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Oklahoma
State Senate
Communications Division
State Capitol
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105
For Immediate Release: February 22, 2012
Sen. Ron Justice
Senate approves bill to protect public buildings from liability
during natural disasters
On Tuesday, the Senate unanimously approved a measure which would
encourage more public facilities to open their doors to the public
during natural disasters. Senate Bill 1316, by Sen. Ron
Justice, would modify the Governmental Tort Claims Act by adding
an exemption from liability for cities, towns, counties or other
entities that open public buildings up to citizens during emergencies
like tornadoes.
“Oklahoma is no stranger to natural disasters, especially
tornadoes, and many families don’t have shelters at their
homes so they’ll go to schools, churches or other public buildings
looking for shelter,” said Justice, R-Chickasha. “Many
of these facilities, however, won’t open their doors to the
public because of fear of lawsuits should anything happen to the
individuals. This bill will protect these public facilities from
lawsuits and provide more safe places for Oklahoma families during
emergencies.”
Justice noted that the bill does not require public facilities to
be opened during emergencies. It is still up to each entity whether
to open their doors to the public during such events, but if they
choose to let the public in they will not be held liable if someone
gets injured or they have to turn anyone away because of lack of
space.
SB 1316 will now head to the House for further consideration in
committee.
For more information contact:
Sen. Justice: (405) 521-5537
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