Opinion ID: 1128254
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: the act is unconstitutional as it applies to claims arising between april 1, 1993, and october 1, 1993.

Text: ¶ 21. The appellants' last argument is that the Sovereign Immunity Act is unconstitutional. There is a presumption that acts of the legislature are valid, and the unconstitutionality of an Act must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt before it will be declared invalid. Clark v. State ex rel. Mississippi State Med. Ass'n, 381 So.2d 1046, 1048 (Miss. 1980). This rule is applicable with regard to statutes involving limitations upon suits against governmental entities. See Robinson v. Stewart, 655 So.2d 866 (Miss. 1995); Wells v. Panola County Bd. of Educ., 645 So.2d 883 (Miss. 1994). ¶ 22. Appellants claim that the Act is unconstitutional as it pertains to claims arising between April 1, 1993, and October 1, 1993, because such time period would place a plaintiff in no man's land. However, the Act provides a remedy for plaintiffs injured by the proprietary functions of municipalities, so long as the procedural safeguards of the Act are followed. Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-3 (Supp. 1997). This Court has held that reasonable limitations placed upon suits against governmental entities are proper. This Court in Wells held, the legislature may abrogate common law causes of action, and alter or substitute remedies through statutory schemes. Wells, 645 So.2d at 895. Wells further provided that the legislature may bar recovery entirely, even where a remedy exists, through statutes of repose and statutes of limitations. Id. ¶ 23. The Sovereign Immunity Act clearly did not bar appellants' action; rather, the statute placed certain procedural limitations on the action. This Court has held that placing rational limitations on recovery against political subdivisions does not violate the open courts provision of Mississippi's Constitution since such provision has never been construed as guaranteeing limitless or absolute recovery for injury. Wells, 645 So.2d at 892.