You ask, Can I sue the City? You can sue the City if you give proper notice. In Kansas you need to give the municipality notice before the lawsuit. K.S.A. 12-105b is a Kansas statute that indicates you need to give notice. All claims against a municipality must be presented in writing.

What should the notice include?

This notice should have a full account of the items. No claim shall be allowed except under the statute. The statute in subparagraph (d) indicates that the notice shall contain. This includes:

• the name an address of the claimant and
• the name an address of the claimant’s attorney,
• a concise statement of the factual basis of the claim including the date,
• time place and circumstances,
• name and address of any public officer involved,
• a concise statement of the injury, and
• a statement of monetary damages being requested.

No lawsuit shall be filed until after the claimant has received a denial notice or until after 120 days has passed.

What’s the purpose of notice?

The purpose is to allow the municipality to investigate a claim. The term municipality is defined and can include a county hospital, a school district, Inter local municipal agency, but not the Turnpike Authority. The statute applies to municipalities and claims against municipal employees acting within the scope of their employment.

What if I leave out something?

Although the statute only requires substantial compliance this is “is not achieved when a claimant’s notice fails to provide any statement of monetary damages.” Sleeth v. Sedan City Hosp., 298 Kan. 853, 854, 317 P.3d 782, 785 (2014). “Accordingly, the notice need not contain a “mechanical counting” of information addressing each enumerated category. Instead, the notice must provide the municipality with what it needs for a “full investigation and understanding of the merits of the claims advanced.” Dodge City Implement, Inc., 288 Kan. at 642, 205 P.3d 1265.” Cont’l W. Ins. Co. v. Shultz, 297 Kan. 769, 775, 304 P.3d 1239, 1244 (2013). The courts will overlook technical failures and look to see if the failures in the notice pose a serious obstacle to the municipalities full investigation and understanding of the merits of the claim. The courts had held that the notice did not comply with the statute when it identified the wrong claimant, didn’t give the claimant’s address, provide the attorney’s names or address when the petition didn’t accurately reflect the content of the notice or filed with the wrong public official. “…when a notice conforms with K.S.A. 2012 Supp. 12–105b(d) and the petition in the district court accurately reflects the notice’s contents, subsequent amendments to the pleadings are controlled by K.S.A. 60–215—absent a showing of a claimant’s bad faith or misleading conduct in its initial submission of the claim notice.” Cont’l W. Ins. Co. v. Shultz, 297 Kan. 769, 778, 304 P.3d 1239, 1246 (2013).

The notice must explain the facts of the claim and the legal theories and the type of damages and assert a request for an amount of monetary damages.

The notice must be filed with the clerk or governing body of the municipality. Zeferjohn v. Shawnee County Sheriff’s Dept., 26 Kan.App.2d 379, 383, 988 P.2d 263 (1999) (service of notice on county counselor does not substantially comply with the statutory requirement that claim be filed with the county clerk) Steed v. McPherson Area Solid Waste Util., 43 Kan. App. 2d 75, 85, 221 P.3d 1157, 1164 (2010).

If the wrongful act of the municipal employee was outside the scope of the employment, then notice is not required since the municipality could not be held liable.

If the rejection period for a notice of claim filed with municipality extends beyond the end of the statute of limitations period, the statute of limitations is extended by the time that elapses between filing the notice of claim and its rejection by the governmental entity;  length of the extension of the statute of limitations will vary from case to case, but the longest possible extension of the statute of limitations would be 120 days.  K.S.A. 12-105b(d). See J.P. Asset Co., Inc. v. City of Wichita, 31 Kan.App.2d 650 (2003). Period by which statute of limitations is extended when a city denies a claim after limitations period has run is computed by counting from the date the notice of claim is filed with the city to the date the notice of rejection of the claim is received by the claimant or until after 120 days have passed following filing the notice of claim, whichever occurs first.  K.S.A. 12-105b(d). Cummings v. City of Lakin, 31 Kan.App.2d 532 (2003).