Court Opinion

ID: 9551609
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:56:15.700616+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:24:17.611113
License: Public Domain

*550ROONEY, Justice,
specially concurring.
I concur with the result reached by the majority opinion but express the following in hopes that the legislature will act to more clearly express its intent relative to this very important enactment. I agree with the majority opinion that such enactment is ambiguous and that we must, therefore, attempt to ascertain the legislative intention.
I do not agree that such intention can be gathered from the reference to Oroz v. Board of County Commissioners of County of Carbon, Wyo., 575 P.2d 1155 (1978) in the purpose clause of the Act, § 1-39-102, W.S. 1977, Cum.Supp.1981. That reference and the notation in the clause to the trustee nature of public revenues could well indicate an intention to restrict the result of Oroz to a more historical “application of the doctrine of governmental immunity” than judicially established in Oroz while recognizing the propriety of some relaxation, because of “the inherently unfair and inequitable results which occur in the strict application of” it (emphasis added). It cannot be said, one way or the other, that the legislative cognizance of Oroz reflected an intention to confirm its holding or an intention to restrict its application. It can be assumed that the legislature considered the comment of the Attorney General:1
“* * * Even though Oroz has abrogated sovereign immunity for counties, cities, and lesser political subdivisions, the legislature can enact such laws as to nullify this decision.”
Nor do I find the fact that the legislature passed a private bill on behalf of Mrs. Worthington, subsequent to the opinion in Worthington v. State, Wyo., 598 P.2d 796 (1979), to be of consequence. Private bills have long been a means of waiving governmental or sovereign immunity as the legislature deemed proper. Its use in this instance cannot reflect legislative intent, insofar as the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act is concerned, one way or the other. It could be said that this private bill indicated legislative intent to maintain its control over waiver of immunity with reference to claims based on negligent maintenance of highways.2
I do find an indication of legislative intent in the history of the enactment — but with different emphasis than that placed thereon by the majority opinion. The majority opinion accurately points out the redundancy resulting from the use of the general words “public facilities” in § 1-39-111, W.S.1977, Cum.Supp.1981. Certainly, the specific words “building, recreation area or public park” in § 1-39-106, W.S.1977, Cum.Supp.1981, are unnecessary since they are obviously included within the term “public facilities.” Likewise, the specific words “airports” in § 1-39-107; “public utilities” in § 1-39-108; and “public hospital” in § 1-39-109, W.S.1977, Cum.Supp. 1981, are also included within the term “public facilities.” It is true that §§ 1-39— 107, 1-39-108 and 1-39-109, only impose liability for negligent operation of the named facilities, whereas § 1-39-111 imposed liability for operation and maintenance thereof. The “intention” focus in this respect may be the subject of interpretation in a future case.
Normally, a specific enumeration followed by a general term restricts application of the statutory provision to the same kind of things specifically enumerated. State ex rel. R. R. Crow & Co. v. Copenhaver, 64 Wyo. 1, 184 P.2d 594 (1947); State ex rel. Goshen Irr. Dist. v. Hunt, 49 Wyo. 497, 57 P.2d 793 (1936); In re Metcalf’s Estate, 41 Wyo. 36, 282 P. 27 (1929); Baker v. Board of Com’rs of Crook County, 9 Wyo. 51, 59 P. 797 (1900); People ex rel. School Dist. No. 3, Laramie County v. Dolan, 5 Wyo. 245, 39 P. 752 (1895); Town of Worland v. Odell & Johnson, 79 Wyo. 1, 329 P.2d *551797 (1958). Highways are not the same kind of thing as airports, hospitals, etc. Accordingly, without more, I could not find a legislative intention to include highways in the “public facilities” language of § 1-39-111.
However, one step in the legislative history of the enactment reflects a legislative intent to use the words “public facilities” to mean “highways and streets.” When the words “public facilities” first appeared in the enactment at the time House Bill 122A was substituted for House Bill 122, the section heading read: “Liability; highways and streets.”
“ * * * [C]ontext, position of the sections, and the insertion of subheads in the original Act * * * are unmistakable indicia * * * [of legislative intention] * * *.” Hoffmeister v. McIntosh, Wyo., 361 P.2d 678, 679, reh. denied 364 P.2d 823 (1961). (Bracketed material added.)
Although the section heading was not newly inserted, the legislature saw fit to allow it to remain. It is true that a joint conference committee subsequently changed the section heading to read: “Liability; public facilities”; but at the time the words “public facilities” were inserted into the statute proper, the section heading was allowed to reflect application of the section of “highways and streets.” The legislative intent was thus expressed to have “public facilities” be synonymous with “highways and streets.”
As noted, the enactment concerns an extremely important element of negligence actions. The legislature should remove any ambiguous or vague aspects of it and use language to make clear the extent of the waiver of immunity.

. Wyoming Attorney General Opinion No. 79-003, January 30, 1979, p. 11, requested by the Chairman of the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee.

. It well could be that the legislature wished to maintain such control to avoid the future join-der of the state as a defendant in almost every claim predicated on an accident on streets and highways.