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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When does a Texas school district have to seek community partnerships before opting out of, or building facilities for, state-funded prekindergarten?
A district only has to solicit public-private prekindergarten partnerships in specific situations, but where those situations apply the requirement is mandatory. Representative Dutton asked several qu…
Can a Texas school district keep a child's medical or health information from the parents under Title IX?
No. Representative Briscoe Cain asked whether a school district may withhold medical or health information about a minor from the child's parent or legal guardian, after parents and teachers reported …
Could a Texas school district give extra COVID paid leave only to vaccinated employees?
Not the way Houston ISD did it. Senator Paul Bettencourt asked whether HISD's policy of offering up to 10 extra days of COVID-19 paid leave only to employees who showed proof of vaccination or a medic…
Can a Texas county education department set up a relief fund to give grants to local school districts after a hurricane?
The AG concluded it can, with conditions. The Harris County Department of Education may use its public funds, including property tax revenue, to create a Hurricane Harvey relief fund that grants money…
Can a Texas school district put public money into a scholarship program that pays for its graduates to attend a community college?
The AG concluded it can, if two conditions are met. The Education Code lets an independent school district spend its funds on purposes its trustees find necessary or conducive to running the public sc…
Can a Texas school district run buses into a neighboring district without an interlocal agreement?
The AG concluded it cannot, at least for regular to-and-from-school transportation. Education Code section 34.007 lets a school district operate a transportation system inside its own boundaries, and …
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, or…
Can the Texas State Board of Education control how local schools pick textbooks?
The AG concluded that the State Board of Education has only the powers the Legislature has specifically delegated to it, and that it may not substitute its judgment for the local school district trust…
Can the same person serve on a Texas school board and a hospital district board at the same time?
The AG concluded no, at least where the two districts overlap and both can tax. Because the La Vernia Independent School District and the Wilson County Memorial Hospital District cover overlapping ter…
Are Texas schools allowed to use Common Core to teach state standards?
The AG concluded that Texas school districts may not use the Common Core State Standards to satisfy their legal duty to teach the state's required curriculum. A 2013 law (House Bill 462) added subsect…
Is a Texas junior college district a 'school district' that can avoid paying city impact fees?
A state representative asked whether a junior college district counts as a 'school district' under section 395.022(b) of the Local Government Code, the provision that lets a school district avoid payi…
Can a Texas school district make employees attend charity fundraising meetings?
The Attorney General read section 22.011 of the Education Code, which bars a school district from directly or indirectly requiring or coercing employees to give to charity. The opinion concluded the s…
Does the Texas catalog-purchase procedure for state technology buying apply to independent school districts?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the catalog-purchase procedure in Government Code section 2157.0611 sits in a subchapter that applies only to a state agency covered by Chapter 2054. Chapter 20…
Can a Texas school district stop a parent from bringing an advocate to deal with their child's education?
The Attorney General could answer only in general terms, because the request did not define 'advocate' or give any context. Where the law specifically allows an advocate, a school district cannot say …
Can a Texas school district change its trustee election date and adjust term lengths?
A court would likely conclude yes. The Attorney General determined that under Election Code section 41.0052, a school district could move its general election for trustees to the November uniform elec…
Can a Texas school district run fiber-optic cable along a county road right-of-way without the county's permission?
No. The Attorney General concluded that no statute gives an independent school district the right to access and use a county road right-of-way to install fiber-optic cable, so the district was not ent…
Can a Texas school district run payroll deductions for its employees' political action committee (PAC) contributions?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Texas law prohibits a school district from using its resources to process payroll deductions for contributions to political committees such as the TSTA-PAC and …
Could a Texas school district use district funds to pay a city red-light-camera civil penalty on a district-owned vehicle?
Yes, if the district was legally liable for the penalty. If it was not liable, payment could violate the Texas Constitution unless the district found its own public purpose, a clear public benefit, an…
Can an attorney give a school board free legal advice while being paid to collect the district's delinquent taxes?
The Attorney General gave a mixed answer. Because the attorney is an independent contractor, not a district officer or employee, serving both as an unpaid advisor to the board and as the paid delinque…
Can a Texas county give a grant or financial aid to a school district or charter school?
Not as a gift, the Attorney General concluded. Article III, section 52(a) of the Texas Constitution bars a county from gratuitously granting its public money or anything of value to an independent sch…
Does a new Texas school-district contract ban apply to agreements signed before it took effect?
The Webb County Attorney asked how Texas Education Code section 11.168, which bars a school board from agreeing to use district employees, property, or resources to build or renovate improvements on r…
If a Texas school district misses the deadline to file a truancy complaint, can it still file one for a later absence?
Representative Charlie F. Howard asked two questions about a school district's duty under Education Code section 25.0951(a) to file a truancy complaint after a student's tenth unexcused absence. First…
Can a Texas school district hire a company to run its cafeteria and buy the food?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas school district participating in federal school nutrition programs may contract with a food service management company that provides food as part of its ser…
Can a Texas school district pay city impact fees or build off-site roads for a new school?
The Attorney General concluded that Education Code section 11.168, which bars a school board from entering an agreement authorizing the use of district employees, property, or resources to provide mat…
Do Texas school district lease-purchase deals have to follow the usual procurement rules?
The Attorney General concluded that Education Code sections 44.031 and 44.033, the competitive procurement rules for school district contracts and purchases, apply to a school district's lease-purchas…
When must a Texas school district file a truancy complaint, and what happens if it misses the deadline?
The Attorney General answered three questions about the 2005 version of Education Code section 25.0951. First, the seven-school-day filing deadline runs from the student's tenth unexcused absence: a s…
Can a Texas school district build on leased private land and lease out its unused land?
