Opinion ID: 1603534
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Accident Contingent Fund Statutes

Text: The Accident Contingency Fund Act, passed by the Mississippi Legislature in 1953, established the Accident Contingent Fund and authorized claims by students injured as a result of negligence by school employees operating buses. [4] Maximum available coverage was $5000 per child. In 1964, the legislature extended coverage to any person or damage to property resulting from such negligence, and set a limit of $50,000 per accident. In 1982, the maximum limit of recovery was raised to $10,000 per person, $1,000 for property damage, and $1,000 for medical expenses. The $50,000 limit per accident remained unchanged. These limits were reflected in the 1992 Supplement to the 1972 Miss. Code Ann. [5] As noted above, the three Accident Contingent Fund statutes (§ 37-41-37, § 37-41-39, and § 37-41-41), all carried a repeal date of October 1, 1993. Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-21 (Supp. 1992) provided that on October 1, 1993, all money in the Accident Contingent Fund would be transferred to the Tort Claims Fund created by § 11-46-17, and that the Accident Contingent Fund would cease to exist. We note that Wells' claim was dismissed on a 12(b)(6) motion. This Court conducts de novo review of questions of law raised by 12(b)(6) motions. Tucker v. Hinds County, 558 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss. 1990); UHS-Qualicare, Inc. v. Gulf Coast Community Hospital, Inc., 525 So.2d 746, 754 (Miss. 1987). In the case at bar, the question of law is whether the challenged statutes violate provisions of the state or federal constitution. This Court will strike down a statute on constitutional grounds only where it appears beyond all reasonable doubt that such statute violates the constitution. Anderson v. Fred Wagner, Etc., 402 So.2d 320, 321 (Miss. 1981); Albritton v. City of Winona, 181 Miss. 75, 178 So. 799, 803 (1938). In short, if the statutes challenged in this case are not unconstitutional, the Board was entitled to dismissal as a matter of law. We now proceed to Wells' assignments of error.