§ 105.004.Payment of Costs

A payment provision, and the first named source is the one that gives the chapter force.

The agency shall pay the fees and expenses from funds appropriated for operation of the agency, funds appropriated for the payment of fees and expenses under this chapter, or other funds available for that purpose.

Naming the agency’s operating appropriation first is deliberate. An award under this chapter comes out of the money the agency uses to run itself.

That is what makes the remedy a deterrent rather than an accounting entry. A judgment paid from a central claims fund costs the agency nothing; one paid from its own budget costs it staff and programmes.

The second source contemplates a dedicated appropriation, which the Legislature may or may not provide in a given biennium.

The third — "other funds available for that purpose" — is the residual, covering an agency with dedicated accounts or other resources.

The section says the agency shall pay, so this is an obligation rather than an authorisation.

Compare the general appropriations chapter for claims against the state, under which most claims wait on legislative appropriation. This chapter does not send the party to the Legislature.

That difference is the chapter’s most practical feature. A prevailing party is paid from money the agency already has, rather than joining a queue for a future appropriation.

The provision also explains why the frivolousness finding is set so high. A remedy paid directly out of operating funds is a real consequence, and it is confined to cases where the agency should not have sued at all.