THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 26 | NOVEMBER 2022 Claim relating to the placement of children Discretionary powers or functions Court-ordered community sentence Governmental actions that fall into these areas, even if considered tortious or injurious to others, are still shielded by sovereign immunity due to the specific exemptions from liability in these areas contained in the OGTCA. The second general category of exemptions, police – military, recognizes that there are certain circumstances where the police, fire departments and military need to be able to act and react without exposure to civil liability. The exemptions are outlined as follows: Civil disobedience, riot, insurrection or rebellion or the failure to provide, or the method of providing, police, law enforcement or fire protection Express or implied lawful entry onto any property Operations at any correctional or incarceration facility Tortious conduct related to any court-ordered or administered work release program Activities administered by the Military Department of the state during a riot, national disaster or military attack Provision, equipping, operation or maintenance of any juvenile detention facility or injuries resulting from the escape of a juvenile detainee or injuries by a juvenile detainee to any other juvenile detainee Governmental actions that fall into these areas, even if considered tortious or injurious to others, are still shielded by sovereign immunity due to the specific exemptions from liability in these areas contained in the OGTCA. The transportation – weather category of exemptions from liability recognizes a very practical consideration of not holding a governmental entity liable for weather conditions over which the government has no control, or whether to initially construct a particular roadway or public work, or whether to initially place a traffic control device at a particular location, or from roadway defects for which the governmental entity has no notice and a reasonable time to either correct the problem or warn of the potentially hazardous condition. There is also a special exemption for state highways whose condition remains unchanged since 1985. These exemptions include: Accidents or events occurring on public ways or in public places due to weather conditions (snow or ice or flooding) Claims or losses resulting from the maintenance of state highways Claims or losses relating to the operation or non- operation of traffic signs and signals, unless failure to correct within a reasonable time after notice The initial placement, alteration or change of traffic signs or signals, based on the fact that such decisions are discretionary Actions or recoveries against the Oklahoma Transportation Commission from pre-existing defects or dangerous conditions, whether known or unknown, from the effective date of the act (Oct. 1, 1985) (§155.1) Governmental actions that fall into these areas, even if considered tortious or injurious to others, are still shielded by sovereign immunity due to the specific exemptions from liability in these areas contained in the OGTCA. The next set of exemptions was categorized as miscellaneous, as they
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTk3MQ==