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 Opinions

LO 97-108 (ID #3943). Request from the Honorable
 Randall W. Reynolds, District Attorney, 143rd Judicial District, P.O. Box
 150, Pecos, Texas 79772, concerning whether interest from federal inmate
 trust accounts in county jail housing federal inmates pursuant to contract
 with the federal government may be used for benefit of inmate population.

Summary A county jail housing federal prisoners
 under contract with the United States Bureau of Prisons may place interest
 from federal inmate trust accounts in a "Special Projects Account" used to
 fund programs for the benefit of the inmate population as a whole.


LO 97-109 (ID #39547). Request from the Honorable
 Charles D. Penick, Criminal District Attorney, Bastrop County 804 Pecan Street,
 Bastrop, Texas 78602, concerning whether a constable may purchase a police-
equipped
 vehicle for both personal use and official duties from a dealer that has
 contracted with the state to sell vehicles under the State Purchasing and
 General Services Act.


Summary Chapter 271, subchapter D of the
 Local Government Code requires the General Services Commission to establish
 a program to provide "purchasing services for local governments," not for
 the officers of a local government in their individual capacity. A constable
 may not purchase for personal ownership a police-equipped car from a vendor
 who is selling them pursuant to the local purchasing program established by
 the commission pursuant to subchapter D.


LO 97-110 (ID #39612). Request from Mr. Jim
 Loyd, Director of Program Planning, Texas Health Care Information Council,
 4900 North Lamar Boulevard, OOL-3407, Austin, Texas 78751-2399, concerning
 Reimbursement of transportation expenses for a member of the Health Care 
Information
 Council.


Summary Reimbursement of transportation expenses
 for a member of the Health Care Information Council is limited to "the amount
 of the central travel office's contracted fares or rates," as provided by
 sec.2171.056(b) of the Government Code.


LO 97-111 (ID #39605). Request from the Honorable
 Jerry Patterson, Chair, Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee,
 Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning authority
 of part-time peace officers employed by a junior college district and related
 question.


Summary Part-time peace officers, off-duty
 from other jurisdictions, employed and commissioned by a public junior college
 district pursuant to Education Code section 51.203 have the same police powers
 as the district's full-time peace officers employed and commissioned under
 such section. The licensure requirements of the Private Investigators and
 Private Security Agencies Act, Texas Civil Statutes article 4413(29bb), do
 not apply to a junior college district, a political subdivision of the state.

LO 97-112 (ID #39652). Request from the Honorable
 Ben. W. "Bud" Childers, Fort Bend County Attorney, 301 Jackson, Suite 621,
 Richmond, Texas 77469-3506, concerning whether the inscription of an elected
 official's name is permitted on county-owned vehicles.


Summary An elected official may not inscribe
 his or her name on a county-owned motor vehicle.


TRD-9716837


Opinion

DM-459 (RQ-943). Request from the Honorable
 Eugene D. Taylor, Williamson County Attorney, Courthouse Annex, Second Floor,
 405 Martin Luther King, Box 7, Georgetown, Texas 78626, concerning whether
 the State of Texas is exempted from paying filing fees and other court costs
 prior to judgment; reconsideration of Attorney General Opinion MW-447A (1982).

Summary Section 6.001 of the Civil Practice
 and Remedies Code exempts the state from paying security for court costs,
 such as filing fees and fees for service of process. Attorney General Opinion
 MW-447-A (1982) is reaffirmed. Section 6.001 exempts the state only from
 advance payment of filing fees and other court costs and does not exempt it
 from ultimately paying such costs. In the absence of a provision exempting
 the state from liability for costs in a particular type of case, the state
 is liable for its costs. When the state prevails in a suit it may recover
 all costs from the losing party, but if it cannot recover its costs from the
 losing party, the state will have primary liability to pay them.


TRD-9716836


Request for Opinions

RQ-1038. Request from the Honorable Jerome
 Aldrich, Brazoria County Criminal District Attorney, 111 East Locust, Room
 408A, Angleton, Texas 77516, concerning whether criminal trespass may occur
 on land that is submerged below tidal water.


RQ-1039. Request from the Honorable James
 M. Kuboviak, Brazos County Attorney, 300 East 26th Street, Suite #325, Bryan,
 Texas 77803, concerning whether a county tax assessor-collector may delegate
 to the commissioners court his authority to contract under sec.23.122, Tax
 Code.


RQ-1040. Request from Mr. Delmar L. Cain,
 General Counsel, The Texas A&M University System, 301 Tarrow, 6th Floor,
 College Station, Texas 77843-1230, concerning Use of video conferencing for
 public meetings by a state university.


RQ-1041. Request from Ms. Kathleen M. Moss,
 Fannin County Auditor, Fannin County Courthouse, Bonham, Texas 75418, 
concerning
 authority of a commissioners court to impose a limit on the farming out of
 county prisoners, and related questions.


RQ-1042. Request from the Honorable Rene
 Oliveira, Chair, Committee on Economic Development, Texas House of 
Representatives,
 P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910, concerning Medical licensure under
 reciprocal agreements with foreign nations.


RQ-1043. Request from Mr. Wayne Scott, Executive
 Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, P.O. Box 4004, Huntsville,
 Texas 77342-4004, concerning Mandatory tuberculosis screening for employees
 and volunteers of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.


RQ-1044. Request from the Honorable Fred
 Hill, Chair, Committee on Urban Affairs, Texas House of Representatives,
 P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910, concerning whether it is a criminal
 offense to carry a concealed weapon within three hundred feet of a school
 parking lot.


TRD-9716857