Connecticut Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Connecticut, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Could Connecticut contract for direct office supply delivery while a law kept its central warehouse open?
The AG said a proposed direct delivery contract did not itself violate the law requiring Connecticut’s central warehouse to remain open through the fiscal year. He found the existing award form…
Were Connecticut education payments for blind students mandatory or discretionary?
Under the 1995 statute, the AG read the state’s reimbursement for eligible blind or visually impaired students’ instruction as mandatory up to the stated annual limit. He read the separate spending…
Could a Connecticut funeral home invest prepaid funeral escrow money in life insurance?
The AG said a prepaid funeral escrow could invest in a genuine life insurance contract only if its quality, safety and expense were comparable to the statute’s listed deposit and bond investments.…
Could Connecticut agencies treat an outpatient’s private trustee account as an institutional activity fund?
The AG said three Connecticut human services departments could not operate trustee accounts for individual outpatients as institutional activity funds. The cited statute concerned funds benefiting…
Could a Connecticut town with fewer than 2,500 residents have its first package store?
The AG said Connecticut could issue a first package store permit in Bozrah despite its population below 2,500, because the town had not voted to ban package stores. The population ratio governed…
Could a registered Connecticut broker-dealer hold prepaid funeral money in escrow without another license?
The AG concluded that the Connecticut-registered corporate broker-dealer in the request was authorized to serve as an escrow agent for prepaid funeral contracts. It still needed a Banking…
Could Connecticut move excess unemployment administration money to cover future federal funding gaps?
The AG found the Labor Department’s annual transfer of amounts above $500,000 from its special unemployment administration fund lawful under the statute as amended in 1982. The administrator’s…
Did an inmate’s old good-time discharge date require automatic parole or community release?
The AG said inmates sentenced for crimes covered by the 1994 good-time change were not automatically paroled or transferred to community supervision on the date they formerly would have been…
Were seven Connecticut Employees’ Review Board appointments valid without assigned statutory terms?
The AG concluded that all seven 1995 Employees’ Review Board appointment letters were nullities because they did not identify which statutory term each person would fill. Four appointees also lacked…
Did a Connecticut first selectperson who performed police functions need police training?
The AG said a first selectperson empowered to perform police functions had to complete a basic training course prescribed by the Municipal Police Training Council. He declined to decide whether a…
Could UConn share employees and computer services with its fundraising foundation?
The AG said UConn could have its employees work under its foundation’s direction for fundraising, with required approval for foundation-paid compensation. The foundation could use university…
Would a Connecticut casino study commission end tribal video gaming payments to the state?
The AG said proposed Senate Bill No. 158, which would create a commission to study gaming, would not itself authorize another casino or release the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe from its video gaming…
Could Connecticut’s insurance board pay for a surety bond the treasurer bought directly?
The AG found that the State Insurance Purchasing Board lacked authority to pay the premium for a surety bond the Treasurer’s Office had bought through its own agent. The bond seller’s route for…
Could a Connecticut landlord deny a telecommunications provider access before state access regulations took effect?
The Attorney General concluded that owners of covered commercial and residential rental buildings could deny providers access until regulations implementing Public Act 94-106 were adopted, including…
Did an acting Connecticut department head have to take an oath before exercising office powers?
The AG said a temporary department-head designate had to take the state constitutional oath before exercising office powers. He treated designates’ earlier unsworn acts as valid under the de facto…
Could a Connecticut legislator force a borough to survey a disputed boundary?
The AG said an individual General Assembly member could not force a borough to survey its boundary. He identified a court petition procedure for disputes between municipalities but referred the…
Did Connecticut’s nonprofit Student Loan Foundation have to open its records and meetings under FOIA?
The AG said the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation was a public agency for FOIA purposes despite its nonprofit corporate form. Its statutory creation, educational function, public funding and…
Did Connecticut towns have to audit contractor payrolls and confine state-contract employment rules to one grant project?
The AG answered several audit questions. The cited payroll amendment required municipalities to receive certified contractor payrolls, not routinely test them. The single-audit public-hospital…
Could Connecticut regulate boxing matches on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation or provide event services there?
The AG said Connecticut could not impose its civil boxing regulations on Mashantucket Pequot reservation events. State participation had been voluntary, and the cited Employment Rights Act barred…
Could Connecticut pay overdue reimbursements for blind students even if checks issued this year exceeded the annual cap?
The AG said the Board of Education and Services for the Blind could pay towns overdue special education reimbursements in a year when aggregate checks exceeded the annual statutory limit, provided…
Could Connecticut review a new FM antenna on an older cable television tower despite FCC control of radio interference?
