Opinion ID: 2520615
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedure to Resolve Issues of Immunity

Text: The trial court concluded that Finnie did not strictly comply with the notice requirement in section 24-10-109(3) and dismissed Finnie's case for failure to state a claim, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). Because the trial court considered matters outside the pleadings in issuing its ruling, however, the court of appeals reviewed the trial court's determination under a summary judgment standard. See C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). After reviewing the text and purposes of the GIA, we conclude that such procedures are inappropriate for resolving issues of immunity. We first examine the text of section 24-10-108, 7B C.R.S. (2003), of the GIA and determine that it requires trial courts to resolve all issues of immunity before trial. Because summary judgment procedures sometimes fail to definitely resolve issues of fact before trial, we conclude that summary judgment procedures pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) are inconsistent with the requirement of section 24-10-108. Next, we acknowledge that C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) is limited to jurisdictional issues. We conclude that the GIA dictates a procedure identical to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) but not limited to jurisdictional issues. Thus, trial courts must resolve all issues of immunity before trial through the procedures employed in Trinity Broadcasting of Denver v. City of Westminster, 848 P.2d 916 (Colo.1993), and its progeny, regardless of whether the notice compliance at issue is a jurisdictional prerequisite. Similarly, we allow trial courts to hold evidentiary hearings, or  Trinity hearings, to determine whether plaintiffs fulfilled the GIA's notice requirements in section 24-10-109, even when such requirements do not present jurisdictional bars to suit. The GIA contains a requirement that trial courts must weigh evidence to resolve issues of sovereign immunity, such as compliance with the statute's notice requirements, before trial. Section 24-10-108 states: If a public entity raises the issue of sovereign immunity prior to or after the commencement of discovery, the court shall suspend discovery, except any discovery necessary to decide the issues of sovereign immunity, and shall decide such issue on motion. § 24-10-108 (emphasis added). In Trinity, we interpreted this provision to require trial courts to resolve factual disputes regarding issues of immunity prior to trial. [3] Id. at 924-25. We explained that the text of section 24-10-108 requires that issues of sovereign immunity are to be decided by the trial court if raised before trial. Id. at 924. To implement the requirements of section 24-10-108, we reasoned in Trinity that courts should resolve sovereign immunity issues through motions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1), rather than through motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). See id. at 924-25. Unlike C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5), C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) allows a trial court to weigh evidence and make findings of fact regarding the existence of its jurisdiction. Id. at 925. Therefore, C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) allows the trial judge to definitively resolve disputed factual issues relating to immunity before trial begins, in accordance with the mandate of section 24-10-108. In contrast, C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) requires a court to convert a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment if the court considers matters outside the pleadings. See C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). Unlike motions under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1), summary judgment proceedings following C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) motions are inconsistent with the mandate in section 24-10-108 that the trial court resolve immunity issues before trial. When material facts are in dispute, summary judgment requires the jury to resolve such facts at trial. See C.R.C.P. 56(c). Therefore, we concluded in Trinity that factual issues of compliance with notice requirements should be resolved by motions to dismiss pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1). Trinity, 848 P.2d at 924. Furthermore, consistent with C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1), we permitted trial courts to allow limited discovery and conduct an evidentiary hearing to resolve questions of fact. Id. Today we apply our reasoning in Trinity that summary judgment procedures following C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) motions are inconsistent with the mandate contained in section 24-10-108 to resolve issues of immunity. We hold that because section 24-10-108 requires trial courts to resolve issues of immunity before trial, it requires a procedure that mirrors C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) but also addresses non-jurisdictional issues. The factual issue in Trinity arose under the 180-day notice requirement contained in section 24-10-109(1). Since Trinity, we have distinguished the requirements in the various subsections of section 24-10-109, classifying subsection 24-10-109(1) as a jurisdictional bar to suit and subsection 24-10-109(3) as merely presenting a statutory defense to claims. See Brock v. Nyland, 955 P.2d 1037, 1042-43, 1045-46 (Colo.1998) (Scott, J; Kourlis, J., concurring); Reg'l Trans. Dist. v. Lopez, 916 P.2d 1187, 1192-95 (Colo.1996). Our case law has not specifically addressed the procedure through