All officers of the City shall, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe to the official oath prescribed in the Constitution of the state of Texas.
All public records of every office, department or agency of the City shall be open to inspection by any citizen at all reasonable times, provided that police records and vital statistics records, and any other records closed to the public by law, shall not be considered public records for the purpose of this Section.
The City Council shall have power to designate by ordinance one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City as the Official Newspaper, and shall cause to be published therein all ordinances, notices, and/or other matters which are required by this Charter, the ordinances of the City, or the Constitution or Laws of the State of Texas, to be officially published.
(Amended 5/1/2021)
Before the City shall be liable for damages for the death or personal injuries of any person or for damages to or destruction of property of any kind, which does not constitute a taking or damaging of property under Article I, Section 17, Constitution of the State of Texas [Tex. Const. art. I, § 17], the person injured, if living, or his legal representatives, if deceased, or the parent or guardian of a minor child, or the owner, his agent or attorney of the property damaged or destroyed, shall give the City notice in writing of such death, injury, damage or destruction, duly verified by affidavit, within six (6) months after same has been sustained, stating specifically in such written notice when, where and how the death, injury, damage or destruction occurred, and the apparent extent of any such injury, the amount of damages sustained, the actual residence of the claimant by street and number on the date the claim is presented, the actual residence of such claimant for six (6) months immediately preceding the occurrence of such death, injury, damage or destruction, and the names and addresses of all witnesses upon whom it is relied to establish the claim for damages. Such notice shall be directed to the attention of the City Secretary. The failure to so notify the City within the time and manner specified herein shall exonerate, excuse and exempt the City from any liability whatsoever. No act of any officer, employee or agent of the City shall waive compliance, or preclude the City from requiring compliance, with the provisions of this section as to notice.
(Amended 5/1/2021)
It shall not be necessary in any action, suit, or proceeding in which the City is a party for any bond, undertaking or security to be demanded or executed by or on behalf of the City. The City shall have all remedies of appeal by law to all courts in this State without bond or security of any kind, but shall be liable in the same manner and to the same extent as if such bond, undertaking, or security had actually been executed or given.
No officer or employee of the City shall have a financial interest, direct or indirect, in any contract with the City, or shall be financially interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale to the City of any land, materials, supplies or service, except on behalf of the City as an officer or employee unless he should disclose such interest to the City Council or Procuring Officer in writing. Any willful violation of this Section shall constitute malfeasance in office, and any officer or employee guilty thereof shall be subject to removal from his office or position. Any violation of this Section, with the knowledge, expressed or implied, of the person or corporation contracting with the Council shall render the contract involved voidable by the Mayor and the Council.
No person who is related by affinity or consanguinity within the first degree to a member of the Council or to the Mayor or to the City Administrator, shall be appointed to any office, clerkship or other paid position with the City; but this prohibition shall not apply to officers or employees who have been employed by the City continuously for more than two years prior to the election of such member of the Council or of the Mayor or appointment of the City Administrator.
This Charter shall be deemed a public act, may be read in evidence without pleading or proof, and judicial notice shall be taken thereof in all courts and places.
(Amended 5/1/2021)
The property, real and personal, belonging to the City shall not be liable for sale or appropriation under any writ of execution. The funds belonging to the City, in the hands of any person, firm, or corporation, shall not be liable to garnishment, [or] attachment on account of any debt it may owe or funds or property it may have on hand or owing to any person. Neither the City nor any of its officers or agents shall be required to answer any such writ of garnishment on any account whatever. The City shall not be obligated to recognize any assignment of wages or funds by its employees, agents or contractors.
The use of any gender herein shall be applicable to all genders. The present or past tense shall include the future. The singular and plural number shall each include the other, unless otherwise expressly provided.
The City of Katy shall not be liable for damages to anyone, on account of any defect in, obstruction on, or anything else in connection with any sidewalk in the City; nor shall the City of Katy be liable for damages to anyone on account of any defect in, obstruction on, or anything else in connection with any street, alley, or public place, other than any sidewalk, unless and until it be shown that some person, in the employment of the City and having superintendence or control of the work on the streets, alleys or public places, had actual notice of such defect, obstruction or other thing, for a sufficient length of time before such injury was received to have remedied such condition of the street, alley or public place before the injury was received.
The Constitution of the State of Texas, the statutes of said state applicable to Home Rule Municipal Corporations, as now or hereafter enacted, this Charter and ordinances enacted pursuant hereto shall in the order mentioned, be applicable to the City of Katy, but the City shall also have the power to exercise any and all powers conferred by the Laws of the State of Texas upon any other kind of City, Town or Village, not contrary to the provisions of said Home Rule statutes, Charter and ordinances, but the exercise of any such powers by the City of Katy shall be optional with it, and it shall not be required to conform to the law governing any other cities, towns or villages unless and until by ordinance it adopts same.
Amendments to this Charter may be framed and submitted to the voters of the City in the manner provided by the applicable statute of the State of Texas.
Every four (4) years commencing in 1992, at the first regular meeting of the City Council in October, the Mayor, with the approval of the City Council, shall appoint a Charter Review Commission of five (5) citizens of the City of Katy.
a. 
Duties of the Commission -
It shall be the duty of such Charter Review Commission to:
(1) 
Inquire into the operations of the City Government under the Charter provisions and determine whether any such provisions require revision. To this end public hearings may be held; and the Commission shall have the power to compel the attendance of any officer or employee of the City and to require the submission of any of the City records which it may deem necessary to the conduct of such hearing;
(2) 
Propose any recommendations it may deem desirable to insure compliance with the provisions of the Charter by the several departments of the City Government;
(3) 
Propose, if it deems desirable, amendments to this Charter to improve the effective application of said Charter to current conditions;
(4) 
Report its finding and present its proposed amendments, if any, to the Mayor and Council.
b. 
Action by the Mayor and the Council.
The Mayor and the Council shall receive and publish in a medium that is accessible to residents, any report presented by the Charter Review Commission, shall consider any recommendations made, and if any amendments or amendment be presented as a part of such report may order such amendment(s) to be submitted to the voters of the City in the manner provided by the applicable statute of the State of Texas.
c. 
Term of Office -
The term of office of such Charter Review Commission shall be six months and if during such term no report is presented to the Mayor and Council, then all records of the proceedings of such Commission shall be filed with the Office of the City Secretary and shall become a public record.
(Amended 5/6/89; 5/1/2021)
If any Article or Section or Subsection of an Article of this Charter is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a Court of competent jurisdiction, the same shall not invalidate or impair the validity, force or effect of any other Article or Section or Subsection of an Article of this Charter.