FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 559
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BURGER.
2066S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 537.600, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to liability
of private contractors.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 537.600, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 537.600, 2
to read as follows:3
537.600. 1. Such sovereign or governmental tort 1
immunity as existed at common law in this state prior to 2
September 12, 1977, except to the e xtent waived, abrogated 3
or modified by statutes in effect prior to that date, shall 4
remain in full force and effect; except that, the immunity 5
of the public entity from liability and suit for 6
compensatory damages for negligent acts or omissions is 7
hereby expressly waived in the following instances: 8
(1) Injuries directly resulting from the negligent 9
acts or omissions by public employees arising out of the 10
operation of motor vehicles or motorized vehicles within the 11
course of their employment; 12
(2) Injuries caused by the condition of a public 13
entity's property if the plaintiff establishes that the 14
property was in dangerous condition at the time of the 15
injury, that the injury directly resulted from the dangerous 16
condition, that the danger ous condition created a reasonably 17
foreseeable risk of harm of the kind of injury which was 18 SB 559 2
incurred, and that either a negligent or wrongful act or 19
omission of an employee of the public entity within the 20
course of his employment created the dangerous condition or 21
a public entity had actual or constructive notice of the 22
dangerous condition in sufficient time prior to the injury 23
to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous 24
condition. In any action under this subdivision wherein a 25
plaintiff alleges that he was damaged by the negligent, 26
defective or dangerous design of a highway or road, which 27
was designed and constructed prior to September 12, 1977, 28
the public entity shall be entitled to a defense which shall 29
be a complete bar to recov ery whenever the public entity can 30
prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged 31
negligent, defective, or dangerous design reasonably 32
complied with highway and road design standards generally 33
accepted at the time the road or highway was des igned and 34
constructed. 35
2. The express waiver of sovereign immunity in the 36
instances specified in subdivisions (1) and (2) of 37
subsection 1 of this section are absolute waivers of 38
sovereign immunity in all cases within such situations 39
whether or not the public entity was functioning in a 40
governmental or proprietary capacity and whether or not the 41
public entity is covered by a liability insurance for tort. 42
3. The term "public entity" as used in this section 43
shall include any multistate comp act agency created by a 44
compact formed between this state and any other state which 45
has been approved by the Congress of the United States. 46
4. When acting within the scope of a government 47
contract, private contractors of a public entity, excluding 48
those private contractors provided for in section 210.114, 49
shall have sovereign or governmental tort immunity to the 50 SB 559 3
same extent as a public entity, including any limitation on 51
awards for liability provided for in section 537.610. 52