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 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 a Texas county stop an elected official from sending staff home early?
The Attorney General concluded that an elected county official can dismiss the employees in his or her office for all or part of a day, for any reason, as long as the closure serves some public purpos…
Who controls a sheriff's budget and vehicles, the sheriff or the commissioners court?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court holds the county's budgetary power and may fund a sheriff's function less than he requests, but it may not cut so deep that it prevents him fr…
Can a Texas county make the district clerk hand out juror checks instead of the treasurer?
The Attorney General concluded that a district clerk may not deliver juror reimbursement checks; that task belongs to the county treasurer. Delivering a county warrant to the person it is payable to i…
Can a Texas county paint center stripes and install speed bumps on county roads?
The Attorney General concluded that center stripes and speed bumps, when used to regulate, warn, or guide traffic, are traffic-control devices a county may install. Center stripes are allowed and must…
Can a Texas county take over and maintain the private roads in a gated subdivision?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court may accept a dedication of the private roads in a gated subdivision, but the moment it does, those roads stop being private and become …
Who appoints a Texas county purchasing agent, the commissioners court or a special board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Parker County Commissioners Court was not authorized to appoint a county purchasing agent (or call the position 'agent of contracts' or 'procurement officer') u…
How much does a Texas county have to pay its county court-at-law judges?
The Attorney General concluded that a county opting to collect the extra court costs and fees under section 51.702 of the Government Code must set its county court-at-law judges' pay under section 25.…
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…
When do Texas county salary increases take effect if the budget is adopted after the fiscal year starts?
The Attorney General concluded that when a county's budget is not adopted until after the new fiscal year has begun, salary increases for county officers and employees took effect on the date the comm…
Does a Texas commissioners court have to fill a vacant constable position?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court has no enforceable duty to fill a vacancy in the office of constable. Section 87.041 of the Local Government Code says the court 'may' fill su…
Can a Texas county skip competitive bidding for an ambulance service contract?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas commissioners court may exempt a contract for ambulance service from the County Purchasing Act's competitive-bidding requirement, because ambulance service …
Does closing a county road in Texas require a unanimous commissioners court vote?
The Attorney General concluded that closing a public road requires a unanimous vote of the commissioners court, and that this applies whether the road is a through street or a cul-de-sac. Section 251.…
Can a Texas county give a private company an economic development grant that works like a property tax break?
Not under the statute Dallas County relied on. The Attorney General concluded that section 381.004 of the Local Government Code did not authorize a county commissioners court to make economic developm…
Who controls a Texas juvenile probation department's budget and staff pay, the county commissioners court or the juvenile board?
The Attorney General concluded that a juvenile probation board is an independent entity, so the county commissioners court's authority over it was narrow. Under Local Government Code section 111.094, …
Can a Texas county pay or buy equipment for a volunteer fire department without a contract for fire services?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 352.001(c) of the Local Government Code, a county commissioners court could purchase fire-fighting equipment for, or pay, a volunteer fire department o…
Can a Texas county pay for officials' conference fees, prepay newspaper notices, or pay salaries early?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Constitution's bans on gifts of public money (article III, section 52 and article XI, section 3) did not stop a county from paying officials' conference r…
What's the lowest speed limit a Texas county can set on a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 545.355 of the Transportation Code, a county commissioners court could lower the speed limit on a county road or highway, but not below 30 miles an ho…
Can a Texas county accept a donation that must be spent on one specific road?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county commissioners court may accept a money donation under section 252.214 of the Transportation Code even when the donor attaches a condition, such as requirin…
Can a Texas county leave the state funds off the form jurors use to donate their jury pay?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 61.003 of the Government Code requires that each prospective juror get a form letting them donate their jury-service reimbursement to listed funds and progra…
Can a Texas county raise the sheriff's longevity pay and give him back pay for past years?
The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court may, at its discretion, raise the sheriff's longevity pay going forward, because setting county officers' compensation is the court's call u…
Can a Texas county auditor stop the commissioners court from ordering an independent audit?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under Local Government Code section 115.031(i), a commissioners court may order an independent audit of county accounts and officials, including the auditor's own of…
Can a Texas county use its courthouse security fund to buy clip-on microphones for deputies' radios?
