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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Were Texas lawyers' fees for collecting debts subject to sales tax under the 1987 debt-collection service amendment?
Usually no. The Attorney General concluded that a lawyer's services were taxable only when the lawyer provided no legal service and acted solely as a debt collector, not when debt-collection…
Did a nonprofit volunteer fire department have to release records when it received public funds from a rural fire district?
Yes, to the extent of the publicly funded operation. The Attorney General concluded that Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department was a governmental body because the contract generally supported its fire…
Could the Texas Historical Commission waive the 180-day waiting period for altering, selling, leasing, or demolishing a historic courthouse?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the statute gave the Commission no express or implied authority to waive the waiting period, which existed to allow time for preservation efforts.
Did a conviction for issuing a bad check prevent Texas from later prosecuting theft based on the same transaction?
No. The Attorney General concluded that issuing a bad check and theft required different elements. The bad-check offense focused on knowingly passing the worthless check, while theft required…
Can one person serve at the same time as a Texas justice of the peace and a part-time appointed municipal judge for a city in the same precinct?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that concurrent criminal jurisdiction did not make the two offices incompatible because the judge did not control where a complaint was filed and the offices'…
Could a county reimburse its clerk for an independent audit the clerk hired without prior approval to defend a theft charge?
The county was not already liable because it had made no promise and had not knowingly accepted the audit's benefits. The commissioners court could still choose to ratify and pay for the audit if it…
Could a Texas state university buy products from a corporation partly owned and managed by a regent's spouse?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the regent had direct and community-property financial interests in the corporation. Delegating purchases to university employees did not remove the Board of…
Could the City of Amarillo Hospital District refuse to let paying patients use its public hospital for first- or second-trimester nontherapeutic abortions?
Under the federal constitutional law applied in 1987, no. The Attorney General concluded that Amarillo's public hospital could not deny paying patients access for first- and second-trimester…
Did former Texas law requiring counties to support paupers give an indigent resident a property right protected by federal due process?
No. The Attorney General concluded that former article 2351(11) required counties to make some provision for paupers but left the nature and extent of general welfare services to county discretion,…
Could the Tyler County judge also serve as Woodville city attorney?
No. In Tyler County, which had no county court at law, the city attorney's prosecution and litigation duties conflicted with the county judge's appellate role and statutory limits on practicing law.…
Could a Texas sheriff use drug-forfeiture sale proceeds to buy a patrol car?
Only if the car would be used solely to investigate alleged criminal-law violations. The Attorney General could not decide that factual question because sheriffs also used vehicles for noncriminal…
Could a Texas criminal district attorney receive, hold, spend, and arrange the sale of drug-forfeited property?
Yes, within statutory limits. The Attorney General concluded that the court could forfeit property to the office, funds could be spent only on criminal investigations, no statute fixed a holding…
Could a Texas general-law city enforce its ordinances on city-owned land outside its limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the city could not give its ordinances extraterritorial effect, but it could protect property under its control and prescribe rules for a public park acquired…
Could a Texas constable serve civil process in another county, keep the service fee, or act as a private process server?
A constable or deputy could serve civil process in the officer's county or a contiguous county. Service fees had to be deposited with the officer's county treasurer, and a deputy serving under Rule…
Could the Texas Rehabilitation Commission contract with for-profit agencies for its Extended Rehabilitation Program?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the amended statute allowed contracts with public or private agencies and no longer limited the program to nonprofit providers.
Did a Texas county medical examiner have to use a licensed funeral director or embalmer to move a body to the county morgue?
No. The medical examiner could order the transfer without engaging a funeral director or embalmer. If the examiner authorized a funeral director to make the transfer, the first-call supervision…
Were all items listed in the Texas personal-property exemption statute protected from execution regardless of their total value?
No. The Attorney General concluded that only the listed categories qualified and that their combined fair-market value could not exceed the statutory cap, then $30,000 for a family or $15,000 for a…
Could a hazardous-waste corporate guarantee be enforced when a settlement agreement disclaimed tort liability?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the settlement created contractual liability for the agreed amount, and that liability could support enforcement of the federal-form corporate guarantee.
Could a Texas home-rule city issue general-obligation bonds to finance affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families?
Yes, the Attorney General found no categorical constitutional or statutory bar. The bonds and the housing program still had to satisfy voter-approval, public-purpose, fair-value, and…
Did refinancing a housing development with refunding bonds trigger Texas's elderly-unit reservation requirement?
No. The Attorney General concluded that refunding bonds continued the original financing rather than funding new development, so they did not newly impose the elderly-occupancy reservation.
