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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Do Texas manufactured-home dealers and installers need a license to buy refrigerants?
The Attorney General concluded that manufacturers, retailers, rebuilders, and installers of manufactured homes are exempt from the entire Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law…
Can Texas change how state employees are paid for unused vacation accrued years earlier?
The Attorney General concluded that state employees do not have a vested constitutional right to the particular formula the state once used to value their accrued vacation when they leave. Even…
Can a Texas county change the name of a county road that already has a name?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court's power under Transportation Code section 251.013 to name public roads in unincorporated areas includes the power to rename a road…
Could a Texas county grant a tax abatement to a business that leased tax-exempt real property in a reinvestment zone?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 312.206(a) allowed a county to make the derivative tax-abatement agreement only with the owner of taxable real property. A leaseholder of…
Does claiming a property tax exemption trigger the agricultural rollback tax on Texas open-space land?
The Attorney General concluded that qualifying agricultural open-space land for a youth-development-association tax exemption under Tax Code section 11.19 does not, by itself, count as a change of…
Can someone employed outside a local workforce board's area serve as its private-sector member?
The Attorney General concluded that a person is not ineligible to serve as a private-sector representative on a local workforce development board just because the person is employed outside the…
Can a Texas county pay part of its retirees' health insurance premiums indefinitely?
The Attorney General concluded that COBRA does not require or authorize a county to pay any part of a retiree's health insurance premiums or to keep coverage going indefinitely. And a county may not…
Can a bingo equipment maker and distributor agree on the price charged to charities in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a manufacturer and a distributor of bingo equipment may not agree, expressly or by implication, on the price at which the distributor will sell or lease that…
Can a Texas road district borrow against future road fees to repay a loan over several years?
The Attorney General concluded that Bastrop County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2, which holds the powers of a road district under article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution,…
Can a Texas city pay legal fees for council members prosecuted for Open Meetings Act violations?
The Attorney General concluded that a city council member is disqualified from voting on a resolution to pay his or her own legal fees, or the fees of another member indicted on the same facts for…
Does a Texas city incumbent keep the seat after winning only a plurality pending a runoff?
The Attorney General concluded that when a home-rule city requires a majority vote and an incumbent wins only a plurality, the incumbent does not automatically lose the seat. Article XI, section 11…
Can a Texas county clerk charge extra to find records on top of the $1 per copy fee?
The Attorney General concluded that for a request for 50 or fewer noncertified pages located in one (non-remote) building, a county clerk may charge only the statutory $1 per page or part of a page.…
Can a Texas county development district levy property taxes or build subdivision infrastructure?
The Attorney General concluded that a county development district created under chapter 383 of the Local Government Code cannot levy ad valorem (property) taxes. Chapter 383 grants only a…
Can a Texas city or county hire a company on commission to find untaxed property?
The Attorney General concluded that a business may legally be organized to locate property omitted from the appraisal rolls, but no taxing unit, including a home-rule city, may contract with such a…
Can a Texas judge order police to escort a domestic violence offender back home to get belongings?
The Attorney General concluded that the Family Code and Code of Criminal Procedure neither expressly allow nor forbid a judge to put such an escort in a protective order, so it falls within the…
Can a Texas county repair private gated-community roads if the city asks and the county is reimbursed?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court could not enter an interlocal agreement with a city to repair roads that are private and closed to the public, even with full reimbursement.…
Which Texas county pays for mental health commitment hearings when another county's hospital holds them?
The Attorney General concluded that the county that initiates emergency detention, or, if none was initiated, the county that accepts the court-ordered mental health application or issues a…
Can a Texas heavy equipment dealer get back inventory taxes prepaid in a year they didn't owe?
The Attorney General concluded that the tax assessor-collector had no authority to take or escrow the dealer's payments, since a dealer not in business on January 1 owes no inventory tax and may not…
Can a Texas board continue a closed executive session to the next day under the Open Meetings Act?
The Attorney General concluded that a governmental body may continue a closed executive session only until the following day, not to a later date. To resume it, the body must first reconvene in open…
Who collects old unpaid Texas 911 emergency service fees, the Comptroller or the 911 Commission?
The Attorney General concluded that, under House Bill 1983's savings clause, the Comptroller (not the Commission on State Emergency Communications) has authority to collect a telecommunications…
Can a Texas city manager or city attorney see confidential police personnel files?
