Opinion #JC-0156. The Honorable Susan D. Reed, Bexar County, Criminal District Attorney, 300 Dolorosa, Fifth Floor, San Antonio, Texas, 78205-3030, regarding whether a county clerk must accept for filing a "declaration of domestic partnership". (RQ-0084-JC)

Summary. "Declarations of domestic partnership" are not "documents required or permitted by law to be recorded." Texas Local Government Code Annotated 192.001 (Vernon 1999). Accordingly, county clerks are not required to accept them for recording.

Opinion #JC-0157. The Honorable Edwin E. Powell, Jr., Coryell County Attorney, P.O. Box 796 113, South Seventh Street, Gatesville, Texas, 76528, regarding as to when a county "initially" begins collecting fees and costs pursuant to §51.702 of the Government Code for purposes of the statutory county court judges salary formula of §25.0005(e). (RQ-0093-JC)

Summary. A county that wishes to use the salary formula for statutory county court judges set out in §25.0005(e) of the Government Code must, not later than September 1 of the year in which the county initially begins collecting fees and costs under §51.702, increase the salary of each statutory county court judge in the county to an amount that is at least $28,000 more than the salary the judge was entitled to on May 1 of that year. The term "initially" for purposes of §25.0005(e) means the very first year that a court begins collecting fees and costs upon approval of the collection by the county commissioners court pursuant to §51.702 of the Government Code, even if the court reapproves collection in subsequent years.

Opinion #JC-0158. The Honorable Edwin E. Powell, Jr., Coryell County Attorney, P.O. Box 796, Gatesville, Texas, 76528, regarding the allocation by county of fees and costs collected pursuant to §51.702 of the Government Code. (RQ-0094)

Summary. Judges' salaries are a court-related purpose for the support of the judiciary for which funds collected pursuant to §51.702 of the Government Code and distributed to a county by the state in accordance with §25.0016 of the Government Code may be used. A county that wishes to compensate a statutory county court judge using the salary formula set out in §25.0005(e) of the Government Code must use at least 50% of the funds distributed to the county pursuant to §25.0016 of the Government Code for statutory county court judges' salaries.

Opinion #JC-0159. The Honorable Stephen H. Smith, District Attorney, 119th Judicial District, 124 West Beauregard, San Angelo, Texas, 76903, regarding the salary of County Court-at-Law Judge in Tom Green County. (RQ-0095-JC)

Summary. A county that opts to collect the court costs and fees authorized by §51.702 of the Government Code must set salaries for its county court-at-law judges according to §25.0005(a) of the Government Code, unless the county sets the salaries according to the requirements of §25.0005(e). One requirement of §25.0005(e) is that the county use for the salaries of statutory county court judges at least 50% of certain amounts received from the state each year. Tom Green County, which collects the fees authorized by §51.702 of the Government Code, did not use any of the receipts from the state for the salaries of county court-at-law judges in fiscal years 1997 and 1998. The county therefore did not meet the requirements of §25.0005(e) of the Government Code for those fiscal years. It may not now, after the close of those fiscal years, bring the salaries for those years into compliance with §25.0005(e) of the Government Code by applying 50% of the receipts to salaries paid in those years. The county court-at-law judges of Tom Green County are entitled to receive as salary for fiscal years 1997 and 1998 the amounts required by §25.0005(a) of the Government Code.

Opinion #JC-0160. The Honorable Debra Danburg, Chair, Committee on Elections, Texas House of Representatives, P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas, 78768-2910, regarding whether an ad hoc intergovernmental working group is subject to the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Government Code. (RQ-0096-JC)

Summary. An ad hoc intergovernmental working group consisting of non-elected public officials, and whose purpose is to confer with private legal counsel hired by each governmental body regarding the sales and foreclosures of tax judgments on delinquencies within their overlapping jurisdictions, is not as a matter of law a "governmental body" for purposes of the Open Meetings Act.

