DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
SARASOTA COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL
DISTRICT and SARASOTA COUNTY,
Petitioners,
v.
VENICE HMA, LLC, D/B/A VENICE
REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER,
SARASOTA DOCTORS HOSPITAL, INC.,
and ENGLEWOOD COMMUNITY
HOSPITAL,
Respondents.
No. 2D19-3745
September 29, 2021
BY ORDER OF THE COURT:
Petitioners' motion for rehearing is granted to the extent that
the prior opinion dated June 16, 2021, is withdrawn, and the
attached opinion is issued in its place. The only alteration is the
deletion of part of a sentence on page 4. Respondents' response to
Petitioners' motion, which indicated no objection to this alteration,
is noted. No further motions for rehearing will be entertained.
I HEREBY CERTIFY THE FOREGOING IS A TRUE COPY OF THE
ORIGINAL COURT ORDER.
MARY ELIZABETH KUENZEL, CLERK
2
DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA
SECOND DISTRICT
SARASOTA COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL
DISTRICT AND SARASOTA COUNTY,
Petitioners,
v.
VENICE HMA, LLC, D/B/A VENICE
REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER,
SARASOTA DOCTORS HOSPITAL, INC.,
AND ENGLEWOOD COMMUNITY
HOSPITAL,
Respondents.
No. 2D19-3745
September 29, 2021
Petition for Writ of Prohibition to the Circuit Court for Sarasota
County; Maria Ruhl, Judge.
Raymond T. Elligett, Jr., and Amy S. Farrior of Buell and Elligett,
P.A., Tampa; and Frederick J. Elbrecht of Office of the County
Attorney, Sarasota, for Petitioner, Sarasota County.
David A. Wallace of Bentley Law Firm, P.A., Sarasota, for Petitioner,
Sarasota County Public Hospital District.
Geoffrey D. Smith, Susan C. Smith, Timothy B. Elliott, and Corinne
T. Porcher of Smith and Associates, Melbourne, for Respondent,
Venice, HMA, LLC d/b/a Venice Regional Medical Center.
Stephen A. Ecenia, J. Stephen Menton, Gabriel F. V. Warren, and
Jennifer F. Hinson of Rutledge Ecenia, P.A., Tallahassee, for
Respondents, Sarasota Doctors Hospital, Inc., and Englewood
Community Hospital, Inc.
LUCAS, Judge.
After years of litigation between the plaintiffs below, Venice
HMA, Sarasota Doctors Hospital (Doctors Hospital), and Englewood
Community Hospital, Inc. (Englewood) (collectively, the "Hospitals"),
and the defendant below, Sarasota County (County), over whether
the County is statutorily obligated to reimburse the Hospitals for
the costs of providing indigent care, the County sought summary
judgment on its sovereign immunity defense. The circuit court
denied the County's motion for summary judgment. The County
then filed a petition for a writ of prohibition before this court,
arguing that the circuit court's denial of its motion constitutes an
unwarranted exercise of subject matter jurisdiction in violation of
the County's immunity. We have considered the County's
arguments carefully, but we must deny its petition.
I.
2
The essential dispute before us is straightforward: who is
responsible to pay for indigent health care at the Hospitals since
2008? Resolving that question, though, requires consideration of
various state statutes, county ordinances, and the course of
conduct between these parties.
In 2003 the Florida Legislature repealed numerous special and
local acts enacted between 1949 and 2000 and recodified them as a
single Special Act that recreated and provided for the governing of
the Sarasota County Public Hospital District (District). See ch.
2003-359, § 2, Laws of Fla. Under the Special Act, the District, an
"independent special district" contiguous with Sarasota County, is
governed by a Hospital Board (Board). Charter § 1.1 Every month,
the Board is authorized to certify to the Sarasota Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC) a list of medically indigent persons treated
by Board-managed (i.e., public) hospitals during the previous
month, together with the itemized charges for those persons' care.
1 Section 3 of chapter 2003-359, Laws of Florida, is the actual
re-formation of the older laws. Within section 3, the legislature
used an internal numbering system for the Charter, beginning with
section 1. References to Charter § #(#) refer to the Charter section
number, within section 3 of the session law.
3
Charter § 8(9). Within forty-five days the BOCC "shall" remit to the
Board the amount requested. Id. The statute authorizes the Board
to impose up to two mils of an ad valorem tax throughout the
county. Charter § 8(8).
The statute includes private hospitals within its ambit as well.
Thus, upon appropriate certification,
[t]he said Board of County Commissioners shall in like
manner reimburse any other hospital in Sarasota
County, approved by the State Board of Health, for
hospital services rendered to medically indigent persons
as herein defined, upon like certification by such hospital
and at such rates as shall not exceed those prescribed for
such patients by hospitals owned and operated by said
Hospital Board.
Charter § 8(9).
Some three years before the Special Act's 2003 recodification,
the BOCC had adopted as a county ordinance the special and local
acts described above.2 See Code of Ordinances of Sarasota County,
ch. 4, art. II, § 4-24(i), -31, adopted Sept. 13, 2000. The county
2 In its filings before us, the County suggests that its
ordinance adopting the Special Act was "merely" a ministerial act
that had no real legal significance. We reject that dismissive view of
what this local legislative act was—an almost verbatim adoption of
the Special Act by Sarasota County.
4
ordinance and the Special Act are virtually identical in content,
including the sequence of their presentation.
