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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Can a Texas airport authority that voters created but never activated still appoint its board years later?
Yes. Kerr County voters approved creation of the Kerr County Airport Authority in 1970, but the city and county never appointed the board, and the airport kept being run by a joint board instead.…
Must a Texas county give commissioners written notice before cutting their salary in the budget?
Yes. At a Grimes County budget hearing a commissioner proposed cutting each commissioner's salary by about $7,000 with no prior notice, and the cut was adopted. The county auditor asked whether that…
Does a Texas county have to issue ID cards to unpaid volunteer peace officers?
No. The Brazos County Attorney had appointed some unpaid, part-time peace officers as investigators, all licensed by the state, and asked whether a 2007 law required him to issue them the official…
Can a Texas county auditor block a county hospital payment they believe is unconstitutional?
Yes, within limits. A county-owned hospital's administrator wanted to pay a former employee for some continuing obligations and had a legal opinion saying the payment satisfied the Texas…
Can Texas move permanent school fund land-sale money into the available school fund?
Probably not. The chair of the State Board of Education asked three questions about Texas's permanent school fund (PSF). First, the Attorney General concluded the three labels used in article VII of…
Can a Texas county and its school districts jointly develop minerals on county school land?
No. The Webb County Attorney asked whether a county and the school districts in it could team up to develop or sell the oil, gas, and mineral rights on county school lands, splitting the costs and…
Can a Texas city cap the earnings used to calculate vested employees' pensions?
Probably not, to the extent it lowers their benefits. To shore up its underfunded pension after the 2001 market crash, the City of Fort Worth put a 12% cap on how much the earnings used to calculate…
Can Texas add to the list of crimes that disqualify teachers from certification?
Yes. The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) wanted to amend its rule listing the crimes that can cost an educator a teaching certificate, including offenses on school property and felony…
Can a Texas DA use asset forfeiture funds to buy a juvenile detention center?
No to the forfeiture funds, yes to the county buying or leasing the facility. Because Harris County had a shortage of residential treatment beds for juvenile offenders, the District Attorney asked…
Does a Texas city have to pay a firefighter or police officer for testifying at a civil service hearing?
No. A state representative asked whether Local Government Code section 142.009 makes a city pay a firefighter or police officer who is subpoenaed, in that capacity, to testify on time off before an…
Do members of a Texas advisory committee have to file personal financial disclosure statements?
No. A state representative asked whether chapter 572 of the Government Code, which requires certain state officers to file personal financial statements, applied to board members of the Tobacco…
When does a Texas state agency qualify for the natural gas utility assessment exemption?
A state representative asked what triggers the exemption in Utilities Code section 104.202, which bars a gas utility from charging a state agency for a gross receipts assessment, regulatory…
Does Texas's school religious-expression law override a federal court injunction against a school district?
The Commissioner of Education asked whether the 2007 Schoolchildren's Religious Liberties Act controls over, or is limited by, a 1970 federal permanent injunction (the Guild order) that bars Houston…
Do U.S. Postal Service inspectors have arrest powers under Texas law?
Yes, for both kinds of postal inspectors. The Bexar County District Attorney asked whether article 2.122(a)(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives certain state felony law enforcement…
How long does a Texas school district have to file a truancy complaint?
A district attorney asked whether two 2007 bills that each amended Education Code section 25.0951(a) could both take effect, since one changed the filing window from seven to ten days and the other…
Can someone be charged with criminal trespass at an RV park in Texas?
A state senator asked whether the criminal trespass statute (Penal Code section 30.05) applies to recreational vehicle parks and how police can enforce it there. The Attorney General concluded that…
Which court must a Texas sheriff bring a person held on an out-of-county warrant and a parole warrant before?
A county attorney asked what the 'proper magistrate' or 'proper court' is in article 15.20(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, after a 2007 law (Senate Bill 909) addressed prisoners held on both…
Can a Texas county split a project into phases to avoid competitive bidding?
A county attorney asked whether a project could be split into 'phases' each under $25,000 to escape the County Purchasing Act when the whole project exceeded $25,000, and whether the county auditor…
Is a private nonprofit that gets public utility money subject to Texas open records law?
A legislator asked whether a private nonprofit economic development foundation that gets part of its funding from 'quasi-public' utilities (CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System) is subject to the…
How can a Texas county borrow money to build a voter-approved venue project?
The Terrell County Attorney asked whether the county could borrow money to build a voter-approved convention center venue project and repay the loan from the venue project sales-tax fund. The…
Can a Texas county pay the operating costs of a local water district?
