KEY QUESTION:
Can the commissioners
court accept donations
to the county?
REFERENCE POINTS:
Texas Local Government
Code Section 81.032
TALKING POINTS:
- Commissioners courts may accept a gift, grant, donation, bequest, or form of money or other property on behalf of the county for the purpose of performing a function conferred by law on the county or a county officer.
- A related question addresses conditions attached to a donation. According to Attorney General Opinion GA-0562 issued in 2007, if the county accepts a donation with an attached condition, the donation may not be used for any other purpose. The opinion states, “We conclude that if a commissioners court accepts funds that were donated on condition that they be used to compensate the district attorney’s employees, but uses the funds for an inconsistent purpose, the commissioners court risks revocation of the donated funds.”