In 2011, the Hospitals filed complaints against Sarasota
County and the District seeking declaratory relief pursuant to
chapter 86, Florida Statutes. The Hospitals alleged that the County
had been collecting ad valorem taxes as imposed by the Board but
had been refusing to pay their submitted requests for
reimbursements under the Special Act, which the Hospitals had
begun issuing in late 2008 or early 2009, according to the
respective complaints.3 They sought a declaration to determine
their rights under the Special Act, to declare that the County is
obligated to reimburse them for indigent hospital services, to
3 Specifically, Doctors Hospital and Englewood alleged that
beginning in December 2008 and continuing each subsequent
month, they submitted invoices to the County for hospitalization
charges incurred in treating medically indigent persons under the
Special Act. Doctors Hospital claims that it had submitted invoices
for more than $41 million from December 2008 to date, and
Englewood alleged that it submitted invoices for more than $18
million. Venice HMA alleged that beginning in February 2009 and
in each subsequent month it submitted invoices to the County for
hospitalization charges incurred in treating medically indigent
persons under the Special Act. Its invoices from 2009 to December
2010 total $32 million. The sum of the Hospitals’ invoices, we are
informed, now exceeds half a billion dollars.
5
declare that the County is obligated to reimburse the Hospitals for
their prior invoices, and to grant any other relief the circuit court
deemed appropriate. The County raised various affirmative
defenses, including sovereign immunity, and several counterclaims,
including a challenge to the constitutionality of the Special Act.
In 2012, the County and District jointly sought summary
judgment, focusing solely on their argument that the Special Act
violated the Florida Constitution's provision against special laws
that grant a privilege to a private corporation. See art. III, §
11(a)(12), Fla. Const. The trial court granted the joint motion and
entered judgment in favor of the County and the District. This
court affirmed and issued an opinion in which we held that the
Special Act did indeed grant an unconstitutional special privilege
not shared by hospitals elsewhere in the state. See Venice HMA,
LLC v. Sarasota County, 198 So. 3d 23, 24 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015). On
review, the Florida Supreme Court reversed this court. See Venice
HMA, LLC v. Sarasota County, 228 So. 3d 76 (Fla. 2017). The
supreme court explained that the relevant entities for comparison,
for purposes of article III, section 11(a)(12), were hospitals located
in Sarasota County. Id. at 82 ("Because the special law only applies
6
to Sarasota County, we must limit our comparisons to Sarasota
County."). Since all hospitals within the county were granted the
same reimbursement privilege, the reimbursement provision of the
Special Act was not unconstitutional. Id. at 84.
After the case was remanded back to the circuit court, the
County tried a new tack. In April of 2018, the County filed another
motion for summary judgment, this time arguing that although the
Special Act may be constitutional it could not be lawfully enforced
against the County. The County argued that only a general law
(which, it contended, the Special Act is not) or an "express written
contract" could waive the County's sovereign immunity. The
Hospitals countered that the Special Act, when read together with
separate legislation, effectively waived sovereign immunity.
Further, the Hospitals argued that the enactment of the Special Act,
when considered in conjunction with their providing indigent
healthcare services in reliance upon the Special Act's payment
directions, created an express contract that could be enforced
notwithstanding the County's claim of sovereign immunity. After a
hearing, the circuit court entered an order denying the motion on
August 3, 2018. In its order, the circuit court observed:
7
It is undisputed that the County has previously
reimbursed hospitals in Sarasota County for the
provision of indigent care. There are genuine issues of
material fact in dispute relative to the facts and
circumstances surrounding these past payments as well
as whether the County has historically reimbursed
hospitals, including those operated by the District or any
of the Plaintiffs, for costs of indigent care under the
Special Act.
As cited in the Plaintiff's Response, if Defendants
truly believed that the instant action was barred by
sovereign immunity, they would have pursued dismissal
or summary judgment on that basis prior to spending
over six years litigating their counterclaims and
participating in protracted appeals. The County
acknowledged in their Motion, citing Fla. Highway Patrol
v. Jackson, [238 So. 3d 430] (Fla. 1st DCA [] 2018), that
"Sovereign immunity is immunity from suit, not just
liability and should be expeditiously addressed to prevent
unnecessary litigation time and expense." The fact that
the County and District expended "litigation time and
expense" in pursuing their counterclaims all the way to
the Florida Supreme Court begs against finding now that
the instant claim i[s] barred by sovereign immunity.
The case proceeded with limited discovery. The County
renewed its motion for summary judgment, arguing that there was
no general law or written contract waiving sovereign immunity.
Addressing the circuit court's apparent concern that past
reimbursement constituted waiver, the County conceded that it had
made prior reimbursement payments but argued that those
8
payments did not waive sovereign immunity; again, according to the
County, only a general law or a written contract could do so.
And again, on September 10, 2019, the circuit court denied
the County's renewed motion for summary judgment.
It is clear to the [c]ourt that summary judgment cannot
be entered on this basis, as there remains considerable
dispute as to material facts. It appears to the [c]ourt that
the County is, indeed, attempting to "recycle" its
previously argued claim of sovereign immunity. In
particular, there remain[] genuine disputes as to previous
payments made by the County to the private hospitals
and as to which legislative authority authorized the
previous payments.
The County now urges our court to prohibit the circuit court
from allowing the case to be litigated any further.
II.
