SENATE BILL 584
47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005
INTRODUCED BY
Steve Komadina
AN ACT
RELATING TO LIABILITY; ENACTING THE VOLUNTEER IMMUNITY AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION LIABILITY LIMIT ACT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the "Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act".
Section 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDING AND DECLARATION OF INTENT.--The legislature finds that charitable organizations in this state perform essential and needed services. It is the intent of the legislature to encourage the formation of charitable organizations, to promote charitable organizations, to preserve the resources of charitable organizations, to encourage volunteerism and to encourage volunteer and charitable organizations by limiting the liability of charitable organizations and volunteers.
Section 3. DEFINITIONS.--For the purposes of the Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act:
A. "charitable organization" means an organization exempt from federal income taxation by virtue of being described under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
B. "good faith" means the honest, conscientious pursuit of activities and purposes that a charitable organization is organized and operated to provide;
C. "government entity" means any department, agency, institution or branch of the state or any political subdivision of the state;
D. "health care" means any act performed or furnished by a health care provider for, to or on behalf of a patient pertaining to the diagnosis or treatment of any physical or mental disease or disorder or any physical handicap, deformity or injury;
E. "health care provider" means a person licensed, certified or accredited by the state to provide health care or an agent of the person acting in the course and scope of the person's employment; and
F. "volunteer" means a person who renders service for a charitable organization, nonprofit corporation, a hospital or a government entity without compensation other than reimbursement for actual expenses incurred.
Section 4. VOLUNTEERS--IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY.--
A. Except as provided in Subsection B of this section and Section 6 of the Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act, a volunteer who is serving a charitable organization in any capacity is immune from civil liability for any act or omission resulting in death, damage or injury if the volunteer was acting in good faith and in the course and scope of the volunteer's duties or functions within the organization.
B. A volunteer acting in good faith and in the course and scope of the volunteer's duties or functions within the charitable organization is not liable to a person for death, damage or injury to the person or the person's property proximately caused by an act or omission arising from the operation or use of any motor-driven equipment, including an airplane, except to the extent of any existing insurance coverage applicable to the act or omission.
C. The provisions of this section apply only to liability of volunteers and do not apply to the liability of the organization for acts or omissions of volunteers.
Section 5. ORGANIZATION LIABILITY.--Except as provided in Section 6 of the Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act, in any civil action brought against a charitable organization based on an act or omission by the organization or its members, recovery may be sought only in an action against the charitable organization for actual damages sustained in an amount not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) for each person and one million dollars ($1,000,000) for each single occurrence of bodily injury or death and one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for each single act of destruction of property and one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for any other injury.
Section 6. SEVERABILITY.--If any part or application of the Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act is held invalid, the remainder or its application to other situations or persons shall not be affected.
Section 7. APPLICABILITY.--
A. The Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act does not apply to an act or omission by a volunteer or a charitable organization that constitutes intentional wrongdoing or that is done with reckless disregard for the safety of others.
B. The Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act does not limit or modify the duties or liabilities of a member of the board of directors or an officer to the charitable organization or its members and shareholders.
C. The Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act does not apply to charitable organizations or employees that are health care providers as defined in Subsection E of Section 3 of that act.
D. The Volunteer Immunity and Charitable Organization Liability Limit Act does not affect the powers and duties of the attorney general with regard to the charitable organizations and their directors and officers.
Section 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2005.
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