Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0826 Page: 2 of 3
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Representative Chuck Hopson - Page 2
(defining "business entity" for purpose of the chapter); cf. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-003 1 (2003)
at 2 (determining for similar reasons that a school district is not a "business entity" under chapter
171). While Texas Attorney General Opinion DM-267 specifically concerned a Texas city, you have
not provided any information that would indicate that the status of an Arkansas city would be
different. Cf Jones v. Am. Home Life Ins. Co., 738 S.W.2d 387, 389 (Ark. 1987) (stating that
Arkansas "[m]unicipalities are creatures of the legislature and as such have only the power bestowed
upon them by statute or the Arkansas Constitution"). Because it does not appear that an Arkansas
city is a "business entity" under chapter 171 of the Local Government Code, we do not consider the
chapter further.
Next, we consider the common-law doctrine of incompatibility, which has three
aspects-self-appointment, self-employment, and conflicting loyalties incompatibility. See Tex.
Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0786 (2010) at 1. You ask only about self-employment incompatibility. The
self-employment aspect of the doctrine prohibits a person from holding both an office and an
employment that the office supervises. Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0738 (2009) at 2. As we
recently observed, "[t]he fundamental consideration under the self-employment aspect is the
supervision of the subordinate employment by the office." Id.; see also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No.
GA-0536 (2007) at 4 (stating that "the key aspect of self-employment incompatibility is
supervision"); Tex. Att'y Gen. LO-97-034, at 1 (self-employment incompatibility precludes a city
commissioner from serving in the same city's fire department because the commissioner "is in the
direct chain of supervision over a member of the fire department"). While you inform us about the
potential effects of Arkansas municipal pay-parity ordinances, how Texarkana, Arkansas
compensates its employees is a matter for that city to decide. You do not suggest that the Texas city
council supervises employees of the Arkansas municipal fire department. As a general principle, the
self-employment aspect of the Texas common-law doctrine of incompatibility does not apply to
preclude a person from serving simultaneously in two positions when neither position directly or
ultimately supervises the other. See, e.g., Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. Nos. GA-0786 (2010) at 2 (self-
employment incompatibility inapplicable to positions of special utility district board member and
college trustee), GA-0766 (2010) at 1 (self-employment incompatibility inapplicable to positions of
school district trustee and city manager), GA-0688 (2009) at 1 (self-employment incompatibility
inapplicable to positions of independent school district police chief and city council member).(GA-0826)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0826, text, December 1, 2010; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275722/m1/2/: accessed June 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.