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 city spend hotel occupancy tax money on a public space at an apartment complex?
Probably not, as described. A state representative asked whether a city could pay hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenue to fund a 'public space' and clubhouse inside an apartment complex, meant to display…
Can a Texas county pay an invoice on an amended contract for work that was done before the amendment?
The AG gave general advice rather than ruling on the specific invoice, which he called a fact question for the commissioners court. Paying an amount the county already owed under the original contract…
Can a Texas county sheriff donate asset-forfeiture money to a nonprofit that helps provide mental health and victim services?
Likely yes, the AG concluded, with conditions. The Schleicher County Attorney asked whether the sheriff could donate forfeiture funds under Code of Criminal Procedure article 59.06 to a nonprofit that…
Can a Texas county waive or refund property tax penalties and interest if the county caused the late payment?
It depends on whether the county actually mailed the tax bills, the AG advised. A Hood County attorney asked whether the county could give relief to taxpayers for penalties and interest on delinquent …
Are payments a Texas county gets from hosting a waste disposal facility public funds it must oversee?
Yes, they are public funds, and the county cannot hand them off without keeping oversight, the AG advised. Andrews County receives five percent of the gross receipts from a compact (low-level radioact…
Can a Texas county education department set up a relief fund to give grants to local school districts after a hurricane?
The AG concluded it can, with conditions. The Harris County Department of Education may use its public funds, including property tax revenue, to create a Hurricane Harvey relief fund that grants money…
Can a Texas school district put public money into a scholarship program that pays for its graduates to attend a community college?
The AG concluded it can, if two conditions are met. The Education Code lets an independent school district spend its funds on purposes its trustees find necessary or conducive to running the public sc…
Can a Texas prosecutor use civil asset forfeiture money to buy insurance on a forfeited house while the case is on appeal?
The AG concluded that a court would likely say yes. A district attorney holding civil asset forfeiture funds under article 59.06(c)(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure may use those funds to buy prop…
Can a small Texas city let the chamber of commerce use city workers and equipment for community events?
The AG concluded it can, but only if the city council makes the right findings first. The Texas Constitution's gift clause bars giving away public money or resources for a private purpose. A city may …
Are funds a Texas state agency inherits from a dissolved state program 'public funds'?
The AG concluded a court would likely say yes. When the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool was abolished, the Legislature sent $5 million of its money to the Texas Health Services Authority to use for a…
Can a Texas county pay a nonprofit to display American flags on holidays?
Upshur County's auditor asked the AG whether it was a legal use of public funds for the county to take part in a Rotary Club flag project, in which area businesses pay to have American flags placed in…
Can a Texas school board pay a law firm a flat fee for legal services without it being an illegal gift of public funds?
The Commissioner of Education asked the AG whether an independent school district board could lawfully pay a law firm a minimum flat fee for legal services regardless of hours worked, and whether such…
Can a Texas community college pay a board member's legal bills for fighting a challenge to his eligibility?
The AG concluded that a community college may reimburse a trustee's personal attorney's fees for defending a quo warranto challenge to his right to hold office only if the college finds, in good faith…
Can a Texas county pay a commissioner's legal bills after he's acquitted of criminal charges?
The AG concluded that nothing requires a county to pay a county official's criminal-defense costs, but the common law gives the commissioners court discretion to reimburse them. Because the Brown Coun…
When a Texas town dissolves, can its leftover money and property go to a local nonprofit?
The AG concluded that the former officials who wind down an abolished general-law city may transfer its leftover assets to a local nonprofit corporation, and a court is unlikely to second-guess that, …
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 public funds investment pool create a subsidiary to invest public money?
The AG concluded the Public Funds Investment Act does not prohibit it. An investment pool may create and invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary if the pool's governing body decides that is reasonably nec…
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…
Is a hospital district's charitable affiliate a 'political subdivision' in Texas?
The AG could not give a definitive answer. A charitable organization created by a hospital district under section 281.0565 of the Health and Safety Code (here, the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovat…
Can a Texas district attorney use asset forfeiture funds to buy a building and lease or sell it to the county?
Probably not. The AG concluded that a court would be unlikely to find it an 'official purpose' of a district attorney's office to use asset forfeiture funds under Code of Criminal Procedure article 59…
Can a Texas county probation department pay its bills without the county auditor signing off?
