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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When can Talbot County reduce its liquor licensing board's budget request?
The Attorney General concluded that, applying the reasoning of a Talbot County circuit court decision about election board funding, Talbot County's council had to appropriate the full amount the…
Was Maryland's 300-foot electioneering ban around polling places in certain counties still constitutional after the Supreme Court's 1992 Burson v. Freeman decision?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the 300-foot electioneering ban applying in seven counties (Anne Arundel, Cecil, Charles, Garrett, Harford, Kent, and Queen Anne's) was so likely…
Could Maryland's Blue Cross Blue Shield legally sell part of its for-profit HMO and managed-care subsidiaries to outside investors?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Blue Cross could lawfully create a for-profit holding company for its managed care subsidiaries, but that the Insurance Commissioner could not approve…
Does the Americans with Disabilities Act require a state legislature, like Maryland's General Assembly, to accommodate people with disabilities?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Americans with Disabilities Act applied to the state's Legislative Branch, meaning the General Assembly had an obligation to provide reasonable…
Could Maryland's State Board of Education ban smoking on school grounds by regulation, without negotiating with teachers' unions first?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Board of Education had statutory authority under the Education Article's general-control provision to adopt tobacco-free school environment regulations,…
Can a service member who is discharged from the military, not just transferred, break a residential lease early under Maryland law?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the state law letting military personnel break a residential lease after receiving permanent change of station orders also covered personnel who were…
Could Maryland's Legislative Auditor get access to the financial records of a University of Maryland medical school doctors' private-practice corporation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Legislative Auditor's Division of Audits could not compel access to the records of University Physicians, Inc., the nonprofit corporation that…
Could Worcester County, Maryland raise its hotel room tax rate above 3% on its own using code home rule powers, or did it need state law authority?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Worcester County could not use its own code home rule powers to amend the local law capping its hotel room tax at 3%, but the county commissioners could…
Can a Maryland state agency hand off one of its programs to a private nonprofit without legislative approval, and does the nonprofit's money count as public funds?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a state disability agency lawfully transferred one of its programs to a private nonprofit corporation without legislative or Board of Public Works approval…
Could Maryland's health department legally require drug companies to pay rebates to keep their drugs covered under state-funded health programs?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had statutory authority under the Health-General Article to limit drug coverage in two state-funded programs to…
Could a Maryland District Court judge in one county issue a search warrant for property located in a completely different city or county?
Yes. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a District Court judge had statewide authority to issue a search warrant for property anywhere in Maryland, not just within the judge's own district…
Could Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration let its investigators carry handguns, and were those investigators police officers?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Motor Vehicle Administration could let its Division of Investigative Services investigators carry handguns, but only if the investigators first…
Could Maryland enforce its 1992 'gas guzzler' tax surcharge and fuel-efficiency credit law, or did federal fuel economy law preempt it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a federal disclosure statute preempted the notice provision of Maryland's new gas guzzler tax law, that the tax surcharge and credit provisions themselves…
Can a Maryland funeral home legally refuse to embalm, or charge extra, because the deceased had HIV?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a funeral home refusing to embalm, or charging extra fees for handling, an HIV-positive body was illegal discrimination under Maryland's mortician…
Could Maryland's Office of Administrative Hearings dismiss an appeal because someone failed to pay a required filing fee?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's Chief Administrative Law Judge had the discretion to adopt a regulation providing that a nonindigent party's appeal would be dismissed for failing to…
Which Maryland state employees were covered by the old Merit System's EEO, whistleblower, leave, and overtime rules?
