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Tex. Health & Safety Code § 281.056

AUTHORITY TO SUE AND BE SUED; LEGAL REPRESENTATION

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Tarrant County Hospital District v. Henry (2001)

Most recently applied in Harris County Hospital District// Cross-Appellants,Public Utility Commission of Texas and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company D/B/A AT&T Texas v. Public Utility Commission of Texas and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company D/B/A AT&T Texas// Cross-Appellee, Harris County Hospital District (May 2019)

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

20012010201910
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) The board may sue and be sued. A health care liability claim, as defined by Section 74.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, may be brought against the district only in the county in which the district is established.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a district may employ or contract with private legal counsel to represent the district on any legal matter. If the district does not employ or contract with private legal counsel on a legal matter, the county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as appropriate, with the duty to represent the county in civil matters shall represent the district.

(b-1) The county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as appropriate, with the duty to represent the county in civil matters shall, in all legal matters, represent a district located in:

(1) a county that borders the United Mexican States and in which a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more is located;

(2) a county with a population of 3.4 million or more; or

(3) a county with a population of more than 1.2 million that was not included in the boundaries of a hospital district before September 1, 2003.

(c) A board that receives legal services from a county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney may employ additional private legal counsel when the board determines that additional counsel is advisable. A board that contracts or employs private legal counsel under Subsection (b) may request and receive additional legal services from the county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as appropriate, with the duty to represent the county in civil matters when the board determines that additional counsel is necessary.

(d) If the district receives legal services from a county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, the district shall contribute sufficient funds to the general fund of the county for the account of the budget of the county attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney, as appropriate, to pay all additional salaries and expenses incurred by that officer in performing the duties required by the district.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.