Can a Texas river authority ban open carry of handguns in its parks?

Plain-English summary

The president of the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority asked the AG whether the river authority could adopt a rule forbidding people from openly carrying handguns in the authority's parks, except for permitted hunting. The authority pointed to Parks and Wildlife Code section 25.004, which lets a district adopt "reasonable rules relating to the use, operation, management, administration, and policing of its water-related park areas," and to section 25.006(b), which says a district may exercise its chapter 25 powers "without regard to any provision, restriction, or limitation of any general or special law."

The AG concluded the answer was no. The 2015 Legislature's open-carry law, Penal Code section 30.07, makes it an offense for a license holder to openly carry a handgun onto another's property after notice that entry with the handgun is forbidden, but section 30.07(e) carves out government property: a governmental entity may forbid open carry only on premises that are also off-limits under Penal Code section 46.03 or 46.035. Park premises are not among the locations those two sections list. So a river authority, as a governmental entity, could not use the notice statute to bar open carry from its parks.

The AG then read the authority's chapter 25 powers narrowly. Chapter 25 grants only limited express powers and says nothing about regulating handguns. The "without regard to other laws" language in section 25.006(b), read in context with its companion clause about exercising powers "as an alternative to the powers of all other laws relating to the same subject," reaches only other laws that grant a district powers over chapter 25's subject matter, the conservation and development of water and water-related land. Penal Code section 30.07(e) is not that kind of law. The AG also reasoned that letting one section 59 district escape section 30.07(e) would, by the same logic, free every such district (water control districts, navigation districts, municipal utility districts, and many more) from the open-carry limit, a result the Legislature plainly did not intend when it wrote the broad term "governmental entity" with no exemption for these districts. The bottom line: chapter 25 of the Parks and Wildlife Code did not authorize a river authority to prohibit the open carry of handguns on its parklands.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2016. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG 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. Texas firearm-carry law in particular has changed since 2016 (for example, the 2021 permitless-carry law), so confirm the current Penal Code and Parks and Wildlife Code provisions before relying on these specifics.

What the opinion meant for those who asked

River authorities and other section 59 districts (as the opinion described it): The opinion told the requesting river authority that its chapter 25 rulemaking power over water-related parks did not extend to banning the open carry of handguns, and it framed that conclusion as applying to all districts created under article XVI, section 59, not just the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority.

Handgun license holders (as the opinion described it): The opinion treated a river authority's parkland as a place where Penal Code section 30.07(e) protects a license holder's ability to openly carry, because parkland is not one of the section 46.03 or 46.035 premises a governmental entity may post against open carry.

The Legislature's design (as the opinion described it): The opinion read the broad term "governmental entity" in section 30.07(e), and the absence of any exemption for section 59 districts, as a deliberate choice that a district's general park-management powers could not override.

Common questions

Could the river authority ban open carry in its parks?
No. The AG concluded that chapter 25 of the Parks and Wildlife Code did not give a river authority power to prohibit the open carry of handguns on its parklands.

Why did the authority think it could?
It pointed to Parks and Wildlife Code section 25.004, which lets a district make rules for the "use, operation, management, administration, and policing" of its water-related parks, and to section 25.006(b), which lets a district act "without regard to any provision, restriction, or limitation of any general or special law."

What stopped that argument?
Penal Code section 30.07(e). It lets a governmental entity forbid open carry only on premises that are also off-limits under Penal Code sections 46.03 and 46.035, and ordinary park premises are not on that list.

Did the "without regard to other laws" language in chapter 25 help?
No. The AG read that language, together with the clause about powers being "an alternative to the powers of all other laws relating to the same subject," as reaching only laws about chapter 25's subject (water and water-related land), not the open-carry limit in the Penal Code.

Did the opinion apply only to this one river authority?
No. The reasoning applied to all districts created under article XVI, section 59 of the Texas Constitution, a category the opinion noted includes water control districts, navigation districts, municipal utility districts, drainage districts, and many others.