The AG said adding an FM antenna to an existing cable television tower was a physical modification the Connecticut Siting Council could regulate, even though the tower predated the council’s…
Did a student-funded UConn radio tower count as a state tower for Connecticut siting review?
The AG concluded that WHUS’s proposed radio tower fell within the Siting Council’s jurisdiction as a state-owned or state-operated tower. Although student activity fees funded WHUS, UConn held the…
Could good-time credits shorten supervision for Connecticut crimes committed after October 1994?
The AG said a 1993 act required people convicted of crimes committed on or after October 1, 1994 to remain under correctional or parole supervision until their full maximum sentence expired. Pre-…
Would Connecticut’s proposed workplace safety committees violate federal labor law?
The AG concluded that Connecticut’s proposed safety committee regulations did not violate the National Labor Relations Act as structured to avoid employee representation. He said parts of the draft…
Was physician ownership of a pharmacy fee-splitting when no dividends were paid?
The AG said a pre-July 1993 pharmacy stock interest could violate the fee-splitting ban without dividends if patient use increased the physician’s stock value or reduced losses. A separate 1993 law…
Could Connecticut release state employees’ home addresses from a payroll file under FOI?
The AG did not decide an actual records request. He said a broad request for all state employee home addresses could justify notice to affected employees before release, and any privacy exemption…
Was Mobil a third party or responsible operator for cleanup of leaking state-owned fuel tanks?
The AG said Mobil operated the underground tanks at its franchised state-leased stations despite not owning them. For the leak costs described, it was a responsible party rather than a third-party…
Did a Connecticut rental car agency need a gasoline seller license for refueling customers’ cars?
Yes. The AG said a Connecticut car rental agency selling or offering gasoline to customers had to obtain a gasoline seller license, including when it refueled a car returned below the required fuel…
Could Connecticut’s justices of the peace stay in office and fill vacancies during the 1994 transition?
The AG said a 1994 law validly extended serving justices of the peace until January 1995 despite an earlier federal court deadline. It did not allow vacancies to be filled during the transition,…
Could a town use its four-year public investment status to join a Connecticut enterprise corridor?
Yes. The AG said a municipality’s four-year continuation as a public investment community under the grant law counted when deciding whether it qualified to join an enterprise corridor zone.
Did Connecticut have to negotiate treatment-center payment rates after the CACCA ruling?
No. The AG said the CACCA ruling did not require the state to negotiate residential treatment center rates. The agencies calculated a per diem under the single cost accounting system, and payment…
Did a 1994 Connecticut law make chronic hospital property grants payable for 1993–94?
Yes. After a new law expressly applied the chronic disease hospital grant provision to fiscal 1993–94, the AG said those grants could begin with that year and that his earlier May 24 opinion was…
Could Connecticut’s judicial selection panel use a judge’s earlier interview statements at a reappointment hearing?
Yes. The AG said the Judicial Selection Commission could introduce relevant statements from a judge’s earlier interview at a reappointment hearing, whether closed or opened at the judge’s request. A…
Could Connecticut’s Historical Commission open gift shops at state historic properties?
The AG said the Historical Commission’s property statute authorized reasonable visitation fees but did not authorize gift shops or other general commercial activity to fund site operations.
Could Connecticut’s tax review committee waive a penalty the tax commissioner refused to waive?
No. The AG said the tax review committee could approve or ratify a penalty waiver the revenue commissioner chose to grant, but had no power to waive a penalty itself after the commissioner declined.
Was a telephone contractor liable when state-owned equipment was stolen from its locked truck?
The AG said the contractor holding UConn’s equipment owed reasonable care as a bailee. On the stated facts, a locked truck was stolen while parked on university property, and he found no evidence…
Did Connecticut gun dealers need possession certificates for assault weapons held before October 1993?
Yes. The AG said licensed gun dealers had to apply for certificates for assault weapons lawfully possessed before October 1, 1993, by the amended October 1, 1994 deadline. The law had no general…
Could Connecticut’s Sheriffs’ Advisory Board fund a sheriff’s defense after the AG refused?
No. The AG said the Sheriffs’ Advisory Board lacked power to fund the individual defense of sheriffs or deputies after the Attorney General determined that a state-financed defense was…
Could Connecticut substance abuse programs share patient names with a state data system?
The AG said state-operated treatment facilities could share patient data internally for treatment and with their central office for specified management uses. Separate programs generally needed…
Could a Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority employee also serve in the legislature?
Yes. The AG said a Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority employee could remain in that job after election to the General Assembly. CRRA was a distinct public corporation, not a state department,…
Did a Connecticut state grant force a town-owned beach club to admit nonresidents?
