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W. Va. Code § 29-12A-6

Limitation of actions; specification of amount of damages not allowed

Known as the The Governmental Tort Claims and Insurance Reform Act

The act spans §§ 29-12A-1 to 29-12A-9 (18 sections).

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Loutzenhiser (2004)

Most recently applied in 218 W. Va. 81 - Louk v. Cormier (August 2005)

How often courts cite this section

19942000200520
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. 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) An action against a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to persons or property allegedly caused by any act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function, except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, shall be brought within two years after the cause of action arose or after the injury, death or loss was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever last occurs or within any applicable shorter period of time for bringing the action provided by this code. This section applies to actions brought against political subdivisions by all persons, governmental entities, and the state.

(b) An action against a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to a minor, brought by or on behalf of a minor who was under the age of ten years at the time of such injury, shall be commenced within two years after the cause of action arose or after the injury, death of loss was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever last occurs, or prior to the minor's twelfth birthday, whichever provides the longer period.

(c) The periods of limitations set forth in this section shall be tolled for any period during which the political subdivision or its representative has committed fraud or collusion by concealing or misrepresenting material facts about the injury.

(d) In the complaint filed in a civil action against a political subdivision or an employee of a political subdivision to recover damages for injury, death, or loss to persons or property allegedly caused by an act or omission of such political subdivision or employee, whether filed in an original action, cross-claim, counterclaim, third-party claim, or claim for subrogation, the complainant shall include a demand for a judgment for the damages that the judge in a nonjury trial or the jury in a jury trial finds that the complainant is entitled to be awarded, but shall not specify in the demand any monetary amount for damages sought.

Official source: West Virginia Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain West Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.