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 the TNRCC require septic-system site evaluators to be certified?
The Attorney General concluded no. Chapter 366 of the Health and Safety Code, which governs on-site sewage disposal systems, expressly authorizes the Commission to regulate two occupations, 'installer…
Can a Texas sheriff refuse a bail bondsman's bond because he defaulted in another county?
The Attorney General concluded no, not unilaterally. In a county with a bail bond board governed by article 2372p-3, a sheriff must accept a bond from a bondsman who is licensed and meets the statute'…
Can a housing authority employee buy a home through the authority's affordable housing program?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 392.043 of the Local Government Code's Housing Authorities Law bars a housing authority employee from owning or acquiring an interest in a housing project. T…
Can Texas ban hazardous waste generated in another country from coming into the state?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 361.0235 of the Health and Safety Code banned importing hazardous waste generated in a foreign country for treatment, storage, or disposal in Texas. The opin…
Can police enforce traffic laws on private streets inside a Texas city?
The Attorney General concluded no. State and municipal traffic laws in Transportation Code title 7, subtitle C apply only on publicly maintained highways and streets, not on privately owned ways. Beca…
Can a Texas for-profit corporation convert into a nonprofit corporation?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 5.17 of the Business Corporation Act, a for-profit domestic corporation may convert to any 'other entity,' a term the Act defines to include a nonprof…
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 private school students in Texas take dual-credit junior college courses for high school credit?
The Attorney General concluded that, as written, no. Education Code section 130.008 lets a public junior college offer joint high school/junior college credit courses only to a student 'attending a hi…
Can the Texas plumbing board set statewide plumbing codes, and can cities adopt their own?
The Attorney General concluded that section 5B(a) of the Texas Plumbing License Law gives the State Board of Plumbing Examiners express authority to adopt statewide plumbing codes, superseding a 1982 …
Can a Texas school district require its contractors to pay workers a living wage?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least for contracts covered by the state prevailing-wage law. The McAllen school district wanted to require its outside contractors to pay a 'poverty level wage' …
Does a parole condition to register as a sex offender force local police to register the parolee?
The Attorney General concluded no. A parole contract requiring a parolee to 'comply with Sex Offender Registration Program' is an agreement between the parolee and the Pardons and Paroles Division, an…
Must Texas local governments hold a hearing before any property tax increase, even from new construction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Tax Code section 26.05(d) requires a political subdivision to hold a public hearing before adopting a tax rate that would collect more total taxes than the previous…
Can a lawyer advertise in the bail bond yellow pages without a bondsman license?
The Attorney General concluded yes, at least as a matter of law. Section 15(g) of the Bail Bond Act bars a person from advertising 'as a bondsman' without a license, but a 'bondsman' is defined as som…
Does federal food labeling law override Texas' standard weights for loaves of bread?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least as a matter of law. Texas Health and Safety Code section 434.007 requires wholesale and retail bread loaves to weigh a pound, a pound and a half, or another…
Does a water district's resign-to-run rule apply to Edwards Aquifer Authority board members?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Water Code section 49.072 says a director of a district who becomes a candidate for another office is no longer qualified to serve, and chapter 49 applies to the Ed…
Can a city council force its police to buy vehicles with asset forfeiture money?
The Attorney General reached a two-part answer. No, a city council cannot compel its police department to buy vehicles with asset-forfeiture funds: under chapter 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, …
Can a county invest its permanent school fund at below-market rates to support low-income housing?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under article VII, section 6 of the Texas Constitution, a county holds its permanent school fund as a trustee for local public schools and owes the fund a fiduciary …
Is a state agency or university exempt from another state agency's rules just because it's a state entity?
The Attorney General concluded no. A properly adopted rule from a state agency that has the legislature's rule-making authority carries the force of law, and a participant in the regulated activity is…
When must the Texas Comptroller lower a school district's taxable property values after a tax appeal?
The Attorney General concluded the Comptroller had no duty to adjust. Education Code section 42.257 makes the Comptroller revise the taxable property values it reports for school funding only when a f…
Is a county's racetrack admission fee an illegal local occupation tax in Texas?
The Attorney General gave a partial answer. The 15-cent racetrack admission fee a county collects under section 6.17(a) of the Texas Racing Act, to pass on to cities in the county, is an occupation ta…
Can a Texas parent or hopeful adoptive parent advertise to place or find a child for adoption?
The chair of a Texas House committee asked four questions about the law (Penal Code section 25.09) that makes it a crime for anyone but a licensed child-placing agency to advertise that they will plac…
Does a Texas cosmetologist have to be tested and certified free of hepatitis to get a license?
The Texas Cosmetology Commission's interim director asked two things about a 1997 law requiring an applicant for a new or renewed cosmetology license to submit a doctor's certificate showing the appli…
Can a corporation that isn't owned by veterinarians own a vet clinic or employ vets in Texas?
The director of the Texas veterinary board asked whether several business arrangements between a corporation that is not owned entirely by veterinarians and a practicing veterinarian amount to the cor…
Can a Texas appropriations rider force state agencies to take and pay for the Human Rights Commission's training?
The chair of the Texas Southern University Board of Regents asked whether a state agency or university that got three or more employment-discrimination complaints in a year had to let the Texas Commis…
Must Texas agencies buy computers through the disability set-aside program or the state IT purchasing rules?
The General Services Commission's director asked whether the mandatory purchasing program that steers state agencies to buy goods made by people with disabilities (Human Resources Code chapter 122) co…
Can the Texas Legislature let a state agency interpret the home equity amendment to the state constitution?
A state senator asked whether the Legislature, by statute or by a constitutional amendment, could put a state agency in charge of interpreting article XVI, section 50 of the Texas Constitution, the 19…
Can a Texas city or district that joined a regional 9-1-1 plan pull out of it on its own?
The executive director of the state 9-1-1 advisory commission asked three questions after the City of Corpus Christi tried to drop out of its regional 9-1-1 plan. First, can an emergency communication…
If a Texas water district director runs for another office, do they automatically lose their director seat?
A state representative asked whether Water Code section 49.072, which says a water district director who becomes a candidate for another office 'is no longer qualified to serve as director,' is uncons…
Who controls a Texas county's records management and preservation fee, the commissioners court or the county clerk?
Three county officials asked who decides how the records management and preservation fee that a county clerk collects under Local Government Code section 118.0216 may be spent: the commissioners court…
Can a Texas county add the 15% delinquent-tax collection penalty to property taxes that become delinquent on July 1?
On behalf of the Brazos County Tax Assessor-Collector, the county attorney asked whether the extra penalty that pays for collection-attorney costs (Tax Code section 33.07) reaches taxes that fall deli…
Which Texas school district taxes a pooled gas well's royalties, the one with the well or the one where the land is?
The Wheeler County Attorney (whose duties the District Attorney for the 31st and 223rd Judicial Districts had taken over) asked how to split ad valorem taxes on gas royalties between two school distri…
Which government-held funds count as 'public funds' that a Texas agency can invest under the Public Funds Investment Act?
Catherine Ghiglieri, the Texas Banking Commissioner, asked which funds her department controls may be invested under the Public Funds Investment Act (Government Code chapter 2256) and what 'public fun…
Can a Texas appraisal district pay its chief appraiser's legal fees for defending a criminal charge tied to his job?
Senator Judith Zaffirini asked whether the board of an appraisal district may reimburse the attorney fees its chief appraiser ran up defending a criminal prosecution for official misconduct. (In Atasc…
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 someone with a federal conviction restore their Texas civil rights if they also have a misdemeanor on their record?
Representative Al Edwards asked whether a person convicted of a prior federal offense may apply to restore civil rights forfeited in Texas because of that federal conviction, if the person has also be…
Does the Texas colonias subdivision law apply when a school district leases teacher housing on its grounds?
Joe Rubio, the District Attorney for the 49th Judicial District, asked on behalf of the Webb Consolidated Independent School District whether the colonias statute (Local Government Code chapter 232, s…
Is it constitutional for Texas to require water-district board members to own land in the district?
Sherry Robinson, the Waller County Criminal District Attorney, asked whether the land-ownership requirement for serving on a fresh-water-supply district board (Water Code section 53.063(2)) and a para…
Can a Texas sheriff make an attorney or bondsman post collateral, or refuse the attorney's bail bond for a client?
Two county attorneys, Richard Miller of Bell County and Bill Moore of Johnson County, asked about a sheriff's authority over bail bonds, especially bonds an attorney executes for a client the attorney…
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 Texas require students at private for-profit (proprietary) schools to pass the TASP basic-skills test to earn a degree?
Senator Teel Bivins, chair of the Senate Education Committee, asked whether the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board could extend Education Code section 51.306, which requires undergraduates at p…
What happens to a Texas public videoconference meeting if technical problems cut off the public watching at a remote location?
Carolyn Purcell, executive director of the Department of Information Resources, asked two questions about videoconference meetings under Government Code section 551.126. First, must a governmental bod…
Does a Texas business that operates as a cooperative have to incorporate under the Cooperative Association Act?
