What is the value limit on a house given away as a prize in a Texas charity raffle?

Plain-English summary

Texas lets certain qualified organizations, like churches, volunteer fire departments, volunteer emergency medical services, and charities, hold raffles under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act. The Act caps how valuable a prize can be. For a house offered as a raffle prize, the cap is $250,000 when the organization provides any consideration for the prize. A state representative asked the Attorney General how that cap works when the prize is a house that has not been built yet: is the cap measured by what the organization spends to build it, and does it count donated materials and labor along with purchased ones?

The Attorney General gave a clean answer. The $250,000 cap is the $250,000 cap. It does not slide up or down depending on how much of the house was donated versus purchased, or on who donated or bought the materials, labor, land, or services. The statute simply does not contain any language that would adjust the cap based on the mix of donated and purchased components, and a prior opinion, JC-0046, does not suggest otherwise. Courts presume that words left out of a statute were left out on purpose, so the absence of any such adjustment language matters.

In short, if a qualified organization provides any consideration for a house offered as a raffle prize, the value of that house may not exceed $250,000, full stop.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2011. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later Attorney General opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

Qualified organizations running raffles (as the opinion held for them): The opinion told them that when the organization provides any consideration for a house offered as a raffle prize, the value of that house may not exceed $250,000, no matter how the house is built or paid for.

On donated versus purchased components (what the opinion clarified): Under the opinion, the cap does not vary with the amount of donated or purchased items, or who donated or bought them; the dollar limit set by the Act applies whenever the organization gives any consideration for the prize.

On the role of JC-0046 (what the opinion described): The opinion explained that the prior opinion JC-0046 recognized a prize may exceed the cap only if the organization gives no consideration for it, and that JC-0046 contains nothing suggesting the cap changes with the donated-versus-purchased mix.

Common questions

What is the most a house can be worth if it is given away in a Texas charity raffle?
The opinion concluded the cap is $250,000 when the qualified organization provides any consideration for the prize.

Does it matter if most of the house was donated rather than purchased?
No. The opinion concluded the cap does not vary based on the amount of donated or purchased items, or on who donated or bought them.

What if the organization gives nothing of value for the prize?
The opinion noted, citing JC-0046, that a prize may exceed the Act's cap only if the organization gives no consideration for it.

Background and statutory framework

The Charitable Raffle Enabling Act governs raffles by qualified organizations. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 2002.001, .056 (West 2004 & Supp. 2010). The term "organization" refers to a qualified organization such as a church, volunteer fire department, volunteer emergency medical service, or charity. Id. § 2002.002(2) (West 2004). The Act provides that the value of a residential dwelling offered or awarded as a prize at a raffle that is purchased by an organization, or for which an organization provides any consideration, may not exceed $250,000. Id. § 2002.056(b-1) (West Supp. 2010).

A prior opinion, JC-0046, concluded that a raffle prize may exceed the Act's cap if the organization gives no consideration for the prize, but contains no language suggesting the cap varies with the amount of donated or purchased items used to construct a dwelling. The Act contains no such language either. Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 2002.056 (West Supp. 2010). Courts presume every word excluded from a statute was excluded for a purpose. Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535, 540 (Tex. 1981). So the cap on the value of a residential dwelling offered as a prize at a raffle for which an organization provides any consideration is $250,000, regardless of the amount of donated and purchased items, or who donated or purchased them, used to construct the dwelling. Id. § 2002.056(b)-(b-1) (West Supp. 2010).

Citations

Statutes:

• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. §§ 2002.001, .056 (West 2004 & Supp. 2010)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 2002.056(b-1) (West Supp. 2010)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 2002.002(2) (West 2004)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 2002.056 (West Supp. 2010)
• Tex. Occ. Code Ann. § 2002.056(b)-(b-1) (West Supp. 2010)

Cases:

• Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535, 540 (Tex. 1981)

AG opinions referenced:

• Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0046 (1999)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/greg-abbott/ga-0837
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2011/ga0837.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from the official PDF. Minor extraction artifacts were corrected; the linked PDF is authoritative.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT

January 25, 2011

The Honorable Burt R. Solomons Opinion No. GA-0837
Chair, Committee on State Affairs
Texas House of Representatives Re: Valuation of a residential dwelling offered as
Post Office Box 2910 a prize at a charitable raffle (RQ-0905-GA)
Austin, Texas 78768-2910

Dear Representative Solomons:

You ask two questions about Occupations Code section 2002.056, a provision of the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act (the "Act"). TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. §§ 2002.001, .056 (West 2004 & Supp. 2010).[1] The Act requires that the "value of a residential dwelling offered or awarded as a prize at a raffle that is purchased by [an] organization or for which [an] organization provides any consideration may not exceed $250,000." Id. § 2002.056(b-1) (West Supp. 2010).[2] You also discuss JC-0046, an attorney general opinion concluding that a prize offered or awarded at a raffle may exceed the Act's cap if an organization gives no consideration for the prize. Request Letter at 2; Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0046 (1999) at 2, 5. Accordingly, you ask:

1) In light of JC-0046, is the cap under [the Act] on the value of a residential dwelling which is not yet constructed, the amount which [the] ... organization spends to build such a house?

2) In light of JC-0046, is the cap under [the Act] on the value of a residential dwelling, which is not yet constructed, the total amount of donated and purchased materials, labor, land, and services or is it solely applicable to the amount purchased by the ... organization?

Request Letter at 3. Because both questions require the same analysis, we answer them together.

JC-0046 contains no language suggesting that the cap varies according to the amount of donated or purchased items used to construct a residential dwelling. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0046 (1999) at 1-5. The Act contains no such language, either. TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 2002.056 (West Supp. 2010). Thus, the cap does not vary according to the amount of donated or purchased items used to construct a residential dwelling. See Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535, 540 (Tex. 1981) (explaining that courts presume that "every word excluded from a statute [was] ... excluded for a purpose"). Instead, as JC-0046 notes, the Act states that if an organization gives any consideration for a prize, the cap is the dollar amount that the Act specifies.[3] TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 2002.056(b)-(b-1) (West Supp. 2010); Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0046 (1999) at 2, 5. Therefore, the cap on the value of a residential dwelling offered or awarded as a prize at a raffle for which an organization provides any consideration is $250,000, regardless of the amount of the donated and purchased items, or who donated or purchased the items, used to construct the dwelling. TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 2002.056(b-1) (West Supp. 2010). See also Cameron, 618 S.W.2d at 540 (explaining that courts presume that every word included in a statute was included "for a purpose").

SUMMARY

Under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, the cap on the value of a residential dwelling offered or awarded as a prize at a raffle for which a qualified organization provides any consideration is $250,000, regardless of the amount of the donated and purchased items, or who donated or purchased the items, used to construct the dwelling.

Very truly yours,

DANIEL T. HODGE
First Assistant Attorney General

DAVID J. SCHENCK
Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

NANCY S. FULLER
Chair, Opinion Committee

Jason Boatright
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee

[1] Request Letter at 1-3 (available at http://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov).

[2] The term "organization" in the Act refers to a "qualified organization" like a church, volunteer fire department, volunteer emergency medical service, or charity. TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. § 2002.002(2) (West 2004).

[3] Until 2005, section 2002.056 limited the value of a raffle prize to $50,000. Act of May 13, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 388, § 1, sec. 2002.056, 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 1431, 2362, amended by Act of May 27, 2005, 79th Leg., R.S., ch. 929, § 5, 2005 Tex. Gen. Laws 3174, 3175. The Act did not provide a $250,000 cap on the value of a "residential dwelling" as it does today. Id.