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University of Colorado v. Booth11/3/2003
tate's insurance fund, the University of Colorado may obtain its own insurance, consistent with being an entity other than the state.
The General Assembly has recognized that the University makes its own choices in obtaining insurance, settling claims, and defending lawsuits seeking payment under the GIA. The MOU between the Regents and the Attorney General demonstrates this very understanding. As we have pointed out, section 24-10-112(2) allows the governing body of an instrumentality of the state to compromise or settle a claim in such manner as it sees fit.
Under the MOU, when the Attorney General receives a notice of claim against the University of Colorado, he or she transmits it to the Office of University Counsel and sends instructions to the claimant that all future correspondence should be with the Office of University Counsel. Likewise, as demonstrated by the record in the case before us, when the Board of Regents receives notices of claim it transmits them to the Office of University Counsel. By virtue of the MOU, the Office of University Counsel is the designated agent of the Regents and the Attorney General, its statutory counsel, for action on GIA claims.
In Brock, we recognized that actual notice of the notice of claim to the attorney for the public entity within the 180-day period satisfies the section 24-10-109(3) filing requirement. Brock, 955 P.2d at 1045. We must give effect to the legislative purposes of the GIA. See Woodsmall v. Reg'l Transp. Dist., 800 P.2d 63 (Colo. 1990). An essential purpose of the notice requirement is to "permit a public entity to conduct a prompt investigation of the claim and thereby remedy a dangerous condition, to make adequate fiscal arrangements to meet any potential liability, and to prepare a defense to the claim." Id. at 68. We reiterated this purpose in Brock. See Brock, 955 P.2d at 1041.
Booth filed her timely notice of claim with the governing body of the University, the Board of Regents, which promptly transmitted it to the Office of University Counsel, designated agent for acting on GIA claims against the University. The University had the opportunity to conduct a prompt investigation of the claim and remedy the alleged dangerous condition, make adequate fiscal arrangements to meet any potential liability, and/or prepare a defense to the claim, as section 24-10-109(3) contemplates.
III.
We hold that a claimant may file her GIA notice of claim against the University of Colorado, in compliance with section 24-10-109(3), with the Board of Regents as the University's governing body, or with the Attorney General, its statutory counsel. We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.
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