ATTORNEY GENERAL
Under provisions set out in the Texas Constitution, the Texas Government Code, 
Title 4, sec.402.042 and numerous statutes, the attorney general is authorized 
to write advisory opinions for state and local officials. These advisory 
opinions are requested by agencies or officials when they are confronted with 
unique or unusually difficult legal questions. The attorney general also 
determines, under authority of the Texas Open Records Act, whether information 
requested for release from governmental agencies may be held from public 
disclosure. Requests for opinions, opinions, and open record decisions are 
summarized for publication in the Texas Register. The Attorney General responds 
to many requests for opinions and open records decisions with letter opinions. A 
letter opinion has the same force and effect as a formal Attorney General 
Opinion, and represents the opinion of the Attorney General unless and until it 
is modified or overruled by a subsequent letter opinion, a formal Attorney 
General Opinion, or a decision of a court of record. To request copies of 
opinions, phone (512) 462-0011. To inquire about pending requests for opinions, 
phone (512) 463-2110.

Letter Opinions
LO-95-034 (ID-31560).
Request from Honorable Judith Zaffirini, Chair, Committee on Health and Human 
Services, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning 
whether a school district violates the law by installing a video surveillance 
camera in a student locker room or gymnasium to identify students who allegedly 
are stealing property.
Summary of Opinion.
We have found no statute that expressly states whether a school district may 
install a video surveillance camera in student locker rooms or gymnasiums to 
identify students who allegedly are stealing property. Whether such surveillance 
would constitute an illegal search in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the 
United States Constitution or an invasion of privacy under Texas law involves 
the investigation and resolution of fact questions.
TRD-9508426
LO-95-035 (RQ-707).
Request from Honorable John Sharp, Comptroller of Public Accounts, P.O. Box 
13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528, Mary A. Boyd, Executive Director, Advisory 
Commission on State Emergency Communications, 333 Guadalupe Street, Suite 2-212, 
Austin, Texas 78701-3942, concerning whether an appraisal district is authorized 
to maintain and provide location information for the provision of 9-1-1 service.
Summary of Opinion.
An appraisal district is authorized to maintain location information and to 
provide such information to another public agency for the purpose of providing 
9-1-1 service. The members of the governing body of an appraisal district are 
immune from liability for "any claim, damage, or loss arising from" the 
maintenance of location information and the provision of such information to 
another public agency for the purpose of providing 9-1-1 service "unless the Act 
or omission causing the claim, damage, or loss violates a statute or ordinance 
applicable to the action." Health and Safety Code, sec.77.053(b).
TRD-9508427
LO-95-036 (ID-31331).
Request from David R. Smith, M.D., Commissioner of Health, Texas Department of 
Health, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756-3199, concerning whether the 
Open Meetings Act, Government Code, Chapter 551, applies to an HIV health 
services planning council established pursuant to 42 United States Code, 
sec.300ff-12 or an HIV care consortium established pursuant to 42 United States 
Code, sec.300ff-22(a)(1).
Summary of Opinion.
An HIV health services council established pursuant to 42 United States Code, 
sec.300ff-12 is a governmental body for purposes of the Open Meetings Act, 
Government Code, Chapter 551, because it is "a deliberative body that has 
rulemaking . . . power and that is classified as a[n] . . . agency of a . . . 
municipality." An HIV care consortium established pursuant to 42 United States 
Code, sec.300ff-23 is not a governmental body for purposes of the Open Meetings 
Act.
TRD-9508428
LO-95-037 (ID-24070, 24071).
 Request from Dick Strader, Executive Director, Texas Cosmetology Commission, 
P.O. Box 26700, Austin, Texas 78755-0700,
concerning whether or not high school graduates or dropouts may re-enroll in a 
public high school for the sole purpose of taking a cosmetology program and 
related question.
Summary of Opinion.
The Texas Cosmetology Commission is not authorized to promulgate a regulation 
limiting training programs in public high schools to the operator course. Each 
public high school may choose to enroll high school graduates or dropouts in 
specialty programs, assuming such programs have been approved by the commission. 
A student seeking instructor's license must be a high school graduate or possess 
a General Equivalency Diploma equivalent prior to enrolling in an instructors 
program. Pursuant to Texas Civil Statutes, Article 8451a, sec.21(g)(1) and (2), 
refunds to students withdrawing from schools licensed by the commission must be 
computed on the basis of actual hours of course time completed.
TRD-9508429
LO-95-038 (ID-31172).
