Injury Claims Against the Government in Kentucky

Chances are you found your way here because you were injured by a government employee in Kentucky. Maybe a careless county worker ran a red light and hit you. Or you were hurt by a doctor's negligence at a state-owned hospital.

You want to file a personal injury lawsuit, but you aren't sure about Kentucky law. Can I sue the government for my injuries? Doesn't the county get special protection from lawsuits? If I win, how much can I collect?

We answer those questions and more, starting with an overview of the issues you're likely to encounter when making an injury claim against the government. From there, we'll zero in on the specifics of Kentucky law.

Common Issues in Injury Claims Against the Government

Bringing a personal injury claim against the government can be a challenge. Expect to face an often-intimidating array of rules, procedures, and limitations you don't have to deal with when you sue a neighbor or a local business. Here are a few common government injury claim issues. Some or all of these—and maybe others—will appear in your case.

Government Immunities

Government immunities are legal rules crafted by courts and legislatures to make sure that governments and their employees don't have to pay for injuries they cause. There are several kinds of immunities, and each works a bit differently than the others. The details aren't as important as what an immunity can do to your case.

Immunities are claim killers. It makes no difference how serious or permanent your injuries are, or how blameworthy the government's misconduct might be. When an immunity applies, it probably ends your claim. The good news is that all states have "waived" (voluntarily surrendered) their immunities, at least for some claims. But in every state, a number of immunities remain.

Deadlines and Statutes of Limitations

When you've been injured by the government, you'll have to move quickly. Special deadlines, including lawsuit-filing deadlines known as statutes of limitations, often require that you act within just a few months. You and your attorney probably will have to make critical decisions even before you've had a chance to gather all the facts.

Does this mean your government injury claim will be wrapped up more quickly or efficiently than other kinds of claims? No. These quick deadlines serve one important government purpose: They kill claims before the government can be forced to pay.

If you're not sure how long you have to file your claim, an experienced government claims lawyer can help.

Special Processes and Procedures

Immunities and short deadlines are just part of the story. You'll also have to contend with processes and procedures you don't find in other cases. Here's just one example. A handful of states have created special courts or other tribunals and vested them with exclusive power to handle claims against the government. The state's regular courts lack jurisdiction (authority) to hear these cases. File your claim in the wrong place and it will be dismissed.

Damage Limits

The government has one more trick up its sleeve. When all else fails—you manage to handle the immunities, jump through all the deadline hoops, and follow the special procedures—damage limits are the government's "get out of jail (almost) free" card. As the name suggests, damage limits cap the damages you can collect from the government even if you win your case.

Cap amounts vary from state to state, but in some places they can be as low as a few hundred thousand dollars. If your injuries are serious or catastrophic, that won't be nearly enough to provide for your needs.

Where to Start? Your State's Tort Claims Act

The starting point to analyze a potential injury claim against the government should be your state's "tort claims act." Your state might call its law something else. A "tort" is simply a wrongful act that causes personal injury or property damage. A "tort claim" is an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit to collect compensation (damages) for tort injuries.

The term "tort claims act" can be a bit misleading. State tort claims laws don't regulate all tort claims generally. Instead, they lay down the basic rules—immunities, deadlines, and special procedures—for tort claims against the state. In some states, the tort claims act also details the rules for claims against local governments. State courts usually fill in the blanks with case decisions that explain and interpret the law.

Kentucky's Government Claims Laws

Kentucky doesn't have a tort claims act. Claims against the Commonwealth are controlled by Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 49.010 to 49.180 (2024), sometimes called the Board of Claims Act (the Act).

The Act creates a special tribunal called the Board of Claims (the Board) to hear claims against Kentucky. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.010(2) (2024).) The Board's authority is exclusive, meaning you're not allowed to file a claim against Kentucky in the state's regular courts, or anywhere else. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060 (2024).) To qualify under the Act, claims must have a value of at least $250. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.180 (2024).)

With one exception (discussed below), the Act doesn't apply to claims against Kentucky's counties and cities. Rules for those cases are found at Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 65.200 to 65.2006 (2024).

Claims Against the Commonwealth

Kentucky has partially waived its governmental immunity, meaning it consents to be held liable (legally responsible) for certain kinds of claims. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.060 (2024).) To file your claim, you can (but aren't required to) use this online claim form.

Permitted Claims

Generally speaking, Kentucky law allows two categories of claims to be brought against the Commonwealth:

• negligent performance of ministerial duties, and
• negligent maintenance of state-owned traffic signals by a city.

Note that when the Act refers to "the Commonwealth," that term includes state agencies, departments, bureaus, and cabinets, as well as state officers and employees.

Negligent Performance of Ministerial Duties

The Commonwealth agrees to pay damages when a state officer or employee, acting within the scope of their duties, negligently performs a ministerial duty or task and causes injuries. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.070(2) (2024).) If that sounds like a lot of legalese, it is. Let's unpack some of the lawyer-speak.

• Scope of their duties. When a Kentucky officer or employee injures you while doing their job, it's likely they were acting within the scope of their duties. If they weren't on-the-job or were engaged in personal business, your claim isn't against the Commonwealth. It's against the officer or employee individually.
• Negligence. Torts (discussed above) generally fall into one of two categories: Intentional and negligent. An intentional tort happens when the wrongdoer acted purposefully or deliberately to cause an injury. Negligence is just a fancy legal term for carelessness. As a rule, Kentucky is on the hook for negligence but not for intentional misconduct.
• Ministerial duties. In the world of government claims, government actions are either discretionary or ministerial. Typically, a discretionary act is one that involves the formulation, review, or revision of government policies. Any act that doesn't qualify as discretionary is considered ministerial. A ministerial duty is one that's required by law and doesn't call for the exercise of policymaking discretion. Your lawyer can fill you in on the details.

