Opinion ID: 2600089
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Applicability of WGCA

Text: [¶ 9] In Wyoming, no suit may be maintained against the State unless the legislature has authorized such a suit. Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-39-101 through 121 (LexisNexis 2009); and see May v. Southeast Wyo. Mental Health Center, 866 P.2d 732, 736 (Wyo. 1993). The WGCA does not provide an exception to the rule of immunity for the claims pressed by Cosco. Furthermore, Cosco has failed to demonstrate that the claims he did file met the stringent requirements of the WGCA. Cosco has brought his claims against the State of Wyoming generally, the DOC, and two former and present employees of the DOC/WSP. However, he has failed to establish that the WGCA has waived immunity for any of those claims. We have carefully examined Cosco's pleadings, as well as the carefully circumscribed exceptions the legislature has established to the rule of immunity, including the one addressed to peace officers, and we agree with the district court and the Attorney General that Cosco's claims, as articulated in his detailed pleadings, are not cognizable under any of the exceptions to the rule of immunity. [¶ 10] Furthermore, we have consistently construed the procedural requirements set out in the WGCA very strictly and as jurisdictional requirements. Viewing Cosco's claims in the light most favorable to him we are compelled to agree with the district court that none of his claims were filed within the time periods prescribed in § 1-39-113(a). See Wilson v. Town of Alpine, 2005 WY 57, ¶ 5, 111 P.3d 290, 291-92 (Wyo.2005). Thus, the district court was correct in granting summary judgment in favor of the State Appellees as to all of his claims. Moreover, the WGCA does not provide a waiver of immunity for the DOC's conduct at issue here, even if the filings had otherwise met the statutory requirements.