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Nixon v. State9/30/2005
ar subjects" should be considered in interpreting statutes. Iowa Code § 4.1(4) (2003). Such resources are important because " t is assumed that whenever the legislature enacts a provision it has in mind previous statutes relating to the same subject matter." 2B Singer § 51:02, at 176; accord State v. Kellogg, 542 N.W.2d 514, 516 (Iowa 1996) (stating that in interpreting statutory language, courts may consider similar statutes).
At the time the Iowa Tort Claims Act was enacted in 1965, this court had consistently used the term "accrue" within the context of the statute of limitations to refer to the time of injury, without regard to the time the injury was discovered. See, e.g., Ogg, 181 Iowa at 150-51, 162 N.W. at 220-21. Thus, it must be presumed our legislature understood this approach at the time it enacted the Iowa Tort Claims Act in 1965, and if it was contrary to its intent, would have enacted legislation to change our approach by using different language or providing different instructions. Cf. State ex rel. Palmer v. Bd. of Supervisors, 365 N.W.2d 35, 37 (Iowa 1985) ("' n amendment substituting a new term or phrase for one previously construed indicates that the judicial or executive construction of the former term or phrase did not correspond with the legislative intent and a different interpretation should be given the new term or phrase.'" (Citations omitted.)). Of course, the legislature has done this before by enacting the three statutory exceptions over the years. See Iowa Code § 614.4 (excepting actions based on fraud, mistake, and trespass from general rule that cause of action accrues when its elements occur, not when the injury is discovered). The presence of these exceptions is important because it confirms that our legislature understood our judicial approach to the accrual of a cause of action and knew it was necessary to establish specific exceptions to change that approach in those cases where our approach did not represent its intent. Instead, in the Iowa Tort Claims Act, the legislature made no statutory provision to contravene our longstanding approach of holding accrual occurs notwithstanding the plaintiff's ignorance of the claim. Compare Iowa Code § 11010 (1935) ("In actions for relief on the ground of fraud or mistake, and those for trespass to property, the cause of action shall not be deemed to have accrued until the fraud, mistake, or trespass complained of shall have been discovered by the party aggrieved."), with id. § 25A.2(5) (1966) (stating "'claim' includes only such claims accruing on or after January 1, 1963," and stating claim must be brought "within two years after such claim accrued or prior to July 1, 1967," but not containing any specific provision as to when a claim shall or shall not be deemed to have accrued).
I recognize that by 1965, other states around the nation were beginning to apply the discovery rule to the accrual of a cause of action in the context of the statute of limitations. See Chrischilles, 260 Iowa at 462, 150 N.W.2d at 100 (citing cases from other jurisdictions applying the discovery rule). Yet, it cannot be presumed our legislature would have intended to adopt such a trend in Iowa in place of our longstanding contrary view, without some specific expression of its intent. Generally, it cannot be presumed that a legislature had statutes of a different state in mind when enacting a statute. 2B Singer § 51:06, at 263. Similarly, it cannot be presumed that a legislature had judicial decisions relating to such foreign statutes in mind when enacting a statute. Id. § 51:06, at 263-64. Consequently, consistent with our longstanding principles of statutory interpretation, any principled analysis must conclude that when our legislature stated in
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