Considering hiring outside firm to "act as compliance officer", of course bank employees will still have responsibility of carrying out compliance in their particular department, but does anyone have knowledge of companies that offer this sort of service in Texas.

Look no further than BOL. Several prominent posters have compliance firms and are in the Lone Star State.

Yes, but I think few of us would actually recommend that someone outside of the organization is capable to "act as compliance officer". Consulting, assisting in the development of written policies and procedures, training, auditing and reviews, etc. would be a yes. However to actually act as the head of compliance for a bank could be a pretty time intensive endeavor and the writing of such a contract would probably be a little tricky regarding responsibilities and more importantly liabilities. I'm not aware of anyone doing it, but I'm not saying that it isn't out there somewhere.

Before you go shopping for outside help, you'd better define what is to be outsourced and what is not.

The dictionary does not define the word "compliance" as a adjective, so the term "compliance officer" is meaningless. In reality, you'll never find two people who understand it to mean the same thing.

If you want to hold someone accountable for results, create a job description that addresses the types of activities Randy lists. Then, if that job is to be outsourced, you and the vendor both know what is required.