ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

March 6,2003 

The Honorable Harold Dutton 

Chair, Juvenile Justice and Family Issues 

Opinion No. GA-0029 

Committee Re: Meaning of “civil liability’ in section 

Texas House of Representatives 791.006(a) of the Government Code, which 

P.O. Box 2910 permits inter-local cooperation contracts for fire 

Austin, Texas 78768-2910 department services (RQ-0593-JC) 

Dear Representative Dutton: 

On behalf of the City of Bedford, your predecessor as Chair of the House Juvenile Justice and 

Family Issues Committee asked about the meaning of the term “civil liability” as used in section 

791.006(a) of the Government Code.’ 

A disagreement between the cities of Fort Worth and Bedford regarding the meaning of “civil 

liability” in section 791.006(a) prompts this request. See Request Letter, supra note 1, at l-2. Fort 

Worth contracts with several cities, including Bedford, to furnish fire department services and has 

recently distributed a letter that requires such contracts to include the following language: 

Liabilitv 

Pursuant to the terms of [section] 791.006(a), any civil liability arising 

from the furnishing of fire protection services under this agreement, 

including thatforpersonal injury, personnel and/or retirement benefits 

of the personnel of the responding city, and/or damage to any equipment 

furnished by the responding city, shall be borne by the requesting city.’ 

‘See Letter from Honorable Toby Goodman, Chair, Juvenile Justice and Family Issues Committee, Texas House 

of Representatives, to Honorable John Comyn, Texas Attorney General (Aug. 21, 2002) (on file with Opinion 

Committee) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 

2See Letter from H.L. McMillen, Fire Chief, Fort Worth Fire Department, to Steve Bass, Fire Chief, Bedford 

Fire Department (Nov. 29,200l) (on file with Opinion Committee) (emphasis added); see also Request Letter, supra 

note 1, at 1. 
The Honorable Harold Dutton - Page 2 (GA-0029) 

Bedford disagrees with Fort Worth’s view that section 791.006 mandates this broad interpretation of 

the term “civil liability,” and construes the term to exclude “personnel and/or retirement benefits.“3 

Chapter 79 1, the Interlocal Cooperation Act, authorizes local governments, including cities, to 

contract with each other, in accordance with the act’s requirements, to perform governmental functions 

and services. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 8s 791.001, 791.01 l(a) (Vernon 1994 & Supp. 2003). 

“Governmental functions and services” here include fire protection. See id. 5 791.003(3)(B) (Vernon 

Supp. 2003). Section 79 1.006 imposes on a governmental unit that obtains or requests fire department 

services “any civil liability” that may arise from providing those services: 

(a) If governmental units contract under this chapter to furnish or obtain 

the services of a fire department, the governmental unit that would have 

been responsible for furnishing the services in the absence of the contract 

is responsible for any civil liability that arises from the furnishing of 

those services. 

(b) In the absence of a contract, if a municipality or county furnishes law 

enforcement services to another municipality or county, the 

governmental unit that requests and obtains the services is responsible 

for any civil ZiabiZity that arises from the furnishing of those services. 

(c) Nothing in this section adds to or changes the liability limits and 

immunities for a governmental unit provided by the Texas Tort Claims 

Act, Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or other law. 

Id. 0 791.006 (emphasis added). 

Neither section 791.006 nor another provision in chapter 791 defines “civil liability.” On the 

other hand, neither does that statute restrict the term to a particular kind of damages. The statute 

provides that the governmental unit that obtains fire department services shall be “responsible 

for any civil liability that arises from the furnishing of those services.” See id. 5 791.006(a). 

Furthermore, we have not found any Texas case that construes the term as used in section 79 1.006. 

The Code Construction Act directs that a word or phrase must “be read in context and construed 

according to the rules of grammar and common usage” unless it has acquired a technical meaning. Id. 

$3 11 .Ol 1 (Vernon 1998). “Civil liability” has a technical or legal meaning. Black’s Law Dictionary 

defines “civil liability” as follows: “ 1. Liability imposed under the civil, as opposed to the criminal, 

law. 2. The state of being legally obligated for civil damages.” BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 926 (7th 

ed. 1999); accord Port of Longview v. Int’Z Raw Materials, LTD., 979 P.2d 917,92526 (Wash. App. 

