Opinion ID: 1393970
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: board of claims act.

Text: As noted in Reyes v. Hardin Memorial Hospital, supra , the words sovereign immunity are not found in the Constitution of Kentucky. Rather, sovereign immunity is a common law concept recognized as an inherent attribute of the state. Commonwealth v. Kelley, 314 Ky. 581, 236 S.W.2d 695, 696 (1951). Thus, contrary to assertions sometimes found in our case law, Sections 230 and 231 of our Constitution are not the source of sovereign immunity in Kentucky, but are provisions that permit the General Assembly to waive the Commonwealth's inherent immunity either by direct appropriation of money from the state treasury (Section 230) and/or by specifying where and in what manner the Commonwealth may be sued (Section 231). Reyes, supra, at 338. Thus, the Board of Claims Act enacted by the 1946 General Assembly [5] and substantially amended to its present-day form by the 1950 General Assembly [6] represents not a creation of immunity, but rather a limited waiver of immunity to the extent that immunity exists. It also designates where and when a claim can be asserted against the Commonwealth or against an otherwise immune agency, officer, or employee. It is the intention of the General Assembly to provide the means to enable a person negligently injured by the Commonwealth, any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus or agencies, or any of its officers, agents or employees while acting within the scope of their employment by the Commonwealth or any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus or agencies to be able to assert their just claims as herein provided. The Commonwealth thereby waives the sovereign immunity defense only in the limited situations as herein set forth .... The Board of Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear claims for damages except as otherwise specifically set forth by statute, against the Commonwealth, its cabinets, departments, bureaus, agencies or any of its officers, agents or employees while acting within the scope of their employment by the Commonwealth, its cabinets, departments, bureaus or agencies. KRS 44.072 (emphasis added). Since this statute is prima facie only a waiver of sovereign immunity, the last sentence thereof, which vests exclusive jurisdiction in the Board of Claims can apply only to the Commonwealth and those agencies, officers, or employees who are cloaked with sovereign, governmental, or official immunity. As a waiver of immunity, it has no application to those governmental agencies, officers or employees who are not cloaked with immunity. Likewise, KRS 44.073(2) provides: The Board of Claims shall have primary and exclusive jurisdiction over all negligence claims for the negligent performance of ministerial acts against ... agents, or employees ... while acting within the scope of their employment by the Commonwealth.... To the extent that this statute purports to waive immunity for the performance of ministerial acts, it is a nullity; for public agents and employees are not vested with immunity for the negligent performance of their ministerial functions. The purpose of this statute [Board of Claims Act] was not to grant a cloak of immunity behind which all employees of the State could hide from their individual responsibility for their negligent acts, but to waive immunity by reason of sovereignty, and to facilitate simple processing of claims against the State. Slusher v. Miracle, Ky., 382 S.W.2d 867, 869 (1964). Finally, KRS 44.073(8) provides: No action for negligence may be brought in any court or forum other than the Board of Claims against the Commonwealth, any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies or any of its officers, agents, or employees while acting within the scope of their employment by the Commonwealth or any of its cabinets, departments, bureaus, or agencies. To the extent that this statute attempts to transfer jurisdiction over non-immune agencies, officers and employees from the circuit court to the Board of Claims, it is unconstitutional. Section 112(5) of the Constitution of Kentucky provides that [t]he Circuit Court shall have original jurisdiction of all justiciable causes not vested in some other court. This provision vests the General Assembly with the authority to determine which court shall have original jurisdiction over a justiciable cause. For example, the enactment of KRS 24A.010(1) [7] transferred original jurisdiction over certain actions from the circuit court to the district court. The Board of Claims, however, is not a court. Reyes v. Hardin Memorial Hospital, supra, at 342. Thus, Section 112(5) does not authorize a transfer of original jurisdiction over a tort claim against a non-immune agency, officer or employee from the circuit court to the Board of Claims. Finally, to the extent that the 1986 amendments to the Board of Claims Act could be construed as attempts to limit the liability of non-immune persons or entities to the liability limits set forth in KRS 44.070(5), those provisions would violate Section 54 of the Constitution: The General Assembly shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to person or property. It is a well established principle of constitutional law and statutory construction that if a statute is reasonably susceptible to two constructions, one of which renders it unconstitutional, the court must adopt the construction which sustains the constitutionality of the statute. Davidson v. American Freightways, Inc., Ky., 25 S.W.3d 94, 96 (2000) (quoting American Trucking Ass'n v. Commonwealth, Transp. Cabinet, Ky., 676 S.W.2d 785, 789-90 (1984)). Thus, we construe the 1986 amendments to the Board of Claims Act as applying only to otherwise immune persons or entities and not to governmental agencies, officers and employees who are not immune from tort liability.