Connecticut General Statutes 4-160 – Authorization of actions against the state
(a) Whenever the Claims Commissioner deems it just and equitable, the Claims Commissioner, the Deputy Claims Commissioner or a temporary deputy may authorize suit against the state on any claim which, in the opinion of the Claims Commissioner, presents an issue of law or fact under which the state, were it a private person, could be liable. The Claims Commissioner may grant permission to sue for a claim that exclusively seeks permission to sue the state based solely on the notice of claim or any supporting evidence submitted pursuant to section 4-147, or both, without holding a hearing, upon the filing by the attorney or pro se claimant of (1) a motion for approval to assert a claim without a hearing, requesting a ruling based solely on the notice of the claim and any supporting evidence submitted under the provisions of this chapter, and (2) an affidavit attesting to the validity of a claim. Such affidavit shall be signed, notarized and filed by both the attorney and claimant or a pro se claimant, attesting to the following, in the following form: “I have made a reasonable inquiry, as permitted by the circumstances, which has given rise to a good faith belief that grounds exist for a suit against the state. Such inquiry includes (provide a brief description of the inquiry made)”. The claimant shall serve any motion for approval and affidavit on the office of the Attorney General and any state agency that is a subject of the claim. The state may file an opposition to the motion for approval and the affidavit not later than thirty days after such service of the motion and affidavit. Such opposition shall be limited to opposition of the claim based solely on jurisdictional grounds, including pursuant to section 4-142, or subsection (a) of section 4-148, or prosecutorial, judicial, quasi-judicial or legislative immunity.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 4-160
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Claim: means a petition for the payment or refund of money by the state or for permission to sue the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 4-141
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Person: means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association or other group, including political subdivisions of the state. See Connecticut General Statutes 4-141
- Pro se: A Latin term meaning "on one's own behalf"; in courts, it refers to persons who present their own cases without lawyers.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State agency: includes every department, division, board, office, commission, arm, agency and institution of the state government, whatever its title or function. See Connecticut General Statutes 4-141
- State officers and employees: includes (A) every person elected or appointed to or employed in any office, position or post in the state government, whatever such person's title, classification or function and whether such person serves with or without remuneration or compensation, including judges of probate courts, employees of such courts and special limited conservators appointed by such courts pursuant to section 17a-543a, and (B) attorneys appointed as victim compensation commissioners, attorneys appointed by the Public Defender Services Commission as public defenders, assistant public defenders or deputy assistant public defenders and attorneys appointed by the court as Division of Public Defender Services assigned counsel, individuals appointed by the Public Defender Services Commission, or by the court, as a guardian ad litem or attorney for a party in a neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights, delinquency or family with service needs proceeding, the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and any associate attorney general or assistant attorney general, any other attorneys employed by any state agency, any commissioner of the Superior Court hearing small claims matters or acting as a fact-finder, arbitrator or magistrate or acting in any other quasi-judicial position, any person appointed to a committee established by law for the purpose of rendering services to the Judicial Department, including, but not limited to, the Legal Specialization Screening Committee, the State-Wide Grievance Committee, the Client Security Fund Committee, the advisory committee appointed pursuant to section 51-81d and the State Bar Examining Committee, any member of a multidisciplinary team established by the Commissioner of Children and Families pursuant to section 17a-106a, the Municipal Electric Consumer Advocate selected pursuant to section 7-121f, the Independent Consumer Advocate selected pursuant to section 7-334a, and any physicians or psychologists employed by any state agency. See Connecticut General Statutes 4-141
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(b) Any claim exclusively requesting permission to sue the state that was filed more than three years prior to July 1, 2023, that has not been disposed of by the Office of the Claims Commissioner, shall be referred to a temporary deputy for proceedings in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, unless the claimant expressly states the desire to have such claim remain before the Claims Commissioner.
(c) If a claim exclusively requesting permission to sue the state remains pending with the Office of the Claims Commissioner eighteen months after the date on which such claim was filed with the office, a claimant may file a notice indicating the passage of such eighteen months with the Attorney General, the Governor and the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary. The Claims Commissioner shall issue a decision on such claim not later than ninety days after the filing of such notice. If the Claims Commissioner does not issue a decision during such ninety-day period, the claim shall be referred to a temporary deputy for proceedings in accordance with subsection (d) of this section. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a claim in which the parties have not objected to an extension of time for the Office of the Claims Commissioner to dispose of the claim.
(d) (1) If a claim is referred to a temporary deputy under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, such temporary deputy shall review the notice of claim, the state’s notice of opposition and any discovery or other supporting evidence, and may, if the temporary deputy deems it necessary, hold a conference with the parties using telephonic or video conferencing technology. Consideration of the state’s opposition to such claims shall be limited to jurisdictional grounds or prosecutorial, judicial, quasi-judicial or legislative immunity. The temporary deputy shall make a determination to deny or dismiss a claim or authorize a claimant to sue the state, not later than ninety days after the claim is referred to such temporary deputy. A temporary deputy shall authorize suit against the state if the claim, in the opinion of the temporary deputy, presents an issue of law or fact under which the state, were it a private person, could be liable. If the resolution of the state’s opposition to the claim is based on a dispute of a material fact, the temporary deputy shall grant permission to sue the state and preserve the state’s right to pursue such defense in court.
