Maryland Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Maryland, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Did Maryland's municipal home-rule restriction on new fees apply to St. Mary's County commissioners?
No. The AG agreed that St. Mary's County commissioners were not a municipal corporation for Article XI-E of the Maryland Constitution. The attached legal analysis expressly left undecided whether…
Does Maryland's Open Meetings Act require a school board to hold public hearings on employee discipline appeals?
The opinion concluded that a county school board's hearing on an employee's appeal of a superintendent's adverse personnel action was a 'quasi-judicial function' exempt from the Open Meetings Act,…
Could Maryland revoke parole for alleged criminal conduct while charges were pending or after an acquittal?
Yes. The AG said the Parole Commission could consider an alleged lawbreaking release-condition violation while related charges were pending or even after they ended without guilt. A revocation…
If a Maryland child's biological parent had their parental rights legally terminated before the child died, does that parent still outrank the child's guardian in deciding whether to donate the child's organs?
No, the guardian outranks that parent. The opinion concluded that a biological parent whose parental rights were terminated as part of a guardianship proceeding no longer counts as a 'parent' with…
Could a Maryland regional development agency dissolve without the Legislature acting, and where would its assets go?
No under the 2004 opinion. A regional development agency could not dissolve without General Assembly action. The Legislature could set a termination date that activated existing asset-distribution…
Can a Maryland town charge new home developments an impact fee to pay for police and fire protection?
The opinion advised Taneytown to seek state enabling legislation for police and fire impact fees. A fee might instead qualify as a regulatory charge if it reflected the cost of services to the new…
Could Maryland ask several architecture firms for prices at once when negotiating a State contract?
Generally no under the 2004 procurement law. For a specific project, the selection board had to rank architecture and engineering firms by qualifications, then request a price and negotiate with…
Could Howard County restrict animal traps more than Maryland law allowed?
Only where the county rule was consistent with State law. In 2004 the AG agreed that Howard County's proposed trapping ordinance was preempted in part, including its leg-hold trap ban, trap-check…
Could Maryland police use a DNA database match as probable cause to arrest a suspect?
Yes under the 2004 opinion: a DNA database match could be used in assessing probable cause to charge and arrest a suspect and to obtain another sample. The initial match could not be admitted at…
Can a Maryland state agency use money from a dedicated special fund for purposes the budget bill adds, if the fund's own statute doesn't allow them?
No. The opinion concluded that money in the Special Administrative Expense Fund, a dedicated fund for administering Maryland's Unemployment Insurance Law, can only be spent on the purposes the SAEF…
Could an Ocean City condo owner register to vote in Worcester County while living elsewhere most of the year?
Only if the owner chose Ocean City as their domicile, or primary legal residence. Owning and sometimes using a condo there was not enough while another place remained the person's primary residence.
Could police from nearby Maryland towns jointly run a sobriety checkpoint in one participating town?
Yes under the 2004 opinion. Municipalities could use a CP §2-105 mutual-aid agreement to pool officers at a sobriety checkpoint in a participating municipality, allowing those officers to enforce…
Could a Maryland property-tax appeals board demand reassessment of a parcel with no pending appeal?
No under the 2004 opinion. A property-tax assessment appeals board could ask the State assessment director to review a property assessment related to an appeal before that board, but could not…
Could a corporation change its tax-settlement calculation each year or choose separately for each subsidiary?
Under the 2004 settlement law, a corporation had to choose one tax-computation method for each subsidiary for the whole 1995–2003 period. It could make a different choice for another subsidiary.
Did Centreville's annexation cancel open-space easements previously granted to Queen Anne's County?
No under the 2004 opinion. Open-space easements granted to Queen Anne's County remained enforceable after Centreville annexed the land. The county commissioners, as grantee with enforcement power,…
Could an out-of-state insurer handle disputed Maryland workers' compensation claims from another state?
Under the law enacted in 2001 and analyzed in 2004, insurers and self-insured employers needed competent people in Maryland to handle disputed claims. An out-of-state lawyer did not satisfy the…
Who had to provide support staff for Baltimore City's child support prosecutors?
The AG said the 1992 consolidation law contemplated that Maryland's Child Support Enforcement Administration would supply administrative support for Baltimore City State's Attorney lawyers handling…
Can a Maryland county create a special taxing district to pay for upgrading county roads that are located inside a town's limits?
The opinion concluded that Talbot County, as a charter county with authority over its own roads under the Express Powers Act, could establish a special taxing area to finance upgrades to county…
Could Maryland recover past school aid by reducing future payments after late local expense data?
No under the former basic-current-expense aid law. The AG said Maryland could not recalculate aid already budgeted and distributed for fiscal 2002, then recoup a lower amount from future local…
Did HIPAA prevent doctors from supplying medical certifications for Maryland guardianship petitions?
Not in every case. The 2004 AG opinion said HIPAA and Maryland guardianship rules could often be reconciled through patient or representative authorization or a fact-specific disclosure exception.…
Did appointment as a special deputy let a municipal officer make routine traffic stops across Harford County?
