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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Who handles vehicle registration in Texas, the DMV or the county, and can the DMV hire a vendor to print and mail stickers?
The chair of the House Transportation Committee asked the AG to sort out the relative authority of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and county tax assessor-collectors over vehicle…
Can a Texas river authority invest public funds in CDs and deposits backed by FDIC insurance or a federal home loan bank letter of credit?
The president of the San Jacinto River Authority asked whether five specific investments would comply with the Public Funds Investment Act and the Public Funds Collateral Act. The AG stressed that…
Is forensic evidence from an unaccredited Texas crime lab admissible, and what can the Forensic Science Commission require?
The Texas Forensic Science Commission asked the AG several questions about lab accreditation and the admissibility of forensic analysis. The AG explained that courts, not the AG, decide…
Can a Texas district attorney use asset-forfeiture money to buy carpet for a county building, and does the commissioners court have to approve it?
The Bowie County Auditor asked whether the district attorney could use asset-forfeiture funds to replace carpet in a county-owned building and whether the commissioners court had to approve it. The…
Can the same person serve on a Texas city council and on the board of an overlapping library district at the same time?
A Tarrant County prosecutor asked whether one person could serve at the same time on the Forest Hill city council and on the board of the Forest Hill public library district, where the district sits…
Can a doctor of osteopathy sign the medical certificate needed for a court-ordered mental health commitment in Texas?
Two state senators asked the AG whether doctors of osteopathy may issue the certificates of medical examination that chapter 574 of the Health and Safety Code requires before a court can order…
Would Texas adopting the ABA's anti-discrimination Rule 8.4(g) violate lawyers' constitutional rights?
State Senator Charles Perry asked the AG whether Texas adopting the American Bar Association's new Model Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(g), which makes it misconduct for a lawyer to engage in…
Can a Texas city police chief also hold the elected office of constable at the same time?
Hardin County Attorney Rebecca Walton asked the AG whether the City of Lumberton police chief, who had just won election as constable of the precinct where the city sits, could hold both positions…
Can a Texas county attorney require defendants to donate money as part of a pretrial diversion agreement?
The Brown County Auditor and County Attorney asked the AG about the county attorney's practice of requiring accused people to make 'donations' to the office as a condition of pretrial diversion,…
Can a Texas community college ban concealed handguns in classrooms where minors attend class?
State Representative Abel Herrero asked whether a junior or community college may prohibit concealed handguns in classrooms and other areas where minors attend or are routinely present. The AG said…
Can the same person serve as both a community college trustee and a county commissioner in Texas?
Brazos County Attorney Rodney Anderson asked the AG whether one person could serve at the same time as a Blinn College board trustee and a Brazos County commissioner, given a 2015 law that let the…
Who counts early voting ballots in Texas, and what happens if a poll watcher is blocked?
District Attorney Wiley McAfee asked the AG three election questions. On the first, whether electronic voting systems must store a 'ballot image' meeting the Election Code's ballot-form…
Can a Texas city remove the board member it appointed to a regional water district before the term ends?
State Representative Jim Keffer asked the AG whether a member city of the North Texas Municipal Water District may remove or replace, at its discretion and with or without cause, a director it…
Can a Texas county spend public money on holiday decorations and literacy programs?
Upshur County Criminal District Attorney Billy Byrd asked the AG whether a commissioners court may spend county funds on holiday lighting and decorations for county buildings and on local literacy…
When do Texas courts defer to a state agency's interpretation of a statute?
Insurance Commissioner David Mattax asked the AG when Texas courts give deference to a state agency's reading of a statute, and specifically whether a formal notice-and-comment rule carries more…
Can a school board trustee also serve on a city planning and zoning commission in Texas?
Webb County Attorney Marco Montemayor asked the AG whether one person could serve at the same time as a trustee of an independent school district and as a member of a city planning and zoning…
Does a Texas special education video surveillance request cover one classroom or the whole district?
The Texas Education Agency asked the AG how to read section 29.022 of the Education Code, the 2015 law requiring video cameras in certain special education settings on request by a parent, trustee,…
Is the State of Texas on the hook if a city pension system can't pay its obligations?
State Representative Jim Murphy, chairing the House Corrections Committee, asked the AG whether the State of Texas must assume liability if one of the municipal retirement systems created under…
Can a Texas county commissioners court set vehicle rules that apply to the sheriff's cars?
A district attorney and the Llano County Attorney asked the AG whether a county commissioners court could adopt a county vehicle policy handbook covering vehicles allocated to the sheriff, and…
Can a county attorney's employee serve on a water district board if the attorney represents that district?
