Syfert Injury Law Firm

Your Trusted Partner in Personal Injury & Workers' Compensation

Call Now: 904-383-7448

2018 Georgia Code 50-21-1 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 50-21-1 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 50-21-1

TITLE 50 STATE GOVERNMENT

Section 21. Waiver of Sovereign Immunity as to Actions Ex Contractu; State Tort Claims, 50-21-1 through 50-21-37.

ARTICLE 1 WAIVER OF SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY AS TO ACTIONS EX CONTRACTU

50-21-1. Waiver of sovereign immunity as to actions ex contractu for breach of written contract to which state is party; venue.

  1. The defense of sovereign immunity is waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract existing on April 12, 1982, or thereafter entered into by the state, departments and agencies of the state, and state authorities.
  2. Venue with respect to any such action shall be proper in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia. The provisions of this subsection shall be cumulative and supplemental to any other venue provisions permitted on April 12, 1982, or thereafter permitted by law.

(Ga. L. 1982, p. 495, § 1; Code 1981, §50-21-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1982, p. 495, § 2; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 50.)

Law reviews.

- For annual survey of Administrative Law, see 57 Mercer L. Rev. 1 (2005). For article, "Administrative Law," see 63 Mercer L. Rev. 47 (2011).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Venue.

- Trial court had jurisdiction over the plaintiff's suit for breach of contract filed in the State Court of Fulton County because the plain meaning of the last sentence of O.C.G.A. § 50-21-1(b) shows that venue for such a claim is not exclusive to the Superior Court of Fulton County, but rather that venue in that court shall be cumulative and supplemental to other legal venue. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. Sys. of Ga. v. Winter, 331 Ga. App. 528, 771 S.E.2d 201 (2015), overruled on other grounds, Rivera v. Washington, 298 Ga. 770, 784 S.E.2d 775 (Ga. 2016).

Action by state retirees for breach and impairment of contract not barred.

- Georgia Tort Claims Act (GTCA), O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., did not bar a state employees' breach and impairment of contract suit against the Employees Retirement System of the State of Georgia as the action sounded in contract and O.C.G.A. § 50-21-1, which was not part of the GTCA, which waived sovereign immunity as to an action ex contractu for the breach of a written contract. Alverson v. Employees' Ret. Sys., 272 Ga. App. 389, 613 S.E.2d 119 (2005).

No waiver of immunity for oral contracts.

- Even though sovereign immunity has been waived for the breach of any written contract, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-1, there has been no such waiver for oral contracts. Soloski v. Adams, 600 F. Supp. 2d 1276 (N.D. Ga. 2009).

No waiver of immunity in federal court.

- Because Georgia did not waive the states' Eleventh Amendment immunity, the federal district court lacked jurisdiction to decide the student's breach of contract claim against the Board of Regents. Barnes v. Zaccari, 669 F.3d 1295 (11th Cir. 2012).

Medical college faculty members.

- In a medical malpractice suit, two physicians were entitled to official immunity under O.C.G.A. §§ 50-21-23(b) and50-21-25(a) because the record established that the physicians were full-time faculty members at a Georgia medical college performing the physicians' regular duties of employment at the time the estate's decedent was allegedly injured. Cook v. Forrester, 323 Ga. App. 631, 746 S.E.2d 624 (2013).

Immunity waived for surety's subrogation action against state.

- Surety on a public contract, after assisting the contractor in completing the project, stood in the place of the contractor and was subrogated to the contractor's right of action for breach of contract against the Georgia Department of Corrections; under Ga. Const 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX(c), the state waived sovereign immunity for contracts. State Dep't of Corr. v. Developers Sur. & Indem. Co., 295 Ga. 741, 763 S.E.2d 868 (2014).

No waiver without written contract.

- Developer failed to meet the developer's burden of showing waiver of sovereign immunity because even if the parties' conduct after the expiration of the contract could be found to demonstrate that the developer was to continue to perform under the original contract, as a matter of law, neither that conduct nor the internal documents created by a state agency after the contract expired established a written contract to do so and without a written contract, the state's sovereign immunity was not waived. Georgia Department of Labor v. RTT Associates, Inc., 299 Ga. 78, 786 S.E.2d 840 (2016).

Cited in Fedorov v. Bd. of Regents, 194 F. Supp. 2d 1378 (S.D. Ga. 2002).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 72 Am. Jur. 2d, States, Territories, and Dependencies, § 96.

C.J.S.

- 81A C.J.S., States, § 533 et seq.

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 50-21-1

Total Results: 8  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

Copy

Georgia Dep't of Corr. v. Couch, 295 Ga. 469 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 63 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Jun 16, 2014 | 759 S.E.2d 804, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 1524

...defense of sovereign immunity is hereby waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract now existing or hereafter entered into by the state or its departments and agencies.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (c). OCGA § 50-21-1 similarly says: “The defense of sovereign immunity is waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract existing on April 12, 1982, or thereafter entered into by the state, departments and agencies of the state,...
Copy

Georgia Dep't of Labor v. Rtt Assocs., Inc., 299 Ga. 78 (Ga. 2016).