Could the Texas Attorney General decide whether a county had to pay a judge-approved appointed-counsel fee claim?
No. Because a judge had already entered an order directing payment, the Attorney General declined to review the order or resolve whether the claimed preappointment services and expenses were compensable.
When did related loans to a credit-union member, spouse, partnership, or company count together under the ten-percent loan limit?
The opinion did not create one automatic aggregation rule. It concluded that the credit-union commissioner had primary authority to decide violations using the borrowers' actual liability,…
Could a Texas county commissioner hire another county commissioner's son as a road hand in the commissioner's precinct?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court retained authority to approve or disapprove an ex officio road commissioner's hiring decisions, so the county nepotism statute barred…
Could a Texas county finance construction of a jail under the Public Property Finance Act by calling the building personal property?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the jail was ordinarily real property and that the parties could not change the statute's scope by contractually labeling it personal property.
Could a Texas county bail-bond board cap the total bail bonds written by a state-authorized corporate surety?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the statute expressly exempted corporate sureties from the ten-times-security limit and made the state insurance certificate conclusive evidence of security,…
Could a Texas defendant receive jury-recommended misdemeanor probation while already serving felony probation?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a defendant already on felony probation had a prior felony conviction for jury-probation eligibility, even though that conviction was not final for sentence…
Was a full Texas pardon the same as restoration of citizenship rights, and could the parole board recommend rights restoration without a pardon?
The Attorney General concluded that a pardon and restoration of full citizenship rights were synonymous except for the prisoner's status. After the statutory amendment, however, the board lacked…
Could the Texas dental board reinstate a dentist's license after it had remained unrenewed for two years?
No. Under the statute then in effect, a license expired for two years or longer could not be renewed; the former licensee had to seek a new license through reexamination and the original licensing process.
Did a Texas plumbing license exempt a plumber from the air-conditioning contractor licensing law?
Only in part. The Attorney General concluded that licensed plumbers were exempt when their plumbing services also fit the air-conditioning definitions, but not for unrelated air-conditioning work.…
Did a Texas health-facilities development corporation have to follow the Open Meetings Act?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the nonprofit public corporation did not fit any state or local governmental-body category in the former Act, and its enabling statute did not independently…
How much rulemaking authority did a Texas public-health district's administrative board have?
The board could adopt only rules and regulations specifically authorized by state law. Its rules also could not conflict with state law or an ordinance of a member city or county.
Could Texas voters use the former Tax Code rollback election to reduce a county tax rate set for constitutional county funds?
The Attorney General concluded that they could not under the 1987 provisions. He treated the constitution as granting the commissioners court authority to set those rates within stated ceilings,…
Who could represent the Texas Commission on Human Rights in employment-discrimination lawsuits?
The Attorney General had authority to represent the commission. Staff or outside lawyers hired by the commission could appear in court only under the Attorney General's supervision and direction.
Could a Texas city let tenants repair a landlord's neglected property defect and deduct the cost from rent?
No, under the law considered in JM-790. The Attorney General concluded that Property Code chapter 92 occupied the field of landlord repair duties and tenant remedies and did not authorize a…
Could a Texas county require a subdivider to deed fee-simple title to subdivision streets before approving the plat?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 232 authorized road standards and dedication for public use but did not authorize a county to demand fee-simple ownership rather than an easement.
Could a Texas county spend public money to challenge a state radioactive-materials license amendment?
Yes, if the county could show actual injury or economic damage and its commissioners court found the spending served the county's interest. The county could fund lawyers and experts, contest the…
Did a Texas school district have to pay registration fees for a vehicle it leased rather than owned by title?
No. A school district or other listed government body that had the legal right to possess or control a leased vehicle counted as its owner and qualified for the registration-fee exemption if the…
Could a Texas budget rider bar high school exit tests from covering material students had not reasonably been taught?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the rider was valid because it merely stated what the Education Code already implied: an exit exam given in eleventh grade had to test material eleventh…
Did a subpoenaed Texas state employee receive paid leave, per diem, and travel reimbursement for a court appearance?
Only when the employee appeared in an official state capacity did the appearance count as work and qualify for per diem and travel reimbursement. For a private-capacity appearance, the agency had…
Can a Texas commissioners court shift unspent road-and-bridge money between precincts, and must it find an emergency to amend the county budget?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court using the default road-supervisor system could reallocate unencumbered road-and-bridge funds among precincts and consider prior…
Could a Texas sheriff buy food and other county-jail supplies without following the County Purchasing Act?
