Jean Jones v. State Highway Commission

Appellant Jones filed suit against the respondent state highway commission seeking damages for her personal injuries suffered in an automobile accident while traveling on one of the states highways. The circuit court sustained respondents motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted based upon respondents assertion of sovereign immunity as a bar to suit. Jones then appealed to the court of appeals, Kansas City district, which in turn transferred the cause on its own order to this court due to the questions of general interest and importance involved. Mo. Const., Art. V., § 10; Rule 83.02. On the same date that the instant case was argued, we also heard argument in three other cases where the defense of sovereign immunity against tort claims was advanced: No. 59958, Prewitt v. Parkway School District, a claim against a school district where plaintiff, who was entering the building to register for a night class, slipped on a wet spon in the school hallway; No. 60012, Wheeler v. St. Clair Hospital District, a claim against a hospital district for a death growing out of a hospital fire allegedly caused by the hospitals negligence and No. 60042, State ex rel. Racer v. Richardson, a malpractice claim against a county hospital by a patient.