On October 3, 2016, the Texas Attorney General released Opinion KP-0115 (2016) on “Under what circumstances Texas courts afford deference to agency interpretations of statutes.”
The summary to the opinion states:
“Texas state courts consider deferring to an agency's interpretation of a statute only when the agency adopts the construction as a formal rule or opinion after formal proceedings. Even when the agency has formally adopted a construction, a state court will defer to that construction only upon finding that ambiguity exists in the statute at issue and that the agency's construction is reasonable and consistent with the statute's plain language.”
To read the Opinion, click on the link below.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/51paxton/op/2016/kp0115.pdf