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Session of 2000
          HOUSE BILL No. 3012           By Committee on Federal and State Affairs           3-3          

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  9             AN  ACT concerning civil procedure; relating to contributory negligence;
10             amending K.S.A. 60-258a and repealing the existing section.
11      
12       Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
13             Section  1. K.S.A. 60-258a is hereby amended to read as follows: 60-
14       258a. (a) The contributory negligence of any party in a civil action shall
15       not bar such party or such party's legal representative from recovering
16       damages for negligence resulting in death, personal injury, property dam-
17       age or economic loss, if such party's negligence was equal to or less than
18       the causal negligence of the party or parties against whom claim for re-
19       covery is made, but the award of damages to any party in such action shall
20       be diminished in proportion to the amount of negligence attributed to
21       such party. If any such party is claiming damages for a decedent's wrong-
22       ful death, the negligence of the decedent, if any, shall be imputed to such
23       party.
24             (b) Where the comparative negligence of the parties in any such ac-
25       tion is an issue, the jury shall return special verdicts, or in the absence of
26       a jury, the court shall make special findings, determining the percentage
27       of negligence attributable to each of the parties, and determining the total
28       amount of damages sustained by each of the claimants, and the entry of
29       judgment shall be made by the court. No general verdict shall be returned
30       by the jury.
31             (c) On motion of any party against whom a claim is asserted for neg-
32       ligence resulting in death, personal injury, property damage or economic
33       loss, any other person whose causal negligence is claimed to have con-
34       tributed to such death, personal injury, property damage or economic
35       loss, shall be joined as an additional party to the action.
36             (d) Where the comparative negligence of the parties in any action is
37       an issue and recovery is allowed against more than one party, each such
38       party shall be liable for that portion of the total dollar amount awarded
39       as damages to any claimant in the proportion that the amount of such
40       party's causal negligence bears to the amount of the causal negligence
41       attributed to all parties against whom such recovery is allowed.
42             (e) The provisions of this section shall be applicable to actions pur-
43       suant to this chapter and to actions commenced pursuant to the code of

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  1       civil procedure for limited actions.
  2             (f) The provisions of this amendment shall not apply to any cause of
  3       action which has accrued prior to the effective date of this act. 
  4       Sec.  2. K.S.A. 60-258a is hereby repealed.
  5        Sec.  3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
  6       publication in the statute book.