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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What rules apply when a Texas city leases its oil, gas, or mineral land?
The Attorney General concluded that two statutes governing mineral leases by a city cannot be reconciled, and that Local Government Code section 253.005 wins. That statute lets a municipality lease…
Can Texas put red-light enforcement cameras on state highway rights-of-way?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Department of Transportation may install cameras on state highway rights-of-way to monitor compliance with traffic-control signals and help enforce…
Can a city building official rely on an engineer's seal that a plan meets building codes?
The Attorney General explained that Occupations Code section 1001.402 lets a city building official accept a plat or plan only if it bears a professional engineer's seal, but the statute does not…
Can Texas university systems buy printing services without competitive bidding?
The Attorney General concluded that The University of Texas System and The Texas A&M University System may, if they choose, acquire printing services under Government Code chapter 2155 and the Texas…
What was the maximum salary a Texas district judge could be paid?
The Attorney General concluded that the maximum lawful salary payable to a Texas state district judge under Government Code section 659.012 was $140,000. The figure works up a chain: an associate…
Does a Texas county clerk have to deduct a fee from a cash bail bond refund?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county or district clerk is required, under section 117.055 of the Local Government Code, to charge an administrative fee when returning funds deposited as a…
Can an off-duty reserve police officer wear their uniform working a private security job?
The Attorney General concluded no. A reserve peace officer employed by a sheriff, constable, navigation district, or municipal police department may not wear the official uniform or display the…
Can El Paso's water utility board charge developers an impact fee?
The Attorney General concluded no. The El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board had no authority to establish impact fees for water and wastewater infrastructure. Local Government Code chapter…
Can a Texas home-rule city change its charter without a public vote?
The Attorney General concluded no. A home-rule city charter provision letting the city commission amend the charter by ordinance is void, because article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution…
Do Texas nail salons have to sterilize tools in an autoclave?
The Attorney General found two 2005 laws in conflict. Senate Bill 411 required nondisposable nail, hand, and foot tools to be sterilized in an autoclave; House Bill 1304 allowed an autoclave or a…
Can a Texas city change its budget without passing a new ordinance?
The Attorney General concluded that a city which adopts its budget by ordinance can amend that budget only by another ordinance, an act of equal dignity, and not by a mere resolution, motion, or…
Who can remove an abandoned mobile home from a Texas county road?
The Attorney General concluded that a county constable could not use Transportation Code section 545.3051, the roadway personal-property removal statute, to remove an abandoned manufactured (mobile)…
Which payment deadline applies when a Texas school district owes a city gas utility?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code chapter 2251 (the prompt-payment statute), not the city-owned Alto Natural Gas Company's own payment policy, governs when the Wells Independent…
Can a part-time college instructor get paid to serve on a water district board?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution generally bars a state employee from drawing a salary for serving on a local governing body, but it makes an…
Can the Texas Comptroller investigate and report on a state agency?
The Attorney General concluded that the Comptroller does not have authority to initiate and conduct an investigation into the effectiveness and efficiency of a state agency's policies, management,…
In Texas, do all judges in a county have to give arrest warnings, or just the justice of the peace?
The Attorney General concluded that every officer who is a magistrate under article 2.09 (district judges, county judges, county-court-at-law judges, statutory probate judges, justices of the peace,…
Can Texas stop minors from crossing into Mexico, or limit where teenagers can be near the border?
The Attorney General drew a line between two different things. A state law that tries to stop minors from crossing the international border would intrude on the federal government's exclusive power…
Can a Texas county sheriff send jail inmates to work for a nonprofit, and what approval is needed?
The Attorney General concluded that a county sheriff has no free-standing power to run an inmate work program. The only legal sources for one are article 43.09 or 43.10 of the Code of Criminal…
Does a Texas therapist need a separate state license to treat sex offenders, on top of their professional license?
The Attorney General concluded that a person needs two licenses, not one, to provide sex offender rehabilitation services in Texas. The professional license (as a physician, psychiatrist,…
Are grand jury and trial jury name lists confidential in Texas, or can lawyers and the public see them?
The Attorney General concluded that jury lists, which are just the jurors' names, are presumed public, and neither a clerk nor a judge has a duty to keep them confidential once the clerk opens the…
Can a Texas city council member who isn't paid for his current term run for the state legislature?
The Attorney General concluded that the council member was eligible to run. Article III, section 19 of the Texas Constitution bars a person who holds a 'lucrative office' from being elected to the…
Does a Texas private school have to admit a child who has a vaccine exemption?
The Attorney General concluded that a private school that does not accept state tax funds is not required to accept for enrollment a child who has an exemption from the immunizations required by the…
Can a private prison company hire the county sheriff's relative, or does nepotism law block it?
