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.
No Texas opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can a property tax consultant sign the agent form for a Texas property owner?
State Representative Fred Hill asked the Attorney General to interpret Tax Code section 1.111, which lets a property owner name an agent to handle property tax matters, and specifically whether a prop…
Can a Texas county judge issue one mass gathering permit for several events?
The Comal County Criminal District Attorney asked the Attorney General whether a county judge may issue a single mass gathering permit to cover a series of similar events, or whether each event needs …
Does a candidate for a Texas community college board of regents have to meet a six-month residency requirement?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a candidate for the Del Mar College District Board of Regents must satisfy the Election Code's requirement of having lived in the territory the seat represents…
How does Texas calculate the school property value deduction for a tax increment financing (TIF) zone?
The Attorney General concluded that under Government Code section 403.302(d)(4), the Comptroller deducts only the portion of a school district's captured appraised value in a tax increment reinvestmen…
Can a Texas county cremate the body of an unidentified pauper?
No. The Attorney General concluded that even though a county may dispose of a deceased pauper's body by cremation under Health and Safety Code section 694.002(a), section 716.101 flatly prohibits a cr…
How must a Texas sheriff dispose of a vehicle abandoned when its occupants run off?
The Attorney General concluded that Transportation Code chapter 683, the abandoned-vehicle statute, did not govern. A vehicle is only 'abandoned' under that chapter if it sat unattended or illegally f…
Can a pardoned person collect wrongful-imprisonment compensation if they served a concurrent sentence for another crime?
Yes, in this situation. The Attorney General concluded the Comptroller may approve a chapter 103 wrongful-imprisonment claim even though the claimant served a concurrent prison sentence for an unrelat…
Do Texas courts charge two separate filing fees when you file a civil lawsuit?
The Attorney General concluded that a district clerk must collect filing fees under both section 133.151 and section 133.152 of the Local Government Code, not just one of them. Section 133.151 is the …
Is a golf cart a 'motor vehicle' for a lawsuit against a Texas school district?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas court would likely treat a self-propelled golf cart as a 'motor vehicle' under section 101.051 of the Texas Tort Claims Act, the provision that narrows a sc…
Where can a Texas chiropractic license applicant take their 90 college credit hours?
The Attorney General concluded that Occupations Code section 201.302(a)(3), which requires a chiropractic license applicant to complete 90 semester hours of college courses at 'a school other than a c…
Is my personal-and-business vehicle tax-free in Texas if I don't have to render it?
The Attorney General concluded that being excepted from the rendition requirement is not the same as being exempt from tax. Tax Code section 22.01(k) (added by House Bill 809 in 2005) says an individu…
Is a city water rights fee charged to developers an illegal impact fee in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a water rights fee imposed solely to procure a water supply, rather than to pay for building physical facilities, is not an 'impact fee' under chapter 395 of the Lo…
Can Texas deny your driver's license renewal for missing court on any charge?
The Attorney General concluded that the chapter 706 'failure to appear' program, which lets the Department of Public Safety deny a driver's license renewal, is not limited to traffic tickets, but it i…
If a Texas county abandons a road, who gets the drainage easement, and does the county have to sell it?
The Attorney General sorted out which of three statutes governs when a county gives up a drainage easement or right-of-way. If the easement is part of a public road, then under Transportation Code sec…
How much can a Texas county court at law judge be paid, and is the salary capped relative to a district judge?
The Attorney General read the two salary statutes together. For Gregg County, the maximum a statutory county court at law judge may be paid is 90 percent of the total annual salary a district judge in…
Can multiple companies get a single group license to manufacture or distribute bingo supplies in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Bingo Enabling Act requires a manufacturer or distributor of bingo equipment to be licensed, and it defines the 'person' who can hold a license to include an 'i…
Can a Texas junior college district annex several school districts or counties with a single election?
The Attorney General concluded that a junior college district may not hold one annexation election covering territory that spans more than one school district or county. Education Code section 130.063…
Can a Texas junior college board start an annexation election without collecting voter signatures?
The Attorney General concluded that the governing board of a junior college district may call an annexation election without a voter petition when the student-enrollment conditions in Education Code s…
Can a Texas family bury relatives on their own land without filing cemetery paperwork with the county?
The Attorney General concluded that an unincorporated family burying its own members on family-owned land is not a 'cemetery organization' under chapter 711 of the Health and Safety Code, so it is not…
Can Texas public school textbook funds be spent on computers and other equipment?
The Attorney General concluded that money in the state textbook fund cannot be used to buy computer hardware or other equipment. The Education Code defines a 'textbook' (which includes an 'electronic …
What was the maximum salary a Texas district judge could be paid?
The Attorney General concluded that the maximum lawful salary payable to a Texas state district judge under Government Code section 659.012 was $140,000. The figure works up a chain: an associate Texa…
Does a Texas county clerk have to deduct a fee from a cash bail bond refund?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county or district clerk is required, under section 117.055 of the Local Government Code, to charge an administrative fee when returning funds deposited as a cash…
Can the Texas Comptroller investigate and report on a state agency?
