Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0358 Page: 1 of 3
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT
September 20, 2005
The Honorable Jane Nelson, Chair Opinion No. GA-0358
Committee on Health and Human Services
Texas State Senate Re: Whether the legislature, in the absence of a
Post Office Box 12068 constitutional amendment, may authorize the
Austin, Texas 78711-2068 creation of county gaming districts on a local
option basis to administer a state video lottery
(RQ-0332-GA)
Dear Senator Nelson:
You ask whether a bill, proposed but not enacted during the regular session of the Seventy-
ninth Legislature, would have been effective in the absence of a constitutional amendment.' Senate
Bill 1326 sought, by adding chapter 328 to the Local Government Code, to authorize the creation
of county gaming districts on a local option basis to administer a state video lottery. See Tex. S.B.
1326, 79th Leg., R.S. (2005).
Article III, section 47(a) of the Texas Constitution requires the legislature to "pass laws
prohibiting lotteries and gift enterprises." TEX. CONST. art. III, 47(a). In the 1980s, the legislature
proposed and the voters approved three amendments to article III, section 47 that permitted the
operation of bingo games and charitable raffles by specific religious and nonprofit organizations.
See id. 47(b)-(d). In 1991 the electorate adopted an amendment that permits the legislature to
"authorize the State to operate lotteries and [to] authorize the State to enter into a contract with one
or more legal entities that will operate lotteries on behalf of the State." See id. 47(e); Tex. Att'y
Gen. Op. No. GA-0103 (2003) at 4-7.
In Attorney General Opinion GA-0103, this office was asked to determine "whether the
Texas Legislature may authorize the operation of video lottery terminals without an amendment
to the Texas Constitution." Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0103 (2003) at 2. The opinion first
considered the historical meaning of the term "lottery" under article III, section 47(a) of the
constitution. See TEX. CONST. art. III, 47(a) (requiring the legislature to "pass laws prohibiting
lotteries and gift enterprises"). On the basis of long-standing decisions of the Texas Supreme Court
'Letter from Honorable Jane Nelson, Chair, Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, to Honorable
Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General (Mar. 10, 2005) (on file with Opinion Committee, also available at
http://www.oag.state.tx.us).
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0358, text, September 20, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275254/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.