SECTIONS 820-823 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 820-823

820. (a) Except as otherwise provided by statute (including Section
820.2), a public employee is liable for injury caused by his act or
omission to the same extent as a private person.
(b) The liability of a public employee established by this part
(commencing with Section 814) is subject to any defenses that would
be available to the public employee if he were a private person.

820.2. Except as otherwise provided by statute, a public employee
is not liable for an injury resulting from his act or omission where
the act or omission was the result of the exercise of the discretion
vested in him, whether or not such discretion be abused.

820.21. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the
civil immunity of juvenile court social workers, child protection
workers, and other public employees authorized to initiate or conduct
investigations or proceedings pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with
Section 200) of Part 1 of Division 2 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code shall not extend to any of the following, if committed with
malice:
(1) Perjury.
(2) Fabrication of evidence.
(3) Failure to disclose known exculpatory evidence.
(4) Obtaining testimony by duress, as defined in Section 1569 of
the Civil Code, fraud, as defined in either Section 1572 or Section
1573 of the Civil Code, or undue influence, as defined in Section
1575 of the Civil Code.
(b) As used in this section, "malice" means conduct that is
intended by the person described in subdivision (a) to cause injury
to the plaintiff or despicable conduct that is carried on by the
person described in subdivision (a) with a willful and conscious
disregard of the rights or safety of others.

820.25. (a) For purposes of Section 820.2, the decision of a peace
officer, as defined in Sections 830.1 and 830.2 of the Penal Code, or
a state or local law enforcement official, to render assistance to a
motorist who has not been involved in an accident or to leave the
scene after rendering assistance, upon learning of a reasonably
apparent emergency requiring his immediate attention elsewhere or
upon instructions from a superior to assume duties elsewhere, shall
be deemed an exercise of discretion.
(b) The provision in subdivision (a) shall not apply if the act or
omission occurred pursuant to the performance of a ministerial duty.
For purposes of this section, "ministerial duty" is defined as a
plain and mandatory duty involving the execution of a set task and to
be performed without the exercise of discretion.

820.4. A public employee is not liable for his act or omission,
exercising due care, in the execution or enforcement of any law.
Nothing in this section exonerates a public employee from liability
for false arrest or false imprisonment.

820.6. If a public employee acts in good faith, without malice, and
under the apparent authority of an enactment that is
unconstitutional, invalid or inapplicable, he is not liable for an
injury caused thereby except to the extent that he would have been
liable had the enactment been constitutional, valid and applicable.

820.8. Except as otherwise provided by statute, a public employee
is not liable for an injury caused by the act or omission of another
person. Nothing in this section exonerates a public employee from
liability for injury proximately caused by his own negligent or
wrongful act or omission.

820.9. Members of city councils, mayors, members of boards of
supervisors, members of school boards, members of governing boards of
other local public entities, members of locally appointed boards and
commissions, and members of locally appointed or elected advisory
bodies are not vicariously liable for injuries caused by the act or
omission of the public entity or advisory body. Nothing in this
section exonerates an official from liability for injury caused by
that individual's own wrongful conduct. Nothing in this section
affects the immunity of any other public official.
This section shall become operative January 1, 2000.

821. A public employee is not liable for an injury caused by his
adoption of or failure to adopt an enactment or by his failure to
enforce an enactment.

821.2. A public employee is not liable for an injury caused by his
issuance, denial, suspension or revocation of, or by his failure or
refusal to issue, deny, suspend or revoke, any permit, license,
certificate, approval, order, or similar authorization where he is
authorized by enactment to determine whether or not such
authorization should be issued, denied, suspended or revoked.

821.4. A public employee is not liable for injury caused by his
failure to make an inspection, or by reason of making an inadequate
or negligent inspection, of any property, other than the property (as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 830) of the public entity
employing the public employee, for the purpose of determining whether
the property complies with or violates any enactment or contains or
constitutes a hazard to health or safety.

821.5. A public entity or a public employee acting within the scope
of his employment is not liable for failing to prohibit or restrict
the time that cargo tank vehicles required to display flammable
liquid placards may travel through a tunnel.

821.6. A public employee is not liable for injury caused by his
instituting or prosecuting any judicial or administrative proceeding
within the scope of his employment, even if he acts maliciously and
without probable cause.

821.8. A public employee is not liable for an injury arising out of
his entry upon any property where such entry is expressly or
impliedly authorized by law. Nothing in this section exonerates a
public employee from liability for an injury proximately caused by
his own negligent or wrongful act or omission.

822. A public employee is not liable for money stolen from his
official custody. Nothing in this section exonerates a public
employee from liability if the loss was sustained as a result of his
own negligent or wrongful act or omission.

822.2. A public employee acting in the scope of his employment is
not liable for an injury caused by his misrepresentation, whether or
not such misrepresentation be negligent or intentional, unless he is
guilty of actual fraud, corruption or actual malice.

823. Neither the widow, widower, nor the heirs of a peace officer,
as defined in Sections 830.1, 830.2, and 830.32 of the Penal Code,
shall be liable individually for any injury or death that may result
from an act or omission of a peace officer that occurs in his or her
line of duty, including an act or omission not directly related to
the officer's death, if the officer was slain while in the line of
duty. Nothing in this section shall preclude any action from being
brought against the estate of the peace officer.