Attorney General

Description of Attorney
General submissions. 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 maybe 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.



Open Records Decisions


ORD-597 (RQ-23).
Request from Rosalinda Garcia,
Assistant County Attorney, Harris
County, Houston, concerning whether
the front page of an
offense report prepared by
the sheriff's department may
be excepted from disclosure
by the Open Records Act,
sec.3(a)(3).

Summary of Decision.
 Section 3(a)(3) cannot
be invoked to withhold
from public disclosure basic
information in an offense
report that has already
been made available to
the defendant in the
criminal litigation.

TRD-9115336


ORD-598 (RQ-44).
Request from Cathy L.
Meyer, Assistant City Attorney,
City of Irving, Irving,
concerning application of exceptions
to the Open Records Act
to request for release
of Emergency Medical Services
records within Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 4495b, 
sec.5.08.

Summary of Decision.
 Access to records
created or maintained by
a physician within Texas
Civil Statutes, Article 4495b,
sec.5.08, is governed by
the provisions of that
statute, rather than by
the Open Records Act.
When Article 4495b gives
a qualified individual a
right of access to records,
exceptions to the Open
Record Act cannot be
invoked to deny such
access.

TRD-9115335

   
   


Opinions


DM-45B (RQ-65). Request
from Allen Hightower, Chairman,
Committee on Corrections, Texas
House of Representatives, Austin,
concerning whether the amendment
to Article 42.18 of Code
of Criminal Procedure regarding
the mandatory time that
inmates must serve prior
to eligibility for parole
is retroactive.

Summary of Opinion.
The effect of the 1987
amendments to Article 42.
18, sec.8(b), of the
Code of Criminal Procedure
reducing the time prisoners
must serve before becoming
eligible for parole is
limited to prisoners convicted
of offenses committed on
or after the effective
date of the amendments.

TRD-9115342


DM-58 (RQ-176). Request
from Merrill L. Hartman,
Chairman, Court Reporters Certification
Board, Austin, concerning whether
the Court Reporters Certification
Board may consider an
application for certification under
Government Code, sec.52.021(e)
after the effective date
of repeal of that provision,
when consideration of the
application began before the
repeal date.

Summary of Opinion.
The Court Reporters Certification
Board may not continue
to consider an application
for certification under now-repealed
Government Code, sec.52.021(e).
Section 52.021(e) continues in
effect only as to applications
for certification that were
pending before the supreme
court prior to September
1, 1991.

TRD-9115341


DM-59 (RQ-185). Request
from Tim Curry, Criminal
District Attorney, Tarrant Court
Justice Center, Fort Worth,
concerning whether the Tarrant
County Sheriff may accept
bail bond from a bondsman
not licensed in that
county, and related questions.

Summary of Opinion.
Under Texas Civil Statutes,
Article 2372p-3, a person
must be licensed by the
Tarrant County Bail Bond
Board in order to act
as a bail bondsman in
any court of Tarrant
County.

TRD-9115340


DM-60 (RQ-146). Request
from Larry E. Kosta,
Executive Director, Department
of Licensing and Regulation,
Austin, concerning whether a
talent agency that follows
certain amendments to Screen
Actors Guild franchise regulations
would violate the Texas
Talent Agency Act, Texas
Civil Statutes, Article 5221a-9.

Summary of Opinion.
Talent agencies would not
violate sec.sec.2(b), 2(c),
or 10(b) of the Texas
Talent Agency Act, Texas
Civil Statutes, Article 5221a-9,
by following certain amendments
to Screen Actors Guild
franchise regulations, as those
amendments are interpreted by
the Department of Licensing
and Regulation.

TRD-9115339


DM-61 (RQ-104). Request
from Robert A. MacLean,
M.D., Acting Commissioner, Texas
Department of Health, Austin,
concerning whether a "properly
qualified applicant" for a
certified copy of a death
certificate may receive the
entire copy if the cause
of death lists AIDS or
HIV infection.

Summary of Opinion.
The provisions of the
Communicable Disease Prevention
and Control Act which
prohibit the disclosure of
AIDS test results, Health
and Safety Code, sec.81.101
et seq., do not prohibit
the state registrar from
releasing a death certificate
that reveals that a person
died as the result of
AIDS or HIV infection
to a properly qualified
applicant pursuant to the
Health and Safety Code,
sec.191.051.

TRD-9115338


DM-62 (RQ-219). Request
from Jeannene Fox, Acting
Administrator, Texas Alcoholic
Beverage Commission, Austin, concerning
collection of fees for
small stakes bingo.

Summary of Opinion.
The Alcoholic Beverage Commission
may not waive the three
percent fee for small
prizes awarded in games
in bingo. Although the
organization conducting the bingo
game may not itself pay
the fee, it may achieve
substantially the same result
for small prizes by slightly
altering the face amount
of the prize awarded.

TRD-9115337

   
   


Requests for Opinions


(RQ-228). Request
from Ms. Laura Peterson
House, Dallas Museum of
Arts, Dallas, concerning agreements,
contracts, and/or letters pertaining
to the convergence of
an estate to an art
museum.


(RQ-229). Request
from Mr. Wayne Blevins,
Ed. D., Executive Secretary,
Teacher Retirement System of
Texas, Austin, concerning whether
the Board of Trustees
of the Teacher Retirement
System of Texas may contract
with its chief investment
officer to provide incentive
pay in addition to a
regular salary.


