09/07/2026
Councilman Chris Nettles is the perfect example of why nonprofits need to be looked into. A lookup of his tax identification number (37-1611741) for his nonprofit, Purpose Driven Ministries, shows no available tax records via Cause IQ or ProPublica.
These educational nonprofits are popping up all over Fort Worth and have many ties with the Fort Worth ISD. Pete Geren is the perfect example. How many nonprofits is he involved with?
FORT WORTH COUNCILMAN’S MINISTRY SUED FOR NEARLY $800,000 OVER CHILDREN’S FOOD PROGRAM
A Fort Worth City Council member is facing questions after the State of Texas sued a ministry he founded, seeking repayment of nearly $788,000 connected to a federal program that provides meals and snacks to children.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office filed the lawsuit Aug. 6 against Purpose Driven Ministries, founded by Fort Worth City Councilman Chris Nettles. The state says the organization owes the Texas Department of Agriculture $787,872.77 in expenses that were disallowed under the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program.
The program reimburses organizations that provide qualifying meals and snacks at child-care centers and after-school programs.
Purpose Driven Ministries had become a substantial participant. During the 2021-22 school year alone, it served 19 sites and received more than $1.3 million in federal funding, according to court records cited by KERA.
Nettles founded the ministry in 2010 and signed its agreement with the Texas Department of Agriculture in 2018. He was elected to the Fort Worth City Council in 2021 and represents District 8 in south and southeast Fort Worth.
The trouble surfaced during a state review of the ministry’s expenses.
According to the lawsuit, the Texas Department of Agriculture terminated the organization’s participation while reviewing its 2022 expenses. Purpose Driven Ministries challenged that decision through an administrative hearing but lost its appeal. Nettles and two other board members were subsequently barred from participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program in the future.
The state then demanded repayment of the disallowed expenses. When the money wasn’t repaid, the Agriculture Department referred the debt to the Attorney General’s Office for collection, leading to the lawsuit.
One significant question remains unanswered: What exactly did the ministry spend the disputed money on?
The state’s relatively brief lawsuit does not specify which individual expenditures were disallowed or provide evidence that Nettles personally took any of the money. That’s an important distinction. This is a civil collection lawsuit, and no court has entered a judgment finding Purpose Driven Ministries liable for the amount the state is seeking.
The controversy has already reached Fort Worth City Hall. During an Aug. 25 council meeting, a resident who has filed to run for City Council raised the matter publicly and called for greater transparency surrounding Nettles’ ministry, child-care operation and financial disclosures.
Nettles did not respond to requests for comment from several news organizations reporting on the lawsuit.
The case now leaves a fairly straightforward accountability question:
How did a ministry participating in a program designed to help feed children end up with the State of Texas demanding that nearly $788,000 be paid back?
That’s a question the lawsuit — and ultimately the courts — may have to answer.
