Opinion ID: 836016
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: overview of the oregon tort claims act

Text: In 1967, the legislature passed the Oregon Tort Claims Act (OTCA), which abrogated, in part, the state's sovereign immunity. See Or. Laws 1967, ch. 627 (first tort claims act in Oregon). Although the 1967 version of the OTCA limited the state's liability, it did not do so for officers, employees, or agents. The legislature revised the OTCA in 1975, requiring, rather than permitting, a public body to indemnify its officers, employees, and agents against tort claims arising out of an alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of duty. Smith v. Pernoll, 291 Or. 67, 71, 628 P.2d 729 (1981); Or. Laws 1975, ch. 609, § 16. Further, [t]he monetary limitation of liability, which previously had applied only to public bodies, was extended to officers, employees, and agents of all public bodies. Id. at 71, 628 P.2d 729. In 1977, the legislature again revised the OTCA, coordinating all references within the act and subjecting claims against officers, employees, and agents to the monetary limitations, the notice of claim requirements and the statutory exceptions to liability. Or. Laws 1977, ch. 823, §§ 2(3) and 3. Finally, in 1991, the legislature amended the OTCA to eliminate any claim against any officer, employee, or agent for their work-related torts. In place of a claim against an individual, the legislature substituted a single claim against the public body, subject to its attendant damages limitation. ORS 30.265(1). The 1991 revisions frame the issues in this case.