SECTION 806 PROCEDURE FOR CLAIMS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

Section 806. Procedure for Claims Against the Government

There is a one-year statute of limitations for all actions against any public entity or public employee. Claims must be filed within 180 days.

(a) Generally

A.R.S. § 12-341.01 was amended in 2012 to remove subsection (C) which mandated an award of "reasonable attorney fees in any contested action upon clear and convincing evidence that the claim or defense constitutes harassment, is groundless and is not made in good faith.

In 1994, A.R.S. § 12-821 was changed, and A.R.S. § 12-821.01 was added.

A.R.S. § 12-821 provides that all actions against any public entity or public employee shall be brought within one year after the cause of action accrues.

A.R.S. § 12-821.01 provides that the action is barred unless a claim has been filed with the person authorized to accept service under the rules of civil procedure within 180 days after the cause of action accrues.

Subsection (B) provides that the cause of action accrues when the damaged party realizes that he or she has been damaged and knows or reasonably should know the cause, source, act, event, instrumentality, or condition that caused or contributed to the damage. Mayer Unified Sch. Dist. v. Winkleman, 219 Ariz. 562, 566, 201 P.3d 523, 527 (2009).

Subsection (C) provides that the time to give notice and to sue does not begin to run until a final decision on any claims that must be submitted to dispute resolution processes or administrative claims processes.

A.R.S. § 12-821.01 was amended in 2012 to add the following sections:

G. If a genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether the requirements of this section have been complied with, the issue shall be resolved before a trial on the merits and at the earliest possible time.

H. This section does not apply to any claim for just compensation pursuant to chapter 8, article 2.1 of this title.

Facts supporting the specific settlement amount stated by the claimant must be set forth in the claim. The Arizona Supreme Court has defined the level of specificity required of the supporting facts as follows:

[A] claimant complies with the supporting-facts requirement of Section 12-821.01.A by providing the factual foundation that the claimant regards as adequate to permit the public entity to evaluate the specific amount claimed. This standard does not require a claimant to provide an exhaustive list of facts; as long as a claimant provides facts to support the amount claimed, he has complied with the supporting-facts requirement of the statute, and courts should not scrutinize the claimant's description of facts to determine the 'sufficiency' of the factual disclosure.

Backus v. State of Ariz., 220 Ariz. 101, 106-07, 203 P.3d 499, 504-05 (2009).

Under the circumstances of the case, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 is not read to require that one who asserts a single claim against multiple public entities or employees must make separate settlement demands on each of the various alleged individual wrongdoers. Havasupai Tribe of Havasupai Reservation v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents, 220 Ariz. 214, 229, 204 P.3d 1063, 1078 (App. 2008).

With respect to class actions, A.R.S. § 12-821.01(A) requires a putative class representative to

include in his claim notice a "specific amount" for which his individual claim (not the class claim) can be settled. The notice should also include a statement that, if...