DIRECTOR TRAINING PROGRAM.

(a) A person who is appointed to and qualifies for office as a director may not vote, deliberate, or be counted as a director 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 authority operations;

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

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

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

(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 directors of a river authority in performing their duties; and

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

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

(d) The board shall create a training manual that includes the information required by Subsection (b). The board shall distribute a copy of the training manual annually to each director. On receipt of the training manual, each director shall sign and submit to the board a statement acknowledging receipt of the training manual.