Hackney v. Coweta County
Supreme Court of Georgia
Action for damages. Before Judge Freeman. City court of Newnan. July 29, 1902. The action was on account of injuries alleged to have been caused by a defect in a public bridge. A demurrer on the grounds that no cause of action was set out, and that the suit was barred by the statute of limitations, was sustained, and the plaintiff excepted.
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Action for damages. Before Judge Freeman. City court of Newnan. July 29, 1902. The action was on account of injuries alleged to have been caused by a defect in a public bridge. A demurrer on the grounds that no cause of action was set out, and that the suit was barred by the statute of limitations, was sustained, and the plaintiff excepted. The petition was filed December 31, 1901. It alleged that on November 12, 1900, the plaintiff was in a road-cart, driving a horse attached to it across the bridge in question, when, by reason of the defective condition of the bridge (in that one of the…
1Opinion of the CourtSimmons, C. J.
The key that unlocks the bolt of controversy in this case is the distinction between a dependent liability and an independent liability. Prior to the act of 1888, the liability of the county was in every case dependent on the liability of the contractor, and on the further fact of neglect on the part of the county authorities to take from the contractor the requisite bond and security. This view is clearly presented in the dissenting opinion found in Davis v. Horne, 64 Ga. 70, and is the basis of all the holdings which limit the county’s liability to a period of seven years unless it be shown…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Davis v. HorneSupreme Court of Georgia · 1879
3Cited by8 opinions
- Penick v. County of MorganSupreme Court of Georgia · 1908
- Howington v. Madison CountySupreme Court of Georgia · 1906
- Warren County v. EvansSupreme Court of Georgia · 1903
- Warren County v. BattleCourt of Appeals of Georgia · 1934
- Havird v. Richmond CountySupreme Court of Georgia · 1933
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