law-governmental-immunity | plea to the jurisdiction | waiver of immunity by conduct | waiver
of sovereign immunity by statute
Governmental immunity has two components--immunity from liability and immunity from suit.
Tooke v. City of Mexia, 197 S.W.3d 325, 332 (Tex. 2006). A unit of state government is
immune from suit and liability unless the state consents. Tex. Dep't of Transp. v. Jones, 8
S.W.3d 636, 638 (Tex. 1999). A governmental entity that enters into a contract waives
immunity from liability and voluntarily binds itself to the contractual terms, but the entity does
not thereby waive immunity from suit. Id.; Seureau v. ExxonMobil Corp., 274 S.W.3d 206, 215
(Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 2008, no pet.). Here, both parties agree that the issue is
whether the City is immune from suit for breach of contract.
Immunity from suit bars a suit against a governmental entity unless the Legislature expressly
consents to the suit by resolution or by clear and unambiguous statutory language. Tooke,
197 S.W.3d at 332-33. The party suing a governmental entity must establish the State's
consent to suit by reference to a statute or to express legislative permission. Gilford, 277
S.W.3d at 69 (citing Mo. Pac. R.R. Co. v. Brownsville Navigation Dist., 453 S.W.2d 812, 814
(Tex. 1970)). A governmental entity's immunity can be waived only through the use of clear
and unambiguous language. Brown, 80 S.W.3d at 554; Univ. of Tex. Med. Branch v. York,
871 S.W.2d 175, 177 (Tex. 1994).