§ 104.001.State Liability; Persons Covered

The persons covered, and the opening obligation is mandatory.

The state shall indemnify the listed persons for actual damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees adjudged against them — without regard to whether the persons performed their services for compensation.

"Shall" distinguishes this chapter from the local government one, where indemnification is permissive. A covered state servant has a right, not a hope.

The compensation clause protects unpaid appointees — board and commission members who serve without pay carry the same exposure as salaried staff.

The list runs from the obvious to the specific.

Employees, governing board members and officers of a state agency, institution or department, and former ones who held office when the act or omission occurred.

Contractors in named roles: a physician or psychiatrist under contract with a state body, a racing official under contract with the Racing Commission, a phlebotomist under contract with the Department of Criminal Justice, and a chaplain or spiritual advisor under contract with that department or the Juvenile Justice Department.

Those entries were each added for a reason. They describe people who provide services inside state institutions, are exposed to suit for what happens there, and would otherwise be outside a chapter written for employees.

Also covered: a person serving on the governing board of a foundation, corporation or association at the request and on behalf of an institution of higher education — excluding public junior colleges — and a state contractor who signed a waste manifest as required by a state contract.

The estate of any listed person is included, so the protection survives death.