31 U.S.C. § 3723
Section 3723 · Small claims for privately owned property damage or loss
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Ali v. Federal Bureau of Prisons (2008)
Most recently applied in David Adams v. George Schmidt (August 2015)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) The head of an agency (except a military department of the Department of Defense or the Coast Guard) may settle a claim for not more than $1,000 for damage to, or loss of, privately owned property that—
(1) is caused by the negligence of an officer or employee of the United States Government acting within the scope of employment; and
(2) may not be settled under chapter 171 of title 28.
(b) A claim under this section may be allowed only if it is presented to the head of the agency within one year after it accrues.
(c) A claim under this section may be paid as provided in section 1304 of this title only if the claimant accepts the amount of the settlement in complete satisfaction of the claim against the Government.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
In subsection (a), before clause (1), the text of 31:216(words before semicolon) is omitted as unnecessary because of section 102 of the revised title. The words “acting on behalf of the Government of the United States” in 31:215 are omitted as unnecessary. The word “settle” is substituted for “consider, ascertain, adjust, and determine” for consistency. The words “after April 6, 1917” are omitted as executed.
In subsection (c), the words “A claim under this section may be paid” are added for clarity. The words “as provided in section 1304 of this title” are substituted for 31:215(last sentence less proviso) because 31:215(last sentence less proviso) is superseded by section 201 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1978 (Pub. L. 95–240, 92 Stat. 116). The words “of the settlement” are substituted for “determined under the provisions of sections 215 and 216 of this title” in 31:217 for consistency and to eliminate unnecessary words. The word “complete” is substituted for “full” for consistency. The word “satisfaction” is substituted for “settlement” for clarity.