ATTORNEY GENERAL
Under provisions set out in the Texas Constitution, the Texas Government Code, 
Title 4,  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 Opinion

LO-#97-057. Request from The Honorable Jerry
 Patterson, Chair, Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, Texas State
 Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, regarding the authority of a
 city to sell land dedicated as a park (ID# 39482).


SUMMARY. If a city owns, holds, or claims
 real property as a public park, the city must adhere to Local Government
 Code section 253.001 before conveying the property to a private individual.
 In addition, Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 26 requires a city to provide
 public notice and a hearing before "approv[ing] any program or project that
 requires the use or taking of any public land designated and used prior to
 the arrangement of the program or project as a park." Parks & Wild. Code
 26.001(a). If city real property is designated and used as a park, then the
 city must also comply with these requirements prior to selling it.


TRD-9707899


LO-#97-058. Request from Ms. Eliza
 May, Executive Director, Texas Funeral Service Commission, 510 South Congress
 Avenue, Suite 206, Austin, Texas 78704-1716, regarding whether a "complaint
 review committee" that the Texas Funeral Service Commission has created is
 a "governmental body" for purposes of the Open Meetings Act, Government Code
 chapter 551 (RQ-766, ID# 30186).


SUMMARY. A complaint review committee that
 the Texas Funeral Services Commission has created is a "governmental body"
 for purposes of the Open Meetings Act, Government Code chapter 551, when
 it functions as reviewer of the commission's investigations into alleged
 violations of article 4582b, V.T.C.S., because it performs in a supervisory
 capacity. Accordingly, the committee is subject to the Open Meetings Act,
 Government Code chapter 551, when it reviews investigations. On the other
 hand, when the complaint review committee functions as a participant in 
informal
 conferences relating to cases awaiting a hearing as described in V.T.C.S.
 article 4582b, section 6C, its role is purely advisory; it does not supervise
 or control public business. Accordingly, when it functions as a participant
 in informal conferences, the committee is not a governmental body for purposes
 of, and is not subject to, the Open Meetings Act.


TRD-9707897



Request for Opinions

RQ-941. Request from Mr. Larry Paul Manley,
 Executive Director, Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, P.O.
 Box 13941, Austin, Texas 78711-3941, regarding whether federal law preempts
 the provisions of article 5221f, V.T.C.S., relating to the intrastate 
transportation
 of manufactured housing.


RQ-942. Request from Mr. Mike Moses, Commissioner
 of Education, Texas Education Agency, 1701 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas
 78701-1494, Mr. Jack Christie D.C., Chair, State Board of Education, 1701
 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701-1494, regarding Authority of the State
 Board of Education with regard to establishing a curriculum for instruction
 in human sexuality.


RQ-943. Request from The Honorable Eugene
 D. Taylor, Williamson County Attorney, 405 Martin Luther King, Box 7, 
Courthouse
 Annex, Second Floor, Georgetown, Texas 78626, regarding whether the State
 of Texas is required to pay filing fees and other court costs prior to 
judgment:
 Reconsideration of Attorney General Opinion MW-447-A.


RQ-944. Request from Ms. Grace L. Davis,
 L.M.S.W.-A.C.P., Interim Executive Director, Council on Sex Offender Treatment,
 P.O. Box 12546, Austin, Texas 78711-2546, regarding Clarification of section
 261.101, Family Code, which requires all professionals to report suspected
 child abuse.


TRD-9707898