1999) (“By its plain language [the statute at issue] affords immunity only from ‘civil liability,’ that is, 

from the threat of a ‘civil action for damages.“‘). “An award of damages is defined as the sum of 

money the law awards as pecuniary compensation, recompense, or satisfaction for an injury done or a 

3See Letter from John Murphy, Mayor, City of Bedford, to Honorable Todd Smith, Texas House of 

Representatives at 2 (July 1, 2002) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter Bedford Letter]; see also Request 

Letter, supra note 1, at 1. 
The Honorable Harold Dutton - Page 3 (GA-0029) 

wrong sustained as a consequence of a breach of a contractual obligation or a tortious act.” City of 

Dallas v. Cox, 793 S.W.2d 701, 733 (Tex. App.-Dallas 1990, no writ) (citations omitted); accord 

BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 393 (7th ed. 1999) (defining “damages” as “[mloney claimed by, or ordered 

to be paid to, a person as compensation for loss or injury.“). 

One Texas court has construed the term “civil liability” for purposes of statutory immunity to 

include injunctive relief as well as monetary damages. See Dallas County Med. So&y v. UbinasBrache, 68 S.W.3d 3 1,39-40 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2001, pet. denied), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 970 (2002). 

Nothing in the context of section 79 1.006 indicates that “civil liability” should be read differently from 

its legal meaning. Chapter 79 1 ‘s stated purpose is to encourage local governments to contract with each 

other to increase their “efficiency and effectiveness.” See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 8 79 1 .OOl (Vernon 

1994). And section 79 1.006(a), on its face, promotes that purpose by protecting the governmental unit 

that contracts to furnish fire department services from the consequences of legal actions arising from 

the furnishing of those services. See id. 5 791.006(a) (Vernon Supp. 2003). 

Nothing in section 791.006 indicates that a city cannot, as Bedford suggests, be liable for 

“personnel and/or retirement benefits” in a civil action. See Bedford Letter, supra note 3, at 2. 

Although the Texas Tort Claims Act does not expressly authorize benefit-type damages, it does make 

a city liable to a limited degree for property damage, personal injury, and death arising 

from its governmental functions, including fire protection. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. 

§ 8 10 1.02 1,lO 1.02 15(a)( 1 ), 10 1.023 (Vernon 1997 & Supp. 2003) (pertaining to governmental liability, 

city liability, and limits on liability). Furthermore, a claim against a city may be based on a statute other 

than the Texas Tort Claims Act. See id. 8 101.003 (Vernon 1997) (“The remedies authorized by this 

chapter are in addition to any other legal remedies.“). Section 791.006(a) does not limit “civil liability” 

to liability under that statute. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 791.006(c) (Vernon Supp. 2003). A fire 

fighter employed by a city or the fire fighter’s survivors, for instance, may sue the city for workers’ 

compensation benefits for injury to or death of the fire fighter. See TEX. LAB. CODE ANN. § 408.001(a) 

(Vernon 1996) (stating that workers’ compensation benefit claim is covered employee’s or survivor’s 

exclusive remedy for death or work-related injury); id. $5 504.002, 504.011 (Vernon 1996 & Supp. 

2003) (regarding application of general workers’ compensation laws to political subdivisions); see also 

City of La Porte v. Bafield, 898 S.W.2d 288,294 (Tex. 1995) (stating that Labor Code chapter 504’s 

predecessor, “Political Subdivision Law,” waived immunity for general compensation claims). 

“Civil liability” as used in section 791.006(a) of the Government Code is a broad term that 

encompasses any damages and injunctive relief available in a civil action against a municipality. 

Chapter 79 1, by authorizing governmental units to contract with each other for the furnishing of fire 

department services, implies that the parties are at liberty to specify the breadth of the term “civil 

liability.” Ultimately, therefore, the ambit of the term’s meaning is dependent upon the language of the 

contract. The only express limitation upon its scope is that the liability must arise from the furnishing 

of the services. We conclude that the term “civil liability” does not necessarily exclude personnel or 

retirement benefits. 
The Honorable Harold Dutton - Page 4 (GA-0029) 

SUMMARY 

Under section 791.006(a) of the Government Code, if 

governmental units contract for fire department services, the 

governmental unit that would have been responsible for furnishing 

those services in the absence of the contract “is responsible for 

any civil liability that arises from the furnishing of those services.” 

TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 8 791.006(a) (Vernon Supp. 2003). “Civil 

liability” in section 791.006(a) is a broad term and encompasses any 

damages and injunctive relief available in a civil action against a city 

under Texas law, and does not necessarily exclude personnel or 

retirement benefits. 

Very truly yours, 

.k4rWL REG A BOTT 

Attomeweral of Texas 

BARRY R. MCBEE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DON R. WILLETT 

Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Rick Gilpin 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee