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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Could a Texas home-rule city give four-year terms to council members elected from single-member districts?
Yes. JM-179 concluded that article XI, section 11 allowed four-year terms for officials elected from single-member districts. The provision required a majority vote of the qualified voters in the rele…
Did a Texas county auxiliary courthouse inside a city have to follow municipal zoning, building, and fire codes?
Partly. JM-180 said city zoning could apply only if it did not prevent the county from reasonably locating the auxiliary courthouse within the county seat. The county still had to comply with municipa…
Could a higher-education-authority board member vote on student-loan matters benefiting a bank in which the member had a substantial interest?
No, when the member knowingly participated and could reasonably foresee interest income or another economic benefit to the bank. JM-178 also concluded that a higher education authority director was a …
Could a Texas state agency exclude assignments, evaluations, salary schedules, terminations, or other job matters from its employee grievance process?
No. JM-177 said agencies could not narrow 'conditions of work' to exclude parts of the employment relationship from grievance protection. The term covered wages, hours, employment conditions, and othe…
Who prosecuted a Texas child-support probation revocation, and did an indigent parent have rights to counsel, bail, and notice?
JM-176 said the district attorney or equivalent state prosecutor handled revocation under Family Code section 14.12. An indigent probationer was entitled to appointed counsel, and the bail and notice …
Could a city require every owner selling or transferring a municipal cemetery lot to convey it back to the city at the original price?
No. JM-175 concluded that a city-only transfer rule at a fixed original price and with no time limit was an unreasonable restraint on alienation. The opinion distinguished a limited right of first ref…
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…
How could a Texas physician delegate nursing or medical acts to an unlicensed person, and what could the medical board regulate?
JM-173 said physicians remained responsible for delegated medical acts and had to satisfy the Medical Practice Act even when the task was a nursing act. A good-faith unlicensed delegate was protected …
Could city officials or electric-cooperative officers serve on the Lower Colorado River Authority board?
JM-172 said recent officers and employees of wholesale electric cooperatives were statutorily ineligible for LCRA appointment. City officials and employees were not barred by that statute, but accepti…
Could a Giddings council member remain in office while serving as vice-president of a corporation that subcontracted on a city project?
JM-171 said the member did not automatically vacate office. But the city contract was void if the general contractor and the member's firm already had a subcontracting agreement when the city awarded …
Could a county reimburse a commissioner who personally repaid road-equipment operators for traffic fines they incurred during county road work?
No. JM-170 said the drivers were personally liable for their fines, and the commissioner's voluntary repayments were neither necessary nor legal county expenses.
Could Dickinson repeal its adoption of the general-law city statutes and return directly to its former village status?
No. JM-169 said Dickinson could regain village status only by dissolving its existing municipal corporation and reincorporating as a village.
What filing fees applied to an ancillary probate action and later instruments filed in that action?
JM-168 required a $25 initiating fee and also allowed per-page fees for later instruments, but JM-346 overruled the latter conclusion and said no fee beyond the initial $25 was authorized for adverse …
Could the State Commission for the Blind contract with public or private organizations to provide rehabilitation training for older blind adults?
Yes, in its discretion. JM-167 said general law authorized such contracts, but an appropriations rider could not make the otherwise discretionary contract mandatory.
How did Tax Code section 6.03 govern selection of appraisal-district directors, including deadlines, submissions, candidate qualifications, and off-ballot votes?
JM-166 said the process was an appointment rather than an Election Code election; deadlines were directory, submissions had to be written, clerks could not investigate qualifications, and off-ballot v…
After deferred-adjudication supervision expired without revocation or guilt proceedings, could a court use a capias pro fine or execution to collect an unpaid fine imposed as a probation condition?
No. JM-165 said the fine was a condition of probation rather than part of a sentence, and the defendant had to be discharged when supervision expired without proceedings to adjudicate guilt.
Was a Texas Water Development Board feasibility order on a proposed federal water or flood-control project subject to APTRA's contested-case hearing procedures?
No. JM-164 said the board's order was a recommendation that did not finally determine anyone's legal rights, duties, or privileges, so it was not a contested case or final APTRA order.
Could Texas agencies pay a company owned by a legislator when the contract was authorized during that legislator's term?
No. The Attorney General concluded that article III, section 18 made the contract illegal and unenforceable when legislation and appropriations enacted during the legislator's term authorized it, so t…
Could El Paso district judges require every local lawyer to take civil cases for indigent clients through a bar-run pro bono program?
No. JM-161 said article 1917 let an individual district judge appoint counsel for an indigent party in a particular case, but did not authorize a group of judges to create a countywide program or dele…
Could the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport Board use Texas article 999b to provide extra law-enforcement officers to Dallas?
No. JM-160 said article 999b authorized temporary law-enforcement assistance only between counties and municipalities, and the regional airport board was neither.
