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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Does the 356th District Court in Hardin County, Texas handle probate matters like wills and estates?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the 356th District Court of Hardin County has no original probate jurisdiction. The statute creating the court gave it concurrent…
Does a county need payment and performance bonds on a unit-price road-materials contract when the final total price is not known in advance?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the unknown final price of a county unit-price requirements contract does not exempt it from bidding or bonding rules. A county estimates the…
Could Texas revive expired school-land patent claims by letting the Land Office swap in replacement state land?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that article 5414a-2, V.T.C.S., which tried to give a second chance to people whose claims to patents on permanent school fund land had lapsed,…
Could Harris County remove and sell trees from county road rights-of-way without paying the underlying landowner?
Generally yes, subject to the document or judgment that created the right-of-way. JM-1241 concluded that Harris County could remove or prevent trees that interfered with road purposes without…
Can a county use its own employees and equipment to deliver USDA surplus food for a nonprofit charity?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the state's decision to route USDA surplus commodities through a nonprofit did not strip Nolan County of its authority to spend on public…
Can a city council remove the person it appointed to a regional water district's board of directors?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Garland city council could not remove its appointed representative on the board of directors of the North Texas Municipal Water District…
How far does the arrest authority of Houston-area MTA transit police reach, just the buses and stations, or the whole service area?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a 1989 amendment to article 1118x expanded the jurisdiction of peace officers employed by the Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority to…
Can a nursing home be forced to reject or fire a worker for an old conviction even though the law says it shouldn't count against them?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that chapter 106 of the Human Resources Code, which bars certain facilities that serve the elderly or disabled from employing people…
Can the Texas Real Estate Commission secretly send auditors into continuing-education classes without breaking the ban on undercover investigations?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Real Estate License Act's restriction on undercover or covert investigations applies only to investigations of licensees, not to…
Did circulating a Texas mixed beverage permit application among county and city officials make it a public record?
No. Passing the application among the officials who must sign it did not waive its confidential status under the Open Records Act, and it did not violate the Alcoholic Beverage Code's privilege for…
Does a Texas county clerk charge a filing fee when you apply to have someone committed for mental illness or drug or alcohol dependency?
No. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county clerk cannot collect a fee from the person who files an application for emergency detention or court-ordered treatment, whether…
Do term limits for a state board count the service a member did before the term-limit law existed?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a Texas State Board of Pharmacy member who was appointed in 1973 and reappointed in 1979 and 1985 had already served two full terms and…
Can a Texas county sell tax-foreclosed property by private sale instead of a public auction?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that when a county buys real property at a delinquent-tax sale, Tax Code section 34.05 impliedly lets the county resell that property by…
Can the Texas Employees Retirement System operate its own securities lending program?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the Employees Retirement System of Texas had no statutory authority to run an in-house securities lending program with its own staff.…
Does the State Funds Reform Act apply to fees collected by the Texas Board of Medical Examiners?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the State Funds Reform Act did not apply to fees collected by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. An exemption for agencies that…
Can a Texas county or state agency provide goods or copies before receiving payment without unconstitutionally lending credit?
Yes, under the constitutional analysis adopted in JM-1229. A Texas public body could extend credit when the arrangement served a public purpose and included controls ensuring that public credit…
How much can a company charge to help me recover unclaimed property in Texas?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that anyone who helps a claimant recover unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer (an heirfinder or private investigator) could not charge…
Could a Texas city guarantee a private company's economic development loan and repay it with property taxes if the company failed to create jobs?
Not under the statute the city pointed to. Article III, section 52-a lets the legislature authorize such programs, but it is not self-executing. Government Code section 481.191 was not enabling…
In 1990, did Mexican commercial truck drivers need Texas driver's licenses to operate in Texas?
Yes, under the law and federal determinations addressed in 1990. JM-1226 concluded that Mexican commercial drivers lacked the reciprocal-license exemption and needed a Texas license or another…
Can a Texas student keep a car phone in their car parked at school?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the Education Code's ban on students possessing 'paging devices' at school does not prohibit a car telephone sitting in a car…
Who controlled records that elected Harris County officers stored in the county computer, and could the county allow private dial-up access?
