Short answer: before you can bring state-law claims for money damages against the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, or one of their departments, California requires you to present a written claim to that entity. For claims involving injury to a person, the deadline is six months from the date the claim accrued, which is usually the date of the incident. A claim that is late, or filed with the wrong entity, can end the state-law claims before any lawsuit is filed. This guide explains what the claim is, what it must contain, where it goes in Los Angeles, and what happens next.
Why a claim comes before a lawsuit
The rules come from the Government Claims Act, Government Code section 900 and following. Section 905 requires that "all claims for money or damages against local public entities" be presented under the Act, subject to a list of exceptions that has nothing to do with police conduct. Section 945.4 then bars any suit for money or damages on such a claim "until a written claim therefor has been presented to the public entity and has been acted upon by the board, or has been deemed to have been rejected by the board."
The City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles are local public entities, and the Los Angeles Police Department and the Sheriff's Department are part of them. So the claim is a precondition to the state-law claims that usually accompany a police misconduct case: battery, negligence, false imprisonment, and claims under the Bane Act, Civil Code section 52.1.
The deadline: six months for injury claims
Government Code section 911.2(a) sets the time. A claim "relating to a cause of action for death or for injury to person or to personal property" must be presented "not later than six months after the accrual of the cause of action." Any other claim must be presented within one year.
For most police cases, accrual is the day the force was used or the arrest was made. Some situations are more complicated, but no one should plan around an exception. Count from the date of the incident and do not wait for a criminal case, an internal affairs investigation, or a records request to finish. None of those stops the clock.
The six-month period runs whether or not you have a lawyer, whether or not the police report is done, and whether or not the agency ever responds to you.
Federal civil rights claims work differently
Claims under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 for violations of the United States Constitution, such as excessive force under the Fourth Amendment or retaliation for protected speech under the First Amendment, do not require a government claim. In Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988), the United States Supreme Court held that a state notice-of-claim requirement cannot be applied to a section 1983 action, because it conflicts with the purposes of the federal statute.
Federal claims have their own deadline. Under Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989), section 1983 claims borrow the state's general statute of limitations for personal injury actions. In California that is two years, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
Most police misconduct cases in Los Angeles combine federal and state claims, and the state claims are often where California-specific remedies live. Filing the government claim keeps both sets of claims available.
What the claim must contain
Government Code section 910 lists what a claim must show:
- The claimant's name and mailing address.
- The address where notices about the claim are to be sent.
- "The date, place and other circumstances of the occurrence or transaction which gave rise to the claim."
- A general description of the injury, damage, or loss, as far as it is known when the claim is presented.
- The names of the public employees who caused the injury, damage, or loss, if known.
- The amount claimed, if it is less than $10,000, with the basis for the computation. If the claim is for more than $10,000, no dollar amount is stated; instead the claim says whether it would be a limited civil case.
The City and County forms follow this list, and both require a signature. A clear, factual account of what happened, including the date, time, location, the agency involved, and any badge numbers, unit numbers, or report numbers, does the job. The claim is not the place to argue the law or to send every document you have.
Where to file in Los Angeles
The claim goes to the entity that employs the officers. LAPD officers work for the City of Los Angeles. Sheriff's deputies work for the County of Los Angeles. Other cities, such as Santa Monica, Long Beach, or Pasadena, are separate entities with their own clerks. When more than one agency was involved, a claim goes to each one.
City of Los Angeles. The Office of the City Clerk accepts claims three ways: through its online Claim for Damages portal, which issues a claim number immediately; by mailing the signed paper form to the Office of the City Clerk, 200 North Spring Street, Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90012; or in person at that office, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The City Clerk states that emailed and faxed claims are not accepted. Once filed, the claim is handled by the City Attorney's office.
County of Los Angeles. The County's Board of Supervisors states that "a signed, written claim shall be presented to the County of Los Angeles by mailing or delivering it to the Executive Officer-Clerk of the Board of Supervisors," at 500 West Temple Street, Room 383, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The Sheriff's Department's own claim form directs claims to the same office.
Government Code section 915 sets the general rule: a claim is presented by delivering it to the entity's clerk, secretary, or auditor, by mailing it to one of them or to the governing body at its principal office, or, where the entity has authorized it, by electronic submission. Section 915(e) adds that a claim sent the wrong way still counts if the clerk or board actually receives it within the deadline. Proof matters: a portal claim number, a certified-mail receipt, or a stamped copy from the counter.
What happens after you file
Under Government Code section 912.4, the entity's board has 45 days to act on the claim. If it does nothing, the claim "shall be deemed to have been rejected by the board on the last day of the period within which the board was required to act upon the claim."
Rejection starts the next clock. Under section 945.6(a), if the entity mails or delivers a written notice of rejection, a lawsuit on the claim must be filed within six months after that notice. If no written notice is given, the lawsuit must be filed within two years of accrual. A rejection letter is not the end of the case. It is the point at which the case can be filed in court, and the letter belongs in the file with its envelope.
If the six months have already passed
There is a narrow path. Government Code section 911.4 allows a written application for leave to present a late claim, presented "within a reasonable time not to exceed one year after the accrual of the cause of action," stating the reason for the delay, with the proposed claim attached.
If the entity denies that application, or lets it go unanswered, section 946.6 allows a petition to the superior court for relief from the claim requirement. The petition must be filed within six months after the application was denied or deemed denied. The court may grant relief where the failure to present the claim was through mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect and the entity would not be prejudiced, or where the claimant was a minor or physically or mentally incapacitated during the six months, or died before it ended. Each step has its own deadline, and none of them is generous.
Mistakes that cost people their claims
- Filing with the wrong entity, or with only one of several entities involved.
- Waiting for the criminal case, the complaint investigation, or the body-camera footage before filing.
- Writing a dollar amount on a claim worth more than $10,000.
- Emailing a claim to the City, which the City Clerk does not accept.
- Treating the claim as the lawsuit. The claim only opens the door.
- Missing the two-year federal deadline because the state claim was handled on time.
For what to preserve and how the underlying claims work, see Police Used Force Against You at a Protest in Los Angeles? What to Do Next. Questions about a specific incident can be sent through the contact form.
Sources
- Government Code section 905 (claims against local public entities must be presented)
- Government Code section 910 (contents of a claim)
- Government Code section 911.2 (six-month and one-year deadlines)
- Government Code section 911.4 (application to present a late claim)
- Government Code section 912.4 (45 days for the board to act)
- Government Code section 915 (how a claim is presented)
- Government Code section 945.4 (no suit until the claim is acted on or deemed rejected)
- Government Code section 945.6 (time to sue after rejection)
- Government Code section 946.6 (court relief from the claim requirement)
- Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 (two-year period for personal injury actions)
- Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131 (1988) (state notice-of-claim statutes do not apply to section 1983 actions)
- Owens v. Okure, 488 U.S. 235 (1989) (section 1983 borrows the state's general personal injury limitations period)
- City of Los Angeles, Office of the City Clerk, "Claim for Damage" (how and where to file with the City)
- County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, Customer Service Center, Claims for Damages (how and where to file with the County)
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Claim for Damages to Person or Property (form)