Friday, July 8, 2011

Sovereign immunity vs. governmental immunity - Is there a difference?

IMMUNITY OF THE STATE ITSELF ABND ITS STATE-WIDE AGENCIES 
VS.
IMMUNITY OF POLITICAL OR ADMINSTRATIVE SUBDIVISIONS
[such as counties, municipalities, school districts and other special districts]

Sovereign immunity protects the State and State agencies and their officers. Harris Cnty. v. Sykes, 136 S.W.3d 635, 638 (Tex. 2004). Governmental immunity, on the other hand, protects subdivisions of the State, including municipalities like the city. Id. Both types of immunity afford the same degree of protection, and both levels of government are subject to the TTCA. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 101.001(3), 101.021, 101.025; Sykes, 136 S.W.3d at 638.

TTCA= Texas Tort Claims Act

SOURCE: Houston Court of Appeals - 14-10-01216-CV - 7/7/2011

OTHER IMMUNITY DEFENSES: Qualified immunity (Section 1983 claim), good-faith immunity, official immunity of state officers and employees, judicial immunity, judicial proceedings communications privilige also referred to as absolute immunity  

1 comment:

  1. Informative. One needs to brush up on these defintions from time to time as they begin to blur. Thankfully, we don't have to take the bar twice.

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