Opinion ID: 164176
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Provisions of Section 24-10-109(1)

Text: 18 Sub-section one of the CGIA notice provision reads: 19 Any person claiming to have suffered an injury by a public entity ..., whether or not by a willful and wanton act or omission, shall file a written notice as provided in this section within one hundred eighty days after the date of the discovery of the injury, regardless of whether the person then knew all of the elements of a claim or of a cause of action for such injury. Compliance with the provisions of this section shall be a jurisdictional prerequisite to any action brought under the provisions of this article, and failure of compliance shall forever bar any such action. Colo.Rev.Stat. § 24-10-109(1). 20 Accordingly, [t]he CGIA[, section 24-10-109(1),] requires that anyone who has a claim against ... [a state entity] must file a written notice of the claim within one hundred eighty days after the date of the discovery of the injury, regardless of whether the person then knew all of the elements of a claim or of a cause of action for such injury. Gallagher v. Bd. of Trs. for Univ. of N. Colo., 54 P.3d 386, 390-91 (Colo.2002) (internal quotations omitted). 21 The Colorado Supreme Court has determined that written notice is provided pursuant to Section 24-10-109(1) only when that written notice contains a demand for monetary damages. 22 [W]e interpret the term `written notice' in section 24-10-109(1) to mean written notice of a claim, we hold that any documents on which a plaintiff relies to satisfy the requirements of section 24-10-109(1) necessarily must assert a claim by including a request or demand that the defendant public entity or employee pay the plaintiff an award of monetary damages.... [Indeed,] the request for payment of monetary damages is what shows that a document is a notice of a claim under section 24-10-109(1). Mesa County Valley School Dist. No. 51 v. Kelsey, 8 P.3d 1200, 1205 (Colo.2000) (emphasis added). 23 Thus, if the Plaintiffs failed to submit a written demand for monetary damages within 180 days after they discovered, or should have discovered, their injury, this omission operates as a jurisdictional bar to the lawsuit. 4 24 Colorado courts strictly construe section 24-10-109(1) and consistently hold that [c]omplying with the notice of claim [as set forth in section 24-10-109(1)] is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit. Gallagher, 54 P.3d at 391; see also Renalde, 807 F.Supp. at 675 (Such notice is a jurisdictional prerequisite to maintaining a state law action....). Furthermore, Colorado courts describe section 24-10-109(1) as a non-claim statute, meaning that failure to comply with the 180-day period is an absolute bar to suit. Gallagher, 54 P.3d at 393 (citations omitted). Thus, section 24-10-109(1) is not subject to equitable defenses such as waiver, tolling, or estoppel[;] and plaintiffs cannot use the continuing violation doctrine to remedy an untimely filing of notice. Id. In addition, each plaintiff must give separate notice of her claim to the state entity. DeForrest v. City of Cherry Hills Village, 72 P.3d 384, 386-87 (Colo.Ct.App.2002). 25