Advisory Opinions issued by the Texas Ethics Commission and the State Ethics Advisory Commission (1984 opinions)
Advisory opinions are official Commission responses to questions regarding the application of law to specific existing or hypothetical factual situations. Advisory opinions can only answer questions about laws within the jurisdiction of the Commission, as specified in Section 571.091 of the Texas Government Code. Any person subject to these laws may request an advisory opinion, if the question presented is about the application of these laws to the requestor. A requestor may not ask for an advisory opinion about someone else’s activities.
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The Texas Ethics Commission has issued advisory opinions considering specific situations regarding restrictions on the personal use of political contributions.This link provides a list of past advisory opinions on this topic, with a brief description of the situations considered in each advisory opinion. If your situation is not on the list, do not assume that it is permissible. If in doubt, call the Ethics Commission’s Legal Division at 512-463-5800.
View these Opinions
To request an advisory opinion, submit your request to the Commission by using the link below. To qualify as a request for an advisory opinion, it must be in writing, must provide sufficient detail to permit the Commission to provide a response, and must not be answerable by reference to the plain language of a statute, Commission rule, or previous advisory opinion. If a request does not qualify for an advisory opinion, Commission staff will either notify the requestor of the specific deficiencies or provide an informal answer to the requestor.
If a request meets the requirements for seeking an advisory opinion, then Commission staff will draft a proposed advisory opinion for consideration by the Commissioners. An advisory opinion can only be issued by a vote of the Commissioners during a public meeting. Adoption of an advisory opinion requires the vote of five Commissioners. If fewer than five Commissioners vote to approve a draft, then Commission staff will send the requestor a letter stating that the Commission was unable to approve an advisory opinion.
Email your advisory opinion requests to opinions@ethics.state.tx.us.