Did a Texas child need a Social Security number before a court could enter a divorce or child-support decree?
No. JM-159 said the decree had to include each party's and child's Social Security number only if the number had already been obtained; parents did not have to get a new number or card before entry of…
Could Harris County spend county money to encourage voter registration and hire a nonprofit organization to help?
Yes. JM-157 said county funds could support voter-registration promotion, and the commissioners court and voter registrar could act together to contract with a nonprofit for services within their auth…
Could a Texas community college meet with a public-employee union about general working conditions without engaging in prohibited collective bargaining?
Yes. JM-156 said a community college could consult with a union about general employment conditions without a formal grievance, so long as the discussion did not seek a binding agreement and the trust…
Could a Texas agency ask architects and engineers what fee they considered fair without violating the Professional Services Procurement Act?
Yes. JM-155 said the Act barred selecting architects or engineers through competitive bids, but required agencies to consider fair and reasonable prices along with demonstrated competence and qualific…
Could a private Texas high school withhold a student's academic records or transcript because the family owed tuition?
JM-154 said the Texas Open Records Act did not apply to the privately funded school. Federal law required a federally funded school to let parents inspect and review records, but did not require an of…
Was a Texas county liable when a justice of the peace collected state court costs but failed to deposit them in the county treasury?
No, unless the county itself received and appropriated the money. JM-153 said the comptroller could pursue the individual who misappropriated the funds, officials could not waive mandatory costs, and …
Could the Texas comptroller cap state board members' meal and lodging reimbursement at $75 per day under the 1983 appropriations act?
No. JM-152 said the appropriations language supplied no clear objective standards for a $75 cap, so the limit was unenforceable and each board's specific reimbursement law remained controlling.
Did Bexar County Jail have to accept people arrested by city police for state-law violations before a magistrate committed them to the sheriff?
No. JM-151 said the jail's duty began after magistrate warnings and commitment to county custody. Before then, the county could charge the city only under an interlocal contract, and no prosecutor had…
Were a pipeline company's sales of natural gas to industrial customers inside Houston subject to Texas's city utility gross-receipts tax?
Yes. JM-150 treated the metered lateral-line operation as local gas distribution rather than mere transmission, so receipts from sales to more than twenty Houston industrial consumers were taxable und…
How was authority divided between the Texas Employment Commission and its agency administrator after the 1983 amendments?
JM-149 said the administrator handled routine day-to-day operations, but the commission retained final administrative authority, controlled special-fund expenditures, and had to execute the specifical…
Could the Railroad Commission investigate a pipeline-to-pipeline gas rate when that rate would affect a later city-gate sale to a distribution utility?
Yes. JM-147 said the special presumption for negotiated large-volume rates did not prevent full review when the rate directly or indirectly affected a city-gate sale for resale to a gas distribution u…
Could a court grant deferred adjudication after January 1, 1984, for a misdemeanor DWI offense charged before that date?
Yes. JM-146 said the former law remained controlling for pre-1984 DWI offenses, so the later amendment excluding DWI defendants from deferred adjudication did not apply.
Could Texas acquire the land designated for Gateway State Park through multiple conveyances, and could it accept disconnected parcels?
JM-145 said the authorized parkland could be conveyed in separate instruments at different times, but accepted parcels had to be physically connected as the statute specified, except for roadway or ri…
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 community college have authority in 1984 to establish an employee cafeteria plan using life, accident, health, and disability insurance benefits?
JM-143 said yes under the law it reviewed, but the official Texas AG page marks it overruled by JM-543, which said federal amendments changed cafeteria plans and JM-143 should be disregarded.
Could a water district use surplus taxes collected for a bond interest-and-sinking fund on a different water or environmental project?
No. JM-142 said the fund could be used only for statutory bond-related purposes while bonds remained. After retirement, the surplus could be refunded to taxpayers or, if impracticable, transferred to …
Could a Texas county commissioner also serve as a gubernatorial appointee on the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission?
Yes. JM-141 found no separation-of-powers bar, no prohibited second civil office of emolument, and no common-law incompatibility between the two positions.
Was a state trooper shot while working off-duty grocery-store security injured in the course of state employment for occupational disability benefits?
Yes. JM-140 said the trooper shifted from private security work to official peace-officer duties when he tried to apprehend armed robbers, making the disabling risk peculiar to state law-enforcement e…
Could Blinn College lease a football stadium built with student fees to the Brenham Independent School District for football, track, and UIL events?
Yes. JM-139 relied on the junior-college board's determination that the shared use served a junior college purpose under Education Code section 130.003(e)(7).
Could Texas enforce misdemeanor penalties for violating DPS vehicle-emissions inspection rules, and could special rules be limited to vehicles registered and operated in designated counties?
Yes. JM-138 found the statute itself defined the offense and validly delegated inspection details to DPS; county-specific rules could cover vehicles both registered and operated in designated counties…
Was the Richardson Hospital Authority a political subdivision whose retirement program fell under State Pension Review Board requirements?
