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.
No Texas opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Can a Texas county commissioners court rescind the county budget after it's approved and adopt a new one that strips an elected officer's salary increase?
No. There is no statute that lets a commissioners court wholly rescind a finally adopted county budget and replace it. And under the Local Government Code, the court can set or change an elected offic…
Can a Texas commissioners court hire its own outside law firm to help redraw county election precincts, or does the county attorney control that choice?
The commissioners court can. A Texas commissioners court may select and contract with an outside law firm of its own choice to help it redraw county election precincts under Chapter 42 of the Election…
Where does a Texas county jail have to deposit revenue from inmate phone-card sales, the general fund or the sheriff's commissary account?
It depends on the source. If the phone cards deliver the inmates' required telephone privileges (replacing a PIN debit system), the revenue is county money and must go in the general fund. Only phone …
Can a Texas commissioners court move a position and its funding out of the county attorney's office, create its own attorney position, and defund an existing civil attorney slot?
Generally yes, with one hard limit. A commissioners court controls the county budget and may transfer a position and its funding away from the county attorney if those duties are not the county attorn…
Can a Texas county penalize a dog owner for a public nuisance because the dog barks too much?
No. The AG concluded a county commissioners court has no general police power and no statute gives it authority to penalize a dog owner for excessive barking. The Rabies Control Act lets a county requ…
Can a Texas county use county workers and equipment to dig and close graves in private cemeteries?
Mostly no. The AG concluded a county cannot enter an interlocal agreement under Government Code chapter 791 with a private (non-governmental) cemetery organization. A county's burial authority under H…
Does moving a deputy constable out of the constable's office to another county department trigger a 'defund the police' election in a large Texas county?
Maybe, and the AG would not say for sure. In big Texas counties (over 1.2 million people), Local Government Code chapter 120 forces a county to hold an election before its budget reduces funding or st…
Can a Texas county abandon or rename a public road it never accepted into its maintenance system?
Likely yes on both, as the AG read it. The Montgomery County Attorney asked whether a commissioners court can abandon a public road under Transportation Code section 251.051, and name or rename one un…
Can a Texas county commissioners court force county offices onto new software over the elected officials' objections, and what can those officials do about it?
Mostly yes for the commissioners court. Hood County was converting offices from NET Data to Tyler Technologies, and some justices of the peace objected. A JP is the 'records management officer' for hi…
How can a Texas county legally get rid of worn-out items like old culverts when nobody bids on them at auction?
Cherokee County removes about one culvert a week and tries to sell them as 'salvage property' under Local Government Code section 263.152, but sometimes the bids do not even cover the newspaper notice…
Can a Texas county judge keep renewing a local disaster declaration without the commissioners court's consent?
The AG's view: no, not past the first week. A county attorney asked five questions about a county judge's power under Government Code section 418.108 to declare a local disaster. The AG concluded that…
Can a Texas county or judge require masks in courthouses and county buildings?
Yes, through several different officials, the AG concluded. Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan asked who could require face coverings in courtrooms, courthouses, and other county buildings during the C…
Can a Texas drainage district levy its own flood-control tax without a voter election?
No, the AG concluded, and the county can't raid those funds either. The Jackson County Criminal District Attorney asked three questions about the split of authority between the Jackson County County-W…
Can a Texas commissioners court hold one public-comment period for the whole agenda and limit how long each speaker talks?
Yes to both, the AG concluded. The Blanco County Attorney asked how Government Code section 551.007, which requires certain governmental bodies to allow public comment on agenda items at open meetings…
Who sets a Texas district court coordinator's salary, the judge or the county commissioners court?
Both have to agree, the AG concluded. Government Code section 74.104 says district judges determine reasonable compensation for their court coordinators, subject to the commissioners court's approval.…
Who sets the salaries for a Texas multicounty court at law's reporter and administrator?
The commissioners courts, not the judge, the AG concluded. The 1st Multicounty Court at Law serves Fisher, Mitchell, and Nolan counties, and its budgeted staff salaries had swung wildly. The Nolan Cou…
Who controls how Texas pretrial intervention fees are spent, and can they pay staff salaries?
The commissioners court controls the spending, the AG advised, and the fees can pay staff who run the program but only for that purpose. A county auditor asked whether a prosecuting attorney could use…
Is there a time limit or dollar cap on Texas county economic development loans and grants?
No fixed statutory cap, the AG advised. A state representative asked whether the ten-year and amount limits that apply to county tax-abatement agreements also limit the loans and grants a county makes…
Can a Texas county spend its chapter 324 health-services sales tax on mosquito control, animal services, or emergency management?
