GREENE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, APPELLEE, v. LIMING ET AL., APPELLANTS; MANGAN, APPELLEE.
No. 99-1755
Supreme Court of Ohio
September 6, 2000
89 Ohio St.3d 551 | 2000-Ohio-486
Submitted May 23, 2000. Appeal from the Court of Appeals for Greene County, No. 98-CA-119.
- A county agricultural society is a political subdivision pursuant to
R.C. 2744.01(F) . - The conducting of a livestock competition at a county fair by a county agricultural society is a proprietary function pursuant to
R.C. Chapter 2744 .
{¶ 1} This case centers on the showing of a hog, named “Big Fat,” by then seventeen-year-old Laura Liming at the 1996 Greene County Fair. Laura Liming entered Big Fat in the hog show at the July 1996 fair as part of a 4-H Club project. Big Fat was named “Reserve Grand Champion,” the second highest award for a hog at the show.
{¶ 2} After the conclusion of the fair, appellee Larry Mangan, the president of appellee Greene County Agricultural Society (“the Society“), began an investigation based on information he received indicating that Big Fat may not have been eligible to compete in the hog show. Specifically, Mangan investigated whether Laura Liming had violated an exhibition rule that required that all hogs exhibited at the fair be purchased prior to May 15, 1996.
{¶ 3} Mangan‘s investigation raised suspicions that Big Fat may have been the same hog that was shown under a different name by a different person at the Clinton County Fair earlier in that summer of 1996, and that Laura Liming may have purchased the hog after its showing at the Clinton County Fair. Mangan‘s investigation revealed that according to the rules of the Clinton County Fair, hogs were required to be slaughtered after that fair‘s hog show. Mangan became convinced that the hog in question, after its showing at the Clinton County Fair, was sold to Laura Liming rather than being slaughtered. Subsequently, it appears that the Society adopted the report of its Livestock Committee, concluding at a meeting on February 24, 1997, that Laura Liming had violated the fair‘s rules by purchasing Big Fat after the May 15 purchase deadline and showing the hog at the fair.1
{¶ 4} The Society imposed sanctions against appellants Laura Liming and her parents James and Diane Liming for their alleged roles in the incident. The Society also sanctioned appellant Kenneth Smith, who allegedly had facilitated the sale of Big Fat to Laura Liming and to whom hogs at the Clinton County Fair were consigned for slaughter. The sanctions included ordering Laura Liming to return all ribbons, trophies, and money received above the consignment price resulting from her exhibition of Big Fat; barring the immediate family of James Liming from participating in the 1997, 1998, and 1999 Greene County Fairs; barring the immediate family of Kenneth Smith from participating in the 1997, 1998, and 1999 Greene County Fairs; and declaring that no individual or group associated with Kenneth Smith would be awarded consignment of 4-H animals shown at the Greene County Fair.
{¶ 5} On April 30, 1997, the Society filed suit against the Limings and Smith in the Court of Common Pleas of Greene County in an apparent attempt to enforce the sanctions. The Society also sought compensatory and punitive damages.
{¶ 6} On July 17, 1997, the Limings and Smith filed an answer, a counterclaim against the Society, and a third-party complaint against Mangan and others, asserting that no violation of the fair‘s rules had taken place and that the Society and Mangan had violated their due-process rights and had defamed them in articles about the incident published in the Xenia Daily Gazette. The Limings and Smith sought compensatory and punitive damages and injunctive relief.
{¶ 7} The Limings and Smith moved for summary judgment on July 31, 1998, as to the claims in the Society‘s complaint, arguing that the sanctions could not be enforced because the Society had allegedly not followed its internal procedures in considering the matter. On August 30, 1998, the Society and Mangan moved for summary judgment on the claims raised against them in the counterclaim and third-party complaint, arguing that pursuant to the doctrine of sovereign immunity set forth in
{¶ 8} On September 30, 1998, in two separate decisions, the trial court ruled on the summary judgment motions that had been filed by each side. In one decision, the trial court ruled that the Society was a political subdivision that had engaged in a governmental function, and so found the Society immune pursuant to
{¶ 9} In its other decision, the trial court overruled the motion for summary judgment filed by the Limings and Smith, determining that genuine issues of material fact existed as to the propriety of the Society‘s investigation and sanctions. The trial court set a date for trial on the claims raised in the Society‘s complaint.
{¶ 10} The Limings and Smith appealed to the Court of Appeals for Greene County from both decisions of the trial court. The court of appeals determined that only the trial court‘s summary judgment finding the Society and Mangan to be immune was a final appealable order, and that the other decision denying summary judgment to the Limings and Smith was not.2 Therefore, in its opinion, the court of appeals addressed only the issues relating to the immunity of the Society and Mangan. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment of the trial court on those issues.
{¶ 11} The cause is now before this court pursuant to the allowance of a discretionary appeal.
Freund, Freeze & Arnold, Neil F. Freund and Lynnette Pisone Ballato, for appellees Greene County Agricultural Society and Larry T. Mangan.
David M. Deutsch Co., L.P.A., and David M. Deutsch, for appellants.
Betty D. Montgomery, Attorney General, Barbara A. Servé and Peter M. Thomas, Assistant Attorneys General, urging affirmance for amicus curiae Ohio Department of Agriculture.
King & Blair and James F. Blair, urging affirmance for amicus curiae Ohio Fair Managers Association.
ALICE ROBIE RESNICK, J.
I
{¶ 13} Since
{¶ 14}
{¶ 15} Since the Society does not fall within any of the other groups listed in
{¶ 16}
{¶ 17} Black‘s Law Dictionary (7 Ed.1999) 167, defines “body politic” as “[a] group of people regarded in a political (rather than private) sense and organized under a single governmental authority.”
{¶ 18} This exact issue of whether a county agricultural society is a political subdivision as contemplated in
{¶ 19} In that opinion, the Attorney General determined that a county agricultural society is a political subdivision and so could undertake the insurance actions at issue relating to tort claims against it. Similarly to the framework of the discussion we have set out above, the Attorney General stated that the only requirement of
{¶ 20} The Attorney General acknowledged that “[c]ertainly, county agricultural societies possess some characteristics that suggest that their activities are not governmental.” However, the Attorney General nevertheless concluded that county agricultural societies are responsible for governmental activities, and therefore are political subdivisions under
{¶ 21} The Attorney General reasoned that “the primary purpose of county agricultural societies has repeatedly been identified as education.” The Attorney General quoted from State ex rel. Leaverton v. Kerns (1922), 104 Ohio St. 550, 554-555, 136 N.E. 217, 218: “[A]n agricultural fair is * * * a public institution designed for public instruction, the advancement of learning and the dissemination of useful knowledge.” The Attorney General also pointed out that under
{¶ 22} We are in agreement with the court of appeals that appellants’ arguments based on Hamilton Cty. Bd. of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities v. Professionals Guild of Ohio (1989), 46 Ohio St.3d 147, 545 N.E.2d 1260, are not on point. The issue in that case was whether the county board was a “person” for purposes of
{¶ 23} We see no reason to disagree with the conclusion reached by the Attorney General in 1988 Ohio Atty.Gen.Ops. No. 88-034 on this point, the first component of our inquiry.4 We hold that a county agricultural society is a political subdivision pursuant to
II
{¶ 24} Having found that the Society is a political subdivision, we must ask, as the next component of our inquiry, whether the Society is entitled to immunity under the provisions of
{¶ 25}
{¶ 26} The exception in
{¶ 27} The mutually exclusive definitions of “governmental function” and “proprietary function” are set out in
{¶ 28}
“(a) A function that is imposed upon the state as an obligation of sovereignty and that is performed by a political subdivision voluntarily or pursuant to legislative requirement;
“(b) A function that is for the common good of all citizens of the state;
“(c) A function that promotes or preserves the public peace, health, safety or welfare [and] that involves activities that are not engaged in or not customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons * * *.”
{¶ 29}
“In performing those duties which are imposed upon the state as obligations of sovereignty, such as protection from crime, or fires, or contagion, or preserving the peace and health of citizens and protecting their property, * * * the function is governmental, and if the municipality undertakes the performance of those functions, whether voluntarily or by legislative imposition, the municipality becomes an arm of sovereignty and a governmental agency and is entitled to * * * immunity * * *. If, on the other hand, there is no obligation on the part of the municipality to perform them, but it does in fact do so for the comfort and convenience of its citizens * * * and the city has an election whether to do or omit to do those acts, the function is private and proprietary.
“Another familiar test is whether the act is for the common good of all the people of the state, or whether it relates to special corporate benefit or profit.”
{¶ 31} The Wooster court expounded that “[i]f the function being exercised is proprietary and in pursuit of private and corporate duties, for the particular benefit of the [municipal] corporation and its inhabitants, as distinguished from those things in which the whole state has an interest, the city is liable.” 116 Ohio St. at 284, 156 N.E. at 211.
{¶ 32} When a political subdivision‘s acts go beyond governmental functions (and when it acts in a proprietary nature) there is little justification for affording immunity to that political subdivision. “Having entered into activities ordinarily reserved to the field of private enterprise, a [political subdivision] should be held to the same responsibilities and liabilities as are private citizens.” Schenkolewski v. Cleveland Metroparks Sys. (1981), 67 Ohio St.2d 31, 37, 21 O.O.3d 19, 24, 426 N.E.2d 784, 788.
