602 S.W.3d 398
Tex.2020Background
- Texas Education Code authorizes private universities to employ and commission peace officers and vests those officers with the "powers, privileges, and immunities of peace officers."
- The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) formed a campus police department; more than twenty Texas private universities have done similarly.
- In 2013 a UIW peace officer fatally shot student Cameron Redus after a traffic stop; Redus’s parents sued the officer and UIW for wrongful death, alleging negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention.
- The trial court denied UIW’s plea to the jurisdiction claiming sovereign immunity; this Court allowed an interlocutory appeal on jurisdictional grounds in Redus I and remanded the sovereign-immunity question to the court of appeals.
- The court of appeals held UIW does not enjoy sovereign immunity; the Supreme Court of Texas affirmed, holding (1) UIW is not an "arm of the State" and (2) sovereign immunity should not be extended to a private university for its law-enforcement activities.
- The Education Code grants official immunity to commissioned officers (a conduct-based immunity) but contains no clear legislative directive extending entity-based sovereign immunity to private universities.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether UIW is an "arm of the State" entitled to sovereign immunity | Redus: UIW is private; State exerts no control; no arm-of-state status | UIW: Legislature authorized campus police; for law-enforcement purposes UIW functions as arm of State | Held: UIW is not an arm of the State; its police dept. is part of a private institution and controlled by UIW trustees |
| Whether sovereign immunity extends to UIW for law-enforcement activities | Redus: Sovereign immunity should not be extended to private entities absent clear legislative intent | UIW: Immunity needed to protect public policy, avoid shifting law-enforcement costs to taxpayers, and to implement legislative scheme | Held: Sovereign immunity does not extend; doctrine’s purposes (separation of powers, protecting public treasury) not served here |
| Whether officers’ statutory "official immunity" makes UIW immune derivatively | Redus: Statute grants officers official immunity; that does not automatically make UIW immune | UIW: Benefits from officers’ immunity and seeks derivative/entity immunity for same acts | Held: Statute grants conduct-based official immunity to officers; legislature did not confer independent, entity-based sovereign immunity on UIW |
| Whether legislative enactments indicate intent to treat private campus police as governmental units | Redus: Legislative scheme is limited (e.g., PIA designation) and shows no broad entity immunity intent | UIW: Authorization to commission officers evidences intent to integrate into state law-enforcement | Held: Legislature’s selective provisions (officer immunity, limited PIA governmental-body designation) show no clear intent to confer sovereign immunity on private universities |
Key Cases Cited
- Brown & Gay Eng’g, Inc. v. Olivares, 461 S.W.3d 117 (Tex. 2015) (government control and derivative-immunity framework; limits on extending immunity to private contractors)
- Wasson Interests, Ltd. v. City of Jacksonville, 489 S.W.3d 427 (Tex. 2016) (defining modern sovereign-immunity principles and judicial role in shaping doctrine)
- Reata Constr. Corp. v. City of Dallas, 197 S.W.3d 371 (Tex. 2006) (courts define common-law sovereign-immunity boundaries)
- Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco Consol. Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Tex. Pol. Subdivisions Prop./Cas. Joint Self-Ins. Fund, 212 S.W.3d 320 (Tex. 2006) (statutory intent and the "nature, purposes and powers" test for arm-of-state status)
- City of Lancaster v. Chambers, 883 S.W.2d 650 (Tex. 1994) (official-immunity standard for officers performing discretionary duties in good faith)
- DeWitt v. Harris County, 904 S.W.2d 650 (Tex. 1995) (derivative application of official immunity to governmental entities)