Before the complaint
The claim you have to present first, and the clocks that run before there is a case.
The sequence
- AccrualThe cause of action accruesBorrowed from the equivalent private action. Everything below counts from this date.
- +6 monthsClaim presented to the entitySix months for injury to person or personal property. One year for everything else.
- +45 daysThe entity acts, or does notSilence is a rejection by operation of law, and it starts the shorter clock.
- +6 monthsSuit filedThis one is not a statute of limitations, and it cannot be tolled.
- Any timeLeave to present a late claimAsk the entity first. The petition to the court only comes after that is refused.
This sequence is the shape of the stage, not a calculator. Dates come from calcourtdeadlines.com.
Guides in this stage2
- The two six-month clocks in a public entity caseBoth periods say six months and behave in opposite ways. One is a statute of limitations and can be tolled. The other is not, and cannot.
- Suing a public entity before the claim is rejectedWhether an amended complaint cures it turns on one fact: whether you served the original first. Review is pending in Harland.