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.









Letter Opinions





LO-92-28 (RQ-348).
Request from Allen Ross
Hightower, Chairman, Environmental
Affairs Committee, Texas House
of Representatives, Austin, concerning
distribution of funds to
fire departments by rural
fire prevention district board.


Summary of Opinion.
A rural fire prevention
district is not authorized
to distribute funds to
fire departments within its
jurisdiction, but, so long
as there are adequate
controls, the district may
contract with such a
fire department to provide
services which the district
itself is empowered to
perform.


TRD-9211346







LO-92-29 (RQ-390).
Request from Carl Parker,
Chairman, Education Committee,
Texas State Senate, Austin,
concerning whether the university
bookstore at a Texas
public university may extend
credit to university students
for the purpose of purchasing
textbooks and supplies.


Summary of Opinion.
The university bookstore at
a Texas public university
may extend credit to
its students for the
purpose of purchasing textbooks
and supplies if such
an extension of credit
accomplishes a public purpose
and if the university
places sufficient controls on
the transaction to ensure
that the public purpose
will be carried out.


TRD-9211347







LO-92-30 (RQ-292).
Request from Frank Tejeda,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Urban
Affairs, The Texas Senate,
Austin, concerning whether a
home rule city may require
fees and permits of a
metropolitan transit authority
for certain operations within
its city limits.


Summary of Opinion.
As considered in this
opinion, portions of the
city of San Antonio's
proposed amendment to its
Comprehensive Grounds Transportation
Ordinance regulating the safe
condition of charter vehicles;
the equipment in such
vehicles; the rates of
fare charged by a charter
bus operator; the conduct,
attire, and worker conditions
of charter vehicle drivers;
the procurement of liability
insurance or self insurance;
and the procurement and
submission of a performance
bond would be unenforceable
against the VIA Metropolitan
Transit Authority as a
matter of law. Other
portions of the proposed
ordinance requiring charter bus
drivers to obtain a city
chauffeur's license and requiring
VIA to submit proof of
liability insurance or self
insurance, where VIA voluntarily
has secured such protection
pursuant to other law,
would be applicable to
the transit authority.


TRD-9211348







LO-92-31 (ID-16177).
Request from Morris Samford,
Jr., Panola County Attorney,
Carthage, concerning duty of
cattle owner to prevent
cattle from running at
large.


Summary of Opinion.
Where the local option
stock law is in effect,
the owner of the designated
class of livestock must
prevent his stock from
running at large in the
county.


TRD-9211349







LO-92-32 (ID-16639).
Request from Bill Sims,
Chairman, Natural Resources Committee,
Texas State Senate, Austin,
concerning statutes of Dallas
County Levee Improvement District
Number 1.


Summary of Opinion.
Since, under the facts
presented, nonelection has been
or can be held in
the Dallas County Levee
Improvement District Number 1,
the Dallas County Commissioners
Court should continue to
the district pursuant to
Chapter 57, Water Code.


TRD-9211351







LO-92-33 (ID-16627).
Request from Sandra C.
Joseph, Disclosure Office, Comptroller
of Public Accounts, Austin,
concerning whether the address
and telephone number of
Texas lottery prize winners
are deemed confidential by
the Texas Lottery Act,
Texas Civil Statutes, Article
179g, and related questions.


Summary of Opinion.
Pursuant to the Texas
Lottery Act, Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 179g, 
sec.214(3), the addresses and
telephone numbers of Texas
lottery prize winners are
confidential and are exempt
from public disclosure under
the Texas Open Records
Act, unless the prize
winner has consented to
release of such information.
The comptroller is not
required under the Lottery
Act to ask prize winners
if they wish to consent
to release of such information.
The Lottery Act does
not prohibit the prize
winner from consenting to
release of such confidential
information either orally or
in writing, or from designating
the persons or class
of persons to whom he
wishes the confidential information
released. The comptroller may,
in his discretion, require
that a consent to the
release of confidential information
be in writing.


TRD-9211350


   
   









Open Records Decisions





ORD-607 (RQ-389).
Request from Earl Bracken,
Jr., Waco City Attorney,
Waco, concerning whether the
subject of an HIV antibody
test has a right to
a copy of a laboratory
report issued under a
fictitious name.


