Opinion ID: 2491484
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Proper venue for claims against the wrongful-incarceration defendants

Text: ¶ 17. With regard to the claims against the wrongful-incarceration defendants, [t]he Mississippi Tort Claims Act, Miss.Code Ann. §§ 11-46-1 to 11-46-23, controls the issue of proper venue in cases where a plaintiff files suit against the State or one of its subdivisions. United States Fid. & Guar. Co. v. Moss, 873 So.2d 76, 78 (Miss.2004). Section 11-46-13(2) determines where venue is proper, and it states in pertinent part: The venue for any suit filed under the provisions of this chapter against the state or its employees shall be in the county in which the act, omission or event on which the liability phase of the action is based, occurred or took place. The venue for all other suits filed under the provisions of this chapter shall be in the county or judicial district thereof in which the principal offices of the governing body of the political subdivision are located. The venue specified in this subsection shall control in all actions filed against governmental entities, notwithstanding that other defendants which are not governmental entities may be joined in the suit, and notwithstanding the provisions of any other venue statute that otherwise would apply. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-13(2) (Rev.2002) (emphasis added). Section 11-46-1(j) defines state to mean the State of Mississippi and any office, department, agency, division, bureau, commission, board, institution, hospital, college, university, airport authority or other instrumentality thereof, whether or not such body or instrumentality thereof has the authority to levy taxes or to sue or be sued in its own name. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1(j) (Rev.2002). ¶ 18. The plaintiffs argue that venue is proper in Hinds County because the principal offices of the Mississippi Crime Laboratory and the Mississippi State Medical Examiners Office are located in Hinds County. [2] This argument, however, is not consistent with the statutes of the Mississippi Tort Claims Act. Under The Mississippi Tort Claims Act, the location of the principal offices is the proper venue for a case only when the governmental party involved is the governing body of the political subdivision. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-13(2) (Rev.2002). Section 11-46-1(i) defines political subdivisions to be any body politic or body corporate other than the state responsible for governmental activities only in geographic areas smaller than that of the state, including, but not limited to any county, municipality, school district, community hospital as defined in Section 41-13-10, Mississippi Code of 1972, airport authority or other instrumentality thereof, whether or not such body or instrumentality thereof, whether or not such body or instrumentality thereof has the authority to levy taxes or to sue or be sued in its own name. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1(i) (Rev.2002). The Mississippi Crime Laboratories and the Mississippi State Medical Examiners Office, along with Dr. Hayne, do not fit the definition of political subdivisions set forth under this section. ¶ 19. In the instant case, Dr. Hayne was an employee of the State of Mississippi at the time of the autopsy, and the Mississippi State Medical Examiners Office and the Mississippi Crime Laboratory are part of state government under Sections 11-46-1(f) and (j). See Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-1(f) and (j) (Rev.2002). Further, under Section 11-46-13(2), in actions brought against the State and its employees, venue is proper in the county in which the act, omission, or event on which the liability phase of the action is based, occurred or took place. Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-13(2) (Rev.2002). In his affidavit, Dr. Hayne testified that he performed the autopsy and gathered the blood and urine samples at the Rankin County Morgue in Pearl, Mississippi. He also testified that there were no aspects of the post mortem examination of Kaddarius Douglas performed in Hinds County, Mississippi. Kaddarius Douglas' blood and urine specimens were not obtained in Hinds County, nor were they stored or analyzed in Hinds County, Mississippi. ¶ 20. Therefore, venue is proper in the county where the act or omission occurred, Rankin County.