State AG Opinions
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Did Arkansas's three-percent highway-contractor preference require an Arkansas bidder to underbid Texas contractors on a Texas highway project?
No. Arkansas's preference depended on prior Arkansas contracts and tax payments, not solely on residency, so it did not trigger Texas's reciprocal preference against a nonresident bidder.
Could a Texas public university give elective credit for secular religious-studies courses taught through religious organizations, and could the organization nominate or pay the university faculty member?
A public university could grant elective credit for secular religious-studies courses if the program met Establishment Clause standards and was reviewed without denominational discrimination. It…
Could Maryland voters force a referendum to block the Camden Yards stadium financing legislation?
No, according to this 1987 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the Camden Yards stadium legislative package, including its financing chapter, was an "appropriation for maintaining the State…
Could the Texas Legislature require colleges and universities to transfer excess Texas Public Educational Grant funds to the coordinating board for scholarships at other schools?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the tuition set-asides were state funds subject to legislative control and that Education Code section 56.039 validly redirected excess balances. The…
Could Texas agencies sign multi-year contracts that paid private vendors for cogeneration systems from future energy savings without creating unconstitutional state debt?
Potentially. The Attorney General said properly drafted legislation and contracts could avoid unconstitutional debt if the vendor had no recourse against state credit and the state's payment duty…
Did a Texas district court need a filed lawsuit before it could exercise supervisory control over a county commissioners court?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that article V, section 8 did not give district judges free-standing oversight authority; a lawsuit or other authorized review proceeding had to invoke the…
Could the Texas State Securities Board adopt a rule that automatically treated certain underwritten stock offerings as fair, just, and equitable based only on share price and total proceeds?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the proposed rule would let the securities commissioner bypass the statutory duty to examine whether an offering was fair, just, and equitable. The…
Could Galveston County Drainage District No. 2 charge a fee to review construction plans for crossings over its drainage ditches?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Water Code chapter 56 governed the district and gave it no express or necessarily implied authority to charge plan-review fees for ditch crossings.
Did a Texas county have to reimburse the UT Health Center at Tyler for heart treatment provided to an indigent county resident?
Yes, subject to the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act's conditions and limits. State funding rules for indigent tuberculosis patients did not shift the cost of treating a heart condition to the…
In 1987, did Maine chiropractic applicants need degrees from specially accredited chiropractic colleges?
Yes. The Maine Attorney General concluded that applicants who matriculated on or after January 1, 1984 had to graduate from a college accredited by a specialized chiropractic educational accrediting…
Can Maryland recover school-construction debt-service payments it made to a county by mistake?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded Maryland's Department of Education had properly stopped paying local school-construction debt service for contracts let after June 30, 1967 and…
Could one person serve both as an Angelina and Neches River Authority director and a member of Lufkin's planning and zoning commission?
Not if the river-authority director performed services carrying statutory compensation. Both positions were civil offices of emolument, and article XVI, section 40 barred one person from holding…
Could a Texas municipal or justice court require a resident driver to post an appearance bond just to plead not guilty and obtain a speeding trial?
No. When the driver met article 6701d's conditions and signed a written promise to appear, a court could not require an appearance bond solely because the driver pleaded not guilty and requested a trial.
Did Texas law give people with physical disabilities equal access to buses, trains, airplanes, and other public transportation?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the right applied to public transportation operating in Texas and depended on public use, not whether the transportation received public funding.
Did dismissal or acquittal of a Texas DWI charge prevent suspension of the driver's license for refusing a breath or blood test?
No. The license proceeding concerned refusal to provide a specimen and used a lower civil proof standard, so dismissal or acquittal of the separate DWI charge was not a defense.
Could a Texas county auditor examine inmate trust and jail commissary accounts held and operated by the county sheriff?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the auditor's authority reached all money the sheriff held in an official capacity, even if a particular account did not contain county-owned funds.
Who had to notify landowners about a proposed Texas subdivision plat revision, and did every nondeveloper owner in the subdivision receive notice?
The county commissioners court had the notice duty. It had to notify every nondeveloper owner in the subdivided tract, even when the proposed revision affected only one smaller unit plat.
Did a felony indictment automatically end the appointment of a Texas deputy sheriff protected by a county sheriff's civil-service system?
No. For deputies covered by article 2372h-8, the civil-service commission's dismissal and discipline rules displaced the older automatic-revocation statute. Exempt deputies remained subject to…
Could Maine deny an amusement-device permit because a purchasing group's insurer lacked a Maine license?
No. The Maine AG concluded that federal law preempted permit denial based on the purchasing group's insurer failing Maine licensure rules, if the group filed notice and the insurer was licensed in…
Could a Texas county build or buy a jail through a multi-year lease-purchase agreement without a special statute expressly authorizing that financing method?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that counties had implied authority to use lease-purchase financing for an essential jail project, subject to every applicable constitutional and statutory requirement.
What counted as a bidder's principal place of business under Texas's reciprocal preference for resident and nonresident public-contract bidders?
