Clark v. Randolph County

36 S.W.3d 353, 71 Ark. App. 112, 2000 Ark. App. LEXIS 609
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 27, 2000
DocketCA 00-44
StatusPublished

This text of 36 S.W.3d 353 (Clark v. Randolph County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clark v. Randolph County, 36 S.W.3d 353, 71 Ark. App. 112, 2000 Ark. App. LEXIS 609 (Ark. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinions

K. MaxKOONCE, II, Judge.

This is an appeal from the • trial court’s order of summary judgment. Appellant contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of appellees finding that the county was not required under the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act to insure vehicles that are not subject to registration in this state. We disagree and affirm.

Appellant, Kathy Lynn Clark, was injured when her car collided with a road grader owned by Randolph County and operated by James Burnett. Appellant was traveling in the southbound lane of a county road when she approached the top of a hill and collided with the road grader, which was heading north in the southbound lane. Appellant filed suit against James Burnett, Randolph County, and USF&G, Randolph County’s insurance carrier.

USF&G moved for summary judgment on the basis that the policy did not provide coverage for the accident. The trial court granted USF&G’s motion, which is not at issue in the present appeal. Randolph County then filed a motion for summary judgment on the basis that the county and its officers and employees, while acting on behalf of the county, have tort immunity. Appellants responded by arguing that, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303 (Repl. 1996), the county was required to carry liability insurance on their motor vehicles or become self-insured for their vehicles in the minimum amounts prescribed by the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act, which is codified at Ark. Code Ann. §§ 27-19-101 to -720 (Repl. 1994 & Supp. 1999).

A hearing on the motion was held on August 24, 1999. After the parties made brief arguments, the judge granted the motion from the bench. As outlined in its order, the court found that the road grader was not a vehicle required to be licensed under the motor vehicle registration laws and that the county was not required under the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act to insure vehicles that are not subject to registration. Appellant appeals the trial court’s order granting summary judgment.

Our standard of review with regard to summary judgment is well established. While it is no longer considered a drastic remedy, summary judgment is only approved when the state of the evidence as portrayed by the pleadings, affidavits, discovery responses, and admissions on file is such that the non-moving party is not entitled to a day in court. Guidry v. Harp’s Food Stores, Inc., 66 Ark. App. 93, 987 S.W.2d 755 (1999). The moving party bears the burden of sustaining a motion for summary judgment. Id. On appeal, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Id.

Appellant argues that the county’s road grader is a motor vehicle pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 27-19-206 (Repl. 1994), and the county was therefore required, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303, to carry liability insurance on its motor vehicles or become self-insured to the extent provided in the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act. Arkansas Code Annotated section 27-19-206 defines motor vehicle as follows:

“Motor vehicle” means every vehicle which is self-propelled and every vehicle which is propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails.

Further, Arkansas Code Annotated section 21-9-303 provides that all political subdivisions must carry liability insurance or become self-insurers for their vehicles in the minimum amounts prescribed in the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act. The county contends that a road grader is not a vehicle subject to the registration laws of the State of Arkansas and that the county was not required under the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act to insure vehicles which are not subject to registration.

Our supreme court addressed this issue in Cousins v. Dennis, 298 Ark. 310, 767 S.W.2d 296 (1989). In Cousins, Tracy Cousins was injured at school when she was struck in the left eye by a rock which was thrown by a bush-hog mower pulled by a tractor. The tractor was driven by appellee L.D. Dennis who was mowing grass on the school grounds under the direction of the school maintenance supervisor. Tracy Cousins’s father sued the Huntsville School District and L.D. Dennis alleging that their negligence caused his son’s injury.

The supreme court in Cousins addressed the same issue that is raised in the present appeal — whether the school district was required, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303, to insure the vehicle that was involved in the accident. Cousins argued that the tractor used by the school district was a motor vehicle within the meaning of Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303. Cousins relied on Thompson v. Sanford, 281 Ark. 365, 663 S.W.2d 932 (1984), where the Dardanelle School District was held liable for negligence of its employee who was using a tractor on a highway when it struck a motorcycle. The supreme court was quick to dismiss Cousins’s reliance on Thompson because the court never addressed the issue of whether a tractor is a motor vehicle under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303. The Huntsville School District argued that the tractor is not a motor vehicle that is required to be insured under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-9-303. The supreme court reasoned that a tractor is excepted from registration laws under Ark. Code Ann. § 27-14-703 (Repl. 1994) as an implement of husbandry. The supreme court held that the school district was not required to insure its tractor under Ark. Code Ann. § 19-10-303 (a) because the vehicle was not required to be registered under Arkansas law.

The supreme court discussed its interpretation of the relevant statutes as follows:

In construing 21-9-303(a), it is tempting to conclude that since the General Assembly failed to mention the vehicle registration statutes, those registration laws do not apply and, thus, a political subdivision should insure every motor vehicle it owns, registered or not. Such a construction would be erroneous for several reasons. One reason is that the language in 21~9-303(a) specifically refers to the entire Motor Vehicle Responsibility Act, which, as we previously have discussed, relies, in turn, upon Arkansas’s vehicle registration and licensing laws. Another, and more important reason, is if Arkansas’s vehicle registration laws are not considered when construing 21-9-303(a), absurd results would be reached. For example, if we limited the construction of 21-9-303(a) to require political subdivisions to carry liability insurance on all motor vehicles meeting the definition found in 27-19-206, a self-propelling riding lawn mower would qualify, thereby requiring the school district to include its mowers under liability coverage. This same rationale would include any self-propelled vehicle even though it is not designed or used primarily for transportation of persons or property. If we were to construe 21-9-303(a) without considering all relevant provisions of Arkansas’s vehicle registration laws and Motor Vehicle Responsibility Act, another absurdity would arise by requiring political subdivisions to acquire liability insurance coverage on vehicles, which no one else in the state would be required to insure.

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Related

Guidry v. Harp's Food Stores, Inc.
987 S.W.2d 755 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1999)
Ragland v. Alpha Aviation, Inc.
686 S.W.2d 391 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1985)
Sturdivant v. City of Farmington
500 S.W.2d 769 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1973)
Thompson v. Sanford
663 S.W.2d 932 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1984)
Brandon v. Arkansas Public Service Commission
992 S.W.2d 834 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1999)
Cousins v. Dennis
767 S.W.2d 296 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1989)
Metcalf v. Texarkana School District
986 S.W.2d 893 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1999)
City of Fort Smith v. Brewer
502 S.W.2d 643 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
36 S.W.3d 353, 71 Ark. App. 112, 2000 Ark. App. LEXIS 609, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clark-v-randolph-county-arkctapp-2000.