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 county commissioner's company sell materials to the county in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that chapter 171 of the Local Government Code lets a county do business with a company a commissioner owns, to the same extent as other local governments, and that the o…
Do Texas county school administrations have to follow the school-district lobbying limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Dallas County Schools, a county school administration operating under chapters 17 and 18 of the Education Code, is a 'school district' within the meaning o…
Can unlicensed practice of architecture be prosecuted in a Texas justice court?
The Attorney General reached a two-part answer. Unauthorized practice of architecture under article 249a, section 13 cannot be tried as a class C misdemeanor, because its fine range of $250 to $1,000 …
Do Texas insurance mandates apply to a county's self-funded employee health plan?
The Attorney General concluded that several Texas Insurance Code provisions, including the HIV/AIDS data article (1.24C), the chemical dependency coverage article (3.51-9), and the dental benefits art…
If a Texas teacher transfers retirement credit to the state employee system, who pays the early retirement incentive?
The Attorney General concluded that the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) must pay its proportional share of an early retirement incentive for a member who transfers service credit to the Employees Reti…
Can a Texas public funds investment pool write covered call or put contracts?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Public Funds Investment Act gives a public funds investment pool a specific, exclusive list of permitted investments, and covered call and covered put contr…
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…
Is a cancer center's patient lodging exempt from property tax in Texas?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Jesse H. Jones Rotary House International, a center where cancer patients and their families stay during treatment, was exemp…
Can a Texas public university limit which companies sell retirement annuities to its faculty?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 830.004 of the Government Code delegates to the governing boards of state institutions of higher education the authority to structure the optional reti…
How many paid vacation days do Texas police officers and firefighters get?
The Attorney General read two vacation provisions in section 142.0013 of the Local Government Code together rather than as a conflict. In a city with a population over 30,000, a firefighter or police …
How long is a Texas water control district director's term, and when must the elections be held?
The Attorney General concluded that directors of the El Paso County Water Control and Improvement District (Westway) serve two-year terms. Westway was created by a 1961 special law that set two-year s…
Can a Texas county donate its surplus or salvage property to a local charity?
On its face, yes. The Attorney General concluded that House Bill 2087, a 1993 law letting a county commissioners court donate salvage or surplus property to a local civic or charitable organization, d…
Can a married couple both hold local elected office in Texas if their districts overlap?
Yes, on the facts presented. The Attorney General found no conflict of interest that would disqualify either spouse from office. Texas's local conflict-of-interest law (chapter 171 of the Local Govern…
How many votes does a member of a Texas agricultural marketing cooperative get?
One. The Attorney General read section 52.085(a) of the Agriculture Code as a flat one-vote-per-member rule for agricultural cooperative marketing associations, with a single narrow exception for citr…
Do a Texas county retirement system's extra-interest checks to retirees count as an illegal gift of public money?
No. The Attorney General concluded that when the Texas County and District Retirement System pays annuitants extra interest out of its endowment fund's distributive benefit account, that is not an unc…
Can a Texas county bail bond board limit how many bonds a corporate surety writes or question its property appraisals?
The Attorney General answered eight questions from Denton County and drew a consistent line: a county bail bond board may not pile requirements onto a corporate bondsman beyond what the bail bond stat…
Can Texas require EMTs and paramedics to pass an exam to keep their certification?
The Attorney General concluded that House Bill 241, passed in 1993, did not strip the Texas Department of Health of the power to require a recertification exam for emergency medical services personnel…
Can a Texas constable seize otherwise-exempt property to collect back child support?
The Attorney General drew a line based on whether a child support lien exists. On a plain writ of execution for child support arrears, attorney fees, and interest, a constable may seize only personal …
Can Texas impound an out-of-state driver's car after an accident if they can't show insurance?
The Attorney General concluded that section 4A of the Safety Responsibility Law (article 6701h), which lets Texas impound a vehicle not registered here when it is in an accident and the owner can't sh…
Can a Texas school district set up a permanent endowment fund, and what money can it use?
The Attorney General gave a split answer. A school board may establish an endowment fund for educational purposes using money willed or donated for that purpose, under its statutory authority to recei…
Can a Texas appraisal review board member rule on a property-tax protest when they also worked for the taxpayer?
