(1) A public entity is immune from
liability in all claims for injury that lie in tort or could lie in tort regardless of
whether that may be the type of action or the form of relief chosen by the claimant
except as provided otherwise in this section. Sovereign immunity is waived by a
public entity in an action for injuries resulting from:
(a) The operation of a motor vehicle, owned or leased by such public entity,
by a public employee while in the course of employment, except emergency
vehicles operating within the provisions of section 42-4-108 (2) and (3), C.R.S.;
(b) The operation of any public hospital, correctional facility, as defined in
section 17-1-102, C.R.S., or jail by such public entity;
(c) A dangerous condition of any public building;
(d) (I) A dangerous condition of a public highway, road, or street which
physically interferes with the movement of traffic on the paved portion, if paved, or
on the portion customarily used for travel by motor vehicles, if unpaved, of any
public highway, road, street, or sidewalk within the corporate limits of any
municipality, or of any highway which is a part of the federal interstate highway
system or the federal primary highway system, or of any highway which is a part of
the federal secondary highway system, or of any highway which is a part of the
state highway system on that portion of such highway, road, street, or sidewalk
which was designed and intended for public travel or parking thereon. As used in
this section, the phrase physically interferes with the movement of traffic shall
not include traffic signs, signals, or markings, or the lack thereof. Nothing in this
subparagraph (I) shall preclude a particular dangerous accumulation of snow, ice,
sand, or gravel from being found to constitute a dangerous condition in the surface
of a public roadway when the entity fails to use existing means available to it for
removal or mitigation of such accumulation and when the public entity had actual
notice through the proper public official responsible for the roadway and had a
reasonable time to act.
(II) A dangerous condition caused by the failure to realign a stop sign or yield
sign which was turned, without authorization of the public entity, in a manner which
reassigned the right-of-way upon intersecting public highways, roads, or streets, or
the failure to repair a traffic control signal on which conflicting directions are
displayed;
(III) A dangerous condition caused by an accumulation of snow and ice which
physically interferes with public access on walks leading to a public building open
for public business when a public entity fails to use existing means available to it
for removal or mitigation of such accumulation and when the public entity had
actual notice of such condition and a reasonable time to act.
(e) A dangerous condition of any public hospital, jail, public facility located in
any park or recreation area maintained by a public entity, or public water, gas,
sanitation, electrical, power, or swimming facility. Nothing in this paragraph (e) or in
paragraph (d) of this subsection (1) shall be construed to prevent a public entity
from asserting sovereign immunity for an injury caused by the natural condition of
any unimproved property, whether or not such property is located in a park or
recreation area or on a highway, road, or street right-of-way.
(f) The operation and maintenance of any public water facility, gas facility,
sanitation facility, electrical facility, power facility, or swimming facility by such
public entity;
(g) The operation and maintenance of a qualified state capital asset that is
the subject of a leveraged leasing agreement pursuant to the provisions of part 10
of article 82 of this title;
(h) Failure to perform an education employment required background check
as described in section 13-80-103.9, C.R.S.;
(i) An action brought pursuant to section 13-21-128;
(j) An action brought pursuant to part 12 of article 20 of title 13, whether the
conduct alleged occurred before, on, or after January 1, 2022; or
(k) An action brought pursuant to section 24-34-806 (4).
(1.5) (a) The waiver of sovereign immunity created in paragraphs (b) and (e) of
subsection (1) of this section does not apply to claimants who have been convicted
of a crime and incarcerated in a correctional facility or jail pursuant to such
conviction, and such correctional facility or jail shall be immune from liability as set
forth in subsection (1) of this section.
(b) The waiver of sovereign immunity created in paragraphs (b) and (e) of
subsection (1) of this section does apply to claimants who are incarcerated but not
yet convicted of the crime for which such claimants are being incarcerated if such
claimants can show injury due to negligence.
(c) The waiver of sovereign immunity created in paragraph (e) of subsection
(1) of this section does not apply to any backcountry landing facility located in
whole or in part within any park or recreation area maintained by a public entity. For
purposes of this paragraph (c), backcountry landing facility means any area of
land or water that is unpaved, unlighted, and in a primitive condition and is used or
intended for the landing and takeoff of aircraft, and includes any land or water
appurtenant to such area.
(2) Nothing in this section or in section 24-10-104 shall be construed to
constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity where the injury arises from the act, or
failure to act, of a public employee where the act is the type of act for which the
public employee would be or heretofore has been personally immune from liability.
(3) In addition to the immunity provided in subsection (1) of this section, a
public entity shall also have the same immunity as a public employee for any act or
failure to act for which a public employee would be or heretofore has been
personally immune from liability.
(4) No rule of law imposing absolute or strict liability shall be applied in any
action against a public entity or a public employee for an injury resulting from a
dangerous condition of, or the operation and maintenance of, a public water facility
or public sanitation facility. No liability shall be imposed in any such action unless
negligence is proven.
(5) The immunity from liability granted in subsection (1) of this section shall
not apply to the university of Colorado hospital authority except for any hospital,
clinic, surgery center, department, or other facility owned or operated by the
authority that is located on the Anschutz medical campus or that is a facility
operating under the hospital license issued to the university hospital pursuant to
part 1 of article 3 of title 25, including off-campus locations. The Health Care
Availability Act, article 64 of title 13, is applicable to health-care institutions as
defined in section 13-64-202 (3) that are not immune from liability under this
section because of this section.
(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in subsections (4) or
(5) of this section shall be construed to grant any additional immunity from liability
beyond that which is otherwise provided in this article 10.