Generally no under the 2004 law. The AG said a special-deputy appointment had to meet a specific sheriff's need and ordinarily did not give a municipal officer countywide routine traffic-stop…
Could Montgomery County's council alone approve a mutual-aid deal expanding Park Police jurisdiction?
No under the 2004 law. The AG said Montgomery County could approve the proposed Park Police mutual-aid agreement by enacting a law or by another proper county-law process involving both the…
Did an apostille require Maryland's motor vehicle agency to accept a foreign birth certificate for a license?
No. In 2004 the AG said a proper apostille established the foreign birth certificate's authenticity, so MVA could not reject it on that ground. The treaty did not dictate whether Maryland had to…
Could Baltimore City's fire department bill an HMO member for a covered emergency ambulance ride?
No under the 2004 HMO law. The AG treated Baltimore City's fire department as a provider of a covered emergency ambulance service and said it could collect the legally set fee from the HMO, not bill…
Could Calvert County require humane outdoor shelters for dogs without new State authorization?
No under the 2004 enabling law. The AG said Calvert County could regulate animals to protect the public, but as a non-home-rule county it needed additional General Assembly authority to impose…
What could Maryland's juvenile justice monitor disclose about child abuse investigations in State facilities?
In 2004 the AG said the monitor could report findings and recommendations about agency responses to alleged abuse, but could not identify or invade the privacy of the child, family, alleged abuser,…
Did St. Mary's County have to give advance public notice of a developer's zoning pre-application meeting?
No under the county open-meetings law examined in 2004. The AG said a zoning pre-application meeting did not take official action and was not a public-agency meeting requiring advance written…
Could a Chesapeake College trustee remain in office after a four-year term ended?
Yes under the 2004 law. The AG concluded that a Chesapeake College trustee whose four-year term had expired continued serving until a successor was appointed and qualified.
Could a live-in domestic worker invite visitors into an employer's home when the employer was a foreign diplomat?
In 2004 the AG said a live-in worker's tenancy depended on whether the employment arrangement gave the worker exclusive control of the occupied space. Without tenancy, the worker lacked a tenant's…
Could a Maryland orthopedic group send its own patients for MRI or CT scans on machines it owned?
No under the Maryland law the AG examined in 2004. An orthopedic or other non-radiology group could not refer its own patients for MRI or CT tests on machines it owned, even if a radiologist in the…
When does federal HIPAA privacy law override Maryland's medical records confidentiality law?
Rarely, according to the opinion. HIPAA only overrides Maryland's medical records law where the two truly conflict, and Maryland's law survives preemption whenever it is at least as protective of…
Did a Maryland business with no employees need a workers' compensation certificate to get a license?
No. The AG said a sole proprietor or partnership with no covered employees and no plan to hire any for the licensed activity was not an employer under the Act and did not need a Workers'…
Did Maryland's small lead-paint brochure display satisfy the retail poster law?
No. The AG said the item might count as a poster, but it lacked the statute's required information about lead-poisoning dangers and hazards; pointing shoppers to brochures did not make up for the…
Could a Maryland electrical engineer testify about a fire's cause without a private detective credential?
Yes. The AG said a court could qualify an electrical engineer to testify about a possible electrical cause of a fire if the engineer had the needed expertise and the testimony would help the…
Can the Maryland legislature give medical malpractice defendants an automatic right to move their case to a different court?
The opinion concluded that the Maryland Constitution, as it then stood, barred the General Assembly from giving medical malpractice defendants an automatic right to move their case to a different…
Could Maryland fund faith-based service organizations under its 2004 budget restriction?
Under the 2004 budget provision, faith-based groups remained eligible for existing grants open to secular groups. A program aimed primarily at those groups was restricted, and faith-only aid raised…
Could Somerset amend its charter so voters could propose and enact town ordinances by ballot initiative?
Yes. The AG concluded that Somerset could amend its charter to let voters enact legislation without council action, subject to the same State constitutional, public-general-law, and federal limits…
Can Anne Arundel County let its Planning Advisory Board, instead of a formal 'Planning Commission,' review development rights and responsibilities agreements with developers, and can the county require developers to submit one of these agreements as part of every concept plan?
Yes on the review board, no on making it mandatory. The opinion concluded state law lets any local entity familiar with the county's land use plan, not just one titled 'Planning Commission,' review…
Could Maryland deny a regular driver's license because an applicant could not prove lawful U.S. presence?
No under the 2003 Maryland Vehicle Law. The MVA could request immigration-related documents as proof of identity, but an applicant's inability to establish lawful U.S. presence was not itself…
Did Baltimore City liquor board members appointed while the Senate was in recess still need Senate confirmation?
Yes. The AG concluded that a recess appointee to Baltimore City's liquor board could serve temporarily but needed Senate confirmation after the Senate reconvened; without it, service ended at the…
What compensation did Maryland public safety workers have for injuries from the 2003 smallpox vaccination program?
