Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0706 Page: 1 of 3
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
GREG ABBOTT
April 8, 2009
The Honorable Bill Moore Opinion No. GA-0706
Johnson County Attorney
Guinn Justice Center Re: Authority of a commissioners court to lease
204 South Buffalo Avenue, Suite 410 county property to a non-profit organization for
Cleburne, Texas 76033-5404 less than fair market value (RQ-0756-GA)
Dear Mr. Moore:
You tell us that the Johnson County Commissioners Court, after following the bidding
procedures in section 263.007, Local Government Code, leased county-owned office space to two
non-profit organizations.' You inform us that the leases to the two organizations provide, among
other things, for rental of $1.00 per year to Johnson County, which the commissioners court
recognizes is less than fair market value. See Request Letter at 2. You ask whether the county can
"lease county owned office space to a private non-profit organization for less than fair market value
and remain in compliance with the competitive bidding procedures of [section] 263.007 of the Texas
Local Government Code when no statutory exception to [section] 263.007 exists[.]" Id. at 1.
Section 263.007 authorizes a county commissioners court to adopt a competitive sealed-bid
or sealed-proposal procedure for the sale or lease of county-owned property. See TEX. Loc. GOV'T
CODE ANN. 263.007(a) (Vernon Supp. 2008). Only subsection 263.007(c), which applies solely
to the sale of property, expressly refers to fair market value. That subsection requires a
commissioners court, "[b]efore selling property under this section ... [to,] (1) obtain an appraisal
of the property's fair market value; and (2) determine a minimum bid amount, based on the
appraisal." Id. 263.007 (emphasis added). The requirements of subsection 263.007(c) do not apply
to the leasing of property. Further, section 263.007 does not expressly prohibit the acceptance
of a bid that is for an amount less than fair market value in connection with a lease. Compare id
263.007, with id. 263.002(c) (Vernon 2005) (prohibiting specified property from being sold or
leased for less than the reported fair market value or fair lease value); cf id. 272.005(b)(2) (Vernon
Supp. 2008) (authorizing lease of property by one political subdivision to another for less than fair
market value to promote and maintain political subdivision's public purpose). The acceptance of
a bid under section 263.007 is a matter the statute leaves to the reasonable discretion of the
commissioners court in the first instance, subject to judicial review. See Comm 'rs Court of Titus
County v. Agan, 940 S.W.2d 77, 80 (Tex. 1997) (recognizing district court's supervisory control over'See Request Letter at 2 (available at http://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov).
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0706, text, April 8, 2009; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275602/m1/1/: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.