Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 101.029 – Liability for Certain Conduct of State Prison Inmates
(a) The Department of Criminal Justice is liable for property damage, personal injury, and death proximately caused by the wrongful act or omission or the negligence of an inmate or state jail defendant housed in a facility operated by the department if:
(1) the property damage, personal injury, or death arises from the operation or use of a motor-driven vehicle or motor-driven equipment;
(2) the inmate or defendant would be personally liable to the claimant for the property damage, personal injury, or death according to Texas law were the inmate or defendant a private person acting in similar circumstances; and
(3) the act, omission, or negligence was committed by the inmate or defendant acting in the course and scope of a task or activity that:
(A) the inmate or defendant performed at the request of an employee of the department; and
(B) the inmate or defendant performed under the control or supervision of the department.
(b) A claimant may not name the inmate or state jail defendant whose act or omission gave rise to the claim as a codefendant in an action brought under this section.
Terms Used In Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 101.029
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(c) A judgment in an action or a settlement of a claim against the Department of Criminal Justice under this section bars any action involving the same subject matter by the claimant against the inmate or state jail defendant whose act or omission gave rise to the claim. A judgment in an action or a settlement of a claim against an inmate or state jail defendant bars any action involving the same subject matter by the claimant against the Department of Criminal Justice under this section.
(d) This section does not apply to property damage, personal injury, or death sustained by an inmate or state jail defendant.