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 constable seize otherwise-exempt property to collect back child support?
The Attorney General drew a line based on whether a child support lien exists. On a plain writ of execution for child support arrears, attorney fees, and interest, a constable may seize only…
Can Texas impound an out-of-state driver's car after an accident if they can't show insurance?
The Attorney General concluded that section 4A of the Safety Responsibility Law (article 6701h), which lets Texas impound a vehicle not registered here when it is in an accident and the owner can't…
Can a Texas school district set up a permanent endowment fund, and what money can it use?
The Attorney General gave a split answer. A school board may establish an endowment fund for educational purposes using money willed or donated for that purpose, under its statutory authority to…
Can a Texas appraisal review board member rule on a property-tax protest when they also worked for the taxpayer?
The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 41.69 bars an appraisal review board member from participating in deciding a taxpayer protest in which the member has a direct personal or…
What happens to unclaimed property-tax overpayments in Texas after the three-year refund period ends?
The Attorney General concluded that unclaimed overpayments of property taxes do not escheat to the state. Once the three-year period for a taxpayer to apply for a refund under Tax Code section 31.11…
Where must a Texas DA's office or adult probation department deposit the funds it receives, and who audits them?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 140.003 requires a 'specialized local entity,' such as an adult probation department, to deposit all the funds it receives, from any…
Can a Texas school district give a private education foundation free office space, and can trustees sit on the foundation's board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Education Code lets an ISD's trustees accept gifts from a private foundation and supply it with office space and other school property, as long as a school…
Can the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority use bond proceeds to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for its administrative costs?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Authority's enabling statute directs the board to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for expenses required by the Authority's business, and the Texas…
Can a Texas Lloyd's-plan insurance company act as a corporate surety on a public works construction bond?
The Attorney General concluded no. Even after the Legislature amended the public-works bond statute (V.T.C.S. article 5160.A) in 1991, the statute still required a 'corporate' surety. A Lloyd's-plan…
Can a Texas home-rule city regulate outdoor signs, displays, and storage at pawnshops?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least not specifically. The Pawnshop Act gives the Consumer Credit Commissioner authority to regulate outdoor displays, signs, and premises maintenance at…
Can the Texas Legislature merge two whole counties into one?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article IX, section 1 of the Texas Constitution lets the Legislature create counties and shift a part of one county to another (with voter approval), but it does…
If a Texas teacher asks for a public termination hearing, can the school board close it to protect student witnesses?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 13.112 of the Education Code and section 2(g) of the Open Meetings Act, a teacher facing termination is entitled to a public hearing if the teacher…
Who can serve process by certified mail or publication in a Texas justice court, and what can the clerk charge for it?
The Attorney General concluded that under Rule 536 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, any sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by law (or authorized by court order, if at least 18 and…
Can a nonresident student in Texas pay in-state tuition by winning a competitive academic scholarship, and what rules can the state attach?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's rule (19 Tex. Admin. Code § 21.31) is valid. Education Code section 54.064(a) lets a nonresident who wins a…
If a Texas police officer resigns and the city accepts it, can he take the resignation back and get his job and seniority returned?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under chapter 143 of the Local Government Code, once a police officer's resignation from a civil service position has been accepted and become effective, it cannot…
Where must a Texas district attorney keep forfeited drug-case funds, and who audits them in a multicounty district?
Forfeiture funds must be deposited with the county treasurer when that office is the county depository, but the prosecutor or law-enforcement agency may sign expenditure checks alone. In a…
Did a Texas county prosecutor have to use the County Purchasing Act when buying equipment with asset-forfeiture money?
Yes. DM-246 concluded that the County Purchasing Act applied to purchases from a prosecutor's forfeiture fund held in the county treasury. The commissioners court had to start the bidding process…
Can a Texas criminal defendant be made to pay back the county for the court interpreter's fee?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 38.30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires interpreters in criminal cases to be paid out of county funds. Because court costs must be expressly…
Is it a conflict of interest for a county commissioner to run a company that wins a contract from a community center the county helped create?
