## Facts

- Parents of a seriously ill minor contracted with a public hospital in Leon County for ambulance transport to Gainesville.
- While traveling through Madison County, the first ambulance became inoperable, requiring transfer to an ambulance owned and operated by Madison County.
- The county ambulance also failed, requiring a third ambulance to complete the trip.
- The parents alleged the ambulances were defective due to improper maintenance or equipment and that delay from the failures caused or contributed to the child’s death.
- The parents filed a wrongful-death action in Leon County against the hospital and Madison County as alleged joint tortfeasors.
- Madison County moved to dismiss for improper venue, invoking a governmental home-venue privilege to be sued only in its county of residence.

## Issues

1. Whether a county’s common-law home-venue privilege is absolute.
2. Whether a trial court may deny a governmental defendant’s home-venue claim when multiple governmental entities in different counties are sued together as alleged joint tortfeasors in a single, unseverable action.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court approved the district court’s judgment reversing dismissal as to Madison County.
- The Court held the home-venue privilege is not absolute and recognized a limited exception for unseverable joint-tort actions against multiple governmental entities in different counties.
- The Court held the trial court has discretion to allow the action to proceed in a single county despite one defendant’s home-venue privilege.
- Venue in Leon County was permissible; the case was remanded for further proceedings.

## Legal Principles

- Florida governmental entities generally have a common-law privilege to be sued in the county where their headquarters or official residence is located, intended to conserve public resources and support uniform handling of governmental litigation.
- The home-venue privilege is subject to exceptions and is not absolute.
- When multiple governmental entities from different counties are sued as alleged joint tortfeasors on claims that are unseverable, a trial court may, in its discretion, override one entity’s home-venue privilege to avoid duplicative litigation and inconsistent results.
- The exception is limited and fact-dependent; it does not eliminate the default rule favoring home venue for governmental defendants.

## Conclusion

The Florida Supreme Court held that a county’s home-venue privilege yields, in the trial court’s discretion, when multiple governmental entities in different counties are sued together as alleged joint tortfeasors in an unseverable action, permitting the case to proceed in a single forum.


Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs of Madison Cnty. v. Grice, 438 So. 2d 392 (Fla. 1983)