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’s mental health agency receive grantee patient records without consent?
Yes, within the exceptions the AG identified. Mental health grantees could send the commissioner coded psychiatric records for planning or administration, with the identifying key tightly held. A…
Could Connecticut cancel another state agency’s debt to a DAS revolving fund?
No. The AG concluded that the statute for cancelling uncollectible claims or compromising disputed claims did not apply when one state agency owed money to a Department of Administrative Services…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 workers’ compensation change end COLAs for earlier injuries?
No. The AG said the 1993 act removed cost-of-living adjustments for injuries on or after July 1, 1993, while preserving them for earlier injuries. For the October 1993 adjustment, administrators…
Which Connecticut special officers needed Municipal Police Training Council certification?
The AG said the council’s 1993 authority reached statutory police officers and other people who performed police functions, even if their titles differed. He then classified many specific jobs,…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 Medicare supplement rating law violate unfair-insurance rules?
The AG said insurers following the 1993 law’s Medicare supplement rating requirements would not commit an unfair insurance practice merely by doing so. He expressly declined to decide whether those…
Did Connecticut’s Second Injury Fund keep paying health benefits after ERISA preemption?
The AG said the Fund’s insurance payments were derivative of an employer obligation preempted for ERISA plans, so reimbursements and direct coverage payments under the cited provisions should stop…
Could religious treatment alone stop Connecticut from investigating suspected child medical neglect?
No. The AG read the Christian Science clause to mean that such treatment alone did not establish neglect. Reporters could still report reasonable suspicions, and the child-protection agency still…
Did a federally qualified HMO have to be included in Connecticut’s new employee health plan?
No. Based on the facts supplied, the AG found no demonstrated impropriety in the state health-plan selection and said U.S. Healthcare had missed the federal advance-request window for inclusion in…
Did a replacement Connecticut utility executive director get a new four-year term?
Yes. The AG said a person appointed to a vacancy as executive director of the Department of Public Utility Control received a full four-year term starting on the appointment date, not merely the…
Did Connecticut’s collateral law alone protect state bank deposits if the bank failed?
No. The AG said Connecticut’s collateral statute could perfect a public depositor’s security interest under state law, but did not require the formal steps that federal law demanded against the FDIC…
Could Connecticut withhold lists of unpaid state vendor checks from asset finders?
No. The AG concluded that outstanding state vendor-check lists held by the comptroller and treasurer had to be disclosed on request. The law-enforcement, attorney-client and student-name exemptions…
Could a nonprofit amateur boxing group avoid Connecticut’s boxing exhibition tax?
No. The AG said the five-percent tax on boxing-exhibition gross receipts had no nonprofit exemption for United States Amateur Boxing. He also assigned collection and payment to the state treasury to…
Which law allocated Stamford hotel tax collected before the July 1993 tourism change?
The AG said hotel tax generated by sales before July 1, 1993 followed the old distribution law even if paid over later; sales on or after that date followed the new law. Money for commissions…
Could an unpaid town board member also serve on Connecticut’s state properties review board?
No. The AG said a municipal board seat was another municipal governmental position under the state properties review board statute, even without pay. The disqualification covered state and local…
Could an oversized or transferred funeral account be excluded from Connecticut benefit assets?
The AG said an irrevocable funeral contract over Connecticut’s statutory limit was void and its funds could count as available resources for public assistance. An out-of-state account transferred…
How long could Connecticut use temporary income-tax rules before approving permanent regulations?
The AG said temporary income-tax rules could remain in force until formal regulations were adopted and approved, with no fixed replacement date in the act. The commissioner still had to replace…
Did Connecticut’s living-will law limit protection of infants and children from medical neglect?
No. The AG concluded that the 1993 Living Will Act did not prevent Connecticut’s child-protection agency from investigating and intervening in medical neglect of infants or older children. He said…
Did Connecticut have to defend and indemnify foster parents sued over foster care?
No. The AG concluded that foster parents were independent contractors, not state officers or employees under the cited statutes, so they had no statutory entitlement to state immunity,…
Would Connecticut’s 1993 municipal bond assistance bill violate local home rule?
No. The AG concluded that proposed House Bill 7114 applied generally to eligible municipalities seeking bond-market assistance and did not infringe home rule. Its limits on municipal Chapter 9…
Did higher education cost-sharing grants count against Connecticut’s 1993 spending cap?
Yes. The AG said a proposed increase in Education Cost Sharing grants to municipalities had to be counted as a general budget expenditure under the 1993-94 spending cap. The Horton school-finance…
Could the Connecticut Bar Foundation invest lawyer trust account interest in the state investment fund?
