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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Are a Texas county clerk's audio tapes of commissioners court meetings public records under the Open Records Act, even if she calls them her private notes?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Audio tape recordings a county clerk makes of commissioners court meetings, used to help prepare the official minutes, are subject to the Open Records Act because t…
Can a Texas justice of the peace keep part of the fines he collects to pay for extra staff if the commissioners court approves?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court has no power to let a justice of the peace retain a portion of assessed fines to fund an additional employee. Nothing…
Can a Texas county pay employees a merit raise retroactively, back to when the money was first budgeted?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that article III, section 53 of the Texas Constitution bars a county from making employee salary increases retroactive. Even though the commissi…
Does a Texas county have to pay for office space for the county surveyor outside the courthouse?
Only under set conditions. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county must follow section 23.016 of the Natural Resources Code, which requires the commissioners court to pay ren…
Can a county reclassify an existing county road so a rancher can put gates across it to graze livestock?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court has no authority to reclassify a second-class county road as a 'neighborhood road.' State law only allows a neighborh…
Who decides whether inmates can smoke in a Texas county jail, the sheriff or the county commissioners?
The sheriff. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the sheriff, as the legal 'keeper of the county jail,' has discretion to make reasonable rules over how the jail runs, including w…
Can a Texas county official do business with the county they serve if they follow the conflict-of-interest disclosure rules?
Yes, within limits. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that chapter 171 of the Local Government Code lets a commissioners court enter a contract or approve a claim in which the county…
Can a Texas commissioners court create a countywide payroll department that takes payroll duties from county officers and the county treasurer?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Harris County Commissioners Court had no independent general authority to establish a countywide payroll department, and the proposed arrangement impermissi…
Can a Texas county commissioners court set the work hours and holidays for road crew employees when the commissioners run the roads as ex officio road commissioners?
Yes. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court is authorized to set the normal work week, working hours, and holidays for county road employees, even in a c…
Can a county commissioners court fire a member of the county hospital district board and just replace them?
No, not at will. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that members of the board of managers of a county hospital district created under article 4494n are public officers who serve a fix…
In a Texas county, does the sheriff or the commissioners court decide where the justice of the peace office is located?
The commissioners court decides. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the location of a justice of the peace's quarters, where the JP conducts trials and the business of the office…
Can a Texas sheriff or constable charge a fee for trying but failing to serve civil process?
Only if the county's commissioners court has set one. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that under section 118.131 of the Local Government Code, a commissioners court may set reasona…
Can a Texas county change the spot at the courthouse where foreclosure sales are held?
Yes for a permanent change, no for a standing backup. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that under section 51.002(a) of the Property Code a commissioners court may formally change th…
Can a Texas county lease out county-owned land with a renewal option, and can it skip competitive bidding?
It can add a reasonable renewal option, but it cannot skip the public auction. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that section 263.001 of the Local Government Code lets a commissioner…
Can a county attorney or the commissioners court move 'hot check' fee money over to the district attorney's office?
No. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that money in a county attorney's 'hot check' fund (the fees collected under article 102.007 of the Code of Criminal Procedure) can be spent onl…
Can a Texas county pay its commissioners different salaries, and can a commissioner give part of his salary back to the county?
In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may pay commissioners of different precincts different salaries if unusual circumstances reasonably require it and each s…
In a small Texas county, who is responsible for preparing the payroll, the auditor or the treasurer?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded that in a Texas county with a population under 500,000, the county treasurer, not the county auditor, is the officer who prepares the county payroll…
Could a county reimburse its clerk for an independent audit the clerk hired without prior approval to defend a theft charge?
The county was not already liable because it had made no promise and had not knowingly accepted the audit's benefits. The commissioners court could still choose to ratify and pay for the audit if it c…
Can a Texas commissioners court shift unspent road-and-bridge money between precincts, and must it find an emergency to amend the county budget?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court using the default road-supervisor system could reallocate unencumbered road-and-bridge funds among precincts and consider prior carryover…
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…
Who had to notify landowners about a proposed Texas subdivision plat revision, and did every nondeveloper owner in the subdivision receive notice?
The county commissioners court had the notice duty. It had to notify every nondeveloper owner in the subdivided tract, even when the proposed revision affected only one smaller unit plat.
Could a Texas county build or buy a jail through a multi-year lease-purchase agreement without a special statute expressly authorizing that financing method?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that counties had implied authority to use lease-purchase financing for an essential jail project, subject to every applicable constitutional and statutory requirem…
Could an Ector County commissioners court hire outside counsel to handle criminal bond forfeitures?
No general authority allowed the commissioners court to do so. Bond forfeitures remained criminal cases assigned to the county or district attorney, although a judge could appoint an attorney pro tem …
Could a Texas county pay new or replacement employees $1,000 less during their first six months?
Yes, under the law addressed in JM-599. The commissioners court could reduce the pay of new or replacement employees during the year, provided the salary did not fall below its January 1, 1972 level; …
Can a Texas county set later bar hours on some nights but not others?
