A bill for an act relating to liability of persons performing housing or rental inspections for a municipality.

House

File

2459

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2459

BY

RINKER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

liability

of

persons

performing

housing

or

1

rental

inspections

for

a

municipality.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

5955YH

(2)

91

lh/jh

H.F.

2459

Section

1.

Section

670.2,

subsection

2,

Code

2026,

is

1

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

2.

For

the

purposes

of

this

chapter

,

“employee”

includes

a

3

person

who

performs

services

for

a

municipality

whether

or

not

4

the

person

is

compensated

for

the

services,

including

a

person

5

performing

a

housing

or

rental

inspection

for

a

municipality,

6

unless

the

services

are

performed

only

as

an

incident

to

the

7

person’s

attendance

at

a

municipality

function.

8

EXPLANATION

9

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

10

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

11

This

bill

modifies

the

definition

of

“employee”

for

12

purposes

of

Code

chapter

670

(tort

liability

of

governmental

13

subdivisions)

to

include

a

person

performing

a

housing

or

14

rental

inspection

for

a

municipality.

Under

Code

chapter

670,

15

a

municipality

is

liable

for

the

torts

of

the

municipality’s

16

officers

and

employees

acting

within

the

scope

of

their

17

employment

or

duties,

whether

arising

out

of

a

governmental

or

18

proprietary

function.

An

employee

subject

to

a

claim

brought

19

under

Code

chapter

670

has

qualified

immunity

and

is

not

liable

20

for

monetary

damages

if

certain

circumstances

apply,

including

21

when

the

right

allegedly

violated

was

not

clearly

established

22

at

the

time

of

the

employee’s

conduct

or

when

a

court

has

23

issued

a

final

decision

determining

that

the

specific

conduct

24

was

lawful.

An

employee

is

also

not

personally

liable

for

25

claims

exempted

under

Code

section

670.4

(claims

exempted),

26

except

claims

for

punitive

damages

and

actions

permitted

under

27

Code

section

85.20

(rights

of

employee

exclusive).

However,

an

28

employee

is

not

liable

for

punitive

damages

for

acts

that

are

29

in

the

performance

of

a

duty,

unless

actual

malice

or

willful,

30

wanton,

and

reckless

misconduct

is

proven.

31

-1-

LSB

5955YH

(2)

91

lh/jh

1/

1