State tort claims acts either abolish state sovereign immunity generally and provide immunity only in specific circumstances, or preserve sovereign immunity generally but identify certain exceptions in which immunity is waived.4
State claims acts limit state sovereign immunity by establishing procedures for making claims against the state.4 These acts typically immunize state government employees from tort liability for acts or omissions committed within the scope of their employment.4 Some states extend these protections to volunteers, and some states declare volunteers to be unpaid state employees during an emergency, which allows volunteers to assert the liability protections afforded of state employees.4
Emergency power statutes
State emergency laws can trigger additional powers, suspend certain administrative requirements, and provide or enhance liability protections to specified groups of volunteers and other responders upon a gubernatorial declaration of emergency.4 These statutes can extend the rights and immunities provided to governmental employees to volunteers performing work that is eligible for coverage under governmental immunity and state tort claims acts.4 There is a wide range in the types and degrees of coverage provided to volunteers under emergency powers statutes, and these provisions can be broad or duplicative of other provisions in state law.4
State volunteer protection statutes
All states have some statutory provisions for volunteers. Similar to the VPA, these state volunteer protection statutes generally do not require that an emergency be declared, apply to uncompensated individual volunteers for nonprofit and government entities only, and apply only to individuals and not to organizations.4 Many states have adopted specific liability protections for VHPs in addition to or to supplement their emergency powers and general volunteer protection statutes.4 These statutes confer immunity from civil liability provided that certain conditions are met and are not dependent on the declaration of an emergency.4 Each state statute differs in regard to who receives immunity, which acts are immune from liability, and what liability protections are available.
Good Samaritan laws
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted Good Samaritan laws. These laws, which do not need an official declaration of an emergency in order to be applicable, generally protect VHPs from liability when volunteering in good faith and without compensation at the scene of an emergency.2 Good Samaritan protections may also apply to care provided by VHPs in a hospital if the VHP is not on duty and does not charge a fee.2 However, the effect and scope of Good Samaritan laws vary dramatically from state to state. Some states include hospital settings as an emergency scene in their statutes, while others expressly exclude hospitals from their statutes.6 Some state statutes only include declared emergencies, while others are drawn to broadly cover all emergency situations.6
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