Louisiana § RS 9:2800 - Limitation of liability for public bodies

§ RS 9:2800. Limitation of liability for public bodies

A.  A public entity is responsible under Civil Code Article 2317 for damages caused by the condition of buildings within its care and custody.

B.  Where other constructions are placed upon state property by someone other than the state, and the right to keep the improvements on the property has expired, the state shall not be responsible for any damages caused thereby unless the state affirmatively takes control of and utilizes the improvement for the state's benefit and use.

C.  Except as provided for in Subsections A and B of this Section, no person shall have a cause of action based solely upon liability imposed under Civil Code Article 2317 against a public entity for damages caused by the condition of things within its care and custody unless the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the particular vice or defect which caused the damage prior to the occurrence, and the public entity has had a reasonable opportunity to remedy the defect and has failed to do so.

D.  Constructive notice shall mean the existence of facts which infer actual knowledge.

E.  A public entity that responds to or makes an examination or inspection of any public site or area in response to reports or complaints of a defective condition on property of which the entity has no ownership or control and that takes steps to forewarn or alert the public of such defective condition, such as erecting barricades or warning devices in or adjacent to an area, does not thereby gain custody, control, or garde of the area or assume a duty to prevent personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or other loss as to render the public entity liable unless it is shown that the entity failed to notify the public entity which does have care and custody of the property of the defect within a reasonable length of time.

F.  A violation of the rules and regulations promulgated by a public entity is not negligence per se.

G.(1)  "Public entity" means and includes the state and any of its branches, departments, offices, agencies, boards, commissions, instrumentalities, officers, officials, employees, and political subdivisions and the departments, offices, agencies, boards, commissions, instrumentalities, officers, officials, and employees of such political subdivisions.  Public entity also includes housing authorities, as defined in R.S. 40:384(15), and their commissioners and other officers and employees and sewerage and water boards and their employees, servants, agents, or subcontractors.

(2)  "Public site or area" means any publicly owned or common thing, or any privately owned property over which the public's access is not prohibited, limited, or restricted in some manner including those areas of unrestricted access such as streets, sidewalks, parks, or public squares.

H.  Terminated by Acts 2006, No. 545, §1, eff. Aug. 30, 2008.

Acts 1985, No. 454, §1, eff. July 12, 1985; Acts 1992, No. 581, §1; Acts 1995, No. 828, §1, Nov. 23, 1995; Acts 2003, No. 725, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1077, §1, eff. July 2, 2003; Acts 2006, No. 545, §1.