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SENATE FLOOR VERSION
February 7, 2023
SENATE BILL NO. 261 By: Howard
An Act relating to The Governmental Tort Clai ms Act;
amending 51 O.S. 2021, Section 15 2, as last amended
by Section 18, Chapter 22 8, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S.
Supp. 2022, Section 152), which relates to
definitions; modifying definition; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 51 O.S. 2021, Section 152, as last
amended by Section 18, Chapter 228, O.S.L. 2022 (51 O.S. Supp. 2022,
Section 152), is amended to read as follows:
Section 152. As used in The Governmental T ort Claims Act:
1. “Action” means a proceeding in a court of competent
jurisdiction by which one party brings a suit against another;
2. “Agency” means any board, commission, comm ittee, department
or other instrumentality or entity designated to act in b ehalf of
the state or a political subdivision;
3. “Charitable health care pro vider” means a person who is
licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized by the laws of this
state to administer health care in the ordinary course of business
or the practice of a profession and who provides care to a medically
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indigent person, as define d in paragraph 9 of this section, with no
expectation of or acceptance of compensation of any kind;
4. “Claim” means any written demand presented by a claimant or
the claimant’s authorized representative in accordance with the
Governmental Tort Claims Ac t to recover money from the state o r
political subdivision as compensation for an act or omissi on of a
political subdivision or the state or an employee;
5. “Claimant” means the person or the person’s authorized
representative who files notice of a claim in accordance with The
Governmental Tort Claims Act. Only the following persons and no
others may be claimants:
a. any person holding an interest in real or personal
property which suffers a loss, provided that the claim
of the person shall be aggregated with claims of all
other persons holding an interest in the property and
the claims of all othe r persons which are derivative
of the loss, and that multiple claimants shall be
considered a single claimant,
b. the individual actually involved in the accid ent or
occurrence who suffers a loss, provided that the
individual shall aggregate in the claim t he losses of
all other persons which are derivative of the loss, or
c. in the case of death, an administrator, special
administrator or a personal representat ive who shall
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aggregate in the claim a ll losses of all persons which
are derivative of the death;
6. “Community health care provider” means:
a. a health care provider who volunteers services at a
community health center that has been deemed by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a
federally qualified health center as defined by 42
U.S.C., Section 1396d(l)(2)(B),
b. a health provider who provides services to an
organization that has been deemed a federally
qualified look-alike community health center, and
c. a health care provid er who provides services to a
community health center that h as made application to
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for
approval and deeming as a federally qualified look-
alike community health cent er in compliance with
federal application guidance, and has received
comments from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services as to the status of such application with the
established intent of resubmitting a modified
application, or, if denied, a ne w application, no
later than six (6) month s from the date of the
official notification from the U.S. D epartment of
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Health and Human Services requiring resubmission of a
new application;
7. “Employee” means any person who is authorized to act in
behalf of a political subdivision or the state wheth er that person
is acting on a permanent or temporary basis, with or without being
compensated or on a full-time or part-time basis.
a. Employee also includes:
(1) all elected or appointed officers, members of
governing bodies and other persons designated t o
act for an agency or political subdivision, but
the term does not mean a person or other legal
entity while acting in the capacity of an
independent contractor or an employee of an
independent contractor,
(2) from September 1, 1991, through June 30, 1996 ,
licensed physicians, licensed osteopathic
physicians and certified nurse-midwives providing
prenatal, delivery or infant care services to
State Department of Health clients pursuant to a
contract entered into with the State Department
of Health in accordance with paragraph 3 of
subsection B of Section 1 -106 of Title 63 of the
Oklahoma Statutes but only insofar as services
authorized by and in conformity with the terms of
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the contract and the requirements of Se ction 1-
233 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statut es, and
(3) any volunteer, full-time or part-time firefighter
when performing duties for a fire department
provided for in subparagraph j of paragraph 11 of
this section.
