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 title company bring its own plat copying machine into a Texas county clerk's office to copy property records?
San Patricio County's attorney asked whether a person or company may set up a plat copying machine in the county clerk's office or elsewhere in the courthouse, where the clerk's office had no machine …
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…
What tuition exemption do Texas firefighters get for fire science courses, and does it cover community college fees?
A state senator asked the Attorney General to clarify Education Code section 54.208, which exempts Texas firefighters from tuition and lab fees for fire science courses. The opinion reached four concl…
Can Texas collect unpaid fines with a capias pro fine after a defendant's deferred adjudication ended with no motion to adjudicate filed?
Burnet County's collections office found expired deferred adjudications with unpaid court costs and fines, and the county attorney asked whether the state could still chase those defendants with a cap…
Can a private Texas college join the tuition equalization grant program if it is accredited by a different agency than public universities?
Representative Jim Pitts and the Higher Education Coordinating Board disagreed over whether Education Code section 61.222 let the Board approve a private college (Dallas Christian College) for the tui…
Can a Texas substitute teacher be paid for serving on a city council, or does the ban on holding two paid public positions block it?
Calhoun County's district attorney asked whether a substitute teacher could be paid while also serving on a city council. The Attorney General said yes. The Texas Constitution generally bars a state-f…
Can a Texas city police chief also serve on the school board of a district inside the city, or is that an incompatible dual office?
Senator Robert Duncan asked whether the Hale Center chief of police could also serve as a trustee of the Hale Center school district, whose boundaries overlap the city. The Attorney General said yes. …
Do you have to own property to serve on a Texas water district board, or is living in the district enough?
The president of the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District asked what it takes to serve as a director: must a candidate live in the district (and the single-member precinct) and own …
Can a professional engineer in Texas design an entire public building without hiring a licensed architect?
Two questions came in: a House committee chair asked broadly whether a professional engineer can prepare all the plans for the public buildings listed in Occupations Code section 1051.703 without an a…
Can a Texas deputy sheriff also work as a septic-system installer in his own county?
A Kimble County deputy sheriff had been cited by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for working as an on-site sewage facility (septic system) installer in the same county, where the county …
Can a Texas justice of the peace hold up organ donation until deciding whether to order an autopsy?
When someone dies under circumstances requiring an inquest and the family consents to organ donation, Health and Safety Code section 693.002(a)(5) does not let the justice of the peace simply stall. I…
Can a Texas county hire a bank to manage its permanent school fund?
Chambers County asked whether it could contract with a bank to invest and manage its county permanent school fund, the fund built from public school lands the Republic of Texas granted to counties beg…
Can Texas send part of a divorce filing fee to a child-abuse prevention fund instead of the courts?
After the Legislature doubled the family protection fee (collected when a divorce is filed) to as much as $30 and sent half of it to the state child abuse and neglect prevention trust fund account, th…
Can a Texas legislator also be paid as president of a municipal management district?
The House Civil Practices Committee chair asked whether the paid president of a municipal management district (created under Local Government Code chapter 375) could also sit in the Texas Legislature.…
Is a charity poker run illegal gambling in Texas?
The Galveston County Criminal District Attorney asked whether a nonprofit could legally sponsor a 'poker run,' where participants make a $10 donation to a cause, ride or drive to a series of check-in …
Can Texas legalize importing prescription drugs from Canada?
In 2005 the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 410, which tried to let Texans buy lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada by having the State Board of Pharmacy inspect, designate, and promote a …
Can a Texas commissioners court pay a vendor on a claim the county auditor rejected?
The Harris County Attorney asked whether a commissioners court could pay a vendor the reasonable value (quantum meruit) of goods or services the county received under an implied contract, when the cou…
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,…
Can a Texas county post signs in its jail telling inmates about personal bonds and cash bail bonds without violating the bail bond surety law?
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney asked several questions about jailhouse signs explaining pretrial release options. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 1704 of the Occupations Cod…
Does a Texas commissioners court have to formally decide whether a newspaper is one of 'general circulation' before publishing county notices in it?
The Harrison County Criminal District Attorney asked, with two competing papers each claiming the status, whether the commissioners court had to formally determine which is a 'newspaper of general cir…
Can the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee hold its meetings by telephone conference call as an advisory board?
