Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0526

Opinion

August 26, 2026

The Honorable Joe Gonzales Bexar County Criminal District Attorney 101 West Nueva San Antonio, Texas 78205

Opinion No. KP-0526

Re: Applicability of Local Government Code § 120.002 to deputy constables subsequently assigned under an interlocal agreement (RQ-0599-KP)

Dear Mr. Gonzales:

On behalf of the Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 3, you ask about the application of Local Government Code section 120.002 to a county’s budget for services provided to an independent school district. 1 You explain that deputy constable positions budgeted and allocated to a particular constable’s office were subsequently assigned to work as school resource officers pursuant to an interlocal agreement with an independent school district. Request Letter at 1–2. “Under the terms of the agreement, the County is reimbursed by the [school district] for the cost of these positions.” Id. at 2. You ask whether Local Government Code subsection 120.002(a)(2) would require an election before the County could reallocate deputy constable positions “to another constable precinct” if the school district were to terminate the agreement in the future. 2 Id. at 1, 4–5. While we cannot answer underlying fact questions, Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. KP-0445 (2023) at 5–6, we can offer general guidance on the valid construction of subsections 120.002(a)

1 Letter from Hon. Joe Gonzales, Bexar Cnty. Crim. Dist. Att’y, to Hon. Ken Paxton, Tex. Att’y Gen. at 1–2 (May 6, 2025), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/request-files/request/2025/RQ0599KP.pdf (“Request Letter”).

2 Based on your request, we assume the deputy constables acting as school resource officers remain as employees of a constable’s precinct. See Request Letter at 2–3 (explaining that the deputy constable positions are allocated and funded to the constable’s precinct and that the County is reimbursed by the independent school district for the cost of these positions); see also, e.g., BEXAR CNTY., TEX., BEXAR COUNTY FY 2024–2025 ADOPTED ANNUAL BUDGET 184 (2024), https://www.bexar.org/DocumentCenter/View/44495/Complete-FY-2024-25-Adopted-Budget- 286-MB-PDF (noting Precinct 3’s addition of a “Lead Deputy Constable . . . to oversee the deputies assigned as [s]chool [r]esource [o]fficers”) (“Bexar County Adopted Annual Budget”). Deputy constables are peace officers that have a statutory duty to “preserve the peace” within their jurisdiction. TEX. CODE. CRIM. PROC. arts. 2A.001(2), 2A.051(1); see also Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. KP-0445 (2023) at 5 (discussing duties of peace officers).

and (b) as they pertain to your request in addition to whether a qualifying reallocation implicates subsection 120.002(a)(2). 3

Subsection 120.002(a) specifies budgetary circumstances that require an election, and subsection 120.002(b) specifies when implementation of a budget is prohibited.

This office has recognized that “a commissioners court has broad discretion to set the budget for the county and . . . its various officers.” Id. at 1. But Local Government Code Chapter 120 may limit the budgetary discretion of a commissioners court in certain counties by requiring voter approval when, among other things, the commissioners court reduces the funding for certain law enforcement agencies or reallocates resources of a law enforcement agency. 4 Id. at 3.

Subsections 120.002(a) and (b) serve different purposes. The former plainly commands that “a county shall hold an election” under specific circumstances. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a); see also TEX. GOV’T CODE § 311.016(2) (“‘Shall’ imposes a duty.”). For example, an election is required when a county reduces the budget for law enforcement agencies “with primary responsibility for policing, criminal investigation, and answering calls for service” or reduces the number of peace officers for certain law enforcement agencies as compared to specified benchmarks from the prior fiscal year. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(1)(A)–(C). An election is also required when the county’s adopted budget “reallocates funding or resources to another law enforcement agency” when compared to the preceding fiscal year. Id. § 120.002(a)(2).

Subsection 120.002(b), on the other hand, provides that “[a] county may not implement a proposed reduction or reallocation described by [s]ubsection (a) until the county receives voter approval for the proposed reduction or reallocation at an election held for that purpose.” Id. § 120.002(b); see also TEX. GOV’T CODE § 311.016(5) (explaining “‘[m]ay not’ imposes a prohibition”). In sum, an election is required if subsection 120.002(a) applies. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a). But if the county adopts a budget that triggers the application of subsection 120.002(a), and no election is held, then subsection 120.002(b) prohibits implementation of that budget until voter approval is obtained. Id. § 120.002(b).

