House Bill hb1559

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1559

        By Representative Mahon






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to sovereign immunity; amending

  3         s. 768.28, F.S.; increasing the recovery limits

  4         under the limited waiver of sovereign immunity

  5         in tort actions; providing an effective date.

  6

  7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  8

  9         Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 768.28, Florida

10  Statutes, is amended to read:

11         768.28  Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions;

12  recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of

13  limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management

14  programs.--

15         (5)  The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall

16  be liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same

17  extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but

18  liability shall not include punitive damages or interest for

19  the period before judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies

20  or subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment

21  by any one person which exceeds the sum of $250,000 $100,000

22  or any claim or judgment, or portions thereof, which, when

23  totaled with all other claims or judgments paid by the state

24  or its agencies or subdivisions arising out of the same

25  incident or occurrence, exceeds the sum of $500,000 $200,000.

26  However, a judgment or judgments may be claimed and rendered

27  in excess of these amounts and may be settled and paid

28  pursuant to this act up to $250,000 $100,000 or $500,000

29  $200,000, as the case may be; and that portion of the judgment

30  that exceeds these amounts may be reported to the Legislature,

31  but may be paid in part or in whole only by further act of the

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2001                HB 1559

    781-102-01






  1  Legislature. Notwithstanding the limited waiver of sovereign

  2  immunity provided herein, the state or an agency or

  3  subdivision thereof may agree, within the limits of insurance

  4  coverage provided, to settle a claim made or a judgment

  5  rendered against it without further action by the Legislature,

  6  but the state or agency or subdivision thereof shall not be

  7  deemed to have waived any defense of sovereign immunity or to

  8  have increased the limits of its liability as a result of its

  9  obtaining insurance coverage for tortious acts in excess of

10  the $250,000 $100,000 or $500,000 $200,000 waiver provided

11  above. The limitations of liability set forth in this

12  subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and

13  subdivisions whether or not the state or its agencies or

14  subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity before July 1, 1974.

15         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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18                          HOUSE SUMMARY

19    Increases to $250,000 the amount of liability to pay a
      claim or judgment to any one person and $500,000 on all
20    claims arising out of the same incident under the limited
      statutory waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.