Request from Honorable Delma Rios, Kleberg County Attorney, P.O. Box 1411, 
Kingsville, Texas 78364, concerning whether, under Local Government Code, 
sec.152.031, the district judge auditor may include in the county auditor's 
salary a set car allowance.
Summary of Opinion.
Section 152.031(a) of the Local Government Code, which requires the district 
judges auditor to set "the auditor's annual salary as compensation for services 
and the auditor's travel expenses and other allowances," authorizes the district 
judges to include in the auditor's annual salary any kind of payment, including 
a car allowance, designed to reimburse the auditor for the money he or she 
expends on travel in an official capacity. The amount of the allowance must be 
tied to the amount the auditor actually expends on official county business, 
however.
TRD-9508430
LO-95-039 (ID-33673).
Request from Barbara J. Childress, Chair, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, 
Officer Standards and Education, 1033 La Posada, Suite 240, Austin, Texas 78752, 
concerning the Texas Peace Officers' Memorial Advisory Committee to the Texas 
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education continue to serve 
until replaced or reappointed.
Summary of Opinion.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Texas Constitution, members of the Texas Peace 
Officers' Memorial Advisory Committee to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement 
Officer Standards and Education continue to serve after the expiration of their 
terms until they are either replaced or reappointed.
TRD-9508431
LO-95-040 (ID-31981).
Request from Brenda F. Arnett, Executive Director, Texas Department of Commerce, 
P.O. Box 12728, Austin, Texas 78711-2728, concerning whether a member of the 
board of directors of a statewide certified development corporation created by 
the Department of Commerce pursuant to the Government Code, sec.481.077 is 
immune from personal liability by virtue of the Government Code, sec.481.051.
Summary of Opinion.
Government Code, sec.481.051 does not exempt a member of the board of directors 
of a statewide certified development corporation created pursuant to the 
Government Code, sec.481.077 from personal liability for acts performed pursuant 
to sec.481.077.
TRD-9508432
LO-95-041 (ID-30361).
Request from Honorable Sonya Letson, County Attorney, Potter County, 303 
Courthouse, Amarillo, Texas 79101, concerning whether the Health and Safety 
Code, sec.161.091 prohibits a physician from investing in, and referring 
patients to, a business entity that offers certain health care services.
Summary of Opinion.
An investment arrangement that satisfies certain federal regulations may be 
exempt from the prohibition set forth in the Health and Safety Code, 
sec.161.091. We have not been provided with sufficient information to determine 
whether the particular arrangement at issue satisfies the federal criteria.
TRD-9508433
LO-95-042 (ID-19392).
Request from A. L. Mangham, Chair, Texas Racing Commission, P.O. Box 12080, 
Austin, Texas 78711-2080, concerning whether, under the Texas Racing Act, Texas 
Civil Statutes, Article 179e, a racetrack may pay to a horse owners' 
organization a percentage of the total gross monies allocated from the betting 
handle to the purse and related questions.
Summary of Opinion.
Texas Racing Act (the "act"), Texas Civil Statutes, Article 179e, sec.6.08(l), 
authorizes a racetrack to pay to a horse owners' organization a percentage of 
the total gross monies allocated from the betting handle to the purse, but only 
if the horse owner who is to receive the purse has chosen to have money deducted 
from his or her account and paid to the Texas Horsemen's Benevolent and 
Protective Association (the "THBPA"). Additionally, nothing in the act prohibits 
a racetrack from contracting to pay the THBPA all interest from the accounts 
containing the portion of the wagering revenue that sec.6.08(b) of the act 
dedicates to the purse. Section 6.08(l) of the act forbids a racetrack from 
withholding any percentage of a purse paid to a horse owner for payments to an 
organization unless the organization is of the horse owner's choice. The term 
"choice" implies that a horse owner is entitled actively and  affirmatively to 
decide whether to have a percentage of his or her winnings withheld and given to 
a particular organization. A contractual provision providing that a horse owner 
may opt out of having a percentage of his or her winnings withheld and given to 
the THBPA violates sec.6.08(l). Section 6.08(l) also prohibits a racetrack from 
executing a contract under which a horse owner who chooses to abstain from 
participation in the THBPA is not reimbursed for the total amount of money 
withheld from the purse. To the extent that the THBPA contract authorizes the 
withholding of money from a horse owner without the horse owner's consent, the 
contract contravenes the act, sec.6.08(l). Whether the presence of the unlawful 
provisions invalidates the entire contract is a matter of contractual 
construction.
TRD-9508434
LO-95-043 (ID-25361).
