A bill aimed at protecting Oregon cities and counties from lawsuits when people are injured on hiking trails will have a hearing at 1 p.m. Monday in the state Senate Committee On Judiciary.
Trail advocates hope it can restore recreational immunity, a law that was thrown into question by Oregon’s Court of Appeals last summer and led a handful of towns on the Oregon Coast to shut down trails.
The bill is being shepherded forward by state Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, who has made it an amendment within Senate Bill 1576 — a civil omnibus bill. It would be a short-term fix, Prozanski said, before a more lasting solution could be crafted in the longer 2025 legislative session.
Recreational immunity is a state law that has long protected local governments, the state and landowners that open public or private land for recreation from liability if someone gets hurt.
In July, Oregon’s Court of Appeals ruled the City of Newport couldn’t use recreational immunity to dismiss a lawsuit from a woman who sued the city after slipping and breaking her leg while crossing a trail bridge.