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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Can a Texas sheriff accept an administrative fee from the private company that runs the county jail?
No. The Attorney General concluded that neither the Texas Constitution nor Texas statutes authorize the person holding the office of county sheriff to accept an administrative fee paid by a private or…
Can a Texas licensing agency require full information and investigate before issuing a criminal history evaluation letter?
Yes to both questions. A 2009 law (subchapter D of chapter 53 of the Occupations Code) lets a would-be applicant ask a licensing authority, before spending time and money on training, whether a past c…
Can a Texas water authority use the Tax Code's effective-rate and rollback procedures to set its tax rate?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under section 49.107(g) of the Water Code, the South Texas Water Authority (STWA) is prohibited from using the procedures in sections 26.04, 26.05, and 26.07 of…
Is a county hospital district's behavioral health unit a 'private facility' for mental health filing fees?
No, most likely. The Attorney General concluded that a court would probably hold that the Behavioral Health Unit of the Titus Regional Medical Center, which is operated by the Titus County Hospital Di…
What qualifies someone to serve on a Texas water improvement district board, and what election and open-records rules apply?
The Attorney General answered several governance questions about the Logan Slough Creek Improvement District, a water district created by special legislation in 1961. To be qualified to serve on the D…
Who pays for a Texas district attorney's legal defense when she is sued for civil rights violations on the job?
The Attorney General answered three of the district attorney's questions, all negatively. First, a county commissioners court has no duty under Local Government Code section 157.901 to pay a district …
Can the Texas Governor grant a pardon to someone who has already died?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas court would likely hold the Governor may grant a posthumous pardon (a pardon to a person who has already died) without a constitutional amendment, so long a…
Can a mental health facility make police get a patient 'medically cleared' before an emergency mental health detention?
No. The Attorney General concluded that an inpatient mental health facility or a mental health facility is not statutorily authorized to require a peace officer to transport a person held in custody u…
Can I include extra contiguous lots in my Texas homestead property tax exemption?
Yes, within limits. The Attorney General concluded that section 11.13(j) of the Tax Code defines a 'residence homestead' to include the structure together with the land, not to exceed 20 acres, regard…
Can a county employee use a county vehicle to drive a spouse or other non-employee around?
The Attorney General did not answer yes or no, because the question turns on facts the opinion process cannot resolve. The Delta County Attorney asked about a county road commissioner who used a count…
Can a Texas city take back extraterritorial jurisdiction it gave up under a boundary agreement?
The Attorney General gave the general rule but declined to decide the specific dispute. As a general matter, a city must comply with chapter 42 of the Local Government Code when acquiring extraterrito…
Can a former school board trustee work in their district through a staffing company within a year of leaving the board?
It depends on the facts, but the Attorney General gave clear guidance on which facts matter. Education Code section 11.063 bars a former school district trustee from accepting employment with that dis…
Can Texas discipline a home inspector for an inspection done for someone who isn't buying or selling the home?
No, not under the disciplinary-powers section. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Real Estate Commission does not have authority under section 1102.401(a) of the Occupations Code to take di…
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…
Could the Texas Legislature give state and teacher retirees a one-time bonus check outside the pension trust funds?
Only the right way. The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature is authorized to arrange one-time payments to eligible retirees, but the 2009 General Appropriations Act tried to do it by appro…
Can a Texas justice of the peace defer a Parks and Wildlife violation and charge a fee the county keeps instead of a fine?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a justice of the peace may defer adjudication of a Parks and Wildlife Code charge under article 45.051 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and impose a special e…
Can a Texas county auditor make the county treasurer get approval before transferring money between accounts or investments?
Yes, with a limit on the investment side. The Attorney General concluded that a county auditor's broad oversight authority lets the auditor adopt regulations and procedures requiring the county treasu…
Can a Texas public college share the default risk on private student loans and discount tuition in return?
The Attorney General would not approve the specific deal, because reviewing a particular contract is outside what an AG opinion does. But it laid out the rules. Article III, sections 50 and 51 of the …
Can a Texas assisted living facility use its own staff to provide nursing care to terminally ill residents?
No, not beyond what the statute already allows. The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature authorizes assisted living facilities to provide only a defined set of services: food, shelter, pers…
Does the age-45 cap on new Texas police officers apply to an officer who resigned and is reappointed?
The Attorney General found no case law or statute saying it does. Section 143.105 of the Local Government Code (part of the Fire Fighter and Police Officer Civil Service Act) bars certifying a person …
Can Texas voters force a county appraisal district to reappraise property only every three years instead of yearly?
