Opinion ID: 1627664
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sovereign Immunity Under Missouri Law

Text: The common law rule of sovereign immunity has been recognized by Missouri courts since 1821, and a modified form of sovereign immunity is now codified in Missouri's statutes at sections 537.600 to 537.650, RSMo 2000, and, where amended, RSMo Supp.2007. [4] Since 1978, [5] subsection 537.600.1 has outlined that Missouri public entities are not provided sovereign immunity for injuries (1) directly resulting from the negligent acts or omissions by public employees arising out of the operation of motor vehicles or motorized vehicles within the course of their employment and (2) resulting from the dangerous condition of public property. Section 537.600.2 clarifies that the section 537.600.1 waivers of immunity are absolute waivers of sovereign immunity in all cases within such situations whether or not the public entity was functioning in a governmental or proprietary capacity and regardless of whether the entity is covered by liability insurance for torts. Full common law sovereign immunity belongs only to state entities. Jungerman v. City of Raytown, 925 S.W.2d 202, 204 (Mo. banc 1996). Missouri municipalities are not provided immunity for proprietary functions-those performed for the benefit or profit of the municipality as a corporate entity  but are immune for governmental functions-those performed for the common good. Id. Municipalities and other public entities, however, can waive their sovereign immunity for governmental functions to the extent that they are covered by liability insurance. Section 71.185 (pertaining to municipalities); section 537.610 (pertaining to each political subdivision of this state). [6] Because public entities act through their employees, actions against these entities to recover damages pursuant to the motor vehicle sovereign immunity waiver in section 537.600.1(1) must necessarily be brought under the doctrine of respondeat superior. Davis-Bey v. Mo. Dept. of Corr., 944 S.W.2d 294, 298 n. 5 (Mo.App.1997). The legislature's waivers of immunity applicable to defendant municipalities and political subdivisions do not abrogate the immunity protections afforded to public employees. See id. at 298 n. 4. Although sovereign immunity is a tort protection for government entities, not their employees, public employees are covered by two different government immunity doctrines: the official immunity and public duty doctrines. The official immunity and public duty doctrines have similar policies behind their protections and, in many cases, both doctrines can be applied to protect the defendant government employee. Because both doctrines are often applicable to a defendant public employee's conduct, they are often confusingly applied together in cases. These doctrines are addressed separately below to clarify their distinctions and similarities.