The Texas Real Estate Commission's administrator asked whether the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee and its subcommittees could meet by telephone conference call under Government Code section 551…
Can a Texas appropriations rider force a state agency to competitively bid small contracts that general law exempts from bidding?
The State Board of Dental Examiners asked whether a rider attached to its 2006-07 appropriation could require competitive bidding on all of its contracts, no matter how small, when Government Code sec…
Can a sitting school board trustee be appointed to fill a vacancy on the same board in Texas?
A senator asked whether a sitting Schulenburg ISD trustee could vote to appoint himself to fill a board vacancy left by another trustee's resignation. The Attorney General said no. The common-law doct…
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 a county appraisal district employee marries the county tax assessor-collector, can the employee keep the job?
The Kerr County Attorney asked what happens when a county appraisal district employee marries the same county's tax assessor-collector, who sits on the appraisal district board as a nonvoting director…
Did House Bill 383 ban corporal punishment in Texas public schools?
The Commissioner of Education asked whether House Bill 383, which added Family Code section 151.001(e) listing the persons who may use corporal punishment for the reasonable discipline of a child (par…
Can a Texas school district offer an early-payment tax discount if an appraisal district collects its taxes?
On behalf of the Killeen ISD, a senator asked whether a school district could give its taxpayers an early-payment discount when the district did not collect its own taxes but had contracted with the B…
Can a Texas county clerk charge the court reporter service fee if the court has no official court reporter?
The Rains County Attorney asked whether the county clerk could collect the $15 court reporter service fee in civil cases under Government Code section 51.601 when the county court did not have a full-…
Can a Texas river authority sell surplus land to a neighbor by private sale without public bidding?
The Sabine River Authority asked whether it could sell surplus real property to an adjoining landowner without holding a public sale. The Attorney General said yes. Two statutes were in play: Local Go…
Can a Texas judge sue the county for back pay if it underpaid the salary the law required?
Wise County asked whether a statutory county court judge could recover back pay after the county collected court fees but, for years, failed to raise the judge's salary to the level Government Code se…
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…
Can a Texas city give its employees a pay raise backdated to their last evaluation date?
A Texas House committee chair asked whether the Socorro Civil Service Commission could give municipal employees a pay raise backdated to their last evaluation. The Attorney General said no. Article II…
Can a Texas county give a private pet-license billing company the owner info from rabies vaccination records?
The Harris County Attorney asked whether the county's animal control office had to turn over confidential pet-owner information to PetData, a private company that the City of Houston had hired to coll…
Can a Texas county assess a city's drainage fee on subdivisions in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction?
The Comal County District Attorney's office asked whether a county could assess a city's drainage charge on land in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, either through a 'consolidation' agreement…
Does a Texas DPS peace officer have to take the constitutional oath of office as a 'public officer'?
The director of the Texas Department of Public Safety asked whether DPS peace officers are 'public officers' who must take the constitutional oath of office (Texas Constitution article XVI, section 1)…
Can a Texas constable keep the fee for delivering an eviction notice to vacate, on top of salary?
The chair of the Texas House Judiciary Committee asked two things about constables and eviction-notice fees. First, which notices count as 'required by Section 24.005, Property Code'? The Attorney Gen…
Can a Texas city adopt the over-65 and disabled property tax freeze without first giving its own homestead exemption?
A state senator asked, prompted by the City of Windcrest, whether a city that had never adopted its own residence homestead tax exemption could still adopt the 'tax freeze' for disabled and over-65 ho…
Can a Texas home-rule city bar its municipal judge from also serving as a justice of the peace?
A state representative asked, on behalf of the City of Pleasanton, whether a home-rule city's charter rule against dual office holding could stop a municipal judge from also serving as a county justic…
Does a Texas county election commission have to follow the Open Meetings Act?
The Titus County Attorney asked, for the county commissioners court, whether a county election commission (the small panel that hires and oversees a county elections administrator) has to follow the O…
Can a Texas county auditor also work as the accountant for a county emergency services district?
The San Jacinto County criminal district attorney asked whether the county auditor could also be hired as the accountant for the county's emergency services district (ESD), given the auditor's oversig…
Can a Texas county repair a subdivision road or a private road, and does the road become a county road?
