BOARD MEMBER TRAINING.

(a) A person who is appointed to and qualifies for office as a member of the board of trustees may not vote, deliberate, or be counted as a member in attendance at a meeting of the board until the person completes a training program that complies with this section.

(b) The training program must provide the person with information regarding:

(1) the law governing retirement system operations;

(2) the programs, functions, rules, and budget of the system;

(3) the scope of and limitations on the rulemaking authority of the board of trustees;

(4) the results of the most recent formal audit of the system;

(5) the requirements of:

(A) laws relating to open meetings, public information, administrative procedure, and disclosing conflicts-of-interest; and

(B) other laws applicable to members of a state policy-making body in performing their duties; and

(6) any applicable ethics policies adopted by the system or the Texas Ethics Commission.

(c) A person appointed to the board of trustees is entitled to reimbursement under Section 825.007 for the travel expenses incurred in attending the training program regardless of whether the attendance at the program occurs before or after the person qualifies for office.

(d) The executive director of the retirement system shall create a training manual that includes the information required by Subsection (b). The executive director shall distribute a copy of the training manual annually to each member of the board of trustees. Each member of the board of trustees shall sign and submit to the executive director a statement acknowledging that the member received and has reviewed the training manual.