The Attorney General concluded that the Comptroller does not have authority to initiate and conduct an investigation into the effectiveness and efficiency of a state agency's policies, management, fis…
Does Texas's 'provider of last resort' rule for local MHMR authorities cover mental health services too, or only mental retardation services?
The Attorney General concluded that section 533.035(e), which says a local mental health and mental retardation authority 'may serve as a provider of services only as a provider of last resort,' appli…
Two Texas bills changed the same water-funding law in 2005, so which version of the 'affected county' rule actually applies?
The Water Development Board pointed out that two bills from the 2005 legislature, Senate Bill 425 and House Bill 467, amended the same Water Code sections (16.341 and 17.923) in conflicting ways, and …
Can a Texas attorney ad litem meet with a foster child by phone before a court hearing, or does the law require an in-person meeting?
Two legislators asked whether a telephone interview satisfies an attorney ad litem's duty under Family Code section 107.004(d) to meet, before each court hearing, with a child in a child-protection ca…
What fees can a Texas hospital charge a workers' comp carrier for medical records, the lower Labor Code rate or the Health and Safety Code rate?
The Department of State Health Services asked whether Health and Safety Code section 241.154(b) or Labor Code section 408.025(d) sets the fees a hospital may charge a workers' compensation carrier for…
Do retired Texas judges who were eligible to serve by assignment before the 2003 rules still qualify under the old requirements?
Texas lets retired and former judges sit by assignment to help clear court backlogs, if they meet the eligibility rules in Government Code section 74.055(c). A 2003 law (House Bill 3306) made those ru…
Does the practical part of the Texas hearing aid fitter licensing exam have to be validated by an independent testing professional?
The chair of the Texas House Committee on Human Services asked whether section 402.104(c) of the Occupations Code, which says 'the examination must be validated by an independent testing professional,…
Does Texas law bar the Workforce Commission from using block grants to fund certain listed employment programs?
A senator asked whether section 302.062(g) of the Labor Code prohibits the Texas Workforce Commission from using block grants to fund the fourteen programs that subsection lists. The Attorney General …
If two Texas bills amend the same statute the same session, which version is the law, and did the published code get it right?
The Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners asked whether the printed Occupations Code had correctly combined two 2003 bills, House Bill 3507 and Senate Bill 282, that both rewrote chapter 1301 (the p…
Does a Texas community college's service area grow when it teaches courses outside its assigned territory?
Texas law assigns each junior (community) college district a fixed 'service area,' a defined territory that matters for things like real-property powers, annexation, and reduced tuition. The Alvin Com…
Does working as a prosecutor in another state count toward a Texas assistant prosecutor's longevity pay?
No. The opinion concluded that time spent working as an assistant prosecutor for a district attorney's office in another state does not count toward the four years of lifetime service credit Texas Gov…
Does a Texas deputy constable automatically lose their job if indicted for a felony?
No. The opinion concluded that, unlike a deputy sheriff (whose appointment is automatically revoked by statute on indictment for a felony), Local Government Code sections 85.003 and 86.011 do not auto…
Does a Texas physician have to report a pregnant patient's illegal drug use as child abuse?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. Even though a 2003 law expanded the definition of 'individual' to include an unborn child for wrongful-death and certain criminal statutes, that expanded definition…
Does a Texas-licensed engineer have to place a Texas seal on plans for a project that will be built outside Texas?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. Section 1001.401 of the Occupations Code requires an engineer's seal on every plan, specification, plat, or report issued under a Texas engineering license, with n…
Can the Texas Racing Commission grant a racetrack license if the county never formally certified its local option election to the Secretary of State on time?
It depends. This 2004 opinion held that some certification to the Secretary of State is mandatory before the Commission may accept or act on a license application, but the specific form of certificati…
Can a Texas medical board deny a license to a joint MD/PhD graduate who passed the required licensing exam a few months after the statutory deadline?
This 2004 opinion concluded yes: the Occupations Code deadline for joint-degree graduates to finish the medical licensing exam is mandatory, not merely directory, so the doctrine of substantial compli…
Who decides whether a Texas navigation district's board members get retirement and medical benefits, the district board or the county commissioners court?
This 2004 opinion concluded the district board itself decides, because the county commissioners court's authority under Water Code section 62.070 covers only monetary pay, while sections 60.011 and 60…
When two Texas appraisal districts overlap and disagree on a property's value, do they have to use the lowest market value, the lowest appraised value, or both?
This 2004 opinion concluded chief appraisers in overlapping districts must enter both the lowest market value and the lowest appraised value on the tax rolls, not just one or the other, whenever the d…
Does a Texas state agency have to get equal employment opportunity training only after the Texas Workforce Commission finds reasonable cause that discrimination happened?
No, this 2004 opinion concluded the training requirement in Labor Code section 21.556(a) is triggered once a complaint is determined to have merit, a lower threshold than a formal reasonable cause fin…
Are Texas hospitals protected from lawsuits if a Medicare patient is hurt by a flu or pneumonia vaccine given under a standing hospital order?