No election, but the three-year cycle itself is legal. The Attorney General concluded that an appraisal district and its participating taxing units are not authorized to put the appraisal schedule to …
Does a county's employee health insurance trust lose its Texas premium tax exemption if it does more than just pay premiums?
Probably not, in the Attorney General's view. Insurance Code section 222.002(c)(5)(A) exempts premiums paid on group health, accident, and life policies by a 'single nonprofit trust' established to pr…
Can a school principal also serve on the board of trustees of another school district in Texas?
Yes, on the facts presented. The Attorney General concluded that neither article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution nor the common-law doctrine of incompatibility bars one person from serving a…
Can a Texas city use the fast annexation exception when some tracts in the area have no house on them?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 43.052(h)(1), which lets a city skip the three-year annexation plan for an area containing fewer than 100 separate tracts with re…
Can the Texas Adjutant General and assistant adjutants general earn state compensatory time off?
Split answer. The Attorney General concluded that the Adjutant General cannot accrue state compensatory time, but the Assistant Adjutants General can. Government Code subsection 659.024(c) says a memb…
Can a Texas county bail bond board charge bonding companies a fee to pay for a bail bond administrator?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a county bail bond board may not impose a fee on bonding companies to pay for the cost of employing a bail bond administrator. No provision of chapter 1704 of t…
When does the 10-year clock on a Texas property tax abatement start, the date the agreement is signed or a later date?
It can start later. The Attorney General concluded that the maximum 10-year tax abatement period under Tax Code section 312.204(a) may begin in a year after the year the agreement is signed. A 2009 am…
Can someone with a felony or a crime of moral turpitude on their record become a Texas notary public?
No, not for new applicants. The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 406.004 bars the Secretary of State from commissioning as a notary public anyone who has been convicted of a fel…
Does Texas break federal law or the Equal Protection Clause by giving in-state tuition to undocumented students but not to out-of-state U.S. citizens?
The Attorney General would not say for certain. The opinion concluded that Education Code sections 54.052(a)(3) and 54.053(3) could be preempted by 8 U.S.C. 1623 if they grant a postsecondary benefit …
Does a Texas county sheriff have to keep a room set aside for videotaping DWI suspects?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a 1983 law (section 24 of a DWI bill) requires counties of 25,000 or more to buy and maintain electronic devices that can visually record people arrested for dr…
Is it a conflict of interest for a district attorney to work in an office the county rents from the DA's own spouse?
Not under the facts presented. The Attorney General concluded that a district attorney's continued occupancy of county-leased office space in a building owned by the DA's spouse did not violate chapte…
Can Texas health regulators fine a city for issuing a demolition permit without requiring an asbestos survey?
It is complicated. The Attorney General concluded that the word 'person' in the Texas Asbestos Health Protection Act (chapter 1954 of the Occupations Code) includes a municipality, so on the statute's…
Does a county court at law judge who only handles misdemeanors share the duty to set up and fund a county probation department?
Likely yes. The Attorney General concluded that a statutory county court judge who tries criminal cases and has jurisdiction over only misdemeanors is probably among the judges described in Government…
Could Texas force a state agency to keep written minutes of its open meetings instead of just a tape recording?
Probably not, as the law stood. The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely find invalid a Texas State Library and Archives Commission rule that required state agencies to create and keep…
Does an out-of-state company with a Texas headquarters or Texas-based officers have to register with the Texas Secretary of State?
It depends on the facts, and the Attorney General would not decide it in the abstract. The opinion concluded that whether a foreign entity is 'transacting business in this state,' and so must register…
If a city council member deeds away land but keeps the right to its future sale proceeds, does that pull the land out of tax increment financing?
Probably not, on the ownership point. Tax Code section 312.204(d) excludes real property owned or leased by a member of a city's governing body from both tax abatement and tax increment financing. The…
Can a Texas city hire the county or the appraisal district to collect the special assessments it charges in a public improvement district?
Partly. The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 6.24, which authorizes contracts to assess or collect ad valorem property taxes, does not cover special assessments in a public improvement…
Can my employer stop me from notarizing documents at work, or keep my notary stamp and record book if I quit?
The Attorney General split the answer. An employer may limit or prohibit an employee who is a notary public from performing notarial acts during working hours, because the common law lets an employer …
Can a Texas county charge a road-cut fee when a company bores under the road instead of cutting through it?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the county road-cut fee in Local Government Code section 240.907 reaches only activities that excavate or cut the surface of a county road. The statute defines …
Can a Texas hospital district pay to build a structure to house a city's ambulance that serves the district?
