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Greenwell v. Davis11/22/2005
r. The unique characteristics of Texarkana often require the two departments to coordinate their activities to investigate crimes which are committed in part in Texas and in part in Arkansas. Since each state is limited in making arrests within the limits of its own territorial jurisdiction, it is imperative that the police departments cooperate with each other, otherwise a person charged with a crime could avoid prosecution by merely entering the other state. The need for cooperation between Texas and Arkansas in policing the streets of Texarkana heightens the desirability that the public policy of each state fosters such cooperation. When an emergency occurs which requires the coordinated efforts of police in both states, each must be prepared to act without debating which state's law governs the liability for its actions. It is in the general interest of the citizens of Texas to foster this cooperation of law enforcement officials. Doing otherwise might have a chilling effect and hamper the joint efforts of the police departments.
Since comity is grounded in cooperation and mutuality, we should extend comity if the state in question is a cooperative state and has itself extended comity and recognized the sovereignty of Texas and other states. K.D.F, 878 S.W.2d at 594. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, we will treat Arkansas as a cooperative jurisdiction. "There is a presumption that the sovereign states in the United States intend to adopt a policy of broad comity toward one another." Caudle, 108 S.W.3d at 321. Therefore, we will extend comity to the law of a cooperative jurisdiction so long as that law does not violate Texas public policy. K.D.F., 878 S.W.2d at 595; Robertson v. Estate of McKnight, 609 S.W.2d 534, 537 (Tex. 1980). The dispute in this case concerns whether the trial court erred in finding that the Arkansas sovereign immunity statute violates Texas public policy. Both Texas and Arkansas have limited waivers of sovereign immunity, but the two states differ in the extent of that waiver.
Texas courts have recognized the sovereign immunity statutes of other states when their limited waiver of sovereign immunity was greater than or identical to Texas. K.D.F., 878 S.W.2d at 595--97 (Kansas sovereign immunity); Cason, 1997 Tex. App. LEXIS 811 (Louisiana sovereign immunity does not violate Texas public policy); Hawsey, 934 S.W.2d at 727 (Louisiana sovereign immunity). But see Amarillo Hosp. Dist., 835 S.W.2d at 130 (refusing to grant Oklahoma hospital immunity from suit). Texas "will only refuse to enforce a foreign law which violates good morals, natural justice, or is prejudicial to the general interests of our own citizens." Robertson, 609 S.W.2d at 537; see Gutierrez, 583 S.W.2d 312.
While the issue presented here is uncommon, a very similar case has been decided by the federal courts. Lee, 800 F.2d 1372. In Lee, the Fifth Circuit held that the Texas trial court abused its discretion in refusing to extend comity. Id. at 1377. The facts in Lee showed that Miller County, Arkansas, owned a helicopter used for law enforcement and civil defense purposes. On numerous occasions, Miller County provided the helicopter, at a nominal fee, to Bowie County, Texas, for civil defense purposes. The Miller County pilot flew the helicopter to an air show in Mount Pleasant, Texas, and allowed two Texarkana, Texas, police officers, who were also serving in civil defense capacities in Texas, to ride in the helicopter. It crashed, and the officers sued Miller County, Arkansas, which invoked the sovereign immunity doctrine based on comity and other theories. Id. at 1373--74. In Lee, the invocation of Arkansas' sovereign immunity doctrine would have resulted in complete immunity of Mil
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