Sled away! Branstad signs bill providing cities with liability protection for ‘recreational activities’

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad on Wednesday signed a bill into law that protects cities and other governmental entities from liability for claims arising from recreational activities on municipality-controlled property unless there is negligent action involved.

Current Iowa law provides limited liability immunity when someone is injured on city-owned property while engaging in a list of recreational activities, but sledding was not on the list — an omission that prompted some cities to invoke limitations to avoid the possibility of getting sued.

House File 570 would remove all references to specific activities and instead insert the phrase 'recreational activities' into the state law that offers some liability protection to cities, counties, and school districts when those activities take place on government-owned property.

'I think it's a good improvement in our law,' Branstad told a crowd of people who assembled in his formal Capitol office to witness him signing the bill into law.

Senate President Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, who was on hand for the bill-signing ceremony, said Wednesday action should allay fears that city leaders had in her hometown when they took steps to restrict public sledding to two areas.

City officials expressed concern after a woman in Boone claimed negligence and was awarded significant damages after she hit a concrete cube while sledding on city property. Jochum said the clarifying language exempts liability in activities where there is an inherent risk but do not absolve governmental entities from negligence.

'All government bodies now understand what they will and will not be held liable for,' she said.

Brad Lint, executive director of the Iowa Association for Justice, said House File 570 alleviates the perception that Iowans don't bear an appropriate share of responsibility for the inherent risks of recreational activities on public property.

'Judges and juries recognize this personal responsibility, but the law now makes it clear,' Lint said in a statement. 'This bill strikes an appropriate balance of responsibility between individuals and government, keeping safety as a top priority. Citizens are responsible for the risks they knowingly engage in, but cities have to hold up their end of the bargain by maintaining safe conditions at parks, schools, and on other public land.'

At the start of Wednesday's bill-signing ceremony, Branstad noted he had firsthand knowledge of sledding accident, referring to a January 1993 incident at a park in Des Moines during an outing with his family when a runaway sled caught him squarely in the face. The collision with the riderless sled fractured two bones in his face, causing his right eye to partially swell shut and requiring his jaw to be immobilized with wires for about one month.