§ 101.002.Short Title

A short title provision, and the name is how the whole body of law is known.

This chapter may be cited as the Texas Tort Claims Act.

The Act is the principal waiver of governmental immunity in Texas, and understanding what that means is understanding what the chapter is for. Immunity from suit is the default: a governmental unit cannot be sued at all unless the Legislature has consented. This chapter is that consent, given in defined circumstances and no others.

The waiver is narrow. It reaches injury from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle, from a condition or use of tangible personal or real property, and premises defects — with a damages cap, a short notice requirement, and a long list of exceptions.

Enacted in 1969, it replaced a regime under which recovery against the state or a local government generally required a private bill in the Legislature.

It is not the Federal Tort Claims Act. That is a separate federal statute governing claims against the United States, with its own administrative claim requirement, its own exceptions, and its own limitations period. A claim against a federal agency is not brought under this chapter.

The short title matters practically because so much turns on it. Other statutes, contracts, and insurance policies refer to the Texas Tort Claims Act by name, and the election-of-remedies provision within the chapter is routinely cited by its section number as a shorthand for the whole scheme.