Texas Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Texas, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Does the age-45 cap on new Texas police officers apply to an officer who resigned and is reappointed?
The Attorney General found no case law or statute saying it does. Section 143.105 of the Local Government Code (part of the Fire Fighter and Police Officer Civil Service Act) bars certifying a…
Can Texas voters force a county appraisal district to reappraise property only every three years instead of yearly?
No election, but the three-year cycle itself is legal. The Attorney General concluded that an appraisal district and its participating taxing units are not authorized to put the appraisal schedule…
Does a county's employee health insurance trust lose its Texas premium tax exemption if it does more than just pay premiums?
Probably not, in the Attorney General's view. Insurance Code section 222.002(c)(5)(A) exempts premiums paid on group health, accident, and life policies by a 'single nonprofit trust' established to…
Can a school principal also serve on the board of trustees of another school district in Texas?
Yes, on the facts presented. The Attorney General concluded that neither article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution nor the common-law doctrine of incompatibility bars one person from serving…
Can a Texas city use the fast annexation exception when some tracts in the area have no house on them?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 43.052(h)(1), which lets a city skip the three-year annexation plan for an area containing fewer than 100 separate tracts with…
Can the Texas Adjutant General and assistant adjutants general earn state compensatory time off?
Split answer. The Attorney General concluded that the Adjutant General cannot accrue state compensatory time, but the Assistant Adjutants General can. Government Code subsection 659.024(c) says a…
Can a Texas county bail bond board charge bonding companies a fee to pay for a bail bond administrator?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a county bail bond board may not impose a fee on bonding companies to pay for the cost of employing a bail bond administrator. No provision of chapter 1704 of…
When does the 10-year clock on a Texas property tax abatement start, the date the agreement is signed or a later date?
It can start later. The Attorney General concluded that the maximum 10-year tax abatement period under Tax Code section 312.204(a) may begin in a year after the year the agreement is signed. A 2009…
Can someone with a felony or a crime of moral turpitude on their record become a Texas notary public?
No, not for new applicants. The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 406.004 bars the Secretary of State from commissioning as a notary public anyone who has been convicted of a…
Does Texas break federal law or the Equal Protection Clause by giving in-state tuition to undocumented students but not to out-of-state U.S. citizens?
The Attorney General would not say for certain. The opinion concluded that Education Code sections 54.052(a)(3) and 54.053(3) could be preempted by 8 U.S.C. 1623 if they grant a postsecondary…
Does a Texas county sheriff have to keep a room set aside for videotaping DWI suspects?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a 1983 law (section 24 of a DWI bill) requires counties of 25,000 or more to buy and maintain electronic devices that can visually record people arrested for…
Is it a conflict of interest for a district attorney to work in an office the county rents from the DA's own spouse?
Not under the facts presented. The Attorney General concluded that a district attorney's continued occupancy of county-leased office space in a building owned by the DA's spouse did not violate…
Can Texas health regulators fine a city for issuing a demolition permit without requiring an asbestos survey?
It is complicated. The Attorney General concluded that the word 'person' in the Texas Asbestos Health Protection Act (chapter 1954 of the Occupations Code) includes a municipality, so on the…
Does a county court at law judge who only handles misdemeanors share the duty to set up and fund a county probation department?
Likely yes. The Attorney General concluded that a statutory county court judge who tries criminal cases and has jurisdiction over only misdemeanors is probably among the judges described in…
Could Texas force a state agency to keep written minutes of its open meetings instead of just a tape recording?
Probably not, as the law stood. The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely find invalid a Texas State Library and Archives Commission rule that required state agencies to create and…
Does an out-of-state company with a Texas headquarters or Texas-based officers have to register with the Texas Secretary of State?
It depends on the facts, and the Attorney General would not decide it in the abstract. The opinion concluded that whether a foreign entity is 'transacting business in this state,' and so must…
If a city council member deeds away land but keeps the right to its future sale proceeds, does that pull the land out of tax increment financing?
Probably not, on the ownership point. Tax Code section 312.204(d) excludes real property owned or leased by a member of a city's governing body from both tax abatement and tax increment financing.…
Can a Texas city hire the county or the appraisal district to collect the special assessments it charges in a public improvement district?
Partly. The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 6.24, which authorizes contracts to assess or collect ad valorem property taxes, does not cover special assessments in a public…
Can my employer stop me from notarizing documents at work, or keep my notary stamp and record book if I quit?
