All Liability Legislation - Missouri

SB 1242 - This act modifies various provisions relating to foster care and adoption. The act: Provides that any employee of the Children's Division of the Department of Social Services may choose to become qualified or licensed as an emergency placement provider, a respite care provider, or a licensed foster home. Any employee who becomes qualified or licensed shall not provide care for any child in his or her caseload, but may, upon supervisory approval, choose to transfer the case to another employee in order to be able to provide such care. Sections 210.482, 210.486.7, and 210.545. Requires the Children's Division to establish procedures and promulgate rules to provide applications to become a licensed foster or preadoptive home, and approximately one half of all training, education, or other coursework to become licensed shall be available and able to be completed on an Internet website created and maintained by the division. Section 210.486.8. Requires the guardian ad [...]

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SB 1143 - This act provides that no television advertisement for legal services shall contain a false or misleading statement about the lawyer, law firm, or the legal services. False or misleading advertisements shall include, but are not limited to, the conditions listed in this act. Television advertisements for legal services shall contain a disclaimer stating, in writing and orally, that the Missouri Supreme Court cautions that the choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements. If any advertiser of legal services routinely refers cases acquired by television advertising to lawyer not employed by the lawyer, law firm, or entity whose name appears on the advertisement, then it shall contain a warning stating, in writing and orally, that the case may be referred to lawyers or law firms that are not employed by the advertising law firm. Television advertisements that include amounts of past verdicts or settlements shall include [...]

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SB 1077 - Under current law, Section 434.100, RSMo, most indemnities for construction work are considered void and against public policy. Unless one of the statute's exceptions applies, a party to a contract for construction work cannot transfer a significant portion of its project risks to others via a broad indemnity agreement. The current statute contains nine exceptions to the general rule that these types of indemnity agreements are void. Under this act, the general prohibition against indemnity agreements is expanded to specifically prohibit agreements to hold harmless the negligence of the other person's officers, employees, or agents. The current law only specifically prohibits agreements that hold harmless another person from that person's own negligence. Under current law, the anti-indemnity provision does not apply to a party's own promise to hold another party harmless from the party's own negligence. This act expands the exception to include the party's officers, employees,[...]

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SB 1050 - This act shall be known as the "Asbestos and Silica Claims Priorities Act". The act requires that any claimant in an action alleging an asbestos or silica claim must file together with the complaint or other initial pleading a narrative medical report and diagnosis signed by a qualifying physician, accompanied by supporting test results, constituting prima facie evidence of the claimant's asbestos-related or silica-related injury. If the court finds that the claimant has failed to make the required prima facie showing, the claim shall be dismissed without prejudice. Claimants are also required to file a sworn information form containing all of the information listed in this act. No asbestos or silica claims shall be filed on behalf of a class or group, other than claims relating to the exposed person and members of his or her family. However, the court may consolidate asbestos or silica claims with the consent of all parties, or may consolidate cases for pretrial or discovery [...]

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SB 1024 - Currently, the state legal expense fund is liable, excluding punitive damages, for all economic damages to any one claimant and up to $350,000 for noneconomic damages for any judgment against a state officer or employee for claims arising from the operation of a motor vehicle or from causing a dangerous condition of property. This act limits the amount of liability for such claims to 2 million dollars for all claims arising from a single occurrence, and $300,000 for any one person in a single accident or occurrence. If these two types of claims are brought against the state or state entities and are also brought against an officer or employee thereof, the maximum allowable recovery shall be reduced by any amount paid towards the claim by the state, its entities, its officers or employees, or anyone acting on their behalf. Current law provides that state entities waive their immunity for liability for claims arising from the operation of a motor vehicle, up to the dollar [...]

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SB 974 - This act modifies various provisions relating to mental health services. This act modifies the good Samaritan statute to allow any other person, regardless of training, to intervene in an attempted suicide with immunity from liability. SECTION 537.037 Under current law, physical and chemical restraints cannot be used on patients, residents or clients of a mental health facility or mental health program except under certain circumstances. This act allows security escort devices to be used on individuals who have been civilly committed when they are transported outside a mental health facility if the head of the facility or the attending physician finds it necessary to protect the health and safety of the individual or others or to prevent escape. Security escort devices shall be used on individuals who have been civilly committed under the sexually violent predator statutes or who have been criminally committed when they are transported outside a mental health facility, unless [...]