The Jim Hogg County Attorney asked the AG whether section 49.052 of the Water Code disqualified one of his office employees, an investigator paid by the county, from serving on the board of a water…
Can a Texas justice of the peace open court with a prayer or run a volunteer chaplain program?
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the State Commission on Judicial Conduct asked the AG whether it is constitutional for a judge to open court with prayer and to run a volunteer chaplain program.…
Can a private nonprofit that leases city-owned property in Texas ban licensed handgun carry on it?
The Erath County Attorney asked whether a nonprofit with offices on city-owned land could prohibit licensed handguns. The AG concluded that the state law penalizing improper no-gun postings…
Can the Texas Lottery Commission deny or revoke a lottery sales agent license because of a gambling offense?
The chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission asked the AG how far the agency's licensing power reached when an applicant or sales agent had gambling problems short of a final conviction. The AG…
How early and how many lease renewal options can the Texas Facilities Commission exercise for state office space?
Representative Angie Chen Button, looking for ways to lower the cost of state office space outside Austin, asked the AG about the limits on the Texas Facilities Commission's power to renew leases…
Do planning, zoning, or historic commission members have to recuse themselves when they own property in the district?
Representative Joe Deshotel asked the AG whether Beaumont planning and zoning commissioners, historic landmark commissioners, and a staff person who own or live on property in the city's historic…
Can a Texas county pay a nonprofit to display American flags on holidays?
Upshur County's auditor asked the AG whether it was a legal use of public funds for the county to take part in a Rotary Club flag project, in which area businesses pay to have American flags placed…
Is Texas's 'Any Willing Pharmacy' insurance law still blocked by federal ERISA law?
Senator Charles Schwertner and Representative Todd Hunter asked the AG whether article 21.52B of the Texas Insurance Code, the 'Any Willing Pharmacy' law, is enforceable after the U.S. Supreme…
When can a Texas school board hold a special election to fill a trustee vacancy if no date fits the 180-day deadline?
The Val Verde County attorney asked the AG whether a school district board of trustees could fill a vacancy by special election on a uniform election date that fell more than 180 days after the…
Is a Texas county school equalization tax an unconstitutional state property tax?
Rusk County and District Attorney Micheal Jimerson asked the AG whether the county's school equalization tax was an unconstitutional 'state ad valorem tax' barred by article VIII, section 1-e,…
Can a Texas school district keep student information from parents, and can a superintendent set that policy alone?
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick asked the AG two questions about guidelines the Fort Worth Independent School District superintendent adopted in 2016 to address issues facing transgender students.…
Can a Texas school board pay a law firm a flat fee for legal services without it being an illegal gift of public funds?
The Commissioner of Education asked the AG whether an independent school district board could lawfully pay a law firm a minimum flat fee for legal services regardless of hours worked, and whether…
Where can a Texas city post a sign to keep guns out of a city council meeting?
A district attorney asked, for the City of Alice, how a city must post notice to keep license holders from carrying handguns at city council meetings. The AG explained that Penal Code section…
What happens to a Texas charter school's buildings and land when the school closes?
The Commissioner of Education asked whether real property a charter school returns to the State under Education Code section 12.128, when the school stops operating, becomes 'unappropriated public…
How long can a state-appointed board of managers run a Texas school district?
The Commissioner of Education asked how Education Code section 39.112, which sets the appointment period for a board of managers that replaces an elected school board, applies after two 2015 bills…
Is an online convenience fee for paying rent an illegal credit card surcharge in Texas?
A state representative asked whether the convenience fee a tenant pays to pay rent online through a third-party processor is a credit-card or debit-card surcharge banned by Finance Code section…
Can a Texas judge refuse to apply another country's law in a divorce or custody case?
A state representative posed many scenarios asking how far a Texas judge may go to refuse to apply the law of a country outside the United States in family-law disputes, meaning disputes over a…
Can a Texas public university contract with a company a regent has a financial stake in?
A state senator asked the AG to reconcile two Texas statutes that seemed to contradict each other on whether a public university could contract with a business in which a member of its governing…
Who owns the interest an appraisal district earns while holding a county's tax money?
A county attorney asked who owns the interest an appraisal district earns while holding county property taxes it collected, whether past interest must be paid back, and whether the county tax…
Can a Texas county give money to the Boys and Girls Club or another nonprofit?
A county auditor asked whether a county could give financial assistance to the Boys and Girls Clubs without violating the constitutional ban on gifts of public funds in article III, section 52 of…
When does a Texas county judge qualify for the state salary supplement?
A county auditor asked what counts as a 'judicial function' so a county judge may claim the state salary supplement under Government Code section 26.006, which gives the judge a supplement equal to…
Can a Texas river authority ban open carry of handguns in its parks?