{¶ 33} With the above considerations in mind, we consider the application of
{¶ 34} We summarily agree with the court of appeals’ determination that the Society‘s activities implicated in this case do not fall within
{¶ 35} As to
{¶ 36} We specifically find that the Society‘s activities do not fall within
{¶ 37} The pivotal provision to construe in determining whether the Society engaged in governmental or proprietary functions is
{¶ 38} As we acknowledged above in considering whether the Society is a political subdivision, there is an educational component to the Society‘s activities. See Leaverton, 104 Ohio St. at 554-555, 136 N.E. at 218. This educational component may perhaps be sufficient to support a finding that the activities at issue promote the public welfare. However,
{¶ 39} In resolving this question, we must first recognize that a central consideration within the structure of
{¶ 40} It is apparent to us that even though conducting a county fair may be an activity not customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons, conducting a livestock competition is an activity customarily engaged in by nongovernmental
{¶ 41} In a situation such as the present case, when the political subdivision at issue is not one of the bodies specifically mentioned within
{¶ 42} Unlike the court of appeals, we determine that the Society‘s activities at issue do not constitute governmental functions, but instead are proprietary functions. We hold that the conducting of a livestock competition at a county fair by a county agricultural society is a proprietary function pursuant to
{¶ 43} Since we have determined that an
{¶ 44} However, the question of Mangan‘s personal liability, and how
{¶ 45}
{¶ 46} The trial court granted summary judgment to Mangan on the issue of his personal immunity, finding that none of the requirements for imposing personal liability on an employee under
{¶ 47} Appellants, as part of their appeal to the court of appeals, challenged the trial court‘s finding that Mangan was entitled to personal immunity under
{¶ 48} Because we have found that the Society is not immune, and because this matter is being remanded to the trial court for further proceedings, further facts may emerge regarding the propriety and details of Mangan‘s actions. Given this scenario, we vacate at this time the trial court‘s determination (and the court of appeals’ subsequent affirmance) that Mangan is individually immune. We view the lower courts’ decisions on this issue as premature. We stress that, upon remand, Mangan‘s personal immunity is an open question, at this time neither established nor foreclosed. We additionally emphasize that our holding that the Society is not immune is solely on that question of law, and should not be read as having any bearing on the resolution of the merits of the claims of any party.
{¶ 49} In conclusion, the judgment of the court of appeals that the Society is immune from suit is reversed, and this cause is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.
F.E. SWEENEY, J., concurs.
DOUGLAS and PFEIFER, JJ., concur in the syllabus and judgment.
MOYER, C.J., COOK and LUNDBERG STRATTON, JJ., dissent.
{¶ 50} I concur with the syllabus and judgment of the majority. While I do so, I continue to adhere to my dissent in Gladon v. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Auth. (1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 312, 323, 662 N.E.2d 287, 296.
PFEIFER, J., concurs in the foregoing concurring opinion.
COOK, J., dissenting.
{¶ 51} I agree with the majority‘s conclusion that the Agricultural Society is a political subdivision, but I dissent from the holding that the Society activities pertinent to this case are proprietary rather than governmental.
{¶ 52} The majority states that the important question here is not whether the holding of the county fair is a governmental function, but whether the holding of a hog show at the county fair and the subsequent investigation into allegations of wrongdoing associated with that hog show were governmental functions. First, I see no basis for distinguishing the county fair from a hog show held as a part of the fair. The majority approvingly reviews a 1988 Attorney General opinion in which the Attorney General determined that a county agricultural society is a political subdivision because its main purpose is education. 1988 Ohio Atty.Gen.Ops. No. 88-034. If the promotion of educational goals of a county fair is a governmental function and renders a county agricultural society a political subdivision, how can a livestock competition held as part of the fair, serving the same kinds of educational purposes as does the fair and conducted by the same entity that holds the fair, be distinguished from the fair as a whole for purposes of governmental immunity? What happens at a county agricultural fair that makes it educational, if not agricultural exhibits, demonstrations, events, and contests? It seems to me that a livestock competition is an important part of what makes the holding of the fair itself a governmental function. For our purposes here, then, we
{¶ 53} The majority attempts to support its holding that the hog show is a proprietary function by asserting that “[a]ny organization, whether private or public, can hold a competition of this type.” The test, however, is not whether a nongovernmental person (or entity) can conduct the activity in question. Rather, it is whether the activity is, in fact, “customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons.” (Emphasis added.)
{¶ 54} The majority goes on to state that “[t]he consideration that many such competitions are conducted within county fairs cannot change the fact that there is nothing inherently governmental about them.” While it is true that the fact that an event takes place within a county fair does not automatically render it a governmental function, the evidence here is that “such competitions” are customarily conducted by county fairs. And whether an activity is “inherently governmental” is not the test.
{¶ 55} Finally, the majority concludes that there is “no reason to distinguish a livestock competition at a county fair from any other similar competition, such as a livestock competition held elsewhere than at a county fair, or a dog or cat show, or an art show, or a chili cook-off, or a beauty pageant, or a car show.” But a livestock competition held elsewhere might still be a governmental function, or it might not, depending on who was conducting it and what the purposes of the show were. And dog or cat shows, chili cook-offs, beauty pageants, and car shows, aside from the fact that their primary purposes are less likely to be educational and more likely to be commercial, entertainment-oriented, or otherwise private, are
{¶ 56} Because I would hold the county fair livestock competition to be a governmental function, I would affirm the judgment of the court of appeals that the Society is immune from liability in this case. I therefore respectfully dissent.
MOYER, C.J., and LUNDBERG STRATTON, J., concur in the foregoing dissenting opinion.