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, please fax your request to (512) 462-0548 or call (512) 936-1730. To inquire about pending requests for opinions, phone (512) 463-2110. Opinions DM-480. Request from Ms. Carolyn Purcell, Executive Director, Department of Information Resources, P.O. Box 13564, Austin, Texas 78711-3564, concerning whether, under Government Code sec.551.126, a governmental body must recess or adjourn a meeting held by videoconference call if technical difficulties render portions of the meeting inaccessible to the public at a remote location, and related question. SUMMARY Under Government Code section 551.126, a governmental body must recess or adjourn an open meeting conducted via videoconference call if technical difficulties cause the quality of the audio or video signal to fall below the standards set by the Department of Information Resources. The governmental body cannot avoid this result by notifying the public that, should technical difficulties occur, the quorum of the governmental body will continue its open meeting. DM-481(RQ-978). Request from The Honorable Teel Bivins, Chair, Senate Education Committee, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether Education Code section 51.306, which requires basic skills test for students at public universities, may be applied to students at proprietary schools. SUMMARY Section 51.306 of the Education Code, which requires each undergraduate student who enters a public institution of higher education to take and pass the Texas Academic Skills Program Test, or "TASP test," does not authorize the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to require students enrolled in a proprietary school to pass the TASP test as a condition of obtaining a degree. However, we believe that a court would find that the coordinating board's power under section 132.063 of the Education Code to approve a degree at a proprietary school reasonably includes the authority to require proprietary school students to pass the TASP test as a condition of obtaining a degree. TRD-9813578 Requests for Opinions RQ-1162. Request from Ms. Eliza May, Texas Funeral Service Commission, 510 South Congress Avenue, Suite 206, Austin, Texas 78704-1716, concerning reciprocal licensure by the Texas Funeral Service Commission. RQ-1163. Request from the Honorable Jerry Patterson, Chair, Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning authority of a county appraisal district to declare optional the public notice requirement of the Tax Code, section 41.70. RQ-1164. Request from the Honorable Tom Maness, Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney, P.O. Box 2553, Beaumont, Texas 77704, concerning whether an employee of a regional planning commission may simultaneously serve as an elected member of a port commission. RQ-1165. Request from Mr. Barry R. McBee, Chair, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087, concerning constitutionality of section 361.0235, Health and Safety Code, which bans the importation of hazardous waste from outside the United States. RQ-1166. Request from Mr. Wayne Thorburn, Administrator, Texas Real Estate Commission, P.O. Box 12188, Austin, Texas 78711-2188, concerning applicability of Chapters 37 and 39, Business and Commerce Code, to residential service companies, real estate brokers, and real estate sales persons licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission. RQ-1167. Request from the Honorable Jerry Patterson, Chair, Committee on Veteran Affairs and Military Installations, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether the legislature may authorize a state agency to construe article XVI, section 50(e), Texas Constitution, the home equity amendment. RQ-1168. Request from the Honorable Mark Piland, Mitchell County Attorney, 49 Oak Street, Room 206, Colorado City, Texas 79512, concerning residency requirement for a deputy county clerk. RQ-1169. Request from the Honorable Glen Wilson, Parker County Attorney, One Courthouse Square, Weatherford, Texas 76086, concerning whether a constable is required to attend sessions of a justice court. RQ-1170. Request from the Honorable Harvey Hilderbran, Chair, Human Services Committee, Texas House of Representatives, P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768- 2910, concerning whether a personal care facility may provide nursing services to its residents. RQ-1171. Request from the Honorable Rob Hofmann, Mason County Attorney, P.O. Box 157, Mason, Texas 76856, concerning whether a commissioners court may accept a donation to improve a road. RQ-1172. Request from Ms. Deborah Hammond, LMSW-ACP, Chair, Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756-3183, concerning whether the State Board of Social Worker Examiners may relicense individuals whose licenses have lapsed. RQ-1173. Request from the Honorable Cindy Maria Garner, 349th Judicial District of Texas, P.O. Box 1076, Crockett, Texas 75835, concerning constitutionality of a municipal juvenile curfew ordinance. RQ-1174. Request from Mr. Charles L. Dunlop, Executive Director, Teacher Retirement System, 1000 Red River, Austin, Texas 78701-2698, concerning permissible investments of the Teacher Retirement System, and related questions. TRD-9813503 Letter Opinions LO-98-059(RQ-1082). Request from The Honorable Gonzalo Barrientos, Chair, Committee of the Whole on Legislative and Congressional Redistricting, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether the Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council is an advisory committee subject to automatic abolition pursuant to Government Code section 2110.008. SUMMARY The Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council is not an advisory committee subject to automatic abolition under Government Code section 2110.008. LO-98-060(RQ-1114). Request from The Honorable Ben W. Bud Childers, Fort Bend County Attorney, 301 Jackson, Suite 621, Richmond, Texas 77469-3108, concerning whether proceeds of bonds approved by voters for improvements to a city's existing civic center may be used for construction of a new civic and convention center and related questions. SUMMARY Proceeds of bonds approved by the voters for improvements to a city's existing civic center may not be used for construction of a new civic and convention center unless approved by the voters at a subsequent election held for that purpose pursuant to Texas Civil Statutes, Articles 703a or 703b. LO-98-061(RQ-1127). Request from The Honorable Edmund Kuempel, Chair, Committee on State Recreational Resources, Texas House of