Our path through the parties' arguments begins,
unfortunately, in rather tall weeds. It does so because the County's
choice of extraordinary writs, prohibition, has a complicated history
with respect to the defense of sovereign immunity.4 So we have
fashioned our analysis in two parts.
4 An added misfortune is that much of this analysis is likely no
longer pertinent. As of January 23, 2020, Florida Rule of Appellate
Procedure 9.130(a)(3) was amended to include nonfinal orders that
"deny a motion that . . . asserts entitlement to sovereign immunity."
9
In this part of the opinion, we will examine what the writ of
prohibition is, what it is used for, and why the courts have been
circumspect about extending its reach to address nonfinal orders.
We will canvas how the courts have construed immunity claims in
the context of prohibition—which is, admittedly, a less than clear
area of jurisprudence. In part III of the opinion, we will change the
focus to consider the merits of the petition in the framework of
certiorari. We ultimately conclude that the County is not entitled to
relief in either prohibition or certiorari.
A.
"Prohibition is an extraordinary writ, a prerogative writ,
extremely narrow in scope and operation, by which a superior
court, having appellate and supervisory jurisdiction over an inferior
court . . . may prevent such inferior court or tribunal from
exceeding jurisdiction or usurping jurisdiction over matters not
See In re Amendments to Fla. Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130, 289
So. 3d 866, 867 (Fla. 2020) (adopting rule 9.130(a)(3)(F)(iii)). We,
however, are constrained to view the County’s challenge through an
extraordinary writ because the version of rule 9.130(a)(3) in effect
when the circuit court entered the subject order and the County
filed its petition only authorized appeals of nonfinal orders that
determined "as a matter of law, a party is not entitled to sovereign
immunity."
10
within its jurisdiction." English v. McCrary, 348 So. 2d 293, 296
(Fla. 1977). The writ is "very narrow in scope, to be employed with
great caution and utilized only in emergencies. . . . It is preventive
and not corrective in that it commands the [the lower tribunal] not
to do the thing which the supervisory court is informed the lower
tribunal is about to do." Id. at 296-97.
As its name implies, a writ of prohibition bars any further
action by a lower tribunal. Rich v. State, 311 So. 3d 126, 129 (Fla.
2d DCA 2020) ("When an appellate court issues a writ of prohibition
to a lower tribunal, it means just that: the court below will be
prohibited from acting further."). Restraining a court from
exercising its constituted power to consider a claim or defense—that
is, taking an unresolved case away from a court—is not an act that
should be taken lightly in our system of adjudication. Prohibition
was never meant to be a substitute for appellate review. See Fla.
Dep't of Trans. v. Miami-Dade Cnty. Expressway Auth., 298 So. 3d
1261, 1263 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020) ("[A] writ of prohibition is not
warranted where there is an adequate remedy at law . . . and
should not be used in place of an appeal." (citing Pullins v.
Candelaria, 291 So. 3d 168, 169 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020))). In other
11
words, "[p]rohibition lies to prevent an inferior tribunal from acting
in excess of jurisdiction but not to prevent an erroneous exercise of
jurisdiction." English, 348 So. 2d at 297; see also PPI, Inc. v. Fla.
Dep't of Bus. & Pro. Regul., Div. of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, 917 So. 2d
1020, 1022 (Fla. 1st DCA 2006) (citing English for this proposition).
Since circuit courts are intended to be courts of general
jurisdiction, "nothing is intended to be outside their jurisdiction
except that which clearly and specially appears so to be." English,
348 So. 2d at 297 (emphasis added). In keeping with its narrow
purpose (and its powerful repercussions) the extraordinary writ of
prohibition has historically been invoked only when it could be said
an "emergency" has arisen. Id. ("Prohibition will be invoked only in
emergency cases to forestall an impending present injury where
person seeking writ has no other appropriate and adequate legal
remedy." (citing Joughin v. Parks, 147 So. 273 (Fla. 1933))).
Our supreme court has been somewhat circumspect about the
use of prohibition to address immunity claims. For example, in
Mandico v. Taos Construction, Inc., 605 So. 2d 850, 854 (Fla. 1992),
the Florida Supreme Court receded from its earlier decision in
Winn-Lovett Tampa v. Murphree, 73 So. 2d 287 (Fla. 1954), and in
12
so holding clarified that not every question over immunity
automatically implicates an emergency issue of circuit court
jurisdiction. In Murphree, 73 So. 2d at 288, an employer sought
prohibition after the circuit court denied its motion to dismiss an
employee's personal injury claim on the basis of workers'
compensation immunity. According to the employer, the circuit
court was without jurisdiction to consider the claim. Id. The
Mandico court acknowledged that Murphree had held as much but
then stated that Murphree constituted "an unwarranted extension of
the principle of prohibition." Mandico, 605 So. 2d at 854. The
court went on to explain that the use of prohibition in Murphree
was unwarranted because "[a] person has a right to file a personal
injury action in circuit court, and the court has jurisdiction to
entertain the suit." Id. The employer's assertion of workers'
compensation immunity was an affirmative defense, and its validity
could only be determined in the course of the litigation. Id. The
circuit court had jurisdiction to decide that question, even if it
decided the question wrongly. Id. Thus, the Mandico court found
that prohibition could not be used to raise the defense of workers'
compensation immunity. Id.
13
Some twenty years later, the Florida Supreme Court issued
two opinions on the same day addressing the use of common law
writs to review nonfinal orders involving claims of sovereign
immunity. See Keck v. Eminisor, 104 So. 3d 359 (Fla. 2012);
Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. San Perdido Ass'n, 104 So. 3d 344 (Fla.
2012). In San Perdido, 104 So. 3d at 345, the court considered
whether an appellate court should review a nonfinal order denying
a claim of sovereign immunity in a bad faith action against Citizens
Property Insurance Corporation, a state-created entity. The court
noted that the issue arose "in the context of the broader question of
when appellate courts should use common law writs to review non-
final orders involving claims of immunity" and whether the court
should expand the list of appealable nonfinal orders. Id. The San
Perdido court did not resolve that broader issue but concluded that
"a writ of prohibition is not available to challenge a non-final order
denying a motion to dismiss based on a claim of sovereign
immunity where sovereign immunity has been partially waived." Id.
at 346.
In reaching this decision, the court observed "that non-final
orders in the course of trial court proceedings are generally
14
reviewed on appeal at the conclusion of the case." Id. at 348.
Certain nonfinal orders, however, may be immediately appealable
under rule 9.130, and in limited circumstances, "a party may use a
petition for certiorari to seek review of a non-final order not
otherwise appealable." Id. With that backdrop, the court then
addressed whether Citizens could seek review of a nonfinal order
denying its motion to dismiss through a writ of prohibition. Id. at
349. Looking, in part, to its decisions in Department of Education v.
Roe, 679 So. 2d 756 (Fla. 1996), and Mandico, the San Perdido
court concluded that "[b]ased on a review of our case law, the plain
answer to that question is no." San Perdido, 104 So. 3d at 349.
Because the trial court had jurisdiction to determine the question of
sovereign immunity, prohibition was unavailable. Id. at 351.
In Keck, 104 So. 3d at 360-61, the court considered the
rephrased question of great public importance of whether an
appellate court could review a nonfinal order denying a transit
authority trolley driver's motion for summary judgment based on a
claim of individual immunity under section 768.28(9)(a), Florida
Statutes (2005). Because such an order did not fall under the
existing version of rule 9.130, the First District had considered the
15
issue in certiorari and denied the petition without reaching its
merits. Id. at 362. The Florida Supreme Court took an entirely
different approach. The court eschewed consideration of the case
through any extraordinary writ and instead proceeded to review the
merits of the dispute as it would under rule 9.130.5 Since the only
issue to be resolved—whether the employee's company was a "state
agenc[y] or subdivision[]" under section 768.28(2)—was an issue of
law, the court in Keck determined that the individual employee was
entitled to sovereign immunity and quashed the First District's
opinion. Id. at 369.
In a separate concurrence in Keck, Justice Pariente observed
that appellate courts had been using extraordinary writs to address
5 In the Keck opinion, the court requested the appellate rules
committee to craft an amendment to rule 9.130 to reflect what it
had just held, id. at 366, similar to what it had done when it
reviewed the denial of summary judgment on a claim of qualified
immunity in Tucker v. Resha, 648 So. 2d 1187, 1190 (Fla. 1994)
("Thus, we answer the certified question in the affirmative and hold
that an order denying summary judgment based upon a claim of
qualified immunity is subject to interlocutory review to the extent
that the order turns on an issue of law. Because this holding will
require a change in the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, we
request the Florida Bar Appellate Court Rules Committee to submit
a proposed amendment that will address the rule change mandated
by this decision.").
16
different types of immunity claims in a somewhat inconsistent
manner. Id. at 369. That was probably a fair assessment of the
state of the law. See generally Jefferson v. State, 264 So. 3d 1019,
1023 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018) (distinguishing "Stand Your Ground"
immunity rulings that are determined on the merits, which are
reviewed through prohibition, versus claimed procedural errors,
which are reviewed in certiorari); Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Ariz, 67
So. 3d 229, 232 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010) (granting a petition for writ of
prohibition because the petitioner established it was entitled to
tribal sovereign immunity); Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. McCor, 903 So.
2d 353, 357–59 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) (using a writ of certiorari to
review the denial of a motion to dismiss involving tribal sovereign
immunity); Brevard County v. Morehead, 181 So. 3d 1229, 1232-33
(Fla. 5th DCA 2015) (issuing prohibition to address a claim of
sovereign immunity); Miami–Dade County v. Rodriguez, 67 So.3d
1213, 1216-19 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) (issuing a writ of certiorari to
review the denial of a motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity
defense), quashed by Rodriguez v. Miami-Dade County, 117 So. 3d
400, 402 (Fla. 2013) (holding that the sovereign immunity claim "is
not reviewable by the appellate courts through a petition for writ of
17
certiorari because there is no irreparable harm and because there
are essential facts in dispute"); Fuller v. Truncale, 50 So. 3d 25, 27–
28 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010) (using a writ of certiorari to review the
denial of a motion to dismiss involving judicial immunity); Citizens
Prop. Ins. Corp. v. San Perdido Ass'n, 46 So. 3d 1051, 1053 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2010) (concluding that a writ of certiorari was improper to
review the denial of a motion to dismiss involving sovereign
immunity); Citizens Prop. Ins. v. La Mer Condo. Assoc., 37 So. 3d
988, 988 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) (issuing prohibition because "Citizens
is immune from first-party bad faith claims pursuant to sections
627.351(6)(r)1. and 624.155(1)(b)1., Florida Statutes"), disapproved
by Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v. San Perdido Ass'n, 104 So. 3d 344,
351 (Fla. 2012) (disapproving of La Mer to the extent that it "used
the vehicle of a writ of prohibition to review a claim of sovereign
immunity where a limited waiver of sovereign immunity applies").