No. The AG said the private Connecticut Bar Foundation could not place IOLTA money in the state Short-Term Investment Fund because it was neither named by statute nor a state agency, instrumentality…
Could a former Connecticut judge draw a judicial pension while working in the executive branch?
Yes, if the former judge remained in the executive job when his vested judicial pension became payable. The AG found no provision in either retirement system that suspended that pension because he…
Could Connecticut accept a lottery winner’s consent to pay his hospital debt from future winnings?
Yes. The AG said the lottery’s anti-assignment regulation did not bar the state, as creditor, from accepting the winner’s written direction to use his remaining lottery payments toward an…
Could a former hospital social worker serve as a public member of Connecticut’s hospital commission?
No. The AG concluded that a nominee’s former social-work job at a hospital was a past professional affiliation that barred her from a public seat on the Commission on Hospitals and Health Care, even…
Could Connecticut pass a deficiency budget bill or amend its spending cap after the 1992 vote?
The AG said the balanced-budget amendment limited deficiency appropriations to amounts covered by additional revenue. The existing statutory spending cap remained, but amendments or constitutional…
Did Connecticut’s longer health continuation period apply to employer plans governed by ERISA?
The AG said ERISA preempted Connecticut’s 104-week continuation rule for employer plans covered by ERISA, regardless of employer size. For plans outside ERISA, he read the state amendment to give…
Could Connecticut’s governor sign the Pequot video gaming agreement without legislative approval?
The AG said the governor could execute the 1993 Mashantucket Pequot video-facsimile memorandum without legislative approval because it implemented existing federal gaming procedures and settled a…
Could a returning Connecticut teacher buy military-service pension credit after retirement?
Yes. The AG said a teacher reemployed under federal veterans law could receive pension credit for military leave by paying the contributions that would have been due during continuous teaching…
Could Connecticut pay a private debt collector a percentage of state debts recovered?
Yes. The AG said the Department of Administrative Services could refer qualifying delinquent state debts to licensed private collectors and pay a percentage of recovered money. He found that…
Could a Connecticut hazardous-duty worker receive pension credit for peacetime military leave?
Yes. The AG said a Tier I hazardous-duty employee reemployed under the federal veterans law earned retirement credit for peacetime as well as wartime military leave toward the service minimum,…
Did Connecticut budget fiscal notes require school grants to named organizations?
No. The AG said the education department could not award grants to organizations named in budget fiscal notes merely because the notes recommended them. The organizations still had to apply and…
Was Central Connecticut State’s alumni association a state-agency foundation?
No. Although the Central Connecticut State University Alumni Association was tax-exempt, the AG found that its principal purpose was not to receive or use private funds to benefit the university.…
Could Connecticut require Medicaid patients or lawyers to report medical-expense lawsuits?
Yes. The AG concluded that Connecticut could enact a rule requiring a Medicaid recipient or the recipient’s attorney to notify the state when filing a lawsuit to recover medical expenses from a…
Could a reelected Connecticut legislator become a state auditor before the current term ended?
The AG said a reelected legislator could accept an appointment as Auditor of Public Accounts before the existing legislative term ended if the member-elect status was resigned before the new term.…
Could Connecticut renew an elevator certificate before inspecting it?
No. The AG concluded that accepting a renewal fee did not authorize an elevator operating certificate before inspection. The department had to inspect and approve the elevator or escalator, as well…
Who decided whether leased buildings at Bradley Airport were taxable?
The AG did not decide whether the Air Exchange Building’s airport leases were taxable. He said the statute assigned that determination to a certified assessor selected through the specified process,…
Were utility-purchased energy upgrades for Connecticut state buildings subject to sales tax?
No. The AG concluded that goods bought by participating utilities for a mandated energy-efficiency program in state facilities were exempt from sales and use tax. Title passed to Connecticut when…
Can physicians own a Connecticut pharmacy, and can their dividends cost it a license?
The 1992 opinion said physicians could own a pharmacy. The Pharmacy Commission could revoke its license if an economic incentive to refer patients actually benefited physician owners when their…
Could Connecticut hire a private company to operate its off-track betting system?
Yes. The AG said the Division of Special Revenue, with the Gaming Policy Board’s advice and consent, could choose a private operating method for off-track betting and contract for necessary…
Could a Connecticut town require more fire sprinklers than the state codes required?
No. The AG concluded that the state fire safety and building codes, together with the fire-extinguishing statute, preempted local ordinances imposing their own automatic-system requirements. The…
Could Connecticut utility commissioners attend political dinners or campaign events?
