Bill would require political subdivisions to post service-of-process contact to prevent procedural dismissals
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Summary
Sen. George Dungan proposed LB 1136 to require political subdivisions that maintain websites to publish the name/address of the official authorized to receive claims, aiming to avoid harsh dismissals under the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act and allow claims to be decided on the merits.
Sen. George Dungan (District 26) introduced LB 1136 to require political subdivisions that already maintain websites to post the name and contact information for the person authorized to receive service of process in PSTCA claims or to make that information reasonably discoverable on their sites.
Dungan said courts currently require strict notice and that claimants have lost meritorious cases on technical grounds when subdivisions obscure or withhold who the appropriate recipient is. "We're simply asking that people know who to serve when they're trying to serve," he told the committee.
Proponents, including attorneys who handle PSTCA claims, described multiple Nebraska Supreme Court cases where timely filing and the exact recipient were fatal to claims and urged a statutory fix to allow more disputes to be decided on the merits rather than procedural technicalities. Supporters and neutral county representatives signaled willingness to work on language to address concerns about tolling, name-vs-office listing, and website-update practicalities.
Senators and stakeholders discussed potential amendments (home page vs. reasonably discoverable, handling staff turnover, and tolling/cure language); sponsors said they would continue to refine the bill before any committee vote.