which courts should resolve issues of compliance with the non-jurisdictional subsections in section 24-10-109. To resolve this issue, we again look to section 24-10-108 and its requirement that trial courts must resolve all issues of immunity before trial. Section 24-10-108, through its mandate that trial courts resolve all immunity issues before trial, does not distinguish between jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional immunity issues. See Trinity, 848 P.2d at 924; § 24-10-108. In that regard, section 24-10-108 differs from C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) procedures, which only apply to resolve jurisdictional issues. See C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1). Yet section 24-10-108 mandates a procedure identical to a C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) motion to resolve factual issues regarding compliance with the GIA's notice provisions, except that use of this procedure does not depend on whether the notice provision at issue presents a jurisdictional bar. We therefore hold that the procedure used in Trinity and its progeny applies to all issues of immunity under the GIA, regardless of whether the provision at issue is jurisdictional. This procedure is identical to that mandated by C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) without the jurisdictional limitation. Trial courts should now resolve factual issues of immunity in Trinity proceedings before trial upon a motion by the governmental entity that the plaintiff failed to comply with section 24-10-109. We clarify that the Trinity procedure that courts must use to resolve issues of immunity includes discovery, ruling without hearings, and affording parties the opportunity to request Trinity hearings. We base this conclusion on the text of section 24-10-108. Section 24-10-108 allows courts to conduct any discovery necessary when deciding issues of immunity. § 24-10-108. We stated in Trinity that courts must hold evidentiary hearings when facts relating to immunity are in dispute. Trinity, 848 P.2d at 924-26; Tidwell v. City & County of Denver, No. 02SC532, 83 P.3d 75, 85-86, 2003 WL 22533402, at  (Colo. Nov. 10, 2003). We have also noted that [w]hen there is no evidentiary dispute, the trial court may rule without a hearing and on the pleadings alone. Tidwell, 83 P.3d at 85-86, 2003 WL 22533402, at  (emphasis added). Today, however, we hold that courts have discretion to conduct Trinity hearings to develop facts relating to immunity issues when such facts are not directly disputed. If we did not require courts to resolve all issues of immunity through Trinity procedures but instead allowed courts to decide such issues through motions under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) and summary judgment procedures, we would create an inefficient and asymmetrical situation. Factual issues arising under the GIA's jurisdictional provisions would be resolved by the judge before trial in one discreet proceeding, but disputed issues arising under the non-jurisdictional provisions, such as section 24-10-109(3), would proceed to trial. For example, a judge would resolve an issue regarding the 180-day notice requirement in subsection (1) through a Trinity hearing. However, if a factual issue exists regarding whether a plaintiff filed that notice with the proper entity, as in this case, the second question of immunity would be resolved at trial. Rather than resolving immunity questions in separate proceedings, the interests of efficiency and judicial economy compel trial courts to determine all factual issues regarding immunity prior to trial in a single proceeding. For this reason, we have tacitly approved trial courts' use of such Trinity procedures in the past to resolve factual issues of compliance with all subsections of section 24-10-109. See, e.g., Booth v. Univ. of Colo., 64 P.3d 926, 927 (Colo.App. 2002) (acknowledging that the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing to resolve both questions of compliance with section 24-10-109(3) and issues arising under section 24-10-106(1)(c), 7B C.R.S. (2003)), aff'd, Univ. of Colo. v. Booth, 78 P.3d 1098 (Colo.2003). Moreover, our holding today comports with both the GIA's purpose and general principles of sovereign immunity. Through the GIA, the General Assembly sought to protect the government from excessive fiscal burdens, which include not only the costs of judgments against the government but the costs of unnecessary litigation as well. See § 24-10-102. Therefore, the GIA acts to shield public entities and employees from being forced to trial or exposed to the other burdens of extended litigation, when the viability of the proceedings is dependent on the resolution of an essentially legal question. Bresciani v. Haragan, 968 P.2d 153, 157 (Colo.App.1998). When determining whether a notice of claim complied with the terms of the statute, the disputed facts usually are separate from those determinative of liability and can be resolved early in the litigation process, without significant discovery. Id. at 158. Thus, to subject a public entity to a meaningless trial defeats the GIA's purpose of protecting public entities from liability. See id. We therefore hold that trial courts must resolve issues of immunity before trial through the procedures used in Trinity, regardless of whether the provision in question is jurisdictional or non-jurisdictional. Furthermore, we emphasize that when resolving issues of compliance with the notice provisions contained in section 24-10-109, courts may conduct Trinity hearings to develop full factual records and shall allow the parties latitude in discovering evidence necessary to determine the immunity issues.