Bill Text: MI HB6078 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Torts; governmental immunity; immunity from liability for providing medical care or treatment; expand to include the department of military and veterans affairs. Amends sec. 7 of 1964 PA 170 (MCL 691.1407).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-12-04 - Printed Bill Filed 12/04/2014 [HB6078 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-HB6078-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 6078

 

 

December 3, 2014, Introduced by Reps. Haines and Potvin and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

     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.

 

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, 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, or a hospital owned

 

or operated by the department of corrections, or a veteran nursing

 

home owned or operated by the department of military and veterans

 

affairs, 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.

 

     (f) "Veteran nursing home" means a state-run facility that

 

provides domiciliary care, skilled nursing care, or special needs

 

care for veterans.