Opinion ID: 2001310
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Heading: History of Personal Liability under Sovereign Immunity

Text: Although it is sometimes said that sovereign immunity was created by Article III, § 27, of the South Dakota Constitution, it is in fact a concept of the common law. High-Grade Oil Co. v. Sommer, 295 N.W.2d 736, 739 (S.D.1980). Sovereign immunity from tort liability can be traced back to England. Stuart M. Speiser, Charles F. Frause, & Alfred W. Gans, The American Law of Torts § 6.31 (1985). With the burgeoning of the parliamentary system in England, the notion developed that, while the king himself could not be charged with wrongdoing, his ministers were personally responsible when they acted illegally. Id. Causes of action were allowed against public officials. [2] Although actions against high officials were few, cases against inferior officers were numerous. [3] Personal liability of government employees continued in the development of American common law. The United States Supreme Court, in Osborn v. The Bank, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 738, 6 L.Ed. 204 (1824), held state officers liable by holding a state treasurer personally accountable to return tax moneys which were improperly levied on a bank. The treasurer was personally accountable for ignoring an injunction which prohibited collection against the bank. Id. at 847; see Louis L. Jaffe, Suits against Governments and Officers: Sovereign Immunity, 77 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 21 (1963). The Colorado Supreme Court, in Kristensen v. Jones, 195 Colo. 122, 575 P.2d 854 (1978), recognized that: An injured person's right to sue the negligent employee of an immune public entity derives from the common law, and we will not lightly infer a legislative abrogation of that right absent a clear expression of intent. Id. at 855 (citing Collard v. Hohnstein, 64 Colo. 478, 174 P. 596 (1918)). The Kristensen court held negligent operators of public vehicles fell within the common law scope of personal liability. Id.; see generally Prosser, Torts § 132 (4th Ed.1971). Public employees generally have been personally liable for injuries caused by their negligent actions within the scope of employment even when the defense of sovereign immunity was available to their employers. Kristensen 575 P.2d at 855 (citations omitted). The right to sue and recover for others' negligence existed at the time of the adoption of the South Dakota Constitution. Oien, 393 N.W.2d at 290. South Dakota's first negligence statute, codified at SDCL 20-9-1, was enacted in 1877, twelve years prior to the birth of our state constitution in 1889. This statute provides in part: Every person is responsible for injury to the person, property, or rights of another caused by his willful acts or caused by his want of ordinary care or skill[.] SDCL 20-9-1. South Dakota's common law right to action for damages, codified at SDCL 21-1-1, was enacted the same year as the negligence statute. It provides: Every person who suffers detriment from the unlawful act or omission of another may recover from the person in fault a compensation therefor in money, which is called damages. Detriment is a loss or harm suffered in person or property. This rule of law that a public employee is liable for negligently performed ministerial acts was first recognized by this court in State v. Ruth, 9 S.D. 84, 90, 68 N.W. 189, 190 (1896), seven years after the adoption of the South Dakota Constitution. Moreover, this court has long recognized a right to recover damages for pain and suffering resulting from negligent acts. See, e.g., Small v. McKennan Hospital, 437 N.W.2d 194 (S.D.1989); Pollman v. Ahrens, 88 S.D. 249, 218 N.W.2d 475 (1974); Egan v. Sheffer, 86 S.D. 684, 201 N.W.2d 174 (1972); Koenig v. Weber, 84 S.D. 558, 174 N.W.2d 218 (1970); Hoekstra v. Helgeland, 78 S.D. 82, 98 N.W.2d 669 (1959); Davis v. Holy Terror Min. Co., 20 S.D. 399, 107 N.W. 374 (1906). Employees refute this history of personal liability by saying the legislature has clearly spoken to abrogate employee liability by enacting the two South Dakota statutes at issue; namely, SDCL 21-32-17 and 21-32A-2. In order for meaningful review, we must examine the history of those provisions in conjunction with the laws protecting an injured party's right to a remedy. In 1981, the legislature enacted SDCL 21-32-15 [4] and 21-32-16 [5] authorizing the State of South Dakota to purchase public liability insurance. State waived sovereign immunity and consented to suit up to the insurance policy limits. In 1983, the legislature enacted SDCL 21-32-17, expanding the scope of sovereign immunity, except as waived under SDCL 21-32-16. This expansion broadened immunity to all officers, employees, or agents of the State, acting within the scope of their employment, whether or not they were performing ministerial or discretionary functions. In 1985, when the State was notified that its public liability insurance was cancelled, the governor requested an advisory opinion regarding the constitutionality of SDCL 21-32-17 if the State were to establish its own fund to pay claims. In re Request for Opinion of the Supreme Court, 379 N.W.2d 822 (S.D.1985). This court held the legislature could act within the broad authority of Art. III, § 27, of the South Dakota Constitution to impose limitations and conditions of the operation of sovereign immunity. Request for Opinion, 379 N.W.2d at 825-26. In rendering its decision, however, the court limited its consideration to the sovereign immunity doctrine under Art. III, § 27. The open courts provision was not addressed in this opinion. This court further held the state's participation in a risk-sharing pool did not waive sovereign immunity under SDCL 21-32-16, because, although self-insurance through a risk-sharing pool may accomplish the same purpose as commercial insurance, the plain language of the above statute required the purchase of traditional liability insurance. Request for Opinion at 827. See also Wilson v. Hogan, 473 N.W.2d 492, 495 (S.D.1991). Thus, unless such traditional insurance was purchased, SDCL 21-32-15 and 21-32-17 provide absolute sovereign immunity to any employee, officer or agent of the state, while acting within the scope of his employment or agency, whether such acts are ministerial or discretionary. Immunity existed regardless of whether the employee was sued in an individual or official capacity. In 1986, the legislature enacted SDCL 21-32A-1, -2, and -3, establishing the procedure for bringing claims against public entities, other than the state, and waiving immunity to the extent of participation in a risk-sharing pool or the purchase of liability insurance. In 1991, SDCL 21-32A-2 was amended to include the state, and its employees, officers, or agents, in its statutory waiver of sovereign immunity to the extent of participation in a risk-sharing pool or purchase of insurance. Chapter 3-22, enacted in 1986, established the public entity pool for liability (PEPL). It is presumed this fund was established as a substitute for traditional liability insurance. SDCL 3-22-18 [6] provides that PEPL does not constitute insurance but is instead a liability pool. [7] The PEPL fund's purpose is to provide the sole source for payment of valid tort claims against all member public entities of the state and their officers and employees for all liability they may incur based upon negligence in the operation of motor vehicles or negligence in performing other acts within an employee's scope of employment[.] SDCL 3-22-1. The PEPL fund provides no payment for, among other things, non-economic damages, including, but not limited to, damages for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of society and companionship, and hedonic damages[.] The Public Entity Pool for Liability, Memorandum of Liability Coverage to the Employees of the State of South Dakota, Apr. 4, 1990. Under the current statutory scheme, unless a claim falls within PEPL fund coverage, the doctrine of sovereign immunity applies to abrogate that claim.