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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If land is sold mid-project, do the development rules locked in at the first permit still apply?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under section 245.002 of the Local Government Code, the development regulations in effect when the original application for the first permit was filed stay with…
Can a Texas property owner see the data a private firm used to appraise their property for taxes?
The Attorney General concluded yes, and the access is broad. Under section 25.195(a) of the Tax Code, an owner may inspect appraisal information held by the appraisal district, though that access…
Can Texas let alcohol sellers scan a driver's license stripe to check age without breaking federal privacy law?
The Attorney General concluded that House Bill 3016, which lets private parties read the magnetic stripe on a driver's license to prevent underage alcohol sales and to comply with Alcoholic Beverage…
Can the public see a provisional autopsy report held by a Texas justice of the peace?
The Attorney General concluded yes, but not through the Public Information Act. Records of the judiciary, including a justice of the peace's inquest files, fall outside chapter 552. A provisional…
Can a Texas veterinarian keep my pet until I pay the bill?
The Attorney General concluded a veterinarian generally cannot. A vet may have an equitable lien on an animal for the care provided, but that lien is not possessory, so the vet must return the…
Can a Texas city pay its fire department for emergency first-responder care inside a hospital district?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article IX, section 9 of the Texas Constitution does not give a hospital district exclusive authority over emergency medical or First Responder services, and…
Does a Texas water district's payment to a city for utilities count taxes paid by businesses, not just households?
The Attorney General concluded that while a restaurant is not a 'household user' of water and sewer service, its owner may still be an 'owner of taxable property' under section 43.0761 of the Local…
Can the Texas Railroad Commission adopt its own rule requiring commissioners to recuse themselves in contested cases?
The Attorney General concluded the Railroad Commission could not adopt Rule 1.10, which the opinion read as mandatory rather than voluntary. The part requiring a commissioner who declined to recuse…
Does a church that sells prepaid funeral or burial services need a permit from the Texas Department of Banking?
The Attorney General concluded a court would probably find chapter 154 of the Finance Code applies to the Archdiocese of San Antonio's sale of prepaid funeral benefits, because the Legislature…
Can the Texas Department of Public Safety require licensing for off-road dirt bike rider training courses?
The Attorney General concluded the Department of Public Safety could not regulate off-road dirt-bike training courses. Its motorcycle operator training program under chapter 662 of the…
Does renting out part of your Texas home cost you the homestead property-tax exemption on that part?
The Attorney General read section 11.13 of the Tax Code to mean that renting part of your home to someone else is a use 'incompatible' with your residential use, so that rented portion loses the…
Does a Texas county have to provide health insurance to an elected constable?
The Attorney General concluded that a county may provide health insurance to a constable but is not required to. The commissioners court has discretion to set reasonable eligibility rules, such as…
Can a Texas constable skip serving process because he has to attend every justice court session?
The Attorney General concluded that the two duties in section 86.021 of the Local Government Code, attending every session of the justice court and serving process, are independent and both must be…
Can a Texas nursing home donate unused prescription drugs to foreign countries instead of destroying them?
The Attorney General concluded that federal law does not bar Texas from letting nursing homes ship certain unused prescription drugs overseas, and does not preempt the state statute requiring rules…
Can a county health-benefits board meet in closed session to hear a complaint about its outside claims administrator?
The Attorney General concluded that the Open Meetings Act does not let the board meet in executive session to consider a complaint against its third party administrator. The Act's closed-session…
What can a 9-1-1 emergency communication district in Texas legally spend its money on?
The Attorney General concluded that an emergency communication district can spend money on things beyond the specific items the statute lists as allowable operating expenses, because the law says…
Do you need a Social Security number to get a Texas driver's license?
The Attorney General concluded that the Department of Public Safety must require every driver's license applicant who has a Social Security number to provide it, because federal law and the Texas…
Is the Texas Railroad Commission required to run a program to keep electricity fuel costs low?
The Attorney General concluded that section 39.9048 of the Utilities Code does not require the Railroad Commission to start a program to keep the cost of fuel used to generate electricity low. That…
Can a Texas hospital district appoint its own board members to the board of an HMO it created?
The Attorney General concluded that a hospital district could appoint its managers to the board of an HMO it created. A manager with a substantial interest in the HMO must disclose it and abstain…
How is a fresh water supply district created in Texas, and who can call the election?
