§ 15.0151.Certain Political Subdivisions

A companion to the county rule, but limited by population.

An action against a political subdivision located in a county with a population of 100,000 or less must be brought in the county in which the political subdivision is located. The rule yields to a law outside this chapter.

"Political subdivision" means a governmental entity in Texas, other than a county, that is not a state agency — including a municipality, school or junior college district, hospital district, and other special purpose districts or authorities.

The population threshold is the point. A small school district or hospital district in a rural county gets home-county venue; the same kind of entity in a large county does not, and defends under the general rule. The Legislature protected entities for which defending elsewhere would be a genuine burden, and left larger ones to ordinary venue.

Subsection (a) answers the district that spans county lines, and it is a common situation for school and hospital districts: if the subdivision sits in more than one county and each of those counties has a population of 100,000 or less, suit may be brought in any of them. If one of the counties is larger, the section does not apply at all.

Counties themselves are excluded from the definition because they are already covered by their own mandatory provision, which has no population limit.

The opening words — except as provided by a law not contained in this chapter — mean a mandatory venue provision elsewhere in Texas law displaces this one.