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 county pay a former employee for unused vacation time after he becomes a county officer?
The Attorney General concluded that where a county's personnel policy credits unused vacation time only on the anniversary of an employee's start date, an employee who resigns before that…
Does a Texas sheriff have to use competitive bidding to spend jail commissary money?
The Attorney General concluded that a sheriff may spend jail-commissary proceeds under section 351.0415 of the Local Government Code without following the competitive procurement rules of the County…
Can a Texas county judge act as a surety on a bail bond in the county where he serves?
The Attorney General concluded that a county judge may not act as a surety on a bail bond in the county where he presides. A bail bond is a contract to which the county is a party and in which the…
Can a city council member get a copy of the tape of a closed meeting they missed?
The Attorney General concluded that a member of a governmental body may review the tape recording (or certified agenda) of a closed meeting even if the member did not attend it, and that the body…
Can a prosecutor require a donation to a charity as a condition of pretrial diversion?
The Attorney General concluded that a county attorney may not condition pretrial diversion on the offender paying $1,500 to a nonprofit organization, even one the county attorney and his assistants…
Can a Texas city's 4B economic development sales tax be spent on promotion instead of projects?
The Attorney General concluded that sales and use taxes levied under section 4B of the Development Corporation Act of 1979 may only be used to pay or finance project costs. They may not be spent on…
Can a nurse anesthetist in Texas give anesthesia without a physician directly supervising?
The Attorney General concluded that when a certified registered nurse anesthetist selects and administers anesthesia and cares for an anesthetized patient, that is the practice of professional…
Does closing a county road in Texas require a unanimous commissioners court vote?
The Attorney General concluded that closing a public road requires a unanimous vote of the commissioners court, and that this applies whether the road is a through street or a cul-de-sac. Section…
Can a Texas school district give back pay to an employee who was suspended and later acquitted?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district may award back pay to employees who were indicted, suspended or terminated, and later acquitted and reinstated, but it is not required to. The…
Does a Texas police department need a private security license to offer alarm monitoring?
The Attorney General concluded that a city police department is not subject to licensing by the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies under chapter 1702 of the…
Can a Texas school district spend money on a private foundation's safety program?
The Attorney General concluded that article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution does not stop a school district from spending district funds or resources on 'Texas Safe Sports Week'…
Are Texas police protected when escorting a domestic violence victim to get their belongings?
The Attorney General concluded that article 5.045 of the Code of Criminal Procedure protects a peace officer who escorts a victim of family violence back to the residence to retrieve personal…
Can a charitable raffle in Texas give away a certificate of deposit as a prize?
The Attorney General concluded that a certificate of deposit may not be offered as a prize at a charitable raffle. The Charitable Raffle Enabling Act bars offering 'money' as a prize, and although a…
Can a Texas court order the relative a truant child lives with to bring the child to court?
The Attorney General concluded that a court hearing a truancy case may compel a juvenile who lives with a custodian, an adult the child resides with such as an aunt, uncle, or grandparent, to appear…
Does a Texas 4B economic development corporation have to follow public bidding rules when it sells land?
The Attorney General concluded that a section 4B development corporation is not a 'political subdivision,' so it does not have to follow section 272.001 of the Local Government Code, the…
Can a Texas hospital district board meet in closed session to review a doctor's competence or hospital privileges?
The Attorney General concluded that a hospital district's governing body acts as a medical peer review committee under the Medical Practice Act when it decides whether a physician should receive…
Can Texas public universities consider race in awarding financial aid after Hopwood?
The Attorney General withdrew a 1997 letter opinion (LO-97-001) that had read the Fifth Circuit's Hopwood decision to bar Texas public universities from considering race in any higher-education…
Can a Texas city give a tax abatement for moving a building to a new spot on the same property?
The General Land Office asked whether moving a structure from one spot to another on the same property counts as a 'specific improvement or repair' that can support a tax abatement under chapter 312…
Does a large Texas city have to spend half its hotel tax on tourism advertising?
The Attorney General concluded that the rule in section 351.103(a) of the Tax Code, which makes a large municipality spend at least half its hotel occupancy tax revenue on tourism and convention…
Can a Texas county trade its surplus equipment for goods instead of cash?
The Attorney General concluded that a county has no authority to exchange surplus property for non-monetary consideration. Sabine County had received a bid offering rock worth $20,000 for surplus…
Can a Texas juvenile court hear a truancy case against a 17-year-old?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a juvenile court could not hold an adjudication hearing for someone referred as a truant by a justice or municipal court when the conduct behind the referral…
Does a Texas county clerk have to collect reimbursements when one county pays another county's mental health proceeding costs?