Opinion #JC-0161. Mr. Vernon M. Arrell, Commissioner, Texas Rehabilitation Commission, 4900 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, Texas, 78751-2399, regarding whether the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities may engage in lobbying activities. (RQ-0085-JC)

Summary. The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities is a state agency that uses money appropriated by the Legislature. In accordance with the lobbying restrictions of the General Appropriations Act and Chapter 556 of the Government Code, the Council may use appropriated money to provide information to policymakers or to provide information responsive to a request from policymakers. The Council may not, however, use appropriated money to influence the passage or defeat of any legislative measure.

Opinion #JC-0162. Mr. G. Granger MacDonald, President, Board of Directors, Upper Guadalupe River Authority, 125 Lehmann Drive, Suite 100, Kerrville, Texas, 78028-5908, regarding whether the Upper Guadalupe River Authority is authorized to compel septic tank users to connect to a sewage disposal system, and related questions; reconsideration of Attorney General Opinion JM-961 (1988). (RQ-0110-JC)

Summary. The Upper Guadalupe River Authority is not authorized to compel septic tank users to connect to a sewage disposal system. The River Authority may operate a system serving city residents under contract with a municipality, provided that the municipality does not delegate any of its governmental powers. The municipality may require septic tank users within its jurisdiction to connect to the system. Attorney General Opinion JM-961 (1988) is affirmed. Recently enacted Senate Bill 821, which adds §412.016 to the Local Government Code, does not authorize a county to compel septic tank users in unincorporated areas of the county to connect to a sewage disposal system. See Act of May 11, 1999, 76th Legislature, Regular Session, Chapter 191, 1, §412.016, 1999 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. 668; Texas Local Government Code Annotated §412.016 (Vernon Supp. 2000).

Opinion #JC-0163. The Honorable James Eidson, Taylor County, Criminal District Attorney, 300 Oak Street Abilene, Texas, 79602-1577, regarding whether a county or district clerk may withhold fee from funds deposited as cash bail bond. (RQ-0113-JC)

Summary. Section 117.055 of the Local Government Code authorizes a county or district clerk to withhold an administrative fee from the return of funds deposited with the clerk as a cash bail bond pursuant to article 17.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

TRD-9909087

Elizabeth Robinson

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: December 30, 1999

Opinion Number JC-0164 (RQ-0072-JC). Requested by The Honorable Tony Garza, Chair, Railroad Commission of Texas, P.O. Box 12967, Austin, Texas, 78711-2967, concerning whether the Railroad Commission's regulatory definition of "unacceptable unsafe location" is inconsistent with the Texas Aggregate Quarry and Pit Act, chapter 133 of the Natural Resources Code, to the extent the rule includes any pit within 200 feet of a roadway edge, and related question.

Summary. Title 16, §11.1004(30)(C) of the Texas Administrative Code, which defines the term "unacceptable unsafe location" for purposes of the Texas Aggregate Quarry & Pit Safety Act, chapter 133 of the Natural Resources Code, reasonably construes the Act to state that an inactive pit, the edge of which is located within 200 feet of the edge of a public roadway but beyond 200 feet from a public road intersection, constitutes a substantial dangerous risk to the driving public. Consequently, where the substantial dangerous risk may be "rectified" by the construction of safety barriers, the Commission may determine as a matter of law that such inactive pits are in an unacceptable, unsafe location. With respect to inactive quarries and pits, the Act applies only to sites that include an industrial aggregate extraction plant.

TRD-200000060

Elizabeth Robinson

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: January 5, 2000

RQ-0166-JC. Requested by The Honorable Michael G. Mask, Jack County Attorney, 100 Main Street, Jacksboro, Texas, 76458, concerning state-mandated salary supplement for county judge. (Request Number 0166-JC)

Briefs requested by February 5, 2000

RQ-0167-JC. Requested by The Honorable William C. Sowder, Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney, 904 Broadway, Second Floor, Lubbock, Texas, 79401, concerning responsibility for burial of indigent persons. (Request Number 0167-JC)

Briefs requested by February 4, 2000

TRD-200000061

Elizabeth Robinson

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: January 5, 2000