RQ-0677-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable Florence Shapiro
Chair, Committee on Education
Texas State Senate
Post Office Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711
Re: Validity of collecting a Regional Transit Authority's sales and use tax at different levels in separate subregions (RQ-0677-GA)
Briefs requested by March 31, 2008
RQ-0678-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable Tony Goolsby
Chair, Committee on House Administration
Texas House of Representatives
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Re: Applicability of section 143.014(c) to municipalities that have adopted the Fire and Police Employees Relations Act (FREPA) (RQ-0678-GA)
Briefs requested by March 31, 2008
RQ-0679-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable Tony Goolsby
Chair, Committee on House Administration
Texas House of Representatives
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Re: Whether the holder of a rehabilitation permit issued by the Parks & Wildlife Department is exempt from the application of section 822.102(a)(5) of the Health and Safety Code with regard to dangerous wild animals not covered by the permit (RQ-0679-GA)
Briefs requested by March 31, 2008
RQ-0680-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable David H. Aken
San Patricio County Attorney
San Patricio County Courthouse, Room 108
Sinton, Texas 78387
Re: Maximum distance that a county may require that a sexually-oriented business be located from a residence, church, elementary school, and other designated facility (RQ-0680-GA)
Briefs requested by April 3, 2008
RQ-0681-GA
Requestor:
The Honorable Bill Burnett
San Jacinto County Criminal District Attorney
#1 State Highway 150, Room 21
Coldspring, Texas 77331-0430
Re: Validity of a county policy that prohibits the rehiring of an individual for one year after termination (RQ-0681-GA)
Briefs requested by April 3, 2008
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200801309
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: March 5, 2008
Opinion No. GA-0603
The Honorable Tracy O. King
Chair, Committee on Border and International Affairs
Texas House of Representatives
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Re: Whether a non-profit economic development foundation that receives partial funding from quasi-public utilities is subject to the Texas Public Information Act (RQ-0619-GA)
SUMMARY
A private entity that is supported in whole or in part by public funds or that spends public funds is in whole or in part a governmental body subject to the Public Information Act. Whether a private entity, such as a non-profit economic development foundation that receives partial funding from "quasi-public" utilities, is a governmental body requires a determination regarding the public nature of the funds and whether the public funds are spent or received by the entity in return for specific, measurable services or as general support. Such a determination involves the resolution of facts and is inappropriate for the attorney general opinion process.
Private entities that are in whole or in part governmental bodies under section 552.003, Government Code, are subject to the Public Information Act and must make public information available to the public. Whether information is public information required to be disclosed or information otherwise excepted from disclosure is a matter for an attorney general decision under the Public Information Act.
Opinion No. GA-0604
The Honorable Jesse Gonzales, Jr.
Pecos County Attorney
103 West Callaghan
Fort Stockton, Texas 79735
Re: Whether a project financed in distinct phases is subject to the competitive bidding requirements of the County Purchasing Act (RQ-0620-GA)
SUMMARY
It is a county auditor's duty under the statutory mandates of that office to decide whether to approve a claim, bill, or account. A county auditor is not, therefore, bound by the advice or opinion of the county attorney regarding the lawfulness of a claim, bill, or account against a county.
In order to conclude that a project financed in distinct phases violates the competitive bidding requirements of the County Purchasing Act ("Act"), one must consider the facts, including whether the purchase is undertaken with the intent of avoiding the requirements of the Act and whether the purchase would in normal purchasing practices be made as a single purchase. These considerations involve questions of fact that cannot be resolved in an attorney general opinion.
Opinion No. GA-0605
The Honorable David Aken
San Patricio County Attorney
San Patricio County Courthouse, Room 108
Sinton, Texas 78387
Re: The meaning of "proper magistrate" or "proper court" within article 15.20(b), Code of Criminal Procedure (RQ-0624-GA)
SUMMARY
When an individual arrested on an out-of-county warrant under Code of Criminal Procedure article 15.18 is also arrested on a parole revocation warrant, the magistrate who places the arrested person in jail must immediately notify the sheriff of the county in which the offense is alleged to have been committed of the arrest on both warrants. The sheriff receiving the notice must take charge of the arrested person and have him brought before the proper court or magistrate. The proper magistrate is an officer of the county identified by Code of Criminal Procedure article 2.09 as a magistrate, and the proper court is the court over which the magistrate presides. The sheriff may take the arrested person before a magistrate of the county where the person is held, or, to provide the magistrate's warnings more expeditiously, before a magistrate in any other county of the state. The sheriff is not required to take the arrested person to a magistrate in the county to which the person was paroled. A magistrate may perform a magistrate's duties under chapter 15 for an alleged offender even though he is not authorized to try the offense on the merits.
For further information, please access the website at www.oag.state.tx.us or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-200801320
Stacey Napier
Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: March 5, 2008