We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that the language of the Community Service Act, OCGA § 42-8-71 d, et seq., did not create a statutory waiver of a county’s sovereign immunity. See Ga. Const. of 1983 Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IX e. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals. The record reveals that, while performing court-ordered community service work in connection with a DUI plea deal, Vincent Currid “Decedent” fell off of the rear catwalk of a DeKalb County sanitation truck and sustained several injuries, including a serious head injury. He died several weeks later while still hospitalized for his injuries. On December 10, 2001, Decedent’s brother, as administrator of Decedent’s estate, and Decedent’s father hereinafter collectively “Decedent’s Estate” sued the DeKalb State Court Probation Department and the DeKalb County Public Works Department,1 various individuals, and the Georgia Department of Corrections, alleging that DeKalb proximately caused decedent’s wrongful death. On September, 12, 2003, the trial court granted DeKalb’s motion for summary judgment, except to the extent that the county waived immunity by purchasing automobile liability insurance pursuant to OCGA § 33-24-51.2 As part of its ruling, the trial court also concluded that DeKalb was entitled to protection under OCGA § 42-8-71, the Community Service Act,3 because the record was devoid of any evidence of gross negligence regarding decedent’s community service assignment. The court also ruled that a waiver signed by Decedent entitled DeKalb to summary judgment. Decedent’s Estate appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed, finding that a jury question existed as to whether DeKalb’s actions in assigning Decedent to the sanitation truck constituted gross negligence, which would defeat the protections afforded DeKalb under the Community Service Act and the waiver that decedent signed. Currid v. DeKalb State Court Probation Dept. , 274 Ga. App. 704 618 SE2d 621 2005 hereinafter “Currid I “.
Following remand, DeKalb filed a Motion to Limit Damages, arguing that sovereign immunity and OCGA § 33-24-51 barred Decedent’s Estate from recovering damages in excess of the limits of DeKalb’s motor vehicle liability insurance. The trial court denied this motion and allowed the trial to proceed without any limitation on damages.4 On August 21, 2006, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Decedent’s Estate in the amount of $5,110,391. DeKalb appealed, and the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed, holding that sovereign immunity barred the Estate’s claims against DeKalb County, because the language of the Community Service Act did not create a statutory waiver of DeKalb’s sovereign immunity. DeKalb State Court Probation Dept. v. Currid , 287 Ga. App. 649 653 SE2d 90 2007 hereinafter “Currid II “.5
