Lead Opinion
delivered the opinion of the Court, in which
This interlocutory appeal concerns a trial court’s order denying Stephen F. Austin State University’s (SFA) plea to the jurisdiction and motion to dismiss. The court of appeals affirmed the order, holding that the Texas Tort Claims Act waived SFA’s sovereign immunity and that the recreational use statute did not apply.
The Lanana Creek Trail is a community trail open to the public for walking and cycling. Part of the trail crosses SFA’s campus, and the university has granted an easement to the City of Nacogdoches for this use. Diane Flynn was riding her bike on the trail, crossing the SFA campus, when she was hit by a stream of water from an oscillating sprinkler. The force of the water knocked her off her bike, causing her injury. The sprinkler was part of an in-ground irrigation system on SFA’s campus, and this particular sprinkler head was on SFA’s shot-put field about four feet from the trail.
Flynn sued SFA for damages under the Tort Claims Act, alleging that her injuries were proximately caused by SFA’s negligent use of real property, negligent operation of the premises, negligent activity, and gross negligence. SFA filed a plea to the jurisdiction and motion to dismiss, arguing that sovereign immunity had not been waived under the Tort Claims Act,
The trial court denied SFA’s plea to the jurisdiction, and SFA perfected an interlocutory appeal. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 51.014(a)(8). The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s order, concluding that Flynn had sufficiently alleged a premises defect for which the Tort Claims Act waived sovereign immunity and that neither the discretionary powers exception to the Act nor the recreational use statute barred Flynn’s claim.
II
Because this is an interlocutory appeal, we first consider the issue of our own jurisdiction. An interlocutory appeal is generally final in the court of appeals. Tex. Gov’t Code § 22.225(b)(3). There are exceptions, however, such as when the court’s decision conflicts with a prior decision of another court of appeals or of this Court. Tex. Gov’t Code §§ 22.001(a)(2), 22.225(c). Two decisions conflict for purposes of establishing our jurisdiction when the two are so similar that the decision in one is necessarily conclusive of the decision in the other.
SFA contends that we have jurisdiction because the court of appeals’ decision here conflicts with Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority v. Pitonyak,
The case concerned two men who drowned while boating in a bayou. Their survivors sued the state river authority whose jurisdiction included the bayou. The authority filed a plea to the jurisdiction which the trial court denied. Id. at 326. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the recreational use statute applied to protect the authority from liability even though the survivors pleaded a premises defect claim sufficient to support a waiver of immunity under the Tort Claims Act. Id. at 339-40, 345. The survivors argued that the recreational use statute did not apply because the bayou was a navigable waterway owned by the State, not the authority, and ultimately under the State’s control. The court of appeals rejected as inconsistent the argument that the authority could be the relevant premises owner for purposes of the Tort Claims Act but not for purposes of the recreational use statute. Id. at 340.
In this case, the court of appeals has taken a position similar to the argument rejected in Guadalupe-Bianco River Authority. The court here recognizes SFA as the owner of the defective premises for
Ill
The Tort Claims Act generally waives the state’s immunity from suit for certain tort claims involving automobiles, premises defects, or the condition or use of property. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code §§ 101.001(3)(A)-(B), 101.021, 101.022, 101.025; County of Cameron v. Brown,
When the government in the exercise of its discretion decides to act, however, a distinction is drawn between the negligent formulation of policy, for which sovereign immunity is preserved, and the negligent implementation of policy, for which immunity is waived. See Terrell,
The court of appeals concluded that SFA’s decision to irrigate its campus was a policy decision for which immunity was preserved, but that Flynn’s complaint about SFA’s operation of the irrigation system over the trail during peak periods of public use was the negligent implementation of that policy.
We have more than one test “for determining when questioned conduct involves a protected ‘discretionary’ determination.” 19 William V. Dorsaneo III, Texas Litigation Guide § 293.12[7] (2007). One such test distinguishes between policy-level decisions and operational-level decisions. See, e.g., Terrell,
The court of appeals correctly concluded that the decisions here concerning when and where the water was to spray were operational- or maintenance-level decisions, rather than policy formulation.
IV
A
SFA also argues that Flynn’s present claim is barred by the recreational use statute. See Tex. Civ. Phac. & Rem.Code §§ 75.001-004. The recreational use statute recognizes that landowners or occupiers, who open their property to the public for recreational purposes, provide a public benefit. To encourage this use, the statute limits the liability of the “owner, lessee, or occupant of real property” who “gives permission to another to enter the premises for recreation.” Id. § 75.002(c). By dedicating this easement for use as a recreational trail, SFA argues, it gave the public, including Flynn, permission to use' a part of its campus for recreation and is therefore entitled to the statute’s protection.
The court of appeals disagreed, however, concluding that by granting the City of Nacogdoches an easement through its campus, SFA forfeited its control over those who might use the trail for recreational purposes and thereby gave up the statute’s protection.
