ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

May 7, 2014 

The Honorable Joe C. Pickett Opinion No. GA-l 056 

Chair, Committee on Homeland Security 

& Public Safety 

Texas House of Representatives 

Post Office Box 291 0 

Re: Whether section 720.002 of the 

Transportation Code prohibits a political 

subdivision or state agency from requiring 

peace officers to issue a certain number of 

warning citations (RQ-1164-GA) 

Austin, Texas 78768-2910 

Dear Representative Pickett: 

You ask whether section 720.002 of the Transportation Code prohibits a political 

subdivision or state agency from requiring peace officers to issue a certain number of warning 

citations. 1 Section 720.002, in relevant part, provides that 

(a) A political subdivision or an agency of this state may not 

establish or maintain, formally or informally, a plan to evaluate, 

promote, compensate, or discipline: 

(1) a peace officer according to the officer's issuance of a 

predetermined or specified number of any type or 

combination of types of traffic citations; 

(b) A political subdivision or an agency of this state may not 

require or suggest to a peace officer, ... : 

(1) that the peace officer is required or expected to issue a 

predetermined number or specified number of any type or 

1 See Letter from Hon. Joe C. Pickett, House Comm. on Homeland Sec. & Pub. Safety, Tex. to Hon. Greg 

Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at 2 (Nov. 8, 2013), http://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opin ("Request Letter"). 
The Honorable Joe C. Pickett - Page 2 (GA-1056) 

combination of types of traffic citations within a specified 

period; 

TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 720.002(a), (b) (West 2011). Your two questions seek a 

determination about whether subsections (a)(l) and (b)(l) are violated when a political 

subdivision or state agency requires or suggests that its peace officers issue a predetermined 

number of traffic warnings or establishes a plan to evaluate, promote, compensate or discipline 

its peace officers according to the officers' issuance of a predetermined number of traffic 

warnings. Request Letter at 2. The answer to your questions is dependent on the scope of the 

term "traffic citations" in section 720.002. 

Legislative intent is best drawn from the plain meaning of the words chosen by the 

Legislature. Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers, 282 S.W.3d 433, 437 (Tex. 2009). When 

statutory terms are undefined, the Code Construction Act directs that words and phrases are to be 

read in context and construed according to the rules of grammar and common usage. TEX. 

Gov'T CODE ANN.§ 311.011(a) (West 2013). Moreover, "[w]hen the Legislature defines a term 

in one statute and uses the same term in relation to the same subject matter in a later statute, it 

will be presumed that the latter use of the term is in the same sense as previously defined." 

Brookshire v. Houston lndep. Sch. Dist., 508 S.W.2d 675, 677-78 (Tex. Civ. App.-Houston 

[14th Dist.] 1974, no writ). 

Though section 720.002 does not define the term "traffic citation," the Transportation 

Code defines the term "citation" in another, previously adopted, section that directly relates to 

traffic violations. In chapter 703 of the Transportation Code, also known as the Nonresident 

Violator Compact of 1977, a citation is "any summons, ticket, or other official document issued 

by a police officer for a traffic violation containing an order which requires the motorist to 

respond." TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. § 703.002, art. II, § (b)(l) (West 2011); see also Burrage v. 

Hunt Prod. Co., 114 S.W.2d 1228, 1239 (Tex. Civ. App.-Dallas 1938, writ dism'd) (defining 

the term "citation" in a general legal sense to mean "the summons by which a defendant is 

notified to appear in the action"). A court asked to construe the term "traffic citations" in section 

720.002 could decide to adopt the chapter 703 definition of "citation," which requires three 

elements: (1) a "summons, ticket or other official document," (2) a traffic violation, and (3) an 

order requiring the motorist to respond. 

You do not indicate the precise nature of the warnings about which you ask. We are 

advised that it is not uncommon for warnings to be given verbally.2 And even a written warning 

2

Brief from Alyssa Perez, Staff Att'y, Combined Law Enforcement Ass'ns of Tex. at I (Dec. 4, 2013) (on 

file with the Op. Comm.). 
The Honorable Joe C. Pickett - Page 3 (GA-1056) 

is unlikely to contain an order for the motorist to respond. Thus, a traffic warning likely does not 

include all three elements of the chapter 703 definition of "citation." A court employing that 

definition would conclude that a traffic warning does not amount to a traffic citation and is 

therefore not subject to the prohibition in section 720.002. 

While a court construing section 720.002 could adopt the chapter 703 definition of 

"citation," a court could also adopt a more expansive interpretation of section 720.002's 

prohibitions. Section 720.002's prohibitions broadly encompass "any" type or combination of 

types of traffic citations. See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN.§ 720.002(a)(1), (b)(1) (West 2011). The 

unqualified breadth of the word "any" could be understood to suggest that the prohibition must 

include traffic warnings as well as traditional citations. See AM. HERITAGE COLL. DICTIONARY 

64 (4th ed. 2002) (defining "any" to mean "One, some, every, or all without specification"); City 

of Waco v. Kelly, 309 S.W.3d 536, 542 (Tex. 2010) (stating that statutory construction involves 

examination of the Legislature's words in the context of the statute as a whole and not in 

isolation). Moreover, one apparent purpose of section 720.002 is to prohibit political 

subdivisions from using quotas or similar means to require or encourage police officers to take 

action in response to traffic violations. Interpreting section 720.002 to permit political 

subdivisions to impose traffic warning quotas or to evaluate a police officer based on the number 

of traffic warnings the officer issues would undermine that statutory purpose. See In re Allen, 

366 S.W.3d 696, 708 (Tex. 2012) (orig. proceeding) (noting that a court's task is to "effectuate 

the Legislature's intent" and adopt the interpretation that is most faithful to the statute's plain 

text). On this basis, a court could decline to adopt the narrow construction of the term "traffic 

citation" discussed above, instead concluding that the term must be broadly construed to include 

traffic warnings. If interpreted along these lines, section 720.002 would prohibit political 

subdivisions from taking the actions described in your questions. 

While we cannot determine definitively the scope of section 720.002, under any 

interpretation of the statute, a quota on warnings that is effectively used to suggest or implement 

a quota on traffic citations is in violation of section 720.002. 
The Honorable Joe C. Pickett - Page 4 (GA-1056) 

SUMMARY 

A court could conclude that only a warning that consists of 

a summons, ticket or other official document, a traffic violation, 

and an order requiring the motorist to respond is likely to be 

considered a traffic citation subject to the prohibition in section 

720.002 of the Transportation Code. A court could also conclude 

that the text and purpose of section 720.002 require the term 

"traffic citation" to be construed broadly to include traffic 

warnings. We cannot definitively determine whether the 

prohibitions of section 720.002 encompass traffic warnings. 

DANIEL T. HODGE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

JAMES D. BLACKLOCK 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Charlotte M. Harper 

Very truly yours, 

EG ABBOTT 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee