Common Questions / Government Claims
What is my deadline to sue the government after a Texas crash?
Far shorter than you think. The Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice of your claim within six months of the incident, and many city charters cut that window to ninety days or less, before the ordinary two-year lawsuit deadline even becomes relevant.
Two clocks, and the short one controls
When a city bus, county truck, police cruiser, school district vehicle, or state-maintained road condition injures you, the ordinary two-year statute of limitations still exists, but it is not the deadline that kills these cases. Texas law requires written notice to the governmental unit within six months of the incident, describing the damage or injury, the time and place, and the incident itself. And the statute expressly honors city charter provisions that shorten the window, which many Texas cities have done, some to ninety days and a few to less. A claim that misses the notice deadline is generally finished, no matter how strong.
What counts as notice
Notice is a formal act, not a phone call to a clerk or a conversation with the officer at the scene. It must be written, delivered to the right entity, and contain the statutory elements. There is a narrow exception when the governmental unit had actual notice of the injury and its possible fault, but litigating whether an incident report gave a city actual notice is a fight you never want to depend on. The safe practice is a compliant written notice, sent early, to every potentially responsible entity, because it is not always obvious whether a road belongs to the city, the county, or the state.
The other government-case rules
This law waives immunity only in defined circumstances, chiefly injuries arising from the operation of motor vehicles and certain premises and property conditions, and it caps recoverable damages: for municipalities, generally $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, with lower caps for counties and some other local entities. These caps and immunity limits shape strategy from day one, including whether other, non-governmental defendants share responsibility.
What to do this week
If any government connection is even possible in your crash, a public vehicle, an on-duty employee, a dangerous public road condition, treat the matter as urgent now, not at month five. Identifying the correct entity, confirming its charter deadline, and delivering compliant notice is a matter of days of work that preserves years of claim. It is among the first things Silver Key Law checks in every new case.
Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.
Related: Texas Filing Deadlines · Car Accident Lawyer · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.
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