Cal. Codes » Government Code / TITLE 1. GENERAL / DIVISION 3.6. CLAIMS AND ACTIONS AGAINST PUBLIC ENTITIES AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES / PART 2. LIABILITY OF PUBLIC ENTITIES AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES / CHAPTER 5. Medical, Hospital and Public Health Activities
California Codes

Cal. Government Code § 855.8 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a)Neither a public entity nor a public employee acting within the scope of his employment is liable for injury resulting from diagnosing or failing to diagnose that a person is afflicted with mental illness or addiction or from failing to prescribe for mental illness or addiction.

(b)A public employee acting within the scope of his employment is not liable for administering with due care the treatment prescribed for mental illness or addiction.

(c)Nothing in this section exonerates a public employee who has undertaken to prescribe for mental illness or addiction from liability for injury proximately caused by his negligence or by his wrongful act in so prescribing.

(d)Nothing in this section exonerates a public employee from liability for injury proximately caused by his negligent or wrongful act or omission in administering any treatment prescribed for mental illness or addiction.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1983–2025 · leading case: Shane Horton v. City of Santa Maria, 915 F.3d 592 (9th Cir. 2019).
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Shane Horton v. City of Santa Maria, 915 F.3d 592 (9th Cir. 2019). · cites it 2× “County 12 California Government Code § 855.8 provides: (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee acting within the scope of his employment is liable for injury 26 HORTON V.”
Johnson v. Cnty. of Los Angeles, 143 Cal. App. 3d 298 (Cal. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “Government Code section 855.8, subdivision (a) grants public entities and public employees specific immunity for injury resulting, inter alia, from “diagnosing or failing to diagnose” that a person is mentally ill, and from “failing to prescribe for mental illness .”
Lawson v. Superior Court, 180 Cal. App. 4th 1372 (Cal. Ct. App. 2010). “” 10 Government Code sections 855.8 and 856 deal with injury relating to mental illness or addiction, which is not at issue in this case.”
Michael E. L. v. Cnty. of San Diego, 183 Cal. App. 3d 515 (Cal. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 4× “8, subdivision (a), grants immunity from tort liability to public entities and their employees for injuries resulting from a diagnosis or failure to diagnose mental illness or addiction in a patient and for failing to prescribe for mental illness.”
Lum v. Cnty. of San Joaquin, 756 F. Supp. 2d 1243 (E.D. Cal. 2010). “) Clearly, Government Code section 855.8, subdivision (a), would protect public entities from errors in judgment as to whether a patient was mentally ill and therefore should be confined, or whether the patient is not mentally ill and should not be confined.”
Est. of Abdollahi Ex Rel. Abdollahi v. Cnty. of Sacramento, 405 F. Supp. 2d 1194 (E.D. Cal. 2005). “6 liability for injuries “resulting from diagnosing or failing to diagnose that a person is afflicted with mental illness or addiction or from failing to prescribe for mental illness or addiction.”
Hernandez v. Cnty. of Santa Clara (N.D. Cal. 2020). · cites it 3× “Of relevance here, 12 California Government Code § 855.8 “grants public entities and public employees specific 13 immunity for injury resulting, inter alia, ‘from diagnosing or failing to diagnose that a person is 14 afflicted with mental illness’ and ‘from failing to prescribe…”
Ward v. Cnty. of San Diego (S.D. Cal. 2025). · cites it 2× “” MTD at 28 (citing Cal. Govt. Code § 855.8 (a)). 25 Under § 855.”
Doe v. City of Modesto CA5 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016). “6), the failure to diagnose mental illness (Gov. Code, § 855.8), and the failure to confine a person for mental illness (Gov.”
Wheeler v. Sahni CA4/1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2021). “) Government Code section 855.8, subdivision (a) states: “Neither a public entity nor a public employee acting within the scope of his employment is liable for injury resulting from diagnosing or failing to diagnose that a person is afflicted with mental illness or addiction or…”
Wheeler v. Sahni CA4/1 (Cal. Ct. App. 2021). “) Government Code section 855.8, subdivision (a) states: “Neither a public entity nor a public employee acting within the scope of his employment is liable for injury resulting from diagnosing or failing to diagnose that a person is afflicted with mental illness or addiction or…”
Hernandez v. Cnty. of Santa Clara (N.D. Cal. 2020). “1983) (quoting Cal. Gov. Code § 855.8 (a)). The Court, therefore, finds that 11 Plaintiff has failed to cure the deficiencies in the negligence claims which were based on the 12 individual Defendants’ failure to address Aguilar’s suicidality.”
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— Cal. Government Code § 855.8(a) — 1 case
Shane Horton v. City of Santa Maria, 915 F.3d 592 (9th Cir. 2019). “County 12 California Government Code § 855.8 provides: (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee acting within the scope of his employment is liable for injury 26 HORTON V.”
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