The Attorney General split the answer. An employer may limit or prohibit an employee who is a notary public from performing notarial acts during working hours, because the common law lets an…
Can a Texas county charge a road-cut fee when a company bores under the road instead of cutting through it?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the county road-cut fee in Local Government Code section 240.907 reaches only activities that excavate or cut the surface of a county road. The statute…
Can a Texas hospital district pay to build a structure to house a city's ambulance that serves the district?
It is the board's call, within limits. The Attorney General concluded that the Hall County Hospital District has express authority to provide for the operation of a mobile emergency medical service,…
Can someone with power of attorney change my burial or cremation plans in a prepaid funeral contract?
No. The Attorney General concluded that where a person has specified the method of disposition of their remains in a fully paid prepaid funeral contract, the person's agent under a statutory durable…
Can an attorney give a school board free legal advice while being paid to collect the district's delinquent taxes?
The Attorney General gave a mixed answer. Because the attorney is an independent contractor, not a district officer or employee, serving both as an unpaid advisor to the board and as the paid…
Can a court force a Texas justice of the peace to change the cause of death on a death certificate?
It depends, and the Attorney General did not give a flat yes or no. A justice of the peace who conducts an inquest signs the death certificate and may reopen the inquest, and a registered…
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act forbid a city charter from letting a majority of the council call a special meeting?
Not on its face, the Attorney General concluded. Rockwall's charter let the mayor or a majority of the council call a special meeting with public notice. The Open Meetings Act does not set…
Can a Texas assistant district or county attorney also work as a criminal defense lawyer in federal court or a neighboring county?
Generally yes, the Attorney General concluded, but with limits. Article 2.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure bars elected district and county attorneys from being counsel against the State, but it…
Can a Texas county give juvenile board members health insurance, and can the commissioners court later cut it off?
Yes on both counts, the Attorney General concluded. A district judge who sits on a county juvenile board and is paid a supplemental salary by the county may be provided county medical insurance…
Can a Texas county hire a private firm to collect delinquent court fines without infringing the district attorney's prosecutorial power?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Article 103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a county's commissioners court contract with a private attorney or vendor to collect unpaid fines, fees,…
Can a Texas justice of the peace order a truant student to wear an ankle monitor as a condition of probation?
Yes, if the court finds it reasonable, the Attorney General concluded. In a failure-to-attend-school case under Education Code section 25.094, a justice court may defer the case, place the person on…
Could the Dallas ISD school board change its trustees' term lengths after the December 2007 deadline?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 11.059(e) let a school board adopt a resolution changing its trustees' term length, but only if it did so no later than December 31, 2007.…
Can a Texas county auditor who is also a CPA ethically audit an emergency services district?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Health and Safety Code section 775.082 requires an emergency services district to file an audit report, which a commissioners court may direct the county auditor…
When must a Texas water utility paint a fire hydrant black under Health and Safety Code 341.0357?
An owner does not have to first test whether a device flows under 250 gallons per minute, the Attorney General concluded. Health and Safety Code section 341.0357 requires painting a hydrant-looking…
Can a Texas county attorney appoint or commission reserve or unpaid peace officers?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The statutes that authorize reserve peace officers name specific appointing authorities (sheriffs, constables, municipalities, and navigation districts), and…
Can the Edwards Aquifer Authority refuse recharge permits and contracts for water facilities built before the 1993 Act?
Yes, a court would likely uphold such rules, the Attorney General concluded. The Edwards Aquifer Authority manages groundwater withdrawals under a strict aquifer-wide cap. Its powers include…
Who decides how the Texas Permanent School Fund's total return is calculated and how the constitutional payout limit applies?
The State Board of Education does, the Attorney General concluded. As the agency that manages the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and sets the distribution to the available school fund (ASF), the Board…
Can a Texas county lease county office space to a nonprofit for less than fair market value?
Yes, as far as the bidding statute goes, the Attorney General concluded. Local Government Code section 263.007 lets a commissioners court use competitive bids to sell or lease county property. Its…
Can a Texas school district hire a private company to run reverse auctions for purchases over $10,000?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded, with a caveat. The Legislature lets school districts use the reverse auction procedure for purchases of $10,000 or more, and the statute is silent on whether a…
Must a Texas sheriff give the county treasurer bank statements for forfeiture and commissary accounts?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. In Delta County, which has no county auditor, Local Government Code section 115.901(a) directs the treasurer to examine the sheriff's accounts, dockets, and…
Can a Texas county remove a fence in a county road right-of-way that the commissioners court calls a safety hazard?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. A commissioners court has general control over the county's roads and a duty to keep them safe for public travel, and the Transportation Code requires public…
How should a Texas county clerk index a correction or amendment to a deed signed by a title company, not the original owners?