The Attorney General concluded that the nepotism statute does not apply, so the private operator of the Reeves County Detention Center was not prohibited from hiring the sheriff's son. Texas…
If a Texas seller missed annual contract-for-deed statements, do the old higher penalties or the new lower ones apply?
The Attorney General concluded that the 2005 version of Property Code section 5.077(c), which sets the lower liquidated-damages amount, applies retroactively. Under a contract for deed, the seller…
When must a Texas school district file a truancy complaint, and what happens if it misses the deadline?
The Attorney General answered three questions about the 2005 version of Education Code section 25.0951. First, the seven-school-day filing deadline runs from the student's tenth unexcused absence: a…
Does Texas's 'provider of last resort' rule for local MHMR authorities cover mental health services too, or only mental retardation services?
The Attorney General concluded that section 533.035(e), which says a local mental health and mental retardation authority 'may serve as a provider of services only as a provider of last resort,'…
Does Texas's nepotism law apply to a junior college board hiring a relative of a board member if the president actually does the hiring?
The Attorney General concluded that the nepotism statute, Government Code section 573.041, prohibits Del Mar College from employing an adjunct instructor related within a prohibited degree to a…
Do apartment maintenance workers in Texas need a pest-control license to spray pesticides on the landscaping?
The Attorney General concluded that under Occupations Code section 1951.051, the Texas Structural Pest Control Board may not require an employee of an apartment building owner to get a license…
If I was let off probation when my term ended but never paid my court fines, do I still owe them in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that for both regular and deferred adjudication community supervision, the supervision period ends automatically when the term expires, even if the judge never signs a…
How many votes does a Texas hospital district board need to pass something, and do abstentions count against it?
The Attorney General concluded that because the Harris County Hospital District Board of Managers adopted Robert's Rules of Order to govern its meetings, it approves an action by a majority vote of…
Two Texas bills changed the same water-funding law in 2005, so which version of the 'affected county' rule actually applies?
The Water Development Board pointed out that two bills from the 2005 legislature, Senate Bill 425 and House Bill 467, amended the same Water Code sections (16.341 and 17.923) in conflicting ways,…
Can an 18, 19, or 20-year-old in Texas collect a lottery prize directly, or does it have to go through an adult?
The Attorney General concluded that for purposes of the State Lottery Act, a 'minor' is anyone who has not yet turned 21. That is because Government Code section 466.405, which governs paying prizes…
Can Texas's Private Security Board make new alarm installers work under supervision or meet electrical-code standards?
The Chair of the House Public Health Committee asked whether the Private Security Board could adopt two rules for newly registered alarm installers. The Attorney General split the answer. On the…
If a small Texas city already taxes hotels in its ETJ, does a new county hotel tax force the city to drop its tax over the 15% cap?
The Attorney General concluded that section 351.0025(b) of the Tax Code limits cities, not counties, so it is not a question of which one has priority. A city with fewer than 35,000 people may tax…
Can a Texas waterfront owner rebuild eroded land that became School Fund property and keep title without paying the fund?
The General Land Office Commissioner asked whether a 2005 law, Natural Resources Code section 33.613, was constitutional. The Attorney General concluded it was not. When a waterfront (littoral)…
Can a Texas attorney ad litem meet with a foster child by phone before a court hearing, or does the law require an in-person meeting?
Two legislators asked whether a telephone interview satisfies an attorney ad litem's duty under Family Code section 107.004(d) to meet, before each court hearing, with a child in a child-protection…
When a Texas county distributes county permanent school fund money to its districts, are transfer students counted where they live or where they attend school?
Dawson County's attorney asked how to split a county permanent school fund reduction among five school districts when many students live in one district but attend another. The Attorney General…
Does a Texas county clerk have to impress a raised seal on every page of a certified copy, or only on the last page?
The Office of Court Administration asked whether the county clerk's certificate that goes on each page of a certified copy has to include a raised (embossed) seal on every page, or whether the seal…
Does a Texas retirement home that makes residents use the owner's own home health agency for care have to be licensed as an assisted living facility?
The Department of Aging and Disability Services asked about a place, marketed as a retirement community, that housed more than four unrelated residents and required them, by contract, to get all…
Can a Texas elected constable also work full-time as a deputy sheriff at the same time?
Yes. The opinion found no constitutional, common-law, or statutory bar to an elected constable serving as a deputy sheriff, because the deputy position is not a separate office. Practical scheduling…
If a Texas wireless carrier disputes whether the 911 fee applies to its service and seeks a refund, does the 911 Commission or the Comptroller decide?