The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 41.69 bars an appraisal review board member from participating in deciding a taxpayer protest in which the member has a direct personal or pecuniar…
What happens to unclaimed property-tax overpayments in Texas after the three-year refund period ends?
The Attorney General concluded that unclaimed overpayments of property taxes do not escheat to the state. Once the three-year period for a taxpayer to apply for a refund under Tax Code section 31.11 l…
Where must a Texas DA's office or adult probation department deposit the funds it receives, and who audits them?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 140.003 requires a 'specialized local entity,' such as an adult probation department, to deposit all the funds it receives, from any s…
Can a Texas school district give a private education foundation free office space, and can trustees sit on the foundation's board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Education Code lets an ISD's trustees accept gifts from a private foundation and supply it with office space and other school property, as long as a school purp…
Can the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority use bond proceeds to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for its administrative costs?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Authority's enabling statute directs the board to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for expenses required by the Authority's business, and the Texas Agric…
Can a Texas Lloyd's-plan insurance company act as a corporate surety on a public works construction bond?
The Attorney General concluded no. Even after the Legislature amended the public-works bond statute (V.T.C.S. article 5160.A) in 1991, the statute still required a 'corporate' surety. A Lloyd's-plan i…
Can a Texas home-rule city regulate outdoor signs, displays, and storage at pawnshops?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least not specifically. The Pawnshop Act gives the Consumer Credit Commissioner authority to regulate outdoor displays, signs, and premises maintenance at pawnsho…
Can the Texas Legislature merge two whole counties into one?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article IX, section 1 of the Texas Constitution lets the Legislature create counties and shift a part of one county to another (with voter approval), but it does not…
If a Texas teacher asks for a public termination hearing, can the school board close it to protect student witnesses?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 13.112 of the Education Code and section 2(g) of the Open Meetings Act, a teacher facing termination is entitled to a public hearing if the teacher req…
Who can serve process by certified mail or publication in a Texas justice court, and what can the clerk charge for it?
The Attorney General concluded that under Rule 536 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, any sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by law (or authorized by court order, if at least 18 and no…
Can a nonresident student in Texas pay in-state tuition by winning a competitive academic scholarship, and what rules can the state attach?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's rule (19 Tex. Admin. Code § 21.31) is valid. Education Code section 54.064(a) lets a nonresident who wins a competit…
If a Texas police officer resigns and the city accepts it, can he take the resignation back and get his job and seniority returned?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under chapter 143 of the Local Government Code, once a police officer's resignation from a civil service position has been accepted and become effective, it cannot b…
Where must a Texas district attorney keep forfeited drug-case funds, and who audits them in a multicounty district?
The Attorney General concluded that forfeiture funds belonging to the prosecutor under article 59.06(c)(1) must be deposited with the county treasurer when that office is the county depository, althou…
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 Texas criminal defendant be made to pay back the county for the court interpreter's fee?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 38.30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires interpreters in criminal cases to be paid out of county funds. Because court costs must be expressly authori…
Is it a conflict of interest for a county commissioner to run a company that wins a contract from a community center the county helped create?
The Attorney General concluded there is no conflict of interest where a person serves at the same time as a county commissioner and as a manager of a corporation that contracts with a community center…
Is a Texas day-labor agency that supplies common workers the legal employer who owes them workers' comp and unemployment insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 5221a-10, a 'temporary common worker employer,' meaning a person who provides common worker employees to a third-party user, is the employer of those …
Can a Texas school district act as its own general contractor on a renovation instead of hiring one out for competitive bids?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The competitive-bidding statutes (Education Code section 21.901 and Local Government Code section 271.024) apply when a school district awards a contract to an outs…
Do truckers hauling materials to a Texas highway construction site have to carry workers' compensation insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 8308-3.23 of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act, all contract workers on a covered public works project, including truckers hauling materials on and …
What counts as a 'significant interest' that blocks a Texas school board from contracting with a trustee's business?
The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature did not define 'significant interest' in the 1993 statute (Education Code section 23.201) barring a school board from contracting with a business in…
Does the Texas Hazard Communication Act cover college students as 'employees' for chemical-safety training?
