On February 18, Associate Policy Director Sarah Sample submitted written testimony to the Judiciary Committee in opposition to HB 526 – Civil Actions – Settlement Agreements – Payment and Release.
This bill requires the settling defendant in a tort action for money damages to provide a proposed release to a plaintiff within 10 days and to pay all sums due to a plaintiff under a settlement agreement within 15 days. Additionally, it establishes the accrual of interest on settlement sums if those binding standards are not met.
This legislation would impose strict new deadlines on local governments to finalize settlement releases and issue payments in tort actions. While counties share the goal of ensuring timely compensation for prevailing plaintiffs, HB 526 overlooks the practical and legal safeguards that govern how taxpayer funds are approved and disbursed. As drafted, the bill would create unworkable timelines, increase administrative costs, and expose local governments — and ultimately taxpayers — to unnecessary financial penalties.
County governments are frequent deep-pocket targets for lawsuits
and must proceed carefully to ensure the accurate and responsible handling of such cases. The new standards put forth by HB 526 would be impossible for county governments to meet, and potentially very costly as resource-limited governments honor their public participation processes to effect these payments.
More on MACo’s Advocacy:
