ORD-06-87 REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING CLAIMS AGAINST THE CITYORDINANCE NO. 6-
87 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF ORANGE AMENDING CHAPTER 3.16 OF
THE ORANGE MUNICIPAL CODE CONCERNING
REQUIRE-MENTS FOR FILING CLAIMS AGAINST THE
CITY.WHEREAS, occasionally, a lawsuit is filed against
the City of Orange in which the plaintiff is uniquely
exempted from the statutory requirements of filing a claim within
100 days after the accrual date. These actions are often in
the form of a cross-complaint and may not come to the
staff's attention until a year or more after the
underlying incident has
occurred; and WHEREAS, a recent example of this arose when
the State of California filed a cross-complaint against the
City in a dangerous condition action almost one year
after the State was served as a defendant in the
underlying action. While the primary plaintiff has not actively pursued
the City, the City must now defend itself against the State
long after the original action was commenced.
Since California Government Code Section 905(i) expressly exempts the
State from the claims requirements, no claim was filed in
this action and the City Council was deprived of the
opportunity to consider the claim in a
timely manner; and WHEREAS, California Government Code
Section 935, however,expressly permits a local public entity to
adopt its own claim requirements similar to, but not
more restrictive than the requirements of the California
Government Code. In order to develop uniformity in the
presentation of all claims, many public entities have
adopted ordinances setting forth specific claims procedures
governing those claims otherwise exempted by California
Government Code
Section 905; and WHEREAS, these local procedures are
equally enforced by the courts and serve to avoid such
untimely surprises as that recently presented in the above described
action by
the State; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that
it is in the public interest that an ordinance
should be adopted setting forth the City's
own claims requirements.NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF ORANGE DOES HEREBY
SectionI:Chapter 3.16 of the Orange Municipal
Code is
hereby amended to read as follows:CHAPTER 3.16 CLAIMS
AGAINST THE CITY 3.16.
010 Applicability of
Chapter. Pursuant to Section
935 of the California Government Code, all claims
against the City of Orange for money or damages
which are excepted by Section 905 of the California Government Code
from the provisions of Division 3.6 of the
California Government Code (Section 810, et seq.), and which are
not governed by any other statutes or regulations expressly relating
thereto, shall be governed by. the procedure prescribed
in this Chapter.3.16.020 Claim Prerequisites -
Suits for Money or
Damages. No suit for money or damages may be brought
against the City on a cause of action for which
this Chapter requires a claim to be presented until a written claim
therefore has been filed and acted upon in conformity with
this Chapter and Section 945.4 and 945.6 of
the California Government Code.3.16.030 Claims - Time Limitation.. The claim
for any
cause of action specified in Section 3.16.010 of this
Chapter shall be presented in the manner provided in Section 3.16.
050 not later than the one-hundreth day after the accrual of
the cause of action, as specified in California Government Code Section
911. 2.3.16.040 Claims - Late Filing. In
accordance with Section
935 of the California Government Code, application to file a
late claim under this Chapter shall be regulated
by Sections 91l.4 through 912.2, inclusive, of the California
Government Code. Where an application for leave to present a late
claim is denied or deemed to be denied pursuant
to Section 911.6, a petition may be made to the court
for an order relieving the petitioner from the provisions of this Chapter, as
provided in California Government Code Section 946.6.ORD
6-87 2 -
3.16.050 Claims - Presentation and Contents. A signed,
written claim shall be presented to the City of Orange
by mailing or delivering it to the City Clerk by the claimant
or by a person acting on his or her behalf. The claims
shall conform to the requirements of Section 910 of the
California Government Code or of a form provided by the City,
if such form is provided.3.
16.060 Claims - Statutory Procedures for Consider-ation and
Action. Unless otherwise provided ln this Chapter,the procedure
for consideration and action upon all claims filed pursuant
to this Chapter shall be the same as the procedure provided
and required by Sections 912.4 through 915.4
of the California Government Code.Section II:
A summary
of this Ordinance shall be published and a certified copy
of the full text of this Ordinance shall be posted in
the Office of the City Clerk at least five (5)days prior
to the City Council meeting at which this Ordi-nance is
to be adopted. A summary of this Ordinance shall also
be published once within fifteen (15) days after this Ordinance'
s passage in the Orange City News, a newspaper of general
circulation, pUblished, and circulated in the City of Orange.
The City Clerk shall post in the Office of the City Clerk
a certified copy of the full text of such adopted Ordinance along
with the names of those City Council members voting for
and against the Ordinance in accordance with Government Code
Section 36933. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (
30) days from and after the date of its final passage.ADOPTED
this
24th day of 1987.ange ATTEST:
0z",
n'~ ) ~ -
Po'~l~.-dP-rr-City
Cler 6! t lt of Orange 3 -
ORD 6-87
STATE OFCALIFORNIA )COUNTY OFORANGE ) ss CITY OF ORANGE )I,
MARILYN J. JENSEN,
City Clerk of the
City of Orange,
California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was introduced at
the regular meeting of the City Council held
on the ] 7th day of FphrllR\X ' 1987, and there-
after at a regular meeting of SalQCity
Council duly held
on the 74th day of FehrllRrt 1 1987 was duly passed and
adopted by the following
vo e, to wit:AYES:COUNC ILMEMBERS:
SMITH, BARRERA, COONTZ, MAYOR PEREZ, BEYER NOES:COUNCILMEMBERS:
NONE ABSENT:COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE 1h~~ e' 0- #f1:-(/€~Ci
ty C er
W the,ICi
tY. range ORD 6-87
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