3 The Eighty-ninth Legislature passed a new law providing that (1) “[a] constable may enter into a contract with a local government, . . . to provide law enforcement services,” and (2) “[t]he commissioners court of a constable’s county may not prohibit or otherwise restrict the constable from entering into a contract under this section.” Act of Aug. 28, 2025, 89th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 12, § 2, 2025 Tex. Gen. Laws 4379, 4379–80 (codified at TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 86.026(a), (c)–(d)). But we offer no comment on these provisions given that they apply “only to a county with a population of more than 3.3 million,” id. (codified at TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 86.026(b)), and Bexar County falls below that threshold, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, https://data.census.gov/all?q=bexar+county+texas (last visited Aug. 20, 2026).

4 Chapter 120 applies to Bexar County because of its population size. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.001 (applying this chapter to counties with a population over 1.2 million); U.S. CENSUS BUREAU, https://data.census.gov/all?q=bexar+county+texas (noting a 2020 population of 2,009,324) (last visited Aug. 20, 2026).

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Reallocating deputy constables from one constable’s precinct to another requires an election under subsection 120.002(a)(2).

We examine subsection 120.002(a)’s language to answer whether it requires an election before a county can reallocate deputy constable positions to another precinct. Request Letter at 1, 4–5. This requires that we “give effect to the Legislature’s intent, ‘which we ascertain from the plain meaning of the words used in the statute.’” Brazos Elec. Power Coop., Inc. v. Tex. Comm’n on Env’t Quality, 576 S.W.3d 374, 383–84 (Tex. 2019) (quoting Sw. Royalties, Inc. v. Hegar, 500 S.W.3d 400, 404 (Tex. 2016)). In doing so, “[w]e ‘give meaning to every word in a statute, harmonizing each provision,’ while ‘consider[ing] the context and framework of the entire statute.’” Pub. Util. Comm’n of Tex. v. Luminant Energy Co., 691 S.W.3d 448, 460–61 (Tex. 2024) (alteration in original) (footnote and citation omitted). Statutory provisions should therefore not be considered in a “vacuum.” See EXLP Leasing, LLC v. Galveston Cent. Appraisal Dist., 554 S.W.3d 572, 582 (Tex. 2018). Chapter 120 does not define many of its terms. When a term is left undefined, we use its ordinary meaning within the context of the statute. Hogan v. Zoanni, 627 S.W.3d 163, 169 (Tex. 2021). “To determine a statutory term’s common, ordinary meaning, we typically look first to [its] dictionary definitions.” Tex. State Bd. of Exam’rs of Marriage & Fam. Therapists v. Tex. Med. Ass’n, 511 S.W.3d 28, 35 (Tex. 2017). We proceed cautiously in our construction because we do not want to deviate from the statute’s actual text, which represents “the truest manifestation of what legislators intended.” See Maxim Crane Works, L.P. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 642 S.W.3d 551, 557 (Tex. 2022) (quoting Alex Sheshunoff Mgmt. Servs., L.P. v. Johnson, 209 S.W.3d 644, 651 (Tex. 2006)).

This office has recognized that “a constable’s office is a law enforcement agency for purposes of chapter 120.” Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. KP-0445 (2023) at 4 (discussing the restrictions in subsection 120.002(a)(1)). 5 A constable’s office thus falls under subsection 120.002(a)(2). See id.; see also Tex. Student Hous. Auth. v. Brazos Cnty. Appraisal Dist., 460 S.W.3d 137, 141 (Tex. 2015) (instructing that “the truest manifestation of what lawmakers intended is what they enacted” which must be read “as a cohesive, contextual whole”). As noted above, subsection 120.002(a)(2) requires an election when a county, compared to the prior fiscal year’s budget, “reallocates funding or resources to another law enforcement agency.” TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(2). “Reallocate” means to “allocate in a different way” and “allocate” means to “distribute (resources or duties) for a particular purpose.” NEW OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY 43, 1453 (3d ed. 2010); see also, e.g., MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 33 (11th ed. 2003) (defining “allocate” as “to apportion for a specific purpose”). “Resource” means “a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.” NEW OXFORD AMERICAN DICTIONARY 1487 (3d ed. 2010); see also, e.g., MERRIAM-WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 1061 (11th ed. 2003) (defining “resource” as “a source of supply or support”). Each precinct’s constable office is a separate law enforcement agency. Cf. TEX. CONST. art. V, § 18(a) (providing for election of constables by precinct); Harris Cnty. v. Nagel, 349 S.W.3d 769, 794 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2011, pet. denied) (“[T]he

