Summary 2013 WY 3

Summary of Decision January 9, 2013


Justice Voigt delivered the opinion for the Court. Reversed and remanded.

Case Name: STEPHEN SMITH and AUDREY SMITH, husband and wife v. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF PARK COUNTY, WYOMING

Docket Number: S-12-0103

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Park County, Honorable Wade E. Waldrip, Judge.

Representing Appellant: S. Joseph Darrah of Darrah Law Office, P.C., Powell, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: Larry B. Jones and William L. Simpson of Simpson, Kepler & Edwards, LLC The Cody, Wyoming division of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh and Jardine, P.C. Argument by Mr. Jones.

Date of Decision: January 9, 2013

Facts: The Smiths contended that an unlawful taking occurred when the Board of County Commissioners of Park County (the Board) declared the Smiths’ private driveway to be part of a county road. Failing to obtain any relief through administrative proceedings, the Smiths sued the Board in district court, alleging claims of inverse condemnation under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-26-512 (LexisNexis 2011), inverse condemnation under article 1, sections 32 and 33 of the Wyoming Constitution, trespass, and ejectment. The district court granted summary judgment to the Board on all of the Smiths’ claims, concluding that the inverse condemnation claims were barred by the statute of limitations found in the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act (WGCA), Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-39-101 to -121 (LexisNexis 2011), and that the trespass and ejectment claims failed as a matter of law because the Smiths no longer had sufficient possessory interest to make those claims.

Issues: Does the statute of limitations found in the WGCA govern in inverse condemnation cases?

Holdings: The Court concluded that inverse condemnation actions were not subject to the WGCA, and reversed all previous opinions of this Court that have held to the contrary. The period of limitations applying to inverse condemnation actions is that period found in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-3-105(a)(ii)(B), a period of eight years. The Smiths’ action was filed well within that period. Therefore, the Court reversed and remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. You will also note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you need to provide a pinpoint citation to a quote the universal portion of the citation will use that paragraph number. The pinpoint citation in the P.3d portion will need to have the reporter page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation from this, or any future opinion using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library and we will provide any needed assistance]