b. For the purpose of The Governmenta l Tort Claims Act,
the following are employees o f this state, regardless
of the place in this state where du ties as employees
are performed:
(1) physicians acting in an administrative capacity,
(2) resident physicians and resident interns
participating in a graduate medical education
program of the University of Oklahoma Health
Sciences Center, the College of Os teopathic
Medicine of Oklahoma State University, or the
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services,
(3) faculty members and staff o f the University of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the College
of Osteopathic Medicine of Oklahoma State
University, while engaged in teaching duties,
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(4) physicians who practice medicine or act in an
administrative capacity as an employee of an
agency of the State of Oklahoma,
(5) physicians who provide medical care to inmates
pursuant to a contract with the Department of
Corrections,
(6) any person who is licensed to practice medicine
pursuant to Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
who is under an administrative professional
services contract with the Oklahoma Health Care
Authority under the auspices of the Ok lahoma
Health Care Authority Chief Medical Officer, and
who is limited to performing administrative
duties such as professional guidance for m edical
reviews, reimbursement rates, service
utilization, health care delivery and benefit
design for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority,
only while acting within the scope of such
contract,
(7) licensed medical professionals under contract
with city, county, or state entiti es who provide
medical care to inma tes or detainees in the
custody or control of law enforcemen t agencies,
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(8) licensed mental health professionals as defined
in Sections 1-103 and 5-502 of Title 43A of the
Oklahoma Statutes, who are c onducting initial
examinations of individuals for the pu rpose of
determining whether an individual meets the
criteria for emergency detention as part of a
contract with the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services, and
(9) licensed mental health professionals a s defined
in Sections 1-103 and 5-502 of Title 43A of the
Oklahoma Statutes, who are providing mental
health or substance abuse treatment services
under a professional services contract with the
Department of Mental Health and Substan ce Abuse
Services and are providing such treatment
services at a state-operated facility.
Physician faculty members a nd staff of the University
of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the College of
Osteopathic Medicine of Oklahoma State University not
acting in an administrativ e capacity or engaged in
teaching duties are not employees or agents of the
state.
c. Except as provided in subparagraph b of this
paragraph, in no event shall the state be held liable
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for the tortious conduct of any physician, resi dent
physician or intern while practicing medicine or
providing medical treatment to patients.
d. For purposes of The G overnmental Tort Claims Act,
members of the state military forces on state active
duty orders or on Title 32 active duty orders are
employees of this state, rega rdless of the place,
within or outside this state, where their duties as
employees are performe d;
8. “Loss” means death or injury to the body or rights of a
person or damage to real or personal property or rights therein;
9. “Medically indigent” means a person requiring medically
necessary hospital or other health care services for the person or
the dependents of the person who has no public or private third-
party coverage, and whose personal resources are insufficient to
provide for needed health care;
10. “Municipality” means any incorporated city or town, and all
institutions, agencies or instr umentalities of a municipality;
11. “Political subdivision” means:
a. a municipality,
b. a school district, including, but not limited to, a
technology center school district establishe d pursuant
to Section 4410, 4411, 4420 or 4420.1 of Title 70 of
the Oklahoma Statutes, or a public library as defined
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pursuant to Section 1-104 of Title 65 of the Okla homa
Statutes,
c. a county,
d. a public trust where the sole beneficiary or
beneficiaries are a city, town, school district or
county. For purposes of The Gov ernmental Tort Claims
Act, a public trust shall include:
(1) a municipal hospital created pursu ant to Sections
30-101 through 30-109 of Title 11 of the Oklahoma
Statutes, a county hospital created pursuant to
Sections 781 through 796 of Title 19 of the
Oklahoma Statutes, or is created pursuant to a
joint agreement between such governing
authorities, that is operated for the public
benefit by a public trust created pursuant to
Sections 176 through 180.4 of Title 60 of the
Oklahoma Statutes and managed by a g overning
board appointed or elected by the municipality,
county, or both, who exercises control of the
hospital, subject to the approval of the
governing body of the municipality, county, or
both,
(2) a public trust created pursuant to Sections 176
through 180.4 of Title 60 of the Oklahoma
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Statutes after January 1, 2009, the primary
purpose of which is to own, manage, or operate a
public acute care hospital in this state that
serves as a teaching hospital for a medical
residency program provided by a colleg e of
osteopathic medicine and provides care to
indigent persons, and
(3) a corporation in which all of the capital stock
is owned, or a limited liability company in which
all of the member interest is owned, by a public
trust,
e. for the purposes of The Go vernmental Tort Claims Act
only, a housing authority crea ted pursuant to the