First, we disagree that the easement removed SFA from the protection of the recreational use statute. An easement does not convey title to property. Marcus Cable Assocs. v. Krohn,
We also disagree that Flynn’s use of the recreational trail was without SFA’s permission or that SFA’s permission was unnecessary. Although the recreational use statute provides that an owner of real property is entitled to the statute’s protection when it gives “permission to another to enter for recreation,” the statute does not specify how that permission is to be granted. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code § 75.002(c). Nor does the statute require that the landowner contemporaneously acknowledge each use. Permission may instead be implied from a landowner’s knowledge of, and acquiescence in, the public’s use of its land for recreational purposes. See, e.g., Gulf, C. & S.F. Ry. Co. v. Matthews,
B
The statute protects the landowner by providing that one who permits the use of its land for recreation does not assure that the premises are safe for recreational purposes and does not assume responsibility for the actions of those admitted to the property. Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 75.002(c)(1), (3). The statute further protects the landowner from liability associated with the recreational use of real property by elevating the plaintiffs burden of proof. Id. § 75.002(c)(2), (d). The statute effectively requires for liability either gross negligence or an intent to injure. See id. § 75.002(d) (“owner, lessee, or occupant” must be “grossly negligent” or “act[] with malicious intent or in bad faith”); see also Shumake,
Here, Flynn generally alleges gross negligence. In her brief to this Court, Flynn asserts “that SFA knew that the use of the sprinkler in the manner and at the time of said use posed a risk of serious injury to others, including the Plaintiff, but that SFA was grossly negligent in ignoring and creating that risk/’ Flynn’s response to SFA’s plea to the jurisdiction and motion to dismiss provides no additional facts to support her claim of gross negligence. SFA asserted in its plea and motion that Flynn’s allegations of gross negligence were conclusory and a sham, attaching the deposition testimony of both Flynn and her husband.
Flynn’s husband, Matthew, was also riding his bike on the day of the accident. When biking with his wife, he ordinarily rode ahead, periodically turning back to check on her progress. He therefore was the first to encounter the sprinkler on SFA’s property.
Matthew noticed the sprinkler oscillating in a clockwise direction as he approached SFA’s shot-put field. He estimated that the sprinkler to be about four feet off the trail, arcing a stream of water approximately 15 to 20 feet into the air. Approaching the sprinkler, he ducked under the water arc and continued on his ride. He apparently did not view the sprinkler to be a sufficient threat either to stop or to go back to warn his wife.
As Flynn approached the shot-put field her husband was already out of sight. She also noticed the sprinkler and its water arc about nine or ten seconds ahead near the trail. It was her habit to focus attention on the trail about two or three feet ahead of her bike, however, and she did not again notice the sprinkler until she was almost upon it. She tried to veer away, but it was too late, and the water knocked her to the ground.
In Shumake, we held that the recreational use statute does not foreclose premises defect claims, but rather limits the landowner’s liability by raising the plaintiffs burden of proof to that of gross negligence, malicious intent, or bad faith. Shumake,
The Legislature has defined gross negligence as an act or omission: (1) “which when viewed objectively from the standpoint of the actor at the time of its occurrence, involves an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to others; and” (2) “of which the actor has actual, subjective awareness of the risk involved, but nevertheless proceeds with conscious indifference to the rights, safety, or welfare of others.” Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 41.001(11). The allegations in this case fail to demonstrate either that the sprinkler presented an extreme risk, that SFA was aware of the risk, or that SFA was consciously indifferent to the sprinkler’s capacity to inflict serious injury. Moreover, Flynn concedes that she was aware of the sprinkler before she encountered it, and as we have already mentioned, the recreational use statute does not obligate a landowner to warn of known conditions. See Tex. Civ. PRAC. & Rem.Code § 75.002(c)(2) (classifying recreational user as trespasser); cf. State Dep’t of Highways & Pub. Transp. v. Payne,
In Miranda, we recognized similar deficiencies to be more than mere defects in pleading because they- involve the state’s sovereign immunity. Tex. Dep’t of Parks & Wildlife v. Miranda,
Justice HECHT filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice WAINWRIGHT and Justice WILLETT joined.
Notes
. See Tex Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code §§ 101.021, 101.056.
. See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code §§ 75.001-.004.
. In 2003, the Legislature broadened this Court's jurisdiction over interlocutory appeals by redefining conflicting decisions to include an "inconsistency in their respective decisions that should be clarified to remove unnecessary uncertainty in the law and unfairness to litigants.” Tex. Gov't Code § 22.225(e). This case was filed before the effective date of that legislation and thus our former definition applies. See, e.g., Tex. Dep’t of Parles & Wildlife v. Miranda,
Concurrence Opinion
joined by Justice WAINWRIGHT and Justice WILLETT, concurring.
Having decided that Stephen F. Austin State University is immune from Diana Flynn’s lawsuit because it was not grossly negligent in irrigating its campus the way it did, which is a prerequisite for liability under the Recreational Use Statute,
The discretionary function exception, like other exceptions in the Act, was taken from the Federal Tort Claims Act.
. Tex Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code §§ 75.001-.004.
. Id. § 101.056 ("[The Tort Claims Act] does not apply to a claim based on: (1) the failure
. Ante at 658.
. Texas Dep’t of Criminal Justice v. Miller,
. Driskill v. State,
.See, e.g., State ex rel. State Dep’t of Highways and Pub. Transp. v. Gonzalez,
. See, e.g., United States v. Gaubert,
. Gaubert,