On one occasion, our court granted a prohibition petition to
prevent a circuit court from hearing a case that implicated a Native
American Tribe's tribal immunity. See Ariz, 67 So. 3d at 232. In
Ariz, we stated that since the Tribe had established tribal sovereign
immunity "the trial court [was] without subject matter jurisdiction
18
in this matter." Id. Our opinion in Ariz did not purport to lay down
a binding rule that every claim of any kind of immunity implicated
a want of subject matter jurisdiction that could be addressed in
prohibition. Accord Mandico, 605 So. 2d at 853-54.
Indeed, prior to the Ariz opinion, our court had reviewed tribal
immunity orders through certiorari. See McCor, 903 So. 2d at 357
("We have previously exercised our common law certiorari
jurisdiction to review a trial court order denying a motion to dismiss
where the motion was based on the assertion that the trial court
lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the suit was barred by
tribal sovereign immunity." (first citing Seminole Tribe of Fla. v.
Houghtaling, 589 So. 2d 1030, 1031 (Fla. 2d DCA 1991), then citing
Seminole Police Dep't v. Casadella, 478 So. 2d 470, 471 (Fla. 4th
DCA 1985))).6 In McCor, we found that certiorari jurisdiction was
6 Interestingly, McCor included a "cf." citation to Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians v. Napoleoni, 890 So. 2d 1152, 1153-54 (Fla. 1st
DCA 2004), a First District opinion that had addressed tribal
sovereign immunity through prohibition. McCor, 903 So. 2d at 357.
McCor appeared to reject that approach as the very next sentence
following that citation was: "Certiorari jurisdiction exists in this
context because the inappropriate exercise of jurisdiction by a trial
court over a sovereignly-immune tribe is an injury for which there is
no adequate remedy on appeal." Id. McCor also likened tribal
sovereign immunity to qualified immunity in civil rights cases,
19
available to review the trial court's order because the inappropriate
exercise of jurisdiction (as opposed to a lack of jurisdiction) was an
injury for which there was no adequate remedy on appeal when
sovereign immunity "involve[d] 'immunity from suit rather than a
mere defense to liability' " and would be lost if the case were
erroneously permitted to go to trial. Id. at 358 (quoting Tucker v.
Resha, 648 So. 2d 1187, 1189 (Fla. 1994)).
In sum, different courts have considered different claims of
immunity through different writs. The County asserts, almost as if
it were an axiom, that prohibition is the appropriate vehicle to
review the denial of summary judgment on its sovereign immunity
defense. In our view, the case law is more nuanced.
B.
But we need not lay down a definitive pronouncement on this
issue today because, as explained below, there is a sharp factual
dispute that precludes relief in prohibition. See Mandico, 605 So.
2d at 854 (a writ of prohibition is not appropriate "to test the
though only for the limited point that both defenses involved
immunity from suit rather than a "mere defense to liability." Id. at
357-58 (quoting Tucker, 648 So. 2d at 1189).
20
correctness of a lower tribunal's ruling on jurisdiction where the
existence of jurisdiction depends on controverted facts that the
inferior tribunal has jurisdiction to determine"); Godfrey v. Reliance
Wholesale, Inc., 68 So. 3d 930, 932 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011) ("Unless the
petitioner can show, however, that (1) there are no disputed facts
and (2) the circuit court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, a writ of
prohibition is unavailable."); Nolet v. State, 920 So. 2d 1214 (Fla.
1st DCA 2006) (denying prohibition where there was a disputed
material fact over the validity of a criminal defendant's waiver of her
right to speedy trial).
1.
In response to the County's claimed sovereign immunity, the
Hospitals have argued that the enactment of chapter 2003-359,
Laws of Florida, and chapter 4, article II, sections 4-24(i) and 4-31
of the Sarasota County Code of Ordinances, combined with their
provision of services and remittance of bills in reliance thereon,
created an express contract between the County and the Hospitals.
As they correctly point out, a governmental entity can be deemed to
have waived its sovereign immunity when it enters into an express
contract with another party. See Pan-Am Tobacco Corp. v. Dep't of
21
Corrs., 471 So. 2d 4, 5 (Fla. 1984) ("We therefore hold that where
the state has entered into a contract fairly authorized by the powers
granted by general law, the defense of sovereign immunity will not
protect the state from action arising from the state's breach of that
contract."); see also Fla. Dep't of Transp. v. Schwefringhaus, 188 So.
3d 840, 846 (Fla. 2016) ("[W]e find that the breach-of-contract
principles in Pan-Am prohibit the DOT from using sovereign
immunity to avoid suit for its breach of the crossing agreement.").
The County does not dispute the Hospitals' legal contention,
but rather whether the facts of this case can implicate it. According
to the County, because there is no "express written contract"
between these parties, there was no waiver of its sovereign
immunity.7 Since the Hospitals "never produced an express written
contract" in the course of discovery, the County maintains it is
7 The County and the Hospitals acknowledge that Florida law
does not generally recognize waiver of sovereign immunity through
implied contracts, whether in law or in fact. See Brevard v. Miorelli
Eng’g, 703 So. 2d 1049, 1050 (Fla. 1997) ("We would also
emphasize that our holding here is applicable only to suits on
express, written contracts into which the state agency has statutory
authority to enter." (quoting Pan-Am Tobacco, 471 So. 2d at 6)); City
of Ft. Lauderdale v. Israel, 178 So. 3d 444, 447-48 (Fla. 4th DCA
2015).
