Maryland's LGTCA Notice Letter: The One-Year Trap in Claims Against Local Government
Some of the most serious injury cases we see involve local government: a county vehicle that runs a red light, a dangerous condition at a city-owned facility, misconduct by a local police officer. Marylanders assume that if the government hurts you, you can sue it like anyone else. You often can — but only if you clear a procedural hurdle most people have never heard of, on a clock that starts running the day you are hurt.
It is called the Local Government Tort Claims Act, or LGTCA, codified at Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings § 5-301 and following. And its notice requirement has quietly ended more good cases than almost any doctrine in Maryland law.
The rule: written notice within one year
Under CJP § 5-304, a person who intends to bring a claim covered by the LGTCA must give written notice of the claim within one year after the injury. The notice must state the time, place, and cause of the injury, and it must go to the specific official the statute designates — depending on the jurisdiction, the county commissioners or county council, the county executive, or the county solicitor or county attorney; for Baltimore City, the City Solicitor; and for a municipal corporation, its corporate authorities — delivered in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
This is not the lawsuit itself. It is a separate, earlier step. The actual suit is still governed by Maryland's general three-year statute of limitations — but if the one-year notice was never sent, the three-year deadline may never matter.
A note on history: the notice period used to be even shorter — 180 days — before the General Assembly lengthened it to one year for claims arising on or after October 1, 2015. Older cases discussing the 180-day rule are still cited, which confuses everyone; for injuries occurring today, the period is one year.
Is there any forgiveness?
Some. The statute permits a court to entertain a suit despite a notice defect if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure — unless the local government can show its defense was prejudiced by the missing notice. Maryland's appellate courts have also recognized substantial compliance where the local government actually received timely notice of the essential facts through other means. But these are safety valves, not plans. Litigating "good cause" is expensive, uncertain, and entirely avoidable: send the letter.
What the LGTCA actually does — and the caps
The LGTCA is not just a trap; it is also the mechanism that makes many claims collectible. It requires local governments to defend and indemnify their employees for torts committed within the scope of employment — meaning the county or city, not the individual employee's personal bank account, stands behind the judgment. In exchange, the Act caps what can be recovered:
| Claim | LGTCA cap |
|---|---|
| Claims arising before Oct. 1, 2015 | $200,000 per claim / $500,000 per occurrence |
| Claims arising on or after Oct. 1, 2015 | $400,000 per claim / $800,000 per occurrence |
| Police misconduct claims arising on or after July 1, 2022 (intentional torts / constitutional violations by law enforcement) | $890,000 per incident, under the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021 |
That last line is new — the General Assembly's 2021 police accountability package, enacted last spring, more than doubles the ceiling for police misconduct claims arising on or after this coming July 1.
A concrete example shows how the pieces fit. Suppose a county public works truck rear-ends a family in March 2022, seriously injuring a parent. The family has three years to file suit — but only until March 2023 to deliver the LGTCA notice letter to the correct county official. If the letter goes out in month fourteen, the county will move to dismiss regardless of how clear its driver's fault was, and the family will be litigating "good cause" instead of negligence. If the letter goes out in month three, the case proceeds like any other — with the county obligated to satisfy any judgment against its driver, up to the caps.
What this means for injured people in Maryland
- The clock starts at injury, not at lawyer-up. If a county, municipality, or local agency may be responsible for your injury, the one-year notice deadline is running now.
- Notice is technical. The right official, the right contents, the right delivery method. A letter to the wrong office may not count.
- Do not rely on good cause. It exists, and courts do apply it, but no one should plan a case around judicial mercy.
- The caps shape strategy. Where injuries are catastrophic, identifying every proper defendant — including any non-governmental ones not subject to the caps — matters enormously.
When we evaluate any Maryland case, one of the first questions we ask is whether a government entity is in the picture — because if it is, the most urgent deadline in the case is probably not the statute of limitations.
If you or a loved one has been hurt, call Posey Lebowitz at (202) 524-0123 or send us a message for a free consultation.
Part of our DMV case law archive, compiled in 2026 to reflect the archive of some of the most important decisions in injury law.