Filing an Injury Claim Against the Government in Arizona

You were injured in Arizona by the government or a government employee. Maybe you slipped and fell in a government building, or a truck driven by a government worker ran a red light and hit you. You want to bring a claim or a lawsuit to collect compensation ("damages") for your losses but you're unsure about Arizona law.

Can I sue the government? How long do I have to file my case? What's the process for suing a city or the state? After a quick introduction to claims and lawsuits against governments generally, we'll answer those questions and more.

Claims and Lawsuits Against the Government: What to Watch Out For

Suing the government or a government employee isn't like suing a private person or a business. Special rules and procedures apply and if you don't follow them, your lawsuit probably gets dismissed. Details vary from one state to the next, but be on the lookout for:

• immunities—rules that exempt the government and its employees from liability (legal responsibility) for their misconduct
• special deadlines—very short time frames, often just a few months, to file a claim or a lawsuit
• claim procedures—like special courts or tribunals set up to handle claims against the government, and other unique rules that don't apply in most personal injury cases, and
• damage caps—limiting the kinds and amounts of personal injury damages you're allowed to collect.

Pay particular attention to the state's overall approach to immunities. Here, states fall into one of two groups:

• immunity is the rule; liability is the exception, or
• liability is the rule; immunity is the exception.

Immunity Is the Rule; Liability Is the Exception

Most states have adopted this approach. The state enjoys broad protection against lawsuits under a rule known as "sovereign immunity." While there's more to it, the basic idea of sovereign immunity is simple: A state has all the powers of a sovereign—the maker of all laws and rules. As the maker of all rules, the state can do no wrong.

Because the state can do no wrong, lawsuits against it aren't allowed unless the state has "waived" (voluntarily given up) its immunity and consented to be sued. Most states have waived immunity for certain kinds of claims and lawsuits. You can find details about a state's sovereign immunity and its waiver of immunity in the state's "Tort Claims Act" or a similar law.

Liability Is the Rule; Immunity Is the Exception

A few states—including Arizona—take the opposite approach. Instead of broadly claiming sovereign immunity and then waiving that protection for certain claims, the state relinquishes its immunity—in whole or in part—and consents to be sued the same as a private party or business.

States that take this approach typically assert limited immunities for specific kinds of lawsuits. For instance, states commonly claim immunity for state lawmakers engaged in legislative functions, or judges and others who participate in judicial functions.

Arizona's Government Immunity Rules

In Stone v. Arizona Highway Comm'n., 93 Ariz. 384, 387-88 (1963), the Arizona Supreme Court did away with Arizona's sovereign immunity. In time, Arizona's legislature responded with the "Actions Against Public Entities or Public Employees Act," located at Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 12-820-12-826 (2024) (the Act). In the Act, Arizona law recognizes three different kinds of immunity:

• absolute immunity
• qualified immunity, and
• other immunities.

If you think you have an injury claim against the government, don't try to sort these immunities out on your own. Under the best of circumstances, the rules are complex and difficult to apply. You'll need help from an experienced Arizona government claims attorney to determine whether your case is likely to involve claims of immunity and if so, how you might defeat those claims.

Absolute Immunity

Absolute immunity typically is reserved for core or essential governmental functions, protecting the government and its officers for undertaking basic government duties that often involve unpopular or difficult choices. Lawsuits over these acts are prohibited.

In Arizona, the Act makes the government and its employees absolutely immune from liability for:

• legislative acts
• judicial acts, and
• certain discretionary administrative acts that establish fundamental government policies.

(Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-820.01 (2024).)

Qualified Immunity

Some kinds of acts enjoy more limited protection, called "qualified immunity." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-820.02 (2024) provides qualified immunity for several kinds of acts, unless the employee intended to cause harm or was grossly negligent. Here are some examples:

• failing to arrest a suspect, or failing to keep an arrested suspect in custody
• issuing or failing to revoke or suspend a license, permit, or similar authorization
• failure to discover violations of law while inspecting property the government doesn't own, and
• injuries caused by a peace officer while providing emergency care at the scene of an emergency.

Other Immunities

Finally, Arizona law carves out a handful of other immunities that protect the government and its officers and employees from liability in specific circumstances. For instance, except for claims arising out of the operation or use of an automobile, the government isn't legally responsible for the felonious criminal acts of its employees, unless the government knew an employee had a "propensity" to engage in such an act. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-820.05.B (2024).)

What Can You Sue the Government For?

