementing the Plan. [¶ 12] The county contended in the district court that the landowners' causes of action were time-barred because their claim for compensation had not been presented within the two-year limitation period of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-113(a). [1] In its decision letter, the district court ruled that inverse condemnation actions are governed by the WGCA, and further ruled that, inasmuch as the landowners' takings and due process claims were analogous to their inverse condemnation claim, to the extent one cause of action may be time-barred, this Court believes the others would [be] as well. The district court went on to rule, however, this Court need not determine whether [the landowners'] claims are time-barred, because this Court determines that there has been no temporary taking (or inverse condemnation) herein. [¶ 13] The landowners' appellate brief contains a concession that inverse condemnation actions are governed by the WGCA and that their inverse condemnation cause of action is, therefore, time-barred. [2] Were that the end of it, it might appear that we need not consider whether the WGCA applies to the other causes of action because the district court made no actual ruling in that regard. However, the county has raised the issue again before this Court, with emphasis upon the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, or rather, the lack thereof. [¶ 14] This Court has now stated several times that governmental claims must meet the dictates of both the WGCA and Wyo. Const. art. 16, § 7. [3] Bell v. Schell, 2004 WY 153, ¶ 10, 101 P.3d 465, 468 (Wyo.2004); Yoak v. Ide, 2004 WY 32, ¶ 6, 86 P.3d 872, 874 (Wyo.2004); Beaulieu v. Florquist, 2004 WY 31, ¶ 11, 86 P.3d 863, 867 (Wyo.2004) ( Beaulieu II ); Beaulieu v. Florquist, 2001 WY 33, ¶ 15, 20 P.3d 521, 527 (Wyo.2001) ( Beaulieu I ). Specifically, such claims must be signed by the claimant and certified to under penalty of perjury, and they must be presented to the governmental entity within two years of the date of the alleged act, error or omission. Unless those requirements have been met, and unless such compliance is stated in the complaint, the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Bell, 2004 WY 153, ¶ 36, 101 P.3d at 476; Lankford v. City of Laramie, 2004 WY 143, ¶ 22, 100 P.3d 1238, 1244 (Wyo.2004); Beaulieu II, 2004 WY 31, ¶ 11, 86 P.3d at 867; Beaulieu I, 2001 WY 33, ¶ 14, 20 P.3d at 527. [¶ 15] That is not the end of the matter, however. By its own terms, the WGCA applies only to claims and actions brought under this act.... Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-39-113(a). Article 16, § 7 of the Wyoming Constitution, on the other hand, applies to all claims against the state and its political subdivisions. That would include the landowners' due process and takings claims, whether or not those claims were analogous to the inverse condemnation claim. [4] Consequently, even if the presentment limitation period of the WGCA did not apply to the due process and takings claims, those claims were constitutionally deficient because they were not signed by the landowners and they were not certified to under penalty of perjury. [5] [¶ 16] Our jurisprudence dictates that neither the district court nor this Court has subject matter jurisdiction over a governmental claim that has failed to meet the requirements of Wyo. Const. art. 16, § 7. Lankford, 2004 WY 143, ¶ 23, 100 P.3d at 1244; Beaulieu II, 2004 WY 31, ¶ 15, 86 P.3d at 868-69; Platte Development Co. v. State, Environmental Quality Council, 966 P.2d 972, 974 (Wyo.1998); Sheridan Retirement Partners v. City of Sheridan, 950 P.2d 554, 556-57 (Wyo.1997). The monetary claims should have been dismissed on that ground and we will dismiss this appeal to that extent.