No. The sheriff controlled the jail's daily operation, but purchases for the jail remained subject to the County Purchasing Act, including competitive-bidding rules and commissioners court approval…
Could a Texas House member work as executive director of a nonprofit transit system that received state-administered federal grants?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the legislator's salary interest was too remote to be an interest in the transit system's state grant contract, and the nonprofit job was not an office or…
Could a Texas landowner divide and sell land by metes and bounds without subdivision plat approval if no public road was dedicated?
Not automatically. The Attorney General said plat requirements depended on the purpose and facts of the division, and neither a private-road label nor the absence of a public dedication was enough…
Could a Texas city define its own local community standard for deciding whether material was obscene?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the proposed Lewisville ordinance conflicted with state and federal law because Texas used a statewide community standard and juries had to decide prurient…
Did a Texas district attorney have to pay the county clerk to record a judgment abstract from a bond forfeiture case?
No. The Attorney General concluded that article 3912e barred the county clerk from collecting the recording fee from the district attorney because the charge was not a litigation cost payable by the state.
Could the Liberty County Court at Law hear a lawsuit to foreclose a lien for delinquent property taxes?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the statute creating the Liberty County Court at Law gave it jurisdiction concurrent with the district court over delinquent-tax foreclosures, as long as the…
Did Texas prosecutors have to charge loss of mental faculties and loss of physical faculties as separate DWI offenses?
No. The Attorney General concluded that loss of normal mental or physical faculties described one way of committing DWI and could be pleaded in a single count.
Could a Texas district attorney hire an investigator whose spouse owned a bail-bond business?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the investigator could serve without violating article 988b because an arrest decision was not a vote or decision on a matter involving the spouse's…
Did an irrigation district tax assessor-collector need property-tax certification if the district charged a flat benefit-plan fee instead of ad valorem tax?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the certification statute applied through the Tax Code definition of a taxing unit, which covered entities imposing ad valorem property taxes, not this…
Could the Texas Veterans Land Board charge an $80 paid-in-full deed fee when an older land contract promised the veteran a deed without another payment?
No. The Attorney General concluded that imposing the later $80 deed fee on a purchaser whose older Veterans Land Program contract promised a deed upon full payment would substantially impair the…
Could a Texas independent school district use electronic funds transfer to deposit employee pay directly into an employee's bank account without express statutory authorization?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that school trustees could adopt electronic funds transfer for employee pay because the Education Code authorized payment but did not prescribe the payment…
Could the Texas governor distribute Exxon and Stripper Well petroleum-overcharge funds without a legislative appropriation?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Legislature, not the governor acting alone, had authority to allocate and appropriate petroleum-overcharge funds received through the Exxon judgment…
Did a Texas school district board have to approve the transfer of its territory to another district under the 1987 Education Code?
Sometimes. The Attorney General concluded that the receiving district's board had to approve a section 19.022 transfer, and a transferring district also had to approve if section 19.008 covered it.
Could a Texas commissioners court condition a constable's salary on voter support, deny office expenses, or pay constables different salaries?
The commissioners court could not condition or deny a reasonable salary or refuse reasonable office expenses. It could set different constable salaries when precinct circumstances reasonably…
Could Texas Tech University form a joint venture with a private or municipal utility to build and operate a cogeneration plant?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a true joint venture would expose Texas Tech, and therefore the state, to shared liabilities in violation of article III, section 50 of the Texas Constitution.
Could a Texas water district fund an ambulance for its lake and contract with the county hospital to provide emergency medical crews there?
Yes, with limits. The Attorney General concluded that the district could fund an ambulance only for lawful district purposes, with public benefits and controls, and could enter an interlocal…
Could a Texas county clerk refuse to file a financing statement that appeared legally insufficient under the Uniform Commercial Code?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the clerk's duty was to accept, record, and index the statement when the filing requirements and fee were met, leaving legal sufficiency to the courts.
Was it constitutional for Texas law to shield a county from liability when a reserve deputy was injured while serving?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the liability exclusion did not violate the Texas due-course guarantee or the Fourteenth Amendment's due process and equal protection clauses.
Could a Texas sheriff bar peace officers from carrying guns while off duty as patrons in bars or nightclubs?
A sheriff could impose reasonable off-duty restrictions on the sheriff's own deputies when tied to proper law-enforcement duties, but had no supervisory power over officers employed by other…
Did the county clerk who kept Texas commissioners court minutes have to be a certified shorthand reporter?
No. The Attorney General concluded that court-reporter requirements applied to courts conducting litigation, while a separate statute assigned commissioners court minutes to the county clerk.
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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.