5 While we previously stated that “a constable’s duties . . . constitute policing, criminal investigation, and answering calls for service under subsection 120.002(a)(1),” we did not attempt to determine whether such duties are within a constable’s “primary” responsibility because that is a fact question we cannot resolve. Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. KP-0445 (2023) at 5–6.

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constable is the only official who has supervisory authority over the deputies and is responsible for their official conduct as a matter of state law.”); BEXAR CNTY., TEX., BEXAR COUNTY FY 2024– 2025 ADOPTED ANNUAL BUDGET at 173–89 (noting each constable precinct’s own budget and hierarchy). It follows that moving a deputy constable position from one precinct to another, without voter approval, would be a violation of subsection 120.002(a)(2). See TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(2); see also id. § 120.007(c)(1)(B) (referring to a reallocation from “the original law enforcement agency”).

The Bexar County Commissioner for Precinct 3 is incorrect to suggest otherwise. As you explain, the Commissioner believes these positions are exempt from subsection 120.002(a)(2) because they are not primarily responsible for “policing, criminal investigation, and responding to calls for service.” 6 Request Letter at 3–4. Yet subsection 120.002(a)(2) contains no such language; the “primary responsibility” of a “law enforcement agency” proves relevant only to subsection 120.002(a)(1). 7 Compare TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(1), with id. § 120.002(a)(2). “[W]hen the Legislature employs a term in one section of a statute and excludes it in another,” of course, “the term should not be implied where excluded.” City of Richardson v. Oncor Elec. Delivery Co., 539 S.W.3d 252, 260–61 (Tex. 2018) (quoting Laidlaw Waste Sys. (Dall.), Inc. v. City of Wilmer, 904 S.W.2d 656, 659 (Tex. 1995)); accord Cameron v. Terrell & Garrett, Inc., 618 S.W.2d 535, 540 (Tex. 1981). We are thus bound to observe the Legislature’s presumptively intentional distinction between subsections 120.002(a)(1) and (2), which not only “give[s] meaning to every word” but also proves consistent with the greater “context . . . of the entire statute.” Luminant Energy, 691 S.W.3d at 460–61 (first quoting Hogan, 627 S.W.3d at 175; and then quoting Cadena Comercial USA Corp. v. Tex. Alcoholic Beverage Comm’n, 518 S.W.3d 318, 326 (Tex. 2017)). Put simply, a qualifying reallocation of “funding or resources” from the constable’s office “to another law enforcement agency” would require an election—regardless of the law enforcement agency’s primary responsibility. TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(2).

6 See generally Brief from Hon. Grant Moody, Bexar Cnty. Comm’r Precinct 3, to Hon. Ken Paxton, Tex.

Att’y Gen. at 1 (rec’d May 8, 2025) (on file with the Op. Comm.).

7 Likewise, neither subsection 120.002(a)(1) or 120.002(a)(2) consider the primary responsibility of a specific position; subsection 120.002(a)(1) focuses on the “primary responsibility” of “a law enforcement agency.” TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE § 120.002(a)(1) (emphasis added).

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S U M M A R Y

For counties of the requisite population, Local Government Code section 120.002 generally prohibits a county commissioners court from adopting a budget for a fiscal year that reduces the funding or staffing for certain law enforcement agencies or reallocates resources of a law enforcement agency without voter approval. Reallocating resources from one constable’s office to another constable precinct would fall under subsection 120.002(a)(2) and require voter approval.

Very truly yours,

KEN PAXTON Attorney General of Texas

BRENT WEBSTER First Assistant Attorney General

RALPH MOLINA Deputy First Assistant Attorney General

D. FORREST BRUMBAUGH Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel

MICHAEL C. COTTON Chair, Opinion Committee

LEONEL V. MATA Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee