A guide to laws and new amendments to laws related to drivers education requirements in Texas.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Plumbing Code applicable to residential construction and related questions(RQ-0406-JC).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of a justice of the peace to sentence a juvenile to detention for contempt, and related questions (RQ-0408-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a member of a governed body that is located within the boundaries of the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District may serve as a member of the board of directors of the district (RQ-0423-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the state employee pay rise effective September 1,2002 applies to appellate court briefing attorneys and law clerks(RQ-0428-JC).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether new construction in an area of the state that is outside municipal jurisdiction may delay complying with the Texas Building Energy Performance Standards, chapter 388 of the Health and Safety Code, until September 1, 2002 (RQ-0430-JC)

The Endangered Species Act (ESA) provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior maintains a worldwide list which, as of Feb. 20, 2008, included 1574 endangered species (599 are plants) and 351 threatened species (148 are plants). Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles, mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and trees. Anyone can petition FWS to include a species on this list. The law requires federal agencies, in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, to ensure that actions they authorize, fund, or carry out are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated critical habitat of such species. The law also prohibits any action that causes a "taking" of any listed species of endangered fish or wildlife. Likewise, import, export, interstate, and foreign commerce of listed species are all generally prohibited.

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's findings on differences among the French, United Kingdom, and the United States forces concerning the assessment of Iraqi chemical and biological threats and the use of various countermeasures. GAO also discusses the extent of illness, as well as exposure, reported by each country's veterans, focusing on the results of population-based surveys of Gulf War veterans' exposure to chemicals, as well as drugs and vaccines to guard against warfare agents. This testimony summarized the April 2001 report (GAO-01-13)."

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A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO, the Institute of Medicine, and others have cited weaknesses in the Defense Department's (DOD) medical surveillance during the Gulf War and Operation Joint Endeavor. DOD was unable to collect, maintain, and transfer accurate data on the movement of troops, potential exposures to health risks, and medical incidents during deployment in the Gulf war. DOD improved its medical surveillance system under Operation Joint Endeavor, providing useful information to military commanders and medical personnel. However, GAO found several problems with this system. For example, incomplete or inaccurate information related to service members' health and deployment status. DOD's has not established a single, comprehensive electronic system to document, archive, and access medical surveillance data. DOD has begun several initiatives to improve the reliability of deployment information and to enhance its information technology capabilities, but some initiatives are several years away from full implementation. Nonetheless, these efforts reflect a commitment by DOD to establish a comprehensive medical surveillance system. The ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs to fulfill its role in serving veterans and providing backup to DOD in times of war will be enhanced as DOD …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the appropriateness of a termination of a 1997 request by the Indian Health Services (IHS) for proposals to provide computed tomographic scanning services for the Blackfeet and Crow Service Units in Montana. GAO found no indication that IHS negotiated in bad faith. GAO's Office of Special Investigations had looked into the case in December 1998. GAO determined that the case was not within the scope of ongoing work and referred the case to the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). A June 1999 report by the OIG concluded that the allegations were unwarranted."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1994, the CALFED Delta-Bay and Central Valley Project Improvement Act has provided more than $63 million to buy private lands in California for wetlands mitigation and wildlife enhancement. Federal agencies and nonprofit organizations have acquired 101,800 acres--94,300 acres in full ownership and 7,500 acres in partial interest or easements that restrict how land may be used. The three federal agencies and nonprofit organization GAO reviewed use the Uniform Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions for appraisals. All the entities developed and used supplemental appraisal guidance, which was generally consistent across the entities. The agencies and nonprofit organization used similar methodologies with one exception. The National Resources Conservation Service does not consider the land's residual value when making its appraisals as specified in the Uniform Standards."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Since GAO issued its November 2001 report (GAO-02-182R) on the new Washington Convention Center, the Washington Convention Center Authority (WCCA) and the construction manager have made significant progress in their negotiations to reset the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP). The two parties have agreed on the two most critical components of the GMP proposal: price and time frames for completing the new convention center. A special meeting of WCCA's board of directors has been scheduled for early to mid-February to review and officially act on the proposed GMP agreement. The revised GMP amount of $590.7 million represents a $71.3 million, or 13.7 percent, increase over the estimated GMP amount of $519.4 million cited in GAO's report."

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether section 2001.556 of the Occupations Code prohibits a revenue-share leasing agreement between a manufacturer of bingo equipment and a distributor of bingo equipment (RQ-0417-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a driver who falls asleep and drives off the road has committed an offense under section 545.060(a) of the Transportation Code (RQ-0421-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether constitutional county law judges who try misdemeanor criminal matters are entitled to participate in the management of community supervision and corrections departments under section 76.002 of the Government Code (RQ-0433-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the Texas Lottery Commission is authorized to approve or disapprove secondary components or features of an electronic bingo cardminding device unrelated to the game of bingo that allow a player to play various games, such as video poker, during a bingo occasion, and related questions (RQ-0383-JC)

Article draft and resources created for a piece on Asian festivals across Texas that was written for the February 2002 issue of Texas Highways magazine.

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-03-673G, Government Auditing Standards: 2003 Revision, June 2003. This guide discusses revised government auditing standards for auditors and audit organizations when required by law, regulation, agreement, contract, or policy. The standards pertain to auditors' professional qualifications, the quality of audit effort, and the characteristics of professional and meaningful audit reports."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-03-673G, Government Auditing Standards: 2003 Revision, June 2003. GAO presented a guide on revised government auditing standards to audit officials and others interested in government auditing standards. The standards require auditors to (1) not perform management functions or make management decisions and (2) not audit their own work or provide nonaudit services in situations in which the amounts or services involved are significant/material to the subject matter of the audit."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This journal of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) includes articles regarding (1) INTOSAI's 17th International Congress gathering in Seoul, Korea from October 20-27, 2002; (2) The Global Forum on Fighting Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity II, held May 28-31, 2001, in The Hague; and (3) activities within INTOSAI."