Blaser v. County of Madison, 847 N.W.2d 293

Blaser and McCaw sued Madison County under PSTCA for injuries from a 2008 accident on a vacated road with a road sign indicating closure.
Trial court found the County breached a duty to maintain the vacated road and entered judgment for plaintiffs.
On appeal, the Supreme Court dismissed the first appeal for jurisdictional defects, then reversed and remanded to address whether the County retained sovereign immunity.
On remand, the district court found the road closed sign was removed within 2–3 days before the accident and that the County lacked notice, thus retaining immunity and entering judgment for the County.
Plaintiffs sought to amend to add additional theories of negligence related to the sign’s malfunction and noncompliance with the Manual, which the district court declined to grant; the case was submitted on the remand record and again favored the County.
The Supreme Court ultimately affirmed, holding the County retained sovereign immunity under § 13-910(9) and that discretionary functions and sign appearance do not defeat immunity; the sign’s absence on the day of the accident precluded liability.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court properly limited sovereign-immunity review	Blaser argues court should consider whether sign functioned and notice met time to remedy	County argues only up/down status and remedy-time matter under remand scope	Affirmed: threshold immunity analysis proper; sign functioning issue not required on remand
Whether compliance of the sign with the Manual was an issue on remand	Blaser contends sign noncompliance was relevant to liability	County contends Manual compliance is not controlling for immunity	Affirmed: sign absence, not its Manual conformity, controls immunity analysis
Whether leave to amend should have been granted	Amendment would add theories of negligence beyond original scope	Discretionary-function analysis already resolved; amendment would be improper	Affirmed: no abuse of discretion in denying leave to amend

Shipley v. Department of Roads, 283 Neb. 832 (Neb. 2012) (discretionary placement of traffic signs; conformity to Manual required after decision to use device)
McCormick v. City of Norfolk, 263 Neb. 693 (Neb. 2002) (traffic-control discretion; Manual dictates engineering judgment, not fixed rule)
Blaser v. County of Madison, 285 Neb. 290 (Neb. 2013) (remand on sovereign-immunity issues; duty to remedy and notice issues explored)
Doe v. Omaha Pub. Sch. Dist., 273 Neb. 79 (Neb. 2007) (discretionary-function exception analysis guidance)
Britton v. City of Crawford, 282 Neb. 374 (Neb. 2011) (sovereign-immunity exemptions; 13-910 standards)