§ 14.001.Definitions

Six definitions, and two of them are the machinery the chapter runs on.

"Trust account" means an inmate’s trust account administered by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under the Government Code, by a facility under contract with the department, or by a jail.

That account is where the chapter’s fee provisions reach. An inmate has no ordinary income, and the trust account holds what family sends and what prison work pays — so the chapter’s payment scheme draws percentages from deposits to it.

Naming all three administrators matters, because inmates are held in state facilities, contracted facilities and county jails, and a definition covering only the department would leave two of the three outside the scheme.

"Unsworn declaration" means a document executed in accordance with Chapter 132.

That is a practical accommodation. An affidavit requires a notary, and access to one inside a facility is not assured — so the chapter accepts a declaration made under penalty of perjury instead, and says so at every point where an affidavit is required.

"Inmate" means a person housed in a secure correctional facility, with that term taking its Penal Code meaning.

The definition turns on where the person is housed, not on conviction — so it reaches a person held before trial as well as one serving a sentence.

"Claim" means a cause of action governed by this chapter, which sends the reader to the scope provision, and "department" is the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.