Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA) allows you to sue government entities when their negligence causes your injury, but it comes with strict rules that don’t apply to claims against private parties.
This law waives the government’s sovereign immunity for certain acts, meaning you can hold cities, counties, state agencies, and other government bodies accountable for harm they cause. However, the MTCA caps damages at $500,000 per incident and requires you to meet much shorter deadlines and follow more complex procedures than in regular personal injury cases.
Understanding the MTCA is crucial if you’ve been injured by a government employee or on government property, as these cases involve both premises liability principles and special government immunity rules. Promptly file a written notice of your injury, comply with any required administrative review process, and ensure you meet the applicable filing deadlines.
Missing any deadline permanently destroys your right to compensation, and many government activities remain completely immune from lawsuits regardless of how badly you were hurt.
What Is the Mississippi Tort Claims Act
The Mississippi Tort Claims Act (MTCA) is a state law that lets you sue government entities when their negligence causes your injury. This means you can hold cities, counties, state agencies, and other government bodies accountable for harm caused by careless actions.
Before the MTCA existed, sovereign immunity protected all government entities from lawsuits. Sovereign immunity is a legal rule that says “the king can do no wrong” – meaning you couldn’t sue the government at all. The MTCA changed this by allowing specific injury claims against government entities, but only under stringent conditions.
- Sovereign immunity: The old rule that completely protected governments from being sued.
- MTCA waiver: Mississippi’s decision to give up some of this protection for specific injury cases.
- Coverage: Applies to state agencies, counties, cities, school districts, and other government bodies.
- Purpose: Allows citizens to get compensation when government negligence causes harm.
The MTCA comes with much stricter rules than regular personal injury cases. You face shorter deadlines, damage caps, and more complex procedures that don’t apply when suing private individuals or companies.
Who Can Be Sued Under the MTCA
You must sue the specific government entity responsible for your injury, not the individual employee who caused the harm. A governmental entity includes any state, county, or local government body. You cannot typically sue the government worker directly if they were doing their job when the incident occurred.
The MTCA covers these government bodies:
- State of Mississippi and all state agencies.
- All 82 Mississippi counties and their departments.
- Cities, towns, and municipalities.
- Public school districts and charter schools.
- The government owns community hospitals.
- Airport authorities and transit systems.
- Volunteer fire departments under government contract.
Government employees get protection from personal lawsuits when they act within their job duties. This protection covers elected officials, police officers, teachers, and, in some cases, foster parents. However, employees lose this protection if they commit crimes, act with malice, or engage in fraud.
What Immunities Apply Under the MTCA
Even though the MTCA allows some government lawsuits, many government activities remain completely immune from claims. If your injury resulted from an immune activity, you cannot recover any compensation regardless of how badly you were hurt.
The most critical immunities include:
Discretionary functions:
Policy decisions require judgment and choice, like where to place traffic signals or how to allocate budget funds.
Police and fire protection:
Special immunity unless you can prove “reckless disregard” for safety, which is extremely difficult to establish.
Legislative and judicial functions:
You cannot sue over laws passed by legislators or decisions made by judges.
Tax collection:
All activities related to assessing and collecting taxes are immune.
Plan or design immunity protects original construction decisions for roads and buildings. The government cannot be sued for choosing where to build a road or how to design an intersection.
However, they can be held liable for failing to maintain these facilities in a safe condition after construction.
Understanding these immunities is crucial because they eliminate many potential claims before you even begin the legal process.
The MTCA Statute of Limitations
You should promptly file a written Notice of Claim with the responsible government entity and consult an attorney to confirm the applicable deadline. This deadline is shorter than the statute of limitations that typically applies to other personal injury claims.
Missing this one-year deadline permanently bars you from receiving compensation.
The MTCA timeline works in specific steps:
- File your Notice of Claim within one year of the injury.
- The one-year filing deadline is put on hold while the government reviews your claim.
- After 95 days have expired or if you receive a denial, you have 90 more days to file your lawsuit.
- Missing any of these deadlines completely bars your claim forever.
Only two groups are exempt from this harsh timeline. Minors may have different filing deadlines for claims. People of “unsound mind” may be eligible for an extension to the filing deadline, subject to applicable statutory limits.
