Gossar v. State

24 Ill. Ct. Cl. 183, 1961 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 39
CourtCourt of Claims of Illinois
DecidedMarch 24, 1961
DocketNo. 4828
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 24 Ill. Ct. Cl. 183 (Gossar v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Claims of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gossar v. State, 24 Ill. Ct. Cl. 183, 1961 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 39 (Ill. Super. Ct. 1961).

Opinions

Tolson, C. J.

Claimant, Jacob G-. Gossar, sustained injuries in a wreck of a motorcycle, which he was riding on September 11, 1957. A complaint was filed in June, 1958 on his behalf in this Court seeking recovery for these injuries from respondent, State of Illinois.

On the 3rd day of March, 1959, respondent, State of Illinois, through its Attorney General, filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on the grounds that claimant had not filed a notice of his claim with the Attorney General, as set out in Section 22-1 of the Court of Claims Act.

Sections 22-1 and 22-2 were enacted by House Bill No. 552 of the 70th General Assembly of the State of Illinois. It was passed by the General Assembly on June 28, 1957, and approved by the Governor of Illinois on July 10, 1957.

Subsequently, claimant filed with this Court objections to the motion to dismiss and amended objections to the motion to dismiss raising several questions as to the motion, but primarily challenging the constitutionality of said House Bill No. 552 for the reason that it violates Section 13 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1870.

The pleadings in this case have presented the following issues:

1. Is House Bill No. 552 of the 70th General Assembly an amendatory act?

2. If House Bill No. 552 is an amendatory act, does it comply with Section 13 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1870, which provides, “No law shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the law revived, or the section amended, shall be inserted at length in the new act”?

3. Is House Bill No. 552 of the 70th General Assembly an act complete within itself?

4. If House Bill No. 552 is a complete act within itself, does it comply with Section 13 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1870, which provides, “No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title”?

The Statutes and Article IV, Section 13 of the Constitution, involved in this case, are hereinafter set forth:

“Section 22 of the Court of Claims Act provides:
“Except as provided in subsection F of Section 8 of this Act, every claim, other than a claim arising out of a contract or a claim arising under subsection C of Section 8 of this Act, cognizable by the Court and not otherwise sooner barred by law shall be forever barred from prosecution therein unless it is filed with the Clerk of the Court within 2 years after it first accrues, saving to infants, idiots, lunatics, insane persons and persons under disability at the time the claim accrues 2 years from the time the disability ceases.
“Every claim cognizable by the Court, arising out of a contract and not otherwise sooner barred by law, shall be forever barred from prosecution therein unless it is filed with the Clerk of the Court within 5 years after it first accrues, saving to infants, idiots, lunatics, insane persons and persons under other disability at the time the claim accrues 5 years from the time the disability ceases. Every claim cognizable by the Court arising under subsection C of Section 8 of this Act shall be forever barred from prosecution therein unless it is filed with the Clerk of the Court within 2 years after the person asserting such claim is discharged from prison, or is granted a pardon by the Governor, whichever occurs later.”
“House Bill No. 552:
“An Act to add Sections 22-1 and 22-2 to an Act to create the Court of Claims, to prescribe its powers and duties, and to repeal an Act herein named, filed July 17, 1945, as amended.
“Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly;
“Section 1. Sections 22-1 and 22-2 are added to an Act to create the Court of Claims, to prescribe its powers and duties, and to repeal an Act herein named, filed July 17, 1945, as amended, to read as follows:
“22-1. Within six months from the date that such injury was received or such a cause of action accrued, any person who is about to commence any action in the Court of Claims against the State of Illinois for damages on account of any injury to his person shall file in the office of the Attorney General and also in the office of the Clerk of the Court of Claims, either by himself, his agent, or attorney, giving the name of the person to whom the cause of action has accrued, the name and residence of the person injured, the date and about the hour of the accident, the place or location where the accident occurred, and the name and address of the attending physician, if any.
“22-2.. If the notice provided for by Section 22-1 is not filed as provided in that Section, any such action commenced against the State of Illinois shall be dismissed and the person to whom any such cause of action accrued for any personal injury shall be forever barred from further action in the Court of Claims for such personal injury.
2. This amendatory Act shall apply only to causes of action accruing after the effective date of this amendatory act.
Passed in General Assembly June 28, 1957.
Approved July 10, 1957.”

The Illinois Constitution of 1870, Article IV, Section 13, provides as follows:

“Every bill shall be read at large on three different days, in each house; and the bill and all amendments thereto shall be printed before the vote is taken on its final passage; and every bill, having passed both houses, shall be signed by the speakers thereof. No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title. But if any subject shall be embraced in an act which shall not be expressed in the title, such act shall be void only as to so much thereof as shall not be so expressed; and no law shall be revived or amended by reference to its title only, but the law revived, or the section amended, shall be inserted at length in the new act. And no act of the General Assembly shall take effect until the first day of July next after its passage, unless, in case of emergency, (which emergency shall be expressed in the preamble or body of the act), the General Assembly shall, by a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house, otherwise direct.”

It is apparent from the reading of House Bill No. 552 that, if it is to be considered as an amendment to Section 22 of the Court of Claims Act, it would violate Section 13 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution of 1870, as it was not inserted at length in the new act. Giebelhausen vs. Daley, 407 Ill. 25.

While respondent does not concede this point, it is apparent from its brief that it takes the position that House Bill No. 552 is an act complete within itself, and that it does not violate Section 13 of Article IV of the Constitution with reference to the requirement “No act hereafter passed shall embrace more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title.”

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Related

Woodard v. State
47 Ill. Ct. Cl. 49 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1995)
Hershey v. State
43 Ill. Ct. Cl. 108 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1990)
Sass v. State
36 Ill. Ct. Cl. 111 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1984)
Marriott v. State
36 Ill. Ct. Cl. 287 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1982)
Busch v. State
33 Ill. Ct. Cl. 241 (Court of Claims of Illinois, 1979)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
24 Ill. Ct. Cl. 183, 1961 Ill. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gossar-v-state-ilclaimsct-1961.