It was the state where the bidder maintained an office and conducted a substantial part of its operations. A token Texas office with one employee who only submitted government bids was not enough.
Could Harris County pay district judges extra for serving as weekend and holiday magistrates without reducing the judges' state-funded salary?
No, not once the extra pay exceeded the required $1,000 salary differential below appellate justices. The Comptroller then had to reduce the state salary share by the excess, while a proper…
What did a Texas district clerk have to do with a civil dismissal notice, an attorney withdrawal request, or an unsigned proposed nonsuit order?
The clerk had to perform the ministerial work of filing each document in the case record and entering it in the court's records. That duty included a nonsuit motion and its proposed order even when…
Did a licensed Texas air-conditioning contractor need a professional engineer's seal for system design work authorized by the contractor licensing law?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Air Conditioning Contractor License Law created a specific exception to the broader Engineering Practice Act for design work that licensed…
Could a Texas court master appointed under Senate Bill 1321 handle cases under Titles 1, 2, or 4 of the Family Code even though the bill amended a statute repealed by the same legislature?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the same-session amendment survived the statute's codification and repeal because the Government Code savings provision preserved amendments enacted by the…
After Maryland's 1986 constitutional amendment, must a circuit court clerk's office payroll go through the state Central Payroll Bureau?
Yes, according to this 1987 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that once the 1986 constitutional amendment converted circuit court clerks' offices from fee-funded to State-budget-funded…
Could a participant in a Texas public university's Optional Retirement Program choose the agent, broker, or company handling the investments or annuities?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 36 of Title 110B gave the governing board, not the participant, authority over Optional Retirement Program vendors. The board could consider…
Would a proposed individual right to bear arms prevent Maine from reasonably regulating weapons?
Probably not. The Maine AG tentatively concluded that either proposed amendment was unlikely to invalidate weapons laws reasonably related to public health, safety, and welfare.
Could a Texas city spend hotel occupancy tax revenue on advertising meant to attract new businesses and permanent residents?
Not merely for business relocation or new residents. The advertising had to be developed and carried out in a way directly related to attracting conventions, visitors, or tourists.
Could Washington’s transportation department require domestic concrete to protect local manufacturers?
The 1987 AG said no. State statutes did not authorize the department to exclude foreign precast or prestressed concrete purely to protect local industry, and that purpose conflicted with…
Could a registered Texas fire-sprinkler contractor subcontract system work to an unregistered contractor or unlicensed individual?
The subcontractor had to satisfy article 5.43-3's registration requirements unless a narrow exemption applied. The State Board of Insurance could also adopt rules barring registered contractors from…
Could a Texas constable enforce vehicle weight limits on state highways or on county roads outside the constable's precinct?
A constable lacked authority under article 6701d-11 to enforce weight limits on state-maintained highways. Under a commissioners court resolution issued under article 6702-1, a Jefferson County…
Could a Washington 911 dispatch center require a polygraph from county employees transferring into law enforcement?
The 1987 AG said yes for the Grant County workers described: although they already worked for the county, they had never worked under a law-enforcement agency and were newly entering the dispatch…
Could a Texas housing authority use HUD's Consolidated Supply Program instead of following state competitive-bidding law?
Not when Texas law required competitive bidding. The housing authority's federal contract did not exempt Consolidated Supply Program purchases from state bidding rules, though the federal program…
Could an unlicensed Washington school employee catheterize a student who needed the service?
The 1987 AG could not give a categorical statutory answer because a registered nurse’s patient-specific assessment could determine whether catheterization was a minor nursing service under an…
I bought a car in South Dakota in 1984 when there was no excise tax on used cars between SD residents, moved to Alaska for two years, and now I'm back trying to re-register. Can SD make me pay the excise tax now even though I never owed it before?
Yes, SD can charge the tax. The motor vehicle excise tax under SDCL Chapter 32-5B is paid 'on any registration which follows a sale' of the vehicle. The tax law in effect at the time of registration…
Who could appoint and remove San Benito housing-authority commissioners, the mayor or the city manager?
The city manager. Because San Benito's charter assigned the manager the duties customarily imposed on the city's executive head, the manager fit article 1269k's statutory definition of mayor for…
Could a Texas school district pay a winning trustee's legal fees in a lawsuit contesting the trustee's election?
No. The election contest concerned the trustee's personal claim to office rather than a legitimate school-district interest, so district funds could not pay the trustee's defense. The board could…
Could the Washington Senate remove commissioned murals from its chamber without the state building agency?
The 1987 AG said the Senate could request removal, but actual removal required approval and cooperation from the Department of General Administration. The artist’s contract did not prohibit removal…
Could the Texas State Preservation Board accept private gifts and donations for restoring the State Capitol when its statute expressly said it could solicit them?
Yes. Reading the statute as a whole, the Attorney General concluded that the express power to solicit gifts necessarily included the power to accept them for the Board's preservation duties.
Did the Texas Rodent and Predatory Animal Control Service need an additional state wildlife permit for its animal-damage-control work?