(2) A temporary deputy shall make a finding of fact for each claim and file such finding with the order or authorization disposing of the claim with the Claims Commissioner. The temporary deputy shall provide a copy of such finding and order or authorization to the claimant and to the representative for the state, which representative may in appropriate cases be the Attorney General.
(e) A claimant exclusively seeking permission to sue the state shall be deemed to have been granted permission to sue the state by the Claims Commissioner if the Attorney General files with the Office of the Claims Commissioner a signed stipulation authorizing permission to sue the state for a particular claim of the claimant.
(f) In any claim alleging malpractice against the state, a state hospital or against a physician, surgeon, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor or other licensed health care provider employed by the state, the attorney or pro se party filing the claim may submit a certificate of good faith to the Office of the Claims Commissioner in accordance with section 52-190a. If such a certificate is submitted, permission to sue the state shall be deemed granted by the Claims Commissioner (1) on June 28, 2021, if the certificate has been filed with the Claims Commissioner prior to June 28, 2021, or (2) upon the filing of the certificate with the Office of the Claims Commissioner, if such certificate is filed on or after June 28, 2021. In lieu of filing a notice of claim pursuant to section 4-147, a claimant may commence a medical malpractice action against the state prior to the expiration of the limitation period set forth in section 4-148 and authorization for such action against the state shall be deemed granted. Any such action shall be limited to medical malpractice claims only and any such action shall be deemed a suit otherwise authorized by law in accordance with subsection (a) of section 4-142. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to any claim alleging malpractice against the state that was timely filed with the Claims Commissioner and remains pending with said commissioner, regardless of whether such claim was filed before, on or after October 1, 2019.
(g) After completion of discovery in a suit filed in the Superior Court after receiving permission to sue the state on the basis of an affidavit attesting to the validity of a claim filed in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, if the court determines that such affidavit was not made in good faith, that no justiciable issue was presented against the state and that the state cooperated in good faith with the claimant by providing informal discovery, the court, upon motion or on its own initiative, shall impose upon the attorney and claimant or pro se claimant who signed such affidavit an appropriate sanction, which may include an order to pay to the state the reasonable expenses incurred by the state because of the filing of the suit. The court may also submit the matter to the appropriate authority for disciplinary review of any attorney who submitted the affidavit.
(h) In each action authorized by the Claims Commissioner or a temporary deputy, or any action where permission to sue the state has been deemed to have been granted by the Claims Commissioner, pursuant to subsections (a) to (f), inclusive, of this section or by the General Assembly pursuant to section 4-159, or 4-159a, the claimant shall allege such authorization or permission and the date on which it was granted, except that evidence of such authorization or permission shall not be admissible in such action as evidence of the state’s liability. Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, (1) the state waives its immunity from liability and from suit in each such action and waives all defenses which might arise from the eleemosynary or governmental nature of the activity complained of, and (2) the rights and liability of the state in each such action shall be coextensive with and shall equal the rights and liability of private persons in like circumstances.
(i) No such action shall be brought but within one year from the date such authorization becomes effective or permission to sue is granted, whichever date is later. With respect to any claim presented to the Office of the Claims Commissioner for which authorization or permission to sue is granted, any statute of limitation applicable to such action shall be tolled until the date such authorization or permission to sue is granted. The claimant shall bring such action against the state as party defendant in the judicial district in which the claimant resides or, if the claimant is not a resident of this state, in the judicial district of Hartford or in the judicial district in which the claim arose.
(j) Civil process directed against the state shall be served as provided by section 52-64.
(k) Issues arising in such actions shall be tried to the court without a jury.
(l) The laws and rules of practice governing disclosures in civil actions shall apply against state agencies and state officers and employees possessing books, papers, records, documents or information pertinent to the issues involved in any such action.
(m) The Attorney General, with the consent of the court, may compromise or settle any such action. The terms of every such compromise or settlement shall be expressed in a judgment of the court.
(n) Costs may be allowed against the state as the court deems just, consistent with the provisions of chapter 901.
(o) The clerk of the court in which judgment is entered against the state shall forward a certified copy of such judgment to the Comptroller. The Attorney General shall certify to the Comptroller when the time allowed by law for proceeding subsequent to final judgment has expired and the Attorney General shall designate the state agency involved in the action. Upon receipt of such judgment and certification the Comptroller shall make payment as follows: Amounts directed by law to be paid from a special fund shall be paid from such special fund; amounts awarded upon contractual claims for goods or services furnished or for property leased shall be paid from the appropriation of the agency which received such goods or services or occupied such property; all other amounts shall be paid from such appropriation as the General Assembly may have made for the payment of claims.
(p) Not later than five days after the convening of each regular session, the Attorney General shall report to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary on the status and disposition of all actions authorized pursuant to this section or section 4-159, or brought against the state under any other provision of law and in which the interests of the state are represented by the Attorney General. The report shall include: (1) The number of such actions pending in state and federal court, categorized by the alleged ground for the action, (2) the number of new actions brought in the preceding year in state and federal court, categorized by the alleged ground for the action, (3) the number of actions disposed of in the preceding year, categorized by the ground for the action that was disposed of and whether the action was disposed of by settlement or litigation to final judgment, and the amount paid for actions within the respective categories, and (4) such other information as may be requested, from time to time, by the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to the judiciary. The report shall identify each action disposed of by payment of an amount exceeding one hundred thousand dollars.