Negligent Maintenance of State-Owned Traffic Signals

This is the exception mentioned above where the Act applies to municipal liabilities. When a Kentucky city's negligent maintenance of state-owed traffic signals causes injury, the Commonwealth agrees to be responsible for damages. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.050(1) (2024).)

Claim Filing Deadline

The Act's claim filing deadline, or statute of limitations, is at Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.120 (2024). As a general rule, you must file your claim with the Board within one year from the earlier of the date:

• you discovered your injury, or
• you should have discovered your injury, had you been reasonably careful to look for signs and symptoms.

But there's a second deadline that limits the time you have to discover your injury. Regardless of when (or if) you discover you've been hurt, the latest you can file your claim is two years from the date of the negligent act that caused your injury. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.120(3) (2024).) If your claim is for medical malpractice, the deadline is three years instead of two. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.120(4) (2024).)

Minors and others who suffer from a legal disability don't get extra time. The same deadlines apply. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.120(5) (2024).)

Claim Process

Once you've filed your claim, the involved Commonwealth agency will conduct an investigation. If the value of your claim is $2,500 or more, the Board must hold a hearing. No hearing is needed for claims valued at less than $2,500. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.090(3) (2024).) The Board must issue an "award or order" within 30 days after your claim is submitted. If the claim involves "large or complicated records or unusual questions of law," that deadline can be extended to 90 days. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.090(5) (2024).)

When the value of the claim is $2,500 or more, an appeal from the Board's decision can be taken to the Circuit Court for the county where the Board conducted its hearing. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.150 (2024).) Further appeals from the Circuit Court go to the Kentucky Court of Appeals. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.160 (2024).)

Damages and Damage Limits

The Board doesn't have authority to award damages for:

• derivative claims like loss of consortium
• subrogation claims, or
• emotional distress or pain and suffering.

Your damage award must be reduced by amounts you receive from:

• worker's compensation
• federal or state disability insurance programs like Social Security, and
• other insurers that compensate your for your injuries.

(Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.130(2) (2024).)

Damages against the Commonwealth are capped at $250,000 per individual and $400,000 in the aggregate. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 49.040(1) (2024).) For example, suppose that 5 claimants were injured by a negligent state employee, and each claimant's damages total $500,000. How much will the claimants collect? They'll have to split a total of $400,000, an amount that's clearly insufficient to compensate them for their losses.

Claims Against Kentucky Counties and Cities

Claims against Kentucky cities, counties, and taxing districts are controlled by Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 65.200 to 65.2006 (2024), which we call the "local government claims law." These statutes:

• list the kinds of claims for which "local governments," as they're known, are immune
• describe, in general terms, the kinds of claims that are covered by the law, and
• address damages that can be recovered from a local government.

Local Government Immunities

Local governments are immune from the claims listed at (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 65.2003 (2024).) Those claims include (among others) the following.

• Assessment and collection of taxes. Nobody likes to pay them, but you can't sue the government because you're unhappy with your taxes. Pay up.
• Government functions and discretionary acts. Local governments are immune from claims concerning legislative and judicial functions. You can't sue the city because it passed an ordinance you don't like. Likewise, you can't sue a judge who ruled against you on a speeding ticket. Discretionary functions—like creating, reviewing, or revising laws or policies—are off limits, too.
• Work-related injuries and illnesses. Local government employees can't sue over work-related injuries and illnesses that are covered by Kentucky's workers' compensation laws.

Claims Covered by the Local Government Claims Law

According to Ky. Rev. Stat. § 65.2001(1) (2024), the local government claims law applies to:

• dangerous conditions in or upon "public lands, buildings or other public property"
• acts or omissions of employees acting within the scope of their duties, and
• acts or omissions of persons other than employees for which a local government might be legally responsible.

Notice Required for Certain Claims

There's a pre-lawsuit notice requirement for claims against a city for "any injury growing out of any defect in the condition of any bridge, street, sidewalk, alley or other public thoroughfare... ." Within 90 days from the date of your injury, you must provide written notice to the "mayor, city clerk or clerk of the board of aldermen... ."

Your notice must include:

• the time and place of your injury
• a description of how your injury happened
• the nature and extent of your injury, and
• a statement that you intend to pursue a damage claim against the city.

(Ky. Rev. Stat. § 411.110 (2024).)

Damages Against Local Governments

The local government claims law doesn't cap the damages you can recover. Instead, it says you can't collect damages that "exceed the total damages [you] suffered..., reduced by the...contributory fault [attributable to others]." (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 65.2002 (2024).) In other words, you're allowed to collect whatever personal injury damages you can prove. But your recovery must be reduced by the percentage of blame attributable to parties other than the local government.

Get Help With Your Kentucky Government Injury Claim

There are some personal injury claims you might be able to handle on your own, without help from a lawyer. Claims against the Commonwealth or its local governments aren't among them. Trying to navigate through an injury claim against the government without expert legal help is like trying to cross a minefield while blindfolded. The slightest error can mean disaster, and you probably won't know you've erred until its too late.

When you're ready to move forward with your claim, here's how to find an attorney who's right for you.