DIRECTOR TRAINING PROGRAM.

(a) A person who is elected or appointed to and qualifies for office as a director may not vote, deliberate, or be counted as a director in attendance at a board meeting 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 authority's programs, functions, rules, and budget;

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

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

(5) the requirements of:

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

(B) other laws applicable to members of the governing body 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 elected or appointed to the board is entitled to reimbursement 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 manager of the authority shall create a training manual that includes the information required by Subsection (b). The manager shall distribute a copy of the training manual annually to each director. Each director shall sign and submit to the manager a statement acknowledging that the director has received and reviewed the training manual.