The Attorney General concluded that information made confidential by section 143.089(g) of the Local Government Code, the police or firefighter department personnel file, may be released to the city…
Is a travel trailer on rented land taxed as real property or personal property in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that section 1.04(3)(B) of the Tax Code does not rule out, as a matter of law, treating a travel trailer on someone else's land as an 'improvement' taxable as real…
Does a Texas city have to bid out a contract for temporary garbage collection workers?
The Attorney General concluded that a city's contract with a temporary day labor agency for garbage collection workers can be exempt from competitive bidding under Local Government Code section…
Can a state licensing board withhold confidential records from a federal EEOC discrimination investigation?
The Attorney General concluded that it could not. Section 164.007 of the Occupations Code makes the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners' investigative files on license applicants confidential,…
Can the funeral arrangements in a prepaid funeral contract be changed after the person dies?
The Attorney General concluded that section 711.002(g) of the Health and Safety Code lets a person give written directions for the disposition of their remains in a signed prepaid funeral contract,…
Can a Texas water district charge you a sewer fee if you refuse to connect to its system?
The Attorney General concluded that the Lower Valley Water District could assess a necessary fee on property owners who were able to connect to its sewer system but chose not to. Under Water Code…
Can a defense attorney post a client's bail bond in municipal court on their bar card alone?
The Attorney General concluded no. A bar card only shows State Bar membership, so a municipal court must require an attorney who acts as a surety on a client's bail bond to show evidence of the…
Can a Texas county treasurer appoint a deputy who can do everything the treasurer can?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county treasurer may appoint a deputy treasurer under chapter 151 of the Local Government Code, provided the appointment follows that chapter's process, which…
Can a Texas emergency services district adopt its own fire code, and what happens if a city or county code conflicts?
The Attorney General concluded that an emergency services district may adopt a fire code under Health and Safety Code section 775.036(b), but it must not conflict with the fire code of any…
Can a state licensing board inspect a podiatrist's office without a warrant?
The Attorney General concluded no. The Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners had adopted a rule letting it inspect podiatric practices on an unannounced basis, but the opinion found that…
Does a Texas county tax assessor-collector who collects the motor vehicle inventory tax still have to register with the state tax board?
The Attorney General concluded that taking the monthly reports and prepayments for the motor vehicle inventory tax is collecting taxes. An interlocal contract under Tax Code section 6.24(b) must…
Did the manufactured housing law give the state housing department power over unlicensed real estate brokers?
The Attorney General concluded that it did not. Section 6A of the Manufactured Housing Standards Act, added by House Bill 1193, does not give the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs…
Can a Texas real estate appraiser fill out the FHA Valuation Conditions form without an inspector license?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A state licensed or certified real estate appraiser who has voluntarily qualified with HUD to perform FHA mortgage insurance appraisals is authorized to complete…
Can someone serve as an elected constable and a city firefighter at the same time in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that the common-law doctrine of incompatibility does not bar one person from simultaneously serving as an elected constable and a municipal firefighter. The…
Can a Texas sheriff keep drug-seizure reimbursement fees in a separate account and spend them at his own discretion?
The Attorney General concluded no. Money a sheriff collects when a judge orders a defendant to reimburse a law enforcement agency for analyzing, storing, or disposing of seized drug materials (Code…
Can a dissolving Texas hospital district donate its tobacco settlement money to a city, and does dissolution require an election?
The Attorney General concluded two things. First, the Ranger Hospital District could not, as part of dissolving, transfer its tobacco settlement funds to the City of Ranger to buy an ambulance…
Can three members of a nine-member Texas state board pass or block a resolution, or does it take a majority of the whole board?
The Attorney General concluded that the 'affirmative vote of at least three directors' language in Agriculture Code section 58.014(b) does not let a three-member minority overrule a majority of the…
Who enforces Texas's rule against awarding architect and other professional-services contracts by competitive bid?
The Attorney General concluded that enforcement of the Professional Services Procurement Act is split among several officials. At the state level the Comptroller (and, as a backstop, the State…
Can a Texas Air National Guard officer be discharged for lacking professional qualifications based on a unit commander's policy letter?
The Attorney General concluded it was not illegal to discharge a member of the Texas Air National Guard under TANG Regulation 36-05 for 'lacking in professional qualifications or status,' even where…
Can a Texas county commissioners court handle purchasing, or hire staff for it, when no county purchasing agent has been appointed?
The Attorney General reached several conclusions for Parker County. A commissioners court may employ people to conduct county business even without specific statutory authority, as long as those…
Can a Texas sheriff join a multi-county tactical response team and send deputies to help other counties without the commissioners court's approval?