The AG said the urban development grant statute itself did not require East Haven to admit nonresidents to a beach club bought with state funds. The administering agency could, however, put an…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 chronic hospital tax grant change the 1993–94 municipal payment?
This May 1994 opinion initially excluded free-standing chronic disease hospital property from the 1993–94 grant. A later 1994 act applied the grant provision retroactively, and the AG expressly…
Who covered Connecticut workers’ compensation claims after an insurer became insolvent?
The AG said Connecticut’s insurance guaranty association, not the Second Injury Fund, bore liability for covered workers’ compensation claims after an insurer’s insolvency. CIGA provided up to 30…
Could Connecticut’s governor sign the 1994 Mohegan gaming compact without a legislative vote?
The AG said existing Connecticut statutes let the governor execute the 1994 Mohegan gaming compact and video-game memorandum without submitting the compact for legislative approval. Separate parts…
Would Connecticut’s proposed hospital tax and revenue cap have been preempted by ERISA?
The AG thought a proposed Connecticut hospital gross earnings tax and aggregate net revenue cap should withstand an ERISA preemption challenge. He stressed that the law was unsettled and litigation…
Could one Connecticut hospital get a second chronic disease license for its rehab unit?
No. The AG said a single Connecticut institution could not receive two chronic disease hospital licenses for different portions of the same facility. Its existing license already covered…
Could Connecticut off-track betting outlets take wagers on jai alai matches?
No. The AG said the off-track betting statute then authorized wagers on races, while Connecticut law treated jai alai as a separate game. Adding jai alai to off-track betting required legislative action.
Did a Hutterian community’s assets or medical support obligations affect members’ Medicaid benefits?
The AG did not decide whether Hutterian Brethren members qualified for Medicaid or whether the corporation owed their medical expenses. He said more facts were needed on income allocation, asset…
Could Connecticut DOT hire consultants on call without violating its selection law?
Yes. The AG said Connecticut’s consultant selection statutes governed how DOT chose consultants, but did not bar contracts for services needed on call. He treated a “project” as a particular work…
Could a Connecticut advanced practice nurse prescribe medication in private practice in 1994?
The AG said advanced practice registered nurses could prescribe only in the four settings listed in the statute at that time. A general regulation covering nursing practice in any setting did not…
Would a Connecticut law allowing other video gaming end the Pequot casino’s state contributions?
The AG said a valid state law permitting others to operate video facsimile games would release the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe from contributions under its state agreement, even before another…
Could Connecticut recover pay from a hospital commission member who was ineligible when appointed?
The AG said Connecticut could not recover salary paid to a hospital commission member whose prior affiliation made her ineligible when appointed. She served in good faith under color of appointment,…
Could a Connecticut interior designer submit building plans without an architect’s seal?
The AG said building officials could review plans prepared by a registered interior designer acting within that profession’s scope. Plans constituting the practice of architecture still needed an…
Could Connecticut’s retirement commission settle a new employee into the wrong pension tier?
No. The AG said a former judge who first joined the State Employees Retirement System in 1991 had to be in Tier II from his appointment date. The Retirement Commission could not use fiduciary or…
Would Connecticut be liable for an accident at or after a private employee holiday party?
The AG said state liability was unlikely for incidents at or after a voluntary, employee-run, off-site holiday party, even during paid hours, where the agency did not sponsor it or provide alcohol…
Could Connecticut dissolve the Borough of Newtown, and did borough officers have to help?
The AG said Connecticut’s legislature could dissolve a borough through a special act, with the act itself specifying the dissolution procedure and successor duties. He found no state constitutional…
Were Connecticut Pilot Commission members entitled to state defense and indemnity?
Yes. The AG said appointed Connecticut Pilot Commission members qualified as state officers for the defense and indemnification statute. Protection applied to acts within their duties that were not…
Could Connecticut’s state museum use proceeds from sold pistols for non-Colt collections?
No. The AG said the State Library Board could sell pistols found not to be Colt-made, but had to treat the proceeds as private-source funds tied to the original Colt collection purpose. The money…
Did requiring probate operating regulations to follow Connecticut’s UAPA violate separation of powers?
The AG did not decide the statute’s constitutionality. He said probate courts were legislatively created courts subject to broader legislative rulemaking authority, and the UAPA requirement was not…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 child support wage-withholding law meet federal requirements?
The AG concluded that Connecticut’s child support statutes could meet federal wage-withholding rules: the agency could implement withholding requested by a custodial parent, and a payer’s motion to…
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Attorney general opinions in Connecticut are written by the Connecticut Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.