Bill Text: MI SB0201 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Torts; governmental immunity; liability for a defect in a sidewalk; clarify that inference regarding a defect of less than 2 inches applies to any sidewalk maintained by a municipal corporation. Amends secs. 1, 2 & 2a of 1964 PA 170 (MCL 691.1401 et seq.) & adds sec. 2b.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-06-22 - Referred To Committee On Judiciary [SB0201 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0201-Engrossed.html
SB-0201, As Passed Senate, June 22, 2011
SUBSTITUTE FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 201
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 sections 1, 2, and 2a (MCL 691.1401, 691.1402, and
691.1402a), section 1 as amended by 2001 PA 131 and section 2 as
amended and section 2a as added by 1999 PA 205.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Senate Bill No. 201 as amended June 21, 2011
Sec. 1. As used in this act:
(a) "Governmental agency" means this state or a political
subdivision.
(b) "Governmental function" means an activity that is
expressly or impliedly mandated or authorized by constitution,
statute, local charter or ordinance, or other law. Governmental
function includes an activity performed on public or private
property by a sworn law enforcement officer within the scope of the
law enforcement officer's authority, as directed or assigned by his
or her public employer for the purpose of public safety.
(c) "Highway" means a public highway, road, or street that is
open for public travel. Highway includes a bridge, sidewalk, or
crosswalk on the highway. Highway does not include an alley, tree,
or utility pole.
(d) (a)
"Municipal corporation"
means a city, village, or
township or a combination of 2 or more of these when acting
jointly.
(e) (b)
"Political subdivision"
means a municipal corporation,
county, county road commission, school district, community college
district, port district, metropolitan district, or transportation
authority or a combination of 2 or more of these when acting
jointly; a district or authority authorized by law or formed by 1
or more political subdivisions; or an agency, department, court,
board, or council of a political subdivision.
(f) "Sidewalk", except as used in subdivision (c), means <<a
paved>> public sidewalk intended for pedestrian use situated
outside of and adjacent to the improved portion of a highway
designed for vehicular travel.
(g) (c)
"State" means the this state
of Michigan and its
agencies, departments, commissions, courts, boards, councils, and
statutorily
created task forces. and State
includes every a public
university
and or college of the this state, whether
established as
a constitutional corporation or otherwise.
(d)
"Governmental agency" means the state or a political
subdivision.
(e)
"Highway" means a public highway, road, or street that is
open
for public travel and includes bridges, sidewalks, trailways,
crosswalks,
and culverts on the highway. The term highway does not
include
alleys, trees, and utility poles.
(f)
"Governmental function" is an activity that is expressly
or
impliedly mandated or authorized by constitution, statute, local
charter
or ordinance, or other law. Governmental function includes
an
activity, as directed or assigned by his or her public employer
for
the purpose of public safety, performed on public or private
property
by a sworn law enforcement officer within the scope of the
law
enforcement officer's authority.
(h) (g)
"Township" includes means a general law township or a
charter township.
(i) (h)
"Volunteer" means an
individual who is specifically
designated as a volunteer and who is acting solely on behalf of a
governmental agency.
Sec. 2. (1) Except as otherwise provided in section 2a, each
governmental agency having jurisdiction over a highway shall
maintain the highway in reasonable repair so that it is reasonably
safe and convenient for public travel. A person who sustains bodily
injury or damage to his or her property by reason of failure of a
governmental agency to keep a highway under its jurisdiction in
reasonable repair and in a condition reasonably safe and fit for
travel may recover the damages suffered by him or her from the
governmental agency. The liability, procedure, and remedy as to
county roads under the jurisdiction of a county road commission
shall be as provided in section 21 of chapter IV of 1909 PA 283,
MCL 224.21. The duty of the state and the county road commissions
to repair and maintain highways, and the liability for that duty,
extends only to the improved portion of the highway designed for
vehicular travel and does not include sidewalks, trailways,
crosswalks, or any other installation outside of the improved
portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel. A judgment
against the state based on a claim arising under this section from
acts or omissions of the state transportation department is payable
only from restricted funds appropriated to the state transportation
department or funds provided by its insurer.
(2) If the state transportation department contracts with
another governmental agency to perform work on a state trunk line
highway, an action brought under this section for tort liability
arising out of the performance of that work shall be brought only
against the state transportation department under the same
circumstances and to the same extent as if the work had been
performed by employees of the state transportation department. The
state transportation department has the same defenses to the action
as it would have had if the work had been performed by its own
employees. If an action described in this subsection could have
been maintained against the state transportation department, it
shall not be maintained against the governmental agency that
performed the work for the state transportation department. The
governmental agency also has the same defenses that could have been
asserted by the state transportation department had the action been
brought against the state transportation department.
(3) The contractual undertaking of a governmental agency to
maintain a state trunk line highway confers contractual rights only
on the state transportation department and does not confer third
party beneficiary or other contractual rights in any other person
to recover damages to person or property from that governmental
agency. This subsection does not relieve the state transportation
department of liability it may have, under this section, regarding
that highway.
(4) The duty imposed by this section on a governmental agency
is limited by sections 81131 and 82124 of the natural resources and
environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.81131 and
324.82124.
Sec.
2a. (1) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a
municipal corporation has no duty to repair or maintain, and is not
liable
for injuries arising from, a portion of a county or state
highway. outside
of the improved portion of the highway designed
for
vehicular travel, including a sidewalk, trailway, crosswalk, or
other
installation. This subsection does not prevent or limit a
municipal
corporation's liability if both of the following are
true:
A municipal corporation in
which a sidewalk is installed
adjacent to a municipal, county, or state highway shall maintain
the sidewalk in reasonable repair pursuant to this section and
section 2(1).
(a)
At least 30 days before the occurrence of the relevant
injury,
death, or damage, the municipal corporation knew or, in the
exercise
of reasonable diligence, should have known of the
existence
of a defect in a sidewalk, trailway, crosswalk, or other
installation
outside of the improved portion of the highway
designed
for vehicular travel.
(b)
The defect described in subdivision (a) is a proximate
cause
of the injury, death, or damage.
(2)
A discontinuity defect of less than 2 inches creates a
rebuttable
inference that the municipal corporation maintained the
sidewalk,
trailway, crosswalk, or other installation outside of the
improved
portion of the highway designed for vehicular travel in
reasonable
repair.
(2) In a civil action, a municipal corporation is presumed to
have maintained a sidewalk that it has a duty to maintain in
reasonable repair. This presumption may only be rebutted by
evidence showing that a proximate cause of the injury was 1 or both
of the following:
(a) A vertical discontinuity defect of 2 inches or more in the
sidewalk.
(b) A dangerous condition in the sidewalk itself of a
particular character other than a vertical discontinuity.
(3) Whether a presumption under subsection (2) has been
rebutted is a question of law for the court.
(4) (3)
A municipal corporation's liability
under subsection
(1) is limited by section 81131 of the natural resources and
environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.81131.
