AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• Two separate quiet title lawsuits were initiated, one by the Belen Consolidated School District against Valencia County and another by Gregory A. Nash and Susie K. Nash against Catron County. Both suits involved the plaintiffs seeking to quiet title to real property, with the defendant counties named as parties who claimed or may claim an interest in the subject properties. The counties responded by asserting immunity from the lawsuits under NMSA 1978, Section 42-11-1, which grants immunity to the state and its political subdivisions from suits involving claims of title to or interest in real property, except as specifically authorized by law.

Procedural History

• District Court of Valencia County: The court determined that Valencia County was not immune from the lawsuit, allowing it to proceed.
• District Court of Catron County: The court dismissed the lawsuit against Catron County, concluding that the county was immune from suit.

Parties' Submissions

• Respondent (Belen Consolidated School District and the Nashes): Argued that the counties were not immune from the quiet title lawsuits, suggesting that statutory exceptions to sovereign immunity allowed the suits to proceed.
• Petitioner (The County of Valencia and Catron County): Claimed immunity under Section 42-11-1, arguing that this statute barred the lawsuits.

Legal Issues

• Whether the defendant counties are immune from Plaintiffs’ quiet title lawsuits under NMSA 1978, Section 42-11-1.

Disposition

• The district court's decision in the Valencia County suit was reversed, and the action against Valencia County was ordered to be dismissed.
• The district court's decision in the Catron County suit was affirmed, upholding the dismissal of the complaint against Catron County.

Reasons

• The Court of Appeals, with Judges Megan P. Duffy, Jennifer L. Attrep, and Kristina Bogardus concurring, held that Section 42-11-1 grants the Counties immunity from these lawsuits, and there is no statutory exception to the Counties’ immunity in these cases. The court consolidated the appeals due to the substantially similar issues raised. The court reviewed the development of immunity in New Mexico, noting the historical adoption of the common law doctrine of sovereign immunity and its subsequent modifications through legislative action and judicial decisions. The court found that Section 42-11-1, enacted after the New Mexico Supreme Court abolished sovereign immunity in quiet title actions, provides the State and its political subdivisions with statutory immunity in any lawsuit involving a claim of title to or interest in real property, unless specifically authorized by law. The court determined that the waiver of immunity set forth in Section 42-6-12 does not authorize Plaintiffs’ quiet title suits, following the Supreme Court’s interpretation in Maes, which limits the state’s consent to be sued to specific circumstances not present in either suit. The court declined to address the plaintiffs' due process arguments, finding them either unpreserved for appeal or insufficiently developed.