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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Was Senate Bill 454 valid even though the Texas House Journal suggested the House may have passed a substitute that omitted three new probation-commission members?
Yes. JM-433 applied the enrolled-bill doctrine and treated the authenticated, signed, and enrolled version of Senate Bill 454 as conclusive despite the conflicting journal entry.
Could a Texas county lease crossings under county roads to a common-carrier pipeline company and collect annual payments?
No. JM-432 concluded that a county could reasonably regulate and permit pipeline crossings, but chapter 111 did not authorize leasing those crossings to a common carrier.
Could a county commissioner use county money, paid staff, or courthouse space to collect donations for foreign earthquake victims?
The commissioner could not use county funds or paid staff for the collection. JM-431 allowed incidental courthouse space and volunteer assistance by county personnel on their own time.
Could a county department head raise an employee's salary without a new commissioners-court vote, and could county employee pay change outside the annual budget hearing?
Only if the commissioners court had already approved staffing and budget terms authorizing the promotion and raise. The court could amend pay outside the regular budget hearing, but not retroactively.
Did a school district have to pay the state's retirement contribution on a teacher's pay for a separate extra job, such as driving a school bus?
No. JM-429 concluded that the district paid the state contribution only on pay above the statutory minimum for the minimum-salary job, not compensation for a wholly separate job.
Could counties reduce a district attorney's local budget by the amount of state Professional Prosecutors Act funds or control how those state funds were spent?
No. JM-428 concluded that counties had to maintain their required funding level, while the district attorney controlled the separate state expense funds and could use them for authorized contingencies…
Did the General Appropriations Act's per-diem limits apply when Employees Retirement System trustees were paid from membership fees and investment earnings held in trust?
No. JM-427 concluded that those retirement-system assets were trust funds rather than appropriated funds, so the appropriation rider's per-diem limits did not apply to payments from them.
Could members of the Texas veterinary licensing board receive reimbursement for meals and lodging incurred on official business?
Yes. JM-426 concluded that article 6813f and the General Appropriations Act superseded the board statute's conflicting meals-and-lodging restriction.
Could Montague County pay for a resident indigent child's liver transplant when the child lived outside any public-hospital or hospital-district service area?
Yes. JM-425 concluded that the commissioners court had authority to pay for the resident child's medical services even though no public hospital or hospital district served her area.
Could an MHMR community-center board contract with a nonprofit that employed one of its trustees, and what conflict-of-interest rules applied?
Yes, if article 988b's disclosure and recusal rules were followed. JM-424 treated the nonprofit as a business entity, the trustee as a local public official, and the statute as replacing the older abs…
What happened to a dental-board member's votes and expense payments after the Texas Senate rejected her recess appointment?
After rejection, she was neither a holdover nor a de facto officer. Her later actions were void and potentially affected cases where her vote mattered, and she was not entitled to later travel reimbur…
Can one person in Texas be both a constable and a city police chief, or both a justice of the peace and a city judge?
No. The Texas AG concluded both office pairs are legally incompatible, so taking the second office automatically vacates the first. A constable who becomes police chief loses the constable office, but…
Can a Texas public agency provide physical therapy without hiring a licensed physical therapist, if a doctor supervises?
Yes, within limits. A licensed physician can perform physical-therapy acts under a medical license, and can delegate those acts to unlicensed staff working under the physician's supervision, as long a…
Can Texas dental hygienists smooth roughened root surfaces (root planing) if a dentist delegates the task?
Yes. After a 1985 amendment, the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners may adopt a rule letting dentists delegate root planing (smoothing roughened root surfaces) to hygienists working under the denti…
Could a Texas physician be liable for giving a patient a medical exemption from the seat-belt requirement, and would a release prevent liability?
The statute did not give physicians express immunity. Any claim still depended on proving negligence, and whether a signed release was valid depended on the circumstances of that release.
Does a Texas hospital district lose its property tax exemption if it rents out a building it owns?
No. The Texas AG concluded that collecting rent does not, by itself, strip a hospital district of tax-exempt status on property it owns, as long as the property is used for public purposes. Whether it…
Can Texas public officials be personally sued for damages under the state antitrust law for actions they take in office?
It depends on the office. Judges and legislators have absolute immunity from damage suits under the Texas antitrust act. Other officials with discretionary duties have qualified immunity and can be he…
Can a Texas district judge run for another office mid-term without automatically resigning the bench?
Yes. The Texas AG concluded that the state's automatic resign-to-run rule (article XVI, section 65) lists many county and precinct offices but not district judges, so a sitting district judge could ru…
Will a court-appointed lawyer get paid for representing an indigent parent jailed for not paying child support in Texas?
Not under the criminal-case fee statute. The Texas AG concluded that article 26.05 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which pays appointed lawyers in criminal and habeas cases, does not cover a civil …
Can Texas exclude short-appointment university faculty from the sick-leave benefit other state employees receive?
