§ 97.001.Liability of Correctional Facilities and Officers Barred for Certain Acts of Inmates

A short bar addressing one category of inmate conduct.

A correctional facility or an officer or employee is not liable for damages arising from an act committed by a person confined in the facility that is in violation of Section 38.111, Penal Code.

That Penal Code section makes it an offence for an inmate to have improper contact with a victim — contacting the victim of the offence for which they are confined, or that victim's family, without consent.

The facility cannot practically prevent it. Inmates have mail and telephone privileges, and screening every communication against every victim relationship is not achievable at scale.

The exception is narrow and turns on knowledge: the section does not apply if the officer or employee knowingly assists or participates in the conduct.

"Knowingly assists or participates" is a demanding standard. Failing to catch the contact is not assisting it; passing on a letter knowing what it was is.

Note that the exception is phrased against the officer or employee rather than the facility, so an individual who knowingly assisted loses the protection.

The section sits with the two that follow under a chapter heading about providing services for a governmental unit, though its subject sits apart from theirs.