Court Opinion

ID: 9845577
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:24:38.643655+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:14.830278
License: Public Domain

Sognier, Chief Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur fully as to that part of the majority’s opinion extending to counties the duty first recognized by a plurality of this court in Jordan v. City of Rome, 203 Ga. App. 662, 666-667 (2) (417 SE2d 730) (1992) that a municipality owes persons within its municipal boundaries a duty to exercise ordinary care to protect them against the intentional and unpredictable criminal acts of third parties when it reasonably knew or should have known that its acts or omissions exposed those persons to a foreseeable risk of harm. As with municipalities, counties assume this duty as an inherent power of government. See Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. II, Par. III (a) (1). I concur fully as to that part of the majority’s opinion holding that summary judgment to appellees was improper because questions of fact exist whether such a duty arose as to appellees in regard to appellants.
I concur in judgment only as to that part of the majority’s opinion analyzing the facts of the case sub judice in light of the “general duty/special duty” analysis in the Jordan dissent. To the extent the majority’s opinion intimates that that analysis may be appropriate in other cases or is otherwise applicable in Georgia, I concur in judgment only because I agree with the plurality in Jordan that application of that analysis contravenes statutory and constitutional language in Georgia authorizing the waiver of governmental immunity to the extent of applicable liability insurance coverage. Id. at 664-666 (1).
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Carley and Judge Johnson join in this special concurrence.