Background and statutory framework

The Lavaca-Navidad River Authority is a conservation and reclamation district created under article XVI, section 59 of the Texas Constitution (Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 59). Parks and Wildlife Code section 25.004 lets such a district "adopt and enforce reasonable rules relating to the use, operation, management, administration, and policing of its water-related park areas as it considers appropriate," and section 25.006(b) lets a district "exercise the powers granted by this chapter without regard to any provision, restriction, or limitation of any general or special law" (Tex. Parks & Wild. Code §§ 25.004(1), 25.006(b); see id. § 25.002 (defining "district")). The authority argued that sections 25.004 and 25.006 let it ban open carry despite the 2015 amendments limiting restrictions on a license holder's right to openly carry (Tex. Penal Code §§ 30.05, 30.06, 30.07; Tex. Gov't Code § 411.209).

Penal Code section 30.07 creates the offense of trespass by a license holder openly carrying a handgun after notice that entry with the handgun is forbidden, but subsection (e) exempts property "owned or leased by a governmental entity" unless it is a premises where carrying is prohibited under Penal Code section 46.03 or 46.035 (Tex. Penal Code § 30.07(a), (e); see id. §§ 46.03, 46.035). Because park premises are not listed in sections 46.03 and 46.035, a governmental entity may not forbid open carry there. The AG read chapter 25's express powers as limited (Tex. Parks & Wild. Code §§ 25.003-.006), found no provision authorizing handgun regulation, and construed the "alternative to other laws" language in section 25.006(b) as confined to laws addressing chapter 25's water-resource subject (id. §§ 25.001-.006; cf. Tex. Water Code §§ 51.122, .127, 55.242 (other districts' rulemaking powers)).

Finally, the AG invoked the canon allowing courts to weigh the consequences of a construction (Tex. Gov't Code § 311.023(5)) and observed that exempting section 59 districts from section 30.07(e) would, taken to its logical end, free every such district from the open-carry limit. Because the Legislature used the broad term "governmental entity" in section 30.07(e) with no carve-out for section 59 districts, the AG concluded a court would not read section 25.004 so broadly (see Tex. Agric. Code §§ 78.001-.071 (noxious weed control districts, among the many section 59 districts the opinion listed)).

Citations

Constitutional and statutory provisions:

• Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 59 (conservation and reclamation districts)
• Tex. Parks & Wild. Code § 25.004(1) (district rules for water-related parks)
• Tex. Parks & Wild. Code § 25.006(b) (powers without regard to other laws)
• Tex. Parks & Wild. Code §§ 25.001-.006 (chapter 25 policy and powers)
• Tex. Parks & Wild. Code § 25.002 (definition of "district")
• Tex. Penal Code § 30.07(a), (e) (open-carry trespass and governmental-entity exception)
• Tex. Penal Code §§ 30.05, 30.06, 30.07 (criminal trespass and carry-notice offenses)
• Tex. Penal Code §§ 46.03, 46.035 (places weapons prohibited)
• Tex. Gov't Code § 411.209 (wrongful exclusion of handgun license holder)
• Tex. Gov't Code § 311.023(5) (statutory construction; consequences of construction)
• Tex. Water Code §§ 51.122, .127, 55.242 (other water districts' rulemaking)
• Tex. Agric. Code §§ 78.001-.071 (noxious weed control districts)

Cases:

• None cited.

Texas Attorney General opinions:

• Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. KP-0049 (2015)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/ken-paxton/kp-0089
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2016/kp0089.pdf

Original opinion text

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

KEN PAXTON
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

May 18, 2016

Mr. Ronald Kubecka Opinion No. KP-0089
President and Chair
Lavaca-Navidad River Authority Re: Whether river authorities may adopt
Post Office Box 429 regulations that prohibit the possession of
Edna, Texas 77957 firearms on river authority parklands
(RQ-0077-KP)

Dear Mr. Kubecka:

You ask whether a river authority may prohibit persons from openly carrying handguns on parklands of the river authority. [1] You tell us that the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority ("Authority") is "considering adopting a rule that would prevent persons from openly carrying handguns on the Authority's park premises unless specifically authorized for permitted hunting purposes." Request Letter at 1. You assert that such a rule would relate to the "use, operation, management, administration, and policing" of the Authority's water-related park areas and "is authorized by Texas Parks & Wildlife Code section 25.004." Id.

