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 county maintain a road the public uses but that was never officially made public?
The Attorney General concluded a county may spend public funds to build, improve, or maintain only a "public road," and may not maintain a private road, except for the narrow constitutional exception …
Can Texas require HMOs and PPOs to disclose their fee, bundling, and downcoding policies to doctors?
The Attorney General concluded that the prompt-payment provisions added to the Insurance Code in 1999 (article 3.70-3C, section 3A, and article 20A.18B) gave the Texas Commissioner of Insurance and th…
Can the Texas governor raise vehicle registration fees on his own to fund emergency services?
The Attorney General concluded that only the legislature may set, appropriate, allocate, and direct the use of state motor vehicle registration fees, so the governor may not raise or appropriate them …
Is the Texas racial profiling law unconstitutional because of its bill title?
The Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 1074, the 2001 law barring peace officers from racial profiling, is not unconstitutional for failing the "title" or "caption" requirement in article III…
Can a Texas private club scan a driver's license magnetic strip to build its membership list?
The Attorney General concluded that state law does not let a private club licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission use the magnetic strip on a member's driver's license to capture the membe…
Who owns a former Texas governor's records and are they still public when sent to a presidential library?
The Attorney General concluded that when a former governor sends his official records to an alternative archive (here, then-Governor George W. Bush designated the George Bush Presidential Library, a f…
Do Texas peace officers have to take radar and traffic-law training before they can enforce traffic laws?
The Attorney General concluded that, as the law stood in 2002, a peace officer was not required by section 644.101(d) of the Transportation Code to attend continuing education on enforcing traffic and…
How is the justice of the peace picked for a Texas county bail bond board, and can members be removed for missing meetings?
The Attorney General answered three questions about the El Paso County Bail Bond Board. First, the statute that lists a 'justice of the peace' as a board member does not say how that member is chosen,…
Can a Texas administrative law judge make a state agency pay the other side's attorney's fees?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) cannot order the Texas Department of Human Services to pay a licensee's attorney's fees after dismissing an actio…
Can a Texas city spend its 4B economic development sales tax on a park or youth sports field?
The Attorney General concluded that the Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation could not use its section 4B sales and use tax to build a youth league football field at the city park, because…
When does a portable concrete crusher or batch plant need public notice to relocate under the Texas Clean Air Act?
The Attorney General answered several questions about 2001 amendments to the Texas Clean Air Act. The notice exemption in Health and Safety Code section 382.056(r)(1) lets a portable facility relocate…
Can a Texas school district join with cities and counties in a political subdivision corporation to buy electricity in bulk?
Not for a contract worth $25,000 or more over a twelve-month period. The Attorney General concluded that Education Code section 44.031 gives a school district an exclusive list of nine purchasing meth…
Can a Texas school district ban corporal punishment and set its own rules for physically restraining students?
Generally yes. The Attorney General concluded that a policy prohibiting corporal punishment and spelling out when staff may physically restrain a student fell within a Texas school district's authorit…
Can the same person be a county treasurer and a school board trustee in Texas at the same time?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that one person could hold both offices at once. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution bars holding two civil 'offices of emolument' (paid offices) at t…
Can the Texas Commission for the Blind sign federal vending-facility contracts that put state money at risk?
Yes, on the terms the opinion described. The Texas Commission for the Blind contracts with the federal government under the Randolph-Sheppard Act to run vending facilities (including military cafeteri…
Can a Texas city's economic-development sales tax pay for a road to undeveloped commercial property?
It can, if the road promotes business development. Lake Jackson voters approved a half-cent 4B sales tax under the Development Corporation Act of 1979 to fund infrastructure for new or expanded busine…
Can a Texas public board hold an official meeting outside the United States?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits the University of Texas System Board of Regents from holding a meeting of a quorum of its members in Mexico. The Act assum…
Where do I file a UCC termination statement in Texas, with the county clerk or the Secretary of State?
With whichever office holds the original. The Attorney General concluded that under Business and Commerce Code section 9.707(e), if a financing statement was originally filed with the county clerk bef…
Can a Texas city block a sexually oriented business near a church that sits just outside the city limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that under section 243.003(b) of the Local Government Code, a city may enforce its sexually oriented business ordinance to keep such a business away from a church, …
Can a Texas state board award a grant to one of its own members or to a university that employs a member?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a grant from the Texas Council on Environmental Technology is a contractual relationship governed by the strict common-law conflict-of-interest rule, which flat…
Does redistricting cut short a Texas justice of the peace's four-year term?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under article V, section 18(c) of the Texas Constitution, a justice of the peace elected to a four-year term is entitled to serve out that full term in the prec…
Is a charitable sweepstakes fundraiser run by a Texas nonprofit legal?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the described 'charitable sweepstakes fundraising program' run by a private nonprofit was an illegal lottery under article III, section 47 of the Texas Constitu…
Can a Texas county dictate the emergency light color on tow trucks doing police-ordered tows?
Yes, in Harris County and for nonconsent (police-ordered) tows. The Attorney General concluded that Harris County, which has special statutory authority over towing and storage, may by rule or ordinan…
Can a charity give away a raffle ticket as a prize at a bingo game in Texas?
Probably not, and doing so could be a crime. The Attorney General concluded that awarding a raffle ticket as a bingo prize could violate Penal Code section 47.03, which bars transferring for gain any …
Do new Texas bail bond license requirements apply to an application filed before the law took effect?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the work-experience and continuing-education eligibility requirements Senate Bill 1119 added to section 1704.152(a)(4) of the Occupations Code applied only to a…
Who controls the content of Texas's statewide student tests, the State Board of Education or the Education Agency?
The Texas Education Agency, not the State Board of Education. The Attorney General concluded that while the State Board's job under section 39.022 of the Education Code is to create and implement the …
When you cancel a Texas prepaid funeral plan, do you get back half the earnings on your money?
Only if the plan is trust-funded. The Attorney General concluded that the 2001 amendment to section 154.155(d) of the Finance Code, which lets a purchaser who cancels a prepaid funeral benefits contra…
Can a Texas county commissioners court create its own courthouse police force?
Not on its own authority. The Attorney General concluded that article 102.017 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a commissioners court spend the courthouse security fund to pay for security servic…
Does a Texas oil or gas well location have to be measured by a licensed land surveyor?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying could not require every proposed well location filed with the Railroad Commission to be surveyed by a registered …
Can a city council member appoint himself to a board the council fills?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a member of the Watauga City Council could not appoint himself to the board of directors of the Watauga Crime Control and Prevention District. Because the counc…
Does an assistant prosecutor's longevity-pay service credit carry over between Texas counties?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that 'lifetime service credit,' which determines longevity pay for assistant prosecutors under subchapter D of chapter 41 of the Government Code, does not have to b…
Can a deceased Texas bail bondsman's relative keep running the business without a new license?
No. The Attorney General concluded that section 1704.152(c)(2) of the Occupations Code excuses the close relative or surviving spouse of a deceased bail bond licensee only from the work-experience and…
Can a Texas county fax an elected officer the written notice of their proposed salary?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 152.013 of the Local Government Code requires only that the commissioners court give each elected county and precinct officer 'written notice' of the s…
What does 'rehabilitation' legally mean for Texas blind services run by the Commission for the Blind?
The Attorney General gave the statutory definition: under chapter 91 of the Human Resources Code, 'vocational rehabilitation' or 'vocational rehabilitation services' means services the Commission for …
Can the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for hospital data instead of using the open records fee schedule?
Yes, for two kinds of data. The Attorney General concluded that section 108.012(b) of the Health and Safety Code specifically lets the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for public…
Is a Texas county on-site sewage (septic) system inspector a peace officer?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the designated representative of an authorized agent (here, Hale County) of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, working under chapter 366 of the…
When does a Texas constable's deadline to get a permanent peace officer license start if he was appointed and then elected?
From the start of the elected term. The Attorney General concluded that a Bowie County constable who was first appointed to fill an unexpired term and later sworn in to a full elective term had 270 da…
Can an off-duty Texas peace officer working security on a casino boat make arrests once the boat is at sea?
Only inside Texas waters. The Attorney General concluded that Texas peace officers working as off-duty security guards on casino boats can make arrests under state law within the state's territorial w…
Does Texas own old artifacts that were dug up from state land before the 1969 Antiquities Code?
Not automatically. The Attorney General concluded that whether the state owns artifacts removed from state lands before the 1969 Antiquities Code depends on the particular artifacts and where they wer…
Does a Texas state agency board member have to resign to run for the Legislature?
Not necessarily. The Attorney General concluded that a member of the Texas Department of Economic Development governing board did not hold a 'lucrative office,' because the member received only expens…
Does a Texas county have to refund pretrial diversion fees it had no authority to collect?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that 'pretrial diversion fees' a Hopkins County Attorney's predecessor had collected without legal authority, along with the interest earned on them, had to be retu…
What happens to a Texas constable when redistricting abolishes his precinct?
