Reeves v. South Carolina Municipal Insurance

Syllabus

A Cottageville police officer shot and killed the former town Mayor. A federal jury awarded $97,500,000 in damages. The South Carolina Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund, which insured the town, paid $10,000,000 to settle the federal lawsuit and two pending lawsuits. The Settlement Agreement provided for two questions to be submitted to the state courts. The first question is whether the amount of indemnity coverage available under the policy is more than $1,000,000. The second question is whether the South Carolina Tort Claims Act applies to a bad faith action against the Fund. We answer the first question \yes\ we decline to answer the second question.