§ 114.007.No Waiver of Immunity to Suit in Federal Court

The forum reservation, stated in one line.

Federal court is outside the waiver. The chapter opens state and county courts and stops there.

The definition of adjudication says the same thing from the other side. Section 114.001(1) describes suit prosecuted to final judgment in county or state court.

Consent in one forum is not consent in another. A state may permit suit in its own courts while retaining the protection it holds against being haled into federal court.

Texas repeats this reservation across its contract waivers. Chapter 113 carries the identical sentence for water supply contracts.

For a contractor the effect is practical. A construction claim against a state agency is filed in state court, in a county Section 114.010 allows.

The reservation travels with the claim. A cause of action that exists only because this chapter waived immunity carries the chapter’s limits wherever it goes.

The reservation is consistent with the rest of the chapter. The definition of adjudication names county and state court, and the venue section names two Texas counties.

For a contractor the point is a filing decision. The claim belongs in a Texas district court, and the choice that remains is which of the two permitted counties to file in.