§ 111.002.Definition

One definition, written to keep the chapter from being drafted around.

"Settlement" includes a consent decree. A consent decree looks like a court order and binds like one, but the state agreed to it, which is what this chapter cares about.

It includes an agreed judgment for the same reason. The label on the document does not change who decided to give up the state’s position.

It closes with a catch-all — any other settlement or compromise of a claim or action.

The definition is inclusive, not exhaustive. The word "includes" leaves room for arrangements nobody has named yet.

Everything in this chapter turns on this word. The dollar threshold in Section 111.003, the resolution requirement in Section 111.004 and the attorney general’s report in Section 111.006 all use it.

What the definition does not reach is a contested judgment. A loss after trial is not a compromise, and the state’s exposure there is governed by other law.

A compromise reached in mediation is still a settlement. Nothing in the definition turns on how the parties got there, so a case resolved under the alternative dispute resolution procedures in Chapter 154 is governed by this chapter like any other.

The breadth also reaches non-monetary terms. An agreed judgment that commits an agency to a course of action carries no dollar figure on its face, and Section 111.003 asks about future spending rather than the number written in the document.