provisions of the Oklahoma Housing Authority Act,
f. for the purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act
only, corporations organized not for profit pursuant
to the provisions of the Oklahoma General Corporation
Act for the primary pur pose of developing and
providing rural water supply and sewage disposal
facilities to serve rural residents,
g. for the purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act
only, districts formed pursuant to the Rural Water,
Sewer, Gas and Solid Waste Management D istricts Act,
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h. for the purposes of T he Governmental Tort Claims Act
only, master conservancy districts formed pursuant to
the Conservancy Act of Oklahoma,
i. for the purposes of The Governmental To rt Claims Act
only, a fire protection district created pu rsuant to
the provisions of Section 90 1.1 et seq. of Title 19 of
the Oklahoma Statutes,
j. for the purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act
only, a benevolent or charitable corporate volunteer
or full-time fire department for an unincorporated
area created pursuant to the provisions of Sec tion 592
et seq. of Title 18 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
k. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
an Emergency Services Provider rendering service s
within the boundaries of a Supplemental Emergency
Services District pursuant to an existing c ontract
between the Emergency Services Provider and the State
Department of Health. Provided, however, that the
acquisition of commercial liability insurance co vering
the activities of such Emergency Services Provider
performed within the State of Oklahom a shall not
operate as a waiver of any of the limitations,
immunities or defenses provided for political
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subdivisions pursuant to the terms of The Governmental
Tort Claims Act,
l. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
a conservation distri ct created pursuant to the
provisions of the Conservation District Act,
m. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act,
districts formed pursuant to the Okl ahoma Irrigation
District Act,
n. for purposes of The Gov ernmental Tort Claims Act only,
any community action agency established pursuant to
Sections 5035 through 5040 of Title 74 of the Oklahoma
Statutes,
o. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Ac t only,
any organization that is designated as a youth
services agency, pursuant to Section 2 -7-306 of Title
10A of the Oklahoma Statutes,
p. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
any judge presiding over a drug court, as defined by
Section 471.1 of Title 22 of the Oklahoma Statutes,
q. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims A ct only,
any child-placing agency licensed by this state to
place children in foster family homes,
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r. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
a circuit engineering district created pursuant to
Section 687.1 of Title 69 of the Oklahoma St atutes,
s. for purposes of the Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
a substate planning district, regional council of
government or other entity created pursuant to Section
1001 et seq. of Title 74 of the Oklahoma Statutes, and
t. for purposes of The Governmental Tort Claims Act only,
a regional transportation authority created pursuant
to Section 1370.7 of Title 68 of the Oklahoma Statutes
including its contract operator and any railroad
operating in interstat e commerce that sells a property
interest or provides services to a regional
transportation authority or allows the authority to
use the property or tracks of the railroad for the
provision of public passenger rail service to the
extent claims against the contract operator or
railroad arise out of or are related to or in
connection with such property interest, services or
operation of the public passenger rail service.
Provided, the acquisition of commercial liability
insurance to cover the activities of t he regional
transportation authority, contract operator or
railroad shall not operate as a waiver of any
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liabilities, immunities or defenses provided pursuant
to the provisions of the Governmental Tort Claims Act,
and all their institutions, instrumentalities or agencies ;
12. “Scope of employment” means performance by an employee
acting in good faith within the duties of t he employee’s office or
employment or of tasks lawfully assigned by a competent autho rity
including the operation or use of an agency vehicle or equipm ent
with actual or implied consent of the supervisor of the employee,
but shall not include corruption or fraud;
13. “State” means the State of Oklahoma or any office,
department, agency, a uthority, commission, board, institution,
hospital, college, unive rsity, public trust created pursua nt to
Title 60 of the Oklahoma Statutes of which the State of Oklahoma is
the beneficiary, or other instrumentality thereof;
14. “State active duty” shall be defined in accordance with
Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklah oma Statutes;
15. “State military forces” shall be defined in accordance with
Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
16. “Title 32 active duty” shall be defined in accordance w ith
Section 801 of Title 44 of the Oklahoma Statutes; and
17. “Tort” means a legal wrong, independen t of contract,
involving violation of a duty imposed by general law, st atute, the
Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, or otherwise, resulting in a
loss to any person, association or corporation as the proximate
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result of an act or omission of a politica l subdivision or the state
or an employee acting within the scope of em ployment.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
February 7, 2023 - DO PASS