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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Does a Texas mayor or justice of the peace automatically give up his office by running for a different elected office?
It depends on the term length. JM-553 concluded that under article XVI, section 65, a justice of the peace who announces a run for city council when more than a year is left on his JP term automatical…
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…
Can a Texas state university spend state-appropriated funds on land it holds in trust?
Yes, within limits. JM-551 concluded that a state university serving as trustee of a testamentary trust may spend appropriated funds to build permanent improvements on and operate the trust property, …
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 interest earned on the Texas Crime Victims Compensation Fund stay in that fund or go to the state's general revenue?
It goes to general revenue. JM-549 concluded that the Compensation to Victims of Crime Fund is a statutory fund, not a constitutionally dedicated fund and not a trust fund. Under article 4393-1, secti…
Can Texas make a corrections officer work a full year before getting hazardous duty pay?
Yes. JM-548 concluded that under article 6252-20b, V.T.C.S., the Texas Department of Corrections may require its employees to complete one full year of employment before they become eligible for hazar…
Can a Texas state agency buy insurance on mail or freight it ships?
Yes, without any special statute. JM-547 concluded that although state agencies generally need specific statutory authority to buy property or liability insurance, buying postal or freight insurance t…
Can Texas impound a foreign driver's car after a crash without a hearing?
No. JM-546 concluded that section 4A of the Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Law (article 6701h), which let the state impound the car of a driver not domiciled in the United States who could not sh…
What must a Texas county do with interest earned on unspent road bond money?
It has to go toward paying off the bonds. JM-545 concluded that any interest a county earns by investing unspent road bond proceeds must be deposited in the interest and sinking fund and used to help …
Can one water district annex land the legislature set aside for a new district not yet created?
Often yes. JM-544 concluded that territory the legislature designated for a proposed new water district can be annexed by another water district before the new district holds its confirmation election…
Can a Texas state university offer employees a section 125 cafeteria benefits plan?
Yes. JM-543 concluded that the University System of South Texas has authority under article 3.50-3 of the Insurance Code to set up an employee benefit plan letting employees purchase optional group-te…
Is the Public Utility Commission's executive director in charge of running the agency?
Not automatically. JM-542 concluded that the Public Utilities Regulatory Act does not require the PUC's executive director to be the chief administrative employee of the commission. The commissioners …
Can one county annex a school district that sits partly in another county without that county's consent?
No. JM-541 concluded that section 19.021 of the Texas Education Code does not let one county's commissioners court annex a county-line school district in a way that affects territory in another county…
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…
Does a Texas police officer who uses deadly force have to give the injured person medical aid?
Yes. JM-538 concluded that a peace officer who uses deadly force and critically injures someone has a duty, under the federal civil rights statute (42 U.S.C. section 1983), to provide or secure medica…
How are court-appointed attorney fees and investigation costs set when defending a Texas prison inmate charged with a crime committed in custody?
They are set within the limits of Code of Criminal Procedure article 26.05. JM-537 concluded that under article 26.055, which handles the cost of defending Department of Corrections prisoners who comm…
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 the Texas Legislature let just one city charge extra court costs on municipal court convictions?
No. JM-535 concluded that article III, section 56 of the Texas Constitution, which bars local or special laws regulating the affairs of cities, prevents the Legislature from passing a law that gives a…
Does interest earned on local sales taxes the Texas Comptroller collects belong to the cities and counties?
Yes, the interest belongs to the local taxing units. JM-539 concluded that local sales and use taxes (and mass-transit and regional-transportation authority taxes) the Comptroller collects on behalf o…
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…
Does a licensed Texas care institution have a legal duty to feed its residents a minimum diet?
Yes. JM-532 concluded that an institution licensed under article 4442c has a statutory duty, created by that statute and the rules adopted under it, to meet minimum diet standards for its residents. T…
Can a Texas school board lease district property for 50 years, and what happens if the lease is later assigned to a board member?
It depends on the facts, but the AG gave clear rules. JM-531 concluded that a school board has authority to lease district property as long as the lease does not impinge on the board's ability to run …
Can a Texas county spend leftover road-bond money or an unused workers' compensation reserve to build a jail?
It depends on the source of the money. JM-530 concluded that Anderson County could not spend surplus left over from a road bond issue on a new jail, because road bonds under article 752a are tied to a…
Does the Texas Proprietary School Act cover a business that teaches classes, like a computer store or a hobby school?