It depends on the specific expense, the AG advised. Chapter 324 of the Tax Code lets certain counties impose a sales and use tax, but section 324.081 says the revenue 'may be used only to provide heal…
Can a Texas county commissioners court collect court fines and fees on its own, or does it have to go through the county clerk?
The AG concluded that it can. Article 103.003 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives a commissioners court that has set up a collection improvement program independent authority to collect money owed…
Can a Texas justice of the peace hire and supervise its own bailiff or warrant officer, and is that employee automatically a peace officer?
The AG concluded that a commissioners court may authorize a justice of the peace to appoint and supervise an employee to do the traditional work of a court bailiff, relying on Local Government Code se…
Can a Texas county pay a commissioner's salary out of the road and bridge fund?
The AG concluded it depends on where the money in the fund came from. A county may move property tax revenue out of the road and bridge fund into the general fund and use it to pay a commissioner's sa…
Can a Texas county leave the county judge out of its longevity pay policy?
The AG concluded a county can, with one condition. A county commissioners court has discretion to decide who gets longevity pay, and excluding the county judge is allowed even if the reason is that th…
Does a Texas county treasurer or commissioners court control the money in a court's registry account?
The AG concluded neither one controls it the way the county controls its own funds. Money paid into a court's registry is held in trust and does not belong to the county, so it sits in a separate regi…
Can a county budget officer also be a staff employee of the county judge or commissioners court?
The AG concluded yes, the common-law incompatibility doctrine does not bar it. A county budget officer and an assistant budget officer can also hold employee jobs working for the county judge and the …
Can a Texas county pay its fire marshal's salary out of the county health services sales tax?
The AG concluded a court would likely say no. A chapter 324 county sales and use tax can be spent only to provide health services in the county, and the statute points to hospitals and public health d…
Can a county commissioners court let the treasurer pay bills before the court approves them?
The AG concluded the commissioners court cannot do that. Under the Local Government Code, the commissioners court must examine and approve claims against the county, and the treasurer and auditor cann…
Who hires staff for a Texas veterans treatment court, the judge or the county?
The AG split the authority. Under chapter 124 of the Government Code, a county commissioners court that establishes a veterans treatment court program can create the staff positions and fund them, inc…
Can a Texas district attorney use asset-forfeiture money to buy carpet for a county building, and does the commissioners court have to approve it?
The Bowie County Auditor asked whether the district attorney could use asset-forfeiture funds to replace carpet in a county-owned building and whether the commissioners court had to approve it. The AG…
Can a Texas county commissioners court set vehicle rules that apply to the sheriff's cars?
A district attorney and the Llano County Attorney asked the AG whether a county commissioners court could adopt a county vehicle policy handbook covering vehicles allocated to the sheriff, and whether…
Who pays to move a body from an autopsy to the funeral home in Texas?
The AG concluded that the cost of transporting a body from a justice-of-the-peace-ordered autopsy to its final destination generally falls on the person with the legal duty to inter the deceased, or t…
If a Texas county employee who receives longevity pay is elected to a county office, does that longevity pay continue?
The AG concluded that a commissioners court order granting longevity pay to qualified county employees does not carry over once that person is elected to a county office, because an elected official i…
Can a Texas county require indigent health care applicants to be U.S. citizens or qualified aliens?
The AG concluded that the Texas Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act bases eligibility on county residence plus income and resource standards, and makes no distinction based on citizenship or aliena…
Can a Texas commissioners court automatically cut a county position's salary when the employee leaves?
The AG gave a two-part answer. Chapter 111 of the Local Government Code does not, as a matter of law, prohibit a commissioners court from adopting a standing order that automatically transfers budgete…
Does a Texas county have to pay for a county employee's lawyer in a lawsuit?
The AG concluded that a county is not automatically required to pay for a county official's or employee's private lawyer. Under Local Government Code section 157.901, the county must fund private coun…
Can a Texas county attorney keep a commission on bond forfeiture money?
The AG concluded yes. Under Government Code section 41.005(b), a county attorney who has criminal jurisdiction and represents the state in bond forfeiture proceedings may keep a commission out of what…
Can a Texas county pay legal fees for a commissioner investigated but never charged?
The AG concluded yes, a county can, subject to a public-interest test, but the investigated members cannot vote on it. Several Waller County commissioners were criminally investigated for possible Ope…
Is a county sheriff's salary increase valid if the required public notice wasn't given first?
The AG concluded the increase was invalid. Before a Texas commissioners court can raise an elected county officer's salary, it has to publish notice of the proposed increase in a newspaper at least 10…
Can a school district spend its funds to audit a mineral lease on county school land?
