OKPOLICY.ORG
One of the more positive results of the leveraging between policy and budget issues at the end of the legislative session was the passage of Senate Bill 1168 by Sen. Chuck Hall, R-Perry, and Rep. Trey Caldwell, R-Lawton, which deals with the perplexing issue of sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is a legacy in our law from the ancient principle that “the king can do no wrong” and therefore cannot be sued or held liable for any damages caused by his actions or by those acting on his behalf.
Most governments today waive sovereign immunity, but they impose restrictions on the categories of cases they consider and cap the damages they will pay, ostensibly to protect the taxpayer. Under the current Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act (GTCA), passed in 1985, the state of Oklahoma waives its sovereign immunity on behalf of itself, its cities, counties, and other public entities.
But in doing so, the state limited the amount governmental entities will pay for an injury, regardless of the actual damage. For example, an employee of the state or political subdivision may cause an accident with total injuries of several million dollars — including property damage, medical costs, loss of earnings and non-economic damages — but the state or political subdivision will only be liable for the amount provided in the GTCA.
The recoverable amount for property damage claims is currently capped at $25,000 per incident or occurrence, which does not cover many accidents and has been woefully inadequate for many years. SB 1168 increases the cap from $25,000 to $75,000.
Loss for all other injuries, including personal injury, is currently capped at $125,000 for a single act or occurrence in cities or counties with populations below 300,000, according to the latest federal decennial census. The liability cap in cities or counties with populations of 300,000 or more is currently set at $175,000.
SB 1168 increases those caps from $125,000 to $250,000 and from $175,000 to $375,000 respectively and lowers the population threshold for the higher cap to counties with populations below 150,000.
There is also an aggregate cap of $1 million for any number of claims arising out of a single occurrence or accident, which SB 1168 increases to $2 million. If the total limit is not enough to cover all damages from a single incident, the court may distribute the compensation fairly among the injured parties.
SB 1168 also extends GTCA protection to public libraries and to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, which lost GTCA coverage several years ago when it changed its governance structure. In addition, the bill creates special coverage and liability limitations for sewer backup cases and for private physicians practicing in public trust hospitals in counties with a population below 75,000 according to the latest federal decennial census.
Another new provision in SB 1168 requires that the limitation caps in the law will be adjusted every five years, by no more than a cumulative four percent to adjust to inflation.
It is obvious from these caps that the GTCA is not meant to always allow full compensation for a person injured by an employee or someone acting on behalf of the state or political subdivision. If damages are beyond the amount of the cap, it’s just “tough luck” to someone injured by a governmental actor.
The GTCA aims to create a balance between the financial exposure of the taxpayer and fair compensation for injuries caused by their government, keeping in mind that historically the government had total sovereign immunity. One could easily argue that even with passage of SB 1168, there is still an imbalance favoring governmental entities. But passage of SB 1168 is, for the most part, a step in the right direction.
