Randall County has recently agreed to sell naming rights for a county building to a local bank. Does anyone have a contract for naming rights they can share? I'm sure there are a number of issues I have yet to realize and I hope there are smarter people (well, okay, I know there are smarter people) who have already flagged the land mines.

Can a county even do this? Attorney General opinion GA-0158 (2004) held that a county did not have the authority to sell advertising space on county vehicles. Am I wrong in thinking that this would also apply to the name of a building? Has there been a change in the law since that opinion was issued?

Subchapter F of chapter 263, Local Government Code, now provides explicit authority for counties to lease space on real property (including buildings) and vehicles for advertising. I suppose that could be extended to the name on the front of the building as long as the statute's award procedures are followed.

Section 263.251. Thanks; I wasn't aware of that.

Nothing gets my heart racing faster than a response citing authority contrary to what I just told my commissioners they could do. There is nothing like those moments when I'm forced to ask myself "you did research that, didn't you"? Thanks, Scott, for keeping the moment brief.