A genuinely strict 6-month notice, running from the incident
Under CPRC § 101.101(a), the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA) generally entitles a governmental unit to receive notice of a claim no later than six months after the incident giving rise to the claim occurred — running from the date of the incident itself, not from when the injury was discovered.
A genuinely important catch: six months is not a floor
Here's a real, distinctive feature worth knowing. Section 101.101(b) explicitly ratifies and approves a city's own charter or ordinance notice provisions, even when they require notice sooner than six months. In a real documented case, the City of Tyler's charter required notice of tort claims within just 30 days — a small fraction of the six-month period many people assume applies across the state. These shorter municipal periods are fully enforceable.
A real exception: actual notice
Under § 101.101(c), the formal written notice requirements don't apply if the governmental unit already has actual notice that death has occurred, that the claimant has received some injury, or that the claimant's property has been damaged — a genuine, if narrow, safety valve for situations where the government already knows what happened.
A real backstop: the lawsuit itself can count
Texas courts have held that a lawsuit itself, served on the governmental unit within six months of the incident and containing all the information the statute requires, can constitute proper notice under the TTCA — meaning a timely-filed suit can sometimes substitute for a separate, earlier notice letter.
A genuinely surprising trap: hidden government affiliation
Perhaps the most important detail here: some hospitals that look like ordinary private facilities to a patient are, in fact, covered by the TTCA because of a governmental affiliation — meaning their doctors and staff can benefit from the Act's protections, including its genuinely short notice window, even though nothing about the experience of being treated there would suggest a government connection.
Why confirming the actual notice period genuinely matters
Because the statewide six-month figure can be cut down to a fraction of that by a specific city's charter, and because a seemingly private facility can turn out to be government-affiliated, confirming the actual applicable notice period and the correct governmental entity as early as possible is a genuinely important step in any Texas injury claim that might involve a government connection.