The San Jacinto County criminal district attorney asked whether the county could repair three kinds of roads (a public subdivision road, a public neighborhood road, and a private road) and whether rep…
Can the Texas Legislature allow county video-lottery gaming districts without amending the constitution?
Senator Jane Nelson asked whether a 2005 bill (Senate Bill 1326) could have worked without a constitutional amendment. The bill would have let counties vote, county by county, to create 'gaming distri…
What does 'district judges trying criminal cases' mean in Texas Government Code section 76.002?
The Gregg County criminal district attorney asked the Attorney General to define the phrase 'district judges trying criminal cases' in Government Code section 76.002, the statute that says those judge…
Can a city's term limits count service from before the term-limit rule was adopted?
The Alvin City Attorney, through the Brazoria County criminal district attorney, asked the Attorney General three questions about the term limits in Alvin's city charter, including whether council and…
Do elected-but-not-sworn directors count toward a quorum under the Texas Open Meetings Act?
State Representative Robert Puente asked whether two people who won a special election to the Bexar Metropolitan Water District board, but whose elections had not been certified and who had not taken …
Can a private association of public officials pay its outgoing president?
The Kerr County Attorney asked whether the $5,000 the County and District Clerks Association of Texas traditionally pays its outgoing president is an illegal honorarium or gift under the Penal Code, s…
How does a Texas county split funds with a new hospital district that covers only part of the county?
Liberty County asked the Attorney General how to divide county money with the newly created Liberty County Hospital District No. 1, which sits inside the county but does not cover all of it. Under Hea…
Can a Texas state agency board delegate authority to approve an interlocal contract?
The Texas A&M University System asked whether the Interlocal Cooperation Act (Government Code chapter 791) lets a state agency's governing body delegate the authority to approve an interlocal contract…
If a board member develops a conflict of interest after a contract is signed, is the contract still valid?
The Texas A&M University System asked whether its pre-existing contract with a law firm became invalid after a person who joined the A&M Board of Regents then became a partner in that firm. The Attorn…
Can two neighboring county attorneys appoint each other as assistant county attorneys?
The county attorneys of Jeff Davis and Presidio counties, each a one-lawyer office, asked whether they could appoint each other as unpaid assistant county attorneys so a neighbor could cover criminal …
Can a constable investigate a crime anywhere in the county, or only in their own precinct?
A Tyler County prosecutor asked whether a constable can investigate a crime that did not happen in the constable's view, and whether that authority covers the whole county or only the constable's prec…
Can a county commissioner also serve as a paid municipal judge in a city in the same county?
The Bell County Attorney asked whether a county commissioner could be appointed, for pay, as the municipal judge of a city in the same county and hold both jobs at once. The Attorney General concluded…
What does 'citizen of Texas' mean for the veteran tuition exemption in Texas?
A state senator asked the Attorney General to settle how to read the 'citizen of Texas' requirement in the veteran tuition exemption, Education Code section 54.203, which colleges and the Higher Educa…
Can the Texas Structural Pest Control Board regulate removal of animals like raccoons and squirrels?
The executive director of the Texas Structural Pest Control Board asked whether the Board could regulate (license) people who remove vertebrate animals like armadillos, squirrels, skunks, and raccoons…
Can a Texas county take a private subdivision road into its county road system by accepting a gift?
Landowners on a private subdivision road, Lynnwood Lane, offered to give Waller County an easement or deed and the materials to fix the road up if the county would take it into the county road system.…
Does a bail bondsman's old or out-of-county license count toward their bail bond limit?
The Brazos County Attorney asked whether a bail bond board could count a surety's earlier, expired license toward the limit on how much in bail bonds the surety may write, under Occupations Code secti…
Can Texas revoke a manufactured home's title statement if it was moved without paying property taxes?
The Hunt County Attorney asked whether the state housing department must revoke a manufactured home's 'statement of ownership and location' when the home is moved out of the county without paying the …
Can a home-rule city's voters change the city's election date by charter amendment after the state deadline?
After the San Marcos City Council used a state-law window to move the city's general elections from May to November, the Hays County District Attorney asked whether the city's voters could later chang…
Can a Texas nonprofit give a savings bond or prepaid card as a charitable raffle prize?
A county attorney, on behalf of a hospital that runs an annual fundraising raffle, asked whether the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act lets a nonprofit award savings bonds or prepaid bank credit cards as…
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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.