The AG read the 1992 ban on “active participation” in political management or campaigns narrowly. Commissioners could attend political gatherings and contribute to parties, but organizing an event,…
Did a Connecticut lottery agent get a hearing before losing a license for low sales?
Ordinarily yes. A lottery agent’s license counted under the administrative procedure law, so a proposed revocation for missing minimum sales required notice, a chance to show compliance, and a…
Could Connecticut’s governor commute a death sentence, or only grant a reprieve?
The AG concluded that the Board of Pardons, not the governor, had authority to permanently commute a death sentence. The governor’s constitutional power was to grant a temporary reprieve after…
Could a Connecticut town hire a collection agency to pursue delinquent taxes?
A municipal tax collector could appoint an independent contractor to make personal or written demands on delinquent taxpayers. The AG said the contractor could not levy property or execute tax…
Could a homeowner make two guaranty fund claims against the same contractor?
Yes. The AG said a homeowner could obtain separate restitution orders and make separate Home Improvement Guaranty Fund claims against one contractor for distinct contracts. The $10,000 statutory…
Could Connecticut collect Medicaid costs from the spouse of a nursing home patient?
The AG said Connecticut should exempt a community spouse receiving a monthly income allowance from a support claim. It could pursue a spouse who received no such allowance, but had to assess ability…
Could a Connecticut town refuse an unfunded duty imposed by state law?
No. The AG concluded that a municipality must comply with a valid state statute even when the cost is unfunded, was once paid by the state, conflicts with a home rule charter, or was not…
Could Connecticut’s banking commissioner waive a mortgage trustee’s annual report?
No. The AG concluded that the banking commissioner had to require every trustee under mortgage to file the annual trust account report. The statute’s “shall require” language left no discretion to…
Could an unpaid doctor demand a victim compensation hearing for an absent patient?
No. The AG said an oral surgeon who had treated an assault victim but had not been paid could not request a victim compensation hearing in the victim’s name. The payment provision did not give a…
Could Connecticut health officials share or publicly release a licensed worker’s HIV status?
The AG said public health staff could not pass identifiable disease surveillance information about a licensed worker to licensing investigators or boards. He also concluded that HIV or AIDS…
Could Connecticut lottery and off-track betting investigators carry pistols without a permit?
Yes, for appointed Special Revenue Investigators investigating or arresting people for offenses arising from the lottery or off-track betting system. The AG said their delegated State Police powers…
Could Connecticut make new residents wait for General Assistance or pay them less?
No. The AG concluded that all three proposed distinctions between new and longer-term residents would violate equal protection: denying benefits during a waiting period, paying newcomers less, and…
Could Connecticut switch off state extended benefits to use federal emergency unemployment pay?
Yes. The AG read Connecticut law as permitting the governor to trigger off its state extended-benefit period so claimants could use the federally funded emergency program then in effect. He also…
Could a Connecticut official face personal damages for acts on the job, and would the state defend?
The AG said a state official could already face personal liability under federal civil-rights law for on-duty acts violating federal rights; Hafer clarified that rule. Connecticut’s defense and…
Could a Connecticut town receive a prison PILOT grant before the facility appeared on its tax list?
No. The AG said a certified correctional facility still had to be on the town’s assessment list for the statutory date two years before the grant year. He also said the 1991 revaluation amendments…
Could Connecticut add a cash lotto game without a new lottery statute?
Yes. The AG concluded that the described cash lotto, with paid tickets and prizes determined by a random number draw, fit the statutory authority to design lottery games with Gaming Policy Board…
Could an adult disabled child’s estate conservator collect a teacher pension guardian benefit?
No. The AG said the estate conservator of an adult disabled daughter of a deceased teacher was not her legally appointed guardian and could not receive the separate monthly guardian survivor…
Did Connecticut’s 1991 child support guidelines need new legislative or UAPA approval?
No for the guidelines issued January 1, 1991: the later act reached guidelines issued after that date, even though implementation came later. The AG also said the special guidelines commission did…
Could Connecticut EMTs provide treatment on their own at workplaces or in hospital units outside emergency services?
The 1991 AG opinion said EMS certification did not authorize independent treatment outside the EMS system or an emergency medical setting. It also said unlicensed hospital workers' authority…
Could Connecticut prisons record inmate calls using only the inmate's written consent?
No. The Attorney General said correction officials did not qualify for the criminal law enforcement exception in the 1991 call-recording statute. Inmate consent alone did not satisfy it; the…
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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.