Opinion No. GA-0314

Mr. Raymund A. Paredes

Commissioner of Higher Education

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Post Office Box 12788

Austin, Texas 78711

Re: Whether a junior college district's statutorily defined service area is extended when the district provides services outside that area (RQ-0280-GA)

S U M M A R Y

A junior college district's statutorily defined service area is not extended when it provides services outside that area. The fact that the Alvin Community College District provides services in prison units outside its Education Code section 130.163 service area does not extend its service area to include those locations.

Opinion No. GA-0315

The Honorable Robert E. Talton

Chair, Committee on Urban Affairs

Texas House of Representatives

Post Office Box 2910

Austin, Texas 78768-2910

Re: Whether a municipality that limits fees for police-initiated nonconsent tows must comply with Transportation Code section 643.204 (RQ-0281-GA)

S U M M A R Y

Transportation Code section 643.204 requires a municipality that regulates nonconsent tow fees to establish a procedure by which a towing company may request that a towing fee study be performed. The City of Victoria, Code of Ordinances section 23-75 limits the maximum fee that a towing company can assess for police-initiated nonconsent tows. The City of Victoria's ordinance does not appear to regulate nonconsent tow fees. The ordinance is designed to create efficiencies for the city, and its narrow scope, which controls only a portion of the nonconsent tow market, defeats the inference that its primary goal is to encourage a general policy rather than address a specific proprietary problem. Thus, Victoria is not impermissibly ignoring Transportation Code section 643.204.

For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.

TRD-200501445

Nancy S. Fuller

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: April 6, 2005