September 24, 1987 

Honorable Bill Baumann Opinion No. JM-794 

Potter County Attorney 

303 Courthouse 

Amarillo, Texas 79101 Re: Whether meetings of a Health 

Facilities Development Corporation 

Mr. John A. Fairman created pursuant to article 1528j, 

Director V.T.C.S., are subject to the 

Harris ,County Health Facilities Open Meetings Act, article 6252-17, 

Development Corporation V.T.C.S. 

8203 Fawn Terrace 

Houston. Texas 77071 

Gentlemen: 

You ask whether meetings of the board of directors of a Health 

Facilities Development Corporation created pursuant to article 1528j, 

V.T.C.S., must be held in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, 

article 6252-17, V.T.C.S. The Open Meetings Act applies to every 

"meeting" of a "governmental body." See art. 6252-17. 52(a). Whether 

the corporation is subject to the Opeaeetings Act depends on whether 

the corporation falls within the act's definition of a "governmental 

body." 

Section l(c) of the Open Meetings Act defines a "governmental 

body" as 

any board, commission, department, committee, or 

agency within the executive or legislative 

department of the state, which is under the 

direction of one or more elected or appointed 

members; and every Commissioners Court and city 

council in the state, and every deliberative body 

having rulemaking or quasi-judicial power and 

classified as a department, agency, or political 

subdivision of a county or city; and the board of 

trustees of every school district, and every 

county board of school trustees and county board 

of education; and the governing board of every 

special district heretofore or hereafter created 

by law. 

p. 3753 
Honorable Bili Baumann 

Mr. Jchn A. Fairman 

Page 2 (5X-794) 

In Attorney General Opinion JM-340 (1985), this office indicated 

that this definition comprises four parts. The first part describes 

the stace-level governmental entities that are subject to the Open 

Meetings Act. The remaining three parts describe the specific local 

governmental entities that are subject to the act. For a local level 

entity to be a "governmental body" within the meaning of section l(c) 

of the act it must be included expressly in one of the three specific 

descriptions of local governmental bodies. Attorney General Opinion 

JM-340; see Attorney General Opinion JM-183 (1984). - 

The Bealth Facilities Development Corporations at issue here are 

nonprofit public corporations created pursuant to article 1528j, 

V.T.C.S. The purpose of article 15283 is to enable cities, counties, 

and hospital districts to create corporations with the power to 

provide, expand, and improve health facilities to improve the 

adequacy, cost, and accessibility of health care, research, and 

education in Texas. Art. 1528j. 51.02. Such corporations have 

extensive authority, including the authority to issue revenue bonds 

and notes, to accomplish these purposes. See id; sec. 4.01. An 

article 1528j corporation can be created onlybyaTsponsoring entity" 

-- a city, county, or district as defined in the act. Each 

corporation must remain under the supervision of its sponsoring 

entity. Art. 1528j; §4.01(14). Sponsoring entities cannot delegate 

to article 1528j corporations any sovereign powers of the state or of 

the sponsoring entity. See & 

authorized under articleT28j. 

The corporations have only the powers 

In Attorney General Opinion m-596 (1986), this office addressed 

a similar question: whether nonprofit water supply corporations are 

subject to the Open Meetings Act. Like the corporations at issue in 

Attorney General Opinion m-596, the corporations authorized by 

article 15283 are not entities within the executtve or legislative 

branch of state government. Nor do they fit within the specific local 

governing entities listed in section l(c) of the Open Meetings Act. 

Because an article 1528j corporation cannot exercise delegated 

governmental functions, it cannot reasonably be characterized as a 

"department, agency, or political subdivision" of its sponsoring 

entity, as those terms are used in the Open Meetings Act. See 

Attorney General Opinion a-596; see also Attorney General Opine 

JM-183 (1984). Nor is a nonprofit public corporation reasonably 

characterized as a "special district." A special district is a 

governmental entity, usually with taxing authority, created to provide 

special rather than general governmental services in a specific 

locality. See Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed. Although both special 

districts and nonprofit public corporations often serve to bypass 

normal governmental borrowing limits, a nonprofit public corporation 

cannot ordinarily be characterized as a special district. 

. 

p. 3754 
Honorable Bill Baumann 

Mr. John A. Fairman 

Page 3 (m-794) 

Of course, a public corporation's enabling statute may provide 

expressly that such corporations must comply with the Open Meetings 

Act. See Attorney General Opinion JM-120 (1983). Article 15283 does 

not, however, provide that Health Facilities Development Corporations 

must comply with the Open Meetings Act. 

SUMMARY 

A Health Facilities Development Corporation 

created pursuant to article 1528j, V.T.C.S.. does 

not fall within the definition of a "governmental 

body" under section l(c) of the Texas Open 

Meetings Act, article 6252-17, V.T.C.S., and 

therefore need not comply with the Open Meetings 

Act. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARY KELLER 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Jennifer Riggs 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 3755