Interest on damages

(1) In all actions brought to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by any person resulting from or occasioned by the tort of any other person, corporation, association, or partnership, whether by negligence or by willful intent of the other person, corporation, association, or partnership and whether the injury has resulted fatally or otherwise, it is lawful for the plaintiff in the complaint to claim interest on the damages alleged from the date the suit is filed; and, on and after July 1, 1979, it is lawful for the plaintiff in the complaint to claim interest on the damages claimed from the date the action accrued. When such interest is claimed, it is the duty of the court in entering judgment for the plaintiff in the action to add to the amount of damages assessed by the verdict of the jury, or found by the court, interest on the amount calculated at the rate of nine percent per annum on actions filed on or after July 1, 1975, and at the legal rate on actions filed prior to such date, and calculated from the date the suit was filed to the date of satisfying the judgment and to include the same in the judgment. On actions filed on or after July 1, 1979, the calculation must include compounding of interest annually from the date the suit was filed. On and after January 1, 1983, if a judgment for money in an action brought to recover damages for personal injuries is appealed by the judgment debtor, postjudgment interest must be calculated on the sum at the rate set forth in subsections (3) and (4) of this section from the date of judgment through the date of satisfying the judgment and must include compounding of interest annually. (2) (a) If a judgment for money in an action brought to recover damages for personal injuries is appealed by a judgment debtor and the judgment is affirmed, postjudgment interest, as set out in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, is payable from the date of judgment through the date of satisfying the judgment. (b) If a judgment for money in an action to recover damages for personal injuries is appealed by a judgment debtor and the judgment is modified or reversed with a direction that a judgment for money be entered in the trial court, postjudgment interest, as set out in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, is payable from the date of judgment through the date of satisfying the judgment. This postjudgment interest is payable on the amount of the final judgment. (3) The rate of postjudgment interest must be certified on each January 1 by the secretary of state to be two percentage points above the discount rate, which discount rate must be the rate of interest a commercial bank pays to the federal reserve bank of Kansas City using a government bond or other eligible paper as security, and rounded to the nearest full percent. Such annual rate of interest must be established as of December 31, 1982, to become effective January 1, 1983. Thereafter, as of December 31 of each year, the annual rate of interest must be established in the same manner, effective on January 1 of the following year. (4) The rate at which postjudgment interest accrues during each year is the rate which the secretary of state has certified as the annual interest rate pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.