The Attorney General concluded that students are not 'employees' under the Texas Hazard Communication Act, so the act's chemical education, training, and information requirements do not apply to stude…
If a care facility voluntarily runs a background check on a licensed nurse and finds a disqualifying conviction, does it have to fire them?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under section 106.008(a) of the Human Resources Code, a facility that voluntarily obtains a criminal-conviction check of an employee who is 'licensed under other la…
Do CPAs who work for the federal government still have to pay the Texas $200 accountant licensing fee increase?
The Attorney General concluded that the $200 fee increase mandated by the Public Accountancy Act of 1991 is not facially unconstitutional as applied to certified public accountants employed by the fed…
Can a Texas city ban private employers from running random drug tests on their workers?
The Attorney General concluded that a home-rule city is not precluded as a matter of law from adopting an ordinance prohibiting random drug testing by private employers within the city. No state statu…
If I set up a property-tax installment plan before July 1, can the county still hit me with the 15% collection penalty?
The Attorney General concluded no. A delinquent-tax penalty a county adopts under Tax Code section 33.07 (up to 15% to cover the cost of collection) does not apply to delinquent taxes that are subject…
When two 1991 Texas laws on minority-business contracting goals conflicted, which one controlled cities?
The Attorney General concluded that two 1991 amendments to the same statute conflicted, and that House Bill 338 prevailed, because a special instruction in Senate Bill 992 overrode the usual rule favo…
Can the Texas prison system run its own work-program facility for inmate labor, or can only cities and counties own one?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice could not own or operate a 'work program facility,' because chapter 497, subchapter C of the Government Code reserves those…
Can a Texas city give a public park to a hospital district without holding an election?
The Attorney General concluded the city did not have to hold the usual park-sale election, because the hospital district held the power of eminent domain. But the city still could not give the park aw…
Can a Texas licensing board decide a discipline case on its own after watching the hearing, or must it wait for the administrative law judge's ruling?
The Attorney General concluded that a licensing board required to use the State Office of Administrative Hearings could not make its own findings of fact and conclusions of law, even when a quorum of …
Can a Texas justice of the peace dismiss a traffic ticket if the driver doesn't finish the required driving safety course?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 45.54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended in 1991, made a justice's order to complete a driving safety course mandatory. A justice could dismiss th…
Can a Texas city make businesses that serve alcohol sell condoms when other businesses don't have to?
The Attorney General concluded no. Houston proposed an ordinance requiring premises that sell alcohol for on-premises consumption to stock condoms for sale and to post HIV/STD information in restrooms…
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 board member listen to the recording of a closed meeting they took part in?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Open Meetings Act requires a governmental body to keep a certified agenda or tape recording of a closed meeting, and it forbids releasing that record except to …
Can a Texas county set goals for awarding contracts to minority and women-owned businesses?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 381.004, which lets counties set up programs to reasonably increase minority and women-owned business participation by establishing a …
Who pays the medical bills for an indigent inmate held in a Texas county jail?
The Attorney General concluded that it turns on where the inmate lives. If an indigent jail inmate is a resident of a hospital district, that district pays for the medical care, even when the inmate i…
Can a bail bond company hold multiple agent licenses, and does that give it extra votes on the county board?
The Attorney General concluded that the answers split. A corporate surety must get a separate license for each agent it authorizes to write bail bonds, and the board can issue those multiple licenses,…
Can a former state regulatory board member lobby that same board right after leaving office?
The Attorney General concluded that a former Polygraph Examiners Board member cannot sponsor a polygraph intern until two years after leaving the board. The state's revolving-door statute (V.T.C.S. ar…
Can a parent sign over court-ordered child support to a collection company without going back to court?
The Attorney General concluded no. A custodial parent (managing conservator) filed a limited power of attorney with the district clerk naming a collection company to receive her child's support paymen…
Can a Texas home-rule city add its own pesticide notice and reporting rules on top of state pest-control law?
The Attorney General concluded it depends on the provision. The City of Greenville's ordinance required 24-hour advance notice of indoor pesticide applications, but the Structural Pest Control Act set…
Who can collect rollback taxes on farmland that changed use, after the law moved that job to the appraisal district?
The Attorney General concluded it depends on timing. The 1989 amendment to Tax Code section 23.55(e) moved the power to determine a change of use of agricultural land (and to notify the owner) from th…
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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.