On March 31, 2015, the Texas Attorney General released Opinion KP-0011 (2015) on "Whether a public school district may expend funds for the management of county school lands to determine if a lessee of a mineral estate is fulfilling its duty to explore and develop the mineral estate.”
The summary to the opinion states:
“The Texas Supreme Court has concluded that article VII, section 6 of the Texas Constitution requires the county to pay out of its own funds any expenses incurred in fulfilling the county's constitutional duties as trustee of county school lands. Thus, a court could have reason to conclude that a school district's allocation of funds to determine if a lessee is exploring and developing the mineral estate on county school lands is not necessary and therefore not authorized under section 45.105 of the Education Code. A county commissioners court acts as sole trustee of the county school lands for the benefit of the public schools in the county. The commissioners court may not delegate its trustee responsibilities to the school districts in the county. Selling county school lands for a nominal fee to the county school districts would be inconsistent with the trustees' duty to manage the property as a prudent investor would.”
To read the Opinion, click on the link below.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/51paxton/op/2015/kp0011.pdf