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 beach parking and user fees get charged sales tax?
The Attorney General concluded no. Beach user fees that local governments charge under chapter 61 of the Natural Resources Code and the General Land Office rules were not subject to sales tax under ch…
Can a Texas county pay for officials' conference fees, prepay newspaper notices, or pay salaries early?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Constitution's bans on gifts of public money (article III, section 52 and article XI, section 3) did not stop a county from paying officials' conference r…
What's the lowest speed limit a Texas county can set on a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 545.355 of the Transportation Code, a county commissioners court could lower the speed limit on a county road or highway, but not below 30 miles an ho…
Do telemarketing and door-to-door cancellation laws apply to home warranty (residential service contract) sales in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that chapter 37 of the Business and Commerce Code, the telephone-solicitation law, applied to unsolicited calls by a residential service company (home warranty company) …
Is it illegal to park in or block a van-access aisle in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Parking a vehicle so that it blocks a van-access aisle (the striped lane next to a van-accessible disabled parking spot) is a misdemeanor under section 681.011(c) o…
Can a Texas transit authority buy a railroad line that runs outside its service area?
The Attorney General concluded yes, with a condition. A metropolitan transit authority created under chapter 451 of the Transportation Code may buy a railroad line and right-of-way even where part of …
Does a Texas DA have to sell forfeited property at a sheriff's auction?
The Attorney General concluded no, not when a local forfeiture agreement exists. Sheriff's auction is only the fallback method that article 59.06(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires when no …
Can a Texas school teacher also be a paid county commissioner?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A public school teacher or administrator may hold the office of county commissioner at the same time and keep the salary that comes with the commissioner position, …
Can a Texas county accept a donation that must be spent on one specific road?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county commissioners court may accept a money donation under section 252.214 of the Transportation Code even when the donor attaches a condition, such as requirin…
Can a Texas assisted living (personal-care) facility provide nursing services to residents?
The Attorney General concluded the Board of Human Services rule was ultra vires (beyond the agency's authority) to the extent it let a personal-care facility provide 'occasional nursing services' beyo…
Can a Texas county pay for an autopsy when its resident dies in another county?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under chapter 49 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, a justice of the peace can order an autopsy only as part of an inquest into a death that occurred in that justice…
If a polygraph examiner learns a child was abused, must they report it in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Although the Polygraph Examiners Act generally makes information from a polygraph exam confidential, section 261.101 of the Family Code requires anyone who suspects…
Could the Texas Land Commissioner convey state-owned submerged land to a coastal city?
The Attorney General concluded no. A 1944 Special Award by which the Land Commissioner ceded an interest in state-owned submerged land to the City of Aransas Pass was not valid. Submerged land under n…
Can a Texas hospital district enter an interest-rate swap or hedge contract on its bonds?
The Attorney General concluded no. The El Paso Hospital District has only the powers the Legislature expressly gave it, plus those necessarily implied to carry out the express ones. It can run a hospi…
Can the Texas fire commission hire someone whose spouse leads a firefighters' association?
The Attorney General concluded that, on the facts given, yes. Section 419.006 of the Government Code bars the Commission on Fire Protection from putting an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a T…
Can a city fix a decades-old mistake of not enrolling an employee in the Texas Municipal Retirement System?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least not for errors older than four years. Section 855.410 of the Government Code only imposes interest on late monthly contributions; it does not create a proce…
Can a Texas county leave the state funds off the form jurors use to donate their jury pay?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 61.003 of the Government Code requires that each prospective juror get a form letting them donate their jury-service reimbursement to listed funds and progra…
Can the Texas Lottery Commission renew a bingo or lottery license after it has already expired?
The Attorney General concluded that the Commission cannot revive a dead license. It may renew a bingo license or a lottery sales-agent license only if the licensee mailed or faxed a sufficient renewal…
Does a Texas official's child's income count as the official's income for conflict-of-interest rules?
The Attorney General concluded that a minor child's or dependent child's earnings are the child's own gross income, not the parent official's. Family Code provisions giving parents control over a mino…
Where does the interest earned on a Texas prosecutor's hot-check fund go?
The Attorney General concluded the interest does not stay in the hot-check fund. Although the common law says interest follows the principal, section 113.021(c) of the Local Government Code overrides …
Can a Texas county commissioner be paid to drive an ambulance for the county EMS department?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 81.002 of the Local Government Code, the oath every county commissioner takes, forbids a commissioner from having any interest, direct or indirect, in a cont…
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act apply to a committee that helps a county choose an architect?
