R. O. Worthington and Virginia H. Worthington, as Guardians of the Person and Estate of Kelly J. Worthington, A…

Summary

In three consolidated negligence suits against the State of Wyoming and its State Highway Commission, the Wyoming Supreme Court declined to judicially abrogate sovereign immunity as applied to the State, holding that Art. 1, § 8 of the Wyoming Constitution is not self-executing and that no suit may be maintained against the State absent clear legislative consent, a rule anchored in Hjorth Royalty and reinforced by stare decisis and the legislature's newly enacted tort claims act (Ch. 157, Laws 1979, effective July 1, 1979). The court further held that the State's automobile liability policy with State Farm did not cover the injuries, because the alleged negligence — failure to restore obliterated highway markings and to warn motorists — did not 'arise out of the ownership, maintenance or use' of State-owned vehicles. All judgments were affirmed. McClintock, J., concurred in the result; Rose, J., dissenting, would have overruled Hjorth Royalty, read Art. 1, § 8 as permitting suits against the State subject only to legislative control of procedures and venue, and abrogated state sovereign immunity.