Mississippi Tort Claims Act Lawyer

Hit by a Police Car, Fire Truck, Ambulance, School Bus or Other Government Vehicle in Mississippi?

When the vehicle that hurt you belongs to a city, county, school district, the State or one of its agencies, your claim is not an ordinary car wreck case. It is governed by the Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA), Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-1 and following – a statute with short deadlines, a mandatory pre-suit notice, a cap on damages and special immunities that trip up injured people and inexperienced lawyers alike. The Hamilton Law Firm has litigated Tort Claims Act cases from Meridian for decades, and we handle them as part of our Meridian personal injury practice, with numerous six-figure recoveries for the firm’s clients.

The Rules That Make These Cases Different

• Written notice of claim first. Before any lawsuit, you must serve a written notice of claim on the chief executive officer of the governmental entity – by hand or by certified mail – at least 90 days before filing suit. The notice must state the circumstances of the injury, its extent, the time and place, the names of everyone known to be involved, the amount of damages sought, and your residence at the time of injury and at the time of the notice (§ 11-46-11). A defective notice can end a case.
• One year, not three. The claim must be filed within one year of the injury, with limited tolling while the notice is pending (§ 11-46-11(3)). Most other Mississippi injury claims allow three years.
• No jury. Tort Claims Act cases are tried to the judge (§ 11-46-13).
• A $500,000 cap. Total recovery against a governmental entity is limited to $500,000 per occurrence, with no punitive damages (§ 11-46-15).
• Immunities. The Act lists more than two dozen situations in which the government cannot be held liable and is completely immune (§ 11-46-9). The two that matter most in vehicle cases are the police-and-fire exemption and the discretionary-function exemption.

Collisions With Police Cars and Fire Trucks: the “Reckless Disregard” Standard

A city or county is not liable for the acts of an employee engaged in police or fire protection unless the employee acted “in reckless disregard of the safety and well-being of any person not engaged in criminal activity at the time of injury” (§ 11-46-9(1)(c)). The Mississippi Supreme Court has described reckless disregard as more than gross negligence – conduct accompanied by a conscious indifference to consequences, “amounting almost to a willingness that harm should follow” (Maldonado v. Kelly, 2000). In pursuit cases the courts weigh ten factors drawn from City of Jackson v. Brister (2003): the length of the chase; the type of neighborhood; the characteristics of the streets; the presence of vehicular or pedestrian traffic; weather and visibility; the seriousness of the offense; whether lights and siren were used; whether alternatives to pursuit were available; whether department policy prohibited the pursuit; and the officer’s speed compared to the posted limit. The same analysis applies when an officer or firefighter responding to a call runs a red light or stop sign and hits an innocent motorist. Mississippi’s rules of the road allow emergency vehicles to proceed past signals only after slowing as needed for safety, and expressly do not protect an emergency driver from the consequences of reckless disregard for the safety of others (§ 63-3-315).

Proving reckless disregard requires evidence: dash-camera and body-camera video, computer-aided-dispatch records, the vehicle’s event data recorder, radio traffic, the department’s pursuit and emergency-response policies, and eyewitnesses. Much of it is overwritten within weeks. We send preservation demands immediately.

Ambulances

Whether an ambulance crash falls under the Tort Claims Act depends on who operates the ambulance. A city- or county-run service is a governmental entity subject to the Act’s notice, deadline and cap. A private ambulance company – even one operating under a contract with a county – is an ordinary private defendant, with a three-year deadline and no cap. We determine the operator’s status on day one, because it changes everything about the case.

School Buses, Public Works Trucks and Other Government Vehicles

Collisions with school buses, sanitation and public-works trucks, MDOT vehicles and other non-emergency government vehicles are judged by ordinary negligence – the reckless-disregard standard does not apply – but the Act’s notice requirement, one-year deadline, bench trial and $500,000 cap still do. The government will often argue that the employee was exercising “discretion,” but the Mississippi Supreme Court has made clear that run-of-the-mill negligence, such as careless driving, is not a protected policy decision (Wilcher v. Lincoln County Board of Supervisors, 2018).

Beyond Vehicles

The same Act governs claims against the government for dangerous roads and construction zones, dead trees on public land, injuries on public property, and the negligence of public hospitals and employees. We handle each of them.

Mississippi Tort Claims Act FAQs

The government’s insurance adjuster has been talking to me. Does that mean I don’t need to file notice?
No. Adjuster contact, apologies or even partial payments do not satisfy the notice requirement or extend the one-year deadline.

Can I recover from the driver personally?
Generally no; the Act makes the governmental entity the defendant and immunizes employees acting within the scope of their duties. Other at-fault parties, such as a private driver or contractor, can be sued separately without the cap.

Is the $500,000 cap the most I can recover?
From the government, yes. If another party shares fault, or your own uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage applies, those sources are not capped. Contact R. Kevin Hamilton at (601) 693-5548. No fee unless we win.