Section 25.004 of the Parks and Wildlife Code provides that "a district may adopt and enforce reasonable rules relating to the use, operation, management, administration, and policing of its water-related park areas as it considers appropriate." TEX. PARKS & WILD. CODE § 25.004(1); see also id. § 25.002 (defining "district" to mean a "district or authority created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Constitution of Texas"); see also Act of May 30, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 1224, § 1, 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 3470, 3470-74 (providing, as one of the many acts compiled as article 8280-131 of Vernon's Texas Annotated Civil Statutes, that the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority is created as a conservation and reclamation district under the authority of article XVI, section 59). Chapter 25 also provides that "[a] district may exercise the powers granted by this chapter without regard to any provision, restriction, or limitation of any general or special law or specific act." TEX. PARKS & WILD. CODE § 25.006(b). You aver that sections 25.004 and 25.006 authorize a river authority to adopt a rule prohibiting openly carried handguns despite the recent amendments to the Penal Code and Government Code limiting the restrictions that can be placed on a licensed person's right to openly carry a handgun. See Request Letter at 2 (referring to Penal Code sections 30.05, 30.06, and 30.07, and Government Code section 411.209).

Section 30.07 of the Penal Code creates the offense of trespass by a license holder with an openly carried handgun. See TEX. PENAL CODE § 30.07(a). It prohibits a license holder from openly carrying a handgun on property of another without consent after receiving notice that entry onto the property with the handgun was forbidden. See id. § 30.07(a)(1)-(2). An exception to the application of section 30.07 is "that the property ... is owned or leased by a governmental entity and is not a premises or other place on which the license holder is prohibited from carrying the handgun under Section 46.03 or 46.035" of the Penal Code. Id. § 30.07(e). Thus, a governmental entity such as a river authority may prohibit openly carried handguns from only its premises that are locations specified in sections 46.03 and 46.035. And park premises of a river authority are not listed in sections 46.03 and 46.035 as premises from which a governmental entity may prohibit openly carried handguns. See generally id. §§ 46.03, .035. Accordingly, we must determine whether the broad authority granted by Parks and Wildlife Code sections 25.004 and 25.006 permits a river authority to prohibit openly carried handguns when a river authority is precluded from enacting such a prohibition by Penal Code subsection 30.07(e).

By its plain language, subsection 25.006(b) refers to "powers granted by this chapter." TEX. PARKS & WILD. CODE § 25.006(b). Chapter 25 grants limited express powers. See id. §§ 25.003-.006. Chapter 25 contains no provision specifically authorizing a district to regulate handguns. See id. §§ 25.001-.006. As you point out, section 25.004 authorizes a district to adopt and enforce rules "relating to the use, operation, management, administration, and policing of its water-related park areas as it considers appropriate." Id. § 25.004. You argue that a rule prohibiting the open carrying of handguns relates to "the use, operation, management, administration, and policing of the [District's] water-related park areas." Request Letter at 1. Yet, such a rule would be contrary to Penal Code subsection 30.07(e). See TEX. PENAL CODE § 30.07(e). When subsection 25.006(b) is read in context, the additional language-"and may exercise the powers granted by this chapter as an alternative to the powers of all other laws relating to the same subject"-indicates that the scope of subsection 25.006(b) is limited to only other laws that grant powers to a district related to the specific subjects addressed in chapter 25, such as governing the conservation and development of water resources and water-related land resources. See TEX. PARKS & WILD. CODE § 25.001 ("The policy of the legislature and the intent of this chapter are to encourage the conservation and development of water in the state and water-related land areas for public recreation."). Penal Code subsection 30.07(e) is not an alternative grant of power to a district that relates to the same subject in the same vein as other provisions granting power to districts. Cf. TEX. WATER CODE §§ 51.122, .127 (providing for a water control and improvement district's authority to adopt rules), 55.242 (authorizing water improvement district to adopt rules). A court would likely determine that section 25.004 does not authorize an article XVI, section 59 district to disregard the general limitations on a governmental entity imposed by the Legislature related to a subject matter not addressed in chapter 25.