Yes. JM-137 treated the city-created hospital authority as a political subdivision because it matched the recognized criteria and was materially similar to expressly designated county hospital authori…
Did Texas dealer-licensing law apply to boat dealers who sold trailers, and did they have to post the new $25,000 motor-vehicle dealer bond?
The licensing provision applied because they regularly sold trailers, but JM-136 said the bond did not because its conditions and legislative purpose targeted dealers selling motor vehicles.
Could a taxing unit impose the Tax Code section 33.07 delinquent-tax penalty when its collections were enforced by a county or city attorney acting officially under a direct or interlocal arrangement?
No. JM-135 said official county and city attorneys lacked statutory capacity to make the required section 6.30 collection contract, so the added collection penalty could not be imposed.
Did the State Board of Education's rules requiring evolution disclaimers in textbooks violate the Establishment Clause?
Yes. JM-134 concluded that singling out human evolution and directing students toward other meanings of existence revealed a nonsecular purpose under the constitutional test then applied.
Did a county commissioner automatically resign by applying for election as a water-district director even though he was legally ineligible for that office?
JM-132 said yes when more than one year remained in the commissioner's term. JC-0249 later modified its reasoning and clarified that applying for a ballot position makes the officer a candidate, while…
Could one person simultaneously serve as Galveston County auditor and a Galveston city council member?
No. JM-133 found the offices incompatible because the auditor could control or review county financial actions involving the city, and accepting the auditor position automatically vacated the council …
Were electrical or ultrasonic apparatuses used commercially to kill or repel termites regulated as devices used in the structural pest-control business?
Yes. JM-131 treated the apparatuses as statutory devices and mechanical devices, so commercial operators using them were engaged in structural pest control.
After the 1977 water-agency reorganization, did “Commission” in a river-authority permit mean the Texas Water Commission, the department's executive director, or both?
It meant the Texas Water Commission. JM-130 said the commission decided legal release duties through its judicial function, while the executive director studied estuary inflows and advised the commiss…
Could a Dallas County Community College trustee simultaneously serve as a Dallas County commissioner?
No. JM-129 found the offices incompatible because county and college interests could conflict over tax collection, roads, and other matters within their coterminous boundaries.
Can a firefighter count service in a former department toward the two years needed for a promotion exam in a new department?
No. JM-128 concluded that the firefighter had to complete two years of qualifying service in the department giving the examination, and that the requirement was mandatory.
Which waiting period governed Southwestern Bell's request to put higher rates into effect under bond when its initial filing was incomplete?
JM-127 applied the amended 150-day waiting period. Bell did not make a valid, substantially complete statement-of-intent filing until after the amendment took effect.
Did a commission member's community-property share of her husband's fixed salary disqualify her from the Texas Health Facilities Commission?
No. JM-126 treated her interest as limited, nonmanagerial, and abstract, so it was not a substantial pecuniary interest that barred appointment or service on the commission.
Were Texas Medical Board rules limiting where and how acupuncturists could practice constitutional?
JM-125 concluded that four rules were facially invalid because their office-location, one-supervisor, billing, and name-tag restrictions lacked a rational relationship to protecting public health.
Did the Texas Rehabilitation Commission supervise every resident of a facility where it bought services for some clients?
No. JM-124 limited the commission's supervision to its own clients; the licensing agency or another government agency remained responsible for other residents.
Could Cameron County force utilities to deny service to buildings that violated county floodplain rules?
No. JM-123 concluded that utility law and PUC rules prevented the county from requiring denial of service, although a utility could refuse voluntarily for reasons allowed by its approved rules.
Could one chamber of the Texas Legislature make committee records confidential by adopting its own rules?
Not when the chamber rule conflicted with the Texas Open Records Act. JM-122 said the House could change the disclosure rule only through legislation, although particular records might fit an existing…
Could a Texas city apply different subdivision-plat standards inside its extraterritorial jurisdiction than inside the city limits?
No. JM-121 said a city could exercise plat-approval authority within its extraterritorial jurisdiction, but not outside it, and could not adopt a lesser set of approval standards for subdivisions in t…
Did Texas industrial development corporations have to hold open meetings, post public notice, and release records?
Yes. JM-120 treated corporations created under article 5190.6 as governmental bodies for the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts, required them to post notice like their sponsoring political subdivisi…
Could a Texas community-college records custodian use Open Records Act exceptions to deny a trustee access to district records?
No. JM-119 said a trustee acting officially had an inherent right to district records and was not merely a member of the public, although a reporter's separate request could be denied under the litiga…
Could a Texas public-school teacher paid through a federal program also receive a salary as a city council member?
No. JM-118 concluded that the teachers received part of their compensation indirectly from state funds, so article XVI, section 40 allowed city-council service only without a council salary.
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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.