RQ-0581-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable Rex Emerson
Kerr County Attorney
County Courthouse, Suite BA-103
700 Main Street
Kerrville, Texas 78028
Re: Jurisdiction of a statutory county court judge to render judgment in a felony case assigned him by the presiding judge of the administrative region (RQ-0581-GA)
Briefs requested by May 21, 2007
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200701554
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: April 24, 2007
Opinion No. GA-0541
The Honorable Jane Nelson
Chair, Committee on Health and Human Services
Texas State Senate
Post Office Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711-2068
Re: Whether the Legislature may authorize electronic pull-tab bingo by statute without amending the Texas Constitution (RQ-0547-GA)
S U M M A R Y
Texas Constitution article III, section 47(b) authorizes the Legislature to enact legislation permitting charitable entities to conduct bingo games for charitable purposes. The constitutional authorization for charitable bingo does not include "electronic pull-tab bingo," which an unenacted bill of the Seventy-ninth Regular Legislative Session would have authorized. The proposed legislation would be unconstitutional under article III, section 47(a).
Opinion No. GA-0542
The Honorable Rob Baiamonte
Goliad County Attorney
Post Office Box 24
Goliad, Texas 77963
Re: Whether abandoned vehicles seized by the county sheriff must be disposed of pursuant to Transportation Code chapter 683 or Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.17 (RQ-0549-GA)
S U M M A R Y
Transportation Code chapter 683 does not apply to the disposition of motor vehicles that a county sheriff seizes immediately after the occupants flee the vehicles when stopped by law enforcement. The seized motor vehicles, which are neither held as evidence in a pending case nor ordered to be destroyed or returned to the rightful owners, may be disposed of pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure article 18.17 if they are (1) seized in connection with the enforcement of the state's criminal laws and (2) not contraband subject to disposition under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 59.
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200701564
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: April 25, 2007