No statute imposes that duty on the county clerk. The Attorney General concluded that a county clerk had no statutory duty to collect the reimbursements a county might be owed for mental health…
Was the 1891 Texas law that disincorporated the City of San Elizario constitutional?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the 1891 special act repealing the Legislature's earlier incorporation of San Elizario violated neither section 56 nor section 57 of article III of the Texas…
Can a Texas county road commissioner buy county auto parts from a company he owns?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under Transportation Code sections 252.005 and 252.006, a county commissioner acting as precinct road commissioner could not purchase, or authorize precinct…
Can a Texas school deny perfect-attendance rewards after a religious or qualifying medical absence?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a school may not deny a 'perfect attendance' benefit, such as skipping a test or final exam, to a student whose absence was excused under Education Code…
Can a Texas county collect the extra statutory-county-court fees and costs under Government Code section 51.702?
A county commissioners court could authorize collection of the fees and costs under Government Code section 51.702, relying on a Wichita County district court declaratory judgment that upheld the…
What procedures can a Texas therapeutic optometrist perform after the 1999 change to the surgery definition?
The Texas Optometry Act forbids a therapeutic optometrist to perform surgery. After the 76th Legislature added a statutory definition of 'surgery' in 1999, that definition controls. The Attorney…
Can the Texas Court Reporters Certification Board reject or penalize a court reporting firm's registration?
No to both. The Attorney General concluded that the Board had a mandatory duty to accept a correctly completed registration application from a court reporting firm; registration just identifies the…
Can a Texas municipal judge also serve as a director of the Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority?
Generally no. The Attorney General concluded that the Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority is not a soil and water conservation district, so its directors do not fall within the only exception to…
Can a Texas district clerk refuse to file an inmate's divorce petition because the inmate is trying to meet the county residency rule with prison time?
No, not on the clerk's own authority. The Attorney General concluded that filing a petition is a ministerial duty, so a district clerk has no power to refuse inmate divorce petitions. A district…
Is Texas's $150 hazardous-substance registration fee legal, or does federal toy-safety law override it?
It was legal. The Attorney General concluded that section 501.024 of the Health and Safety Code, requiring makers and distributors of hazardous substances to register annually with the Texas…
Can a Texas county give a private company an economic development grant that works like a property tax break?
Not under the statute Dallas County relied on. The Attorney General concluded that section 381.004 of the Local Government Code did not authorize a county commissioners court to make economic…
Can Texas leave home schoolers out of a school voucher program for private and religious schools?
Probably, with a caveat. The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature may exclude home schools from a voucher system for private and parochial schools as long as the exclusion bears a…
Can Texas require a new water well to sit a minimum distance from the property line?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation rule requiring a water well to be located a minimum distance from a property line fell within the Department's…
Can a Texas county use taxpayer money to hire a lobbyist to influence the Legislature?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 305.026 of the Government Code authorizes a county to spend public funds to retain a registered lobbyist to communicate with legislators on the…
Can a Texas court charge a separate filing fee for a forced-medication hearing for someone already committed?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a hearing on the involuntary administration of psychoactive medication under section 574.106 of the Health and Safety Code is a distinct legal action, not…
Can a Texas county withhold a justice of the peace's pay over a judgment for unpaid property taxes?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that once a valid judgment for delinquent property taxes has been entered against a justice of the peace, section 154.025 of the Local Government Code bars the…
Can Texas collect its controlled-substances drug tax after someone has already been criminally prosecuted for the same drugs?
The chapter 159 controlled-substances tax is criminal punishment. Under Stennett and Ward, it cannot be imposed after a Texas prosecution for the same offense; tax jeopardy attaches on full payment…
Who controls a Texas juvenile probation department's budget and staff pay, the county commissioners court or the juvenile board?
The Attorney General concluded that a juvenile probation board is an independent entity, so the county commissioners court's authority over it was narrow. Under Local Government Code section…
Can a Texas county auditor make the county attorney turn over receipts for spending from the hot check fund?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, a county auditor could require the county attorney to provide receipts for purchases (or reimbursements) from the 'hot check' fund, as long as doing so was…
Can a Texas county judge hold a death inquest when the local justice of the peace isn't available?
The Attorney General concluded that no, a county judge could not conduct an inquest. Article 49.07(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure lists the county judge and other officials who must be…
Can a Texas county pay or buy equipment for a volunteer fire department without a contract for fire services?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 352.001(c) of the Local Government Code, a county commissioners court could purchase fire-fighting equipment for, or pay, a volunteer fire department…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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)…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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'…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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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.