2009 House Bill 5491

Revise sidewalk crack lawsuit standards

Introduced in the House

Sept. 30, 2009

Introduced by Rep. John Walsh (R-19)

To revise a "rebuttable inference" that if a crack in a sidewalk is less than two inches wide it means the municipality has maintained it to a reasonable standard and so can’t be sued. The bill would make this a “rebuttable presumption,” which is slightly more firm, and would require the municipality to have ACTUALLY known about a sidewalk defect for it to be culpable, rather than just “should have known”.

Referred to the Committee on Judiciary