substance) was enacted (1816), and the opinion then recites:
"This statute remained to govern the subsequent formed territory of Arkansas, and was afterwards reenacted as a part of the laws of the State, with some change of phraseology and grammatical arrangements."
Throughout all the sessions of the General Assembly subsequent to our admission as a state (1836), there apparently has been no attempt to enact legislation to change the long-standing doctrine of governmental immunity to suits in tort, and I can see no urgent reason for this established policy to be changed by judicial fiat. As pointed out in the majority opinion, the only modification of the rule came by virtue of legislative action in 1940,[1] and the subject was also indirectly approached in 1947, when the Legislature authorized municipalities to purchase liability insurance covering tort damages. It is significant to me that the General Assembly has not made further exceptions to the general rule, and to me, it is somewhat persuasive that legislative intent has been expressed to retain the rule.
There are many facets connected with a change of the rule that are unanswered. For instance, the immunity is not being done away with in personal injury cases alone, but this step also relates to acts committed that damage property, or conversely, the failure to perform acts that might have prevented damage to property (or person). The failure of building inspectors to discover and eliminate certain hazardous conditions, or perhaps the failure of the city to install a traffic light at some location, which a jury might find to have been hazardous, are examples of possible liability. Actually, there are literally dozens of situations that could arise.
- ↑ After this court had held that a rural electric cooperative should be immune from tort liability, the General Assembly enacted legislation providing that these organizations were liable for torts resulting from the negligent acts of agents, servants and employees.