The Attorney General concluded that, as described, the Midland County Sheriff had no authority to organize or join the STAR mutual-aid tactical team. The general power to make contracts binding a…
Can an area break away from a Texas community college district to form its own district, and how?
The Attorney General concluded that disannexing part of a junior (community) college district is possible only when a statute specifically authorizes it and only by the method the Legislature set.…
Does Texas's salary cap on rehired state retirees apply if they did the same work for only part of their last year before retiring?
The Attorney General concluded the section 659.0115 salary cap does apply to a retiree rehired to do work substantially similar to what he did during any part of his last twelve months of state…
Can a Texas county exempt certain land divisions from the subdivision plat requirement, and who must be notified before a plat is revised?
The Attorney General reached three conclusions for Parker County. First, Local Government Code section 232.0015(a) does let a county 'define and classify' land divisions so as to except a specific…
Can a Texas court clerk prepare a criminal judgment, and does the 1999 law require an attorney to supervise?
The Attorney General concluded that the 1999 amendment to article 42.01, section 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure did not stop a court clerk from preparing a criminal judgment, but a clerk could…
Can Texas police pull over a motorcyclist who isn't wearing a helmet and has no exemption sticker?
The Attorney General concluded that a peace officer may stop a motorcyclist (or a rider carrying a passenger) who is not wearing a helmet when the motorcycle does not display the Department of…
Can a Texas police officer or firefighter appeal a written reprimand to the civil service commission?
For a municipality not subject to chapter 143 subchapters G, H, I, or J, the Attorney General concluded that a civil-service commission cannot hear an appeal of a written reprimand standing alone.…
Does a Texas county clerk have to file a UCC lien that lists the same person as both debtor and secured party?
The Attorney General concluded that a county clerk does not have to accept a purported UCC financing statement that names the same person as both the debtor and the secured party, because such a…
Can a Texas county quietly raise elected officials' salaries by more than the amount in the public notice?
The Attorney General concluded that section 152.013(b) of the Local Government Code requires a commissioners court to publish notice of the maximum proposed salary increases for elected county and…
Can a Texas county put probation department employees under its civil service system?
The Attorney General concluded that a county cannot include community-supervision-and-corrections department employees (probation officers and staff) in a county civil-service system, even one…
How does a Texas county split national forest money among its school districts?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 130.906 of the Local Government Code, a county that receives federal national forest revenue must divide the school share among all its school…
Can a city park board let a public hotel sell gym memberships to local residents?
The Attorney General concluded that a municipal park board may adopt rules letting a hotel it manages under section 306.032 of the Local Government Code sell health and fitness center memberships to…
Does Texas's disabled parking placard law require two accessible spaces in a small lot?
The Attorney General concluded that section 681.009(e) of the Transportation Code does not require two disabled parking spaces where the federal ADA and Texas accessibility guidelines require only…
Can a Texas county move car registration fee money into its general fund?
The Attorney General concluded that motor vehicle registration fees allocated to a county must be credited to the county road and bridge fund and used for road and bridge construction, maintenance,…
Does a Texas judge auto-resign just by seeking a party's nomination for another office?
The Attorney General concluded that a county court at law judge who merely seeks a political party's executive committee nomination to be the party's general-election candidate for a new office does…
Does a Texas agency post its own meeting notice when its board attends a Sunset hearing?
The Attorney General concluded that when a quorum of a state agency's governing board attends a Sunset Advisory Commission public hearing and one or more of them testifies, answers questions, or…
Can a Texas hospital district hold an election to raise the maximum tax rate set when it converted?
The Attorney General concluded that a hospital district governed by chapter 286 of the Health and Safety Code has no authority to hold an election to raise the maximum property tax rate its voters…
How much jail-time credit do you get for an unpaid Class C misdemeanor fine in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a defendant jailed for failing to pay a fine on a Class C misdemeanor must be credited at a rate of not less than $100 for each day, or part of a day, served.…
Can a large Texas county build or replace a cattle guard on a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that section 251.009 of the Transportation Code authorizes only counties with fewer than 60,000 residents to build cattle guards on county roads. Because Webb County's…
Can a Texas licensing board outsource its scholarship program to a private nonprofit?
The Attorney General reached three conclusions. The legislative appropriation for the architectural-examination scholarship fund was backed by pre-existing law (section 7A of article 249a), so it…
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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.