Request from Robert W. Gee, Chair, Public Utility Commission of Texas, 7800 
Shoal Creek Boulevard, Austin, Texas 78757, concerning whether provisions of the 
Texas Open Records Act, Government Code, Chapter 552, prohibit the Public 
Utility Commission from publishing a report to the legislature on the scope of 
competition in the telecommunication market.
Summary of Opinion.
The Public Utility Commission may publicly disclose a report regarding the scope 
of competition in the telecommunication market without implicating the 
proprietary interests of the entities that were required to provide the 
information on which the report is based. The commission may do so as long as it 
avoids explicitly or implicitly identifying any of the responding utilities.
TRD-9508435

Opinions
DM-349 (RQ-683).
Request from Victor Rodriguez, Chair, Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, P.O. 
Box 599, Huntsville, Texas 77342, concerning whether a person who has 
successfully completed deferred adjudication community supervision and who has 
been discharged after dismissal of charges pursuant to the Code of Criminal 
Procedure, Article 42.12, sec.5(c), is eligible to apply to the Board of Pardons 
and Paroles for a pardon.
Summary of Opinion.
A person who has successfully completed deferred adjudication community 
supervision and who has been discharged after dismissal of charges pursuant to 
the Code of Criminal Procedure, Article 42.12, sec.5(c), is not eligible to 
apply to the Board of Pardons and Paroles for a pardon for the crime of which 
the person was found guilty, for such a person has no legal disabilities or 
disqualifications resulting from the deferred adjudication that are subject to 
remission by pardon.
TRD-9508421
DM-350 (RQ-744, 754).
 Request from Mike Moses, Ph.D., Commissioner of Education, Texas Education 
Agency, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701-1494, and Honorable John 
W. Segrest, Criminal District Attorney, McLennan County, 209 North Sixth Street, 
Suite 200, Waco, Texas 76701, concerning whether purchases made by a local 
government through the state catalogue purchasing procedure established by 
Article 601b, sec.3.081, must be competitively bid.
Summary of Opinion.
A local government that participates in the cooperative purchasing program 
established under the Local Government Code, sec.271.082 and sec.271.083 
satisfies otherwise applicable competitive bidding requirements when it makes a 
purchase through the catalogue purchasing procedure established by Texas Civil 
Statutes, Article 601b, sec.3.081.
TRD-9508422
DM-351 (RQ-785).
Request from Honorable David Sibley, Chair, Economic Development Committee, 
Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether 
legislation changing two of thirty-one senatorial districts constitutes an 
"apportionment" under the Texas Constitution, Article III, sec.3.
Summary of Opinion.
The passage of legislation changing two senatorial districts would constitute an 
apportionment under the Texas Constitution, Article III, sec.3, requiring the 
election of a new senate.
TRD-9580423
DM-352 (RQ-702).
Request from Honorable Paul Sadler, Chair, Committee on Public Education, Texas 
House of Representatives, P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910, concerning 
application to leased paging devices of Education Code, sec.21.309, requiring 
forfeiture of paging devices possessed by student on school property or at 
school activities, and related questions.
Summary of Opinion.
Application to leased paging devices of the provisions of Education Code, 
sec.21.309, requiring the forfeiture to a school district of paging devices 
possessed by a student on school property or at school activities would not be 
per se unconstitutional where notice and opportunity for hearing are given to 
affected parties. Where the district desires to dispose of forfeited devices, it 
is advised that, in order to comply with the restrictions of the State 
Constitution, Article III, sec.52, it must first attempt to sell them through 
bidding or other means calculated to obtain a reasonable quid pro quo.
TRD-9508424
DM-353 (RQ-731).
Request from Don Gilbert, Commissioner, Texas Department of Mental Health, and 
Mental Retardation, P.O. Box 12668, Austin, Texas 78711-2668, concerning effect 
of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act on the confidentiality of client 
records of the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
Summary of Opinion.
The federal Brady Act, in directing certain law enforcement officers to research 
"available" records in order to determine lawfulness of a person's obtaining a 
handgun, does not require or authorize the Department of Mental Health and 
Mental Retardation to disclose client records which are otherwise confidential 
and unavailable to such officers under state law. This opinion does not address 
which particular records are or are not available to such officers under state 
law.
TRD-9508425

Requests for Opinions
(RQ-814-820). Request from Tracy R. Briggs, Assistant City Attorney, City of 
Houston, P.O. Box 1562, Houston, Texas 77251-1562, concerning whether 
arbitration proceedings before a municipal civil service commission constitutes 
"litigation" for purposes of the Open Records Act, Government Code, Chapter 552, 
and related questions.
TRD-9808420