22
entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. What the County
seems to imply in its phrasing of its argument is that without a
unified, finalized, typed, paginated document, signed by the parties
in a suitable place (or something to that effect), there can be no
enforceable express contract.
But that is an overly crimped view of what makes an express
contract. While express contracts are frequently set forth in that
kind of manner, they do not have to be. See Waite Dev., Inc. v. City
of Milton, 866 So. 2d 153, 155 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) ("Where an
agreement is arrived at by words, oral or written, the contract is
said to be 'express.' " (quoting Com. P'ship 8098 Ltd. P'ship v. Equity
Contracting Co., 695 So. 2d 383, 385 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997))); Barakat
v. Broward Cnty. Hous. Auth., 771 So. 2d 1193, 1195 (Fla. 4th DCA
2000) (enforcing employment contract against Broward County
Housing Authority that was created through a Broward County
Housing Resolution); Ransom v. Fernandina Beach Chamber of
Com., 752 So. 2d 118, 119 (Fla. 1st DCA 2000) (recognizing breach
of unilateral contract claim against golf tournament contest
sponsors who refused to award a pickup truck prize to a contestant
who shot a hole-in-one); A & M Eng'g Plastics, Inc. v. Energy Saving
23
Tech., Co., 455 So. 2d 1124, 1125 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984) (finding that
contract for plastic parts and molding comprised of a written
quotation and subsequent shipments); Williams v. Cordis Corp., 30
F.3d 1429, 1432 (11th Cir. 1994) ("[A] 'pension plan is a unilateral
contract which creates a vested right in those employees who accept
the offer it contains by continuing in employment for the requisite
number of years.' " (quoting Hurd v. Ill. Bell Tel. Co., 234 F.2d 942,
946 (7th Cir. 1956))).
Here, the Hospitals claim that the County's sovereign
immunity was waived by an express contract formed through the
enactment of a special act of legislation and the subsequent
incorporation of that statute as a county ordinance, coupled with
the Hospitals' provision of indigent healthcare services and
remittance of bills. That may be a somewhat unique manner of
forming an express contract, but it is certainly not unheard of. In
Waite, 866 So. 2d at 154, a developer brought a breach of contract
claim against a city based upon the city's enactment of an
ordinance adopting the developer's annexation petition. The
annexation petition and ordinance required the city to provide water
and sewer lines to the developer's property; after furnishing the
24
lines to the first phase of the property's development, the city
indicated it would not do so for the second phase. Id. The circuit
court dismissed the complaint based on the city's claim of sovereign
immunity. Id. at 155. The First District reversed and provided a
succinct summary of how express contracts may be made: " 'Where
an agreement is arrived at by words, oral or written, the contract is
said to be 'express.' ' . . . Several writings may constitute a valid
and binding written contract when they evidence a complete
meeting of the minds of the parties and an agreement upon the
terms and conditions of the contract." Id. (quoting Com. P'ship 8098
Ltd., 695 So. 2d at 385).
We cannot agree that what the Hospitals allege to be a
contract—written, legislative enactments directing remuneration to
private hospitals in exchange for services—would be beyond the ken
of what Florida law would recognize for purposes of waiving
sovereign immunity. Cf. Nowlin v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC, 193 So.
3d 1043, 1045 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016) ("A contract is made when the
three elements of contract formation are present: offer, acceptance,
and consideration." (quoting 11 Fla. Jur.2d Contracts § 25 (2016))).
At bottom, then, the circuit court was not faced with a pure
25
question of law, but whether a potentially valid express contract
was, in fact, formed. There was a disputed question of material fact
on that issue, and that precluded summary judgment. See
generally Buck-Leiter Palm Ave. Dev., LLC v. City of Sarasota, 212
So. 3d 1078, 1081-82 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017) (reversing summary
judgment where there were factual disputes as to whether an initial
redevelopment agreement was enforceable); Turton v. Singer Asset
Fin. Co., 120 So. 3d 635, 640 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013) ("The core issue
in this case is whether the transmission of the Plan to Turton
constituted a continuing offer to avoid Turton's resignation and
whether Turton's continued employment was a continuing
acceptance of the offer. Because the intent of the parties is in
question, this case cannot be properly disposed of by summary
judgment."); Smith v. Royal Auto. Grp., Inc., 675 So. 2d 144, 152
(Fla. 5th DCA 1996) ("The question of whether or not the parties'
negotiations produced a binding agreement is a question of intent,
which in turn is a question of fact.").
2.
Moreover, the County's claim of a prohibition "emergency"
rings hollow in this case. The County waited nearly six years to
26
bring its claim of sovereign immunity for the circuit court's
consideration. The County engaged in extensive, protracted
litigation on other issues before advancing sovereign immunity as a
purported jurisdictional bar. Such a prolonged delay on the part of
the County belies what prohibition has historically demanded: an
emergency that requires immediate intervention from a superior
tribunal. See L.T. v. State, 296 So. 3d 490, 496 (Fla. 1st DCA 2020)
(observing that prohibition should be employed with "great caution"
and "invoked only in emergency cases to forestall an impending
present injury" where there is "no other appropriate and adequate
legal remedy." (first quoting State ex rel. Turner v. Earle, 295 So. 2d
609, 611 (Fla. 1974), then quoting English, 348 So. 2d at 297)).
