TEXAS ETHICS COMMISSION
The Texas Ethics Commission is authorized by Government Code, sec.571.091, to 
issue advisory opinions in regard to the following statutes: the Government 
Code, Chapter 302; the Government Code, Chapter 305; the Government Code, 
Chapter 572; the Election Code, Title 15; the Penal Code, Chapter 36; and the 
Penal Code, Chapter 39.
Requests for copies of the full text of opinions or questions on particular 
submissions should be addressed to the Office of the Texas Ethics Commission, 
P.O. Box 12070, Austin, Texas 78711-2070, (512) 463-5800.

Texas Ethics Commission
Advisory Opinions Request
AOR--377. The Texas Ethics Commission has been asked about the period during 
which a judicial candidate may accept contributions if the candidate is seeking 
to fill a vacancy and does not yet know what names will be on the ballot in 
November.
AOR-378. The Texas Ethics Commission has been asked to consider the following 
questions about the application of title 15 of the Election Code to an 
incorporated association: May the association allow state candidates or their 
representatives to address the association's "restricted class" at association 
meetings, conventions and other functions? May the speaker request contributions 
to his campaign? Must every state candidate for a particular office be invited? 
May the association set up a "phone bank" to urge its restricted class to vote 
for particular candidates or conduct a partisan get-out-the-vote drive aimed at 
its restricted class? May the association announce PAC endorsements through a 
press release through its regular press contacts?
AOR--379. The Texas Ethics Commission has been asked whether Ethics Advisory 
Opinion Number 185 (1994) stands for the proposition that the contingent fee 
prohibition in the Government Code, sec.305.022 which does not apply to fees for 
communications to influence purchasing decisions, regardless of whether the fee 
is paid to a regular employee of a vendor or to an independent contractor.
AOR--380. The Texas Ethics Commission has been asked to consider several 
questions about the application of the Judicial Campaign Fairness Act to 
political contributions by a law firm. 
Issued in Austin, Texas, on August 14, 1996.
TRD-9611863
Tom Harrison
Executive Director
Texas Ethics Commission
Filed: August 14, 1996