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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How are a Texas multi-county district court reporter's expenses reimbursed, and can the commissioners court set them?
Under Government Code section 52.055, the Attorney General concluded. When the court reporter of a multi-county district court (here the 506th, covering Waller and Grimes Counties) performs official d…
Can Texas stop local governments from adopting policies that block cooperation with federal immigration enforcement?
Likely yes, the Attorney General concluded. The power to regulate immigration is exclusively federal, and the Supremacy Clause bars state and local actions that frustrate federal immigration law. Two …
Does a Texas legislator have to resign to run for Governor?
No. The Attorney General found no constitutional or statutory provision that requires a member of the Texas House to give up the seat after announcing a candidacy for Governor during the first year of…
Can a Texas home rule city enforce its zoning and land development rules against a school district?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. A home rule municipality may enforce its reasonable land development regulations and zoning ordinances, including setback, height, sign, landscaping, screening, an…
Do court-appointed criminal interpreters have to translate documents for the prosecutor?
No, the Attorney General concluded. An interpreter appointed by the court under Code of Criminal Procedure article 38.30 is there to interpret in the courtroom for a witness or the person charged who …
Could Texas revoke the business license of employers who hire undocumented workers?
The Attorney General advised that a Texas statute closely tracking the Legal Arizona Workers Act, suspending or revoking the business license of employers of unauthorized workers and relying only on t…
Does a Texas county have to include a district judge's longevity pay when setting a county court judge's salary?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Government Code section 25.0005(a) ties a statutory county court judge's pay to the total annual salary of 'a' district judge in the county, and 'a' means 'any.' So…
Can a Texas county make a landowner remove a hazardous mailbox from the road right-of-way?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court, which has general control over county roads and a duty to keep them safe, may remove or order the removal of objects in the road right-of-way…
Can a bailiff who isn't a licensed jailer supervise inmates in courthouse holding cells?
The Attorney General did not decide this. The opinion confirmed that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards has authority to regulate the observation of inmates held in courthouse holding cells, and t…
Can a Texas judge let a probationer travel or move out of state?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives a judge broad discretion to set the conditions of community supervision, including ordering a defendant to re…
What powers do out-of-state police officers have inside a Texas border city?
The Attorney General concluded that under Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.124(b), a peace officer from an adjoining state, here Texarkana, Arkansas, has the same powers, duties, and immunities as…
Did Education Code 11.051(a-1) change how many votes a Texas school board needs to act?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 11.051(a-1) says a school board may act only by majority vote of the members present at a properly held meeting where a quorum is present and…
Can a school district police chief also serve on a city council in the same area?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. The common-law incompatibility doctrine bars one person from holding two public offices with conflicting duties, but it applies only when both positions are 'offic…
Can TxDOT transfer trust money from a state highway fund subaccount to a regional transportation authority?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Transportation Code section 228.012 requires TxDOT to hold comprehensive-development-agreement payments, like the roughly $3.2 billion surplus toll revenue from the…
Can the Texas Comptroller include extra information in the Chapter 313 value-limitation report?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Tax Code sections 313.008 and 313.032 list eleven items the Comptroller's biennial report on Texas Economic Development Act value-limitation agreements must contai…
What made a company a Texas bidder for state service contracts, and what could happen if it falsely claimed that status?
Under the 2008 statute, a business was a Texas bidder if it was incorporated in Texas, had its principal place of business in Texas, or had an established physical presence in Texas. An inaccurate cla…
Does federal law preempt Texas rules on air ambulance subscription programs?
Yes, as to price, the Attorney General concluded. The federal Airline Deregulation Act bars states from enforcing any law related to the price, route, or service of an air carrier. A Texas EMS subscri…
Can a Texas county set up its own electronic monitoring program for house arrest?
No, the Attorney General concluded. A county commissioners court has no express or implied authority under Code of Criminal Procedure article 42.035 to establish an electronic monitoring program separ…
Can county hotel occupancy tax money pay for key-man insurance as an administrative cost?
The Attorney General did not decide this as a matter of law. Tax Code section 352.1015(c) lets a county spend hotel occupancy tax revenue on administrative costs only if those costs are incurred direc…
Does a Texas county appraisal district office have to be located in its own county?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Tax Code section 6.05 requires an appraisal district's office to be located in the county for which the district is established. There are two exceptions: the dist…
Can a Texas state licensing agency see criminal records that are sealed by a nondisclosure order?
No, the Attorney General concluded (presuming the agency is not a criminal justice agency). Government Code section 411.081(d) lets someone who completed deferred adjudication get a court order sealin…
What gifts can a Texas state board member take from companies that might win a state contract?
