Injury Claims Against a City or County

This claim is a required first step, not a formality. Without it, a lawsuit against a public entity cannot go forward (Government Code 945.4). It applies to falls on public property, crashes with public vehicles, injuries in public buildings and parks, and most other injuries a government body may have caused. For how responsibility works, see our dangerous conditions of public or private property page. Falls in particular are covered on our slip, trip and fall injuries page.

How do I file the claim, step by step?

Identify every public entity that may be responsible: the city, the County, Caltrans, a transit or school district.
Get each entity's claim form from its clerk or website.
Fill in every item Government Code 910 requires, and attach photos, reports and bills.
Present it within six months of the injury, by delivery or mail to the right office, and keep proof of the date.
Watch for letters. A notice that the claim is insufficient, a return as late, or a rejection each has its own next step.
Track the 45 days the entity has to act (Government Code 912.4).
File the lawsuit within six months of a written rejection, or within two years of the injury if no written notice comes (Government Code 945.6).

What are the steps and deadlines?

Step	Deadline	Government Code
Present the written claim for death or injury	Within 6 months of the injury	911.2
Missed it: apply to the entity for leave to present a late claim, with the reason for the delay and the proposed claim attached	Within a reasonable time, no later than 1 year	911.4
The entity acts on the claim	Within 45 days; if it does nothing, the claim is treated as rejected on the last day. The time can be extended by written agreement.	912.4
File the lawsuit after a written rejection notice	Within 6 months of the date the notice is delivered or mailed	945.6
File the lawsuit if no written notice is given	Within 2 years of the injury	945.6
Late-claim application denied: ask the superior court for relief	Petition within 6 months after the denial	946.6

The court can grant that relief in limited situations, such as mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect (unless the entity shows it would be harmed in its defense), or when the injured person was a minor or was physically or mentally incapacitated during the six months (Government Code 946.6). Relying on it is risky; the six-month date is the one to meet.

What must the claim say?

Government Code section 910 lists what every claim must include:

your name and mailing address, and the address where you want notices sent;
the date, place and other circumstances of what happened;
a general description of the injury, damage or loss, so far as known;
the names of the public employees who caused the injury, if known; and
the amount claimed, with how it was figured, if it is under $10,000. If it is more, the claim gives no dollar amount but must say whether the case would be a limited civil case.

Use the entity's own claim form when it has one, answer every question, and attach what supports the claim: photos, reports, bills and estimates. Keep a copy and proof of the date you mailed or delivered it.

Where does the claim go in Sonoma and Marin County?

Public entity	Where to present the claim
County of Sonoma	Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 575 Administration Drive, Suite 100A, Santa Rosa, by U.S. mail or in person. The claim is forwarded to Risk Management, which sends a letter with your claim number.
County of Marin	Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 329, San Rafael, by mail or in person. The Marin County Flood Control and Water Conservation District and the Marin County Open Space District use their own forms. More on our Marin County page.
A city	That city's clerk or the office it names. City examples are in our guide to sidewalk trip and fall claims in Sonoma or Marin County and in the city table below.
A state highway (Caltrans)	Death or injury claims of $12,500 or less may go directly to Caltrans; Sonoma and Marin are in District 4 (P.O. Box 23660, Oakland, CA 94623-0660). Larger claims go to the Government Claims Program.
Any other State agency	The Department of General Services' Government Claims Program, online or on its paper claim form.

For a local entity, a claim is presented by delivering it to the clerk, secretary or auditor, or by mailing it to one of them or to the governing body at its main office; electronic filing counts only where the entity has authorized it (Government Code 915). For the State, the claim goes to the Department of General Services. A claim to the State counts as presented on the date it is submitted with the filing fee, or with a request to waive the fee (Government Code 911.2(b)).

Which office takes claims in each city?

Each of our city pages explains that city's claims office from its own official page. In short:

City	Claims office	Our page
Cotati	Office of City Manager and City Clerk, City Hall, 201 West Sierra Avenue	Cotati
Santa Rosa	City Clerk's Office, 100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10	Santa Rosa
Petaluma	City Clerk, 11 English Street	Petaluma
Rohnert Park	City Clerk's Office only, City Hall, 130 Avram Avenue	Rohnert Park
Windsor	Town Clerk, on the Town's own claim form	Windsor
Healdsburg	Risk Manager, City Manager's Office, 401 Grove Street	Healdsburg
Sonoma	Office of the City Clerk, No. 1 The Plaza	Sonoma

What if the claim is missing something?

If the entity believes a claim does not substantially comply with the requirements, it may send a written notice of insufficiency within 20 days after the claim is presented, listing the defects or omissions (Government Code 910.8). A claim can be amended before the six months run out or before the entity takes final action on it, whichever is later, as long as the amendment concerns the same incident; the amendment is treated as part of the original claim (Government Code 910.6). If an application to present a late claim is denied, the notice of denial must warn that a court petition is due within six months (Government Code 911.8).

