Opinion ID: 1235431
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Iowa Tort Claims Act.

Text: Iowa Code chapter 669 is Iowa's Tort Claims Act. Iowa Code § 669.1. Through enactment of the Tort Claims Act, the legislature abrogated, in part, the State's immunity from suits sounding in tort. See Swanger v. State, 445 N.W.2d 344, 346 (Iowa 1989). Private citizens now have the right to sue the State, but only in the manner and to the extent to which consent has been given by the legislature. Id. Thus, a private citizen's right of suit under the Tort Claims Act is not absolute, but rather is limited by conditions set forth by the legislature in chapter 669. One such condition is the two-year statute of limitations set forth in Iowa Code section 669.13. Section 669.13 states that any claim brought under the Tort Claims Act is forever barred, unless within two years after such claim accrued, the claim is made in writing to the state appeal board under this chapter. [3] Thus, before filing a petition in district court asserting an action against the state, a claim must first be presented to the appeal board. See In re Estate of Voss, 553 N.W.2d 878, 880 (Iowa 1996); Swanger, 445 N.W.2d at 346. Upon receipt of such claim, the appeal board has authority to adjust, compromise or settle the claim. Iowa Code § 669.3. Filing a claim with the appeal board is an administrative remedy which must be exhausted before a plaintiff can pursue his or her action in district court. Voss, 553 N.W.2d at 880-81; Swanger, 445 N.W.2d at 346-47. We have held on several occasions that exhaustion of the administrative remedy provided in section 669.13 is jurisdictional to bringing an action or suit in district court. See Voss, 553 N.W.2d at 880 (claim filed with the appeal board under chapter 669 must be by a person who is entitled to recover for the personal injury that is the subject of the claim); Swanger, 445 N.W.2d at 346; Brumage v. Woodsmall, 444 N.W.2d 68, 70 (Iowa 1989). Thus, failure to file a claim in a timely manner with the appeal board divests a district court of subject matter jurisdiction to hear a subsequent lawsuit asserting an action against the state. Voss, 553 N.W.2d at 882. We have also held that the tolling provision for minors found in Iowa Code section 614.8 does not apply to the two-year statute of limitations under the Tort Claims Act, Iowa Code chapter 669; such tolling provision only applies to limitations periods of actions mentioned within chapter 614. Harden v. State, 434 N.W.2d 881, 884 (Iowa 1989). [4] Section 669.13 also states [t]his section is the only statute of limitations applicable to claims as defined in this chapter.