Secretary of State Alberto Gonzales asked whether a corporation that intends to operate as a cooperative may incorporate under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act when no specific statute covers its …
Can a Texas university governing board hold its meetings by videoconference or by telephone conference call?
Delmar Cain, general counsel of the Texas A&M University System, asked whether a 1997 Open Meetings Act provision allowing videoconference meetings (Government Code section 551.126) applies to a unive…
Can Texas withhold a Medicaid provider's payments to cover that provider's child support?
William Archer, the Texas Commissioner of Health, asked whether the Texas Department of Health could withhold part of a Medicaid provider's payment to cover the provider's child-support obligation. Hu…
Can a Texas school stop a child-abuse investigator from interviewing a student, or require a staff member to be present?
State Senator J.E. 'Buster' Brown asked whether, without a court order, a school principal or other official could refuse to let a child-abuse investigator from the Department of Protective and Regula…
Did a Texas statute expire because the law amending it took effect the day after the expiration date?
Don Gilbert, commissioner of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, asked the Attorney General whether chapter 597 of the Health and Safety Code expired on August 31, 1997. Chap…
Can Texas let an environmental agency exempt a company from a pollution rule if it uses an equally protective alternative?
Barry McBee, the chair of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, asked the Attorney General whether Water Code section 5.123 was constitutional. That 1997 statute lets the commission issu…
Can a Texas city council require several members to agree before an item goes on the meeting agenda?
State Representative Steven Wolens asked whether a Dallas City Council rule, which lets the mayor put an item on the agenda only when five council members or a majority of a council committee request …
Can a licensed Texas chiropractor give injections or prescribe prescription drugs?
State Representative Hugo Berlanga and the president of the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners asked the Attorney General whether a licensed Texas chiropractor could use injectable substances (subs…
Can a licensed Texas chiropractor practice acupuncture without a separate acupuncture license?
Bruce Levy, executive director of the Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners, asked whether performing acupuncture falls within the scope of practice of a licensed Texas chiropractor. The Attorney…
Does a Texas county tax assessor-collector have to register with the state board if the county contracts out its tax collection?
Brazos County Attorney James Kuboviak asked the Attorney General two questions about Tax Code section 6.24(b), which lets a county contract to have its property taxes assessed and collected by another…
Do contractors on Texas public works have to pay the prevailing wage, and what happens if they underpay or misclassify workers?
Texas Representative Rene Oliveira asked the Attorney General several questions about Government Code chapter 2258, the prevailing-wage law for public works, prompted by a dispute over electricians re…
Could Texas limit a veteran tuition exemption to veterans who lived in Texas when they entered military service?
The Attorney General concluded that a court probably would strike the requirement that a veteran must have lived in Texas when entering military service, while preserving the exemption for honorably d…
Can a Texas county sign a hold-harmless clause that makes it pay for another party's damages?
Denton County's Criminal District Attorney asked whether a hold-and-save-harmless clause the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wanted the county to sign (as part of an agreement for the county to provide e…
Are eight-liner gambling machines legal in Texas, and can regulators act against businesses that have them?
Senator David Sibley asked whether the 1995 exception to the Penal Code's definition of 'gambling device,' which let certain machines pay out small noncash prizes (worth no more than $5 or ten times t…
Who decides sex education curriculum in Texas public schools, the state board or local districts?
The Commissioner of Education and the chair of the State Board of Education asked how the board's power to set curriculum standards and adopt textbooks fits with the law that gives local school distri…
Is Texas's $25 fee for paying criminal fines over time constitutional, and who has to pay it?
Senator Rodney Ellis asked whether the new $25 'time payment fee' (Government Code section 51.921), charged to a convicted defendant who chooses to pay a fine, court costs, or restitution over time in…
Does Texas's freeport property-tax exemption still apply if a manufacturer sells its goods to another in-state company before they leave the state?
Senator Bill Ratliff asked about Alliance Compressors, a Texas company that makes air-conditioning compressors and sells them to Trane, another in-state company, which builds them into air conditioner…
Could former officers, employees, or governing-board members of a Texas taxing unit serve on an appraisal review board?
For appointments from January 1, 1998, the opinion read section 6.41(c) to bar former governing-body members, officers, and employees of any taxing unit from appraisal review boards in counties over 3…
Can a Texas adult probation department refuse to supervise a teenager who was convicted of perjury in criminal court?
The Frio County Attorney described a situation where a 16-year-old was tried in criminal court (not juvenile court), convicted of perjury, given a suspended jail sentence, and placed on community supe…
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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.