Moreover, a conclusion that section 25.004 authorizes a river authority to prohibit openly carried handguns despite Penal Code subsection 30.07(e) appears contrary to the clear intent of the Legislature. See TEX. GOV'T CODE § 311.023(5) (authorizing, in the construction of statutes, consideration of the "consequences of a particular construction"). Chapter 25 applies to all districts created under article XVI, section 59. See TEX. PARKS & WILD. CODE § 25.002 (defining "district" to mean a "district or authority created under Article XVI, Section 59, of the Constitution of Texas"). In addition to those created by special law, [2] districts created under article XVI, section 59 are numerous and can include: noxious weed control districts, [3] water control and improvement districts, [4] fresh water supply districts, [5] navigation districts, [6] municipal utility districts, [7] water improvement districts, [8] drainage districts, [9] levee improvement districts, [10] irrigation districts, [11] and stormwater control districts. [12] A conclusion that all such special districts are not bound by the prohibition in Penal Code subsection 30.07(e) taken to its logical conclusion means that all such districts may deal with their parklands unbound by any other provision of the Penal Code. In Penal Code subsection 30.07(e), the Legislature expressed its intent that any governmental entity is precluded from prohibiting the open carry of handguns where such handguns are lawfully permitted. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. KP-0049 (2015) at 3-4 (discussing Legislature's intent in enacting similar statute, Penal Code 30.06(e)). Penal Code subsection 30.07(e) contains no exemptions for article XVI, section 59 districts. If the Legislature had intended all article XVI, section 59 districts to be excluded from subsection 30.07(e), it would have used language more limited than "governmental entity." Accordingly, a court would likely not give section 25.004 such a broad construction in derogation of the Legislature's intent.

For these reasons, chapter 25 of the Parks and Wildlife Code does not authorize a river authority to adopt regulations that prohibit the open carry of handguns on river authority parklands.

[1] See Letter from Mr. Ronald Kubecka, President & Chair, Lavaca-Navidad River Auth., to Honorable Ken Paxton, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 1 (Nov. 18, 2015), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs ("Request Letter").

[2] See, e.g., Act of May 30, 1993, 73d Leg., R.S., ch. 626, 1993 Tex. Gen. Laws 2350, 2350-72; as amended by Act of May 16, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 524, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 3280, 3280; Act of May 29, 1995, 74th Leg., R.S., ch. 261, 1995 Tex. Gen. Laws 2505, 2505-17; Act of May 6, 1999, 76th Leg., R.S., ch. 163, 1999 Tex. Gen. Laws 634, 634-35; Act of May 25, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 1192, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 2696, 2696-97; Act of May 27, 2001, 77th Leg., R.S., ch. 966, §§ 2.60-.62, 6.01-.05, 2001 Tex. Gen. Laws 1991, 2021-22, 2075-76; Act of June 1, 2003, 78th Leg., R.S., ch. 1112, § 6.01(4), 2003 Tex. Gen. Laws 3188, 3193; Act of May 23, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 510, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 900, 900; Act of May 28, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 1351, §§ 2.01-.12, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 4612, 4627-34; Act of May 28, 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., ch. 1430, §§ 12.01-.12, 2007 Tex. Gen. Laws 5848, 5901-09 (the Edwards Aquifer Authority).

[3] See generally TEX. AGRIC. CODE §§ 78.001-.071.

[4] See generally TEX. WATER CODE §§ 51.001-.875.

[5] See generally id. §§ 53.001-.190.

[6] See generally id. §§ 60.001-.564, 62.001-.318 (Article XVI, Section 59, Navigation Districts), 63.001-.379 (self-liquidating navigation districts).

[7] See generally id. §§ 54.001-.813.

[8] See generally id. §§ 55.001-.805.

[9] See generally id. §§ 56.001-.810.

[10] See generally id. §§ 57.001-.346.

[11] See generally id. §§ 58.001-.836.

[12] See generally id. §§ 66.001-.404.

SUMMARY

Chapter 25 of the Parks and Wildlife Code does not authorize a river authority to adopt regulations that prohibit the open carry of handguns on river authority parklands.

Very truly yours,

KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas

JEFFREY C. MATEER
First Assistant Attorney General

BRANTLEY STARR
Deputy First Assistant Attorney General

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER
Chair, Opinion Committee

CHARLOTTE M. HARPER
Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee