Lane v. Atchison Heritage Conference Center, Inc., 283 Kan. 439

Summary

The Kansas Supreme Court held that the recreational-use exception to the Kansas Tort Claims Act applied to the Atchison Heritage Conference Center, thereby immunizing it from liability for ordinary negligence. The court rejected the Court of Appeals' requirement that recreation be the facility's primary purpose, explaining that immunity depends on whether the property was intended or permitted to be used for recreation. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and affirmed the district court's judgment for the conference center.

Holdings

1. The recreational-use exception does not require recreation to be the primary purpose of maintaining the public facility. The Court of Appeals erred by imposing a primary-purpose requirement.
2. AHCC was entitled to immunity under the recreational-use exception because the conference center had been used on numerous occasions for recreational purposes, including the event at which Lane was injured.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the recreational-use exception to the Kansas Tort Claims Act, K.S.A. 2006 Supp. 75-6104(o), applies to a multipurpose public conference center when recreational use is not the facility's primary purpose.
2. Whether AHCC was immune from Lane's ordinary-negligence claim because the conference center was intended or permitted to be used for recreational purposes.

Disposition

reversed