Text of MO SB 117 (2023)

EXPLANATION-Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in this bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted in the law. FIRST REGULAR SESSION SENATE BILL NO. 117 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY INTRODUCED BY SENATOR LUETKEMEYER. 0046S.02I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary AN ACT To repeal sections 516.120, 516.140, and 537.600, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof three new sections relating to civil actions. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: Section A. Sections 516.120, 516.140, and 537.600, RSMo, 1 are repealed and three new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to 2 be known as sections 516.120, 516.140, and 537.600, to read as 3 follows: 4 516.120. Within five years: 1 (1) All actions upon contracts, obligations or 2 liabilities, express or implied, except those mentioned in 3 section 516.110 and section 516.140, and except upon 4 judgments or decrees of a court of record, and except where 5 a different time is herein limited; 6 (2) An action upon a liability created by a statute 7 other than a penalty or forfeiture; 8 (3) An action for trespass on real estate; 9 (4) An action for taking, detaining or injuring any 10 goods or chattels, including actions for the recovery of 11 specific personal property[, or for any other injury to the 12 person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not 13 herein otherwise enumerated]; 14 (5) An action for relief on the ground of fraud, the 15 cause of action in such case to be deemed not to have 16 SB 117 2 accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party, at any 17 time within ten years, of the facts constituting the fraud. 18 516.140. Within two years: 1 (1) An action for libel, slander, injurious falsehood, 2 assault, battery, false imprisonment, criminal conversation, 3 malicious prosecution or actions brought under section 4 290.140[.]; 5 (2) An action by an employee for the payment of unpaid 6 minimum wages, unpaid overtime compensation or liquidated 7 damages by reason of the nonpayment of minimum wages or 8 overtime compensation, and for the recovery of any amount 9 under and by virtue of the provisions of the Fair Labor 10 Standards Act of 1938 and amendments thereto, such act being 11 an act of Congress, shall be brought within two years after 12 the cause accrued; 13 (3) An action for any injury to the person or rights 14 of another, not arising on contract and not otherwise 15 provided for by law, including actions for personal injury 16 or bodily injury; 17 (4) An action against an insurer relating to uninsured 18 motorist coverage or underinsured motorist coverage, 19 including any action to enforce such coverage. 20 537.600. 1. Such sovereign or governmental tort 1 immunity as existed at common law in this state prior to 2 September 12, 1977, except to the extent waived, abrogated 3 or modified by statutes in effect prior to that date, shall 4 remain in full force and effect; except that, the immunity 5 of the public entity from liability and suit for 6 compensatory damages for negligent acts or omissions is 7 hereby expressly waived in the following instances: 8 (1) Injuries directly resulting from the negligent 9 acts or omissions by public employees arising out of the 10 SB 117 3 operation of motor vehicles or motorized vehicles within the 11 course of their employment; 12 (2) Injuries caused by the condition of a public 13 entity's property if the plaintiff establishes that the 14 property was in dangerous condition at the time of the 15 injury, that the injury directly resulted from the dangerous 16 condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably 17 foreseeable risk of harm of the kind of injury which was 18 incurred, and that either a negligent or wrongful act or 19 omission of an employee of the public entity within the 20 course of his employment created the dangerous condition or 21 a public entity had actual or constructive notice of the 22 dangerous condition in sufficient time prior to the injury 23 to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous 24 condition. In any action under this subdivision wherein a 25 plaintiff alleges that he was damaged by the negligent, 26 defective or dangerous design of a highway or road, which 27 was designed and constructed prior to September 12, 1977, 28 the public entity shall be entitled to a defense which shall 29 be a complete bar to recovery whenever the public entity can 30 prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged 31 negligent, defective, or dangerous design reasonably 32 complied with highway and road design standards generally 33 accepted at the time the road or highway was designed and 34 constructed. 35 2. The express waiver of sovereign immunity in the 36 instances specified in subdivisions (1) and (2) of 37 subsection 1 of this section are absolute waivers of 38 sovereign immunity in all cases within such situations 39 whether or not the public entity was functioning in a 40 governmental or proprietary capacity and whether or not the 41 public entity is covered by a liability insurance for tort. 42 SB 117 4 3. The term "public entity" as used in this section 43 shall include any multistate compact agency created by a 44 compact formed between this state and any other state which 45 has been approved by the Congress of the United States. 46 4. When acting within the scope of a government 47 contract, private contractors of a public entity, excluding 48 those private contractors provided for in section 210.114, 49 shall have sovereign or governmental tort immunity to the 50 same extent as a public entity, including any limitation on 51 awards for liability provided for in section 537.610. 52 