Burks v. Bolerjack

427 N.E.2d 887, 1981 Ind. LEXIS 890
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 1981
Docket1181S318
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 427 N.E.2d 887 (Burks v. Bolerjack) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burks v. Bolerjack, 427 N.E.2d 887, 1981 Ind. LEXIS 890 (Ind. 1981).

Opinions

ON PETITION TO TRANSFER

HUNTER, Justice.

This cause is before us on the petition to transfer of defendant Dean Bolerjack, who seeks review of the Court of Appeals’ decision found at Burks v. Bolerjack, (1980) Ind.App., 411 N.E.2d 148 (Staton, J., dissenting). We hereby grant Bolerjack’s petition to transfer and vacate the Court of Appeals’ opinion insofar as the single issue raised in the petition is concerned. That issue is:

Whether Ind. Code § 34-4-16.5-5(a) (Burns 1980 Supp.) bars an action against a governmental employee when judgment has been granted to the employing governmental entity on the basis of tort claims notice requirements.

Other questions decided by the Court of Appeals are not at issue on the petition before us. The Court of Appeals’ resolution of those questions therefore remains in full force and effect; we express no opinion regarding the disposition of those matters.1

This action originated from the escape of four inmates at the St. Joseph County Jail on June 1, 1975. Willie Burks, the plaintiff herein, was employed as a guard at the time of the jailbreak. On June 13, 1975, he was charged with conspiring to aid the inmates in their escape; he was placed in jail for a period in excess of twenty-four hours until he was released on bond. At his trial in April of 1976, a mistrial was declared due to the jury’s inability to reach a verdict. Ultimately, the criminal charge against Burks was dismissed upon motion of the prosecuting attorney.

Meanwhile, on October 12, 1976, Burks provided notice to the St. Joseph County Commissioners of his intention to sue the county for damages resulting from his arrest, incarceration, and prosecution. Named as defendants in the complaint ultimately filed were St. Joseph County and Bolerjack, who “was acting in his capacity as Sheriff . . . and as agent for St. Joseph County.” Among the tortious conduct2 alleged therein was a count for false imprisonment.

Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the cause based on the failure of Burks to provide notice of his intent to sue the county within 180 days of the alleged tortious conduct, as required by Ind. Code § 34-4 — 16.-5-7 (Burns 1980 Supp.). The trial court sustained the defendants’ motion.

Burks appealed. Our Third District Court of Appeals correctly noted that a claim for false arrest or imprisonment accrues upon the date of the arrest or imprisonment. Livingston v. Consol. City of Indianapolis, (1979) Ind.App., 398 N.E.2d 1302. On that basis, the Court of Appeals properly upheld the dismissal of Burks’s claim against the county on the basis of his failure to give timely notice. The Court of Appeals reversed, however, the dismissal of Burks’s false imprisonment claim against defendant Bolerjack; the Court concluded that an action against a governmental employee was not barred by Ind. Code § 34 — 4-16.5-5(a), supra, when judgment had been entered in favor of the employing governmental entity on the basis of noncompliance with Tort Claims Act notice requirements.

[889]*889We note at this juncture that both the First and Second Districts of our Court of Appeals have confronted the precise question at bar and concluded that a suit against the governmental employee is barred by the statute. Delaware County v. Powell, (1978) Ind.App., 382 N.E.2d 958, rev’d on other grounds, (1979) Ind., 393 N.E.2d 190; Coghill v. Badger, (1981) Ind.App., 418 N.E.2d 1201 (petition for rehearing pending).3

Subsection “a” of Ind. Code § 34-4:-16.5-5, supra, the particular statutory provision at issue, reads in its entirety:

“(a) A judgment rendered with respect to or a settlement made by a governmental entity bars an action by the claimant against an employee whose conduct gave rise to the claim resulting in that judgment or settlement.”

The language of the statute is plain and unambiguous. If a governmental employee’s conduct gives rise to a claim in tort against the employing governmental entity, any “judgment” rendered with respect to the governmental entity, or any “settlement” which the governmental entity executes, bars an action against an employee.

Notwithstanding the lack of ambiguity in subsection “a,” the Court of Appeals employed rules of statutory interpretation in reaching its conclusion. Burks v. Bolerjack, supra, at 148. The Court of Appeals’ resort to statutory construction was not warranted, for as this Court stated in Indiana State Highway Commission v. White, (1973) 259 Ind. 690, 694, 291 N.E.2d 550, 553:

“When, as here, we are called upon to construe a statute, it must first be decided whether or not the above provisions are uncertain and ambiguous so as to warrant construction. Grody v. State (1972) 257 Ind. 651, 278 N.E.2d 280; Eads v. J. & J. Sales Corp. (1971) 257 Ind. 485, 275 N.E.2d 802; Reome v. Edwards (1948), 226 Ind. 229, 79 N.E.2d 389; Leach v. City of Evansville (1937), 211 Ind. 444, 7 N.E.2d 207.”

Our adherence to the rule enunciated above has been painstaking. Whitacre v. State, (1980) Ind., 412 N.E.2d 1202; Grody v. State, (1972) 257 Ind. 651, 278 N.E.2d 280; Schwartzkopf v. State ex rel. Fettig, (1965) 246 Ind. 201, 204 N.E.2d 342; Reome v. Edwards, (1948) 226 Ind. 229, 79 N.E.2d 389; Sue Yee Lee v. Lafayette Home Hospital, Inc., (1980) Ind.App., 410 N.E.2d 1319.

The dismissal of Burks’s suit against St. Joseph County was a “judgment” both final and appealable; it left nothing for resolution between the parties. Coghill v. Badger, supra; Thompson v. Thompson, (1972) 259 Ind. 266, 286 N.E.2d 657; Richards v. Crown Point Community School Corp., (1971) 256 Ind. 347, 269 N.E.2d 5; Seaney v. Ayres, (1958) 238 Ind.

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427 N.E.2d 887, 1981 Ind. LEXIS 890, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burks-v-bolerjack-ind-1981.