The Cherokee County Attorney asked whether the county's Community Supervision and Corrections Department (the local probation department) could adopt an accounting procedure paying its bills on the Co…
Can a Texas school district pay an administrator's legal bills to sue someone for defamation?
No. The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district may not pay or reimburse the legal expenses of an administrator who files a private defamation lawsuit that advances the administ…
Could a Texas school district use district funds to pay a city red-light-camera civil penalty on a district-owned vehicle?
Yes, if the district was legally liable for the penalty. If it was not liable, payment could violate the Texas Constitution unless the district found its own public purpose, a clear public benefit, an…
Is the Texas Association of Appraisal Districts subject to the open records law?
It depends on the facts, the Attorney General explained, and the opinion declined to decide it. Under the Public Information Act, a private organization is a 'governmental body' to the extent it spend…
Is a private nonprofit that gets public utility money subject to Texas open records law?
A legislator asked whether a private nonprofit economic development foundation that gets part of its funding from 'quasi-public' utilities (CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System) is subject to the T…
Can a Texas county pay the operating costs of a local water district?
The Mills County Attorney asked whether the county could fund the Fox Crossing Water District, which gets all of its operation and maintenance money from the county instead of levying its own taxes, f…
Can a Texas city loan public money to a private developer for a housing project?
Yes, if the project promotes economic development. The Attorney General concluded that article III, section 52-a of the Texas Constitution and Local Government Code section 380.001 let a city make a l…
Can a Texas city use assessment money to build a seawall on private property?
Not without first getting a legal interest in the land. The Attorney General concluded that a city cannot build and fund a seawall under the public improvement district assessment laws (Local Governme…
What can a Texas county attorney spend hot check fund money on?
The Attorney General concluded that money in a county attorney's hot check fund may be spent only to defray the salaries and expenses of the prosecutor's office, at the attorney's sole discretion, and…
Does a Texas hospital district have to run an emergency ambulance, and can it pay incentives to recruit a doctor?
The Attorney General concluded that a county hospital district is not legally required to run emergency ambulance service; ambulance service is a discretionary, ancillary function, so the Sabine Count…
Could the Port Arthur Economic Development Corporation pay a $300,000 grant and sales-tax refund promised to a private retailer?
No on the facts presented. The city could not bind or spend money for the separate development corporation, the proposed grant and sales-tax refund were not a project under former law, and the EDC boa…
Can a Texas county lease a building to a private museum for $1 and agree to pay the upkeep and utilities for decades?
Partly. The Attorney General concluded that Midland County had authority under chapter 319 of the Local Government Code to acquire property for a museum and to lease it to the private Museum of the So…
Can a Texas county maintain a road the public uses but that was never officially made public?
The Attorney General concluded a county may spend public funds to build, improve, or maintain only a "public road," and may not maintain a private road, except for the narrow constitutional exception …
What can a 9-1-1 emergency communication district in Texas legally spend its money on?
The Attorney General concluded that an emergency communication district can spend money on things beyond the specific items the statute lists as allowable operating expenses, because the law says allo…
Can a Texas county pay health insurance premiums for retirees who weren't promised that benefit when they retired?
The Attorney General concluded that a county may not start paying group-health-insurance premiums for retirees who were not promised that benefit when they retired, because under article III, section …
Who controls the money when a Texas county prosecutor waives part of their state salary supplement?
The Attorney General concluded that funds from a county prosecutor's partial waiver of annual compensation under Government Code chapter 46 are received by the county, not the prosecutor, and are subj…
Can a Texas economic development corporation use 4A sales tax money to fund a nonprofit's job-training or rehabilitation facility?
The Attorney General concluded a 4A development corporation may spend sales-tax proceeds on a rehabilitation and job-training facility only if its board of directors reasonably finds, on the facts, th…
Can a Texas county tax assessor-collector use escrow account interest to boost her own salary?
The Attorney General concluded that section 23.122 of the Tax Code does not forbid it, but the use is tightly conditioned. The tax assessor-collector must first determine that supplementing her salary…
Can a Texas city pay legal fees for council members prosecuted for Open Meetings Act violations?
The Attorney General concluded that a city council member is disqualified from voting on a resolution to pay his or her own legal fees, or the fees of another member indicted on the same facts for the…
Can a Texas licensing board outsource its scholarship program to a private nonprofit?
