Suing a Florida City Over an Untrimmed Sidewalk Hazard

Attorney Answer

Yes, a Florida city can be sued for negligence — but a claim against a government body runs on a different track than a claim against a private landowner, and the first step is a written claim, not a lawsuit.

Florida has given up part of its immunity, and only part. Section 768.28(1) provides that the state, for itself and its agencies and subdivisions, "hereby waives sovereign immunity for liability for torts, but only to the extent specified in this act." Within that waiver, § 768.28(5)(a) says: "The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period before judgment." Cities and counties are inside that definition.

The gate is the written presuit claim. Section 768.28(6)(a) says an action "may not be instituted on a claim against the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions unless the claimant presents the claim in writing to the appropriate agency, and also, except as to any claim against a municipality, county, or the Florida Space Authority, presents such claim in writing to the Department of Financial Services, within 3 years after such claim accrues and the Department of Financial Services or the appropriate agency denies the claim in writing." Notice and denial are conditions of suing at all. There is also a ceiling: recovery is capped at $200,000 for any one person and $300,000 for everyone hurt in the same incident, with no punitive damages. A judgment above the caps can be entered, but the excess is paid only if the Legislature passes a claims bill.

Whether the city owed a legal duty to cut vegetation growing into a walkway, and whether that maintenance choice is the kind of operational task a court will review, is decided by Florida case law. What helps is the fact you already described: you asked, and nothing was done. Notice to a government body that a hazard exists is usually the hardest part of these claims, and you may already have it.

Expect the city to argue you share fault for riding downhill on a sidewalk. Your crash happened before March 24, 2023. For accidents before that date, § 768.81(2) provided: "In a negligence action, contributory fault chargeable to the claimant diminishes proportionately the amount awarded as economic and noneconomic damages for an injury attributable to the claimant's contributory fault, but does not bar recovery." The Legislature changed that rule in 2023 for later accidents, and which version governs an older crash is a question for a lawyer, not a web page.

What you can do

1. Photograph the bush, the walkway and the slope from several angles, and note whether the growth has since been cut back.

2. Keep your emergency room records, discharge papers, follow-up bills, and proof of the work and pay you lost.

3. Ask the city, in writing, for public records of any prior complaints, service requests, work orders or inspection notes about vegetation at that location — including the request you made.

4. Ask a Florida attorney about the written claim § 768.28(6)(a) requires, where it has to go, and what it must say. That step is a legal judgment, not a form to guess at.

5. Have a lawyer read anything the city or its insurer asks you to sign before you sign it.

Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Two clocks matter here, and both key to your accident date. Because your crash predates the 2023 change, the negligence limitations period that applied was the former four-year period under § 95.11. Separately, § 768.28(6)(a) requires the written claim within three years after the claim accrues. Whether either has run on your facts depends on details this page cannot check, so ask a Florida attorney to confirm both now rather than later.