A wireless carrier filed a refund claim with both the Commission on State Emergency Communications and the Comptroller, arguing the 9-1-1 fee did not apply to its prepaid service. The Commission…
Can a title company bring its own plat copying machine into a Texas county clerk's office to copy property records?
San Patricio County's attorney asked whether a person or company may set up a plat copying machine in the county clerk's office or elsewhere in the courthouse, where the clerk's office had no…
What fees can a Texas hospital charge a workers' comp carrier for medical records, the lower Labor Code rate or the Health and Safety Code rate?
The Department of State Health Services asked whether Health and Safety Code section 241.154(b) or Labor Code section 408.025(d) sets the fees a hospital may charge a workers' compensation carrier…
Do retired Texas judges who were eligible to serve by assignment before the 2003 rules still qualify under the old requirements?
Texas lets retired and former judges sit by assignment to help clear court backlogs, if they meet the eligibility rules in Government Code section 74.055(c). A 2003 law (House Bill 3306) made those…
What tuition exemption do Texas firefighters get for fire science courses, and does it cover community college fees?
A state senator asked the Attorney General to clarify Education Code section 54.208, which exempts Texas firefighters from tuition and lab fees for fire science courses. The opinion reached four…
Can Texas collect unpaid fines with a capias pro fine after a defendant's deferred adjudication ended with no motion to adjudicate filed?
Burnet County's collections office found expired deferred adjudications with unpaid court costs and fines, and the county attorney asked whether the state could still chase those defendants with a…
Can a private Texas college join the tuition equalization grant program if it is accredited by a different agency than public universities?
Representative Jim Pitts and the Higher Education Coordinating Board disagreed over whether Education Code section 61.222 let the Board approve a private college (Dallas Christian College) for the…
Can a Texas substitute teacher be paid for serving on a city council, or does the ban on holding two paid public positions block it?
Calhoun County's district attorney asked whether a substitute teacher could be paid while also serving on a city council. The Attorney General said yes. The Texas Constitution generally bars a…
Can a Texas city police chief also serve on the school board of a district inside the city, or is that an incompatible dual office?
Senator Robert Duncan asked whether the Hale Center chief of police could also serve as a trustee of the Hale Center school district, whose boundaries overlap the city. The Attorney General said…
Do you have to own property to serve on a Texas water district board, or is living in the district enough?
The president of the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District asked what it takes to serve as a director: must a candidate live in the district (and the single-member precinct) and…
Can a professional engineer in Texas design an entire public building without hiring a licensed architect?
Two questions came in: a House committee chair asked broadly whether a professional engineer can prepare all the plans for the public buildings listed in Occupations Code section 1051.703 without an…
Can a Texas deputy sheriff also work as a septic-system installer in his own county?
A Kimble County deputy sheriff had been cited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for working as an on-site sewage facility (septic system) installer in the same county, where the…
Can a Texas justice of the peace hold up organ donation until deciding whether to order an autopsy?
When someone dies under circumstances requiring an inquest and the family consents to organ donation, Health and Safety Code section 693.002(a)(5) does not let the justice of the peace simply stall.…
Can a Texas county hire a bank to manage its permanent school fund?
Chambers County asked whether it could contract with a bank to invest and manage its county permanent school fund, the fund built from public school lands the Republic of Texas granted to counties…
Can Texas send part of a divorce filing fee to a child-abuse prevention fund instead of the courts?
After the Legislature doubled the family protection fee (collected when a divorce is filed) to as much as $30 and sent half of it to the state child abuse and neglect prevention trust fund account,…
Can a Texas legislator also be paid as president of a municipal management district?
The House Civil Practices Committee chair asked whether the paid president of a municipal management district (created under Local Government Code chapter 375) could also sit in the Texas…
Is a charity poker run illegal gambling in Texas?
The Galveston County Criminal District Attorney asked whether a nonprofit could legally sponsor a 'poker run,' where participants make a $10 donation to a cause, ride or drive to a series of…
Can Texas legalize importing prescription drugs from Canada?
In 2005 the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 410, which tried to let Texans buy lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada by having the State Board of Pharmacy inspect, designate, and promote…
Can a Texas commissioners court pay a vendor on a claim the county auditor rejected?
The Harris County Attorney asked whether a commissioners court could pay a vendor the reasonable value (quantum meruit) of goods or services the county received under an implied contract, when the…
Does the practical part of the Texas hearing aid fitter licensing exam have to be validated by an independent testing professional?
The chair of the Texas House Committee on Human Services asked whether section 402.104(c) of the Occupations Code, which says 'the examination must be validated by an independent testing…
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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.