The AG said eligible workers could seek federal no-fault benefits for vaccine injuries or infection from a vaccinated coworker, with state workers' compensation reducing the federal award. It also…
Did Maryland legislative auditors have to give their home addresses to inspect officials' financial disclosures?
No, when acting in an official audit or review. The AG said auditors used an independent statutory right of access, so the public-inspection rule requiring an examiner's home address and possible…
Could Easton's municipal utility provide cable and internet service outside town limits?
Yes, under the 2003 opinion, Easton's utility could extend cable and internet service throughout Talbot County if the outside service was ancillary to town service and did not harm town subscribers…
Under Maryland's 2003 laws, could a city program give naloxone to drug users to inject someone else during an overdose?
The 2003 AG found legal obstacles to Baltimore's proposed program when a physician supplied naloxone to a participant intending to treat an unidentified third person. Prescribing it to a participant…
Did Hyattsville need a two-thirds council vote to spend its general-fund balance on police equipment?
Yes, under the 2003 law. The AG concluded that money set aside generally for unanticipated expenses had not yet been appropriated; a later decision to spend it on police equipment required the…
Could Maryland compensate a wrongfully imprisoned person after a court had already overturned the conviction?
Yes, under the law analyzed in 2003. The Governor could pardon a person whose conviction a court had already set aside; if the pardon declared the conviction conclusively erroneous, the Board of…
Could Maryland issue conduit bonds for a religiously affiliated private school?
The 2003 AG opinion said the authority could reasonably reduce its detailed inquiry into whether a school was 'pervasively sectarian' when offering conduit bonds. It still acknowledged some…
Did Maryland's 2001 HMO amendment stop members from privately paying out-of-network doctors?
No under the AG's 2003 reading. The 2001 amendment was aimed at trauma-physician payment, not at ending HMO members' separate private contracts with out-of-network providers or changing other…
Could a Maryland school system subtract National Guard pay from a teacher's civilian salary during active duty?
No under the 2003 opinion. A school employee called to active National Guard duty by Maryland's Governor was entitled to leave with full civilian pay, without an offset for military pay.
Could Maryland's Racing Commission let a breeders association and staff administer State racing funds?
Yes for administrative and ministerial duties under the 2003 opinion. The Racing Commission could use the Maryland Horse Breeders Association and a staff administrator for the two bred funds, but…
Could Maryland apply its new executive-bonus restriction to a nonprofit health-plan sale proposed earlier?
Yes under the 2003 opinion. The AG said the Insurance Commissioner should apply Maryland's 2002 anti-bonus provision when reviewing the pending CareFirst conversion, even though the application was…
Could Maryland move interest earned inside its water revolving-loan funds to the general fund?
No under the 2003 opinion. Interest credited to Maryland's water quality and drinking-water revolving funds could not be moved to the general fund. Withholding an equal amount from a future State…
Could Maryland review the conversion and sale of a CareFirst insurer based in Washington, D.C.?
Yes. The AG said Maryland's Insurance Commissioner had authority under multiple State laws to review the GHMSI portion of CareFirst's proposed conversion and sale, although the commissioner could…
Was Baltimore's next city election due in 2003 under State law or in 2004 under its charter?
The AG said Baltimore's next municipal general election should be November 2, 2004, as the charter provided. It read the State statute's reference to a different four-year cycle as a description of…
Could Maryland's prison agency require correctional officers to be 21 when State training rules allowed 18-year-olds?
Only if the agency could prove age 21 was a bona fide occupational qualification. The AG said a blanket 21-year minimum otherwise violated Maryland employment-age protections and would be hard to…
Could a Maryland charter county restrict smoking inside a home when smoke harms neighbors?
Potentially yes. The AG said a charter county could restrict smoking in a private residence when substantial smoke harmed or significantly bothered neighboring property, subject to the specific…
Could Havre de Grace annex an island in neighboring Cecil County?
Yes, as a matter of county boundaries. The AG inferred that Maryland's general municipal annexation statute allowed a town to annex land in an adjacent county if the statute's other conditions were…
Could Maryland police use force to collect a required blood or breath sample after a fatal crash?
Yes, under the compulsory-testing law analyzed in 2002, officers could use force when necessary to obtain a required sample. Any force had to be objectively reasonable under constitutional standards.
Could a Maryland taxpayer multiply the college-savings deduction by using several portfolios for one child?
No under the 2002 provision. The AG read the annual subtraction as limited to $2,500 per beneficiary for one taxpayer, regardless of how many plan portfolios received contributions; the taxpayer…
Could lawyers from one Maryland county attorney's office advise a zoning board and argue before it in the same case?
Yes, if the office used procedures to keep the roles separate and preserve a fair hearing. The AG said one lawyer could represent a county agency before its Board of Appeals while another advised…
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Attorney general opinions in Maryland are written by the Maryland 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.