Arkansas Department of Human Services and John M. Selig

Summary

The court held that sovereign immunity did not bar the school districts’ requests for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging DHS’s insurance rule because the Administrative Procedure Act expressly waives immunity for such challenges. It held that the districts’ request for costs and attorney’s fees was barred by sovereign immunity and that claims against the DHS director individually were barred by statutory immunity, requiring reversal and dismissal of those claims. The court dismissed the portion of the appeal challenging the merits of the insurance requirement because only immunity issues were properly before it. Justice Danielson, joined by Chief Justice Hannah, dissenting, would have dismissed the entire appeal without prejudice for lack of an express circuit-court ruling on immunity.