The Attorney General concluded there is no conflict of interest where a person serves at the same time as a county commissioner and as a manager of a corporation that contracts with a community…
Is a Texas day-labor agency that supplies common workers the legal employer who owes them workers' comp and unemployment insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 5221a-10, a 'temporary common worker employer,' meaning a person who provides common worker employees to a third-party user, is the employer of…
Can a Texas school district act as its own general contractor on a renovation instead of hiring one out for competitive bids?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The competitive-bidding statutes (Education Code section 21.901 and Local Government Code section 271.024) apply when a school district awards a contract to an…
Do truckers hauling materials to a Texas highway construction site have to carry workers' compensation insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 8308-3.23 of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act, all contract workers on a covered public works project, including truckers hauling materials on…
What counts as a 'significant interest' that blocks a Texas school board from contracting with a trustee's business?
The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature did not define 'significant interest' in the 1993 statute (Education Code section 23.201) barring a school board from contracting with a business…
Does the Texas Hazard Communication Act cover college students as 'employees' for chemical-safety training?
The Attorney General concluded that students are not 'employees' under the Texas Hazard Communication Act, so the act's chemical education, training, and information requirements do not apply to…
If a care facility voluntarily runs a background check on a licensed nurse and finds a disqualifying conviction, does it have to fire them?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under section 106.008(a) of the Human Resources Code, a facility that voluntarily obtains a criminal-conviction check of an employee who is 'licensed under other…
Do CPAs who work for the federal government still have to pay the Texas $200 accountant licensing fee increase?
The Attorney General concluded that the $200 fee increase mandated by the Public Accountancy Act of 1991 is not facially unconstitutional as applied to certified public accountants employed by the…
Can a Texas city ban private employers from running random drug tests on their workers?
The Attorney General concluded that a home-rule city is not precluded as a matter of law from adopting an ordinance prohibiting random drug testing by private employers within the city. No state…
If I set up a property-tax installment plan before July 1, can the county still hit me with the 15% collection penalty?
The Attorney General concluded no. A delinquent-tax penalty a county adopts under Tax Code section 33.07 (up to 15% to cover the cost of collection) does not apply to delinquent taxes that are…
When two 1991 Texas laws on minority-business contracting goals conflicted, which one controlled cities?
The Attorney General concluded that two 1991 amendments to the same statute conflicted, and that House Bill 338 prevailed, because a special instruction in Senate Bill 992 overrode the usual rule…
Can the Texas prison system run its own work-program facility for inmate labor, or can only cities and counties own one?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice could not own or operate a 'work program facility,' because chapter 497, subchapter C of the Government Code reserves…
Can a Texas city give a public park to a hospital district without holding an election?
The Attorney General concluded the city did not have to hold the usual park-sale election, because the hospital district held the power of eminent domain. But the city still could not give the park…
Can a Texas licensing board decide a discipline case on its own after watching the hearing, or must it wait for the administrative law judge's ruling?
The Attorney General concluded that a licensing board required to use the State Office of Administrative Hearings could not make its own findings of fact and conclusions of law, even when a quorum…
Can a Texas justice of the peace dismiss a traffic ticket if the driver doesn't finish the required driving safety course?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 45.54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended in 1991, made a justice's order to complete a driving safety course mandatory. A justice could dismiss…
Can a Texas city make businesses that serve alcohol sell condoms when other businesses don't have to?
The Attorney General concluded no. Houston proposed an ordinance requiring premises that sell alcohol for on-premises consumption to stock condoms for sale and to post HIV/STD information in…
Can a county commissioner put an item on the agenda or revisit something the court already voted on?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may reconsider an issue at a later meeting even after taking final action, as long as the topic is properly noticed under the Open Meetings…
Can a board member listen to the recording of a closed meeting they took part in?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Open Meetings Act requires a governmental body to keep a certified agenda or tape recording of a closed meeting, and it forbids releasing that record except…
Can a Texas county set goals for awarding contracts to minority and women-owned businesses?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 381.004, which lets counties set up programs to reasonably increase minority and women-owned business participation by establishing…
Who pays the medical bills for an indigent inmate held in a Texas county jail?
The Attorney General concluded that it turns on where the inmate lives. If an indigent jail inmate is a resident of a hospital district, that district pays for the medical care, even when the inmate…
Can a bail bond company hold multiple agent licenses, and does that give it extra votes on the county board?
The Attorney General concluded that the answers split. A corporate surety must get a separate license for each agent it authorizes to write bail bonds, and the board can issue those multiple…
Can a former state regulatory board member lobby that same board right after leaving office?
The Attorney General concluded that a former Polygraph Examiners Board member cannot sponsor a polygraph intern until two years after leaving the board. The state's revolving-door statute (V.T.C.S.…
Can a parent sign over court-ordered child support to a collection company without going back to court?
