legal custody was prohibited by the doctrine of sovereign immunity under article 5, section 20. See Dep't of Human Servs. v. State, 312 Ark. 481, 850 S.W.2d 847 (1993).
This court adhered to this principle for over sixty years until 1996 in Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration v. Staton, 325 Ark. 341, 942 S.W.2d 804 (1996), and in Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration v. Tedder, 326 Ark. 495, 932 S.W.2d 755 (1996). In both cases, Arkansas Code Annotated section 26–18–507(e)(2)(A) (Repl. 1992) specifically granted legislative permission to a taxpayer to sue the State after a claim for refund had been filed and refused or the Commissioner had not acted upon it. In Staton, this court held that because that sole taxpayer had complied with the statute, the State's sovereign immunity was waived as to her. Staton, 325 Ark. at 347, 942 S.W.2d at 806. In Tedder, this court reached a similar conclusion, holding that because the proposed class of taxpayers had not complied with section 26-18-507, only the named class representative could maintain a suit against the State. This court stated,
Our constitution generally prohibits suits against the state. Ark. Const. art. 5, § 20. However, Ark. Code Ann. § 26-18-507(e)(2)(A) (Repl. 1992) permits a taxpayer to sue the state for an improperly collected sales tax only after a refund has been sought and refused or the Commissioner has not acted upon the taxpayer's request. Since Mr. Tedder is the only taxpayer who had requested a refund and had his application denied, the Department claims that the chancery court did not have subject-matter jurisdiction over the remaining members of the proposed class. In State v. Staton, 325 Ark. 341, 934 S.W.2d 478 (1996) (substituted opinion granting rehearing), we resolved this issue in the Department's favor. Recognizing strong fiscal public policy concerns, we held that full compliance with the statute is necessary before sovereign immunity is waived.
Tedder, 326 Ark. at 496, 932 S.W.2d at 756.
C. Applicable Statutes and Statutory Construction
7
