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 large Texas county build or replace a cattle guard on a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that section 251.009 of the Transportation Code authorizes only counties with fewer than 60,000 residents to build cattle guards on county roads. Because Webb County's p…
Can National Park Service rangers arrest people for state crimes in Texas national parks?
The Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 965, which added subsection (d) to article 2.122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, gives commissioned National Park Service law enforcement officers th…
When does a Texas county 'initially' start collecting court fees for the judge salary rule?
The Attorney General concluded that, for the alternative county court-at-law judge salary formula in section 25.0005(e), a county 'initially begins collecting fees and costs under section 51.702' in t…
Can the Texas Court Reporters Certification Board reject or penalize a court reporting firm's registration?
No to both. The Attorney General concluded that the Board had a mandatory duty to accept a correctly completed registration application from a court reporting firm; registration just identifies the fi…
If a Texas social worker was first licensed without an exam and let the license lapse for years, do they have to take an exam to get licensed again?
The Attorney General concluded that under the plain language of section 50.023(e) of the Human Resources Code, a person originally licensed as a social worker without an examination, whose license had…
Can a Texas charity raffle off a house or other prize worth more than $50,000?
The Attorney General concluded that under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act a qualified organization may raffle a prize worth more than $50,000 only if the prize was donated and the organization gave…
Must a Texas state council report all the money it received even without a legislative appropriation?
The Attorney General concluded that Human Resources Code section 122.022 requires the Texas Council on Purchasing from People with Disabilities to account each year for all funds it received and disbu…
How does the Texas ERS privatization retirement option add years to a worker's age and service credit?
The Attorney General concluded the Employees Retirement System was right that Government Code section 814.1041(b)'s privatization retirement option applies only to employees who are not already eligib…
Must the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority charge fees that cover interest on state money it borrowed?
The Attorney General concluded that sections 402.272(a), 402.2721, and 402.273(b) of the Health and Safety Code require the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority to set its planning-and…
Does Texas's retirement system pick specific insurance vendors for state-employee payroll deductions, or just types of coverage?
The Attorney General concluded that under V.T.C.S. article 6813g the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) must designate supplemental optional benefits programs (things like permanent life, cata…
Does a licensed commercial shrimper in Texas need a separate finfish license to legally sell fish caught while shrimping?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded the captain and paid crew of a licensed commercial shrimp boat only need the general commercial fisherman's license, not an additiona…
Can the Texas Racing Commission change the rules so a thoroughbred's 'breeder' award goes to the owner at foaling instead of at conception?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Texas Racing Commission has no authority to disregard or rewrite the statutory definition of 'breeder' for thoroughbreds. The Texas Rac…
Could the Texas Racing Commission make rules allowing betting on horse or dog races shown by simulcast from another track?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Texas Racing Act did not authorize pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast race events (races run at one track and broadcast to another), and…
Is a Texas judge a 'peace officer' who can carry a handgun under the peace-officer exemption?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General reaffirmed its earlier conclusion (in JM-1028) that a judge or magistrate is not a 'peace officer' for purposes of Penal Code section 46.03, the provision…
Does a state agency's anti-conflict rule cover every organization it pays, or only ones set up primarily to do that kind of work?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General read the Texas Rehabilitation Commission's conflict-of-interest statute broadly. It reaches everyone associated with any organization that receives commission…
If a needy patient is treated at a state cancer hospital, does the county or hospital district have to pay the bill?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded no, not on the theory the University of Texas raised. M.D. Anderson can bill a patient's estate or the people legally responsible for the patient's …
Can a transit authority use its special economic-development power to pay for streets, drainage, or a library?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General said only if those projects sit inside a transit station or terminal complex. Article 1118x lets certain transit authorities include 'regional economic develo…
Does a private club's liquor permit fee depend on its peak membership, or can it be prorated for members who joined partway through the year?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is not authorized to prorate a private club's membership when calculating the permit fee. The statute sets t…
Can Bexar County pay its district judges a salary supplement larger than $12,000 a year?
No. The Attorney General concluded Bexar County has no authority to pay district judges a salary supplement of more than $12,000 a year. Government Code section 32.015 sets the supplement at $12,000. …
When two Texas laws passed the same year set different penalties for the same offense, which one applies?
