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 city block a sexually oriented business near a church that sits just outside the city limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that under section 243.003(b) of the Local Government Code, a city may enforce its sexually oriented business ordinance to keep such a business away from a…
Can a Texas state board award a grant to one of its own members or to a university that employs a member?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a grant from the Texas Council on Environmental Technology is a contractual relationship governed by the strict common-law conflict-of-interest rule, which…
Does redistricting cut short a Texas justice of the peace's four-year term?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under article V, section 18(c) of the Texas Constitution, a justice of the peace elected to a four-year term is entitled to serve out that full term in the…
Is a charitable sweepstakes fundraiser run by a Texas nonprofit legal?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the described 'charitable sweepstakes fundraising program' run by a private nonprofit was an illegal lottery under article III, section 47 of the Texas…
Can a Texas county dictate the emergency light color on tow trucks doing police-ordered tows?
Yes, in Harris County and for nonconsent (police-ordered) tows. The Attorney General concluded that Harris County, which has special statutory authority over towing and storage, may by rule or…
Can a charity give away a raffle ticket as a prize at a bingo game in Texas?
Probably not, and doing so could be a crime. The Attorney General concluded that awarding a raffle ticket as a bingo prize could violate Penal Code section 47.03, which bars transferring for gain…
Do new Texas bail bond license requirements apply to an application filed before the law took effect?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the work-experience and continuing-education eligibility requirements Senate Bill 1119 added to section 1704.152(a)(4) of the Occupations Code applied only to…
Who controls the content of Texas's statewide student tests, the State Board of Education or the Education Agency?
The Texas Education Agency, not the State Board of Education. The Attorney General concluded that while the State Board's job under section 39.022 of the Education Code is to create and implement…
When you cancel a Texas prepaid funeral plan, do you get back half the earnings on your money?
Only if the plan is trust-funded. The Attorney General concluded that the 2001 amendment to section 154.155(d) of the Finance Code, which lets a purchaser who cancels a prepaid funeral benefits…
Can a Texas county commissioners court create its own courthouse police force?
Not on its own authority. The Attorney General concluded that article 102.017 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a commissioners court spend the courthouse security fund to pay for security…
Does a Texas oil or gas well location have to be measured by a licensed land surveyor?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying could not require every proposed well location filed with the Railroad Commission to be surveyed by a…
Can a city council member appoint himself to a board the council fills?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a member of the Watauga City Council could not appoint himself to the board of directors of the Watauga Crime Control and Prevention District. Because the…
Does an assistant prosecutor's longevity-pay service credit carry over between Texas counties?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that 'lifetime service credit,' which determines longevity pay for assistant prosecutors under subchapter D of chapter 41 of the Government Code, does not have to…
Can a deceased Texas bail bondsman's relative keep running the business without a new license?
No. The Attorney General concluded that section 1704.152(c)(2) of the Occupations Code excuses the close relative or surviving spouse of a deceased bail bond licensee only from the work-experience…
Can a Texas county fax an elected officer the written notice of their proposed salary?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 152.013 of the Local Government Code requires only that the commissioners court give each elected county and precinct officer 'written notice' of the…
What does 'rehabilitation' legally mean for Texas blind services run by the Commission for the Blind?
The Attorney General gave the statutory definition: under chapter 91 of the Human Resources Code, 'vocational rehabilitation' or 'vocational rehabilitation services' means services the Commission…
Can the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for hospital data instead of using the open records fee schedule?
Yes, for two kinds of data. The Attorney General concluded that section 108.012(b) of the Health and Safety Code specifically lets the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for…
Is a Texas county on-site sewage (septic) system inspector a peace officer?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the designated representative of an authorized agent (here, Hale County) of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, working under chapter 366 of…
When does a Texas constable's deadline to get a permanent peace officer license start if he was appointed and then elected?
From the start of the elected term. The Attorney General concluded that a Bowie County constable who was first appointed to fill an unexpired term and later sworn in to a full elective term had 270…
Can an off-duty Texas peace officer working security on a casino boat make arrests once the boat is at sea?
Only inside Texas waters. The Attorney General concluded that Texas peace officers working as off-duty security guards on casino boats can make arrests under state law within the state's territorial…
Does Texas own old artifacts that were dug up from state land before the 1969 Antiquities Code?
