Houston Belt & Terminal Railway Co., Bnsf Railway Co., and Union Pacific Railroad Co. v. City of Houston, Texas and Daniel Krueger, in His Official Capacity as Director of Public Works and Engineering

Governmental immunity protects political subdivisions of the state, such as cities and their officers, from liability. Reata Const Corp. v. City of Dallas, 197 S.W.3d 371, 374 (Tex.2006). An important justification for this immunity is pragmatic: it shields “the public from the costs and consequences of improvident actions of their governments.” Tooke v. City of Mexia, 197 S.W.3d 325, 332 (Tex.2006). Yet the pragmatic rationale supporting this immunity also helps to , delineate its limits— “extending immunity to officials using state resources in violation of the law would not be an efficient…