The Attorney General reached three conclusions. The legislative appropriation for the architectural-examination scholarship fund was backed by pre-existing law (section 7A of article 249a), so it did …
Can a Texas DA be sued or pay a merchant for failing to collect on a bad check?
The Attorney General concluded that a prosecutor's office could not be held civilly liable to a merchant for failing to prosecute, or for negligence in prosecuting, a bad-check collection. Collecting …
Can the Texas Legislature appropriate money to a state agency to give to a private out-of-state endowment?
The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature may not appropriate state funds to a state agency to transfer to a private, out-of-state endowment unless the appropriation meets several constituti…
Can a Texas county use taxpayer money to hire a lobbyist to influence the Legislature?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 305.026 of the Government Code authorizes a county to spend public funds to retain a registered lobbyist to communicate with legislators on the county'…
Does the state or the county have to pay a Texas district judge's legal bills when the judge is sued?
The Attorney General concluded that neither the state nor a county was required to reimburse a state district judge for the cost of defending a mandamus action. Section 74.141 of the Government Code e…
Does Texas prevailing-wage law apply to a project built by an economic development corporation?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code chapter 2258, the prevailing-wage law, applies only to workers employed on a public work by or on behalf of the state or a political subdivision. Be…
How quickly must a Texas district clerk deposit court fees with the county treasurer?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 113.022, which requires a county officer to deposit funds with the county treasurer within set deadlines, applies to court fees a dist…
Can police enforce traffic laws on private streets inside a Texas city?
The Attorney General concluded no. State and municipal traffic laws in Transportation Code title 7, subtitle C apply only on publicly maintained highways and streets, not on privately owned ways. Beca…
Can a Texas county pay an official's legal fees for fighting an election contest?
A county attorney asked whether Frio County could reimburse its sheriff for the attorney's fees he ran up defending an election contest after a close primary runoff. The Attorney General said no, and …
Can Texas force local governments into an assessment-funded insurance guaranty pool?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that no, the proposal as described would be unconstitutional. A legislative subcommittee wanted to create a guaranty association for the workers' compensation li…
Can a Texas school district use local tax money to hire a lobbyist?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that no, the source of the money makes no difference. Education Code section 21.939 barred a school district from employing anyone required to register as a lobb…
Can a Texas justice of the peace make employees pay for cash shortages?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that a justice of the peace is strictly liable to the county for the funds he actually collects and cannot offload that liability onto employees by contract or d…
Can Texas pay a finder's fee for tips that help recover permanent school fund property?
The Attorney General concluded that no, the state could not use the comptroller's contingency-fee contracts under section 403.0195 of the Government Code to pay for tips that helped recover property b…
Can a Texas school district set up a permanent endowment fund, and what money can it use?
The Attorney General gave a split answer. A school board may establish an endowment fund for educational purposes using money willed or donated for that purpose, under its statutory authority to recei…
Can the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority use bond proceeds to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for its administrative costs?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Authority's enabling statute directs the board to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for expenses required by the Authority's business, and the Texas Agric…
Can a Texas county pay back a private person's legal bills from a lawsuit?
The Attorney General concluded that article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution prohibits Morris County from reimbursing two private landowners for the attorneys' fees they ran up in a right-of-…
Can a county attorney defend a hospital district employee in a criminal case, and can the district pay the legal bills?
Mostly no. The Attorney General concluded that article 2.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure barred the Harris County Attorney from representing a Harris County Hospital District employee in a crimin…
Can Texas cities, counties, or school districts deposit their funds in savings and loan associations?
No. The Attorney General concluded that municipalities, counties, independent school districts, and state institutions of higher learning are not authorized to deposit funds in the demand accounts of …
Can a Texas commissioners court take the county treasurer out of the process of investing county funds?
Not entirely. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court cannot remove the county treasurer from investing county funds, because the treasurer is the chief custodian of county money and…
Who controls a Texas jail commissary contract, the money it makes, and its books?
The sheriff controls the contract, the money benefits inmates, and the county auditor can audit. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court has no authority over the terms of a jail c…
Can a Texas hospital district build a clinic to lease to private doctors and pay for it with bond funds?
It could build and lease the clinic, but not pay for it that way. The Attorney General concluded that the Val Verde Hospital District had express authority under its enabling statute to construct buil…
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.