Texas AG Delivers Opinion On GBRA’s Request On Fees, Creation Of Taxing District
Staff Report
Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton is the lawyer for the State of Texas and is charged by the Texas Constitution to:
- defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Texas
- represent the State in litigation
- approve public bond issues
To fulfill these responsibilities, the Office of the Attorney General serves as legal counsel to all boards and agencies of state government, issues legal opinions when requested by the Governor, heads of state agencies and other officials and agencies as provided by Texas statutes.
The Texas AG sits as an ex-officio member of state committees and commissions, and defends challenges to state laws and suits against both state agencies and individual employees of the State.
Many Texans look to the Office of the Attorney General for guidance with disputes and legal issues. The agency receives hundreds of letters, phone calls and visits each week about crime victims’ compensation, child support, abuse in nursing homes, possible consumer fraud and other topics. To find out more about the Texas Attorney General, visit the official website at https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/.
AG Paxton Statement on Dismissal of Lawsuit Challenging UT Austin’s Relocation of Confederate Monuments
AUSTIN — Attorney General Ken Paxton today released the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that parties protesting the relocation of Confederate monuments at the University of Texas do not have standing to pursue their lawsuit:
“This case was correctly dismissed months ago for lack of standing, and we are pleased that the Fifth Circuit agreed with our arguments and affirmed the district court’s decision. As the Court recognized, the plaintiffs had no legal injury from the University’s decision to move property on its campus.”
AG Paxton Joins Amicus Supporting Mississippi Law Limiting Abortion After 15 Weeks
AUSTIN –?Attorney General Ken Paxton joined Louisiana’s friend-of-the-court brief which was filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of Mississippi as it seeks en banc review of a law prohibiting non-emergency abortions past the 15th week of pregnancy.
Mississippi enacted the Gestational Age Act in March 2018. One abortion clinic in Mississippi, which provides a few abortions during the 15th week of pregnancy and none after the 16th week, immediately filed a challenge to this law. A U.S. District Court declared the law unconstitutional, despite legislative findings that an unborn baby can sense stimulation from the outside world and has developed all basic physiological functions at 12 weeks.
“The Mississippi Legislature enacted this law in accordance with the beliefs of its constituents and the precedents of the United States Supreme Court. Three out of four Americans agree that abortion should be restricted after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, based on ample evidence that abortion harms both the mother and the unborn child. The voters have a clear interest in preventing such suffering, protecting the health of women, and preserving the dignity of human life,” said Attorney General Paxton. “At just 15 weeks, unborn babies may experience pain when they’re killed in their mother’s womb, and it is well documented that later-term abortions pose greater risks to women’s health. We urge the Fifth Circuit to recognize that an abortion is not just another routine and victimless procedure and to uphold these reasonable regulations to protect women and children.”
State of Texas, AG Paxton and Gov. Abbott Support Emergency Stay for Tinslee Lewis Continues Fight for Baby Tinslee’s Right-to-Life at Ft. Worth Court of Appeals
AUSTIN – The State of Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Gov. Greg Abbott filed an amicus curiae letter today in the Second Court of Appeals, agreeing with the Lewis family that the Ft. Worth appellate court should grant an emergency stay of the trial court’s order denying the family’s request for a temporary injunction until the appeal is finally resolved and, thus, preserving the life of 11-month old Tinslee Lewis.
“This case presents a life-or-death decision. The right-to-life and the guarantee of due process are of the utmost importance not only to baby Tinslee and her family, but to all Texans. I will continue to fight for Tinslee and my office will continue to use all necessary resources to ensure that she will not be deprived of her right to live,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Currently, section 166.046 of the Texas Health and Safety Code states that a physician who decides that treatment is medically inappropriate – along with an ethics or medical committee that affirm the decision – is not required to provide life-sustaining treatment at the request of a patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient unless a court orders otherwise.
The statute fails to require that physicians provide an explanation of why they refused life-sustaining treatment and provide the patient’s family with adequate notice and opportunity to argue their position prior to the committee reaching a decision, effectively allowing the government to deny an individual’s right to his or her own life and to do so without due process.
To read a copy of the letter click here.
