All: As I am sure you are all aware, the Governor signed SB1168 increasing the GTCA caps. I am interested in knowing how you and your community are interpreting the timing. Statutes are generally presumed to be prospective in application; but presumption is rebutted when there is legislative intent that is expressly declared or necessarily implied from the language used. The Legislature did not change the first paragraph of 51 OS 154(A), which will continue to read "The total liability of the state and its political subdivisions on claims within the scope of The Governmental Tort Claims Act, arising out of an accident or occurrence happening after October 1, 1985, Section 151<http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=80395> et seq. of this title, shall not exceed..." (emphasis added). Surely the Plaintiffs' bar will argue by not amending that portion of the statute, it was the legislature's intent for the new limits apply retroactively. So what say you: will the higher limits apply to ALL claims come Nov. 1st, or will the higher limits apply only to claims arising Nov. 1, 2025 and after? All thoughts welcome and appreciated! (and this doesn't even address the questions I have surrounding the changes to 51 OS 154(A)(2)...) Rachel Fields Rachel A. Fields Senior Civil Litigation Attorney Legal Department City of Broken Arrow 220 South First Street Broken Arrow, OK 74012 office: 918-259-8422 ext. 5343 | mobile: 360-908-4629 rfields@brokenarrowok.gov<mailto:rfields@brokenarrowok.gov> | www.brokenarrowok.gov<http://www.brokenarrowok.gov/> [A blue text on a white background Description automatically generated with low confidence] This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you receive this message in error, you are hereby notified that the City of Broken Arrow does not consent to any reading, dissemination, distribution or copying of this message. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy the transmitted information immediately.

See *Carswell v. Oklahoma State University*, 2003 OK CIV APP 3, ¶8, 62 P.3d 786: Plaintiff lastly asserts she is entitled to recover the statutory maximum damages of $175,000.00 pursuant to the version of §154(A)(2) in effect at the time of trial and submission to the jury, rather than the $100,000.00 maximum under §154(A)(2) as it existed at the time her cause of action accrued. Here, Plaintiff argues that because §154(A)(2) is remedial in nature, the pendente lite amendment of that section should be accorded retroactive effect. See, e.g., Welch v. Armer, 1989 OK 117, ¶27, 776 P.2d 847, 850. However, because the amendment to §154(A)(2) enlarges a claimant's potential recovery under the Act, and because we discern no expressed Legislative intent to give the amendment retroactive effect, we hold amended §154(A)(2) effects a substantive change in the law, operates prospectively only and does not inure to Plaintiff's benefit. Id. While the Court didn't expressly reference the prefatory language in 154, the reference to no expressed legislative intent may have been a passing reference to that language - and the fact that the language has been in the statute for decades and was not language added by the legislature in the Bill that changed the limits. Same argument here - if the legislature had intended on making the new caps retroactive to claims that accrued before 11/1/2025, then they would need to have made some change in the statute to expressly say as much...reliance on language adopted back in the 1980s tells us nothing about what the 2025 legislature intended. Matt On Fri, May 30, 2025 at 11:21 AM Fields, Rachel via Oama < oama@lists.imla.org> wrote: > All: > > > > As I am sure you are all aware, the Governor signed SB1168 increasing the > GTCA caps. I am interested in knowing how you and your community are > interpreting the *timing.* > > > > Statutes are generally presumed to be prospective in application; but > presumption is rebutted when there is legislative intent that is expressly > declared or necessarily implied from the language used. The Legislature did > not change the first paragraph of 51 OS 154(A), which will continue to read > “The total liability of the state and its political subdivisions on claims > within the scope of The Governmental Tort Claims Act, *arising out of an > accident or occurrence happening after October 1, 1985*, Section 151 > <http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=80395> et > seq. of this title, shall not exceed…” (emphasis added). > > > > Surely the Plaintiffs’ bar will argue by not amending that portion of the > statute, it was the legislature’s intent for the new limits apply > retroactively. So what say you: will the higher limits apply to ALL claims > come Nov. 1st, or will the higher limits apply only to claims arising > Nov. 1, 2025 and after? > > > > All thoughts welcome and appreciated! > > > > (and this doesn’t even address the questions I have surrounding the > changes to 51 OS 154(A)(2)…) > > > > Rachel Fields > > > > *Rachel A. Fields* > > *Senior Civil Litigation Attorney* > > *Legal Department* > > > > *City of Broken Arrow* > > *220 South First Street* > > *Broken Arrow, OK 74012* > > office: 918-259-8422 ext. 5343 *| *mobile: 360-908-4629 > > rfields@brokenarrowok.gov *| *www.brokenarrowok.gov > > > > > > [image: A blue text on a white background Description automatically > generated with low confidence] > > > > *This message is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to > which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, > confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you > receive this message in error, you are hereby notified that the City of > Broken Arrow does not consent to any reading, dissemination, distribution > or copying of this message. If you have received this communication in > error, please notify the sender immediately and destroy the transmitted > information immediately.* > > > > > -- > Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.org > To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.org >