Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 140B.101, 140B.102, 140B.107, 140B.113, 140B.151
Texas racketeering, chapter 140B — a private plaintiff cannot bring this claim
A claim in Texas district and county courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Start with the answer, because it is the reason this page exists.
Chapter 140B does not give a private person a cause of action. There is no Texas civil RICO for individuals or businesses. Every remedy in the chapter runs to the attorney general, a local prosecutor, or an investigative agency acting on behalf of the state. A person ruined by an organised fraud cannot file suit under this chapter, and no amount of pleading will change that.
What such a person can do is at the bottom of this page.
What the chapter is
The Texas Racketeering and Unlawful Debt Collection Act, enacted by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 885 (H.B. 4635), effective September 1, 2023. It is an enforcement statute — a set of civil tools for the state to dismantle criminal enterprises, alongside the criminal prosecution.
Who may bring an action
Section 140B.107(a): "The office of the attorney general, a local prosecutor, or a state agency having jurisdiction over conduct constituting an offense under Section 72.02, 72.03, or 72.04, Penal Code, may institute civil actions under this subchapter."
The same subsection adds a check inside the government: the attorney general or a state agency may bring an action under § 140B.101 or § 140B.102 only with the consent of the applicable local prosecutor.
"Local prosecutor" means a district attorney, criminal district attorney, or county attorney with felony criminal jurisdiction — § 140B.001(5). "Investigative agency", which brings the forfeiture actions, means the Department of Public Safety, the attorney general, or a local prosecutor — § 140B.001(4).
The chapter never says a private suit is barred. It does something more conclusive: it never authorises one. Even the limitations provision is addressed to the government. Section 140B.113(a) begins, "Notwithstanding any other law, the attorney general or a local prosecutor must bring an action under this chapter not later than the fifth anniversary" of the later of the date the conduct terminates or the date the cause of action accrues.
A statute that tells only the prosecutor when to sue has told you who may sue.
What conduct it reaches
A racketeering violation means conduct constituting an offence under Penal Code § 72.02, § 72.03 or § 72.04 — § 140B.051(5). Those sections cover organised criminal activity, racketeering, and the collection of unlawful debt.
An enterprise is defined broadly, as "a legal entity, group of individuals associated in fact, or a combination of those entities and individuals" — § 140B.001(3).
What the state can obtain
Civil remedies — § 140B.101. A district court, after making due provision for the rights of innocent persons, may enjoin the conduct by orders including:
- ordering a defendant to divest any interest in an enterprise, including real property;
- imposing reasonable restrictions on the defendant's future activities or investments, including a bar on engaging in the same type of endeavour;
- ordering the dissolution or reorganisation of an enterprise;
- ordering the suspension or revocation of a state licence, permit or approval; or
- ordering forfeiture of a corporate charter, or revocation of a foreign corporation's certificate of authority, on findings that the board or a managerial agent authorised or engaged in the conduct and that the public interest requires it.
Civil forfeiture — § 140B.102. All property, real or personal, including money, used in, intended for use in, derived from, or realised through the conduct is subject to forfeiture to the state. An investigative agency brings the action on the state's behalf, and on final judgment the state's title relates back — to the date a lien notice was filed, or a lis pendens, or the recording of the judgment, and for personal property to the date of seizure.
Substitute assets — § 140B.103. Where property has been conveyed away or diminished in value, the court may enter judgment for its fair market value plus the agency's investigative costs and attorney fees, or order the forfeiture of other property up to that value.
The investigative demand power
Subchapter B, §§ 140B.052 through 140B.064, gives the attorney general and local prosecutors a civil investigative demand — a pre-suit compulsory process for documentary material, interrogatories and oral examination in a racketeering investigation.
A recipient may petition to modify or set aside a demand, and § 140B.055 sets the window at 30 days after service or before the return date, whichever is earlier. Deliberate noncompliance is a Class A misdemeanour under § 140B.061.
This is the part of the chapter a private business is most likely to encounter: not as a plaintiff, and not necessarily as a target, but as a custodian of records.
Where a victim's money goes
Victims are not shut out of the proceeds — they are just not the ones who sue for them.
Section 140B.151(a) directs the court entering a forfeiture judgment to distribute cash and cash proceeds in a fixed order: first, statutory fees of the clerk; second, claims by persons previously determined to be innocent whose interests the court preserved; and third, claims for restitution by victims of the racketeering activity.
Section 140B.151(c) routes the money. If the attorney general brought the forfeiture action, restitution is distributed through the compensation to victims of crime fund. If not, the clerk of the court distributes it.
A victim's route into a chapter 140B case is therefore a restitution claim in the state's forfeiture proceeding, not a suit of their own.
What a private plaintiff should bring instead
Every claim below is live in Texas, pays damages, and can be brought by the injured party.
Fraud — four years under CPRC § 16.004(a)(4), with exemplary damages on clear and convincing proof of malice.
The Texas Theft Liability Act — actual damages, additional statutory damages, and mandatory attorney's fees to the prevailing party. This is the closest practical substitute for a civil RICO claim in Texas, because it converts a criminal theft offence into a civil claim that pays fees.
Civil conspiracy — the mechanism for reaching everyone in the scheme, with joint and several liability, carrying the underlying tort's limitations period.
Fraudulent transfer — for assets moved out of reach once the scheme collapsed.
Breach of fiduciary duty, where a relationship of trust was used to run it.
Federal civil RICO, 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c), which does give a private right of action with treble damages and attorney's fees. Its requirements — an enterprise, a pattern of racketeering activity, proximately caused business or property injury — are demanding, and it is a separate analysis entirely. But it exists, and Texas's chapter 140B is not its state equivalent.
Common questions
Can I file a civil RICO lawsuit in Texas under chapter 140B?
No. The chapter reserves every remedy to the attorney general, local prosecutors and investigative agencies acting for the state.
Who enforces chapter 140B?
The attorney general, a district or criminal district attorney, a county attorney with felony jurisdiction, a state agency with jurisdiction over the conduct, and the Department of Public Safety for forfeiture. The attorney general needs the local prosecutor's consent for the principal remedies.
What is the deadline?
Five years, and it applies to the government: the attorney general or a local prosecutor must sue within five years of the later of the termination of the conduct or the accrual of the claim.
Can I recover my losses if the state forfeits the defendant's property?
You can make a restitution claim in the forfeiture proceeding. It ranks behind the clerk's fees and the claims of persons the court has determined to be innocent, and it is paid through the compensation to victims of crime fund where the attorney general brought the action.
What should I sue for instead?
Fraud, the Texas Theft Liability Act, civil conspiracy and fraudulent transfer, singly or together. The Theft Liability Act is usually the strongest of them, because it pays attorney's fees.
Is there a federal alternative?
Yes. Federal civil RICO under 18 U.S.C. § 1964(c) does provide a private right of action with treble damages and fees, on its own demanding elements.