In 1992, Maryland's Attorney General found the EEO program covered classified executive branch employees, while whistleblower protection also reached unclassified executive branch employees and…
Is a Maryland state employee's full-salary accident leave pay after a job injury subject to federal and state income tax?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that pay received by a state employee under the accident leave statute, full salary continued after a job-related injury, qualified as compensation under a…
Can Maryland's Toll Facilities Police arrest someone on property that isn't owned or controlled by the Transportation Authority?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Toll Facilities Police officers could exercise their arrest powers only on property owned, leased, or controlled by the Maryland Transportation Authority,…
Could a Maryland county in 1992 pass its local piggyback income tax rate increase before June 1 and still have the increase take effect on June 1?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a county could enact or adopt a resolution or ordinance raising its local piggyback income tax rate above 50% before June 1, 1992, so long as the increase…
Could Maryland's Secretary of Personnel cut a state employee's pay without telling the legislature?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Secretary of Personnel had authority under the old Merit System Law to decrease state employee pay rates without notifying the General Assembly,…
Does a Maryland county with zoning authority have to adopt its own forest conservation program, or can it let the state handle it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Forest Conservation Act required every local government with planning and zoning authority, including Carroll County, to develop and adopt its own…
Could parents in Maryland get an orphans' court to appoint a guardian for their child just so the child could attend public school tuition-free in a different county?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that orphans' courts could appoint a guardian of a minor only when neither parent was serving as guardian, because both parents had died or the surviving…
If someone sues over Maryland's legislative redistricting map under the federal Voting Rights Act, do they file in a circuit court, the Court of Appeals, or federal court?
In 1992, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a private Section 2 Voting Rights Act challenge to the state's legislative map could proceed in federal court. If filed in a Maryland state court,…
When Maryland raised the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes in 1982, did the higher rate apply to deferred payments on estates of people who died before the law took effect?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a 1982 law raising the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes applied to all deferred estate tax payments due on or after the law's July 1, 1982 effective…
Is it illegal to use a computer in Maryland to buy an out-of-state lottery ticket?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that using a computer in Maryland to buy or arrange the purchase of an out-of-state lottery ticket violated Maryland's anti-lottery statutes, even though the…
When a Maryland sheriff or State's Attorney joins the state pension system, does the state or the county pay the employer's share of the contribution?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State, not the counties or the officials themselves, was legally required to pay the employer's share of pension contributions for sheriffs, State's…
Can Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration discipline a licensed wholesale car dealer for selling vehicles to retail buyers at an out-of-state auction?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Motor Vehicle Administration could not discipline a licensed wholesale dealer merely for selling vehicles to retail buyers in another state, since…
Did the Supreme Court's Hafer v. Melo decision expose Maryland prosecutors to new personal liability for doing their jobs?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hafer v. Melo, which allowed state officials to be personally sued under Section 1983 for actions taken in their…
Could a Maryland county pass its own law requiring gun owners to store firearms safely away from children, or did state law preempt that kind of local rule?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that Montgomery County could enact a proposed ordinance requiring gun owners to keep loaded firearms away from unsupervised minors, because the state's…
Could a Maryland school system investigate its own employee for suspected child abuse separately from the police or social services investigation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a local school board could conduct its own personnel investigation of an employee accused of child abuse, separate from the mandatory investigation…
Can a Maryland family get a hearing to challenge a medical examiner's ruling on how a relative died?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a family member disputing the Chief Medical Examiner's determination of a relative's cause or manner of death had no right to a formal hearing…
Who is legally responsible if a Maryland prison inmate working on a private contractor's asbestos removal job gets hurt or injures someone else, and does that inmate have to be paid minimum wage?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that an inmate injured while working for a private contractor on a prison asbestos abatement project would have to seek recovery through the Sundry…
Under Maryland's 1991 child safety seat law, does a child need to be both 4 years old AND over 40 pounds before switching to a seat belt?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that under TR §22-412.2(d), a child must be both four years of age or older and weigh more than 40 pounds before a person may use a seat belt instead of…
Can a Maryland county pay its own money to top up the salaries of local social services employees who are technically state workers?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that county governments may supplement the state salaries of local department of social services employees out of county appropriations, and because…
Can a Maryland state agency sign a contract or accept goods and services when it doesn't currently have a budget appropriation to pay for them?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a state agency generally may enter into a contract even when no appropriation currently exists to pay for it, since the constitutional requirement that…
Did Maryland's Health Department need to adopt formal regulations before charging the Kidney Disease Program fee the legislature had already set by statute?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not need to adopt a regulation before applying the Kidney Disease Program's statutory fee formula, because…
