Texas
Texas Local Government Code Chapter 271, Subchapter F authorizes counties, municipalities, school districts, and other local governments to participate in cooperative purchasing programs — and confirms that doing so satisfies competitive bidding requirements.
Cooperative Purchasing Program Participation Tex. Local Gov't Code §271.102
"A local government may participate in a cooperative purchasing program with another local government of this state or another state or with a local cooperative organization of this state or another state."
— Tex. Local Gov't Code §271.102, Cooperative Purchasing Program Participation
Plain-language summary
Texas law explicitly grants local governments — including counties, cities, school districts, special districts, junior college districts, regional planning commissions, and other political subdivisions — the authority to participate in cooperative purchasing programs. Subsection (c) of §271.102 is particularly important: it states that a local government that purchases goods or services under this subchapter satisfies any state law requiring competitive bidding. This is the legal foundation that allows Texas agencies to procure through cooperative contracts without running their own RFPs.
Key requirements
- →The participating entity must qualify as a "local government" as defined in §271.101 (counties, municipalities, school districts, etc.).
- →Participation requires an agreement between the participating local government and either another local government or a local cooperative organization.
- →The local government must designate a person to act on its behalf in matters relating to the program.
- →Payment arrangements must be specified in the agreement.
- →The local government remains responsible for vendor compliance on quality and delivery terms as agreed.
Construction services
Texas law treats cooperative purchasing as an authorized alternative to competitive bidding for the procurement of goods and services. For construction specifically, Tex. Loc. Gov't Code §252.022(a) lists cooperative purchasing under Subchapters D and F of Chapter 271 as one of the permitted alternative procurement methods for municipalities. Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code (Interlocal Cooperation Act) provides additional authority for governmental functions including purchasing.
How Texas agencies access our contracts.
LNC holds multiple cooperative purchasing contracts through OMNIA Partners and Region 14 ESC Texas, all of which are available to public agencies in Texas under Tex. Local Gov't Code §271.102.
Your agency can use our contracts to procure construction services through certified Affiliate Vendors. Every Affiliate proposal is audited and certified by LNC before reaching you.
Talk to LNC About Your Project →This summary is provided for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Texas's procurement code may have been amended since this content was prepared. Confirm the current text of Tex. Local Gov't Code §271.102 and consult your jurisdiction's legal counsel before relying on this authority for a specific procurement.