Representatives, P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910, concerning whether the Daughters of the Republic of Texas is subject to the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code. SUMMARY The Daughters of the Republic of Texas is a private corporation that acts as trustee for the Alamo on behalf of the state of Texas. It is not a "governmental body" under the terms of the Open Meetings Act, Government Code chapter 551. LO-98-062(RQ-1129). Request from The Honorable Jerry Patterson, Chair, Committee on Veteran, Affairs & Military Installations, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether the Industrial Development Corporation of the City of League City may expend Article 5190.6, section 4B tax proceeds to fund the maintenance and operating costs of a project. SUMMARY Under Texas Civil Statutes, Article 5190.6, section 4B(a-2), section 4B tax proceeds may not be used to pay for maintenance and operating costs of a project unless the city publishes notice of this proposed use. If the proposed use is challenged by a petition of more than 10 percent of the voters within 60 days of the notice, the City of League City will be required to hold an election to obtain voter approval of the proposed use because such use has not been approved in a prior election. LO-98-063(RQ-1085). Request from Mr. Mike Moses, Commissioner of Education, Texas Education Agency, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701-1494, concerning whether two independent school districts may negotiate the purchase and sale of surplus school buses without competitive bidding, without the participation of the General Services Commission. SUMMARY Two independent school districts may not contract between themselves for the purchase of surplus school buses of a value in excess of $20,000 by one from the other without competitive bidding except by carrying out the transaction through the General Services Commission. LO-98-064(RQ-947). Request from Mr. Andrew Sansom, Executive Director, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744, concerning whether the Franklin County Water District may require a fishing guide licensed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to pay a fee and obtain a permit from the district before operating as a fishing guide on Lake Cypress Springs, and related questions. SUMMARY A water conservation and reclamation district holds the waters, bed, and piscatorial inhabitants of a lake created by damming a navigable waterway in trust for the people of Texas. The Franklin County Water District is unauthorized to collect a fee for the privilege of operating as a fishing guide on Lake Cypress Springs or for holding a fishing tournament on the lake. To the extent of inconsistency between the Wildlife Conservation Act, Parks and Wildlife Code chapter 61, and Water Code section 51.127(4), the Wildlife Conservation Act prevails. Thus, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has sole authority to regulate the taking and possession of fish, such as the periods of time when one may take or possess fish and the means, methods, and places for taking or possessing fish. Water District rules that purport to regulate the means of taking fish are ultra vires. Nevertheless, the Franklin County Water District may regulate business privileges on the lake. Accordingly, district rules that require fishing guides and the organizers of a fishing tournament to obtain a permit are, on their face, within the district's jurisdiction (although the district may not exact a fee for the permit). Finally, the district may limit the number of boats that participate in a fishing tournament if the district has found that the limitation is necessary to protect the public safety. LO-98-065(RQ-982). Request from Ms. Rachelle Martin, Executive Director, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, P.O. Box 12157, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning definition of "management search consultant" in Texas Civil Statutes, Article 5221a-7, section 1(11). SUMMARY So long as a personnel firm acts as an employer's agent, rather than an employee's, and receives compensation only from the employer, the fact that the bargain the firm strikes between the parties is of mutual benefit to both of them does not take the firm out of the definition of management search consultant contained in section 1(11) of Texas Civil Statutes, Article 5221a-7. LO-98-066(RQ-962). Request from The Honorable Barry S. Green, District Attorney, 271st Judicial District, Wise County Courthouse, Suite 200, Decatur, Texas 76234, concerning proper forum for filing affidavit to surrender bond principal. SUMMARY For purposes of article 17.19 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows a bail bondsman who wishes to surrender his principal to do so by filing an affidavit of such intention "before the court or magistrate before which the prosecution is pending," the prosecution is pending before the court or magistrate who received a complaint, or the court to which proceedings are subsequently transferred. LO-98-067(RQ-992). Request from The Honorable James Warren Smith, Jr., Frio County Attorney, 500 East San Antonio Street, Box 1, Pearsall, Texas 78061-3100, concerning whether a justice of the peace must deposit the fee collected under Transportation Code section 543.106 with the county treasury, and related questions. SUMMARY A justice of the peace may not deposit any county funds, including fees collected under Transportation Code section 543.106, into an account separate from the county treasury. Instead, a justice must deposit fees collected under Transportation Code section 543.106 in the county treasury. In a county that pays its justices of the peace on the salary basis, the treasurer in turn must deposit the fees into either the county's salary fund to the credit of the collecting justice or, if the county commissioners court has properly ordered it, into the county's general fund. The commissioners court ultimately controls the use of the fees. The commissioners court need not budget a line item for to permit the justices of the peace to perform administrative duties associated with Transportation Code Chapter 543, subchapter B because those duties are imposed upon the justice's office by statute. Fees collected under Transportation Code section 543.106 may be used to pay only that portion of the salaries and expenses authorized in Local Government Code section 154.023(a) that are incurred in administering Transportation Code Chapter 543, subchapter B. TRD-9813594