Summary of Decision.
 A laboratory report
of the results of a
test for HIV antibodies
administered under the authority
of a physician is made
confidential by the Medical
Practice Act, Texas Civil
Statutes, Article 4495b, 
sec.5.08(b). A patient may
obtain copies of his
or her records in accordance
with the provisions of
subsections (j) and (k)
of sec.5.08.


TRD-9211344


   
   









Opinions





DM-146 (RQ-355).
Request from John Whitmire,
Chairman, Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations, Texas State Senate,
Austin, concerning whether the
San Antonio Metropolitan Health
District may limit public
access to and charge
a search fee for locating
birth and death records
which are made public
by the Open Records Act.


Summary of Opinion.
The San Antonio Municipal
Health District Registrar of
Vital Statistics, a local
registrar under the Health
and Safety Code, sec.191.022,
cannot allow inspection of
original birth records over
50 years old and death
records over 25 years
old. While such records
are not excepted from
disclosure under the Open
Records Act, the local
registrar is required to
provide copies and to
charge a fee, by virtue
of the Health and Safety
Code, Title 3, which
governs vital statistics records,
and regulations and instructions
promulgated thereunder, 25 TAC
Chapter 181; Bureau
of Vital Statistics Manual
for Local Registrars.


TRD-9211345







DM-147 (RQ-106).
Request from Ron Jackson,
Compact Administrator, Interstate
Compact on Juveniles, Texas
Youth Commission, Austin, concerning
whether the Uniform Compact
on Juveniles by Texas
authorizes and requires Texas
juvenile probation officers to
supervise delinquent juveniles
as defined by the compact
who would not be defined
as juvenile delinquents under
Chapter 51 of the Texas
Family Code.


Summary of Opinion.
By adopting the Uniform
Interstate Compact on Juveniles
(the ICJ) as Family Code,
Chapter 25, the legislature
authorized juvenile probation departments
to extend their services
to any case properly
referred to them through
the ICJ, regardless of
the age of the individual
so referred or the nature
of the adjudicating offense.
Once the state accepts
supervision of an out-of-state
delinquent juvenile under Article
VII of the ICJ, Family
Code, sec.25.08 requires juvenile
probation officers to provide
the mandated services.


TRD-9211340







DM-148 (RQ-167).
Request from William C.
Wilson, Adjutant General, Texas
Army National Guard, Austin,
concerning authority of the
Texas National Guard to
obtain liability insurance with
federal funds to cover
National Guard officers and
employees who operate a
mobile shooting range for
recruitment purposes.


Summary of Opinion.
The adjutant general, as
chief of the Texas National
Guard, has authority to
obtain liability insurance, with
federal funds, to cover
National Guard officers and
employees who operate a
mobile shooting range for
recruitment purposes. The funds
to pay the insurance
premium are appropriated by
Article V, sec.22(1), of
the current General Appropriations
Act.


Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6252-19a, which requires that
the state obtain liability insurance from a company authorized
to transact business in Texas, applies only to liability insurance
obtained to cover liabilities arising from the use or operation
of motor vehicles, power equipment, aircraft, and watercraft,
and thus is not applicable in this case.


TRD-9211341







DM-153 (RQ-322).
Request from David R.
Smith, M.D., Commissioner, Texas
Department of Health, Austin,
concerning whether the Texas
Abortion Facility Reporting and
Licensing Act, Health and
Safety Code, Chapter 245,
authorizes the Department of
Health to release information
relating to physicians and
nurses to the State Board
of Medical Examiners and
Board of Nurse Examiners,
or authorizes the department
to publicly disclose that
an office or clinic is
not a licensed abortion
facility.


Summary of Opinion.
The Texas Abortion Facility
and Licensing Act, Health
and Safety Code, Chapter
245, does not permit
the Texas Department of
Health to release information
to the Board of Medical
Examiners or the Board
of Nurse Examiners for
the purpose of disciplining
physicians or nurses for
"unprofessional or unethical conduct."
Nor does the act permit
the department to inform
a person that an office,
clinic, or facility is
not licensed as an abortion
facility.


TRD-9211342