The opinion was prompted by doubts about whether the Kaufman County Fresh Water Supply District No. 1 was validly created, but the Attorney General declined to decide that, both because it would…
When can a Texas district clerk give the jury list to the lawyers before trial?
The Attorney General concluded that in both civil and criminal trials the jury list must be given to both parties once they have announced ready for trial, the point Rule 224 and article 35.01 fix.…
Does a Texas plea taken by video teleconference have to be recorded on video?
The Attorney General concluded that the 'recording of the communication' that article 27.18 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires when a court accepts a plea or waiver by closed circuit video…
Does a Texas city commissioner automatically resign by running for school board?
The Attorney General concluded that the office of trustee of a consolidated school district board is an 'office of profit or trust' under article XI, section 11 of the Texas Constitution. So a…
Did the 1999 amendments fix Texas's unconstitutional water quality protection zone law?
The Attorney General concluded that the 1999 amendments to section 26.179 of the Water Code did not save the statute. In FM Properties Operating Co. v. City of Austin (2000), the Texas Supreme Court…
Can a Texas homeowner opt out of HOA deed restrictions changed under chapter 204?
The Attorney General concluded that a property owner cannot use the chapter 201 'exclusion statement' procedure to keep his property out of deed restrictions that a property owners' association…
Can a Texas economic development corporation spend sales-tax money on a park voters didn't list?
The Attorney General concluded that the Industrial Development Corporation of the City of Sonora was not barred, as a matter of law, from using its section 4B sales and use tax proceeds for a…
Can a Texas county hand its school-land duties to the local school district?
The Attorney General concluded that the Llano County Commissioners Court could not delegate to the Llano Independent School District its authority to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the…
Do excused medical absences count toward the 90% attendance a Texas student needs to get class credit?
The Attorney General concluded that the 90 percent attendance requirement for class credit in section 25.092 of the Education Code applies to every student, even one who is exempt from compulsory…
Can a Texas county pay the employer payroll tax on a county judge's state salary supplement out of the state supplement itself?
The Attorney General concluded that a county could not use a county judge's $10,000 state salary supplement under section 26.006 of the Government Code to pay the employer's share of Social Security…
Could a Texas felon who received a full pardon legally possess a firearm?
The Attorney General concluded that a felon who received a full, unconditional pardon was not subject to section 46.04 of the Penal Code, the statute that bars a convicted felon from possessing a…
Can a Texas district attorney sign a multiyear equipment lease that binds county funds?
The Attorney General concluded that a district attorney had no authority to sign a contract committing county funds, so a 51-month postal-meter lease that the prior DA had signed was void as a…
Could a Texas county hospital district give free or discounted health care to residents regardless of immigration status?
The Attorney General concluded that the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), specifically 8 U.S.C. 1621, barred the Harris County Hospital…
If you can't pay the fines on several Texas Class C tickets, does the jail time run together or stack up?
The Attorney General answered three questions about people convicted of multiple Class C misdemeanors who could not pay their fines and court costs. First, if a person is already confined for…
If a Texas emergency services district overlaps a rural fire district, is its property tax capped at two cents?
The Attorney General concluded that when a proposed emergency services district in a smaller county would overlap with an existing rural fire prevention district, the commissioners court may only…
Can an employee of a private company that lives off a state contract still be paid as a Texas MUD board director?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution lets people who get all or part of their pay from state funds serve on local governing bodies like a municipal…
Do engineers working on federal defense contracts in Texas need a Texas state engineering license?
The Attorney General concluded that to the extent engineers practice engineering under contracts the federal government procured under its own procurement laws and regulations, which already let the…
Can a Texas county pay its constables different salaries, and can it pay one almost nothing?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court does not have to pay every constable the same. Salaries can vary between precincts when one constable has more extensive duties, for example…
Does a senator filling in as Texas lieutenant governor have to serve on the redistricting board?
The Attorney General concluded yes. When the lieutenant governor's office is vacant, article III, section 9 of the Texas Constitution lets the Senate elect one of its own members to perform the…
Can city police, not just the county sheriff, serve a mental-health emergency detention warrant in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a municipal peace officer, as well as a county peace officer, may execute an emergency-detention warrant under section 573.012 of the Health and Safety Code and…
Can a Texas city force-sell my homestead if I don't pay a public improvement district assessment?
The Attorney General concluded that a city may collect delinquent public improvement district assessments using the same procedures it uses to enforce an ad valorem tax lien on real property, but…
Can a Texas county commissioner also serve as a volunteer firefighter?
