Law

The Attorney General acts as legal counsel for the state of Texas. Attorney General Opinions clarify the meaning of existing laws and interpret issues that are ambiguous, obscure, or otherwise unclear.

Opinions are written only at the request of certain state officials, called “authorized requestors.” The Texas Government Code indicates to whom the Attorney General may provide a legal opinion. He may not write legal opinions for private individuals or for any officials other than those specified by statute. A person other than an authorized requestor who wants to ask for an opinion should approach someone who is named in the statute as an authorized requestor.

Texas Attorney General Opinions are considered advisory only in nature. This means that those who request them are not required to follow them, nor are they binding on the Texas courts. They are considered highly persuasive by the courts, however, in situations where they apply.

Formal Opinions

Formal opinions concern issues considered to be of interest to the general public.

Citation

Since 1952, formal opinions have had an alpha-numeric format: the initials of the Attorney General, followed by the number of the opinion in sequence. Citation to these opinions should by be opinion number and year.

For example:

Op. Tex. Att'y Gen. No. DM-49 (1991)

This refers to the forty-ninth opinion of Attorney General Dan Morales, issued in 1991.

Sources

Full-text formal opinions are available in the following formats:

Online

Texas Attorney General Opinions from 1939 to the present are available on the Texas Attorney General Web site.

Paper

Opinions from 1999 to the present are available in the Texas Documents Collection under Call Number TxD A2400.6 OP3

Microform

Opinions from 1939 to 1998 are available in the Documents Microform Collection under Call Number TxD A2400.6 OP3

Finding Aids

Summaries of requests for Attorney General Opinions and of the opinions themselves are available in the Texas Register.

Index to the Opinions of the Attorney General of Texas (1939–current)
Available on Texas Attorney General Web site

 Table containing links to all opinions that are available online.

 Index to the Opinions of the Attorney General of Texas (1982–1995, 1998–2001)
In Texas Documents Collection, Call Number TxD A2400.7 D569a

 Annual indexes by subject and by federal and state laws and state attorney General opinions cited.

 Index and Tables to the Opinions of the Attorney General of Texas, 1971-1989
In UNT Texas Documents Collection, Call Number TxD A2400.8 In2 1971-89 v.1–2

Cumulative indexes by subject and by statutes and opinions cited.

Twenty-four Year Index and Tables to the Opinions of the Attorney General of Texas, 1947-1970
In UNT Texas Documents Collection, Call Number TxD A2400.8 In2 1971-89 v.1–2

 Cumulative indexes by subject and by statutes and opinions cited.

Digest of Opinions of the Attorney General of Texas (1947–1981)
In UNT Texas Documents Collection, Call Number TxD A2400.7 D569a 

 Annual summaries of opinions. Includes indexes by subject and by laws and opinions cited.

 Monthly report of the Attorney General of the State of Texas (1939–1946)
In Remote Storage, Call Number 347 T31am v.1–8

Monthly summaries of opinions arranged by subject and by statute.

 Annual Report of the Opinions of the Attorney General of the State of Texas (1939–1944)
In Remote Storage, Call Number 347 T31a v. 1–6

 Annual summaries and indexes arranged by subject and by statute.

Letter Opinions

Letter opinions are just as authoritative as formal opinions, but they concern issues that either are non-controversial, affect only a specific person or group, or are local in nature.

All letter opinions are available online. They have had several numbering systems depending on who was Attorney General.

• Those of John Ben Shepperd (1953-1956) are numbered MS-1 to MS-223.
• Those of John Hill (1973-1978) are called letter advisories and are numbered LA-1 to LA-157.
• Those of Jim Mattox 1983–1990) and Dan Morales (1991–1998) are numbered LO for letter opinion, followed by the year and a sequential number: LO88-001 to LO90-110 (Mattox); LO92-001 to LO98-127 (Morales)

Beginning on January 4, 1999, Attorney General John Cornyn stopped issuing letter opinions. All opinions issued by the Attorney General’s Office are now considered formal.

Open Records Decisions

Open Records Decisions are rulings on questions submitted by those in charge of public records who need advice concerning an Open Records Act request.

Citation

Open Record Decisions are numbered sequentially with no reference to the specific Attorney General.

For example:

Op. Tex. Att'y ORD-665 (2000)

This refers to the 665th Open Records Decision issued. It was issued in the year 2000.

Sources

Open Records Decisions are available in the following formats:

Online

Open Records Decisions No. 1 (1973) to current are available on the Texas Attorney General Web site

Paper

Open Records Decisions No. 699 (1999) to current are available in the Texas Documents Collection under Call Number TxD A2400.6 Op2.

Microform

Open Records Decisions No. 1 (1973) to No. 659 (1998) are available in the Documents Microform Collection under Call Number TxD A2400.6 Op2.

Summaries of Open Records Decisions are available in the Texas Register.