The Attorney General read Government Code section 2054.022(a)(7) to bar a board member or the executive director of the Department of Information Resources from accepting money or anything of value, b…
Does a school district pre-K class run with a Head Start agency need a Texas child-care license?
The Attorney General did not give a yes-or-no answer. A child-care facility generally needs a license, but an accredited educational facility that 'operates' a pre-kindergarten program primarily for e…
Can someone who is both a state retiree and an active state employee get two state benefit contributions?
No, and the Attorney General explained why. An individual who receives a state contribution as an annuitant (retiree) under the group benefits plan created by chapter 1601 of the Insurance Code may no…
Which disabled-veteran property tax exemption applies in Texas, the constitution's or the Tax Code's?
The Attorney General concluded that tax appraisal districts must use the disability-rating schedule and maximum exemption amounts in Texas Constitution article VIII, section 2(b), not the ones in Tax …
Can a Texas lottery vending machine scan your driver's license to check your age?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Transportation Code section 521.126 generally makes it an offense to access or use the electronically readable information on a driver's license, but it has an exc…
Does a Texas health plan have to cover as many mental-health outpatient visits as physical ones?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Insurance Code section 1355.004(a)(1)(B) sets a floor: a covered group health benefit plan must provide at least 60 outpatient visits per year for serious mental i…
Can a Texas government agency release a vehicle's VIN under the open records law?
Yes, if the VIN stands alone. The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 552.130, the Public Information Act exception covering driver's licenses, vehicle titles and registrations, an…
Can a Texas navigation district regulate and permit waterfront structures within its boundaries?
Yes, within its statutory scope. The Attorney General concluded the Cedar Bayou Navigation District has express authority, under its enabling act and Water Code section 63.153, to regulate structures …
Can a Texas county hire a company owned by one of its county commissioners?
It is not automatically barred. The Attorney General explained that Local Government Code section 81.002(a), the commissioners' oath, generally prohibits a county judge or commissioner from being dire…
Are Texas civil-service laws that apply only to cities over 1.5 million (Houston) unconstitutional?
The Attorney General declined to say so as a matter of law. Two Local Government Code sections, 143.088 (a ban on paying for someone to retire or resign from a civil service job) and 143.1041 (limitin…
Does the open-records 'radio station' exception cover a ham radio license holder in Texas?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded, based on the statute's plain language. Government Code section 552.275 lets a governmental body cap the time it must spend producing records for frequent requestor…
Do vague agenda labels like 'City Manager's Report' satisfy the Texas Open Meetings Act?
No, the Attorney General concluded for the labels in question. Under the Open Meetings Act, a meeting notice must give the date, hour, place, and subject of the meeting, and the subject must be descri…
Can a Texas county bail bond board discipline a surety over an out-of-county bond?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. A county bail bond board may revoke or suspend the license of a surety it licensed if the surety violates Occupations Code chapter 1704 or a board rule on a bond e…
Is the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts subject to the open records law?
It depends on the facts, the Attorney General explained, and the opinion declined to decide it. Under the Public Information Act, a private organization is a 'governmental body' to the extent it spend…
Could a business leasing Texas land seek a school property-tax value limit for buildings or equipment it owned?
Yes, under the law examined in 2008. A person that owned a qualifying building, improvement, or item of tangible personal property could apply for the chapter 313 appraised-value limitation even if th…
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…
Can a Texas county bail bond board vote to dissolve itself?
No, the Attorney General concluded. In a county with fewer than 110,000 people, Occupations Code chapter 1704 lets the relevant officials choose whether to create a bail bond board, but the statute sa…
Does adopting collective bargaining (FPERA) change how many assistant fire chiefs a Texas city's fire chief can appoint?
Adopting the Fire and Police Employees Relations Act did not strip the fire chief of the authority to appoint top assistants; it removed the numerical cap on how many he could appoint. Under Local Gov…
Can a Texas county pay its elected officials a performance bonus for hitting goals set by the commissioners court?
Probably not, the Attorney General concluded. A commissioners court controls the county budget and can set compensation for county officers and employees, and a properly pre-approved bonus plan for co…
Can a Texas city's municipal court hear an appeal of a dangerous-dog determination, and can it refuse or transfer the case?
Yes, it can hear these cases, the Attorney General concluded. A municipal court created under Government Code chapter 29, even one that is not a court of record, has jurisdiction under Health and Safe…
If a county boundary resurvey moves part of an existing road into a different county, does that county automatically have to maintain it?