The Attorney General concluded yes, a county commissioner may serve as a volunteer firefighter for an unincorporated town in his county. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution, which bars…
If a Texas county grows past 8,000, does the combined district-and-county clerk lose office right away?
The Attorney General concluded that the offices do not split mid-term. Under the constitution and the Government Code, a county under 8,000 people elects a single 'joint clerk' to do both the…
Can a Texas county pay health insurance premiums for retirees who weren't promised that benefit when they retired?
The Attorney General concluded that a county may not start paying group-health-insurance premiums for retirees who were not promised that benefit when they retired, because under article III,…
Can a Texas city hire an independent contractor to do its plumbing inspections instead of a city employee?
The Attorney General concluded that a local plumbing inspector under the Plumbing License Law must be an actual employee of the city or other political subdivision where the inspector works. The job…
Can a Texas optometric glaucoma specialist use only that title, or must they also list 'optometrist'?
The Attorney General concluded that an 'optometric glaucoma specialist' may not use that phrase as their only professional title. The statute that created the new specialty says such a practitioner…
Can a Texas district attorney also serve as a legal officer in the Air Force Reserve?
The Attorney General concluded that serving as a legal officer in the United States Air Force Reserve is not the 'private practice of law,' so it does not violate the Professional Prosecutors Act's…
Can a licensed acupuncturist in Texas perform spinal manipulation like Tui Na?
The Attorney General concluded that even if the acupressure technique called Tui Na counts as an 'energy flow exercise,' a licensed acupuncturist administering that exercise is not practicing…
Do Texas charter school board members have to follow the state nepotism and conflict-of-interest laws?
The Attorney General concluded that the board members of a nonprofit corporation that runs an open-enrollment charter school, and the members of any separate board for the school itself, were not…
Can a Texas county let its tax-collection law firm decide when foreclosed properties get resold?
The Attorney General concluded that a taxing unit cannot adopt a 'blanket' resolution that hands its private tax-collection attorneys the power to direct the sheriff or a constable on when to resell…
Can a Texas county pay court employees a one-time salary supplement from refunded judicial funds?
The Attorney General concluded that compensating court personnel is a 'court-related purpose,' so excess contributions refunded to a county under section 26.008 and earmarked for the judiciary under…
Can a Texas school board require the superintendent to attend its closed executive sessions?
The Attorney General concluded that a clause in a superintendent's employment contract requiring her to attend all of the board's executive (closed) sessions does not violate the Open Meetings Act.…
Can a Texas land surveyor submit a competitive bid to a prime contractor on a government project?
The Attorney General concluded that the Professional Services Procurement Act covers any government contract that includes professional services as a component, including services bought through a…
Does a Texas school district subtract property in a tax increment financing zone from its taxable value?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Government Code section 403.302(d)(8) requires the Comptroller to deduct the captured value of property subject to a tax increment financing agreement under Local…
Does Texas' pollution-control property tax exemption cover equipment at a brand-new facility?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Both add-on pollution-control equipment and production equipment that limits pollution by its design qualify for the Tax Code section 11.31 exemption when…
Can a Texas school board member also teach as an unpaid volunteer in the same district?
The Attorney General concluded no. The common-law doctrine of incompatibility bars a school district trustee from also serving as a volunteer, part-time teacher in the same district, even without…
Can a Texas county pay deputies for accrued vacation or comp time it didn't allow when the time was earned?
The Attorney General concluded no. Paying for accrued vacation or compensatory time that the county did not permit to be paid out when it accrued would be unconstitutional retroactive extra…
Can a Texas county limit which employee groups qualify for dues payroll deduction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Because a commissioners court is not required to set up a dues payroll-deduction program at all, it may set one up subject to reasonable standards, such as…
Can a Texas city use its own crews to run utility lines to a new subdivision instead of hiring a contractor?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Local Government Code sections 402.001 and 402.002 give a city express authority to own, construct, and operate utility systems, so a city may extend utility…
Can a Texas county make a plat-revision applicant pay for the cost of the required public notice?
The Attorney General concluded no. A county can charge a fee only when a statute or the constitution expressly authorizes it, and no provision lets a commissioners court charge an applicant for the…
Can a Texas county bail bond board consider an independent appraisal of a bondsman's property?
The Attorney General concluded that a county bail bond board may not require a license applicant to submit an independent appraisal of real property pledged as security, because the board cannot add…
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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.