Immunity preserved from a specific date
Under RSMo § 537.600, "sovereign or governmental tort immunity as existed at common law in this state prior to September 12, 1977" generally remains in full force and effect, except to the extent waived, abrogated, or modified by statutes in effect prior to that date — or by the specific waivers the statute itself carves out. In practice, this means Missouri governmental entities start from a presumption of immunity rather than liability, with narrow statutory exceptions doing the real work.
Two narrow express waivers
Section 537.600 expressly waives this immunity in two specific categories: injuries directly resulting from the negligent operation of a motor vehicle by a public employee within the scope of employment, and injuries caused by a dangerous condition of a public entity's property, where the entity had actual or constructive notice of that dangerous condition in time to have taken protective measures. These two waivers are described in the statute as absolute, applying whether or not the entity was functioning in a governmental or proprietary capacity.
No single statewide notice requirement — it varies by city
Unlike some neighboring states with one uniform statewide notice-of-claim statute, Missouri doesn't impose a single notice requirement across every governmental entity. Instead, individual charter cities can and do write their own separate notice-of-claim provisions directly into their city charters. In one real, litigated Missouri case, a city's charter required claimants to give notice under its own Section 12.3 before suing — a requirement entirely separate from, and layered on top of, the general sovereign immunity framework.
How courts test a city's own notice ordinance
When a city's notice ordinance is challenged, Missouri courts examine whether it "permits what the statute prohibits" or "prohibits what the statute permits" — checking for an irreconcilable conflict with general state law. This test has genuinely been applied in real Missouri litigation over a city's own notice-of-suit requirement, underscoring that the specific municipality involved in a claim can matter just as much as the general state framework.
Why this patchwork deserves careful handling
Because Missouri's sovereign immunity waiver is narrow by design, and because the specific notice procedure can depend on which city or entity is actually being sued, confirming the exact requirements that apply to a particular Missouri government claim as early as possible is essential — a notice process built for one municipality won't necessarily match what another requires.