| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to sovereign immunity; amending s. 768.28, |
| 3 | F.S.; providing that no contract of the state or its |
| 4 | agencies or subdivisions may waive sovereign immunity for |
| 5 | tortious conduct of the state or its agencies or |
| 6 | subdivisions beyond the limitations of the legislative |
| 7 | waiver of sovereign immunity except as expressly provided |
| 8 | by general law; declaring contractual provisions in |
| 9 | violation to be void; providing that the bill is remedial; |
| 10 | providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Subsection (19) of section 768.28, Florida |
| 15 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions; |
| 17 | recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of |
| 18 | limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management |
| 19 | programs.-- |
| 20 | (19)(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by general |
| 21 | law, neither the state nor any agency or subdivision of the |
| 22 | state waives any defense of sovereign immunity, or increases the |
| 23 | limits of its liability, upon entering into any a contractual |
| 24 | relationship with another agency or subdivision of the state. |
| 25 | Such a contract must not contain any provision that requires one |
| 26 | party to indemnify or insure the other party for the other |
| 27 | party's negligence or to assume any liability for the other |
| 28 | party's negligence. This does not preclude a party from |
| 29 | requiring a nongovernmental entity to provide such |
| 30 | indemnification or insurance. The restrictions of this |
| 31 | subsection do not prevent a regional water supply authority from |
| 32 | indemnifying and assuming the liabilities of its member |
| 33 | governments for obligations arising from past acts or omissions |
| 34 | at or with property acquired from a member government by the |
| 35 | authority and arising from the acts or omissions of the |
| 36 | authority in performing activities contemplated by an interlocal |
| 37 | agreement. Such indemnification may not be considered to |
| 38 | increase or otherwise waive the limits of liability to third- |
| 39 | party claimants established by this section. |
| 40 | (b) Any contractual provision for an indebtedness or |
| 41 | liability contracted for in violation of this subsection shall |
| 42 | be void. |
| 43 | Section 2. The provisions of this act are remedial and it |
| 44 | is the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent permitted |
| 45 | by law, they shall apply to all existing and future contracts of |
| 46 | the state or its agencies or subdivisions. |
| 47 | Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |