Martin v. City of Topeka

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS No. 127,715 TROY ALAN MARTIN, Appellant, v. CITY OF TOPEKA, Appellee. SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. The public-duty doctrine is a common-law rule limiting when a plaintiff may sue a governmental entity for negligence. It bars a plaintiff from establishing the duty element of a negligence claim when the governmental actor's duties are owed to the public at large and not to any specific person. The public-duty doctrine does not apply when a governmental entity has a special relationship with the plaintiff or owes the plaintiff a specific duty. 2. When…