Issuing a writ of prohibition would not be an appropriate exercise of
our extraordinary writ jurisdiction under the facts of this case. See
Topps v. State, 865 So. 2d 1253, 1257 (Fla. 2004) ("Since the nature
of an extraordinary writ is not of absolute right, the granting of
such writ lies within the discretion of the court.").8
8 The parties do not suggest we should apply the current
version of rule 9.130 retroactively to obtain jurisdiction, and given
the Florida Supreme Court’s direction in In re Amendments to
Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130, 289 So. 3d at 867—that
27
In sum, we conclude the County is not entitled to a writ of
prohibition. But because we recognize the jurisprudence
surrounding the intersection between extraordinary writs and
sovereign immunity remains less than clear, and in the interest of
providing a full review of the County's arguments, we will also
consider its claims in certiorari.
III.
"It is well settled that to obtain a writ of certiorari, there must
exist '(1) a departure from the essential requirements of the law, (2)
resulting in material injury for the remainder of the case (3) that
cannot be corrected on postjudgment appeal.' " Reeves v. Fleetwood
Homes of Fla., 889 So. 2d 812, 822 (Fla. 2004) (quoting Bd. of
Regents v. Snyder, 826 So. 2d 382, 387 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002)). "The
last two elements are jurisdictional and must be analyzed before the
court may even consider the first element." High Five Prods., Inc. v.
the amendment "shall become effective immediately upon the
release of this opinion [January 23, 2020]"—we would decline to do
so if they had. Cf. Love v. State, 286 So. 3d 177, 188 (Fla. 2019)
(observing that "Stand Your Ground" statute’s procedural
amendment only applied prospectively, in part, because "the
legislation on its face is plainly forward-looking").
28
Riddle, 286 So. 3d 890, 890 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019) (quoting Gift of Life
Adoptions v. S.R.B., 252 So. 3d 788, 790 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018)).
The Florida Supreme Court squarely addressed the issue of
certiorari jurisdiction over sovereign immunity defenses in
Rodriguez v. Miami-Dade County, 117 So. 3d 400 (Fla. 2013). In
Rodriguez, a business owner sued Miami-Dade County when he was
shot four times by a police officer responding to a burglary alarm at
the owner's business. Id. at 402. The trial court denied the
county's motion for summary judgment, but the Third District
Court of Appeal held that the county was entitled to sovereign
immunity and quashed the trial court's order through a writ of
certiorari. Id. at 403. The supreme court in Rodriguez emphasized
"the extremely narrow scope of a district court's ability to use its
certiorari jurisdiction to address a non-final order where the trial
court denied the defendant's claim that the suit was barred by
sovereign immunity." Id. at 404.
Consistent with our recent holdings in Citizens and Keck,
we reiterate that the continuation of litigation and any
ensuing costs, time, and effort in defending such
litigation does not constitute irreparable harm. Thus, the
use of certiorari review is improper in such an instance.
29
Id. at 405. The Rodriguez court concluded that the Third District
could not review the merits of Miami-Dade County's sovereign
immunity defense in certiorari. Id. at 408-09; see also Beach Cmty.
Bank v. City of Freeport, 150 So. 3d 1111, 1112-13 (Fla. 2014)
(reaffirming that certiorari was not an appropriate basis to review
the denial of a city's motion to dismiss on the basis of sovereign
immunity but addressing the merits under amended rule 9.130(a)
because the availability of sovereign immunity turned on an issue of
law).
Bound by the Florida Supreme Court's directions in Rodriguez
and City of Freeport, we would similarly conclude that the denial of
the County's motion for summary judgment in this case does not
constitute irreparable harm of the type that would entitle the
County to a writ of certiorari. See also Fla. Fish & Wildlife
Conservation Comm'n v. Jeffrey, 178 So. 3d 460, 465 (Fla. 1st DCA
2015) ("By contrast, any harm resulting from the erroneous denial
of FWCC's motion for summary judgment is not irreparable
because, by virtue of the waiver of sovereign immunity in section
768.28, Florida Statutes, FWCC has only limited immunity from the
liability that may result from the Respondent's suit, not immunity
30
from the suit itself."). But following the example of the court in City
of Freeport, we will nevertheless consider whether the denial of
summary judgment in this case constitutes a departure from the
essential requirements of law.
Simply put, it does not. As we discussed at length in part
II(B), there are genuine, material disputed facts in this record over
whether a contract was formed and whether the County waived its
sovereign immunity. As such, the circuit court's denial of the
County's motion for summary judgment did not depart from the
essential requirements of law. See, e.g., Ondrey v. Patterson, 884
So. 2d 50, 55 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (denying certiorari petition
because there was a disputed issue of material fact that precluded
summary judgment on correction officer's claim of qualified
immunity); Stephens v. Geoghegan, 702 So. 2d 517, 525 n.4 (Fla.
2d DCA 1997) ("[W]hen a court denies summary judgment in the
face of disputed issues of material fact, it commits no legal error, let
alone a departure from the essential requirements of law."); Butler v.
