Page:Parish v. Pitts, 244 Ark. 1239 (1968).pdf/5

 Rh governmental activity as here. We are now of the opinion that re-examination of the principle of governmental immunity from tort action is the duty of this Court and should be undertaken at this time.

The origin of the concept of governmental immunity to suit and how it came to relieve the municipal corporation in the United States of liability for its tortious conduct, is quite involved and the subject of conflicting accounts. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that its application to a local unit of government is first recorded in Russel v''. Men of Devon'', 2 T. R. 667, 11 Eng. Rep. 359 (1788). An action for injuries caused by a defective bridge was brought against all the men of the County of Devon since they were required by statute to keep it in repair. Even the reasons given in the report for denial of the right to sue are subject to much dispute today. It was said a multiplicity of suits would be encouraged; that no such action had been authorized by statute; and that a judgment would work an injustice upon the changing population of an unincorporated county since those not residents when the tort occurred could be required to help satisfy it. In the concurring opinion is found what may well be the most fundamental reason for the concept:

"'It is better that an individual should sustain an injury than that the public should suffer an inconvenience'."

The earliest Arkansas case enunciating the rule, Granger v. Pulaski County, 26 Ark. 37 (1870), cited the Massachusetts case of Mower v''. The Inhabitants of Leicester'', 9 Mass. 247, which in turn had cited the Russel case, supra. It is noteworthy that in applying this concept to a county the Arkansas court pointed out the distinctions between the unincorporated county and the incorporated municipality, indicating that liability might well attach to the latter. In City of Little Rock v''. Willis'', 27 Ark. 572 (1872), it was said that for the exercise