The Attorney General concluded that the cooperative program authorized by article 192(b) was intended to supply the authority needed for predator and rodent control. The program's operating…
Could voters create a smaller Washington port district inside a working countywide port district?
The 1987 AG said no. A temporary 1986 law allowing some subcounty port districts did not authorize one inside an existing, functioning countywide district. Because that proposal was unauthorized,…
Could a Texas nonprofit biomedical research foundation receive a property-tax exemption, and was satisfying Tax Code section 11.23(h) enough by itself?
Assuming the submitted facts were proved, the Attorney General concluded that the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research fell within Tax Code section 11.23(h) and could meet the Texas…
How did a Texas 911 district calculate a uniform emergency-service fee when telephone customers paid different base rates?
The district had to apply the same percentage rate to each customer's own telephone base rate, rather than charge everyone the same dollar amount. It also could not deny 911 service to a district…
How did federal overtime rules apply in 1987 to Texas Youth Commission employees, including live-in houseparents working a 64-hour week?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that state agencies could use the 1985 federal compensatory-time provisions. Youth Commission workers qualified for the law-enforcement exception only if they…
What happened when Texas property was sold with a tax certificate that incorrectly said no delinquent taxes were due?
The erroneous certificate extinguished the taxing unit's lien against the property and protected the purchaser. The person who owned the property when the tax was imposed remained personally liable…
Who controlled a Texas county's drug-forfeiture special fund, the law-enforcement agency or the commissioners court?
JM-678 concluded in 1987 that the law-enforcement office or agency administered the special fund outside the county treasury, subject to a limited transfer for drug programs. The official Texas AG…
Did a Texas county's 1987 tax-rate rollback threshold apply to each fund separately or to the county's total property-tax rate?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the rollback-election threshold applied to the county's total adopted tax rate compared with its total effective tax rate, not separately to each fund's…
Could a zoning protester count privately owned street or alley land toward the 20 percent area needed to trigger a supermajority city vote?
Yes. Street and alley land owned in fee simple by a protester counted in the land-area calculation even when it was dedicated to the city as a public easement.
Could surplus portions of two tracts deeded to Texas for mental-health facilities be leased, sold, or traded without causing title to revert?
In 1987, the Attorney General declined to decide conclusively whether the two deeds created covenants, conditions, or determinable fees, or whether the State had substantially complied. The opinion…
Could a Texas county lend money to a proposed 9-1-1 emergency communication district before voters approved the district?
The district's board could not borrow or accept county funds before the confirmation election because the district did not yet have its ordinary statutory powers. The opinion left open county…
Could the Texas comptroller borrow constitutionally dedicated highway money to cover a temporary General Revenue Fund deficit?
No. Article 4344c expressly excluded constitutionally dedicated revenue from interfund transfers, and the Texas Constitution independently barred borrowing or diverting constitutional special funds.
Did the Texas Open Records Act require access to copyrighted computer records, copying by the requester, and new database searches or programs?
The Attorney General concluded that copyrighted public records remained open for inspection and requesters could make their own copies, although the custodian did not have to furnish copies.…
Could the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station contract with a corporation whose parent was half-owned by a Texas A&M regent, if the regent disclosed the interest and abstained?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that Texas A&M's Board of Regents could not approve the proposed research agreement because a regent had a pecuniary interest through the contracting…
If a North Carolina driver forfeits bond on a South Carolina traffic ticket, can NC DMV use that as a basis for sanctions like points or suspension on the NC license?
Yes. The AG concluded the DMV is no longer prohibited from acting on a South Carolina bond forfeiture. Two old NC Supreme Court cases (Wright and Donnelly) blocked sanctions because the SC defendant…
Could residents transfer their neighborhood from Dallas ISD to Richardson ISD without approval from the Dallas school board?
No. Although Education Code section 19.022 created a detachment-and-annexation procedure, section 19.008 required majority approval from the Dallas ISD trustees before any boundary change could take…
When two 1985 Texas bills created conflicting administrative penalties under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which scheme controlled?
House Bill 1732's penalty scheme controlled in its entirety. The Health Department did not have to combine nonconflicting details line by line from House Bill 2091, though the Board of Health could…
Could Texas deny a chiropractor a reciprocal license solely because the chiropractor's home state used basic-science exams instead of required college courses?
Not automatically. Texas could consider its college-course requirements when evaluating reciprocity, but the other state's standards needed to be substantially equivalent rather than identical, and…
Did Texas impose a rollback tax when land remained in agricultural use but no longer met the intensity standard for open-space appraisal?
No. Section 23.55 imposed the rollback tax only when the land's use changed; losing special-appraisal eligibility while continuing livestock production was not a change in use.
When I close on a DC mortgage in the middle of the month, can the lender still charge me interest at closing for the days between closing and the start of the next full month?
Yes, under the 1987 opinion. The Wet Settlement Act did not bar collection of odd-days' interest at closing after the loan funds were disbursed and closing occurred. The opinion read the Act's ban…
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