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 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, section …
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 c…
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 's…
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 ba…
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 acupunct…
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, are not subje…
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 t…
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 s…
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. On…
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 pri…
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 G…
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 installed…
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 pay.…
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 compensati…
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 requirin…
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 mains …
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 co…
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 r…
Who controls the money when a Texas county prosecutor waives part of their state salary supplement?
The Attorney General concluded that funds from a county prosecutor's partial waiver of annual compensation under Government Code chapter 46 are received by the county, not the prosecutor, and are subj…
Can a Texas county with a state mental hospital charge other counties a document-prep fee for commitment hearings?
The Attorney General concluded no. The cost a prosecutor's office spends preparing documents for a mental-health proceeding is part of the statutory prosecutor's fee under Health and Safety Code secti…
Can the same person in Texas be both a city mayor and a director of a hospital district?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the common-law doctrine of incompatibility, specifically its 'conflicting loyalties' branch, one individual could not at the same time serve as mayor of La Ver…
Can a Texas economic development corporation use 4A sales tax money to fund a nonprofit's job-training or rehabilitation facility?
The Attorney General concluded a 4A development corporation may spend sales-tax proceeds on a rehabilitation and job-training facility only if its board of directors reasonably finds, on the facts, th…
Can Texas district judges raise the county auditor's salary after the budget year has already started?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The district judges who appoint a county auditor and the assistant auditors may amend their salaries even after the county budget is approved and the new budget yea…
Can a Texas community college district lower its property tax rate after it has already set it and mailed the bills?
The Attorney General concluded no. The Tax Code does not expressly let a community college district voluntarily reduce its adopted tax rate in the same tax year, and that authority cannot be implied, …
How must a Texas public funds investment pool like TexPool calculate the maturity it discloses to investors?
The Attorney General concluded that section 2256.016 of the Government Code requires TexPool to calculate the 'maximum average dollar-weighted maturity' of its portfolio using the stated (final) matur…
Which judge is the 'presiding judge' who can appoint a master for a mental-health probable-cause hearing in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that the 'presiding judge' in section 574.025(c), who may decide to have a probable-cause hearing held before a master rather than a magistrate, is the judge of the cour…
Does converting a manufactured-home loan lien into a real-property lien create a valid homestead lien in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded it does not. Article XVI, section 50 of the Texas Constitution allows a 'purchase money' lien on a homestead only to the extent the debt was used to buy the land and its…
Does the 406th District Court of Webb County, Texas, have criminal jurisdiction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Although the statute creating the 406th District Court tells it to 'give preference' to family-violence, Family Code, and Health and Safety Code cases and does not …
Does Texas cemetery law (Chapter 711) apply to old, informal burial grounds on private property?
The Attorney General concluded that the parts of chapter 711 of the Health and Safety Code that refer broadly to 'cemeteries' (as opposed to 'cemetery organizations') apply as a general matter to old …
Can a Texas port navigation district limit how many years a contract can keep automatically renewing?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Port of Port Arthur Navigation District's express power to adopt rules to manage its affairs implies the power to limit, by policy, the number of times a loadin…
Can Texas spend state highway money on toll roads without requiring it to be paid back?
The Attorney General concluded no, not without a constitutional amendment. Article III, section 52-b lets TxDOT spend money on the Texas Turnpike Authority's toll roads only if any money taken from th…
When can a Texas commissioners court or governmental body legally meet by telephone conference call?
The Attorney General concluded that section 551.125 allows a telephone conference call meeting only in a genuine emergency or public necessity where convening a quorum in one place is 'difficult or im…
Is the City of Anson, Texas, a home-rule municipality?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Anson adopted a home-rule charter by voter approval on April 6, 1920, and has been a home-rule municipality under article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution ev…
Can a Texas state agency spend appropriated funds to promote itself to the public or hire a PR firm?
The Attorney General concluded that a state agency, here the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, may use appropriated funds to make information about its functions available to the public, i…
Can a Texas city reappoint a director of its economic development corporation to another term?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Nothing in the Development Corporation Act of 1979 (article 5190.6) or the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act bars reappointing a director of a section 4A economic de…
Can a Texas county tax assessor-collector use escrow account interest to boost her own salary?
The Attorney General concluded that section 23.122 of the Tax Code does not forbid it, but the use is tightly conditioned. The tax assessor-collector must first determine that supplementing her salary…
Who appoints members of a Texas fire and police civil service commission when a term expires?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 143.006 of the Local Government Code, the expiration of a member's term is not a 'vacancy,' so the mid-term vacancy-appointment rules do not apply at …
Can Texas garnish wages to collect attorney's fees in a child-support case?