Dowling, 750 So. 2d 674, 675 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) (denying
certiorari petition where the testimony of the arrestee/plaintiff
created a dispute as to whether the arresting police officer would be
31
entitled to qualified immunity from an excessive force claim); Dep't
of Health & Rehab. Servs. v. Miller, 413 So. 2d 96, 96 (Fla. 1st DCA
1982) (recognizing that the court has entertained petitions for writs
of certiorari to review interlocutory orders concerning sovereign
immunity but declining to issue the writ because "there may be
factual matters which remain to be developed at trial bearing on the
issue of sovereign immunity").
We would deny the County's petition if we were to exercise our
certiorari jurisdiction.
IV.
We conclude that the facts of this case do not warrant a writ of
prohibition. Under Rodriguez and City of Freeport, we would decline
to exercise our certiorari jurisdiction to reach the County's claims.
Even if we had certiorari jurisdiction, we would not find that the
circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law when
it denied the County's motion for summary judgment on the ground
of sovereign immunity. In our view, the circuit court was quite
correct to deny the County's motion for summary judgment on this
record.
32
"Oftentimes, the applicability of the sovereign immunity waiver
is inextricably tied to the underlying facts, requiring a trial on the
merits." Dep't of Educ. v. Roe, 679 So. 2d 756, 758 (Fla. 1996). So
it is with the case at bar.
Petition denied.
SILBERMAN, J., Concurs specially with opinion.
ATKINSON, J., Concurs in result.
33
SILBERMAN, Judge, Specially concurring.
With one exception, I concur in Judge Lucas's majority
opinion. The majority opinion correctly observes that both
prohibition and certiorari have been used, somewhat inconsistently,
as avenues for review of sovereign immunity issues. And the
opinion properly concludes that genuine issues of material fact
remain in dispute and that the County has failed to establish
entitlement to relief by way of prohibition or certiorari. However, I
do not join in part II.B.2 of the opinion which asserts that the
County's "prohibition 'emergency' rings hollow" due to the County's
failure to have the trial court resolve the immunity issue in the first
instance. Majority op. at 26.
While the County asserted sovereign immunity in its answer to
the complaints, the County (together with the District) initially
sought and obtained summary judgment on the basis that the
Special Act was unconstitutional. This court affirmed, but the
Florida Supreme Court reversed. See Venice HMA, LLC v. Sarasota
County, 228 So. 3d 76, 84 (Fla. 2017). When the case returned to
the trial court for further proceedings, the County then moved for
summary judgment based on sovereign immunity.
34
The County may have been better advised to first seek a
determination of the immunity issue rather than a determination of
the constitutionality of the Special Act. But once the trial court
ruled against the County on the immunity issue, the County was
entitled to review of that decision. And while prohibition is a limited
remedy, it has not been eliminated as a remedy for a trial court's
acting in excess of its jurisdiction over a sovereign that is immune
from suit.
I recognize that in English v. McCrary, 348 So. 2d 293, 297
(Fla. 1977), the Florida Supreme Court stated that "[p]rohibition will
be invoked only in emergency cases to forestall an impending
present injury where person seeking writ has no other appropriate
and adequate legal remedy." But the "emergency" at issue was the
exclusion of the press from a court proceeding. Id. at 295. The
court observed that "[p]rohibition lies to prevent an inferior tribunal
from acting in excess of jurisdiction but not to prevent an erroneous
exercise of jurisdiction." Id. at 297. In holding that the case did not
warrant the issuance of a writ of prohibition, the court focused on
the fact that the situation was not one "where the trial court was
exceeding its jurisdiction or was without jurisdiction." Id. at 299.
35
Rather, the case involved at most "a possible abuse of discretion."
Id.
In the present case there is no dispute that the trial court had
jurisdiction to determine whether sovereign immunity barred
further proceedings against the County, including whether the
County had waived its immunity. Had the court determined that
the County established its immunity, the court's jurisdiction over
the County would have come to an end unless this court, on review,
concluded that the trial court's determination was incorrect. And,
after resolving any factual disputes, had the trial court erroneously
concluded that the County was not entitled to immunity, then
review in this court by petition for writ of prohibition would be
entirely proper to prevent the trial court "from acting in excess of
jurisdiction." Id. at 297.
The County's decision to seek a ruling on its constitutionality
challenge enabled the trial court to exercise its jurisdiction to
consider that challenge. However, the County's failure to first seek
a ruling as to sovereign immunity did not establish the trial court's
unbridled jurisdiction over the County, particularly where the trial
court did not determine any issue of waiver. Thus, an erroneous
36
denial of sovereign immunity would not alleviate the nature of the
"emergency" because the trial court would be exercising jurisdiction
that it does not have over a sovereign that is immune from suit.
And prohibition remains as a recognized remedy when a trial court
exercises jurisdiction over a sovereign that is entitled to immunity
from suit. See, e.g., Seminole Tribe of Fla. v. Ariz, 67 So. 3d 229,
232 (Fla. 2d DCA 2010); Brevard County v. Morehead, 181 So. 3d
1229, 1233 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015).
Thus, while I do not agree with the majority opinion that the
" 'emergency' rings hollow," majority op. at 26, I nevertheless agree
that the County has not established entitlement to relief by way of
extraordinary writ because factual issues remain to be resolved in
the trial court.
37
ATKINSON, Judge, Concurring in result.
I agree that the petition should be denied, but I would treat it
as one for a writ of certiorari and deny it for the reasons explained
in part II.B.1. of Judge Lucas's opinion.
Opinion subject to revision prior to official publication.
38