Yes, mostly. The Texas AG concluded that a 1985 appropriations-act rider excluding faculty with appointments under 12 months from the state sick-leave benefit did not conflict with general law or viol…
If a town incorporates inside an existing Texas rural fire prevention district, does it escape the district's taxes?
No. The Texas AG concluded that a town that incorporated within the boundaries of an already-established rural fire prevention district stayed part of the district, so its property remained subject to…
Can Texas prorate the annual license fee or tax on coin-operated amusement machines when the license covers less than a full year?
No. The Texas AG concluded that the Amusement Machine Commission could not prorate the fee for an initial license or registration certificate, or the annual occupation tax on coin-operated machines, b…
If a jail inmate's money is stolen by an escaping prisoner, who has to pay it back?
The county. The Texas AG concluded that a county is responsible for repaying money a jail holds in safekeeping for its inmates, even when an escaping prisoner takes it, because holding and returning t…
How soon must a Texas county officer hand collected funds to the county treasurer, and what does the deadline mean?
The Texas AG read the 1985 version of article 1709a to require county officers to deposit funds with the county treasurer by the next business day when possible, but they did not violate a clear statu…
What court fees can a Texas district clerk charge in child-custody and support cases, and can they charge when the attorney general represents a parent?
The Texas AG concluded that a district clerk could not charge an extra filing fee for a motion to modify or enforce a custody or support order, because the initial filing fee already covered those mot…
Does a Texas justice of the peace automatically resign by running for city council?
Yes. The Texas AG concluded that a general-law city council seat is an 'office of trust' under the state constitution's resign-to-run rule (article XVI, section 65), so a justice of the peace who anno…
Can a Texas city give land to the state for a public college, and can the college condemn land it needs?
A city can convey land to the state for a technical institute, but a conveyance exempt from bid procedures still cannot be for less than fair market value, and the questions about whether a binding co…
Does a state budget grandfather clause for probation-department car allowances cover paid trainees, not just probation officers?
Assuming the rider was valid, the Attorney General read the grandfather clause to protect anyone employed by a local probation department on May 31, 1985, not just probation officers. Because anyone w…
When the state files an elder-abuse report in a guardianship case, who pays the court filing fee?
The county clerk must collect a filing fee, but the Attorney General treated it as a cost of the guardianship proceeding. That means the ward's estate pays the fee, and the county pays if the estate c…
Can a state agency put its vending-machine and pay-phone income into an employee fund for flowers and gifts?
No. The Attorney General concluded that vending-machine and pay-phone income from a building occupied by the Texas Rehabilitation Commission is public money that must go into the state treasury, unles…
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…
Can a home rule city shorten its park board members' terms or fire them at will?
No. Galveston could not shorten the two-year terms of its Park Board of Trustees, because the state statute that created the board fixes a two-year term running from the date of appointment and overri…
Does being a Texas Rehabilitation Commission client disqualify a disabled veteran from the Hinson-Hazelwood college fee waiver?
No. The Attorney General concluded a person is not automatically ineligible for the Hinson-Hazelwood Act's college fee exemption just because he is a client of the Texas Rehabilitation Commission. The…
Can a bill about big-city development plats be struck down because its title doesn't mention extraterritorial jurisdiction?
No. The Attorney General concluded the title of the 1985 plat-approval law (chapter 568) adequately expressed its subject and did not violate the single-subject and title rule in article III, section …
Can a city council member in a general-law city also serve on the city's police reserve?
No. The Attorney General concluded the common law doctrine of incompatibility bars an alderman on a general-law city council from also serving on that city's police reserve. The council has broad supe…
Could a Texas county award a janitorial contract to a nonprofit serving blind or severely disabled people without making that nonprofit submit a competitive bid?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the specific Human Resources Code provision controlled over the general County Purchasing Act, so the nonprofit agency did not have to enter the competitive bi…
Could a Texas district clerk charge separate fees for filing each order and judgment after collecting the initial civil-case filing fee?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the $75 initial filing fee then set by section 51.317 covered the district clerk's services throughout the case unless another statute expressly authorized an a…
Could a Texas county keep its road-and-bridge precinct money in local banks that had not been selected as official county depositories?
No. The Attorney General concluded that all county funds, including the road-and-bridge fund, had to be kept in a bank selected under the county-depository statutes. Robertson County could not leave t…
Which Texas state-board members could receive compensatory per diem and travel reimbursement under the 1985 appropriations rider?
The Attorney General concluded that article 6813f could cover statewide boards created by statute, executive order, agency authority, or legislative resolution, but it did not give compensatory per di…
Did House Bill 1426 let Texas sell the Bexar County property directly to its lessee, or did the state have to use sealed competitive bids?
