AG Ken Paxton has issued an opinion stating that constables lack “authority to employ an automated traffic enforcement system to issue speeding citations by mail” under statute and court precedent. The opinion points to prohibitions against using automated systems in other areas of statute, noting that “the Legislature’s silence regarding constables should not be mistaken as permission” and that constables, as county officers, possess powers only granted in “express words” or “necessarily and fairly implied in an express grant.” The opinion also points to Texas Transportation Code Chapter 543, which details constable authority to issue citations and does “not countenance the use of an automated traffic-enforcement system to issue citations by mail.”
For more information, please see AG Paxton’s opinion here and the request for opinion here.
