Volume 14 — North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports

1. Public Officers 9 — breach of ministerial duty — liability A public officer cannot be held liable for a breach of a ministerial statutory duty unless the statute expressly provides for liability. 2. Agriculture 8; Public Officers 9 — Commissioner of Agriculture — individual liability The Commissioner of Agriculture cannot be held individually liable to producers of soybeans for failure to require a soybean dealer to obtain a permit to operate as a grain dealer and to furnish bond as set forth in [former] G.S. <cross_reference>106-496</cross_reference> et seq., the statutes not having placed a mandatory duty on the Commissioner to require permits or bonds, and there being no liability provision in the statute. 3. State 4 — sovereign immunity Neither the State nor an agency of the State can be sued in a State court without its permission. 4. State 4 — tort claim against State agency — jurisdiction The superior court had no jurisdiction over an action for damages against the Department of Agriculture based on the failure of the Commissioner of Agriculture to require a soybean dealer to obtain a permit and to furnish bond, since jurisdiction of tort claims against a State agency has been vested in the Industrial Commission.