60 Ind. App. 209 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1915
This action was brought by appellant against appellees, the Board of Commissioners of the County of Delaware, Indiana, and the individual members thereof, for personal injuries sustained by appellant, which she alleges she suffered by reason of a fall upon defective stone steps, which led to and from the second story of the courthouse in the city
The only question involved is whether appellees are liable under the law to appellant for the injuries suffered in the manner alleged in the eom- . plaint. After alleging the location of the courthouse in the city of Muneie, Indiana, and that appellees, William T. Janney, John B. Jackson and William Sunderland, were on January 9, 1912, the qualified and acting commissioners of the county, the complaint further alleges in substance that on the east side of the courthouse leading up to it were stone steps, which it was the duty of appellees to maintain and keep in repair, and which formed the only approach to the courthouse from the east; the stone steps were carelessly, negligently and wilfully allowed and permitted by appellees to be and become and remain out of repair in that all except the top one were broken in two near the middle and slanted downward, and became coated with a slick covering of ice and snow, which appellees negligently and wilfully allowed to accumulate upon the steps to a depth of three or four feet, leaving but a narrow passageway about two feet wide up and down the middle thereof, all of which was known to appellees. On January 9, 1912, appellant while attempting to descend the steps, not knowing of the dangerous and unsafe condition thereof, and exercising due care, slipped and fell, from which she suffered a severe injury to her damage in the sum of $10,000.
Appellant admits that it has been held in this jurisdiction that a county is not liable to an individual for the negligence of its officers, but insists that the authorities so holding are limited to the facts in the particular cases, and that to hold so absolutely is a harsh rule, unsound and without foundation in justice; that the rule should not be extended, and that by narrowing its application, the ease at bar will not fall within the general rule; that §5989 Burns 1914, §5748 R. S. 1881, which provides that a county shall keep all public buildings of the county in repair, supports her contention and creates liability under the facts pleaded in the case at bar.
• We address our attention to a review of the principle underlying the authorities, holding generally that a county is not liable for the negligent acts or omissions of its agents and officers, charged with the duty of transacting its business, in response to appellant’s very earnest argument that we do so. A county may be termed a quasi corporation with corporate capacity for specific ends; being involuntary in that its creation is without the consent or con
As to the foundation upon which rests the legal proposition that a county is not liable for the negligent acts of its agents and officers, nothing can be added to the language found in 7 R. C. L. 955, 956: “The principal ground upon which it is held that counties are not liable for damages in actions for their neglect of public duty is that they are involuntary political divisions of the state, created for governmental purposes, and are organized without regard to the consent or dissent of the inhabitants. * * * . Another reason is that since a county is but a political subdivision of the state, a suit against the county is, in effect, a suit against the state, and that therefore an action will not lie without the consent of the legislature.”
The duties of a board of commissioners are public in their nature. The service it performs is for the public, from whence members thereof receive their emoluments, and it is not answerable to an individual for its negligent acts, “A breach of duty by a
The omission to perform the duty, which appellant alleges was the cause of the injury, was the neglect of the board of commissioners, and not of the individuals comprising it, and, under the authorities, no liability exists as against the individual members of the board. The demurrer was properly sustained to the complaint. Judgment affirmed.
Note. — Reported in 110 N. E. 237. Liability of county boards to private individuals, see 95 Am. St. 80. On liability of county for injuries to persons from condition of buildings, see 39 L. R. A. 59. See, also, under (1) 11 Cyc 497, 498; (2) 29 Cyo 424; (3) 11 Cyo 380, 411, 412.