The Attorney General concluded that, under article V, section 18(c) of the Texas Constitution, a constable whose precinct is abolished by redistricting serves out the rest of his elected term in the p…
Can a disability rights advocacy group see a patient's records if the legal guardian says no?
The Attorney General concluded that Texas' designated protection and advocacy system, Advocacy, Inc., could have access to patients with mental illness or developmental disabilities and to their recor…
Can a Texas city make running a red light a civil ticket instead of a crime, and use red-light cameras?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Richardson could not adopt an ordinance turning the disregard of a traffic-control signal into a civil violation, because state law makes running a red …
Who decides which expelled students go to a juvenile justice alternative education program in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that, beyond providing some funding to the county juvenile board and reviewing the county-funded part of its budget, a county and its commissioners court had no statutor…
Can Texas ban doctors and other health professionals from using testimonials in their ads?
The Attorney General concluded that, while it could not say definitively as a matter of law that a blanket ban was unconstitutional, a court would very likely strike down the absolute ban on testimoni…
When did buildings outside city limits in Texas have to start meeting the state energy code?
The Attorney General concluded that new construction in areas outside a municipality's jurisdiction had to begin complying with the Texas Building Energy Performance Standards as of September 1, 2001,…
Did Texas appellate court law clerks and briefing attorneys get the state employee pay raise?
The Attorney General concluded that briefing attorneys and law clerks at the state appellate courts were entitled to the across-the-board four percent state employee salary increase in section 10.12 o…
Can a city council member or county commissioner also serve on a Texas groundwater conservation district board?
The Attorney General concluded that no, in most cases. A person who already holds a compensated seat on the governing body of another local political subdivision (other than a county) could not also s…
Can a Texas justice of the peace send a juvenile to detention for contempt of court?
The Attorney General concluded that a justice court could not order a child confined for a term of detention (the practice asked about was three days in a county juvenile facility) as contempt for vio…
Which plumbing code applies to new home construction in Texas cities?
The Attorney General concluded that the three 2001 plumbing bills could be harmonized rather than read as canceling each other out. Senate Bill 365 made the International Residential Code the mandator…
Can a Texas constitutional county judge help manage the community supervision and corrections (probation) department?
The Attorney General concluded that no. Section 76.002(b) of the Government Code lets the district judges trying criminal cases and the judges of statutory county courts trying criminal cases particip…
Can you be charged with failure to drive in a single lane in Texas if you fell asleep at the wheel?
The Attorney General did not decide whether any specific drowsy-driving incident is a crime, because whether particular conduct violates a criminal statute is a fact question for a jury and a matter o…
Is a bingo equipment revenue-share lease between a manufacturer and distributor legal in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a revenue-share leasing agreement between a bingo-equipment manufacturer and a distributor violates section 2001.556 of the Occupations Code if, under that agreemen…
Can a Texas bingo hall offer video poker on its electronic bingo card-minding devices?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Lottery Commission must examine the secondary, non-bingo features added to an electronic bingo card-minding device and disapprove them if they let a playe…
Can the Texas Legislature use a budget rider to require TxDOT to get a city's approval before building a border inspection station?
The Attorney General concluded no. Rider 63 to the 2001 General Appropriations Act tried to make the Texas Department of Transportation get the host city's written agreement to the location, plans, an…
Does an exclusive contract between a hospital and a health insurer violate Texas antitrust law?
The Attorney General concluded that exclusive dealing arrangements do not, as a matter of law, violate the Texas Free Enterprise and Antitrust Act of 1983. Whether a particular exclusive contract is i…
Must a Texas school expel a student who commits a drug or alcohol felony within 300 feet of school but not on school grounds?
The Attorney General concluded no. Texas Education Code section 37.007(a) makes expulsion mandatory only when the felony drug or alcohol conduct happens on school property or while the student is atte…
Can Texas require ephedrine dietary supplements to print the FDA's adverse-event reporting hotline on the label?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Texas Department of Health did not exceed its statutory authority when it adopted a rule requiring dietary supplements containing ephedrine to carry a label wit…
Can a Texas county pay for a new groundwater conservation district's confirmation election?
The Attorney General concluded no. When the Legislature created the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District, it set up a scheme in which the district's temporary board calls the confirmation e…
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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.