Local Government Code § 105.091

Sec. 105.091. LIABILITY OF DESIGNATED OFFICER. (a) The designated officer is not responsible for any loss of municipal funds through the negligence, failure, or wrongful act of a depository. This subsection does not release the designated officer from responsibility for a loss resulting from the official misconduct of the designated officer, including a misappropriation of the funds, or from responsibility for the funds until a depository is selected and the funds are deposited. (b) A designated officer who diverts money from an interest and sinking fund or who applies money in that fund for a purpose other than as permitted by Section 105.074(f) is: (1) subject to a penalty of not less than $500 or more than $1,000; and (2) liable for the amount of money that is diverted. (c) The state is entitled to recover a penalty imposed under Subsection (b)(1). The amount of diverted money that is recovered under Subsection (b)(2) shall be paid into the municipal treasury to the credit of the fund from which it was diverted. (d) The attorney general or the district attorney of the district in which the designated officer resides, or the county attorney in a county that is not served by a district attorney, may institute suit against the designated officer and the sureties on the designated officer's official bond to recover the amounts described by Subsection (b). Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 234, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 227, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.