It is the board's call, within limits. The Attorney General concluded that the Hall County Hospital District has express authority to provide for the operation of a mobile emergency medical service, a…
Can someone with power of attorney change my burial or cremation plans in a prepaid funeral contract?
No. The Attorney General concluded that where a person has specified the method of disposition of their remains in a fully paid prepaid funeral contract, the person's agent under a statutory durable p…
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 court force a Texas justice of the peace to change the cause of death on a death certificate?
It depends, and the Attorney General did not give a flat yes or no. A justice of the peace who conducts an inquest signs the death certificate and may reopen the inquest, and a registered certificate …
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act forbid a city charter from letting a majority of the council call a special meeting?
Not on its face, the Attorney General concluded. Rockwall's charter let the mayor or a majority of the council call a special meeting with public notice. The Open Meetings Act does not set procedures …
Can a Texas assistant district or county attorney also work as a criminal defense lawyer in federal court or a neighboring county?
Generally yes, the Attorney General concluded, but with limits. Article 2.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure bars elected district and county attorneys from being counsel against the State, but it d…
Can a Texas county give juvenile board members health insurance, and can the commissioners court later cut it off?
Yes on both counts, the Attorney General concluded. A district judge who sits on a county juvenile board and is paid a supplemental salary by the county may be provided county medical insurance under …
Can a Texas county hire a private firm to collect delinquent court fines without infringing the district attorney's prosecutorial power?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Article 103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a county's commissioners court contract with a private attorney or vendor to collect unpaid fines, fees, co…
Can a Texas justice of the peace order a truant student to wear an ankle monitor as a condition of probation?
Yes, if the court finds it reasonable, the Attorney General concluded. In a failure-to-attend-school case under Education Code section 25.094, a justice court may defer the case, place the person on p…
Could the Dallas ISD school board change its trustees' term lengths after the December 2007 deadline?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 11.059(e) let a school board adopt a resolution changing its trustees' term length, but only if it did so no later than December 31, 2007. Th…
Can a Texas county auditor who is also a CPA ethically audit an emergency services district?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Health and Safety Code section 775.082 requires an emergency services district to file an audit report, which a commissioners court may direct the county auditor t…
When must a Texas water utility paint a fire hydrant black under Health and Safety Code 341.0357?
An owner does not have to first test whether a device flows under 250 gallons per minute, the Attorney General concluded. Health and Safety Code section 341.0357 requires painting a hydrant-looking de…
Can a Texas county attorney appoint or commission reserve or unpaid peace officers?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The statutes that authorize reserve peace officers name specific appointing authorities (sheriffs, constables, municipalities, and navigation districts), and county…
Can the Edwards Aquifer Authority refuse recharge permits and contracts for water facilities built before the 1993 Act?
Yes, a court would likely uphold such rules, the Attorney General concluded. The Edwards Aquifer Authority manages groundwater withdrawals under a strict aquifer-wide cap. Its powers include adopting …
Who decides how the Texas Permanent School Fund's total return is calculated and how the constitutional payout limit applies?
The State Board of Education does, the Attorney General concluded. As the agency that manages the Permanent School Fund (PSF) and sets the distribution to the available school fund (ASF), the Board mu…
Can a Texas county lease county office space to a nonprofit for less than fair market value?
Yes, as far as the bidding statute goes, the Attorney General concluded. Local Government Code section 263.007 lets a commissioners court use competitive bids to sell or lease county property. Its fai…
Can a Texas school district hire a private company to run reverse auctions for purchases over $10,000?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded, with a caveat. The Legislature lets school districts use the reverse auction procedure for purchases of $10,000 or more, and the statute is silent on whether a thi…
Must a Texas sheriff give the county treasurer bank statements for forfeiture and commissary accounts?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. In Delta County, which has no county auditor, Local Government Code section 115.901(a) directs the treasurer to examine the sheriff's accounts, dockets, and record…
Can a Texas county remove a fence in a county road right-of-way that the commissioners court calls a safety hazard?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. A commissioners court has general control over the county's roads and a duty to keep them safe for public travel, and the Transportation Code requires public roads…
How should a Texas county clerk index a correction or amendment to a deed signed by a title company, not the original owners?
The county clerk has discretion, the Attorney General concluded. When a real-property instrument is recorded under Property Code section 12.0011(b)(2), that statute does not say how to index it, and t…
Can a Texas justice of the peace hear truancy cases for students in a school district outside the JP's precinct?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. The failure-to-attend-school offense under Education Code section 25.094 may be prosecuted in a justice court of any precinct in the county where the alleged truan…
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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.