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53	53	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
54	54
55	55	1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
56	56
57	57	SENATE BILL 373 By: Garvin
58	58
59	59
60	60
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63	63	AS INTRODUCED
64	64
65	65	An Act relating to The Governmental Tort Clai ms Act;
66	66	amending 51 O.S. 2021, S ection 154, which relates to
67	67	extent of liability; allow ing liability for certain
68	68	nuisance claims; establishing limitation on liability
69	69	for certain nuisance claims; updating statutory
70	70	language; and providing an effective date .
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73	73
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75	75	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
76	76	SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2021, Section 154, is
77	77	amended to read as follows:
78	78	Section 154. A. The total liability of the state and its
79	79	political subdivisions on claims within t he scope of The
80	80	Governmental Tort Claims Act, arising out of an acciden t or
81	81	occurrence happening after October 1, 1985, Section 151 et seq. of
82	82	this title, shall not exceed:
83	83	1. Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) for any claim or
84	84	to any claimant who has more than one claim for loss of property or
85	85	nuisance arising out of a single act, accident, o r occurrence;
86	86	2. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, One Hundred
87	87	Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($125,000.00) to any claimant for a
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139	139	claim for any other loss ari sing out of a single act, accident, or
140	140	occurrence. The lim it of liability for the st ate or any city or
141	141	county with a population of three hundred thousand (300,000) or more
142	142	according to the latest Federal Decennial Census, or a political
143	143	subdivision as defined in subparagraph s of paragraph 11 of Section
144	144	152 of this title, shall not exceed One Hundred Seventy-five
145	145	Thousand Dollars ($175,000.00). Except however ,:
146	146	a. the limits limit of the liability for the University
147	147	Hospitals and State Mental Health Hospitals opera ted
148	148	by the Department of Mental Health and Subs tance Abuse
149	149	Services for claims arising from medical negligence
150	150	shall be Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00 ).
151	151	For,
152	152	b. for claims arising from medical negligence by any
153	153	licensed physician, osteopathic ph ysician or certified
154	154	nurse-midwife rendering prenatal, delivery or infa nt
155	155	care services from September 1, 1991, through June 30,
156	156	1996, pursuant to a contract authorized by subsection
157	157	B of Section 1-106 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma
158	158	Statutes and in conformity with the requirements of
159	159	Section 1-233 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
160	160	the limits limit of the liability shall be Two Hundred
161	161	Thousand Dollars ($200,000.00) , and
162	162
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213	213	c. for nuisance claims arising from s ewer backflow
214	214	floods, sewer backups, wastew ater floods, or other
215	215	sewer or water main breaks, t he limit of liability
216	216	shall be Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) , or if
217	217	the claimant alleges actual physical injury resulting
218	218	from such events, the limit of liability shall be
219	219	twice the documented medical expenses up to the limit
220	220	provided in this subpara graph; or
221	221	3. One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) for any number of claim s
222	222	arising out of a single occurrence o r accident.
223	223	B. 1. Beginning on May 28, 2003, claims shall be allowed for
224	224	wrongful criminal felony c onviction resulting in imprisonment if the
225	225	claimant has received a full pardon on the basis of a written
226	226	finding by the Governor of actual innocence for th e crime for which
227	227	the claimant was sentenced or has been granted judicial relief
228	228	absolving the claima nt of guilt on the basis of actual innocence of
229	229	the crime for which the claimant was sentenced. The Governor or the
230	230	court shall specifically state, in the pardon or order, the evidence
231	231	or basis on which the finding of actual innocence is based.
