RQ-0001-JS
Requestor:
Ms. Gloria Meraz
Director and Librarian
Texas State Library & Archives Commission
Post Office Box 12927
Austin, Texas 78711-2927
Re: Scope of authority of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to accept gifts under Government Code section 441.006(b)(2) (RQ-0001-JS)
Briefs requested by July 31, 2023
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202302486
Austin Kinghorn
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: July 11, 2023
Opinion No. JS-0004
Mr. Thomas J. Gleeson
Executive Director
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Post Office Box 13326
Austin, Texas 78711
Re: Whether the Public Utility Commission has authority under Water Code section 12.013 to hear an appeal by a municipal utility of rates set by a water control and improvement district, or whether the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has exclusive authority over such an appeal under Water Code subsection 51.305(d) (RQ-0478-KP)
S U M M A R Y
Water Code subsection 12.013(a) authorizes the Public Utility Commission to fix reasonable rates for the furnishing of raw or treated water for any purpose under Water Code chapter 11 or 12. Water Code section 51.305 pertains to specific expenses a water control and improvement district may allocate to certain users. The two provisions do not conflict. Under the plain terms of subsection 51.305(d), when an authorized party disputes a water control and improvement district's allocation assessments and other payments necessary to cover the maintenance and operating expenses of its water delivery system, a petition filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the sole remedy. Otherwise, the matter is before the Public Utility Commission.
As this office does not resolve factual questions in attorney general opinions, we cannot determine the nature of the underlying dispute and thus cannot answer your question about which entity may have exclusive jurisdiction to hear it.
Opinion No. JS-0005
The Honorable David A. Levy
Archer County Attorney
Post Office Box 1186
Archer City, Texas 76351
Re: Questions related to the use of a sheriff's commissary funds for a vehicle to transport inmates to medical appointments (RQ-0494-KP)
S U M M A R Y
While it is a determination for the sheriff of Archer County in the first instance, a court would likely conclude that the acquisition of a vehicle dedicated to safely transporting inmates to and from medical and mental health appointments qualifies as equipment, a program, a service, or an activity that provides for the well-being, health, safety and security of inmates and a jail facility and thus, is a permissible use of commissary funds under Local Government Code subsection 351.0415(c)(5).
Because of a sheriff's "exclusive control" of commissary funds under subsection 351.0415(b)(l) and ability to "fund" the items in subsection 351.0415(c)(5) of the Local Government Code, a court would likely conclude that a sheriff has authority to lease a vehicle with commissary funds without first seeking the approval of the commissioners court.
Whether a commissioners court may use money from the general fund to pay insurance and maintenance costs on a vehicle acquired with commissary funds depends on whether the expenditure is provided in the budget.
Local Government Code subsection 263.152(a)(1) applies to surplus property owned by a county. Whether a particular vehicle is owned by Archer County is a fact question that cannot be resolved in the opinion process.
Opinion No. JS-0006
The Honorable Terry Canales
Chair, House Committee on Transportation
Texas House of Representatives
Post Office Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Re: Whether a member of the Board of Trustees of the La Joya Independent School District may simultaneously serve as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 6 (RQ-0495-KP)
S U M M A R Y
The common-law doctrine of conflicting-loyalties incompatibility prohibits one person from simultaneously holding two offices that would prevent the person from exercising independent and disinterested judgment. Because the La Joya Independent School District and the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 6 have taxation authority in overlapping territory, one individual may not simultaneously serve as a school board trustee and irrigation district board member. A court would likely conclude that in qualifying for the second incompatible office of trustee for the School District, the individual does not holdover under article XVI, subsection 17(a).
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202302487
Austin Kinghorn
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: July 11, 2023