Suing a Texas City After a Sidewalk Fall: Notice Comes First

Attorney Answer

You may have a claim, but the deadline to notify the city is far shorter than the deadline to sue, and it is the one most likely to end this before it starts.

A governmental unit in Texas is immune from suit unless a statute waives that immunity, so the Tort Claims Act is the whole route here rather than one theory among several. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.021(2) waives immunity for "personal injury and death so caused by a condition or use of tangible personal or real property if the governmental unit would, were it a private person, be liable to the claimant according to Texas law." Mud left on a public sidewalk by a work crew is the kind of condition that subsection is about. Note what it does not cover: subsection (2) reaches personal injury and death, not damage to property.

Two things then decide how hard the claim is. The first is the duty owed. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.022(a) provides that if a claim arises from a premise defect, the governmental unit owes the claimant "only the duty that a private person owes to a licensee on private property, unless the claimant pays for the use of the premises." That licensee duty is a low one — broadly, not to injure you wilfully, wantonly or through gross negligence, and to warn of a hidden danger the city actually knew about. It is well below what a shop owes a customer.

But that section has a second half, and it is the half that may work in your favor. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.022(b) provides that the limitation of duty "does not apply to the duty to warn of special defects such as excavations or obstructions on highways, roads, or streets." You describe a crew digging holes. Whether what you slipped on counts as a special defect is a real question and a heavily litigated one — the statute gives examples rather than a closed list, and it qualifies them with "on highways, roads, or streets," so a sidewalk is arguable rather than settled. Do not assume it either way. Do raise it, because where a special defect is found the unit owes the higher duty instead of the licensee duty, and that changes the case.

The second thing is who the crew worked for. A city crew, a utility, and a private contractor working under a city permit are three different defendants with three different sets of rules.

The notice deadline is the part to act on this week. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101(a) entitles a governmental unit to notice of a claim within a period measured in months after the incident, and the notice must reasonably describe the injury claimed, the time and place of the incident, and the incident itself. But § 101.101(b) ratifies a city's own charter and ordinance provisions requiring notice within a shorter charter period. This page cannot know your city's charter, and a city's charter deadline can be dramatically shorter than the statutory one. Treat the notice period as short and check it immediately.

If the claim does proceed, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.023(c) caps a municipality's liability under the Act at $250,000 for each person and $500,000 for each single occurrence for bodily injury or death. That is the chapter's ceiling, not a measure of what any claim is worth.

What you can do

1. Photograph the sidewalk, the dirt, the holes and the work site now, while the crew is still in the neighborhood, and get the date on the images.

2. Find out which entity the crew actually worked for — the city, a utility, or a private contractor. Ask the crew's supervisor or the city's public works department.

3. Ask the city secretary or city clerk, in writing, what the city's charter requires for notice of a claim and by when. That is a records question, and you can ask it yourself.

4. Keep every medical record from the day of the fall forward.

5. Speak with a Texas attorney about the notice deadline this week rather than later. 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. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) sets the limitations period for a personal injury claim, but against a governmental unit the notice period in § 101.101 runs first and is far shorter, and a city charter may shorten it further. Both apply. Have a Texas attorney key them to your facts and your city rather than working from this page.