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Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-102

§7803 Admiralty Claims by United States

Title 10 › Subtitle B — Army › PART IV — SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROCUREMENT › CHAPTER 781 — MILITARY CLAIMS › § 7803

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Under the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army may settle and accept payment for damage claims to Army property or property the Army agreed to answer for, when the claim is a type handled by federal maritime courts or caused by a vessel or floating object, and the United States will receive no more than $500,000. The Secretary may sign a release for payment, and the money must go into the Treasury. If the amount is $100,000 or less, the Secretary may give this settling power to a designated Army official.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §7803

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Under the direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army may settle, or compromise, and receive payment of a claim by the United States for damage to property under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army or property for which the Department has assumed an obligation to respond for damage, if—
(1)the claim is—
(A)of a kind that is within the admiralty jurisdiction of a district court of the United States; or
(B)for damage caused by a vessel or floating object; and
(2)the amount to be received by the United States is not more than $500,000.
(b)In exchange for payment of an amount found to be due the United States under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Army may execute a release of the claim on behalf of the United States. Amounts received under this section shall be covered into the Treasury.
(c)In any case where the amount to be received by the United States is not more than $100,000, the Secretary of the Army may delegate his authority under subsections (a) and (b) to any person in the Department of the Army designated by him.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised sectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 4803(a) 4803(b)10:1862 (1st sentence; 2d sentence, less last 32 words; and provisos of last sentence).10:1862 (3d sentence; and last sentence, less provisos).Oct. 20, 1951, ch. 524, §§ 2 (less last 32 words of 2d sentence), 6 (less applicability to § 1), 65 Stat. 572, 573. 4803(c)10:1866 less applicability to 10:1861). In subsection (a), the words “consider, ascertain, adjust, determine” are omitted as covered by the word “settle”, as defined in section 4801 of this title. The words “receive payment” are substituted for 10:1862 (2d sentence, less last 32 words). The words “of a kind that is within the admiralty jurisdiction” are substituted for the words “cognizable in admiralty”. Clause (2) is substituted for 10:1862 (last proviso of last sentence). 10:1862 (1st proviso of last sentence) is omitted as unnecessary, since other applicable claims laws are restated in this title. The words “by contract or otherwise” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (b), the words “of the United States as miscellaneous receipts” and “to deliver” are omitted as surplusage.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2018—Pub. L. 115–232 renumbered section 4803 of this title as this section. 1989—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101–189 substituted “$100,000” for “$10,000”. 1965—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–67 substituted “$10,000” for “$1,000”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of

Amendments

and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 7803

Title 10, Armed Forces

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102