No, according to this 2004 opinion. Texas Health and Safety Code section 161.001(a) only shields vaccine administrators when the immunization is required by the Board of Health or by another law or ru…
Can a Texas city pass a civil-penalty ordinance for any class C misdemeanor under Local Government Code section 54.012(5), or only for health and safety violations?
Only for health and safety matters, according to this 2004 opinion. Section 54.012(5) is not a stand-alone grant letting a municipality impose civil penalties for any conduct classified as a class C m…
Can a Texas county use jail inmate labor to set up and tear down events at fundraisers the county co-hosts with a nonprofit organization?
No, according to this 2004 opinion. Code of Criminal Procedure article 43.10(4) only authorizes county inmate labor on the county's own public works and maintenance projects, and a nonprofit's fundrai…
Is the Texas grandparent visitation law constitutional after the Supreme Court's Troxel v. Granville decision?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. Family Code section 153.433 is constitutional on its face, but a court applying it must require the grandparent to overcome a presumption that a fit parent is acti…
Can a Texas district attorney's office keep forfeited property, like seized vehicles or cash, for its own use?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. A district attorney's office qualifies as a "law enforcement agency" under Code of Criminal Procedure article 59.01(5) because it employs peace officers, so an att…
Does a Texas licensing board have to offer online license renewal even when state law requires applicants to physically submit a paper document, like a health certificate?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. The State Board of Barber Examiners must participate in the TexasOnline electronic licensing system because the law requiring participation and the law requiring a…
Does Texas's Public Funds Investment Act limit how a municipal utility can invest nuclear plant decommissioning trust money?
No, according to this 2004 opinion, as long as the municipal utility holds the decommissioning trust funds only as a custodian to pay decommissioning costs on behalf of the selling utility's customers…
Can someone with a sealed criminal record in Texas voluntarily let a federal background check see it anyway?
Not by waiving the order themselves, according to this 2004 opinion, since Texas law gives no one the power to waive a section 411.081(d) nondisclosure order. But the record can still legally reach an…
Can a Texas sheriff's civil service commission restrict who a sheriff is allowed to hire as a deputy?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. Unlike a county commissioners court, which cannot tell a sheriff whom to select, a civil service commission created under Local Government Code chapter 158, subcha…
Can the Texas board that licenses real estate appraisers add its own classroom-hour requirements for appraiser trainees?
No, according to this 2004 opinion. Occupations Code chapter 1103 lets the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board set qualifications for certificate and license categories, but a trainee ho…
Can a Texas school district discipline its own police officers without giving them a copy of a signed written complaint first?
No, according to this 2004 opinion. The Education Code rules on school district peace officers don't override the Government Code's complaint procedure, so a school district police department still ha…
Can a Texas county's civil service plan give deputy district clerks job protection if a separate state law says they serve at the district clerk's pleasure?
No, according to this 2004 opinion covering Hidalgo, Jefferson, and Nueces counties. A specific Government Code provision making those deputies at-will employees of the district clerk overrides the ge…
Does a water district board member lose their seat if a relative works for the private company that runs the district's water system?
No, under the facts presented. The Attorney General concluded that the word 'person' in Water Code section 49.052(a)(1), which disqualifies a board member related to a 'person providing professional s…
Does a Breeders' Cup-style horse race qualify for the Texas Racing Act's special tax reimbursement meant for the Breeders' Cup?
No. The Attorney General concluded that 'the Great State Challenge,' an event modeled on the Breeders' Cup and held at Sam Houston Race Park, did not qualify as the 'Breeders' Cup races' under section…
Can Texas's Rural Foundation use its money to fund rural programs that aren't health-related?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Rural Foundation, the nonprofit corporation the Legislature created in chapter 110 of the Health and Safety Code, may only raise and spend money to finance …
Can a Texas business that already maxed out its enterprise project tax benefits get a second concurrent designation in the same zone?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under the Texas Enterprise Zone Act and Tax Code section 151.429, an 'enterprise project' is the discrete business entity located in a particular enterprise zon…
When Texas law lets a city restrict trucks to 'two designated lanes,' does that mean exactly two or two or more?
The Attorney General concluded it means exactly two. Section 545.0651(b) of the Transportation Code lets a municipality restrict, by class of vehicle, through traffic to 'two designated lanes' of a qu…
Does a retired Texas state park peace officer have to take continuing education to keep an active peace-officer license?
The Attorney General concluded that a peace officer who retired from the State Park Law Enforcement Program is a 'retired state employee' under section 1701.356 of the Occupations Code. A qualifying r…
Can the University of Texas charge students a mandatory infrastructure fee without new legislative authority?
The Attorney General concluded the answer turns on the fee's purpose. Section 55.16 of the Education Code lets a university board fix and collect charges from students for the occupancy, use, and avai…
Browse Texas opinions by topic
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.