Roswell council joins amicus brief in Chang v. City of Milton over sovereign-immunity question

Roswell Mayor and Council voted unanimously June 8 to authorize the city to join an amicus brief in Chang v. City of Milton, a case that the city attorney said raises questions about municipal duty of care in lanes of travel and whether sovereign immunity for cities can be waived only by the Georgia General Assembly.

City Attorney Cusack told the council the case originated with a fatal crash in Milton and has prompted questions about how far a municipality’s duty extends along ordinary lanes of travel. Cusack said the Georgia Supreme Court had already addressed some issues and that a remaining question about judicially created waivers of sovereign immunity may be resolved by the Court of Appeals and, potentially, the Supreme Court. "We are asking for this support of this amicus brief so that the city...this question ultimately can make its way to the Supreme Court and hopefully there is some good case law here that overturns this in favor of all the cities so that we are on the same footing as counties when it comes to waivers of sovereign immunity," Cusack said.

A member of the public, Joe Zirkus, asked whether Roswell’s action was a new filing or a continuation of earlier amicus participation; Cusack confirmed Roswell previously joined at the Supreme Court level and that the city’s continued participation is meant to press the same legal position on the remaining question. After that exchange, the council voted to approve the resolution on a unanimous voice/hand vote.

The resolution directs city staff to join the amicus brief in support of the city of Milton’s legal position on the sovereign-immunity issue. The council did not amend or attach additional conditions to the resolution at the meeting. The case is currently remanded to the Court of Appeals on the remaining question; Cusack said it may return to the Georgia Supreme Court depending on the appellate outcome.

The council’s approval was procedural and did not change any local ordinances or commit specific budgetary resources beyond routine legal participation. The council scheduled no further debate on this item at the meeting.