The Attorney General concluded yes, on the facts presented. A Smith County 'Evaluation Committee' that ranked architectural firms for the commissioners court and then negotiated the contract with the …
Does a Texas funeral home need its own embalming room, and can it hire an embalmer as a contractor?
The Attorney General read article 4582b to require every licensed funeral establishment to have its own on-site embalming room; it cannot satisfy that licensing requirement by designating another busi…
When two Texas bills amend the same tax statute in the same session, which one controls?
The Attorney General concluded that the later-enacted bill controls. In 1997 the Legislature passed two bills, Senate Bill 141 and House Bill 3306, both rewriting section 34.06(b) of the Tax Code on h…
Does a Texas city council have to post notice before going into closed session to talk to its attorney?
The Attorney General concluded that a private consultation with the body's attorney is a 'meeting' under the Open Meetings Act, so the body must give notice of the subject, even when the talk happens …
Can a Texas constable serve legal process in a school truancy case, or only the attendance officer?
The Attorney General concluded that a constable may serve process on a person who fails to appear at a truancy hearing, and must do so when a justice of the peace directs it. Section 25.091 of the Edu…
Must a Texas county auditor audit the county department of education, and can the county charge for it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Harris County Auditor must audit the Harris County Department of Education every year under article 2919g-1 of the Revised Civil Statutes, even though an indepe…
Can a Texas county attorney also work as a city attorney for a city in the county?
The Attorney General concluded that the Brewster County Attorney could simultaneously serve as an attorney for the City of Alpine. Because he was appointed by and served at the will of the city counci…
Is a state bond pricing committee covered by the Texas Open Meetings Act, and can it meet out of state?
The Attorney General concluded that a pricing committee appointed by the Texas Public Finance Authority Board to negotiate the final terms of a bond sale and sign the bond purchase contract is itself …
Can Texas store low-level radioactive waste in an assured-isolation facility, and can it ban private companies from disposing of federal nuclear waste?
The Attorney General concluded that an above-ground assured-isolation facility would satisfy Texas's current duty under the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact to manage and provide for…
Can Texas license Canadian or Mexican engineers under NAFTA, or does federal welfare-reform law require them to be U.S. citizens or residents?
The Attorney General concluded that the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996 restricts professional licenses for aliens based on their immigration status, but it does not limit licenses to U.S. citizens…
If a Texas social worker was first licensed without an exam and let the license lapse for years, do they have to take an exam to get licensed again?
The Attorney General concluded that under the plain language of section 50.023(e) of the Human Resources Code, a person originally licensed as a social worker without an examination, whose license had…
Can a Texas home-rule city ban killing feral pigeons or outlaw organized pigeon shoots?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Carrollton could not forbid the killing of feral pigeons, because section 64.002(b) of the Parks and Wildlife Code expressly allowed feral rock doves to…
Does the state or the county have to pay a Texas district judge's legal bills when the judge is sued?
The Attorney General concluded that neither the state nor a county was required to reimburse a state district judge for the cost of defending a mandamus action. Section 74.141 of the Government Code e…
Can a Texas charity raffle off a house or other prize worth more than $50,000?
The Attorney General concluded that under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act a qualified organization may raffle a prize worth more than $50,000 only if the prize was donated and the organization gave…
Does federal law override Texas's notice rules for canceling private mortgage insurance?
The Attorney General concluded that the federal Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 did not supersede the Texas notice law. Because the two notice requirements were consistent, a lender that gave borrow…
Can a Texas prosecutor waive certified-mail service of a habeas corpus application?
The Attorney General concluded that Code of Criminal Procedure article 11.07, section 3(b) requires the court clerk to serve the prosecutor with a habeas corpus application by certified mail, return r…
What investments counted as securities for the Texas Teacher Retirement System, and could outside managers choose them?
The Attorney General concluded that the investment meaning of securities in article XVI, section 67 came from chapter 8 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, not the broader federal and state secur…
Can a Texas prosecutor drop charges if the defendant donates money to charity?
The Attorney General concluded that although a prosecutor has broad discretion not to prosecute, a Texas prosecutor may not condition that decision on the offender contributing money to a government b…
Can a Texas peace officer also work as a juvenile probation officer?
The Attorney General concluded that Human Resources Code section 141.065 bars any peace officer from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer. The bar turns on being an appointed peace o…
Can a Texas state agency stop employees from using vacation while on workers' comp?
The Attorney General concluded that the Department of Human Services could not deny annual leave to, or cap leave for, employees receiving workers' compensation benefits, including those on FMLA leave…
Does Texas need a constitutional amendment to issue GARVEE highway bonds?
The Attorney General advised that, given the unsettled question under article VIII, section 7-b (which dedicates federal highway reimbursements to highway purposes), the more prudent course was to ame…
Can Texas counties use state voter-registration funds for everyday registrar office costs?
The Attorney General concluded that the Secretary of State, as chief election officer overseeing chapter 19 funds, has implied authority to adopt rules on how those funds are spent, and properly used …
How do Texas school districts choose a purchasing method, and when must they competitively bid?
The Attorney General concluded that under Education Code section 44.031 a school district adopts its own rules to pick which of eight purchasing methods gives the 'best value,' and competitive bidding…
Can a Texas county pay to pave or fix city streets that aren't connected to a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that under Transportation Code section 251.012 a county may build, maintain, or improve a city street even if it is not an integral part of or connecting link with a cou…
Can a Texas city require homebuilders to use the city's garbage franchise to haul off construction debris?
The Attorney General concluded that a home-rule municipality may adopt an ordinance requiring residential construction contractors to use the franchisee the city selected for weekly residential and co…
Can a Texas county attorney be paid for extra legal work or sign a contract with a city's municipal court?
The Attorney General concluded that a county attorney covered by the Professional Prosecutors Act cannot be paid by the county for ancillary legal services outside his statutory duties, because the Ac…
Can a Texas county judge who is also a lawyer practice law in his own county's courts?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 82.064 bars a county judge who is licensed to practice law from appearing as an attorney in any county or justice court over which his court…
Does Texas prevailing-wage law apply to a project built by an economic development corporation?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code chapter 2258, the prevailing-wage law, applies only to workers employed on a public work by or on behalf of the state or a political subdivision. Be…
How quickly must a Texas district clerk deposit court fees with the county treasurer?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 113.022, which requires a county officer to deposit funds with the county treasurer within set deadlines, applies to court fees a dist…
Must a Texas state council report all the money it received even without a legislative appropriation?
The Attorney General concluded that Human Resources Code section 122.022 requires the Texas Council on Purchasing from People with Disabilities to account each year for all funds it received and disbu…
Can a Texas deputy county clerk keep her job after moving to another county?
The Attorney General concluded that a deputy county clerk is an employee, not a public officer, so the Texas Constitution's requirement (article XVI, section 14) that district and county officers live…
Can a Texas general-law city council cancel its meetings for several months in a row?
The Attorney General concluded that no statute requires the city council of a Type A general-law city to meet every month or sets any meeting schedule (chapter 22 of the Local Government Code), and no…
How does the Texas ERS privatization retirement option add years to a worker's age and service credit?
The Attorney General concluded the Employees Retirement System was right that Government Code section 814.1041(b)'s privatization retirement option applies only to employees who are not already eligib…
Can a Texas county raise the sheriff's longevity pay and give him back pay for past years?
The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court may, at its discretion, raise the sheriff's longevity pay going forward, because setting county officers' compensation is the court's call u…
Can a Texas municipal court hear a case for a city nuisance ordinance violation that happened outside the city limits?
The Attorney General concluded yes. When a home-rule city is authorized to adopt a nuisance ordinance reaching up to 5,000 feet beyond its limits (Local Government Code section 217.042) and has adopte…
If I post a cash bail bond for someone else in Texas, do I get the money back?
The Attorney General concluded that a third party may post a cash bail bond to get a defendant released, but for the court's purposes the cash is treated as the defendant's. The receipt is issued in t…
Can a Texas county auditor stop the commissioners court from ordering an independent audit?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under Local Government Code section 115.031(i), a commissioners court may order an independent audit of county accounts and officials, including the auditor's own of…
Can Texas stop lawyers from mailing solicitations to people within 30 days of their arrest?
The Attorney General concluded that a court would probably hold this part of the barratry statute unconstitutional. Penal Code section 38.12(d)(2)(C) makes it a crime for an attorney to send a targete…
Are Texas's warrantless search rules for chemical precursor permits constitutional?
The Attorney General concluded that neither Health and Safety Code section 481.078(e) nor section 481.081(e) is unconstitutional on its face. Those provisions require anyone seeking a permit to transf…
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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.