The government will not remind you of these deadlines or give you extra time if you miss them. You must track every date yourself and act quickly to preserve your rights.
MTCA Notice of Claim Requirements
Before filing a lawsuit, consider providing the government entity with written notice of your claim in accordance with applicable legal requirements. This notice requirement is mandatory – your case will be dismissed if you skip this step or do it incorrectly.
Your written notice must contain specific information:
- Complete factual description of what caused your injury.
- Exact date, time, and location where the incident occurred.
- Names of all people involved, if you know them.
- Specific dollar amount of damages you’re seeking.
- Your home address when injured and when filing the notice.
Proper service of your notice is just as critical as including the right information. You must deliver it to the correct official for each type of government entity.
County – serve notice to the chancery clerk by personal delivery or certified mail.
City/Town – serve notice to city clerk by personal delivery or certified mail.
State Agency – serve notice to the chief executive officer by personal delivery or certified mail.
Serving the wrong person voids your entire notice, even if you include all the correct information. Many claims fail because people serve mayors instead of city clerks or other incorrect officials.
Damages Available Under the MTCA
The MTCA caps all damages at $500,000 per occurrence, regardless of how many people were injured or how severe the harm. This absolute limit covers the government entity and all employees combined, meaning that if multiple people are injured in a single incident, they must share a single pool of money regardless of the severity of their injuries.
Allowed vs. Prohibited Compensation
Victims can recover standard damages such as medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and wrongful death benefits. However, the MTCA explicitly prohibits punitive damages and prejudgment interest, and severely restricts the recovery of attorney fees.
Impact on Your Recovery
This statutory cap means claims against the government often result in significantly lower compensation than lawsuits against private parties. Even in cases involving catastrophic injuries that would typically be worth millions, the total financial recovery remains strictly limited to the $500,000 maximum.
Where to File and Trial Rights Under the MTCA
You don’t have the right to a jury trial in MTCA cases. Instead, a judge decides your case in a “bench trial.” This is very different from filing a personal injury claim in regular instances, where you can ask for a jury. The judge will hear all the evidence and decide if you win or lose.
You must file your lawsuit in the proper court based on specific venue rules:
- Circuit or County Court where your injury occurred.
- Court in the county where the government entity is located.
- For state agency claims, it is often Hinds County (Jackson area).
Appeals from MTCA cases go directly to the Mississippi Supreme Court, skipping the intermediate Court of Appeals. This can actually speed up the appeals process compared to regular civil cases.
While you lose your jury trial rights, you keep other litigation tools, such as discovery, depositions, and expert witnesses. Your attorney can still gather evidence and present a complete case to the judge.
Steps to File a Tort Claim in Mississippi
Successfully navigating the MTCA requires following each step precisely. Missing or botching any step can render an otherwise valid claim invalid.
Seek Medical Care and Document Injuries
Get immediate medical attention even if your injuries seem minor. Prompt medical care creates official documentation of your condition, which becomes crucial evidence later. Make sure to document your injuries throughout your treatment properly. Keep all medical records, bills, and follow-up appointment notes.
Delaying medical treatment gives the government ammunition to argue your injuries weren’t serious or weren’t caused by their negligence.
Preserve Evidence and Identify the Government Entity
Collect all possible evidence while it’s still available. Take photos of the accident scene, your injuries, and any property damage. Get contact information from witnesses who saw what happened.
Most importantly, correctly identify which specific government entity caused your harm. Was it the city, county, state, or school district? Getting this wrong can doom your entire case.
Draft a Complete MTCA Notice of Claim
Your written notice must include every piece of information required by law. Missing even one element, like your address or damage amount, makes the notice invalid and kills your claim.
Most people need a lawyer to draft this notice properly and avoid costly mistakes that cannot be fixed later.
Serve the Correct Chief Executive Officer
Deliver your notice to the exact official required by law for that type of government entity. The “chief executive officer” means different people for different entities – it’s the chancery clerk for counties and the city clerk for cities, not the elected officials.
Use certified mail or personal delivery to prove you served the notice properly and on time.
Track the 95-Day Tolling and 90-Day Filing Window.
