Suing a Government Entity in Arizona: the Notice of Claim

Reviewed by Joseph L. Woods, Esq.

Who counts as a government entity

This applies more often than people expect. Cities and towns, counties, the state and its agencies, school districts, public universities, transit authorities, and public hospital districts are all public entities — and so are their employees acting in the scope of their jobs. A city bus, a police cruiser, a poorly maintained public road, a school-district van, and a county-owned property all put a claim in this category.

The 180-day deadline

You must serve the notice of claim within 180 days after the claim accrues — roughly six months, and often before treatment is even finished. The notice goes to the person authorized to accept service for the entity, and if you intend to hold an individual employee responsible, that employee generally must be served too. Serving only the employer is one of the most common ways a claim is lost.

What the notice has to say — including a specific dollar figure

Arizona asks for more than a heads-up. The notice must set out facts sufficient for the entity to understand why it is being held responsible, and it must state a specific amount for which the claim can be settled, along with the facts supporting that amount. A notice that omits a sum certain, or that names a placeholder figure with nothing behind it, can be held invalid — which ends the claim even though the deadline was met.

Then a one-year deadline to sue

Serving the notice does not restart the ordinary clock. Claims against a public entity or employee must be filed in court within one year, not the two years that apply to a private defendant. If the entity denies the claim or simply lets it sit, that one-year deadline keeps running.

What you can and cannot recover

Arizona's constitution bars caps on injury and death damages, so a claim against a public entity is not squeezed into a statutory ceiling the way it is in many states. Punitive damages are the exception: they are not available against public entities and employees, even where the conduct was egregious.

Why these cases need attention immediately

Between a 180-day notice with strict content requirements and a one-year filing deadline, a government case gives you a fraction of the time a normal claim allows — and the notice itself is easy to get wrong. If any part of what happened involved a public agency, a free, confidential review early is the difference between a live claim and a lost one.

Frequently asked questions

This is general information about California injury law, not legal advice. Every situation is different, and deadlines can turn on specific facts.

← Back to Car Accidents in Arizona