The state had to use a sealed competitive-bid process. The Attorney General concluded that House Bill 1426 did not approve a direct sale to the existing lessee at fair market value; it authorized a sa…
Could appointed members of the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities receive the state's $30 compensatory per diem?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the members' governing statute required them to serve without salary and allowed only reimbursement of actual expenses. The General Appropriations Act's $30 com…
Could a Texas municipal or justice court try a 15- or 16-year-old for a first alcohol offense under chapter 106?
Yes, if the chapter 106 misdemeanor was punishable by fine only. The Attorney General concluded that the Alcoholic Beverage Code supplied a special criminal-court procedure for minors, so municipal an…
Could a Texas school trustee avoid a conflict-of-interest violation by abstaining from the vote but still discussing the matter with the board?
No. The Attorney General concluded that participating in a board's 'vote or decision' included deliberating with other trustees, so a substantially interested trustee could not discuss the matter and …
Could a Texas state school keep money paid by a nonprofit for services performed by the school's employees?
No. The payments had to be deposited in the state treasury within seven days and were reappropriated to the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Department's appropriation items that funded the servic…
Could a Texas judge require a felony defendant on deferred adjudication to live in a restitution center?
No. The Attorney General concluded that restitution-center placement under section 6c required a sentence of imprisonment and regular probation after conviction. Deferred adjudication involved no adju…
Did Texas's private-consultant law apply when the Rehabilitation Commission hired psychologists to provide services directly to clients?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the controlling 1977 statute covered management or program consultants who studied and advised an agency, not professionals hired to carry out the agency's ordi…
Could a nurse licensed as both an RN and an LVN serve on the Texas Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners?
No. The Attorney General concluded that article 4528c barred an LVN member from also being a registered nurse and barred the registered-nurse member from also being an LVN. A person holding both licen…
Could a Texas court clerk stamp a judge's facsimile signature on a criminal judgment or order?
Only in the judge's presence and under the judge's immediate authority and direction. A facsimile stamp could serve as the judge's signature, but the judge remained responsible for reading and approvi…
Did a Texas vehicle with dealer temporary tags still need working tail lights and brake lights?
Yes. The exemption for dealer temporary tags excused the vehicle from the mechanical inspection requirements in sections 140 and 141, but it did not excuse compliance with the separate tail-light and …
Could a Texas school district promote a teacher to registrar after her husband joined the school board?
The 1979 promotion violated the nepotism law because the old grandfather clause protected only the teacher position she already held. A 1985 amendment later allowed the board to change her employment …
Did a nonresident graduate student's job have to be titled 'teaching assistant' or 'research assistant' to qualify for Texas resident tuition?
No. The Attorney General concluded that section 54.063 described academic job duties, not formal payroll titles. A half-time student employee qualified when the position involved teaching or research …
Could a corporation formed outside Texas receive a state permit to administer synthetic narcotics to drug-dependent patients?
No. The Attorney General concluded that article 4476-11 limited institutional permits to entities both organized and operated under Texas law. A foreign corporation authorized to do business in Texas …
Was a computer terminal that only dispensed state-lottery tickets a 'gambling device' under Texas law?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the PAT-2000 terminal only recorded transactions and dispensed tickets. Because the element of chance came from a separate lottery drawing rather than the termi…
Did a Public Health Service officer lose Texas domicile when the federal government assigned her to duty in another state?
Not solely because of the assignment. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioned Public Health Service officer should receive the same domicile presumption as military personnel: an involuntar…
Could the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission let its executive director make the final decision on shell-dredging permits?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 86 assigned the final grant-or-deny decision to the commission, so a rule giving that authority to the executive director was invalid. The commission co…
Who had to approve a subdivision plat outside Palestine's city limits: the city, Anderson County, or both?
Within Palestine's one-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction, both the city and Anderson County had to authorize the plat, and the stricter conflicting regulation controlled. Outside that one-mile area, …
Did the Texas Constitution's 'color of title' requirement allow a land patent when the claimant's chain of title contained a complete gap?
JM-364 said no: it treated 'color of title' as requiring an unbroken chain of transfers, even if some transfers were defective. This holding is no longer controlling because JM-907 expressly overruled…
Could a Texas magistrate require cash-only bail, accept a cash percentage instead of the full bond, or set different bail amounts for cash and surety bonds?
No. JM-363 said a magistrate could not exclude a surety bond by requiring cash only, accept less than the stated bail amount as a cash percentage, or impose different bail amounts depending on whether…
How did the Texas Prison Management Act's emergency overcrowding cycle operate, who could determine prison capacity, and could makeshift housing count?
JM-362 said minor daily fluctuations did not restart the statutory release cycle, but an unresolved emergency required the cycle to be repeated after the prescribed interval. The Board of Corrections …
Could the Industrial Accident Board approve a workers' compensation compromise that settled only future medical expenses after the carrier admitted liability and began paying lifetime benefits?
No. JM-361 said section 12 allowed a compromise only when liability or the extent of injury was uncertain. Once the carrier admitted liability for a statutorily permanent and total injury and paid com…
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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.