People ex rel. Manning v. Nickerson

Docket No. 84457–Agenda 26–May 1998.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS ex rel. BRENT MANNING, Director of Conservation, Appellant, v. PATRICK

NICKERSON, Appellee.

Opinion filed October 22, 1998.

When the State of Illinois sues a defendant in the circuit court, may the defendant assert a counterclaim in the circuit court against the state seeking damages for common law claims otherwise barred by sovereign immunity, or must the defendant file a separate action against the state in the Court of Claims? That is the critical issue for decision, an issue on which the appellate court has issued…