Senate committee advances bill limiting volunteer liability for fee‑free recreation clubs

Senator Cindy Carlson, sponsor of House Bill 81 and senator for District 7, told the Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee the bill is intended to “encourage the formation of recreation clubs and participation in recreation activities organized by clubs” by limiting liability for volunteers and members when participants are injured during activities that carry known, inherent dangers.

The measure applies only to recreation activities “when done without charge or fee payable to the recreation club or a club member,” Carlson said, and retains exceptions that allow claims for intentional conduct, gross negligence and ordinary negligence between members. The committee voted to send the bill to the fourteenth order for possible amendment.

David Claiborne, an attorney with Sawtooth Law Offices representing the Idaho Recreation Council and the Idaho State ATV Association, told senators the bill is intended to protect volunteers, board members and organizers from suits that arise solely because they organized an event. “We wanna promote participation in clubs,” Claiborne said, adding that the bill was drafted to leave some questions—such as whether a club leader owes a duty to warn of a newly encountered hazard—“for the courts to decide.” He said the proposal reflects changes agreed with trial lawyers, including striking a sentence on page 2 that would have said a club “owe[s] no duty of care to make any recreation activity safe.”

Claiborne described insurance costs and difficulty recruiting volunteer leaders as the primary drivers for the bill. He said two ATV clubs in the Idaho Falls area, the Upper Valley Club and the Eagle Rock Club, disbanded when liability insurance became unaffordable. Kate Haas of Kestrel West, who said she helped start a volunteer running club in the Treasure Valley last September, told the committee the change would give her volunteer board “that layer of protection” and would close gaps for participants who try a club event before joining or signing a waiver.

The committee took no change on the record to the liability exceptions; senators and testifiers discussed language and the scope of the duty to warn and other statutory definitions that counsel said could be refined in the amending order. The motion to send House Bill 81 to the fourteenth order for possible amendment was made by Senator Ricks and seconded by Senator Land; the chair said the motion carried.

Supporters framed the bill as a limited liability shield for volunteer organizers of fee‑free recreation activities while preserving remedies for intentional, grossly negligent or equipment‑related harms. Opponents did not register on the record during the hearing. The bill will next be considered in the fourteenth order, where possible amendments can be drafted and debated.