It depends on whether the business primarily offers vocational training. JM-529 concluded that a school teaching mainly vocational courses is a regulated 'proprietary school' even if some of its cours…
If voters roll back a Texas county's property tax rate, does that also cut the part of the increase that pays for indigent health care?
No. JM-528 concluded that when a taxing unit raises its tax rate to cover the indigent health care it is required to provide under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, and voters then pass a ro…
Can the mayor of a small Texas village veto an ordinance passed by the board of aldermen?
Not in a chapter 11 village that has not adopted the broader general-law provisions. JM-527 concluded that the mayor of a village organized under chapter 11 of Title 28 cannot use article 997, the sta…
Which Texas judges can defer a Class C misdemeanor fine, and does that deferral apply to speeding tickets?
JM-526 construed article 45.54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which lets a 'justice' suspend a fine-only misdemeanor and dismiss the complaint if the defendant complies with conditions. The AG con…
Is a conservator or liquidating agent the state appoints over a failed savings and loan a state employee?
Yes. JM-525 concluded that conservators, supervisors, and liquidating agents the Savings and Loan Commissioner appoints under chapter 8 of article 852a are state employees for purposes of sections 104…
Does a joint city-county health district have to buy its supplies through the county purchasing agent?
No. JM-524 concluded that the Galveston County Health District, created by a county and city under article 4436b (the Local Public Health Reorganization Act), is an independent political subdivision w…
Can a Texas home-rule city charge the state a capital recovery or impact fee on a state construction project?
Partly. JM-523 concluded that without express constitutional or legislative authorization, a home-rule city like Austin cannot levy a special assessment against state property used solely for public p…
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 …
Did making paint and glue sniffing a jailable misdemeanor also turn it into delinquent conduct in Texas juvenile court?
No. JM-520 concluded that paint or glue sniffing remained 'conduct indicating a need for supervision' under the Texas Family Code, even after the criminal penalty rose to a Class B misdemeanor. The sp…
Could one person serve at the same time as a Texas constable and a school board trustee?
JM-519 said yes in 1986: neither the two-office compensation ban, separation of powers, nor common-law incompatibility barred the combination. The official Texas AG page now marks JM-519 overruled to …
Could a Texas city, county, or hospital district give discounted hospital rates to seniors, insurers, or other selected groups?
Sometimes, but JM-518 gave no universal yes-or-no answer. It concluded that a public hospital's power to offer a group discount depended first on the statute governing that hospital and then on other …
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 county pay a private economic development group, like one tied to a chamber of commerce, to bring in business, even though the county cannot pay chamber dues?
Yes, within limits. JM-516 concluded a county may contract with a private corporation, including one connected to a chamber of commerce, for specific business and industrial development services, as l…
Does a Texas city have to make every job in its fire department a civil service position, or can it hire regular non-civil-service staff for work supervised by the fire chief?
It can hire non-civil-service staff for some roles. JM-515 concluded the Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Act (article 1269m) does not require a city to create civil service positions for all t…
Can a Texas city make a school district apply for a use permit and follow zoning rules to turn a school building into administrative offices?
Yes, within reason. JM-514 concluded a city may require a school district to comply with reasonable zoning ordinances and a specific-use permit process to convert a school facility into an administrat…
If a Texas nonprofit gives away raffle tickets for free but asks for a donation, is it running an illegal lottery?
Usually yes. JM-513 concluded that a drawing where tickets are technically free but people who request them are asked to donate is an illegal lottery once any person actually makes a donation for a ch…
Can the Texas Medical Board refuse to license a doctor from another state just because that state let him take the FLEX exam before he finished medical school?
No, not on that ground alone. JM-512 concluded the Medical Practice Act does not bar reciprocal licensing of a physician solely because the physician took the Federation Licensing Examination (FLEX) b…
When the Texas legislature appropriates the proceeds of a state land sale to an agency, does the agency also get to spend the interest that money earns?
No, not automatically. JM-511 concluded that when the legislature appropriated the proceeds of a land sale or lease to the Texas School for the Blind, it appropriated only the sale money itself, not t…
Can a Texas hotel or motel seize a guest's belongings for an unpaid bill without giving the guest a hearing first?
