Opinion ID: 895305
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Intersection of Local Government Code Sections 271.152 and 180.006

Text: The City asserts the Legislature did not intend for section 271.152 to waive immunity in this type of suit, as evidenced by its subsequent enactment of Local Government Code section 180.006. The City argues that the Legislature’s enactment of section 180.006—which prospectively waives governmental immunity from back-pay claims by police and firefighters 1 3 —would be a meaningless act if the same waiver already existed under section 271.152. The City contends the Firefighters’ claims would clearly fall within the scope of section 180.006, but for the fact that section 180.006 is not retrospective. See Act of May 25, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 1200, § 3, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 4071, 4072. Accordingly, the City claims that if the Legislature had intended to waive immunity for a suit of this type, it would have made the waiver in section 180.006 retrospective. The City invokes the rule of statutory construction that “the legislature is never presumed to do a useless act.” Hunter v. Fort Worth Capital Corp. , 620 S.W.2d 547, 551 (Tex. 1981). We disagree that applying section 271.152 here would in any way render section 180.006 “useless” given the distinctions between the two statutes. Sections 180.006 and 271.152 differ significantly in scope and effect. Section 271.152 is a retroactive waiver of immunity, while section 180.006 is prospective only. Compare Act of May 23, 2005, 79th Leg., R.S., ch. 604, § 2, 2005 Tex. Gen. Laws 1548, 1549, with Act of May 25, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 1200, § 4, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 4071, 4072. Section 271.152 applies to breaches of contract generally, while section 180.006 is limited to back-pay claims and related penalties only. Compare Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code § 271.152, with id. § 180.006(b)–(c). Moreover, section 180.006 does not require a contract in writing, while section 271.152 does. Compare id. § 180.006(b), with id. § 271.151(2). Finally, section 180.006 is limited to a specific class of persons—civil service firefighters or police officers—while section 271.152 has no such limitation. Compare id. § 180.006(a), with id. § 271.152. Although the Firefighters’ suit might fall within the scope of both waivers if it accrued and were filed today, that does not render section 180.006 “useless.” Because section 180.006 does not require a written contract, it also applies to those qualifying civil service firefighters and police officers who, unlike the Firefighters in this case, cannot point to a written contract, and for whom there was previously no waiver of immunity until its enactment. See id. § 180.006(a). Accordingly, the “no useless act” rule of construction does not preclude applying section 271.152 to the Firefighters’ claims. 1 4 Moreover, section 271.152 is otherwise clear and unambiguous, and so there is no reason to speculate further as to legislative intent. See Alex Sheshunoff Mgmt. Servs., L.P. v. Johnson , 209 S.W.3d 644, 651–52 (Tex. 2006). We have determined that a written contract exists here, as embodied in the Ordinances, and the contract meets the elements the Legislature set forth in section 271.151(2). Therefore, by its plain language, section 271.152’s waiver applies to this suit.