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 commissioner post a bail bond, or pledge his property as a surety, for someone charged in his own county?
No. The Attorney General concluded a county commissioner may not act as a surety on a bail bond for a defendant charged in the commissioner's own county. A bail bond is a contract, and if the defendan…
Can a Texas county commissioners court give elected and appointed county officials vacation and sick leave, and pay them for unused leave when they leave office?
Yes, but only if the commissioners court actually authorizes it. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may grant vacation and sick leave (and pay for unused leave) to county and pr…
Can a Texas county accept credit card payments for court fines and fees?
The 1987 opinion concluded that article 3910a, which let commissioners courts authorize county officers to take credit cards for fees, fines, and court costs, was a valid and enforceable statute. Acce…
Did a Texas district court need a filed lawsuit before it could exercise supervisory control over a county commissioners court?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that article V, section 8 did not give district judges free-standing oversight authority; a lawsuit or other authorized review proceeding had to invoke the district…
Did Rusk County still have an elected county school superintendent after the governing statute was repealed?
No. The office ceased to exist when the last elected superintendent's term expired on December 31, 1982; the county judge could perform the remaining statutory duties as ex officio county superintende…
Can a Texas county issue marriage licenses from a branch office or sub-courthouse instead of the main county courthouse?
Yes. JM-606 concluded that in counties where statutes authorize branch offices or auxiliary courthouses, the county clerk or a duly authorized deputy clerk may issue marriage licenses from those locat…
When did large Texas counties have to begin operating a separate veterans county service office?
September 1, 1985. JM-587 concluded that counties with at least 200,000 residents became subject to the mandatory veterans service office requirements on the amendment's effective date.
Can a county government hire someone related to the county judge, and is the Texas nepotism law too vague to enforce?
No, and no. JM-581 concluded that Texas's nepotism statute (article 5996a) is not unconstitutionally vague, and that it barred a county library from employing a first cousin of the county judge's moth…
When does a newly elected justice of the peace actually take office if the seat had been filled by appointment?
It depends on the term. JM-579 concluded that a justice of the peace elected to a new term takes office on the following January 1, but one elected to finish an unexpired term may qualify and take off…
When a county and city jointly run a hospital, who pays for indigent residents' health care?
Both of them. JM-552 concluded that under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, funding indigent health care at a hospital operated by a joint county-city hospital board is a joint responsibilit…
When property seized in a drug case is sold, where does the money go and are lienholders protected?
It depends who the property was forfeited to, and lienholders come first. JM-550 concluded that under article 4476-15, section 5.08, if a court forfeits property to the state, the sale proceeds go to …
Does a county hospital district pay for a resident's emergency care at an out-of-county hospital?
Yes. JM-540 concluded that a hospital district created under article IX, section 9 of the Texas Constitution must pay for emergency medical care given to an indigent resident of the district even when…
Can a Texas county tax office keep a 'tax clearance' account to cover taxpayers who underpay their property taxes with other taxpayers' overpayments?
No. JM-536 concluded that a county tax assessor-collector cannot set up a 'tax clearance' account that pools excess property tax payments and then draws on them to make up other taxpayers' shortfalls.…
Can a Texas county exempt certain kinds of land divisions from its subdivision platting rules?
A county can loosen its own local standards but not the state platting requirement. JM-534 concluded that a commissioners court may amend or change the minimum street, drainage, and bonding requiremen…
Can a Texas county clerk let the public run credit accounts to pay filing fees instead of paying cash?
Generally no. JM-533 concluded that county officers cannot deliver county services on credit unless the constitution specifically allows it, because the Texas Constitution's bans on lending public cre…
If a Texas justice of the peace has a cash shortage in his account, can the county forgive it, and can he run out the clock on the county's claim?
No on both. JM-517 concluded a justice of the peace is strictly liable for public money he actually collects, so the commissioners court and county auditor cannot release him from a shortage, and no s…
Can a Texas sheriff or constable sign a contract to provide patrol and law enforcement services to a private homeowners association?
The Attorney General said the law authorizing it was invalid. JM-509 concluded that article 1581b-2, which tried to let a county sheriff or constable contract with a private homeowners association for…
Can a special state law strip one county of its power to borrow against its road fund and punish commissioners who vote for debt?
The Attorney General concluded that the parts of the 1947 Limestone County road law barring the county from creating debt against its road-and-bridge fund, and imposing civil and criminal penalties on…
Could a Texas commissioners court approve a raise for a county attorney's investigator who was a commissioner's first cousin?
Yes. JM-254 concluded that approving a raise for the investigator position did not violate the nepotism statute because the county attorney, not the commissioners court, selected the person holding th…
Could a Texas commissioners court appoint a commissioner's first cousin to fill a vacant county tax assessor-collector office?
No. JM-253 concluded that no commissioner could vote to appoint another commissioner's first cousin to the vacancy, and the chief deputy's earlier service did not qualify for the statute's continuous-…
Could a Texas commissioners court require independently elected county officials to keep specified office hours, including lunch?
No. JM-182 concluded that the Lampasas County Commissioners Court lacked authority to impose enforceable office hours on other independently elected county officials. It distinguished statutes allowin…
Could Travis County district judges count the tax assessor-collector's car allowance when setting the county auditor's salary?
No. JM-39 concluded a car allowance is an expense reimbursement, not compensation, so it could not be counted in the salary cap for the auditor. A valid salary order also stayed effective even though …
After Travis County changed its fiscal year, how much of the 1983 pay raise could county officials actually get?
Only a pro-rata share. JM-27 concluded the raises were not invalid, but because the county moved its fiscal year, officials were entitled during the new fiscal year to only a pro-rata part of the 1983…
Can Texas require county treasurers to take continuing education and remove them for not completing it?
Yes. JM-26 concluded the legislature may require elected county treasurers to complete an annual course of instruction and may authorize their removal for failing to do so, consistent with article V, …
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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.