Opinion ID: 2031624
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Construction of Section 25A.14(11).

Text: Builders concedes that, in light of the requirements of section 25A.5, its suit against the State was premature. It argues, however, that it had no choice; the imminent cutoff of such suits made it impossible for it to wait for disposition of the appeal board proceedings. To avoid this predicament, and the possible due process problems it would create, Builders urges us to interpret section 25A.14(11) to allow suits against the State to be brought after July 1, 1986, if a claim had been filed with the appeal board before that date. In other words, we are asked to consider the filing of a claim with the appeal board to be the equivalent of the filing of a case for purposes of the July 1 cutoff provision of section 25A.14(11). In Feltes v. State, 385 N.W.2d 544 (Iowa 1986), a similar argument was raised and rejected. In that case, the plaintiff filed a claim with the State Appeal Board based on the State's failure to remove ice and snow from the highway. Without waiting for disposition of the claim by the board, the plaintiff immediately filed a petition in district court. Feltes claimed that filing of his suit before disposition of the administrative claim was necessary in order for him to avoid the effect of an imminent statutory amendment restricting claims against the state based on failure to remove ice from the highway. Feltes, like Builders in the present case, argued that some flexibility in the requirements of section 25A.5 must be recognized under the circumstances. We held that the district court had no jurisdiction because of the plaintiff's failure to comply with section 25A.5, despite the practical problems caused by the timing of the statutory amendment. Feltes, 385 N.W.2d at 547-48. We believe the language of 25A.14(11) is clear: A claim filed with the appeal board is not the equivalent of a case under that section. For the same reasons we enunciated in Feltes, we conclude that the district court lacked jurisdiction to proceed with the claim against the State. This brings us to the due process issue.