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Laney v. Fairview City8/9/2002
This case addresses whether Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-2(4)(a) (Supp. 2000) violates article I, section 11, the "open courts" clause, of the Utah Constitution. The district court held that Fairview City (the City) is immune from suit for its alleged negligence under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act, Utah Code Ann. §§ 63-30-1 to -38 (1997 & Supp. 2000). We hold that the 1987 amendment, declaring all acts of municipalities to be governmental functions, is unconstitutional as applied to municipalities operating electrical power systems. We reverse the summary judgment of the trial court and remand for a trial on the merits without any defense of governmental immunity.
BACKGROUND
The following facts were undisputed in the trial court. On September 16, 1991, John Laney was electrocuted and killed while moving irrigation pipe. The thirty-foot aluminum water irrigation pipe that Laney was carrying came into contact with, or within arcing distance of, high voltage power lines. The power lines were owned by the City.
Accordingly, Laney's wife and children brought a wrongful death action against the City claiming, inter alia, that the City was negligent for failing to maintain the power lines in a safe condition. The Laneys complain that the power lines did not meet minimum safety standards because they were too low to the ground. They also allege that the lines were unsafe because they were not insulated and did not contain warnings.
The City moved for summary judgment asserting that the decision whether or not to improve the power lines was a discretionary function entitled to immunity under Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-10(1) (1997). Discretionary function immunity is an exception to a waiver of sovereign immunity within the Utah Governmental Immunity Act. The Utah Governmental Immunity Act declares that all governmental entities are immune from suit for any injury which results from the exercise of a "governmental function." See Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-3(1). The term governmental function is broadly defined in section 63-30-2(4)(a), and by virtue of that broad definition, the statute cloaks governmental entities with immunity for a wide range of activities. However, Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-10 waives sovereign immunity "for injury proximately caused by a negligent act or omission." Then, subsection (1) creates an exception to this waiver for negligence and immunizes governmental entities for "the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function . . . ." Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-10(1).
The district court agreed that the City was entitled to immunity for its decision to not improve the power lines and granted the City's motion for summary judgment. Following the framework we set forth in Ledfors v. Emery County School District, 849 P.2d 1162, 1164 (Utah 1993), the district court concluded that the City's operation of its municipal power system was a governmental function as defined by Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-2(4)(a). The court also concluded that immunity was waived under section 63-30-10 because plaintiffs' claim against the City was for negligence. Finally, the district court concluded that the City's decision to keep its power lines at the height and condition they were in at the time of Mr. Laney's death constituted the exercise of a discretionary function under Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-10(1), an exception to the waiver for negligence, rendering the City immune from suit under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act.
Plaintiffs appeal, claiming that Utah Code Ann. § 63-30-2(4)(a) is unconstitutional because it violates article I, section 11, the open courts clause, of the Utah Constitution. Plaintiffs further m
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