State AG Opinions
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Which Texas special districts counted as improvement districts subject to county-auditor control, and who paid for the additional audit staff?
The Attorney General defined an improvement district under article 1667 as a district primarily concerned with permanently enhancing land or natural resources. Hospital, rural fire prevention, and…
Could a Texas county bail bond board regulate lawyers who posted bonds for their own criminal-defense clients or regulate the county pretrial-services agency?
No. The Harris County Bail Bond Board could not require a lawyer to obtain a bail-bond license when the lawyer executed a bond for a criminal defendant the lawyer actually represented, although the…
Did abusive, indecent, profane, or vulgar language in a Texas public place automatically amount to a breach of the peace?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Penal Code section 42.01(a)(1) reached only 'fighting words,' meaning words that, in their factual setting, were likely to cause an average addressee to…
Who held title to a vehicle forfeited for a Texas sheriff's use, how was it sold when no longer useful, and where did the sale money go?
The certificate of title was issued to the law-enforcement department or agency receiving the vehicle, but that did not make the department an owner separate from the county. Once the vehicle was no…
Could a Texas justice of the peace order community service instead of collecting a fine, and who was liable or insured if someone was hurt?
The Attorney General concluded that a justice of the peace could require reasonable community service, with the defendant's agreement, as a condition of deferring a fine under article 45.54.…
Could a Washington county bill a city for booking, jailing and prosecuting a city police arrest under state misdemeanor law?
No. The Attorney General said in 1988 that the county bore those state-law prosecution costs unless the city agreed by contract to share them. A separate court-improvement cost agreement could be…
Could the Texas Veterans Land Board charge a later paid-in-full deed fee on an older land contract or on a contract assigned to a new purchaser?
Usually, the contract and the statutes and rules in effect when it was made controlled the paid-in-full deed fee. A later fee could not be imposed merely because the documents referred to the law…
Could the city of Denison withdraw on its own from the Greater Texoma Utility Authority, and was the authority unconstitutional if it could not?
No. The Attorney General found no statute allowing Denison to withdraw unilaterally from the Greater Texoma Utility Authority; the governing law instead gave the authority's board procedures for…
If my out-of-state charity wants to ask DC residents for donations, what does DC require us to do first?
Two registrations are required. First, file as a domestic or foreign nonprofit corporation with the DC Superintendent of Corporations. Second, complete the charitable solicitation application with…
Can a North Carolina county manager put a county Criminal Intake Center (jail detention cells) under someone other than the sheriff?
No. Under N.C.G.S. § 162-22, the sheriff has the care and custody of the county jail, and any facility with detention cells used to hold prisoners is a jail. Under § 162-24, the sheriff cannot…
If a town council member moves out of town during their term, does the council seat automatically become vacant in North Carolina?
Yes. Under N.C.G.S. § 163-59, an elected city officer's seat is automatically (ipso facto) vacant the moment they cease to meet the qualifications for office, including the residency requirement.…
Which Texas continuing-care retirement facilities needed certificates of authority, qualified for transition rules, or fell within the new 1987 regulatory act?
Facilities occupied, under construction, or backed by substantial development obligations by September 1, 1987, were entitled to certificates without satisfying section 4(c)'s substantive criteria,…
Was Gregg County's 1955 special road law constitutional, and did the 1983 County Road and Bridge Act replace it?
If the constitutionally required local notice was not published, the parts of the Gregg County law that regulated the commissioners court's quorum and assigned general county-affairs committees were…
Did Texas's 1987 property-tax exemption for non-income-producing recreational boats apply to boats already on the tax rolls?
Yes, but only in taxing units whose 1987 tax rolls had not been certified when the amendment took effect on May 26, 1987. Tax liability was not fixed merely because a boat was listed on the…
Could a Texas county commissioner use county crews, equipment, and materials to build an alley inside a city without specific commissioners-court approval?
No. An ex officio road commissioner had no independent authority to commit county resources. Work on a city street or alley required action by the commissioners court under section 2.010, consent…
Could the Lubbock Emergency Communication District sell 911 service outside its boundaries, charge a joining jurisdiction, and immediately change its board?
The district could contract under the Interlocal Cooperation Act with a nonmember jurisdiction that independently had authority to provide 911 service, and it could charge a joining jurisdiction for…
Does Baxter State Park have to get state procurement approval before making purchases, like other Maine state agencies?
No, based on this memo. Because Baxter State Park was created by Governor Percival Baxter's deeds of trust and is managed by an independent Authority funded from its own trust account rather than as…
Did a Texas county have to competitively procure a private company's microfilming and indexing services for the county clerk?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the company contract was neither a personal service, because the commissioners court had not selected specific individuals to perform it, nor a professional…
How much liability insurance could a Texas state agency buy for employees using agency vehicles, and what did the Attorney General review?
Article 6252-19a set no minimum or maximum coverage, and the Texas Tort Claims Act's governmental liability caps did not limit a policy bought under that article. The agency chose a reasonable…
Could Texas Board of Irrigators members recover their actual official travel expenses instead of being limited to the general daily meal-and-lodging cap?
