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Price v. State of Illinois

Case Date: 11/12/2004
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-03-2112 Rel

FIFTH DIVISION
November 12, 2004



No. 1-03-2112

 
WILLIS PRICE,

          Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

THE STATE OF ILLINOIS and THE STATE'S
ATTORNEY OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS,

          Defendants-Appellees.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County.




Honorable
Kathy Flanagan,
Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE O'BRIEN delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff, Willis Price, appeals the order of the circuit court dismissing his tort actionagainst defendants State of Illinois and the Cook County State's Attorney. Upon appeal, plaintiffcontends that the circuit court erred by ruling that plaintiff's cause of action could only be heard inthe Court of Claims. We affirm.

Plaintiff filed a complaint in the circuit court against defendants, alleging that he had beenconvicted of committing theft by deception, a Class 2 felony. Plaintiff alleged that duringsentencing, the State's Attorney misrepresented that theft by deception was a Class 1 felony,causing plaintiff to receive a sentence in excess of the maximum time period allowed by law forthe offense of which he was convicted.

Based upon these allegations, plaintiff's complaint set forth claims for breach of duty,confinement in excess of the time allowed by law, and willful and wanton misconduct. The trialcourt dismissed plaintiff's complaint pursuant to section 2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure(730 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2002)) ruling that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiff'sclaims against the State of Illinois and the State's Attorney. The court further ruled that plaintiff'scomplaint must be brought in the Court of Claims. Plaintiff filed this timely appeal.

The purpose of a section 2-619 motion to dismiss is to dispose of issues of law and easilyproved issues of fact at the outset of litigation. Van Meter v. Darien Park District, 207 Ill. 2d359, 367 (2003). When ruling on a section 2-619 motion to dismiss, the court interprets allpleadings and supporting documents in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. VanMeter, 207 Ill. 2d at 367-68. Our review of a section 2-619 dismissal is de novo. Van Meter,207 Ill. 2d at 368.

The issue here is whether the trial court erred by dismissing plaintiff's complaint againstthe State's Attorney and the State of Illinois. Article XIII, section 4, of the Illinois Constitutionabolished sovereign immunity except as the General Assembly may provide by law. Ill. Const.1970, art. XIII,