# Snow and Ice Sidewalk Liability: The States Where a Slip Becomes Your Lawsuit

> Sidewalk repair and sidewalk snow are different legal machines. Connecticut hands owners the town's slip-and-fall liability. Iowa writes owner liability into the statute. New Hampshire immunizes its towns for weather. The winter map, verbatim.

Updated: 2026-09-29. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/guides/snow-ice-sidewalk-liability-by-state/ (claims cited to primary sources; see /methodology/).

Everything in our [50-state sidewalk-law table](/guides/sidewalk-law-by-state/) is about who fixes broken concrete. Winter runs on a different set of clauses, and they are sharper: snow-and-ice law is where several states convert a shoveling duty into personal injury liability. Before the first storm, here is what the statutes we have verified actually say about the ice on your walk.

## The liability-transfer states: where the slip-and-fall is yours

- Connecticut is the bluntest. [Conn. Gen. Stat. 7-163a](https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_098.htm) lets any town adopt an ordinance under which the municipality "shall not be liable to any person injured in person or property caused by the presence of ice or snow on a public sidewalk" (unless the town owns the abutting land), while the abutting owner "shall have the same duty of care with respect to the presence of ice or snow on such sidewalk" that the town used to carry. One town-hall vote moves the lawsuit from the town to you. Details in [our Connecticut guide](/guides/iowa-connecticut-sidewalk-law/).

- Iowa writes it into state law directly. [Iowa Code 364.12(2)(b)](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/364.12.pdf): the abutting owner "is responsible for the removal of the natural accumulations of snow and ice from the sidewalks within a reasonable amount of time and may be liable for damages caused by the failure of the abutting property owner to use reasonable care in the removal of the snow or ice." The same paragraph says the city's general duty "does not include a duty to remove natural accumulations of snow or ice" from sidewalks. No ordinance needed; the exposure is statutory.

- Nebraska (Omaha) fuses snow into the duty-plus-liability statute. [Neb. Rev. Stat. 15-734](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=15-734) charges the abutting owner with keeping sidewalks "in a safe and sound condition and free from snow, ice, and other obstructions" and after notice the owner "shall be liable for injuries or damages sustained by reason of such failure." Our [Kansas/Nebraska guide](/guides/kansas-nebraska-sidewalk-law/) has the full machinery.

## The immunity states: where winter protects the government, not you

- New Hampshire immunizes its towns for weather outright. [RSA 231:92-a](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XX/231/231-92-a.htm): a municipality "shall not be held liable for damages arising from insufficiencies or hazards on public highways, bridges, or sidewalks... when such hazards are caused solely by snow, ice, or other inclement weather" under a good-faith winter maintenance policy. Remarkable pairing: New Hampshire is also the state whose statute ([RSA 231:113](https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XX/231/231-113.htm)) makes sidewalk repair the city's job "without further assessment to the abutting owner." The city fixes the concrete; nobody owes you for the ice.

- Massachusetts narrows winter claims doubly. The MGL c.84 regime already caps municipal defect liability at $5,000 with a 30-day written notice requirement, and snow-and-ice cases run on their own reduced standard within it. A winter fall in Massachusetts is one of the hardest claims in the country to collect on.

## The clearing-duty states: shovel or be billed

Most other statutes treat snow as a removal duty with a do-it-and-bill-you backstop rather than an injury-liability transfer:

- North Dakota ([NDCC 40-29-18](https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t40c29.pdf)): if snow and ice are not removed "within the time and in the manner provided by the ordinances of the municipality" the street commissioner removes them and "the necessary expense thereof shall be chargeable against the abutting property" with an annual assessment list filed each May.

- Minnesota ([Minn. Stat. 412.221 subd. 6](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/412.221)): councils may require owners and occupants "to remove any snow, ice, dirt, or rubbish from the sidewalks adjacent thereto and in default thereof to cause such encumbrances... to be removed and the cost to be assessed against the property" as a special assessment.

- Ohio ([ORC 723.011](https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-723.011)): municipalities may require abutting owners and occupants to keep sidewalks "in repair and free from snow or any nuisance."

- Maryland and Utah: both states' only statewide sidewalk duties are clearing duties, snow and ice included (Md. Local Gov 5-217; Utah Code 10-8-23), which is exactly why we call them cleaning-only states in [the Maryland guide](/guides/georgia-maryland-sidewalk-law/) and [the Utah guide](/guides/oregon-nevada-utah-sidewalk-law/).

## Before the first storm: four moves

- Connecticut owners: ask the clerk the one question now. "Has this town adopted 7-163a?" If yes, your homeowner's or commercial liability policy is your real snow-removal program; make sure it knows about the exposure.

- Iowa and Omaha: treat the sidewalk like your own steps. The statute already points the injured pedestrian at you. Clear promptly, and keep evidence you did (a timestamped photo after each storm costs nothing).

- Everywhere with a clearing ordinance: learn your city's clock. The statutes delegate the deadline (24 hours after snowfall is a common local rule) to city ordinances; the city's do-it-and-bill-you crew runs on that local clock, and our [city records](/guides/complete-city-guide/) capture it where verified.

- Injured on winter ice yourself? Check the immunity before the lawyer. In New Hampshire the weather immunity likely ends the claim; in Massachusetts the cap and the 30-day letter shape it; in Connecticut the defendant may be the homeowner, not the town. The state guide linked from [the 50-state table](/guides/sidewalk-law-by-state/) is the place to start.

Sources: every quote above is drawn from the statutes verified verbatim in our state-law series, each linked guide carrying its official-source citations: [Iowa/Connecticut](/guides/iowa-connecticut-sidewalk-law/), [Kansas/Nebraska](/guides/kansas-nebraska-sidewalk-law/), [Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont](/guides/maine-new-hampshire-vermont-sidewalk-law/), [Massachusetts/North Carolina](/guides/massachusetts-north-carolina-sidewalk-law/), [North Dakota/South Dakota](/guides/north-dakota-south-dakota-sidewalk-law/), [Minnesota/Oklahoma](/guides/minnesota-oklahoma-sidewalk-law/), [Ohio/Wisconsin](/guides/ohio-wisconsin-sidewalk-law/), [Georgia/Maryland](/guides/georgia-maryland-sidewalk-law/), and [Oregon/Nevada/Utah](/guides/oregon-nevada-utah-sidewalk-law/). Methodology, including how quotes are verified, at [/methodology/](/methodology/).