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HCS/SB 958 - This act authorizes any rural electric cooperative and certain electrical corporations that operate on the not-for-profit cooperative business plan to trim trees and control vegetation within the legal description in a recorded easement, or when no easement exists, within the following areas: 1) within 10 feet of electric lines located in a city and potentially energized at or below 34.5 kilovolts; 2) within 30 feet of electric lines located outside of a city and potentially energized at or below 34.5 kilovolts; 3) within 50 feet of electric lines potentially energized between 34.5 and 100 kilovolts; and 4) within 75 feet or within a federally required clearance for electric lines potentially energized at 100 kilovolts or more. In claims for property damage, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the electric utility acted with reasonable care and within its rights when controlling vegetation in these areas. Electric cooperatives may control vegetation in excess of [...]

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HCS/SCS/SB 907 - This act modifies provisions relating to the regulation of motor fuel storage tanks and equipment. The Hazardous Waste Management Commission shall propose rules by February 13, 2009 to establish requirements for the reporting of releases and corrective action taken in response to releases from underground petroleum storage tanks. The Board of Trustees of the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund shall be a type III agency and shall employ staff as needed. Under current law, the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund expires on December 31, 2010, or upon revocation of 40 CFR Parts 280 and 285, which are federal standards and corrective action requirements for owners of underground storage tanks. This act extends the expiration date until December 31, 2020, and removes the clause concerning revocation of federal law. Under current law, an owner or operator of petroleum storage tanks may participate in the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund to "partially" [...]

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SCS/SB 904 - This act modifies provisions pertaining to the Underground Facility Safety and Damage Prevention Act. Under current law, gas distribution lines, electric lines, telecommunications facilities, cable t.v. facilities, water lines, storm drainage, and sewer lines located on private property and owned by the landowner are not considered "underground facilities" for purposes of the Underground Facility Safety and Damage Prevention Act. This act modifies this definition by requiring that if any of the above-mentioned lines are used for vehicular traffic control, the lighting of streets and highways, or communications for emergency response, they shall be considered an "underground facility." The lines shall also be considered an "underground facility" if they cross or lie within a public easement, public right-of-way, or another person's property. Under current law, persons who own or operate underground pipeline facilities are deemed to comply with requirements to identify [...]

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SB 719 - Beginning January 1, 2009, this act provides that each publisher or vendor of print instructional materials must make electronic files of the materials available at no cost to schools purchasing the print materials, along with the right to reproduce and distribute such materials in specialized formats, such as Braille, large print, digital audio and electronic text. The publisher or vendor must deliver the electronic files within 30 days of the request by the school. If a publisher or vendor fails to comply with the provisions of this act, the publisher or vendor shall be liable to the school that purchased the materials in an amount of three times the cost to the purchasing school to obtain materials in the needed specialized formats. The Missouri Assistive Technology Advisory Council is required to establish a system to track and catalog access and production of accessible format instructional materials in order to increase reutilization of such material. This act is [...]

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SB 742 - This act prohibits employers from paying any employee lower wages than those paid to employees of the opposite gender for the same work. Under the act, employees may bring a civil cause of action against employers who engage in such a discriminatory practice. Wage payment differentials based on merit systems, regional economic factors, factors that measure pay due to output, or other bona fide factors other than gender, are not actionable. Varying local market rates are not bona fide factors under the act. Employers cannot reduce wages to comply with this act or retaliate against employees that seek the legal protections from retaliation provided by this act. If employers retaliate, employees can recover actual and compensatory damages Remedies for any unlawful gender-based pay practices include: actual and compensatory damages, injunction, and recovery of court costs and attorneys fees. This act abolishes the six-month statute of limitations for filing an action for [...]

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HCS#2/SCS/SB 781 - This act modifies a variety of laws relating to real property, landlord-tenant actions, and certain sporting events. The act provides that a water or sewer line easement granted to the county commission or any other political subdivision shall not be construed as a transfer of title of real property. Section 49.292. Owners of property are forbidden from leasing any building, apartment, or house to anyone who sponsors or permits any amateur mixed martial arts contests on the premises, unless the lessee complies with all applicable regulations on such contests. Additionally, the Division of Professional Registration within the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions, and Professional Registration is authorized to regulate professional and amateur mixed martial arts contests held in Missouri, and the division is forbidden from granting a permit for such contests where any participant is younger than 18. These provisions contain an emergency clause. Section [...]

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