SB 413 amends Indiana’s Tort Claims Act to address how settlements are handled when a case involves multiple defendants who are subject to the Act’s liability cap. Under current law, the combined aggregate liability of governmental entities and covered public employees is capped at specified amounts, depending on the claim. The bill adds a new section requiring a court, before approving a settlement, to determine and state how much of the settlement will be allocated against the Tort Claims Act liability cap when some, but not all, capped defendants settle and the defendants have not agreed on allocation.
The bill also addresses mixed state and federal cases. If a settlement resolves both state and federal claims, the court must specify how much of the settlement is attributable to the federal claim and how much to the state claim. The effective date is July 1, 2025, and the bill amends Indiana Code chapter 34-13-3 governing civil procedure and governmental liability.
Impact
SB 413 would change Indiana Code 34-13-3 by adding a judicial allocation requirement in multi-defendant settlement cases involving the Tort Claims Act cap. This would affect courts, governmental entities, public employees acting within the scope of employment, and litigants in cases where only some capped defendants settle. The practical effect is to create a formal mechanism for determining how a settlement counts against the statutory liability cap, which could influence settlement negotiations, cap exhaustion, and the remaining exposure of non-settling defendants.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the bill appears to be a technical, procedural measure rather than a controversial policy change. Its purpose is to clarify settlement allocation in cases involving governmental liability caps, suggesting a generally administrative or housekeeping approach. No opposition or support was documented in the supplied context, so the overall sentiment cannot be measured from debate or voting history.
Contention
The main potential point of contention is the court’s new role in allocating settlement amounts against the Tort Claims Act cap, especially where defendants disagree about how much of a settlement should count toward the cap. Parties may also dispute the required split between state and federal claims in mixed cases. These issues would matter most to plaintiffs, governmental defendants, and insurers or defense counsel concerned about how settlements affect remaining liability exposure under the cap.