No. JM-577 concluded that a county under 300,000 people has only two choices for mixed-beverage hours in its unincorporated areas: keep the standard hours or adopt the full extended late hours. It can…
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 bar its employees from running for partisan political office?
Partly. JM-521 concluded that a commissioners court has implied authority, as part of its power to hire employees and set reasonable working conditions, to prohibit the county employees it hires from …
Could a Texas county commissioner vote to award a county construction contract to a company owned by the commissioner's sons?
JM-492 said the commissioner would violate article 988b if the required facts and criminal elements were proved, while unrelated commissioners would not violate that statute merely by voting for the a…
Did Cass County have to supplement its criminal district attorney's state salary for civil work normally performed by a county attorney?
No. JM-319 concluded that the commissioners court could refuse a supplement, but if it chose to pay one, the amount could not be less than the county compensation paid to its highest-paid district jud…
Could a Texas commissioners court approve a subdivision plat and maintain its roads when some landowners had not signed the dedication?
Not on the unsigned plat alone. JM-317 concluded that all owners had to acknowledge the plat, but missing owners could separately evidence an intent to dedicate and the court could then accept the roa…
What could a Texas prosecutor pay from an article 53.08 hot-check fund, and did the commissioners court have to approve each expense?
JM-313 concluded that the prosecutor did not need commissioners-court approval and could use the fund for reasonable salaries and expenses of the whole office, not just bad-check work. It barred retro…
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 county limit domestic-relations-office services by income or charge an income-based application fee?
No. JM-249 concluded that article 5142a-1 authorized neither an income ceiling for domestic-relations-office services nor a graduated application fee based on an applicant's income.
Could Harris County transfer its child-support payment collection division from the juvenile board to the county domestic relations office?
No. JM-247 concluded that article 5139W specifically placed the child-support collection service under the Harris County Juvenile Board, and the commissioners court could not transfer that statutory d…
Could Brazoria County treat the land between the Gulf and the Intracoastal Canal as a barrier island and place a dune-protection line along its entire coast?
No. JM-246 concluded that the artificial canal did not create a barrier island within the statutory meaning, so Brazoria County lacked authority under section 63.011 to establish the proposed coast-wi…
Could a Texas commissioners court admit county officers or employees to a closed litigation meeting with its attorney?
Sometimes. JM-238 concluded that aligned officers or employees could attend when they were agents or representatives whose presence was necessary for effective attorney-client communication. Adversari…
Could the Tarrant County purchasing agent rewrite or refuse to advertise bid specifications approved by the commissioners court?
No. JM-208 concluded that the purchasing agent could neither rewrite the commissioners court's specifications nor refuse to advertise them, even if the agent believed they were too narrow for competit…
When could a Texas county use county equipment to maintain roads inside a rural subdivision?
JM-200 said a county could maintain a rural-subdivision road only after it became public through commissioners-court establishment, prescription, or dedication and county acceptance. Filing a plat tha…
Could a Texas commissioners court create reasonable sheriff and constable service fees that did not exist before September 1, 1981?
JM-193 originally said yes, but JM-880 later overruled that answer for fees to execute criminal warrants. The later opinion left the fee-setting statute's application to civil matters unaffected.
Did Texas county employee salary warrants need commissioners-court approval and prior county-auditor approval?
JM-192 said each county salary warrant required commissioners-court approval before issuance. The county auditor did not have to approve the salary beforehand, but the auditor's countersignature was r…
Could a Texas county buy land and build an office solely for its county appraisal district under a lease-purchase agreement?
No. JM-191 concluded that a county lacked authority to buy land and construct a building solely for an appraisal district, even if the district compensated the county. The county could lease unused sp…
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…
Did a Texas justice precinct containing a city with more than 18,000 residents have to elect two justices of the peace?
Yes. JM-174 concluded that once the commissioners court determined a city in the precinct exceeded 18,000 residents, article V, section 18 required two justices of the peace. The court retained discre…
Was the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission allowed to require juvenile probation officer salary scales to be at least as high as adult probation officer salary scales?
Yes. JM-144 found the salary standard authorized by statute and constitutional; juvenile boards fixed salaries under state standards, subject to commissioners-court consultation and review for clear a…
Did a Texas county treasurer still have to report directly to the commissioners court when the county also had an auditor?
Yes. JM-109 concluded that the treasurer had to report both to the commissioners court and to the county auditor; the auditor statutes did not impliedly repeal the court-reporting duties.
Could a Texas sheriff or constable appoint a full-time deputy who received no compensation?
Yes. JM-102 concluded that sheriffs and constables could appoint uncompensated deputies to positions approved by the commissioners court, but the deputies had to perform legitimate law-enforcement dut…
Could the Harris County Commissioners Court reject the hospital district's entire budget because it funded a pregnancy-termination clinic?
Yes. JM-79 concluded that the commissioners court's statutory right of final approval allowed it to reject any hospital-district budget, and no statute required the court to state a reason for disappr…
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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.