Not automatically. The Attorney General concluded that whether the state owns artifacts removed from state lands before the 1969 Antiquities Code depends on the particular artifacts and where they…
Does a Texas state agency board member have to resign to run for the Legislature?
Not necessarily. The Attorney General concluded that a member of the Texas Department of Economic Development governing board did not hold a 'lucrative office,' because the member received only…
Does a Texas county have to refund pretrial diversion fees it had no authority to collect?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that 'pretrial diversion fees' a Hopkins County Attorney's predecessor had collected without legal authority, along with the interest earned on them, had to be…
What happens to a Texas constable when redistricting abolishes his precinct?
The Attorney General concluded that, under article V, section 18(c) of the Texas Constitution, a constable whose precinct is abolished by redistricting serves out the rest of his elected term in the…
Can a disability rights advocacy group see a patient's records if the legal guardian says no?
The Attorney General concluded that Texas' designated protection and advocacy system, Advocacy, Inc., could have access to patients with mental illness or developmental disabilities and to their…
Can a Texas city make running a red light a civil ticket instead of a crime, and use red-light cameras?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Richardson could not adopt an ordinance turning the disregard of a traffic-control signal into a civil violation, because state law makes running a…
Who decides which expelled students go to a juvenile justice alternative education program in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that, beyond providing some funding to the county juvenile board and reviewing the county-funded part of its budget, a county and its commissioners court had no…
Can Texas ban doctors and other health professionals from using testimonials in their ads?
The Attorney General concluded that, while it could not say definitively as a matter of law that a blanket ban was unconstitutional, a court would very likely strike down the absolute ban on…
When did buildings outside city limits in Texas have to start meeting the state energy code?
The Attorney General concluded that new construction in areas outside a municipality's jurisdiction had to begin complying with the Texas Building Energy Performance Standards as of September 1,…
Did Texas appellate court law clerks and briefing attorneys get the state employee pay raise?
The Attorney General concluded that briefing attorneys and law clerks at the state appellate courts were entitled to the across-the-board four percent state employee salary increase in section 10.12…
Can a city council member or county commissioner also serve on a Texas groundwater conservation district board?
The Attorney General concluded that no, in most cases. A person who already holds a compensated seat on the governing body of another local political subdivision (other than a county) could not also…
Can a Texas justice of the peace send a juvenile to detention for contempt of court?
The Attorney General concluded that a justice court could not order a child confined for a term of detention (the practice asked about was three days in a county juvenile facility) as contempt for…
Which plumbing code applies to new home construction in Texas cities?
The Attorney General concluded that the three 2001 plumbing bills could be harmonized rather than read as canceling each other out. Senate Bill 365 made the International Residential Code the…
Can a Texas constitutional county judge help manage the community supervision and corrections (probation) department?
The Attorney General concluded that no. Section 76.002(b) of the Government Code lets the district judges trying criminal cases and the judges of statutory county courts trying criminal cases…
Can you be charged with failure to drive in a single lane in Texas if you fell asleep at the wheel?
The Attorney General did not decide whether any specific drowsy-driving incident is a crime, because whether particular conduct violates a criminal statute is a fact question for a jury and a matter…
Is a bingo equipment revenue-share lease between a manufacturer and distributor legal in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a revenue-share leasing agreement between a bingo-equipment manufacturer and a distributor violates section 2001.556 of the Occupations Code if, under that…
Can a Texas bingo hall offer video poker on its electronic bingo card-minding devices?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Lottery Commission must examine the secondary, non-bingo features added to an electronic bingo card-minding device and disapprove them if they let a…
Can the Texas Legislature use a budget rider to require TxDOT to get a city's approval before building a border inspection station?
The Attorney General concluded no. Rider 63 to the 2001 General Appropriations Act tried to make the Texas Department of Transportation get the host city's written agreement to the location, plans,…
Does an exclusive contract between a hospital and a health insurer violate Texas antitrust law?
The Attorney General concluded that exclusive dealing arrangements do not, as a matter of law, violate the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983. Whether a particular exclusive contract is…
Must a Texas school expel a student who commits a drug or alcohol felony within 300 feet of school but not on school grounds?
The Attorney General concluded no. Texas Education Code section 37.007(a) makes expulsion mandatory only when the felony drug or alcohol conduct happens on school property or while the student is…
Can Texas require ephedrine dietary supplements to print the FDA's adverse-event reporting hotline on the label?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Texas Department of Health did not exceed its statutory authority when it adopted a rule requiring dietary supplements containing ephedrine to carry a label…
Can a Texas county pay for a new groundwater conservation district's confirmation election?
