Contribution and indemnity if not within exceptions.

- Georgia Torts Claim Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., waived sovereign immunity for suits seeking contribution and indemnity from the state when the state was a joint tortfeasor if the state's tortious activity did not fall within one of the waiver exceptions listed in O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24. DOT v. Montgomery Tank Lines, Inc., 276 Ga. 105, 575 S.E.2d 487 (2003).

Municipalities do not come within the ambit of the 1991 amendment to Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX pursuant to which sovereign immunity was extended to the state and all of the state's departments and agencies. City of Thomaston v. Bridges, 264 Ga. 4, 439 S.E.2d 906 (1994).

No liability for approving wall construction permit.

- State is only liable in tort actions within the limitations of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq. Since a lawsuit arose from the state's approval of a permit for the construction of a decorative wall, which was specifically excluded by O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24(9), the Department of Transportation was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. DOT v. Bishop, 216 Ga. App. 57, 453 S.E.2d 478 (1995).

School districts.

- Neither the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., nor any other Act of the General Assembly waived the sovereign immunity of county-wide school districts. Teston v. Collins, 217 Ga. App. 829, 459 S.E.2d 452 (1995).

Immunity extends to school districts.

- Sovereign immunity extends to school districts under the 1991 amendment of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX, and the legislature has not provided for a waiver of such immunity. Bitterman v. Atkins, 217 Ga. App. 652, 458 S.E.2d 688 (1995).

Immunity for university officials.

- Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., barred a state university professor's tortious interference claim against the university and the university's officials because the individual defendants were immune under O.C.G.A. § 50-21-21(b), and, under O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24(7), the state had no liability for losses resulting from interference with contractual rights. Edmonds v. Bd. of Regents, 302 Ga. App. 1, 689 S.E.2d 352 (2009), cert. denied, No. S10C0824, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 437 (Ga. 2010); overruled on other grounds by Wolfe v. Regents of the Univ. Sys. of Ga., 300 Ga. 223, 794 S.E.2d 85 (Ga. 2016).

College campus police officers did not qualify for immunity.

- Campus police officers employed by a private college did not qualify as state officers or employees who may assert immunity from tort suits under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20, et seq., because the officers were not acting for any state government entity when the officers committed the alleged torts. Hartley v. Agnes Scott College, 295 Ga. 458, 759 S.E.2d 857 (2014).

Public duty doctrine inapplicable.

- In an action against the DOT arising from an intersectional collision, the public duty doctrine did not require that a special relationship be shown between the victim and the department because the enactment of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, O.C.G.A. § 50-21-20 et seq., created state exposure to potential liability for losses. DOT v. Brown, 218 Ga. App. 178, 460 S.E.2d 812 (1995), aff'd, 267 Ga. 6, 471 S.E.2d 849 (1996).

Physician whose license was temporarily suspended could not file suit against officers of the Board of Medical Examiners or other state employees for their actions relating to the suspension. Howard v. Miller, 222 Ga. App. 868, 476 S.E.2d 636 (1996).

Physician treating prisoners.

- Since the prisoner's doctor was an independent contractor, not an employee of the sheriff, the doctor was not an employee within the meaning of O.C.G.A. § 50-21-22 and did not have official immunity; therefore, any negligence of the doctor could not be imputed to the sheriff. Cantrell v. Thurman, 231 Ga. App. 510, 499 S.E.2d 416 (1998).

Intervening private party negligence protects department.

- Georgia Department of Human Resources was protected from suit by decedent's estate and next of kin due to the residential care facility's intervening negligence in failing to follow water temperature regulations which caused second and third degree burns to the decedent resulting in death. Lewis v. Ga. Dep't of Human Res., 255 Ga. App. 805, 567 S.E.2d 65 (2002).

Immunity waived.

- State Department of Transportation (DOT) waived the DOT's sovereign immunity under O.C.G.A. § 50-21-22(1), since DOT was a joint tortfeasor and thus responsible for contribution and indemnity to the responsible party; the trial court thus did not err in denying the department's motion to dismiss claims. DOT v. Montgomery Tank Lines, Inc., 253 Ga. App. 143, 558 S.E.2d 723 (2001), aff'd, 276 Ga. 105, 575 S.E.2d 487 (2003).

Construction with O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24. - In order for state policy decisions related to the provision of emergency services not to be directly or indirectly put on trial, the Supreme Court of Georgia construed O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24(6), an exception to the waiver of sovereign immunity, to provide complete protection of the policy-making decisions in providing police and fire services from judicial review as such construction accomplished a balance between the inherently unfair and inequitable results from the strict application of sovereign immunity and the need to limit the state's exposure to tort liability that the General Assembly expressed as the General Assembly's goal in O.C.G.A. § 50-21-21. Ga. Forestry Comm'n v. Canady, 280 Ga. 825, 632 S.E.2d 105 (2006).

Accident caused by preventable negligence made law enforcement exception inapplicable.

- State public safety department was not immune from liability under O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24(6) for an accident which was caused when a trooper collided with a motorist's truck while the trooper was running radar using the truck as cover because the trooper's actions were not a policy decision, but rather simple, preventable negligence while implementing a non-defective policy. Ga. Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Davis, 285 Ga. 203, 676 S.E.2d 1 (2009).

More than one proximate cause of loss.

- Decedent was killed when the taxi in which the decedent was riding spun out of control on a rain-slick interstate highway and hit a tree. Assuming arguendo that the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) was immune from a negligence suit under O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24 for a city employee's negligent inspection of the taxi's tires, expert testimony that the tree's proximity to the highway may have violated generally accepted engineering standards rendered the DOT liable under § 50-21-24(10), the design standards exception. Ga. DOT v. Heller, 285 Ga. 262, 674 S.E.2d 914 (2009).

Cited in Canfield v. Cook County, 213 Ga. App. 625, 445 S.E.2d 375 (1994); Mattox v. Bailey, 221 Ga. App. 546, 472 S.E.2d 130 (1996); Howard v. State, 226 Ga. App. 543, 487 S.E.2d 112 (1997); Williams v. Department of Human Resources, 234 Ga. App. 638, 507 S.E.2d 230 (1998); Ga. Dep't of Human Res. v. Coley, 247 Ga. App. 392, 544 S.E.2d 165 (2000); Perdue v. Athens Tech. College, 283 Ga. App. 404, 641 S.E.2d 631 (2007); Douglas Asphalt Co. v. Linnenkohl, 320 Ga. App. 427, 741 S.E.2d 169 (2013); Shekhawat v. Jones, 293 Ga. 468, 746 S.E.2d 89 (2013); Burroughs v. Georgia Ports Authority, 339 Ga. App. 294, 793 S.E.2d 538 (2016).