Mark your calendar carefully after filing the notice. The government gets 95 days to investigate your claim. You cannot file suit during this waiting period unless they deny your claim early.
Once the 95 days expire or you receive a denial, you have exactly 90 more days to file your lawsuit. Missing this 90-day window permanently bars your case.
Negotiate with the Entity or TPA
Many government entities use third-party administrators (TPAs) to handle claims. During the 95-day waiting period, you or your attorney can negotiate a potential settlement.
Don’t expect quick or generous settlement offers. Government entities often take hardline positions and may deny valid claims, hoping you’ll give up.
File Suit and Prepare for a Bench Trial
If negotiations fail, you must file your lawsuit before the 90-day deadline expires. Your attorney will then prepare your case for trial before a judge, gathering expert witnesses and building the strongest possible argument.
Remember that you’re asking a judge, not a jury, to find the government liable for your injuries.
Government Vehicle and Road Claims in Mississippi
Accidents involving government vehicles and dangerous road conditions generate the most MTCA claims. These cases have unique challenges that require specialized knowledge to handle successfully.
Police or Fire Vehicle Crashes and Reckless Disregard
If a police car or fire truck injures you during an emergency response, you must prove the driver acted with “reckless disregard” for public safety. This means showing conscious indifference to a high probability of harm.
Examples include speeding through a school zone without lights or sirens, or running red lights in heavy traffic without warning. Simple negligence isn’t enough – you need evidence of extremely careless behavior.
Road Defects, Missing Signs, and Plan or Design
You can sue for dangerous road conditions like missing stop signs, broken guardrails, or giant potholes that aren’t repaired, but you must prove negligence in the government’s maintenance duties. However, you cannot challenge the original design decisions, such as where intersections were placed or speed limits set.
The key distinction is between maintenance (not immune) and design (immune). Failing to replace a knocked-down stop sign is maintenance. Deciding where to put the original sign is a design.
School Bus or Transit Bus Accidents
Regular negligence standards usually apply to school bus and public transit accidents. Unless the driver was responding to an emergency, you only need to prove they failed to operate the vehicle with reasonable care.
These cases often involve special notice requirements for school districts, so make sure you identify the correct entity and follow proper procedures.
Successfully handling these complex vehicle and road cases typically requires a Mississippi Tort Claims Act attorney who understands the specific evidence needed to overcome government immunities and meet the higher proof standards.
Expert Legal Guidance for Mississippi Government Injury Claims
Suppose you have a personal injury because the government was careless. In that case, you have to deal with the Mississippi Tort Claims Act’s strict deadlines and procedural traps, which can easily ruin valid claims.
We at Maloney-Lyons Personal Injury and Car Accident Lawyers know how complex these cases can be. We have extensive experience handling claims against the Mississippi Tort Claims Board and other state government agencies.
We act right away and without hesitation to protect your rights. Our team works quickly to preserve evidence and ensure your Notice of Claim is written correctly and sent to the right person.
An experienced lawyer, not a junior staff member, will work directly with you. This lawyer knows how to deal with government third-party administrators and fight back against aggressive defense tactics. Don’t wait and risk losing your rights.
Contact our law firm today for a free consultation about your potential MTCA claim.
Do MTCA Cases Go to a Jury?
No, the Mississippi Tort Claims Act explicitly eliminates your right to a jury trial. All MTCA cases are decided by a judge alone in what’s called a bench trial.
Who Is the Chief Executive Officer for Service in a City or County?
For counties, you must serve the chancery clerk, not the county supervisor. For cities and towns, you must serve the city clerk, not the mayor or other elected officials.
What Happens After I Send My Notice and How Long Must I Wait?
The government entity has 95 days to investigate and respond to your notice. You cannot file a lawsuit during this waiting period unless they send you an early denial of your claim.
Can I Sue an Employee Personally for Malice or Fraud?
Yes, government employees lose their MTCA protection when they act with malice, commit fraud, or engage in criminal behavior. These intentional acts fall outside their job duties, allowing personal lawsuits against the individual.
What Does the MTCA Damages Cap Cover and Exclude?
The $500,000 cap covers all compensatory damages including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. The law completely prohibits punitive damages designed to punish wrongdoers.