The county clerk has discretion, the Attorney General concluded. When a real-property instrument is recorded under Property Code section 12.0011(b)(2), that statute does not say how to index it, and…
Can a Texas justice of the peace hear truancy cases for students in a school district outside the JP's precinct?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. The failure-to-attend-school offense under Education Code section 25.094 may be prosecuted in a justice court of any precinct in the county where the alleged…
How are a Texas multi-county district court reporter's expenses reimbursed, and can the commissioners court set them?
Under Government Code section 52.055, the Attorney General concluded. When the court reporter of a multi-county district court (here the 506th, covering Waller and Grimes Counties) performs official…
May Texas require local governments to comply with their federal immigration duties?
A local policy restricting officials or employees from sharing immigration-status information with federal authorities likely conflicts with 8 U.S.C. sections 1373 and 1644 and is a nullity, the…
Does a Texas legislator have to resign to run for Governor?
No. The Attorney General found no constitutional or statutory provision that requires a member of the Texas House to give up the seat after announcing a candidacy for Governor during the first year…
Can a Texas home rule city enforce its zoning and land development rules against a school district?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. A home rule municipality may enforce its reasonable land development regulations and zoning ordinances, including setback, height, sign, landscaping, screening,…
Do court-appointed criminal interpreters have to translate documents for the prosecutor?
No, the Attorney General concluded. An interpreter appointed by the court under Code of Criminal Procedure article 38.30 is there to interpret in the courtroom for a witness or the person charged…
Could Texas revoke the business license of employers who hire undocumented workers?
The Attorney General advised that a Texas statute closely tracking the Legal Arizona Workers Act, suspending or revoking the business license of employers of unauthorized workers and relying only on…
Does a Texas county have to include a district judge's longevity pay when setting a county court judge's salary?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Government Code section 25.0005(a) ties a statutory county court judge's pay to the total annual salary of 'a' district judge in the county, and 'a' means 'any.'…
Can a Texas county make a landowner remove a hazardous mailbox from the road right-of-way?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court, which has general control over county roads and a duty to keep them safe, may remove or order the removal of objects in the road…
Can a bailiff who isn't a licensed jailer supervise inmates in courthouse holding cells?
The Attorney General did not decide this. The opinion confirmed that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards has authority to regulate the observation of inmates held in courthouse holding cells, and…
Can a Texas judge let a probationer travel or move out of state?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives a judge broad discretion to set the conditions of community supervision, including ordering a defendant to…
What powers do out-of-state police officers have inside a Texas border city?
The Attorney General concluded that under Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.124(b), a peace officer from an adjoining state, here Texarkana, Arkansas, has the same powers, duties, and immunities…
Did Education Code 11.051(a-1) change how many votes a Texas school board needs to act?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 11.051(a-1) says a school board may act only by majority vote of the members present at a properly held meeting where a quorum is present…
Can a school district police chief also serve on a city council in the same area?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. The common-law incompatibility doctrine bars one person from holding two public offices with conflicting duties, but it applies only when both positions are…
Can TxDOT transfer trust money from a state highway fund subaccount to a regional transportation authority?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Transportation Code section 228.012 requires TxDOT to hold comprehensive-development-agreement payments, like the roughly $3.2 billion surplus toll revenue from…
Can the Texas Comptroller include extra information in the Chapter 313 value-limitation report?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Tax Code sections 313.008 and 313.032 list eleven items the Comptroller's biennial report on Texas Economic Development Act value-limitation agreements must…
What made a company a Texas bidder for state service contracts, and what could happen if it falsely claimed that status?
Under the 2008 statute, a business was a Texas bidder if it was incorporated in Texas, had its principal place of business in Texas, or had an established physical presence in Texas. An inaccurate…
Does federal law preempt Texas rules on air ambulance subscription programs?
Yes, as to price, the Attorney General concluded. The federal Airline Deregulation Act bars states from enforcing any law related to the price, route, or service of an air carrier. A Texas EMS…
Can a Texas county set up its own electronic monitoring program for house arrest?
No, the Attorney General concluded. A county commissioners court has no express or implied authority under Code of Criminal Procedure article 42.035 to establish an electronic monitoring program…
Can county hotel occupancy tax money pay for key-man insurance as an administrative cost?
The Attorney General did not decide this as a matter of law. Tax Code section 352.1015(c) lets a county spend hotel occupancy tax revenue on administrative costs only if those costs are incurred…
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Attorney general opinions in Texas are written by the Texas Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.