The Mills County Attorney asked whether the county could fund the Fox Crossing Water District, which gets all of its operation and maintenance money from the county instead of levying its own taxes,…
Can a Texas county give a tax abatement to a company building on a commissioner's land?
The Sterling County Attorney asked whether the conflict-of-interest exclusion in Tax Code section 312.402(d) blocks the county from giving a wind turbine company a tax abatement when the company's…
Can a Texas river authority give over-65 lakefront leaseholders a discounted, frozen lease rate?
The Brazos River Authority, which leases lakefront property around Possum Kingdom Lake to private individuals, asked whether it could give lessees over 65 a 10% discount off current lease rates and…
Does Texas's enhanced driver's license for crossing the Mexico border conflict with federal passport law?
The Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety asked whether Transportation Code section 521.032, which lets the Department issue an enhanced driver's license for crossing the Texas-Mexico…
Can a Texas city council member also serve on a local water supply corporation's board?
Senator Jeff Wentworth asked whether a member of the Village of Wimberley City Council, and the mayor, could serve at the same time on the board of directors of the Wimberley Water Supply…
Does a new Texas school-district contract ban apply to agreements signed before it took effect?
The Webb County Attorney asked how Texas Education Code section 11.168, which bars a school board from agreeing to use district employees, property, or resources to build or renovate improvements on…
Can a Texas city manager hire a city commissioner's relative without breaking nepotism law?
A state senator asked the Attorney General several nepotism questions about the City of Pharr, where a city commissioner had recommended a woman for a city job; she later had a child with the…
Does a Texas county have to maintain private subdivision roads it approved on a plat?
The Hood County Attorney asked whether the county had to maintain the roads in the Hill Country Estates subdivision, which were laid out and approved on a plat back in 1983. The Attorney General…
Can a Texas court let a probationer pay a fee instead of doing community service hours?
A district judge in Jim Wells County, through the county attorney, asked whether a court can modify probation conditions to let qualified probationers pay a set fee per hour (suggested at the…
Can the Texas Lottery Commission run a raffle-style game?
The Chair of the Texas Lottery Commission asked whether the commission could run a raffle-style game, one where tickets are sold at lottery retailers for a set drawing date, but with no duplicate…
Can a Texas bingo hall use a video screen to show pull-tab bingo results?
Senator Jane Nelson asked whether a Texas Lottery Commission rule that allows a 'graphic and dynamic' video confirmation of the outcome of pull-tab (instant) bingo games crosses the line into…
Who handles old tax lawsuits after a Texas appraisal district's boundaries shrink to the county line?
Waller County's district attorney asked who is responsible for property tax lawsuits filed against the Waller County Appraisal District over property outside Waller County, after House Bill 1010…
Can a property tax consultant sign the agent form for a Texas property owner?
State Representative Fred Hill asked the Attorney General to interpret Tax Code section 1.111, which lets a property owner name an agent to handle property tax matters, and specifically whether a…
Can a Texas police department put seized contraband money in an interest-bearing account?
Collin County's Criminal District Attorney asked the Attorney General what a law enforcement agency may do with money it seizes as contraband before a court enters final judgment. The Attorney…
Is the Texas pollution-control property tax exemption limited to clean energy projects?
The Chair of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality asked the Attorney General whether the agency's rule-making authority over the pollution-control property tax exemption and tax rollback…
Can a Texas civil service commission give job applicants extra exam points for living in the city?
The Chair of the Texas House Committee on Urban Affairs asked the Attorney General whether a local civil service commission may adopt a rule that adds points to a fire or police applicant's exam…
Must a Texas home-rule city fill a council vacancy by election instead of by appointment?
The Cameron County District Attorney asked the Attorney General whether article XI, section 11 of the Texas Constitution prevails over the Harlingen City Charter on how to fill a vacancy on the city…
Could the Texas House remove its Speaker, and was impeachment the only lawful method?
The Attorney General predicted that a court would likely treat the Texas House Speaker as a state officer subject to impeachment, but impeachment was not the only possible removal method. The…
Can a Texas county buy a generator and lease it to a local radio station?
The Guadalupe County Attorney asked the Attorney General whether it would violate the Texas Constitution for the county to spend public money on a generator and then lease it to KWED, a local AM…
Can a Texas county judge issue one mass gathering permit for several events?
The Comal County Criminal District Attorney asked the Attorney General whether a county judge may issue a single mass gathering permit to cover a series of similar events, or whether each event…
What liability insurance must a Texas real estate inspector carry to get licensed?
