Mo. Rev. Stat. § 537.600 : — STATUTORY ACTIONS AND TORTSTORTS AND ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES — Sovereign immunity in effect - exceptions

1. Such sovereign or governmental tort immunity as existed at common law in this state prior to September 12, 1977, except to the extent waived, abrogated or modified by statutes in effect prior to that date, shall remain in full force and effect; except that, the immunity of the public entity from liability and suit for compensatory damages for negligent acts or omissions is hereby expressly waived in the following instances:

(1) Injuries directly resulting from the negligent acts or omissions by public employees arising out of the operation of motor vehicles or motorized vehicles within the course of their employment;

(2) Injuries caused by the condition of a public entity's property if the plaintiff establishes that the property was in dangerous condition at the time of the injury, that the injury directly resulted from the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of harm of the kind of injury which was incurred, and that either a negligent or wrongful act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the course of his employment created the dangerous condition or a public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition in sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition. In any action under this subdivision wherein a plaintiff alleges that he was damaged by the negligent, defective or dangerous design of a highway or road, which was designed and constructed prior to September 12, 1977, the public entity shall be entitled to a defense which shall be a complete bar to recovery whenever the public entity can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the alleged negligent, defective, or dangerous design reasonably complied with highway and road design standards generally accepted at the time the road or highway was designed and constructed.

2. The express waiver of sovereign immunity in the instances specified in subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection 1 of this section are absolute waivers of sovereign immunity in all cases within such situations whether or not the public entity was functioning in a governmental or proprietary capacity and whether or not the public entity is covered by a liability insurance for tort.

3. The term "public entity" as used in this section shall include any multistate compact agency created by a compact formed between this state and any other state which has been approved by the Congress of the United States.

§ 537.600, RSMo

L. 1978 H.B. 1650 § 1, A.L. 1985 S.B. 323, A.L. 1989 H.B. 161, A.L. 2005H.B. 58

(2001) Section does not bar claims for contribution when compensatory damage claims for injuries result from dangerous conditions on public property and a joint obligation on the liability is shared by tort-feasors. McNeill Trucking Company, Inc. v. Missouri State Highway and Transportation Commission, 35 S.W.3d 846 (Mo.banc).

(2006) Section waives governmental employer's sovereign immunity for its employees' negligent operation of motor vehicle; as official immunity is personal to the governmental employee, the employer is not shielded from liability based upon respondeat superior. Davis v. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, 193 S.W.3d 760 (Mo.banc).

(2009) Operation of a city-owned emergency medical service is a governmental function, even though the city charges a fee for the service; that service provides a general public benefit and serves the public health and welfare. Richardson v. City of St. Louis, 293 S.W.3d 133 (Mo.App. E.D.).