After the discovery and removal of unburied and decayed bodies at the Tri-State Crematory, Walker County brought this lawsuit against the owners and operators of the crematorium and against the funeral homes and funeral directors who sent human remains there. Asserting causes of action for negligence and public nuisance, Walker County seeks to recover the expenses it incurred in recovering, identifying, and properly disposing of the human remains discovered at the crematorium property, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees and costs. Following our grant of its application for interlocutory appeal, Walker County challenges the trial court’s order dismissing its amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Because we conclude that Walker County’s claims are barred by the free public services doctrine, we affirm. OCGA § 9-11-12 b 6 provides that an action can be dismissed upon the merits where the complaint “fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Dismissal is appropriate “only where a complaint shows with certainty that the plaintiff would not be entitled to relief under any state of facts that could be proven in support of his claim.” Citation and punctuation omitted. King v. Lessinger , 276 Ga. App. 145, 146 622 SE2d 381 2005. Finally, “we review the dismissal de novo, construing the complaint’s allegations and all possible inferences therefrom in favor of the plaintiff.” Daly v. Mueller , 279 Ga. App. 168 630 SE2d 799 2006.
So viewed, the allegations of the complaint show that Walker County discovered hundreds of human bodies in an uncremated, decayed state that “were stacked, stored, dumped, buried in septic tanks, commingled in common graves and scattered about the service of the property” of Tri-State Crematory. In lieu of filing an abatement action under OCGA § 41-2-1 et seq., Walker County established a crisis center, morgue, and other facilities and took steps to recover, move, store, and identify human remains and provide for their burial and proper disposition.