The Texas Real Estate Commission asked the Attorney General to interpret new insurance requirements that Senate Bill 914 (2007) added to the Occupations Code for real estate inspector licenses. The…
Can a Texas county appoint its county judge as the county budget officer?
The Williamson County Attorney asked the Attorney General whether a county that chooses to operate under subchapter C of chapter 111 of the Local Government Code (the optional method that lets…
Does the Texas Lottery Commission have to give disabled residents meaningful access under the ADA?
State Senator Rodney Ellis asked the Attorney General whether the Texas Lottery Commission violates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act if it fails to provide 'meaningful access' to state…
When a Texas judicial district is created, must the state fund the new judge's salary?
Governor Rick Perry asked the Attorney General two questions about the newly created 444th and 445th Judicial Districts in Cameron County: whether the courts existed so that he could appoint judges,…
Does Texas's impact-fee timing rule control a city's fees if the city raised the amounts after June 20, 1987?
Senator Mike Jackson, on behalf of the City of League City, asked whether Local Government Code section 395.016(b), which sets when impact fees adopted before June 20, 1987 may be assessed and…
Can a Texas county use road bond money on a city street that connects to a county road on only one end?
Senator Mike Jackson, on behalf of Galveston County, asked whether the county could use road bond funds issued under article III, section 52(b) and (c) of the Texas Constitution to work on city…
Can a Texas bail bond board grant a temporary license or extension so a surety can keep working after the license expires?
Collin County Criminal District Attorney John R. Roach asked whether a county bail bond board could adopt a local rule that temporarily extends a surety's license past the expiration dates set in…
If a Texas school district misses the deadline to file a truancy complaint, can it still file one for a later absence?
Representative Charlie F. Howard asked two questions about a school district's duty under Education Code section 25.0951(a) to file a truancy complaint after a student's tenth unexcused absence.…
Can a Texas police association charge its members lower tuition for required continuing education courses?
Timothy Braaten, head of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE), asked whether the Texas Municipal Police Association (TMPA), a continuing-education…
Is a Texas public employee's net salary public, and does it go in the state spending database?
Comptroller Susan Combs asked which public-employee information had to go into the new public database of state expenditures created by House Bill 3430 in 2007. The Attorney General concluded that a…
Who decides what financial software a Texas county auditor's office uses, the auditor or the commissioners court?
Johnson County Attorney Bill Moore asked whether the county auditor, under Local Government Code sections 84.901 and 112.001, can choose the financial software for the auditor's own office, pick…
Can a Texas county court at law judge decide felony cases when assigned to a district court?
Kerr County Attorney Rex Emerson asked whether a county court at law judge, assigned by the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region to sit in district court, could render judgment in…
Can a Texas justice of the peace also hold a county EMS or other county job at the same time?
Terrell County Attorney Marsha Monroe asked three questions about county officers holding more than one county position. First, the Attorney General concluded that a justice of the peace may also…
Does the Texas section 133.154 special court filing fee apply to cases filed in a statutory probate court?
Two district attorneys, Susan Reed of Bexar County and John Roach of Collin County, asked whether the special civil filing fee in Local Government Code section 133.154 (added by the 2005 House Bill…
Can a Texas legislator sell insurance to a state university under article III, section 18?
Texas Southern University asked whether a member of the Texas Legislature could provide insurance services to a state university, where the legislator had signed competitively bid insurance…
Can a Texas county clerk put court records online for the public to search?
A Texas House committee chair asked whether the El Paso County district and county clerks could store court documents in an electronic database and make them searchable online. The Attorney General…
How is the 10% fee cap for a Texas state-employee charitable campaign manager calculated?
A Texas House committee chair asked whether the 10 percent fee a campaign manager may charge charities in the state employee charitable campaign is measured against the contributions collected in…
Does federal law override Texas's concealed-carry proficiency certificate rules for retired police?
The Kerr County Attorney asked whether 18 U.S.C. section 926C, the federal law letting qualified retired law enforcement officers carry a concealed firearm, preempts the Texas Occupations Code…
Does owning part of a holding company make you ineligible for a Texas bingo license?
The Texas Lottery Commission asked whether an applicant for a bingo manufacturer's or distributor's license is ineligible if an individual it must name in the application holds 10 percent or more of…
Can a Texas district attorney accept private donations to pay office staff?
A district attorney asked whether she could set up a nonprofit to take in donations and use them to supplement her employees' pay. The Attorney General said a prosecuting attorney has no general…
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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.