The later-passed one. Two 1985 bills, S.B. 464 and S.B. 980, both rewrote the penalty sections of the Parks and Wildlife Code and set different fines and jail terms for the same fish-and-marine-produc…
Which Texas county official was responsible for preparing payroll, printing paychecks, and distributing them?
In 1988, the Attorney General concluded that county officers in Harris County had statutory authority to prepare payroll and issue paychecks for employees of their own offices. The county auditor coul…
Could a Texas bingo operator award a door prize during the required 30-minute break between bingo games?
Generally no. The Attorney General concluded that a bingo occasion included the time before, during, between, and after games while people were gathered to play, so the intermission was likely part of…
Did Texas university police have to give abandoned and unclaimed property to the county purchasing agent?
No, if the university's governing board had adopted property-disposition rules under the Education Code. The Attorney General concluded that the campus-specific statute controlled over article 18.17's…
Could a Texas constable enforce traffic laws outside the constable's precinct but still within the same county?
Yes, after September 1, 1987. The Attorney General concluded that amended article 6889 extended a constable's expressly authorized acts, including traffic enforcement, throughout the county.
When could a Texas taxing unit stop paying into a reinvestment zone's tax increment fund after three years?
The Attorney General concluded that a taxing unit could stop after three years only if none of the three listed development events had occurred. Bonds, property acquisition, or the start of constructi…
Could the Texas medical board require extra postgraduate training from foreign medical graduates who qualified under section 5.04?
No. The board could not impose the additional training and other requirements authorized by section 3.04(a)(5) on applicants who qualified under section 5.04, but it could apply the general licensing …
Did Texas Education Code section 16.102(e)'s maximum price differential index continue after the 1984-85 school year?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the special maximum price differential index in section 16.102(e) was a temporary part of the 1984-85 school-funding calculation and ended when the State Board …
Did Texas's vocational-nurse licensing law require an approved training course to provide a full twelve months of instruction?
Yes. JM-344 read the statute literally to require at least twelve months of vocational-nursing instruction and said the licensing board could neither waive the minimum nor create exceptions.
Could Texas Parks and Wildlife cite a sailboard user under section 31.073 for not carrying a Coast Guard-approved life jacket?
No. JM-320 concluded that a sailboard was not a sailboat for section 31.073, so the department could not use that provision to cite a sailboard user for lacking an onboard lifesaving device.
Did the five years of investigative experience required for a Texas polygraph examiner license have to come immediately before the application?
Yes. The five consecutive years had to be the five years nearest the filing date, without a significant gap between the experience and the license application.
Could a Texas constable appointed to fill a vacancy request a hearing before the county salary grievance committee?
Yes. Article 3912K's reference to an elected county or precinct officer covered the elected office itself, so an appointed constable could request a salary-grievance hearing just as an elected constab…
When could a Texas county begin collecting the optional $5 vehicle registration fee authorized to start in 1985?
A county that properly adopted the fee could begin collecting it on January 1, 1985, but only for renewals of registrations expiring February 28, 1985. It could not charge the fee on renewals purchase…
Were Texas country-club dues, initiation fees, and guest recreation fees subject to the new amusement-services tax?
JM-211 did not decide. It said the legislature had assigned the initial interpretation of taxable services exclusively to the comptroller, so the Attorney General declined to answer until the comptrol…
Could Pasadena appoint commissioners to the Port of Houston Authority after its population exceeded 100,000?
No. JM-201 concluded that the statutory city appointment power belonged to Houston, the qualifying municipality when the navigation district was created, and did not shift or expand when Pasadena late…
Did a Texas water district have to retain 10 percent from construction payments and place the money in an interest-bearing account?
Yes. JM-199 said Water Code section 51.146 required 10 percent retainage until the statutory release point, while article 6252-5b required the retained money to earn interest for the contractor. A sep…
Could a Texas commissioners court create reasonable sheriff and constable service fees that did not exist before September 1, 1981?
JM-193 originally said yes, but JM-880 later overruled that answer for fees to execute criminal warrants. The later opinion left the fee-setting statute's application to civil matters unaffected.
Did a Texas child need a Social Security number before a court could enter a divorce or child-support decree?
No. JM-159 said the decree had to include each party's and child's Social Security number only if the number had already been obtained; parents did not have to get a new number or card before entry of…
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.