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Williams v. Clay County11/13/2003
that valid claims will be promptly pursued and not allowed to remain neglected. They are designed to suppress assertion of false and stale claims, when evidence has been lost, memories have faded, witnesses are unavailable, or facts are incapable of production because of the lapse of time.
Accordingly, the fact that a barred claim is a just one or has the sanction of a moral obligation does not exempt it from the limitation period. These statutes of repose apply with full force to all claims and courts cannot refuse to give the statute effect merely because it seems to operate harshly in a given case. The establishment of these time boundaries is a legislative prerogative. That body has the right to fix reasonable periods within which an action shall be brought and, within its sound discretion, determine the limitation period. . . .
Deficiencies, if such there should be, in statutes of limitation should be remedied by the legislature. It should not be the province or function of this court to intrude upon an area peculiarly within the channel of legislative action. . . .
Stringer, 748 So.2d at 665-66 (quoting Smith v. Sneed, 638 So. 2d 1252, 1263 (Miss. 1994) (Hawkins, C.J., dissenting)). We found there was no allegation or evidence the State misled or caused Stringer to believe he did not need to comply with the notice provision or statute of limitations. Id. at 667
. Here, Robinson, the chancery clerk, told Williams that Clay County would pay for any valid medical claims. In his letter to Waide, Robinson admitted he told Williams this on March 16, 2000, but he also stated that she never presented any bills or medical claims as of that date, February 13, 2001. Robinson's conduct did not rise to the level of inequity or fraud. He told Williams that Clay County would pay a valid claim, yet Williams never presented any bills or anything indicating her expenses. Instead of bringing forth her medical bills so the county could review or pay them, she brought suit nearly fifteen months after her accident. As in Stringer, there is no allegation or evidence that Robinson misled or caused Williams to believe that she did not have to comply with the statute.
. This claim is without merit.
CONCLUSION
. We find that Williams substantially complied with the notice requirement of the statute, but her lawsuit was still filed outside of the statute of limitations. We also find that Robinson's actions did not rise to the level of fraud or inequity which would estop the County from asserting a statute of limitations defense. We therefore affirm the Clay County Circuit Court's dismissal of Williams' complaint as untimely filed.
. AFFIRMED.
SMITH, P.J., EASLEY AND CARLSON, JJ., CONCUR. GRAVES, J., DISSENTS WITHOUT SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION. McRAE, P.J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION. COBB, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY PITTMAN, C.J. DIAZ, J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
McRAE, PRESIDING JUSTICE, DISSENTING:
. Since the circuit court erred in dismissing this action as untimely, I dissent and would reverse and remand. Therefore, as a dissent to the plurality, I adopt the majority opinion originally drafted by Justice Diaz.
. The general issue presented by this appeal is whether the circuit court properly granted Appellee Clay County's Motion to Dismiss. At the heart of the matter, however, lie challenging issues heretofore undecided by this Court; namely, the amount of claim notice required to toll the statute of limitations (SOL) under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA), and, once tolled, the effect of the 1999 amendments to the MTCA on the t
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