No, not on its own, the Attorney General concluded. Slama Road was established in 1902 as an Ellis County road running to the Navarro County line. A 1931 resurvey of the boundary showed the last 0.432…
How far can a Texas county require a sexually oriented business to be located from schools, homes, and churches?
There is no single statutory maximum, the Attorney General concluded. Local Government Code section 243.006(a) lets a county prohibit a sexually oriented business within a certain distance of a school…
Do Texas public schools and charter schools have to offer the elective Bible course?
No, the Attorney General concluded. House Bill 1287 added Education Code section 28.011, which says a school district 'may offer' elective courses on the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament and th…
Can a county's one-year no-rehire policy block a constable from hiring a deputy who recently left another county job?
No, the Attorney General concluded. San Jacinto County's commissioners court adopted a policy making a former county employee ineligible for rehire for one year after leaving. The opinion held that po…
Do Texas school districts have to use the state's standard GPA formula for college admissions?
Yes, for admissions, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 51.807 directs the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt a standard method for computing a student's high schoo…
Does a Texas wildlife rehabilitation permit let the holder keep any dangerous wild animal without registering it?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Subchapter E of Health and Safety Code chapter 822 bars anyone from keeping a dangerous wild animal (the list includes tigers, lions, bears, gorillas, and similar a…
Can a Texas regional transportation authority charge different sales tax rates in different subregions?
Yes, potentially, the Attorney General concluded. The Texas Constitution requires taxation to be equal and uniform, but courts have long held that does not demand absolute equality; it allows reasonab…
Are county indigent-health-care bills over budget an unconstitutional debt the county can't pay?
It depends on a fact question, but if the answer is the one suggested, yes, the Attorney General concluded. Texas Constitution article XI, section 7 bars a county from incurring a debt without levying…
Can a Texas justice of the peace who is a lawyer be appointed to represent criminal defendants on appeal?
No statute forbids it, the Attorney General concluded, but ethics rules may. A justice of the peace in Upshur County, who is a licensed attorney, asked to be put on the criminal appellate appointment …
Can the board directors of a Texas water authority enroll in the district's employee health care plan?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The Lower Neches Valley Authority is a conservation and reclamation district subject to chapter 49 of the Water Code. Section 49.069(c) lets the board provide hospi…
Can a Texas state agency rule exempt a child-care program from licensing if the statute doesn't list that exemption?
Not to the extent the rule goes beyond the statute. The Attorney General concluded that Chapter 42 of the Human Resources Code bars anyone from operating a child-care facility without a license from t…
Can a Texas city or county limit housing density or lot size through subdivision platting in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction?
It depends, and the Attorney General would not resolve it. Chapters 212 and 232 of the Local Government Code let cities and counties regulate plats and subdivisions, including in a city's extraterrito…
Can a Texas Lottery Commission member host or sponsor a political fundraiser or solicit campaign contributions?
Possibly not, depending on the facts. Government Code section 467.025(a)(5) bars a Lottery Commission member from directly or indirectly coercing, commanding, or advising anyone to contribute anything…
When is a wild animal 'previously captured' so that beating or killing it counts as criminal animal cruelty in Texas?
A wild animal counts as 'previously captured' if it was confined against its will at some point before the cruel act. The Attorney General was asked to define 'previously captured' in Penal Code secti…
Can a Texas county commissioner also be paid as an employee of the county sheriff's department?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 81.002(a), which requires a county commissioner to swear not to be interested, directly or indirectly, in a contract with or claim…
Can a Texas auto shop put a mechanic's lien on a car it never actually repaired?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Property Code section 70.001(a) gives a possessory lien only to a worker 'who by labor repairs' an article, including a vehicle. If a shop performs no repairs, …
Does filing a campaign treasurer appointment or hinting at a run force a Texas constable to automatically resign under resign-to-run?
Not on these facts, and the law shielding the treasurer filing is likely valid. Article XVI, section 65 of the Texas Constitution automatically removes certain officeholders, including constables, who…
Does a Texas county judge lose magistrate powers when the county court loses its criminal and civil jurisdiction?
No. The Aransas County Attorney asked whether the 2001 creation of a county court at law, which stripped the constitutional county court of its probate, juvenile, civil, and criminal jurisdiction, als…
Does a Texas school district's TRS contribution use the teacher minimum salary including the temporary 2006 $250 raise?
No. The Commissioner of Education asked how to read Education Code section 21.402 when calculating a school district's share of the state's Teacher Retirement System (TRS) contribution. Government Cod…
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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.