A claim presented after six months without a late-claim application may be returned within 45 days with a notice that it was not presented on time, and the notice says the only option is to apply for leave to present a late claim. If the entity does not send that notice within 45 days, it waives the late-claim defense, unless the claim gave no address for notices (Government Code 911.3).

What if I do not know which agency is responsible?

It is common. A road may belong to a city, the County or Caltrans depending on where you were; a bus may belong to a city, a county or a transit district. Each district or agency is its own public entity (Government Code 811.2). When ownership is unclear, a claim to each entity that may be responsible protects the six-month deadline. Our guide on crashes involving a county vehicle, a public bus or a dangerous road covers when a public entity is liable. The county offices are listed on our Sonoma County page.

What happens after the claim is filed?

The entity investigates, and it may approve the claim, reject it, or do nothing. For a hazard on public property, whether the entity is liable turns on the legal test in our guide on what makes public property legally dangerous. Doing nothing for 45 days counts as a rejection (Government Code 912.4). A written rejection starts a six-month clock to sue (Government Code 945.6), and the rejection notice is the date to track.

The six-month claim rule sits alongside the other deadlines in our guide to California personal injury deadlines, including the rules for children.

What changes the answer?

The injured person is a child. The six months still apply, but the entity must grant a late-claim application if the child was a minor for the whole six months, or for part of it if the application is presented within six months of turning 18 or a year after the claim arose, whichever comes first (Government Code 911.6(b)).

The injured person was incapacitated. The same rule applies to a person physically or mentally incapacitated during the six months who could not present a claim because of it (Government Code 911.6(b)).

The injured person died. If the person died before the six months ran out, a late-claim application must be granted (Government Code 911.6(b)(6)). The family's claims are explained in our guide on how long a family has to file a wrongful death claim.

The entity misses its own deadlines. If it does not act on a late-claim application within 45 days, the application is treated as denied (Government Code 911.6(c)), which starts the six months for a court petition.

A school was involved. School districts are separate public entities; Santa Rosa, for example, notes that school districts are not part of City government, so the claim goes to the district.

Criminal charges against you are pending. A person charged with a crime may not sue a peace officer or the officer's employer over conduct related to the charge while the charges are pending, and the lawsuit deadline is paused meanwhile, but the six-month claim is still due on time (Government Code 945.3). For an attack by a public employee or at a public school, park or station, see our guide on assaults by a public employee or at a public facility.

What could this look like? An example

For example, imagine a woman who falls on a broken step at a county-run building in Santa Rosa on March 10. She is not sure whether the County or the City owns the building, so she presents claims to both: the County's form to the Clerk of the Board on Administration Drive and the City's form to the City Clerk on Santa Rosa Avenue, each in early May, with photos and her medical bills attached.

The City writes back within weeks that it does not own the building. The County sends nothing for 45 days, so the claim is treated as rejected; because no written notice came, she would have two years from the fall to sue. If the County had mailed a written rejection on June 30, the lawsuit would instead be due within six months of that date. This example is made up to show how the steps work; it predicts nothing about a real case.

What mistakes do people make with government claims?

Treating the six months as a rough guide instead of a hard deadline.
Filing with the wrong entity and learning too late that someone else owned the road or building.
Leaving out an address for notices, which can cost the protection in Government Code 911.3.
Ignoring a notice of insufficiency instead of amending the claim.
Waiting for the entity's answer past the date a written rejection started the six-month lawsuit clock.
Assuming a child's claim against a school or city is paused like a claim against a private person.

What should I do this week?

Write down the date of the injury and the date six months later.
List every public entity that could own the place or vehicle involved.
Get each entity's claim form.
Gather photos, the report number, medical records and bills.
Decide how you will prove the date you present the claim: in-person delivery with a stamped copy, or mail with proof.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a lawyer to file a government claim?

No. Anyone can present a claim on the entity's form. The details matter, though, and the claim can shape the lawsuit that follows.

Can I email the claim?

Only where the entity has authorized electronic filing (Government Code 915). San Rafael, for example, accepts claims online.

What if the entity says my claim was late?

Apply for leave to present a late claim within a reasonable time and no later than one year from the injury, with the reason for the delay (Government Code 911.4). If it is denied, a court petition is due within six months (Government Code 946.6).

Does a claim count if I did not use the city's form?

A claim must include the items in Government Code 910. Using the entity's own form is the safest way to answer every question it expects.

Can I add injuries I learn about later?

Yes, by amending the claim before the six months run out or before the entity acts on it, whichever is later, for the same incident (Government Code 910.6).

Where is the lawsuit filed after a rejection?

Usually in the superior court of the county where the injury happened. For Sonoma County, see what to expect at Sonoma County Superior Court in an injury case.

If you or a loved one was hurt and a city, county or State agency may be responsible, contact Young Law Group today at (707) 343-0556 or through our contact page to schedule your free consultation and learn how we can help.

How do I file an injury claim against a city, county or the State in Sonoma or Marin County?