The Attorney General concluded no. A custodial parent (managing conservator) filed a limited power of attorney with the district clerk naming a collection company to receive her child's support…
Can a Texas home-rule city add its own pesticide notice and reporting rules on top of state pest-control law?
The Attorney General concluded it depends on the provision. The City of Greenville's ordinance required 24-hour advance notice of indoor pesticide applications, but the Structural Pest Control Act…
Who can collect rollback taxes on farmland that changed use, after the law moved that job to the appraisal district?
The Attorney General concluded it depends on timing. The 1989 amendment to Tax Code section 23.55(e) moved the power to determine a change of use of agricultural land (and to notify the owner) from…
Can a Texas licensing board charge a fee that its governing statute does not specifically authorize?
The Attorney General concluded that it cannot. The Board of Licensure for Nursing Home Administrators wanted to collect a $10 fee for each participant in continuing-education courses approved for…
Can a Texas city use sales-tax money to pay for a homestead exemption instead of lowering the property tax rate?
The Attorney General concluded that a city may not. An additional sales and use tax adopted under Tax Code section 321.101(b) must be used first to reduce the property tax rate, and a homestead…
Can a Texas agency block state payments to someone who owes it fees?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Surplus Property Agency could use Government Code section 403.055 to collect unpaid service-and-handling charges by asking the Comptroller to withhold…
Is school bus fuel tax-free in Texas if a private contractor runs the buses?
The Attorney General concluded that the Tax Code's gasoline-tax exemption for fuel sold 'to a public school district in this state for its exclusive use' does cover fuel a district buys directly and…
Can a Texas doctor waive your copay or deductible if they take an insurance assignment?
The Attorney General read section 4(c) of Insurance Code article 21.24-1 narrowly. The sentence saying a provider 'may not waive copayments or deductibles by acceptance of an assignment' was not a…
Does a Texas state agency have to fire a worker on injury leave past 12 months?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Department of Health did not have to fire an employee just because a work-related injury kept them on unpaid leave longer than 12 months. The General…
Can a Texas county cut off a worker's supplemental injury pay after promising it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Lavaca County Commissioners Court could not use a 1991 order to cap the supplemental injury payments owed to two employees who were hurt before 1991 under a…
Can off-duty Texas police officers work school security as a side job?
The Attorney General concluded that article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution, which bars one person from holding two 'civil offices of emolument,' does not as a matter of law stop off-duty…
Who controls the breakage money from greyhound racing bets in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that all of the 'breakage' (the leftover odd cents from pari-mutuel payouts) that section 6.09(d) of the Texas Racing Act assigned to the greyhound side, the 50…
Can someone keep a Texas peace officer license after a felony conviction is set aside or dismissed?
The Attorney General concluded that a felony conviction disqualified a person from being a Texas peace officer or county jailer, and that probation, dismissal of the indictment, release from…
Can a former Texas utility regulator go to work for a company the PUC regulates?
The Attorney General concluded that the Public Utility Regulatory Act's one-year revolving-door ban (section 6(i) of article 1446c) kept a former PUC employee from being hired by a public utility he…
Can a Texas probation department hire a relative of a district judge without breaking the nepotism law?
The Attorney General concluded that when the director of a community supervision and corrections department (the local probation agency) hires a person related within the third degree to a district…
Can a Texas board member attend an open meeting by video instead of in person?
The Attorney General concluded that the Open Meetings Act did not let a member of the Alcoholic Beverage Commission (or any governmental body subject to the Act) who could not attend a meeting in…
Are interns in Texas's nursing-home ombudsman program protected from lawsuits like the certified volunteers?
Clarifying an earlier opinion (DM-173), the Attorney General concluded that people serving the three-month internship in the Texas long-term-care ombudsman program are, like certified volunteer…
Which businesses must follow Texas's extra licensing rules to run a home health agency?
Answering the Texas Department of Health, the Attorney General read the home-health-agency licensing statute (Health and Safety Code section 142.005) broadly. First, the extra application…
How does a Texas county assess subdivision road-repair costs, and what can it charge property owners?
Answering follow-up questions about article 6702-3 (the law letting a county fix subdivision roads and bill the property owners), the Attorney General concluded: a county must propose a separate…
If a Texas recess appointee quits and is replaced before the Senate meets, does the old name still go to the Senate?
Answering the chair of the Senate Nominations Committee, the Attorney General concluded that when a governor appoints someone to a state office while the Senate is in recess, that first appointee…
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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.