Cited 46 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | May 23, 2016 | 786 S.E.2d 840

...II, Par. IX (c): “The state’s defense of sovereign immunity is hereby waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract now existing or hereafter entered into by the state or its departments or agencies.” See also OCGA §50-21-1 (a). The record shows appellant Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) entered into the contract in question with appellee RTT Associates, Inc....
...waived in the constitution or by an act of the General Assembly. Pursuant to 3 See OCGA § 34–2-1, creating the Department of Labor as an administrative agency of the state. 6 OCGA § 50-21-1 (a), the General Assembly has provided that sovereign immunity is waived in a contract action against a state agency “for the breach of any written contract ....
...an entering into a written contract. A state agency’s statutory authority to enter into contracts does not trigger the consent of the General Assembly for that agency to be sued, ex contractu, unless it is a written contract as required by OCGA § 50-21-1....
...date the written contract expired. Even the internal pay requests and purchase order prepared after the date the contract expired do not serve as evidence that would either create a contract sufficient to waive sovereign immunity pursuant to OCGA § 50-21-1 or serve to extend the original written contract that had expired because these documents are not executed by both parties and are not otherwise sufficient to create an enforceable contract....
Copy

Seay v. Cleveland, 508 S.E.2d 159 (Ga. 1998).

Cited 44 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 26, 1998 | 270 Ga. 64, 98 Fulton County D. Rep. 3562, 98 FCDR 3562

...sovereign immunity does not apply to Seay because the deputies' acts were ministerial. The Court of Appeals affirmed and further held that an action on a sheriff's bond constitutes an action ex contractu, thus sovereign immunity is waived under OCGA § 50-21-1(a)....
...nds' claims against Seay. 2. The Court of Appeals found, and the Clevelands contend on appeal to this Court, that an action on a sheriff's bond under OCGA § 15-16-5 constitutes an action ex contractu as to which sovereign immunity is waived by OCGA § 50-21-1(a). The Clevelands, however, made no such allegation in their complaint or motion for directed verdict or on appeal to the Court of Appeals. Inasmuch as the issue of whether the county's sovereign immunity had been waived by OCGA § 50-21-1(a) was never presented to nor ruled upon by the trial court, it presents nothing for review on appeal....
Copy

Int'l Bus. Machines Corp. v. Evans, 265 Ga. 215 (Ga. 1995).

Cited 31 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Feb 20, 1995 | 453 S.E.2d 706

Copy

State of Georgia v. Fed. Def. Prog., Inc., 315 Ga. 319 (Ga. 2022).

Cited 19 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Dec 20, 2022

...One of the exceptions to the defense of sovereign immunity is for “any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract . . . entered into by the state or its departments and agencies.” Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (c). See also OCGA § 50-21-1 (a) (“The defense of sovereign immunity is waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract ....
...constitutional and the statutory provisions waiving sovereign immunity for breach of contract claims requires only that a contract be written, and not that it be signed, in order to waive sovereign immunity. See Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (c); OCGA § 50-21-1 (a)....
...Yet, despite the fact that no specific signature requirement appears in the constitutional or statutory provisions in Georgia law governing the waiver of sovereign immunity for ex contractu claims, see Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (c); OCGA § 50-21-1 (a), this Court, without any analysis or explanation, imported such a requirement into a sovereign immunity case directly from a case that concerned the Statute of Frauds....
Copy

State of Georgia Dep't of Corr. v. Developers Sur. & Indem. Co., 295 Ga. 741 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 12 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Sep 22, 2014 | 763 S.E.2d 868

Copy

Pollard v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. Sys., 401 S.E.2d 272 (Ga. 1991).

Cited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 1, 1991 | 260 Ga. 885

...62 (287 SE2d 171) (1982), is still the correct law and controls this case. While the majority urges that Self v. City of Atlanta, 259 Ga. 78 (377 SE2d 674) (1989), overruled McCafferty, supra, I disagree and note that I dissented to Self, supra, in the first instance. NOTES [1] See OCGA § 50-21-1; Ga....
Copy

Georgia Dep't of Pub. Saf. v. Just., 907 S.E.2d 817 (Ga. 2024).

Cited 2 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 22, 2024 | 320 Ga. 149

...Indeed, “[o]ne of the exceptions to the defense of sovereign immunity is for ‘any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract . . . entered into by the state or its departments and agencies.’ Ga. Const. of 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX (c).” Fed. Defender, 315 Ga. at 327 (3). See also OCGA § 50-21-1 (a) (“The defense of sovereign immunity is waived as to any action ex contractu for the breach of any written contract ....