No. The AG concluded that the broad rulemaking power a river authority has over its water-related parks (Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 25) does not let it ban the open carry of handguns, because…
Can a Texas DA spend asset-forfeiture money to investigate a juvenile detention center?
The AG did not give a yes-or-no answer because it turns on the facts. The AG explained that under article 59.06 of the Code of Criminal Procedure a prosecutor may spend asset-forfeiture funds only…
Does Texas have to follow federal refugee-funding rules that aren't in the statute?
On the first question, the AG concluded that a court would likely treat any condition on federal refugee money that does not appear in the text of a federal statute as unenforceable, because the…
Can a Texas city regulate the propane (LPG) industry with its own ordinance?
The AG concluded that section 113.054 of the Natural Resources Code preempts and supersedes a city's or other political subdivision's LPG ordinances across the board: it does not matter whether the…
Is the Texas crude oil production tax still in effect after SB 757 and HB 7?
The AG concluded the tax was gone. Senate Bill 757 expressly repealed the Natural Resources Code section that levied the three-sixteenths-of-a-cent-per-barrel tax on crude oil. A week later, House…
Can Texas fix a sales-tax election that pushed an area over the 2% local cap?
The AG concluded there was no statutory fix. A Montgomery County emergency services district held an election to add a half-percent sales tax but did not exclude an economic development zone where…
Who pays to move a body from an autopsy to the funeral home in Texas?
The AG concluded that the cost of transporting a body from a justice-of-the-peace-ordered autopsy to its final destination generally falls on the person with the legal duty to inter the deceased, or…
Can a physical therapist do dry needling in Texas?
The AG concluded that a court would likely uphold the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners' authority to determine that trigger point dry needling falls within the scope of practice of physical…
Can a senior get a Texas property tax deferral on a home that's also used for business?
The AG concluded that section 33.06 of the Tax Code lets a qualifying owner (age 65 or older, or disabled) defer property taxes on a residence homestead, and that an appraisal district may grant the…
Can the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists accept a voluntary license surrender?
The AG concluded that a court would likely find the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists has implied authority under chapter 1002 of the Occupations Code to accept a licensee's unilateral,…
Can a Texas county auditor audit a sheriff's accounts, including bail bond, commissary, and forfeiture funds?
The AG concluded that even though a Texas county sheriff may keep some money (cash bail bonds from cases not yet filed, inmates' personal funds, and prepaid phone-card revenue) outside the county…
Can Texas route federal RESTORE Act Gulf oil spill money through the state appropriations process and treasury?
The AG concluded that a 2015 Texas budget rider requiring RESTORE Act funds (the Gulf Coast restoration money from Deepwater Horizon spill penalties) to be deposited in the State Treasury and run…
How many design-build highway contracts can TxDOT sign, and what's the minimum project cost?
The AG concluded that under section 223.242 of the Transportation Code, the Texas Department of Transportation may enter into a design-build contract for a highway project with a construction cost…
Can a Texas county use license-plate cameras to catch and fine uninsured drivers?
The AG concluded that a court is likely to find Texas counties have no authority to use an automated photographic system, like the license-plate-reader 'insurance enforcement' setup a vendor pitched…
Does a Texas county have to maintain the sidewalks in a right-of-way it accepted?
The AG concluded that a county road can include the sidewalks within the road's right-of-way, so a county's duty to maintain a road it has accepted can extend to those sidewalks. But whether this…
Does a Texas heirship case always require notice by newspaper publication to unknown heirs?
The AG concluded that a court would likely read section 202.052 of the Estates Code to require citation by publication in every proceeding to determine heirship, so that unknown heirs are notified…
Does a Texas truancy expunction order cover juvenile probation department records too?
The AG concluded that an expunction order under article 45.0541 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which lets people clear records of the now-repealed 'failure to attend school' (truancy) offense,…
Can a Texas city, county, or school district cut its local homestead exemption before 2019?
The AG concluded that Tax Code subsection 11.13(n-1), added by Senate Bill 1 in 2015, bars a school district, municipality, or county from repealing or reducing its local option homestead exemption…
Is the Texas law requiring courts to appoint ad litem attorneys from a rotation list constitutional?
The AG concluded that a court is unlikely to find Senate Bill 1876 unconstitutional. The 2015 law requires a court using a rotation system to appoint the first qualified person on its list when it…
Does Texas's E-Verify law (SB 374) replace Governor Perry's Executive Order RP-80?
The AG concluded that section 673.002 of the Government Code, added by Senate Bill 374 in 2015, supersedes Executive Order RP-80 on the requirement that all state agencies verify the employment…
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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.