Yes. The 1985 amendment to the board's enabling law retained express authority for actual travel expenses while tying compensatory per diem to the General Appropriations Act. Because that amendment…
Could Sutton County self-fund part of its employee health coverage through an account controlled by an unlicensed private administrator?
No. The arrangement made the county assume part of the deductible risk and therefore functioned as self-insurance. The only statute then authorizing county self-insurance applied to counties with…
Could Texas let directors of a failing state bank sell most of its assets with FDIC help and banking-commissioner approval but no shareholder vote?
Yes. Article 342-803a was a constitutional banking regulation. Shareholders had no general statutory right to approve a bank's asset sale unless they had reserved one by bylaw, and the Banking…
Could an appropriations rider require the Texas National Guard Armory Board to spend construction and maintenance funds through the Adjutant General's Department?
Yes. The Adjutant General's Department had implied statutory authority to build, maintain, and repair military facilities, so an interagency contract did not exceed its lawful duties. Rider 17…
Could a Texas Commission for the Deaf member also work for a local deaf council that received a commission contract?
Not if the member had a paid financial interest in the council or authority to contract for it. A paid interest made the commission contract illegal and void, while authority to represent both sides…
Could a Texas recorded document combine a jurat and acknowledgment in one notary paragraph, and did the county clerk have to review the jurat?
Yes. A jurat could be included within an acknowledgment. If the instrument otherwise met Property Code section 12.001's recording requirements, the county clerk's ministerial duty was to record it,…
Can a state law stop a mortgage lender from collecting interest in advance at closing?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a Maryland statute barring lenders from collecting advance 'odd days' interest on first mortgage loans was preempted by a federal law…
Did a county auditor or county treasurer have to sign before money could be withdrawn from a court trust-fund account administered by a county or district clerk?
No. The clerk with legal custody of the trust funds drew the check, and withdrawal required an order from the judge of the court where the funds had been deposited. Neither the county auditor nor…
Could Harris County require a construction contractor to perform at least 25 percent of the work with the contractor's own employees?
No. The county's competitive-bidding laws did not authorize that restriction, and a self-performance requirement would improperly limit competition. The county could still reject a particular bid as…
Could a commissioners court set the fees charged by a sheriff or constable for executing criminal warrants?
No. The opinion concluded that commissioners courts could not set those fees in misdemeanor or felony cases. Misdemeanor costs for state offenses had to remain uniform statewide, while the former…
Could a county auditor require travel documentation from commissioners receiving fixed monthly allowances, and which trips could the county cover?
The auditor could not require documentation before paying a fixed monthly allowance. The allowance still had to be reasonably related to official county business and actual expenses.…
Could the Port of Houston Authority license its employees as public security officers instead of using commissioned peace officers?
No. A navigation district may exercise only powers expressly granted or clearly implied, and the legislature required law enforcement on the Authority's property to be done by commissioned peace…
Did Texas Water Commission members have to live in different regions of the state?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Water Code section 5.052 did not create an enforceable geographic residency requirement. Its reference to a different 'section of the state' expressed a…
Could a duplicate Texas traffic ticket serve as the criminal complaint in justice or municipal court, and could the conviction support a habitual-violator suspension?
The Attorney General concluded that a duplicate traffic-violation notice could serve as the complaint for a guilty or nolo contendere plea in either justice or municipal court if it met the…
Could Washington classify a bridge replacement and repair project as a major improvement for funding?
Yes. In 1988 the Attorney General said the Transportation Commission could place the mixed First Avenue South Bridge project in the major-improvements category by looking at its primary purpose. The…
Could a Texas bail bondsman combine cash and real property to meet the statutory security deposit minimum?
No. The Attorney General concluded that former article 2372p-3 required a Bexar County applicant to choose either the cash option or the property-deed option. Property used under the second option…
Can a Maryland town's zoning ordinance require a county to get town approval before building a public facility inside town limits?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Poolesville could not amend its zoning ordinance to require Montgomery County to get town Planning Commission and town board approval…
When was a Washington short-plat application fee a lawful regulatory fee rather than an unauthorized tax?
The Attorney General said in 1988 that a city or county could charge reasonable fees to recover the actual cost of processing and regulating short plats. A charge designed to raise revenue beyond…
Could a Maine law requiring pension trustees to divest from companies in Northern Ireland override their fiduciary duty to invest prudently?
No, based on this opinion. LD 2008 required the Maine State Retirement System's trustees to encourage MacBride Principles compliance and, after mid-1992, prefer divestment from noncompliant Northern…
Could a former housing authority commissioner or a sitting school board member be appointed to a Texas fire and police civil service commission?
No. Both had held public office within the preceding three years, which the statute barred. But their decisions still stood, because they acted as de facto officers, and only a quo warranto suit…
Who had to pay the $110 temporary Texas CPA license fee increase, and could the accountancy board waive it for older licensees?
