AG opinions

[Bryanmc]

Does anyone have a list of the numbers of the AG opinions related to 30.06 and 30.07 postings on public (government) property?

Thanks

[TexasJohnBoy]

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/30 ... ng-letters

[ELB]

TJB gave you the link to the 30.06 ruling letters, which is of course an excellent resource.

However, there are also actual AG opinions that deal with sign postings and licensed carry on state and local government property.

The link to those, AFAIK all written by (or on behalf of) Ken Paxton, is here: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinio ... n-opinions

Unfortunately there is not a fast way to simply select the AG opinions related to licensed carry.

I believe the first one is KP-047. KP049 is the next one, and there are a couple or few more running up to the last one I know of, KP-89. You just have to page through and look at them. Might be nice to have sticky with a list of them if someone puts them all together.

Happy hunting.

[Bryanmc]

TJB gave you the link to the 30.06 ruling letters, which is of course an excellent resource.

However, there are also actual AG opinions that deal with sign postings and licensed carry on state and local government property.

The link to those, AFAIK all written by (or on behalf of) Ken Paxton, is here: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinio ... n-opinions

Thanks... I dug through the ones you mentioned. I had an interesting conversation with the Mineola City Attorney today, re: 30.06 and 30.07 signs at the main entrance to city hall and the public entrance to the Mineola Police Dept. While he was not aware of the posting at the PD, he felt the posting at City Hall was legal. His explanation was that the Clerk of the Court sits at a long counter inside the main open area of the building (along with general staff, receptionist, the lady you see to pay your water bill et al). His opinion was that the Clerk's office was an office essential to the operation of the court and since she was in the main undivided area, that constituted her office and was therefore covered by 46.03.

I was trying to see if there was anything similar in the opinions or violation letters but I'm not having much luck.

[RicoTX]

Im still waiting on my own AG response. I suggest you report them... Maybe the more reports we have, the more the AG will get tough with them and the more likely something will change next session.

[ELB]

... His opinion was that the Clerk's office was an office essential to the operation of the court and since she was in the main undivided area, that constituted her office and was therefore covered by 46.03.
...

I am pretty sure the AG does not share his opinion, but I can't off the top of my head point to which ruling letter he mentions that. I will look.

[ELB]

Ruling letter to Brazos County: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/fi ... thouse.pdf

Unfortunately the AG does not number his paragraphs, but this appears at the bottom of page 2:

Although the courthouse houses several courts, such as the district courts and the county courts-at-
law, not all of the offices located in the courthouse are offices essential to the operation of the
courts. For example, the county clerk and the district and county attorneys' offices are non-judicial
county administrative offices that are not included in the specific exempted places listed under
section 46.03 or 46.035 of the Penal Code. Section 46.03(a)(3) of the Penal Code does not allow
a political subdivision to prohibit licensed handgun holders from entering an entire building simply
because the courts or the offices of the courts are located in a portion of that multipurpose building.

The above refers to the county clerk, and I believe in your case you are talking about a city court and a city clerk of the court, but note that the AG does not consider the DA's office to be a part of the court, for purposes of this law. I doubt a city court clerk's office would either.

I went through the letters awhile back and listed the offices that the AG called out by name as not being part of the operation of court:

- County Clerk
- County Attorney
- District Attorney
- County Tax Office
- County Constable
- Commissioners Court
- Motor vehicle department

I found those in the letters to Brazos, Dallas, McLennan, and Kleberg counties.

The way to force the issue, of course, is to file a complaint.

[ELB]

These are the recent (since Sep 2015) AG opinions dealing with licensed carry that I know of:

KP-47 Tom Green County Justice Center
KP-49 Hays County Government Center
KP-50 School Districts and Open Carry (Whitmire)
KP-51 Campus Carry (Birdwell)
KP-89 Lavaca_Navidad River Authority

There is an index to opinions by category (e.g. GUNS AND WEAPONS) here: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opin/o ... adings.php
and it covers opinions by previous AGs as well, but it is not up to date.

ETA: There is also a Request for Opinion for the City of Alice: RQ-0087-KP. You can see the latest requests here: https://texasattorneygeneral.gov/opin/opin_recent.php

[Bryanmc]

Thanks ELB. The Brazos ruling does seem to indicate that the clerk's office would not be protected. I'll contact him again with that reference and see if his opinion changes. Maybe he wants to be the test case.

[RicoTX]

I am disappointed that we have not seen any more ruling letters in the last month... I'm waiting on 2 that I submitted.