Bill Text: MI HB6158 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Torts: governmental immunity; liability for failure to protect property or personal safety; allow. Amends sec. 7 of 1964 PA 170 (MCL 691.1407) & adds sec. 7d.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-09-03 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 09/02/2020 [HB6158 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2019-HB6158-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 6158
September 02, 2020, Introduced by Reps. LaFave,
Steven Johnson, Maddock, Marino, Meerman, Eisen, Miller and Rendon and
referred to the Committee on Military, Veterans and Homeland Security.
A bill to amend 1964 PA 170, entitled
"An act to make uniform the liability of municipal corporations, political subdivisions, and the state, its agencies and departments, officers, employees, and volunteers thereof, and members of certain boards, councils, and task forces when engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function, for injuries to property and persons; to define and limit this liability; to define and limit the liability of the state when engaged in a proprietary function; to authorize the purchase of liability insurance to protect against loss arising out of this liability; to provide for defending certain claims made against public officers, employees, and volunteers and for paying damages sought or awarded against them; to provide for the legal defense of public officers, employees, and volunteers; to provide for reimbursement of public officers and employees for certain legal expenses; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,"
by amending section 7 (MCL 691.1407), as amended by 2013 PA 173, and by adding section 7d.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 7. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act,
a governmental agency is immune from tort liability if the governmental agency
is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. Except as
otherwise provided in this act, this act does not modify or restrict the
immunity of the state from tort liability as it existed before July 1, 1965,
which immunity is affirmed.
(2) Except as otherwise
provided in this section, act, and without regard to the
discretionary or ministerial nature of the conduct in question, each officer
and employee of a governmental agency, each volunteer acting on behalf of a
governmental agency, and each member of a board, council, commission, or
statutorily created task force of a governmental agency is immune from tort
liability for an injury to a person or damage to property caused by the
officer, employee, or member while in the course of employment or service or
caused by the volunteer while acting on behalf of a governmental agency if all
of the following are met:
(a) The officer,
employee, member, or volunteer is acting or reasonably believes he or she is
acting within the scope of his or her authority.
(b) The governmental
agency is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function.
(c) The officer's,
employee's, member's, or volunteer's conduct does not amount to gross
negligence that is the proximate cause of the injury or damage.
(3) Subsection (2) does
not alter the law of intentional torts as it existed before July 7, 1986.
(4) This act does not
grant immunity to a governmental agency or an employee or agent of a
governmental agency with respect to providing medical care or treatment to a
patient, except medical care or treatment provided to a patient in a hospital
owned or operated by the department of community health and human services or a hospital owned or operated
by the department of corrections and except care or treatment provided by an
uncompensated search and rescue operation medical assistant or tactical
operation medical assistant.
(5) A judge, a
legislator, and the elective or highest appointive executive official of all
levels of government are immune from tort liability for injuries to persons or
damages to property if he or she is acting within the scope of his or her
judicial, legislative, or executive authority.
(6) A guardian ad litem
is immune from civil liability for an injury to a person or damage to property
if he or she is acting within the scope of his or her authority as guardian ad
litem. This subsection applies to actions filed before, on, or after May 1,
1996.
(7) The immunity provided
by this act does not apply to liability of a governmental agency under the MISS
DIG underground facility damage prevention and safety act, 2013 PA 174, MCL 460.721 to 460.733.
(8) As used in this
section:
(a) "Gross
negligence" means conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack
of concern for whether an injury results.
(b) "Search and
rescue operation" means an action by a governmental agency to search for,
rescue, or recover victims of a natural or manmade disaster, accident, or
emergency on land or water.
(c) "Search and
rescue operation medical assistant" means an individual licensed to
practice 1 or more of the occupations listed in subdivision (e), acting within
the scope of the license, and assisting a governmental agency in a search and
rescue operation.
(d) "Tactical
operation" means a coordinated, planned action by a special operations,
weapons, or response team of a law enforcement agency that is 1 of the
following:
(i) Taken to deal with imminent violence, a riot, an act of
terrorism, or a similar civic emergency.
(ii) The entry into a
building, area, watercraft, aircraft, land vehicle, or body of water to seize
evidence, or to arrest an individual for a felony, under the authority of a
warrant issued by a court.
(iii) Training for the
team.
(e) "Tactical operation medical assistant" means an
individual licensed to practice 1 or more of the following, acting within the
scope of the license, and assisting law enforcement officers while they are
engaged in a tactical operation:
(i) Medicine,
osteopathic medicine and surgery, or as a registered professional nurse, under
article 15 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.16101 to 333.18838.
(ii) As an emergency
medical technician, emergency medical technician specialist, or paramedic under
part 209 of the public health code, 1978 PA 368, MCL 333.20901 to 333.20979.
Sec. 7d. (1) A governmental agency and
an employee or agent of the governmental agency are liable to a person for
damages for personal injury or property damage that results from the employee
or agent acting in willful, callous, or wanton disregard of protecting private
property or the general safety of the person.
(2) This section
applies only if the plaintiff proves the willful, callous, or wanton disregard
by clear and convincing evidence.
(3) A person entitled to damages under this section may recover 3 times the amount of the actual damages sustained.
