Ex Parte Dale

We issued the writ of certiorari to review the Court of Civil Appeals' construction of the statute governing the jurisdiction of the State Board of Adjustment, Ala. Code 1975, § 41-9-62.

Emmett O. Dale, as administrator of the estate of Patrick Frank Dale, filed a wrongful death suit against the State Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation ("Mental Health") and three individual employees of Mental Health, alleging negligent and wanton treatment and release of Douglas Edward Griffin from Bryce Hospital, a mental health facility owned and operated by the State of Alabama. The trial…