Attorney's fees; allowance to governmental entity; action for abuse
of process
Sec. 21. In any action brought against a governmental entity in
tort, the court may allow attorney's fees as part of the costs to the
governmental entity prevailing as defendant, if the court finds that
plaintiff:
(1) brought the action on a claim that is frivolous, unreasonable,
or groundless;
(2) continued to litigate the action after plaintiff's claim clearly
became frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless; or
(3) litigated its action in bad faith.
This award of fees does not prevent a governmental entity from
bringing an action against the plaintiff for abuse of process arising
in whole or in part on the same facts, but the defendant may not
recover such attorney's fees twice.
As added by P.L.1-1998, SEC.8.
Last modified: May 24, 2006