City of Fort Worth v. JDB Towing, LLC

Summary

The Second Court of Appeals of Texas held that police-purpose towing constitutes a governmental function because it is an exercise of the City of Fort Worth's police power. The court concluded that governmental immunity barred JDB Towing's tortious-interference-with-contract claim and that the Texas Tort Claims Act does not waive immunity for intentional torts. The court reversed the trial court's order denying the City's jurisdictional motion and rendered judgment dismissing the claim for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. Police-purpose towing constitutes an exercise of the City's broader police power and is therefore a governmental function designated by Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 101.0215(a)(1).
2. The City's decision to perform police-purpose towing through a private contractor was itself governmental because a municipality may perform a governmental function through private contractors.
3. The Texas Tort Claims Act does not waive governmental immunity for JDB's tortious-interference-with-contract claim because tortious interference is an intentional tort.
4. The trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over JDB's tortious-interference claim because the City was immune from liability and no valid TTCA waiver applied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether police-purpose towing is a governmental function under Texas law.
2. Whether the City's decision to contract with AutoReturn to manage police-purpose towing retained the governmental character of that function.
3. Whether governmental immunity was waived for JDB's intentional tort claim for tortious interference with contract.
4. Whether the trial court had subject matter jurisdiction over JDB's claim.

Disposition

reversed