232	232	2. As used in paragraph 1 of this subsection, for a c laimant to
233	233	recover based on “actual innocence”, the individual must meet the
234	234	following criteria:
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286	286	a. the individual was charged, by indictment or
287	287	information, with the commission of a public offense
288	288	classified as a felony,
289	289	b. the individual did not plead gu ilty to the offense
290	290	charged, or to any lesser included offense, but was
291	291	convicted of the offense,
292	292	c. the individual was sentenced to incarceration for a
293	293	term of imprisonment as a result of the conviction,
294	294	d. the individual was imprisoned solely on the basi s of
295	295	the conviction for the offense, and
296	296	e. (1) in the case of a pardon, a determination was made
297	297	by either the Pardon and Parole Board or the
298	298	Governor that the offense for which the
299	299	individual was convicted, sen tenced and
300	300	imprisoned, including any lesser offenses, was
301	301	not committed by the individual, or
302	302	(2) in the case of judicial relief, a court of
303	303	competent jurisdiction found by clear and
304	304	convincing evidence that the offense for which
305	305	the individual was convict ed, sentenced and
306	306	imprisoned, including any lesser included
307	307	offenses, was not committed by the individual and
308	308	issued an order vacating, dismissing or rever sing
309	309	the conviction and sentence and providing that no
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361	361	further proceedings can be or will be held
362	362	against the individual on any facts and
363	363	circumstances alleged in the proceedings which
364	364	had resulted in the conviction.
365	365	3. A claimant shall not be entitled to compensation for any
366	366	part of a sentence in prison during which the claimant was also
367	367	serving a concurrent sentence for a crime not covered by th is
368	368	subsection.
369	369	4. The total liability of the state and its political
370	370	subdivisions on any claim within the scop e of The Governmental Tort
371	371	Claims Act arising out of wrongful criminal felony conviction
372	372	resulting in imprisonment shall not exceed One Hundred S eventy-five
373	373	Thousand Dollars ($175,000.00).
374	374	5. The provisions of this su bsection shall apply to convictions
375	375	occurring on or before May 28, 2003, as well as convictions
376	376	occurring after May 28, 2003. If a court o f competent jurisdiction
377	377	finds that retroactive application of this subsection is
378	378	unconstitutional, the prospective a pplication of this subsection
379	379	shall remain valid.
380	380	C. No award for damages in an action or any claim against the
381	381	state or a political subdi vision shall include punitive or exemplary
382	382	damages.
383	383	D. When the amount awarded to or settled upon multiple
384	384	claimants exceeds the limitations of this secti on, any party may
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436	436	apply to the district court which has jurisdiction of the cause to
437	437	apportion to each claimant the claimant ’s proper share of th e total
438	438	amount as limited herein. The share apportioned to each claimant
439	439	shall be in the proportion that the r atio of the award or settlement
440	440	made to him bears to the aggregate awards and settlements for all
441	441	claims against the state or its political subdi visions arising out
442	442	of the occurrence. When the amount of the aggregate losses
443	443	presented by a single claimant exceeds the limits of paragraph 1 or
444	444	2 of subsection A of this section, each person suffering a loss
445	445	shall be entitled to that person ’s proportionate share.
446	446	E. The total liability of resident physicians and interns wh ile
447	447	participating in a graduate medica l education program of the
448	448	University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, its affiliated
449	449	institutions and the Oklahoma College of Osteopathic Medici ne and
450	450	Surgery shall not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00 ).
451	451	F. The state or a political subdiv ision may petition the court
452	452	that all parties and actions arising out of a single accident or
453	453	occurrence shall be joined as provided by law, and upon order of the
454	454	court the proceedings upon good cause shown shall be co ntinued for a
455	455	reasonable time or until such joinder has been completed. The state
456	456	or political subdivision shall be allowed to interplead in any
457	457	action which may impose on it any dut y or liability pursuant to The
458	458	Governmental Tort Claims Act.
459	459
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510	510	G. The liability of the state or political subdiv ision under
511	511	The Governmental Tort Claims Act shall be several from that of any
512	512	other person or entity , and the state or political subdivision sha ll
513	513	only be liable for that percentage of total damages that corresponds
514	514	to its percentage of total negligence. Nothing in this section
515	515	shall be construed as increasing the liability limits imposed on the
516	516	state or political subdivision under The Government al Tort Claims
517	517	Act.
518	518	SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
519	519
520	520	59-1-1147 TEK 1/15/2023 3:50:32 PM

Oklahoma 2023 Regular Session

Oklahoma Senate Bill SB373 Compare Versions