The Attorney General said the law allowing it was unconstitutional. JM-510 concluded that articles 4594 and 4595, the Texas hotel/motel operators' lien law, are facially unconstitutional under the Fou…
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…
Must a Texas county clerk record a deed that subdivides land when the developer has not filed an approved subdivision plat?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a county clerk had to record a properly acknowledged deed or dedicatory certificate even when the developer had not complied with subdivision platting laws, wh…
Could the Texas Highway Commission temporarily close an Interstate 35E frontage road in Dallas for a grand prix race?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Highway Commission could temporarily close the controlled-access frontage road and that, while closed to public travel, the road was not a 'highway' covere…
Did a retired Texas statutory county court judge have to elect within 90 days of retirement to serve on judicial assignment?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Court Administration Act imposed no 90-day deadline on a retired statutory county court judge's certification to serve, but required the judge to accept for…
Could a Texas county require performance, payment, and bid bonds on every public works contract under the law in 1986?
Not under JM-505's 1986 analysis. It concluded that a county could not require performance or payment bonds on public works contracts of $25,000 or less, although it could usually require bid security…
Did Texas Education Code section 16.102(e)'s maximum price differential index continue after the 1984-85 school year?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the special maximum price differential index in section 16.102(e) was a temporary part of the 1984-85 school-funding calculation and ended when the State Board …
Did the 1985 Texas Court Administration Act reduce the 71st District Court's six annual terms to two?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the act's general January and July terms applied only when another law did not provide different terms, so Government Code section 24.173's six terms for the 71…
Did Texas abortion-reporting requirements apply to hospitals and physicians' offices that were exempt from a separate abortion-facility license in 1986?
Yes. JM-502 concluded that every place where abortions were performed had to file the statutory reports, including hospitals and qualifying physicians' offices that were exempt from the act's separate…
Could a Texas voter use a nickname, omit a middle initial, or otherwise vary from the registration-list name when signing a local-option alcohol petition in 1986?
No. JM-501 read the statute as mandatory and concluded that the registrar had to reject a local-option petition signature that did not match the voter's name exactly as it appeared on the official reg…
Could the Texas Board of Pharmacy deny a Class D clinic-pharmacy license when the clinic's only formulary limit was that it dispensed dangerous drugs?
Yes. JM-500 concluded that a Class D pharmacy had to serve a clinic providing genuinely limited medical services, and the Board of Pharmacy could decide which clinics were limited enough to qualify.
Could one person serve as chief appraiser for three Texas appraisal districts and also collect taxes for three school districts and a water district?
Yes, under JM-499's 1986 analysis. The opinion concluded that both positions were public employments rather than civil offices of emolument, so article XVI, section 40 did not prohibit holding all sev…
Could a Texas bank treat another secured-lobby building up to 20,000 feet away as a drive-in facility instead of an unconstitutional branch?
No. JM-498 concluded that the former statute allowing a secured-teller-lobby building as far as 20,000 feet from the central bank violated the Texas Constitution's ban on doing banking business at mor…
Could a Texas appropriations rider require non-general-revenue funds to reimburse workers' compensation costs, and could a state agency buy separate coverage?
JM-497 said the reimbursement rider was valid, but it did not apply to the Texas Surplus Property Agency because that agency received no appropriation under the act. The opinion also said state agenci…
What happened if Texas DPS missed the 10-day deadline to request a driver's-license hearing, and could a court shorten or lengthen the 90-day suspension?
JM-496 said DPS still had to obey the 10-day duty, but a court would probably treat the deadline as directory when deciding the effect of a past violation, unless the driver proved harm. The court had…
What counted as prohibited representation when a former Texas Public Utility Commission employee worked on the same matter for a new employer?
JM-495 read representation broadly. It included any interaction with the commission on behalf of the new employer in a matter the former employee had handled or officially supervised, not just a subst…
Could the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles use a staff hearing officer for a final parole-revocation hearing without violating due process?
Yes. JM-494 concluded that the Board could delegate the hearing to a neutral and detached staff officer who made recommendations, while the Board retained the final revocation decision.
Who could approve a specific-use zoning permit in a Texas home-rule city: the city council, planning commission, or board of adjustment?
It depended on the permit's legal effect. JM-493 said only the city council could approve a specific-use permit that amended the zoning ordinance; the board of adjustment could grant a true special ex…
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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.