Professional corporations and partnerships registered with the board did not owe the $110 increase, because only natural persons hold a CPA certificate. Initial licensees did owe it. The board could…
Could the Texas State Auditor direct executive agencies, write higher-education accounting rules, or audit the Comptroller's revenue estimates?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Auditor and Legislative Audit Committee could investigate and recommend changes, but could not direct how executive agencies administered the law. He…
Could Washington randomly assign new welfare applicants between a family independence program and an older assistance program?
No. The Attorney General said in 1988 that the governing statute required all eligible new applicants to enroll in the new family independence program when it was implemented, apart from the…
Could a Texas county commissioners court hold its regular meetings in a county administration building instead of the courthouse?
No. The Attorney General read section 81.005(c) of the Local Government Code as clear and unambiguous: terms of the commissioners court had to be held at the county courthouse, even if the county…
Did Bexar County probate courts keep jurisdiction over mental health proceedings after their former jurisdiction statute was repealed?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Bexar County's statutory probate courts retained jurisdiction over Mental Health Code proceedings. The repeal also did not remove their authority to docket…
Was Washington Child Protective Services required to investigate abuse allegedly committed by a teacher or neighbor?
The Attorney General said in 1988 that CPS was authorized but ordinarily not required to investigate abuse by these third parties under the child-welfare statute. A duty might arise when the…
Could a Texas traffic ticket serve as the complaint in a county-court trial de novo after an appeal from justice or municipal court?
It depended on the plea in county court. If the defendant pleaded not guilty, a complaint conforming to article 45.01 had to be filed for the same offense. If the plea was guilty or no contest, the…
Does the long earth embankment around the southern end of Mud Lake count as a 'dam' under Idaho's Dam Safety Act, and could the state be sued if the Water Resource Board failed to regulate it?
The 1988 AG opinion treated Mud Lake’s man-made embankment as a dam because it stored far more than 50 acre-feet of water. The Department had to supervise it, while the Board could set the degree of…
Could the Texas Aeronautics Commission regulate an interstate air carrier that also operated flights entirely within Texas?
No. The Attorney General concluded that any carrier transporting passengers or property between Texas and another state fell outside the Texas Aeronautics Act. The Commission therefore lacked…
Must North Carolina withhold a prime contractor’s payment after a subcontractor reports an unpaid claim on a bonded state construction project?
No. The AG said the state had no legal duty to withhold funds after notice of the subcontractor’s unpaid claim and faced no additional liability for failing to do so. Given the statutory contract…
Could the Texas Railroad Commission approve railroad depot or agency closings for interstate carriers operating intrastate service?
No, not while Texas lacked the federal certification required by the Staggers Rail Act. The Attorney General concluded that federal law preempted Commission authority over depot or agency…
Could a Texas county hospital pay visiting physicians or give salaried staff extra compensation for treating indigent patients?
Not for services performed in those existing roles at the county hospital. Visiting physicians had to serve without county pay, and salaried physicians could not receive extra compensation. The…
Could a Texas county or home-rule city exempt religious, charitable, or educational organizations from local hotel occupancy taxes?
No. The Attorney General concluded that counties and home-rule cities could not create those hotel-tax exceptions without specific constitutional and statutory authority. The state-law exception did…
Could Maine require a 150-foot buffer zone around farmland where pesticides are used without it being an unconstitutional taking?
Probably not unconstitutional, according to this opinion. The Attorney General concluded that a proposed bill creating a 150-foot setback around registered farmland using agricultural chemicals was…
If a North Carolina town passes its own school-zone speed limit on a road that is part of the State Highway System, does the speed limit take effect on its own, or does the state DOT also have to pass a matching ordinance before drivers can actually be ticketed for going faster?
DOT has to concur. A municipal ordinance under G.S. 20-141.1 cannot, by itself, change the enforceable speed on a state highway in a school zone. As a practical matter, the town's ordinance is…
Could Maryland's Advisory Council for Handicapped Individuals tell lawmakers it disagreed with the Governor on a bill?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State Advisory Council for Handicapped Individuals had to route legislative disagreements through the Governor's Legislative Office…
Who could sell, lease, or close Northwest Texas Hospital, and did Amarillo hospital district voters have approval rights?
The Amarillo Hospital District board of managers had that authority after finding the action served district residents. A sale or closure could face a petition-triggered voter referendum, but a…
Could a Texas county commissioners court impose a countywide curfew on minors found on public property?
No. The Attorney General concluded that commissioners courts had no general police power and no statute authorized a countywide juvenile curfew. Limited control over county roads, buildings, and…
Could a Texas school employee be paid as an election clerk, and could a county road worker also serve as a paid part-time police officer?
Yes to both questions on the facts presented. An off-duty school employee could be paid for clerking a constitutional amendment election, and a county road worker could also serve and receive pay as…
Did intermittent service as a substitute teacher count as continuous employment under Texas's school-board nepotism exception?
No. The Attorney General concluded that each accepted substitute assignment was separate employment, so intermittent substitute service did not satisfy the continuous-employment exception.
Did Rider 47 unlawfully conflict with the Texas Human Resources Code by blocking appropriated funds for increased hospital and long-term-care costs?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Rider 47 validly limited the use of appropriated funds, so the department could not verify funding for increased provider costs caused by new nonfederal rules.
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