Rather than focus on what you can't sue for, it's usually easier to think in terms of the kinds of claims for which you can sue the Arizona government. These common lawsuits all involve some kind of negligence by a government employee, for which the government can be held liable:

• slip-and-fall accidents involving dangerous conditions in public buildings
• slip and fall claims involving public sidewalks and other walkways
• auto accidents caused by a defective road or highway condition
• auto accidents that happen because of a government employee's negligent driving, and
• medical malpractice claims over care and treatment at government-operated medical facilities.

Special Deadlines for Claims and Lawsuits

The Act includes two critical filing deadlines. Missing either one is likely to prove fatal to your claim or lawsuit. Here too, if you're at all unsure about how these deadlines might apply to you, get advice from experienced Arizona counsel right away.

Deadline for Notice of Claim

As we discuss below, before you can sue the government or its employees in court, you first must provide the government with written notice of your claim. The deadline to file this notice is 180 days after your claim accrues. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.A (2024).) Your claim accrues on the date you:

• realize you've been injured, and
• know or should know what caused your injury.

(Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.B (2024).)

Special claim notice deadlines apply to cases involving:

• claims subject to mandatory alternative dispute resolution or administrative or other review, (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.C (2024),) and
• claims made by a minor (younger than 18 years old) or an "insane or incompetent person." (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.D (2024).)

Deadline for Filing a Lawsuit

When your notice of claim is denied or is treated as having been denied (as described below), you must file a lawsuit in court within one year after the date your claim accrues. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821 (2024).)

Miss the deadline and, absent an exception that gives you more time, the court will dismiss your lawsuit as untimely. Worse yet, the court might sanction (penalize) you for filing a frivolous case.

Arizona Government Claim Procedures

As mentioned above, you have 180 days—usually from the date you were injured—to provide the government with written notice of your claim. This notice requirement applies to claims against the State of Arizona, local Arizona governments, Arizona public schools, and their officers and employees. Notice must be sent to a person who's authorized to accept service of process under Arizona's Rules of Civil Procedure. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.A (2024).)

Rule 4.1(h) is your starting point, but don't guess. Contact the government agency you're suing to find out who to serve. Better yet, hire an attorney to handle the claim preparation and filing for you.

Contents of Your Notice

Your notice must include:

• a description of what happened
• how your injuries occurred
• a "specific amount for which the claim can be settled," and
• facts to support that amount, such as doctor and hospital bills to explain medical expenses.

Arizona's Department of Administration, Risk Management Division, provides an online claim form you can use to provide the required information. Be sure to supply all information that's requested or your claim might be rejected as incomplete.

Note, importantly, that filing a notice of claim isn't the same as filing a lawsuit. The notice of claim is a prerequisite to a lawsuit.

Claim Review and Denial

Once your claim is filed, the government has 60 days to respond. If you don't get a response within 60 days, your claim is treated as denied. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-821.01.E (2024).) Once your notice of claim is denied (or is treated as having been denied), you're allowed to file a lawsuit in court. Be sure to file within the one-year statute of limitations discussed above.

Does Arizona Cap Damages on Government Claims?

In a word, no. Arizona's state constitution prohibits wrongful death or personal injury damage limits, sometimes called "caps." (Ariz. Const. art. 2, § 31 (2024).) Arizona has no caps on damages in personal injury cases of any kind, including those against the government.

The Act prohibits courts from awarding punitive damages against the government or its employees. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-820.04 (2024).) Punitive damages don't compensate you for personal injuries. They're meant to punish wrongdoers for extreme and outrageous misconduct, and to deter others from acting the same way in the future.

How to File a Claim Against a Local Government in Arizona

Many claims involve local government entities, like a county or city or their officers and employees. These local government claims begin in the same way as claims against the state, with a written notice of claim (described above) sent to the involved local government agency.

Beyond that, make sure to check the local government's website for instructions and claim forms. When not prohibited by state law, local governments often have ordinances, policies, and rules that apply to injury claims and lawsuits.

Here are some examples:

Get Help With Your Claim or Lawsuit Against the Arizona Government

There are some personal injury matters you might be able to handle on your own, without legal help. Claims against the Arizona government—state or local—aren't among them. The special rules, deadlines, and procedures are there for a variety of reasons, and one of them is to make it difficult to bring claims and file lawsuits. Trying to navigate your way through a government claim without counsel is like trying to cross a minefield while blindfolded. The smallest mistake can spell disaster, and you won't know you've erred until it's too late.

Don't take needless chances with your case. When you're ready to move forward, here's how you can find an experienced lawyer near you.