“Governmental Immunity” in Maryland
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The general concept
Governmental immunity limits when a person may recover damages from a public body or public employee. It is not one blanket defense. Sovereign immunity protects the State unless the State consents to suit, usually by statute. Local governmental immunity, public-official immunity, and statutory employee protections have different rules and protect different defendants. Even when immunity does not bar a claim, the claimant still must prove a legal duty, breach, causation, and damages.
How Maryland applies it
The State’s sovereign immunity differs from local-government immunity. The Maryland Tort Claims Act waives some State immunity for tort claims in Maryland courts, subject to statutory caps and exclusions. A State employee generally is personally immune for a covered act within public duties, absent malice or gross negligence; the State is responsible only within the statutory waiver. Maryland does not use the governmental-versus-proprietary distinction to decide State immunity. Counties, cities, and local bodies generally have common-law immunity for governmental functions, but not proprietary functions. Courts classify the activity, not just the entity: courthouse maintenance is governmental, while maintenance of public roads and sidewalks is generally proprietary. That classification can determine whether common-law immunity bars a local claim. The LGTCA separately requires defense and payment of covered judgments against employees acting within the scope of employment, preserves many employee defenses, and bars punitive damages against the local government. Public-official immunity is another defense: it may protect an official, but not every employee, for discretionary acts within official duties and without malice. A ministerial task leaves little room for judgment; a discretionary act involves judgment or choice. County-board-of-education claims have separate immunity rules. For an omission, a claimant must identify a legal duty to act; a general public responsibility does not always create an individual damages claim. Which rule applies can change the proper defendant, defenses, procedure, and damages limit.
Related Maryland Cases and Authorities
Md. Code, State Government §§ 12-104, 12-106.; Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §§ 5-303, 5-302, 5-522.; Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings § 5-518.; Austin v. Mayor of Baltimore, 286 Md. 51 (1979).; Mayor of Baltimore v. State ex rel. Blueford, 173 Md. 267 (1937).; McCarthy v. Board of Commissioners for Frederick County, No. 1792, Sept. Term 2023 (App. Ct. Md. June 27, 2025).