Opinion ID: 6108934
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Board's Standing to Sue

Text: Article 6243h, section 3(g) provides that [t]he pension board may institute legal action in the name of the pension board on behalf of the pension system. TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. art. 6243h, § 3(g). The City argues that only the board, not the Pension System itself, enjoys the requisite standing to assert claims under article 6243h. However, the court of appeals is correct that while granting authority to the board, this section does not prohibit the Pension System itself from instituting or participating in litigation. Id. As we recognized in Klumb , article 6243h grants the board very broad authority. Klumb , 458 S.W.3d at 10 (The breadth of the pension board's authority under Article 6243h is inescapable.). As the Pension System argues, even if the board were the only entity with standing, article 6243h, section 3(k) authorizes the board to designate persons other than the board itself to carry out the board's responsibilities. See TEX. REV. CIV. STAT. art. 6243h, § 3(k) ([T]he pension board ... may designate any person who is not a trustee, including  the executive director ..., to carry out the responsibilities of the pension board under this Act.); see also TEX. GOV'T CODE § 311.005 ( 'Person' includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity.); In re Transcon. Realty Inv'rs, Inc. , 271 S.W.3d 270 , 272 (Tex. 2008) (stating the general rule that persons includes corporations and all other legal entities). Here, the board was authorized to pass a resolution granting authority to the Pension System's executive director to take any action necessary to obtain the City's compliance with the board's determinations. Given the foregoing, the Pension System has standing to bring this suit. We next address the ultra vires issue.