RQ-0583-KP
Requestor:
Ms. Shandra Carter
Executive Director
Texas Juvenile Justice Department
Post Office Box 12757
Austin, Texas 78701
Re: Office of Independent Ombudsman authority to interview youth and inspect facilities under Chapter 261 of the Human Resources Code (RQ-0583-KP)
Briefs requested by March 28, 2025
RQ-0584-KP
Requestor:
The Honorable Joe Gonzales
Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
101 West Nueva
San Antonio, Texas 78205
Re: Legality of an automated traffic-enforcement system for speeding citations
(RQ-0584-KP)
Briefs requested by March 31, 2025
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202500789
Justin Gordon
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: March 4, 2025
Opinion No. KP-0484
The Honorable Brian Birdwell
Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources
Texas State Senate
Post Office Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711-2068
Re: Authority of the Texas Ethics Commission to toll its obligation under Government Code § 571.1242(g) in circumstances beyond litigation (RQ-0568-KP)
S U M M A R Y
Subsection 571.1242(g) of the Government Code unambiguously imposes a jurisdictional deadline by which the Texas Ethics Commission must take specified action on a complaint. Subsection 571.1244(2), on the other hand, concerns procedures for preliminary reviews and unambiguously pertains to procedural deadlines—not the Commission's jurisdiction. This is likewise confirmed by the general objectives of the Commission's enabling framework, which aims to streamline the complaint process such that the Commission's failure to timely resolve claims during preliminary review results in a loss of jurisdiction over the underlying allegations. As such, the Commission may not toll its jurisdictional deadline outside of litigation.
Rules that provide otherwise are facially invalid insofar as they conflict with both the plain text and general objectives of the Commission's enabling framework.
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202500790
Justin Gordon
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: March 4, 2025