The Attorney General drew a line based on article XVI, section 28 of the Texas Constitution, which bars wage garnishment except to enforce court-ordered child support. A statute may let a court includ…
Do Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation board members need Senate confirmation?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Even though the corporation is a nonprofit doing work usually associated with the private sector, its board members hold state offices under article IV, section 12 …
Can a Texas physical therapist license applicant pay the exam fee directly to the exam company?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 453.202 of the Occupations Code requires an applicant for a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant license to submit the examination fee to the B…
Can a loaded concrete truck drive on any Texas road regardless of posted weight limits?
The Attorney General concluded no. A ready-mixed concrete truck carrying a gross load up to 69,000 pounds may operate on Texas public highways if its owner has filed the required surety bond, but not …
Can Texas ban doctors from using patient testimonials in their advertising?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners is authorized to bar all testimonials in physician advertising. Although section 153.002 of the Occupations Code lets the…
Can the Texas pharmacy board satisfy a duty to list narrow therapeutic index drugs with an empty list?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Section 562.014 of the Occupations Code directs the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, in consultation with the medical board, to establish by rule a list of 'narrow th…
Which police officers are eligible to take the sergeant promotional exam in San Benito, Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that police officers in San Benito with at least two years of continuous service as either Police Officer II or Police Officer III are eligible to take the civil service…
Can one person serve as both a municipal utility district director and a city zoning commission member in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that one person could not hold both offices. A director of a municipal utility district and a member of a city planning and zoning commission are both public officers, a…
Can a Texas economic development corporation board approve funding for a business owned by one of its own members?
The Attorney General concluded it depended on the kind of transaction. The board of an economic development corporation may not approve a loan to one of its directors, because the Texas Non-Profit Cor…
Who is allowed to scan the magnetic stripe on the back of a Texas driver's license?
The Attorney General concluded that the electronically readable magnetic stripe information on a Texas driver's license or identification card may be used only by law enforcement and other governmenta…
Can a Texas police chief promote his nephew to lieutenant when the chief makes the final selection?
The Attorney General concluded that the chief could not. Under the state nepotism statute, a public official who has final authority to select someone for a position paid from public funds may not pic…
Which open-government and procurement laws apply to a Texas local government corporation?
The Attorney General concluded that local government corporations created under chapter 431, subchapter D of the Transportation Code must comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public I…
Is there a time limit to discipline a sheriff's department employee under a Texas county civil service system?
The Attorney General concluded there is no statutory time limit for taking disciplinary action against a sheriff's department employee covered by a subchapter A county civil service system, though the…
Can a Texas school district operate a campus outside its own geographic boundaries?
The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district may not operate a school outside its geographic boundaries. Boles ISD, located in Hunt County, wanted to run the former private Phoen…
Does a Texas city have to apply its telecom right-of-way excavation permit rules to every other company too?
The Attorney General concluded that Chapter 283 of the Local Government Code does not force a city to extend a certificated telecommunications provider (CTP) excavation-permit ordinance to entities th…
Can the spouse of a county political party chair serve as an early voting ballot board judge in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that the wife of the San Jacinto County Republican Party chairman could serve as a judge on the Early Voting Ballot Board, because her husband was not an opposed candida…
Can a Texas county commissioner use county equipment to dig graves in a private cemetery?
The Attorney General concluded that an individual county commissioner may not use county labor and equipment to open and close graves in a private cemetery, even free of charge, because public labor a…
If the tax office never sent the required notice, do I owe years of penalties and interest on my delinquent Texas property tax?
The Attorney General concluded that when a tax collector fails to send the five-year delinquency notice that section 33.04(b) of the Tax Code requires, the property owner is not responsible for any pe…
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act apply to a city economic development corporation's board?
The Attorney General concluded that the board of the Bryan-College Station Economic Development Corporation was not subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act. The corporation was a nonprofit organized un…
Does the Texas rule requiring a city to treat all proposers fairly apply to every request for proposals?
The Attorney General concluded that because his office cannot make findings of fact, it could not determine whether San Antonio broke the law in awarding a roughly $4.6 million advertising contract fo…
Can a Texas city or government agency ban concealed handgun license holders from its buildings and property?
The Attorney General concluded that a unit of government cannot ban concealed handgun license holders from carrying on its property just by passing its own rule, regulation, or policy, because the sta…
Can the Texas pest control board control what's in an exterminator's contract or force the company to honor it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Structural Pest Control Board, an agency with only the powers the legislature gave it, may regulate the language of contracts between its licensees and co…
Does a Texas county clerk have to time-stamp a document the moment it's filed, and can the clerk close early to process filings?
The Attorney General concluded that no statute expressly requires a county clerk to 'file stamp' a document, but the clerk must note the date and time on each instrument immediately when it is receive…
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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.