Notification of Opinion
Original Request RQ-0310-KP
Authority of the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority to impose fees or to by election establish a taxing district to fund the replacement, operation, and maintenance of dams
Official Opinion: KP-0283
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority may establish and impose a fee on property owners whose land abuts the water resources controlled by the Authority for the unique services those landowners receive from the Authority, as long as the fee does not amount to a tax on those property owners.
The Authority’s enabling legislation prohibits it from levying or collecting a tax. Thus, the Authority itself may not establish a taxing district to repair and maintain the dams.
However, property owners may, with the requisite approval, establish a water control improvement district with taxing authority to raise revenue to fund repair of the dams.
The district may contract with the Authority to perform repairs, and it may pay for the repairs using tax proceeds, provided the district imposes controls to ensure the funds are used for a public purpose of the district.
Notification of Opinion
Original Request RQ-0294-KP
Construction of statutes related to procedures for addressing dangerous dogs under chapter 822 of the Health and Safety Code
Official Opinion: KP-0284
The plain language of section 822.002 of the Health and Safety Code does not require an affiant of a sworn complaint alleging that a dog caused death or serious injury to a person to have personal knowledge of that event, and a court is unlikely to imply such a requirement.
If a court finds that a dog caused death or serious bodily injury to a person, the fact that the dog’s attack was tmprovoked is not an element a court must find before ordering a dog destroyed under section 822.003.
The Legislature’s imposition of a ten-day deadline by which a court must conduct a hearing tmder section 822.003 is not an unlawful statutory restriction on the court’s inherent authority to control its docket. The plain language of section 822.003 requires that the case be called and a hearing conducted within the ten-day statutory deadline, but it does not set a deadline by which the court must rule or otherwise limit the court’s authority to continue a hearing once called. No provision in chapter 822 deprives a court of jurisdiction if the hearing required by subsection 822.003(a) is held outside of the ten-day period, but a party could seek mandamus to compel a hearing if a court does not hold a hearing within that period.
Notification of Opinion
Original Request RQ-0308-KP
Whether activities of the State Employee Charitable Campaign constitute a taxpayer resource transaction under section 2272.003 of the Government Code
Official Opinion: KP-0282
Section 2272.003 of the Government Code prohibits the State Employee Charitable Campaign and its Policy Committee from entering into a taxpayer resource transaction with an abortion provider or an affiliate of an abortion provider.
The Policy Committee’s approval of abortion providers or affiliates as charitable organizations eligible to participate in the Campaign constitutes a taxpayer resource transaction.
Section 2272.003 of the Government Code thus prohibits the Policy Committee from approving abortion providers or affiliates as eligible charitable organizations for the Campaign.
Notification of Opinion
Original Request RQ-0296-KP
Whether a municipality may use tax revenue for a visitor information center owned and operated by a chamber of commerce
Official Opinion: KP-0281
A court would likely conclude that subsection 351. lOl(a)(l) of the Tax Code does not limit the use of hotel occupancy tax revenue in the context of visitor information centers to only those owned or leased by a municipality.
An expenditure of municipal hotel occupancy tax revenue pursuant to subsection 351.l0l(a) to repair a visitor information center must directly benefit the building or portion of the building used to distribute or disseminate information to tourists in order to satisfy subsection 351.l0l(b)’s requirement that the expenditure directly enhance and promote tourism and the convention and hotel Industry.
Notification of Opinion
Original Request RQ-0295-KP
Distribution of county transportation grant funds appropriated under Senate Bill 500
Official Opinion KP-0280
In providing a supplemental appropriation to the Transportation Infrastructure Fund in Senate Bill 500 with a two-year period, and in amending Transportation Code section 256.103 ‘s distribution formula with an effective date within that two-year period, the Legislature provided that different distribution formulas govern the supplemental appropriation.
Section 256.103 ‘s pre-amendment distribution formula governs any grants the Department may have awarded from the Fund prior to September 1, 2019. Section 256.103’s post-amendment distribution formula governs grants the Department awards on or after September 1, 2019.
Request for Opinion
Official Request RQ-0327-KP
Authority of a judge of a court of record to appoint an official court recorder in lieu of an official court reporter
Date Received
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Official Requestor
The Honorable Dana Norris Young
Cherokee County Attorney
Post Office Box 320
Rusk, Texas 75785