The elected county, district, or precinct officer whose office created or received the information retained statutory control over it, even when it was stored in the county computer. The…
Does being a 'resident' for Texas insurance guaranty coverage require U.S. citizenship?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that a person does not have to be a U.S. citizen or a legally present immigrant to count as a Texas 'resident' for the state's life…
Can a Texas city's municipal court warrant officers serve warrants and act as bailiffs?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that warrant officers of the Longview municipal court of record, who are certified peace officers, have authority to serve…
Which groundwater district could tax severed mineral interests when surface owners annexed their land into a neighboring district?
The Santa Rita district retained taxing authority over separately owned severed mineral interests when only the surface owners petitioned to annex their land into the Glasscock County district. A…
Which competitive-bidding law governed a Texas county contract to build a vehicle maintenance facility?
The County Purchasing Act governed. The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 271.024 did not independently require bidding and that subchapter B of chapter 271 did not…
Can I get a replacement Texas boat title with an affidavit if the original is missing?
It depends on the facts, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that whether the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department can issue a replacement certificate of title for a…
Do new government purchasing rules apply to a contract that was signed before the law took effect?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that section 140.003 of the Local Government Code, which made district attorney purchases subject to the county competitive-bidding…
Can Texas police accept a bail bond somewhere other than the county jail?
Yes, when the officer is authorized to take the bond. This 1990 opinion said municipal police officers could accept bonds away from the county jail under articles 17.20 and 17.22 in the…
Can a Texas mental health agency legally pay a parent to provide care to their own mentally disabled child?
Yes, but only in part, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded such a contract is legally valid only if it pays the parent for services beyond what the parent is already…
Can a Texas county commissioners court require prevailing wages, health benefits, or English-speaking staff on contracts that aren't public works projects?
The 1990 opinion said counties must determine and pay prevailing wages, including locally prevailing fringe benefits, on public works contracts, but cannot require prevailing wages on other…
If a boarding home is registered with a local mental health authority in Texas, does that automatically exempt it from Texas Department of Health licensing as a personal care home?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that merely being registered under the mental health boarding home statute does not, by itself, bring a facility within the Health…
Can a Texas city require its outside security guard contractors to provide health insurance to their employees as a condition of winning the contract?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that requiring contractors to provide employee health insurance benefits has no direct relation to the quality of security guard…
Can the trustees of a Texas municipal firefighters' pension fund enter into securities lending agreements with a corporate borrower?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that securities lending agreements are not among the investments the fund's governing statute authorizes, since they involve a…
Can a Texas county pay a rural fire prevention district or a volunteer fire department to provide fire protection, and does creating a fire district take away the county's own fire protection power?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded a county keeps its authority to provide fire protection even after a rural fire prevention district is created covering the same…
Can a Texas transit authority charge the state more per bus ticket for Medicaid riders than it charges the general public?
The Attorney General did not decide this question in 1990. The opinion concluded that whether such pricing violated state nondiscrimination statutes, the federal Rehabilitation Act, or the Urban…
When a Texas court orders a property tax refund, does the taxing unit have to pay interest, and how is that interest calculated for multi-year cases?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded a taxing unit must pay interest on any refund paid on or after June 15, 1989, regardless of when the underlying lawsuit was filed,…
Can a member of a Texas county housing authority board keep the frequent flier miles earned on trips the authority paid for?
Generally no. Commissioners could not take mileage credits earned on authority-paid travel as compensation. If the authority could not arrange for credits to be assigned to it, the credits assigned…
Could a Texas state employee use sick leave when adopting a child under the 1989-1990 appropriations act?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded a state employee adopting a child under three years old could use sick leave, in an amount comparable to what a natural mother…
Can the Texas Veterans Land Board invest veterans' fund money in repurchase agreements or mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by GNMA?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded the Texas Constitution limits idle Veterans Land Fund and Housing Assistance Fund money to 'bonds or obligations of the United…
Is it unconstitutional for a Texas law to let larger cities keep a bigger share of interstate highway traffic fines than smaller cities?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded the population-based classification had a reasonable basis tied to the risk of small cities using radar enforcement on interstate…
Can a Texas county donate money or services to a chamber of commerce that runs a local festival?
No, not as an unconditional gift. The Attorney General concluded the Texas Constitution bars a county from donating money, property, or services to a chamber of commerce or similar private…
Can a Texas state housing agency hold title to foreclosed mortgage properties through a bank trustee, and does it have to pay property taxes on them?
