Sec. 201.101.  CORPORATE POWERS.  (a)  A conservation district is a governmental subdivision of this state and a public body corporate and politic.  A conservation district may:
(1)  sue and be sued in the name of the conservation district;
(2)  have a seal, which shall be judicially noticed;
(3)  make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers;  and
(4)  adopt rules consistent with this chapter to carry into effect its purposes and powers.
(b)  A conservation district may execute notes on the faith and credit of the conservation district for the purpose of making repairs, additions, or improvements to any property or equipment owned by the conservation district. The notes may be issued payable from current funds or reasonably contemplated revenues, but the conservation district may not issue notes payable from funds derived from the state.
(c)  Any note issued by a conservation district may be secured by a lien on the property or equipment to which the repairs, additions, or improvements are to be made if the property or equipment was not acquired from the state or with funds derived from the state.  A note executed in connection with the purchase of real property may be secured only by the purchased real property.
(d)  A conservation district may not levy taxes.
(e)  Debts incurred by a conservation district may not create a lien on the land of owners or occupiers of land in the district.
(f)  As a condition to extending benefits to, or performing any work on, land in the conservation district not owned or controlled by the state or a state agency, a conservation district may:
(1)  require contributions to the operation in services, materials, or another form;  and
(2)  require owners or occupiers of land to enter into and perform an agreement or covenant as to the permanent use of land that will tend to prevent or control soil erosion on that land.
Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1472, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981.  Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 46, Sec. 1, eff. April 27, 1989.