(RQ-230). Request
from Mr. David J. Freeman,
Executive Secretary, Texas Racing
Commission, Austin, concerning
authority of the Texas
Racing Commission to adopt
rules regarding the use
of various breakage percentages
to be paid to or
used by the Texas Greyhound
Association.


(RQ-231). Request
from James W. Carr, Lavaca
County Attorney, Halletsville,
concerning whether a commissioners
court may limit the number
of monthly supplemental workers
compensation payments to county
employees already receiving such
payments.


(RQ-232). Request
from Pete DeLaGarza, Kleberg
County Attorney, Kingsville, concerning
whether county court at
law judge may be assigned
to preside over felony
trials and civil cases
where amount in controversy
exceeds jurisdictional limits of
county court at law.


(RQ-233). Request
from Marcus D. Taylor,
Criminal District Attorney, Quitman,
concerning whether property seized
by the state pursuant
to the Code of Criminal
Procedure, Chapter 59, is
exempt from property taxes.


(RQ-234). Request
from Mr. C. Thomas Camp,
Executive Director, Board of
Dental Examiners, Austin, concerning
whether certain conduct requires
a license under the Dental
Practice Act, Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 4543 et
seq, or is exempt from
the definition of dentistry
pursuant to Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 4551b.


(RQ-235). Request
from Mr. Charles E. Nemir,
P.E., Executive Director, State
Board of Registration for
Professional Engineers, Austin,
concerning whether the $200
fee increase imposed by
Article 10 of House Bill
11, 72nd Legislative, 1st
Called Session, is constitutional.


(RQ-236). Request
from Ms. Nancy F. Braswell,
Smith County Auditor, Smith
County Courthouse, 1st Floor,
Tyler, concerning whether defendants
in criminal cases may
be required to reimburse
a county for the cost
of employing interpreters, and
related questions.


(RQ-237). Request
from Ms. Trudi Dill,
Deputy City Attorney, City
of Temple, Municipal Building,
Temple, concerning whether information
previously held to be
protected by sec.3(a)(11) may
be edited from newly
created documents, as opposed
to merely "censored".


(RQ-238). Number
deleted.


(RQ-239). Request
from John Whitmire, Chairman,
Intergovernmental Relations Committee,
Texas State Senate, Austin,
concerning whether the provisions
of House Bill 799, 72nd
Legislature, apply to the
procurement of brokerage and
investment services by state
agencies.


(RQ-240). Request
from James M. Kuboviak,
Brazos County Attorney, Brazos
County Courthouse, Bryan, concerning
whether a justice of
the peace may hold an
unpaid peace officer's commission
through a sheriff or
constable.


(RQ-241). Request
from Mike Driscoll, Harris
County Attorney, Houston, concerning
whether a district clerk
may charge a fee for
making certified copies of
papers in a cause of
action transferred to another
court pursuant to Texas
Rules of Civil Procedure,
Rule 89, and related
questions.


(RQ-242). Request
from Mr. Kenneth W. Littlefield,
Commissioner, Texas Department
of Banking, Austin, concerning
whether a member of the
Texas Civil Statutes, Article
342-104(4) may continue in
office if he becomes
a banking executive but
has less than five years
experience.


(RQ-243). Request
from Mr. Todd K. Brown,
Acting Executive Commissioner,
Texas Workers' Compensation Commission,
Austin, concerning whether the
federal Americans with Disabilities
Act precludes the Texas
Workers' Compensation Commission
from disclosing job applicants'
prior work injuries to
prospective employers pursuant
to the Texas Workers'
Compensation Act, Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 8308-2.33 and
Article 8308-2.34.


(RQ-244). Request
from Ashley Smith, Chairman,
Committee on Science and
Technology, Texas House of
Representatives, Austin, concerning
whether an independent school
district may use various
assets to create an endowment
fund.


(RQ-245). Request
from Mike Driscoll, Harris
County Attorney, Houston, concerning
authority of a county
pursuant to Chapter 235,
Local Government Code, to
adopt a fire code containing
enforcement and maintenance provisions,
and related questions.


(RQ-246). Request
from Ms. Linda Vaclavik,
Executive Director, Texas Advisory
Board of Occupational Therapy,
Austin, concerning whether the
term "physician" in the
Occupational Therapy Title Act,
Texas Civil Statutes, Article
8851, includes chiropractors.


(RQ-247). Request
from Scott Johnson, Reeves
County Attorney, Reeves County
Courthouse, Pecos, concerning whether
the county sheriff or
the county commissioners court
has the legal authority
to choose a physician
and set schedules for
the physician to provide
medical services to inmates
incarcerated in the county
jail.


(RQ-248). Request
from David Brabham, Criminal
District Attorney, Gregg County,
Longview, concerning whether a
member of the board of
trustees of an independent
school district may serve
on a city council or
other boards.


(RQ-249). Request
from Mr. Ernest A. Emerson,
Interim Executive Director, Texas
Commission on Fire Protection,
Austin, concerning whether the
Open Meetings Act, sec.2(g)
permits executive session to
discuss persons considered for
created pursuant to the
Government Code, sec.419.023
and sec.419.072.


(RQ-250). Request
from Gonzalo Barrientos, Chairman,
Committee on Nominations, Texas
State Senate, Austin, concerning
authority of the General
Services Commission to name
state office buildings.


(RQ-251). Request
from A. J. Hartel, Liberty
County Attorney, Liberty, concerning
authority of a navigation
district to enter into
a tax abatement agreement.

TRD-9115243