The Port Neches-Groves ISD wanted a 50-year (renewable to 100-year) deal with Huntsman Petrochemicals: lease Huntsman's land for $1 a year to build schools on it, and in return let Huntsman use a trac…
Can a Texas county hand its school-land duties to the local school district?
The Attorney General concluded that the Llano County Commissioners Court could not delegate to the Llano Independent School District its authority to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the county's …
How must a Texas school district procure a single 'program manager' for a big building program?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district may not use the Professional Services Procurement Act (Government Code chapter 2254) to contract for bundled 'guaranteed program management' servi…
Can a Texas school district require its contractors to pay workers a living wage?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least for contracts covered by the state prevailing-wage law. The McAllen school district wanted to require its outside contractors to pay a 'poverty level wage' …
Does the Texas colonias subdivision law apply when a school district leases teacher housing on its grounds?
Joe Rubio, the District Attorney for the 49th Judicial District, asked on behalf of the Webb Consolidated Independent School District whether the colonias statute (Local Government Code chapter 232, s…
How did Texas school districts have to procure insurance and related administrator services under Education Code section 44.031?
Under the 1996 statute, a school district had to use one of section 44.031’s six best-value procurement methods for a nonexempt contract worth at least $25,000 in a twelve-month period. Insurance was …
Does a Texas school district have to use the city's required garbage company inside city limits?
Representative Warren Chisum asked whether the Pasadena Independent School District has to use the single garbage hauler the City of Pasadena franchised inside the city, even though the district figur…
When does a Texas school district have to use formal competitive bidding for construction?
The Texas Education Agency commissioner asked how two purchasing laws fit together: Education Code section 44.031, which lets a school district pick from six purchasing methods based on best value, an…
Can a Texas school district transport students in a vehicle that isn't a certified school bus?
The Texas Education Agency asked whether a school district could buy, lease, rent, or use a vehicle that does not meet federal and state school bus safety standards to carry students. The Attorney Gen…
Does a Texas school district have to take competitive bids before buying insurance?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that a Texas school district must put a contract for the purchase of insurance out for competitive bids if the contract is worth $25,000 or more over a twelve-mo…
If a Texas school district hires a private company to run its classes, does it still have to follow state school rules?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that section 23.34 of the Education Code, which lets an independent school district contract with a public or private entity to provide educational services, did…
Can a Texas school district use local tax money to hire a lobbyist?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that no, the source of the money makes no difference. Education Code section 21.939 barred a school district from employing anyone required to register as a lobb…
Can the same person serve as a county commissioner and a school board trustee in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that one person could not hold both offices at the same time: county commissioner and public school district trustee were legally incompatible. Under the common-law inco…
Can a Texas school district pull out of a junior college district?
The Attorney General explained that a junior college district can disannex (drop) territory only when the Legislature has passed a statute authorizing it, and only by the method the statute provides. …
Do Texas county school administrations have to follow the school-district lobbying limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Dallas County Schools, a county school administration operating under chapters 17 and 18 of the Education Code, is a 'school district' within the meaning o…
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 recei…
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 purp…
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 outs…
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 in…
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 h…
Can a school employee keep their job if a relative is elected to the board?
The Attorney General answered eight questions about the Texas nepotism law (V.T.C.S. article 5996a) as it applies to school districts. The key holdings: an employee may keep a promotion he held for at…
Can a budget rider change the competitive bidding rules that Texas school districts must follow?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Rider 30 to the 1991-1992 General Appropriations Act was unconstitutional. The Texas Constitution lets an appropriations bill cover the single subject of spendi…
Can a Texas city enforce its own accessibility building code on a school district despite a state waiver?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the City of El Paso could refuse to issue building permits or certificates of occupancy to the El Paso Independent School District for failing to meet the city…
Can the Texas education commissioner move a school district to a different county education district?
No, not in this situation. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioner of education had no authority to create a new county education district beyond those the statute already listed, and cou…
Can a Texas school board ban tobacco use by staff and visitors on school property?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district's board of trustees had the authority both to enact a policy prohibiting tobacco use by district staff and the general public on…
Can a Texas school board member also serve on a county education board, teach elsewhere, or work for a legislator?
Yes to all three. The Attorney General concluded that a school district trustee may serve on the board of the county education district his district belongs to, may teach in a different school distric…
How many trustees does a Texas school district elect when expanding its board from seven to nine members?
Enough to reach nine, not a fixed six. The Attorney General construed Education Code section 23.023(h), which converts a large school district's board from seven members to nine. The statute literally…
Can a Texas school district pay its employees for unused sick leave when they leave?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Texas school districts have the authority to pay their employees for accrued (unused) sick leave, and that they kept that authority after the 72nd Legislature …
Can a Texas city council member also work for a school district, special district, or navigation district?
It depends on whether the second position is an office or just a job. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution (which bars holding mor…
Can a Texas public school hold a raffle to raise money, or does that have to be done through the PTA?
The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district is not authorized to organize or conduct a raffle under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, because the constitutional provision and …
Can a Texas school board borrow from its depository bank when a board member works for that bank?
Yes, but with disclosure. In this 1989 reconsideration of Opinion JM-583, the Attorney General concluded a school board may enter a loan contract with its depository bank even when a trustee is a stoc…
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act apply to a school board subcommittee that has fewer members than a quorum?
Yes. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that if a committee made up of one or more members of a school district's board of trustees meets to discuss public business or policy, that co…
Can a Texas county, city, or school district hire a private company to handle all of its property tax assessment and collection?
No, not all of it. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Property Tax Code requires a natural person to serve as tax assessor-collector for the taxing units subject to it, so a …
Does a Texas city, county, or school district have to collect sales tax when it sells things to the public?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded that when a state agency, city, county, school district, or public university acts as a retail seller of taxable goods or services, the limited sale…
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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.