Page:Board of Trustees of University of Arkansas v. Andrews.pdf/5

 The Board moved to dismiss Andrews's action based on sovereign immunity. Article 5, section 20 of the Arkansas Constitution provides that "[t]he State of Arkansas shall never be made defendant in any of her courts." Sovereign immunity is jurisdictional immunity from suit, and jurisdiction must be determined entirely from the pleadings. ''See LandsnPulaski, LLC v. Ark. Dep't of Corr.'', 372 Ark. 40, 269 S.W.3d 793 (2007); Clowers v. Lassiter, 363 Ark. 241, 213 S.W.3d 6 (2005); ''Ark. Tech Univ. v. Link'', 341 Ark. 495, 17 S.W.3d 809 (2000). A suit against the State is barred by the sovereign-immunity doctrine if a judgment for the plaintiff will operate to control the action of the State or subject it to liability. ''Ark. State Med. Bd. v. Byers'', 2017 Ark. 213, 521 S.W.3d 459.

This court has held that the Board is an instrumentality of the State and is immune from suit. ''See Washington Cty. v. Bd. of Trs.'', 2016 Ark. 34, 480 S.W.3d 173 (holding that the university is an instrumentality of the State and that it was immune from ad valorem taxation); ''Bd. of Trs. v. Burcham'', 2014 Ark. 61 (holding that Burcham's wrongful-termination complaint was barred by sovereign immunity and that a sovereign-immunity exception did not apply).

This court has held that the doctrine of sovereign immunity is rigid but that it may be waived in limited circumstances. Office of Child Support Enf't v. Mitchell, 330 Ark. 338, 954 S.W.2d 907 (1997). This court has recognized that a claim of sovereign immunity may be surmounted in the following three instances: (1) when the State is the moving party seeking specific relief; (2) when an act of the legislature has created a specific waiver of sovereign immunity; and (3) when the state agency is acting illegally or if a state agency