The Attorney General concluded no. When the Legislature created the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District, it set up a scheme in which the district's temporary board calls the confirmation…
Can a county's delinquent-tax-collection attorney donate money or equipment back to the county?
The Attorney General concluded that an attorney who is paid through the special delinquent-tax penalty under Tax Code section 33.07 may not donate money, personnel, or equipment to the county if the…
Can a retired teacher return to a full-time job at the same school district when a relative sits on the school board?
The Attorney General concluded no. Texas anti-nepotism law generally bars a school board from hiring someone related to a board member within the prohibited degree. One exception protects an…
Can the Texas podiatry board redefine 'foot' by rule so podiatrists may treat the tibia and fibula?
The Attorney General concluded no. Texas law limits podiatry to treating a disease, disorder, injury, deformity, or ailment of the human foot. The Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners…
Can Texas require owners of surface-irrigation septic systems to keep an ongoing maintenance contract?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission rule requiring owners of surface-irrigation on-site sewage facilities to keep an ongoing maintenance contract…
Can a Texas county give public funds to nonprofits that serve abused or at-risk children?
The Attorney General concluded that Kerr County generally had statutory authority to fund the children's nonprofits at issue. Family Code section 264.006 lets a county provide services to and…
Does a Texas county have to pay assistant prosecutors longevity pay even if the state doesn't reimburse it?
The Attorney General concluded yes on all three points. A 2001 law (subchapter D of Government Code chapter 41, effective January 1, 2002) requires counties to pay assistant prosecutors a longevity…
Can Texas pay Board for Evaluation of Interpreters members to evaluate interpreter candidates?
The Attorney General concluded no. The Board for Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI) has a statutory responsibility under Human Resources Code section 81.007 to evaluate and certify candidates for…
How do two Texas counties divide the taxable value of an oil and gas interest that crosses their shared boundary?
The Attorney General concluded that when a mineral interest is tied to surface land that crosses a county line, each county must separately appraise the market value of the interest only as it…
Can the Texas Ethics Commission give out campaign finance reports on CD before all candidates have filed?
The Attorney General concluded that Election Code section 254.0401(b) keeps the Texas Ethics Commission from posting an electronically filed campaign finance report on the Internet until every…
What must a Texas hospital district charge nonindigent residents for medical care, and can it pay a private hospital to provide it?
The Attorney General concluded that a 2001 amendment to the Garza County Hospital District's enabling act now requires it to charge nonindigent residents the 'reasonable and customary cost' of…
Can a Texas county commissioner be reimbursed for using his personal vehicle on official county business?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under Local Government Code section 152.011, the commissioners court sets compensation and travel expenses for county and precinct officers, including the…
Can a Texas county reimburse a city for the cost of gifts the city already gave to legislators?
The Attorney General concluded no. The City of Gilmer bought golf towels inscribed with its logo and gave them to legislators during Upshur County Day, then asked Upshur County to pay back half the…
Can the Texas A&M University System offer employees a nonqualified 457(f) deferred compensation plan involving a transfer of property?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article 6228a-5, section 3(a) of the Texas Revised Civil Statutes lets a state agency, a term broad enough to include the Texas A&M University System, allow some…
Can a Texas state representative also work as an assistant county attorney?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution bars a member of the Legislature from holding any other office or position of profit under the state. An…
Can the Texas Commission on Jail Standards review a jail's construction blueprints before it is built?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Commission's duty to inspect a facility and decide where fire sprinkler heads should not be placed includes examining blueprints for a structure not yet…
Can a Texas county bail bond board let an alternate sit in for the licensed bail bond surety member?
The Attorney General concluded no. Chapter 1704 of the Occupations Code lets several county bail bond board members send a designee, but not the licensed bail bond surety member elected by the other…
When a Texas county employee donates sick leave to a county pool, does its dollar value move with it?
The Attorney General concluded that under chapter 157, subchapter E of the Local Government Code, a value transfers along with sick-leave time as it moves from a contributing employee into the pool…
Can a Texas state university bank with a bank where one of its regents is an officer?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the common-law conflict of interest rule, an officer or employee of a bank has a pecuniary interest in it, and when a regent of Texas Woman's University…
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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.