Yes, the agency could hold foreclosed property in its own name or through a bank acting on its behalf. No, it did not have to pay taxes on property it owned: the property was exempt from state and…
Does an appraisal district need approval from three-fourths of local taxing units just to lease office space, or only to buy a building?
Only to buy or build. The Attorney General concluded that the Tax Code's three-fourths taxing-unit approval requirement applies to an appraisal district's purchase, sale, construction, or renovation…
Can a Texas state agency use interest earned on money in a special fund to pay administrative costs if a budget rider only mentions fees as the funding source?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the legislature had not actually appropriated the interest earned on deposits in the Texas Exporters Loan Fund for administrative costs, because a budget…
Can a Texas city require its own license, tax, or bond from an air conditioning contractor who already has a state license?
No, for license taxes, occupation taxes, and bond requirements. The Attorney General concluded that state law (V.T.C.S. art. 8861) makes a state license valid statewide and preempts municipalities…
Can a Texas city give an employee a cash advance on salary not yet earned?
Generally no. The Attorney General concluded that a salary advance is a loan of public funds, and without a clear public purpose behind it, a court would likely find it violates the Texas…
Can a Texas county still pay the salary of an employee who owes back property taxes to the county?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the Local Government Code provision barring salary warrants to anyone 'indebted' to the county did not reach ordinary…
If a Texas county can't mail a property tax bill because it doesn't know the owner's address, does the tax ever become delinquent?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 31.04 of the Tax Code, which postpones the delinquency date when a bill is mailed late, only applies when a bill can be mailed at all. When no bill…
Can a school principal or superintendent force a teacher's grievance hearing to be held in a closed executive session?
No, not if the teacher wants it open. The Attorney General concluded that section 2(g) of the Open Meetings Act only permits, but does not require, a closed session for personnel matters, and an…
Does a company dredging under a Texas School Land Board easement need a separate state permit to disturb sand, shell, gravel, or marl?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded the company's dredging was performed under state authority because it was done pursuant to the School Land Board's own easement, so…
Can a Texas commissioners court award a design-build contract for a public building through competitive bidding?
No, not if the contract includes architectural or engineering services. The Attorney General concluded that Texas's Professional Services Procurement Act barred commissioners courts from awarding…
Can a sheriff promote his own son or daughter after he takes office if they already worked there?
No. The Attorney General concluded that while the nepotism statute let the sheriff's son and daughter keep the jobs they already held when their father took office, it barred him from promoting them…
Can a real estate agent who sits on an appraisal district's board sell a building to that same appraisal district?
It depends on the facts. The Attorney General concluded that if the board member was contractually the seller's agent only, there was no conflict-of-interest violation, but if the board member also…
Can a county auditor require constables to submit a monthly report listing every paper they served?
No, not the kind of report described here. The Attorney General concluded that a county auditor could not require constables to file a monthly report listing the civil and criminal instruments they…
Do the county committees that plan local jail and probation facilities have to hold their meetings in public under Texas open-meetings law?
No, not this kind of committee. The Attorney General concluded that a community justice council, created by district judges to help plan community corrections facilities and recommend how state…
When a city no longer needs a vehicle seized in a drug case, does it have to sell it at a sheriff's auction?
Yes, for forfeitures that happened before October 18, 1989. The Attorney General concluded that a political subdivision, including a home-rule city, that acquired a vehicle by forfeiture under the…
Does the Texas Internal Auditing Act require state agencies to follow its rules, or are they just suggestions?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Internal Auditing Act's requirements are mandatory, not merely advisory guidelines, so a covered agency must appoint a certified public accountant or…
Can a Texas city or county put up four-way stop signs to stop cut-through traffic in a neighborhood?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that neither state law nor the state's traffic control manual requires specific traffic conditions before a local authority may install multi-way stop signs to…
Can the Texas Legislature pass a special appropriation to pay claims the state has no existing legal duty to pay?
No. The Attorney General concluded that two 1989 appropriations meant to pay the unpaid wages and vendor bills of a defunct nonprofit job-training contractor were unconstitutional, because Article…
Can a neighborhood nonprofit hold a charitable raffle to pay for opposing a landfill permit before a Texas state agency?
The Attorney General concluded that opposing a landfill permit before the Texas Department of Health is not lobbying under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, so a nonprofit corporation raising…
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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.