The AG's answer leaned no on both questions. County school lands are held by the county in a constitutional trust, with the commissioners court as sole trustee for the public schools. Texas courts hav…
Can jurors donate their jury pay to programs other than juror counseling?
The AG concluded yes. Government Code section 61.003(a)(4) lets a juror donate the daily jury reimbursement to 'any other program approved by the commissioners court of the county, including' a juror …
Does a county have to keep paying a justice of the peace who retired and stopped doing the job?
The AG could not say the justice of the peace was entitled to the pay as a matter of law. Under the Texas Constitution's holdover provision (article XVI, section 17), an officer must keep performing t…
Can a Texas county sheriff accept or solicit donations from the public?
The AG concluded that the commissioners court, not the sheriff, is the body the Legislature authorized to accept donations on a county's behalf, under section 81.032 of the Local Government Code. No s…
Can a Texas sheriff give away or sell old jail commissary equipment, and where does the sale money go?
The AG concluded that equipment a sheriff buys with county jail commissary proceeds keeps the character of commissary funds, so it has to keep benefiting jail inmates. The sheriff cannot simply transf…
Who sets assistant county auditor salaries in Texas, the district judges or the commissioners court?
The AG concluded that the power to appoint assistant county auditors and set their salaries belongs solely to the county's district judges, not the commissioners court. When the district judges proper…
Can a Texas county ban an elected official from bringing a pet to their own office?
The Titus County Attorney asked whether the county commissioners court could enforce its new ban on animals in county buildings against an independently elected official's office, after he had brought…
Can a Texas county take money from private companies to fix specific roads?
Waller County's district attorney asked whether a county that runs its roads under the County Road Department System (subchapter D of Transportation Code chapter 252) can accept money from private com…
Can a Texas county charge oil companies a permit fee for new driveways onto county roads?
Howard County asked whether its commissioners court could make oil and gas operators get a permit, and pay a fee, before building a new access point connecting a private road to a county road, to offs…
Can a private company pay a Texas county to fix specific roads?
A county auditor asked two questions about letting a private company fund repairs to specific county roads, where the construction company bills the county, the county passes the bill to the company, …
Can a Texas commissioners court change the weekday it holds its regular monthly meetings?
A county district attorney asked whether a commissioners court could change the day of the week it convenes for its regular monthly term during the current fiscal year, after it had already designated…
Can a Texas district attorney keep a commission on bond forfeiture money?
A district attorney asked whether he could retain a commission on money his office collects in bond forfeiture cases under Government Code section 41.005, whether the commissioners court must approve …
Does a Texas sheriff need the commissioners court to approve the office policy manual?
A county attorney asked whether a sheriff must submit the sheriff's office policy manual to the county commissioners court for approval or rejection. The Attorney General concluded that no statute aut…
Who sets a county court at law reporter's salary, the judge or the commissioners court?
The Attorney General concluded that setting an official court reporter's salary in the Van Zandt County Court at Law is a shared decision: the judge sets the salary and the commissioners court approve…
Can a Texas county vote early to appoint an emergency services district board member?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court may hold its vote to appoint a member of an emergency services district board on a date before January 1, even though the term itself b…
Can a county elections administrator also handle 9-1-1 addressing and redistricting work?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court may employ the same individual who serves as county elections administrator to also work as a 9-1-1 addressing agent and to help prepare redis…
Can a Texas constable work paid law enforcement for an HOA in another precinct?
The Attorney General concluded that a constable may not provide law enforcement services for a fee to a private property owners association in a precinct other than the one for which the constable was…
Who approves spending from a Texas district attorney's asset forfeiture fund?
The Attorney General concluded that a district attorney's asset forfeiture spending may proceed once it is approved by a regional review committee under Government Code section 24.377, even after the …
Who appoints successor directors to a Texas regional mobility authority board?
The county commissioners court. The Attorney General concluded that for a single-county regional mobility authority, the commissioners court that made the initial appointments is the 'appointing autho…
Can a Texas county auditor refuse to create budget lines for a commissioners court's emergency budget amendment?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a county auditor has no independent legal authority to refuse to create budget lines once the commissioners court adopts an emergency budget amendment. Only the…
When does the deadline start for a Texas county officer to file a salary grievance?
The Attorney General confirmed that two earlier opinions, GA-0051 (2003) and GA-0620 (2008), correctly read sections 152.013 and 152.016 of the Local Government Code: a commissioners court must notify…
Can a Texas county commissioners court set work hours and dock pay for employees of elected officials?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court in a populous county may set a 40-hour workweek by rule and likely may withhold partial salaries and benefits from employees who work l…
Browse Texas opinions by topic
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.