The Rolling Stones offered the following advice: “You can’t always get what you want, but you just might get what you need.” A recent Opinion from the Attorney General provides insight into the authority of county officers to enforce weight limitations on state highways and county roads.
In AG Opinion KP-0458 (2024), Attorney General Ken Paxton held that a deputy sheriff could not operate a fixed commercial vehicle weigh station directing all commercial vehicles to exit a state highway to be weighed, except in counties where the legislature has specifically granted such authority to the county. In all other cases, a county officer must have a “reasonable suspicion” of an excess load (such as an observation of the load status) before stopping and weighing a vehicle on a state highway. The Opinion provides five pages of analysis to support this limitation on the authority of county officers on state highways. Thus, the Opinion confirms that a deputy sheriff does not have unfettered authority to stop all trucks on a state highway, except in certain counties. A deputy sheriff must have “a reason to believe that a vehicle’s weight is unlawful” to stop the vehicle on a state highway.
However, footnotes in the Opinion confirm specific authority granted to deputy sheriffs on county roads in other statutes. In footnote 4, p. 2, the Opinion addresses the question of whether a deputy sheriff must be certified to perform weight officer duties. The Opinion states that “a deputy sheriff is expressly named a weight enforcement officer by subsection 621.401(3) with no further certification or designation required, unlike some other officers named in the statute.” This distinguishes a deputy sheriff from police officers who are required to obtain certification.
Also, in footnote 5, p. 3, the Opinion clarifies that Section 251.153, Transportation Code provides that the Commissioners Court “may authorize a county traffic officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or deputy constable to weigh a vehicle to ascertain whether the vehicle’s load exceeds the limit prescribed by the Commissioners Court.” Under this separate authority, it appears that a deputy sheriff may operate a fixed weigh station and weigh all vehicles on a county road to enforce county weight limits.
Although Section 251.153 authorizes deputy constables to enforce county weight limits, Attorney General Opinion KP-0245 (2019) held that deputy constables must be certified to perform weight enforcement duties since they are not separately identified as “weight enforcement officers” under Chapter 621, Transportation Code.
In summary, although a deputy sheriff cannot operate a fixed weigh station on a state highway, a deputy sheriff is not required to obtain certification and can weigh any vehicle on a county road. A deputy constable can also weigh vehicles on a county road but must receive certification.