The Attorney General concluded no. Code of Criminal Procedure article 102.017(d) lists the only items a county may pay for from its courthouse-security fund, and clip-on microphones for deputy sheriff…
Can a Texas county force a road across private land to reach a landlocked neighbor's property?
Howard Freemyer, the Kent County Attorney, asked whether the county commissioners court could establish a 'neighborhood road' under Transportation Code section 251.053 for a landowner whose only acces…
Can a Texas commissioners court continue a meeting for up to a week without posting a new notice?
Jose Rodriguez, the El Paso County Attorney, asked whether a commissioners court could continue a meeting for up to one week without reposting notice, pointing to the Local Government Code provision t…
Can a Texas county juvenile probation board enter contracts and spend money without the commissioners court's approval?
The El Paso County Attorney asked whether the county's juvenile probation board could contract and authorize expenditures for the juvenile department without going through the commissioners court. The…
Who registers, pre-audits, prepares, and pays claims against a Texas county: the county treasurer or county auditor?
The county treasurer registered claims only after the auditor and commissioners court approved them, then paid registered claims in order. The auditor had the nondelegable duty to pre-audit claims, wh…
When can a Texas county salary grievance committee meet to raise elected officials' pay?
San Jacinto County's Criminal District Attorney, Robert Hill Trapp, explained that the commissioners court approved a $1,000 raise for elected officials for 1995 but failed to give the public the requ…
If a Texas county adopted the optional county road law decades ago, is that still in effect, and can the county hire a road administrator instead of a licensed engineer?
The Waller County district attorney asked whether the county's old adoption of the Optional County Road Law of 1947 was wiped out when the Legislature repealed and recodified that law in 1983, and whe…
Can a Texas county pay to fly in a job candidate for an interview?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, in some circumstances. A county commissioners court may pay the travel expenses of someone applying for a county job, such as a county forensic pathologist (me…
Can a Texas county commissioners court create its own civil process office?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court has no express or implied statutory authority to set up a civil process department that operates separately from the sheriff. The o…
Did a Texas county prosecutor have to use the County Purchasing Act when buying equipment with asset-forfeiture money?
Yes. DM-246 concluded that the County Purchasing Act applied to purchases from a prosecutor's forfeiture fund held in the county treasury. The commissioners court had to start the bidding process and …
Can a county commissioner put an item on the agenda or revisit something the court already voted on?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may reconsider an issue at a later meeting even after taking final action, as long as the topic is properly noticed under the Open Meetings Ac…
Can a Texas county cut off a worker's supplemental injury pay after promising it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Lavaca County Commissioners Court could not use a 1991 order to cap the supplemental injury payments owed to two employees who were hurt before 1991 under a 198…
How does a Texas county assess subdivision road-repair costs, and what can it charge property owners?
Answering follow-up questions about article 6702-3 (the law letting a county fix subdivision roads and bill the property owners), the Attorney General concluded: a county must propose a separate asses…
Can a Texas county vote to adopt a modified version of the Optional County Road System?
The Attorney General concluded that a petition asking for a county election to adopt the Optional County Road System (V.T.C.S. article 6702-1, chapter 3, subchapter C) is invalid if it materially chan…
Who decides how much a county court reporter in Texas gets paid?
The Attorney General concluded that the Denton County Commissioners Court, not the district judges, sets the salary of official court reporters in the county courts at law. Government Code section 52.…
Can a Texas county charge subdivision owners to fix their roads, and how?
The Attorney General concluded the charge a county levied to improve subdivision roads under article 6702-3 was a 'special assessment,' not a tax, so property-tax rules did not apply. The county tax a…
Can a Texas county build its jail somewhere other than the county seat?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Although county jails were traditionally placed at the county seat, a 1989 amendment to section 292.001 of the Local Government Code authorized a commissioners cour…
Is a Texas county auditor's own salary subject to the 5% budget increase cap?
The Attorney General concluded no. Local Government Code section 111.013 capped year-over-year increases in 'the amount budgeted for expenses of the county auditor's office' and in an assistant audito…
Can a Texas commissioners court remove people it appointed to a county district board?
The Attorney General concluded that members of the governing boards of a county emergency services district, a rural fire prevention district, and the Comal County Water Oriented Recreation District a…
In Texas, who picks the doctor for county jail inmates: the sheriff or the commissioners court?
The Attorney General concluded that only the county commissioners court could contract with a licensed physician to provide medical services to county jail inmates, because the commissioners court hol…
Can a Texas juvenile board raise the salaries of its own county judge members?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the juvenile board for Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties had no authority to set the salaries of its members. Human Resources Code section 152.0411(c) gives th…
Can a Texas commissioners court take the county treasurer out of the process of investing county funds?
Not entirely. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court cannot remove the county treasurer from investing county funds, because the treasurer is the chief custodian of county money and…
Who controls a Texas jail commissary contract, the money it makes, and its books?
The sheriff controls the contract, the money benefits inmates, and the county auditor can audit. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court has no authority over the terms of a jail c…
Can a Texas county pay justices of the peace different salaries based on how many cases they handle?
Yes, on its face. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may set different salaries for justices of the peace in the same county based on the number of cases filed in each court, an…
Can a Texas county abolish the elected office of county public weigher?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Because the commissioners court has discretion under Agriculture Code section 13.253 to create the elective office of county public weigher, it also has authority …
Can a Texas county maintain a private dirt road just because school buses drive on it?
No, the Attorney General concluded. A commissioners court ordinarily has no legal authority to maintain or improve a private road, even one used as a school bus route. The only constitutional exceptio…
Is it a conflict for a judge to rule on cases involving the county commissioners who set his pay?
The Attorney General concluded it was not a constitutional conflict of interest. The Government Code lets commissioners courts set the salaries of county court-at-law judges and, for certain counties,…
If a Texas county advertises for bids and gets none, can it just buy directly or must it advertise again?
The Attorney General concluded the county had to readvertise. Under the County Purchasing Act (Local Government Code sections 262.022 through 262.035), a purchase over $10,000 had to go through sealed…
Can a Texas county commissioners court hire its own staff attorneys to advise individual commissioners or the sheriff instead of using the county attorney?
No, not on its own. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Harris County Commissioners Court could not create staff-attorney positions for individual commissioners or the sheriff…
Can a Texas commissioners court give county employees raises without amending the county budget?
No. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may not grant salary increases to selected county employees without amending the budget, even when the raises are fun…
Can a Texas county pay a real estate agent a finder's fee for finding a buyer of county land at auction?
Yes, if all other legal requirements are met. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court may offer and pay a finder's fee to a real estate agent for locating…
Was Texas Attorney General Opinion JM-1249 withdrawn?
Yes. In this brief December 17, 1990 notice, the Texas Attorney General stated that Opinion JM-1249 was withdrawn in its entirety and that the office would advise later how it would proceed. No substi…
Can a Texas prosecutor use drug-seizure money to pay employee bonuses or raises without commissioners court approval?
No. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a prosecutor may not use drug forfeiture funds to pay bonuses or increase salaries for office employees whose pay is budgeted by the commis…
Can a Texas district judge appoint a special auditor or take a commissioners court's executive-session tapes?
This 1990 opinion was withdrawn in its entirety a few weeks after it issued, so it does not represent the Texas Attorney General's position and should not be relied on. In it, the Attorney General had…
Can a county use its own employees and equipment to deliver USDA surplus food for a nonprofit charity?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the state's decision to route USDA surplus commodities through a nonprofit did not strip Nolan County of its authority to spend on public healt…
Who controlled records that elected Harris County officers stored in the county computer, and could the county allow private dial-up access?
The elected county, district, or precinct officer whose office created or received the information retained statutory control over it, even when it was stored in the county computer. The commissioners…
Can a Texas commissioners court award a design-build contract for a public building through competitive bidding?
No, not if the contract includes architectural or engineering services. The Attorney General concluded that Texas's Professional Services Procurement Act barred commissioners courts from awarding thos…
In Orange County, Texas, who has the final say over how much the child support office staff get paid: the juvenile board that runs the office, or the county commissioners court that controls the county budget?
The Attorney General concluded that the Orange County Juvenile Board sets the salaries of its child support office personnel, and the commissioners court's role is limited to ministerially approving t…
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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.