Could a Maryland county let nonlawyers represent public employees in formal grievance hearings without state legislation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Howard County could not, on its own, allow nonlawyers to represent public employees in formal grievance hearings before the County Personnel Board, because…
If Maryland's public defender runs out of money for conflict cases, who pays for the defendant's lawyer?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the Public Defender's office was right to decline representation once its budget for panel attorneys ran out, that a court could then appoint…
Does Maryland's rule forcing circuit court masters to retire at age 70 violate the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the mandatory retirement provision in Rule 2-541, requiring standing masters to retire at age 70, conflicted with the federal Age Discrimination in…
Can a Maryland town bar its commissioners from running again right after serving two consecutive terms?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a proposed charter amendment barring a Poolesville commissioner from running again immediately after two or more consecutive terms, including…
Can Maryland abolish a state employee's job through the budget process instead of a formal layoff?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that when the Governor, the General Assembly, or the Governor and Board of Public Works together eliminated the funding for a specifically identifiable…
Could Maryland justify unequal population sizes among Baltimore City's state legislative districts because of a census undercount or a desire to keep the city's boundaries intact?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the Baltimore City census undercount alone could not justify legislative district population deviations above the usual 10% threshold, but that a…
Does Maryland have to pay higher social security contributions when a school system reclassifies a whole category of jobs to a higher pay grade?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Section 9 of the 1991 Budget Reconciliation Act barred the State from paying increased employer social security contributions caused by reclassifying an…
Could the Maryland General Assembly use statistically adjusted census numbers instead of the official 1990 head count to redraw legislative districts?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the General Assembly was not required to use the official 1990 census head count for legislative redistricting, but could use statistically…
Can Maryland's Governor require legislators to sign letters of support before the Board of Public Works or a state agency approves capital project funding?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that no statute required legislators to write letters of support for capital projects, but the Governor's practice of asking for such letters was not itself…
Can Maryland ban liquor licenses within 300 feet of a church's property line, and does that cover a church hall or parsonage?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Somerset County's 300-foot buffer between certain liquor licenses and church property does not violate the First Amendment, that the distance is measured…
Can a Maryland state employee deduct attorney's fees before repaying the state for accident leave pay?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a state employee who was paid accident leave for an on-the-job injury, and who then recovered damages from the person who caused it, could withhold…
Could Maryland's State Police charge a fee for medevac helicopter transfers between hospitals without losing legal immunity?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the State Police could charge fees for medevac helicopter transfers between hospitals under the law as it then stood, but the opinion also found…
Could a Maryland campaign treasurer let the candidate or someone else handle the campaign's money and required reports instead of doing it personally?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a campaign treasurer under the Fair Election Practices Act could not delegate statutory duties, like receiving contributions, signing checks, or…
Could a Maryland county school board lease public school land to a private nonprofit school serving special-education students, like the Harbour School?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the Anne Arundel County Board of Education could lease public school property to the Harbour School, a nonprofit special-education institution, as…
Does Maryland inheritance tax apply to money from a retirement plan or IRA left to someone other than a surviving spouse?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that retirement plan, IRA, and annuity proceeds are subject to Maryland inheritance tax whenever they are taxable for federal estate tax purposes, that…
Can a Maryland public drainage association manager also hold another paid government office at the same time?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a member of the board of managers of a public drainage association holds an 'office of profit' under Article 35 of the Maryland Declaration of…
Could Maryland require its prison health care contractors to test employees for HIV and restrict what HIV-positive doctors and nurses could do?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the state could not restrict or test HIV-positive health care providers whose jobs did not involve procedures with a real risk of blood exposure,…
Did Maryland reimburse counties for inmates on home detention the same way it reimbursed them for inmates physically held in the local jail?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that local jurisdictions were entitled to state reimbursement under Article 27, §690 for sentenced inmates placed in a home detention program, but that…
Does a Maryland retirement system have to accept service credit transferred from a different type of public pension system?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a retirement system must accept a transferring member's service credit even if the member's former system was a different type (contributory or…
Did a Maryland school board have to competitively bid the refinancing of a lease-purchase deal that had already funded and built a public school?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that once a school building had already been constructed under a competitively bid lease-purchase agreement, the Board of Education of Baltimore County…
Did planning documents for a new Maryland bridge legally obligate the state to keep funding the old drawbridge next to it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the State was not legally obligated to keep funding maintenance of the old Kent Narrows Drawbridge, because planning statements made during…
Was a Maryland county legally required to fund its local election board at the staffing level the board said it needed to run elections?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a county government could not cut a local election board's budget below the staffing level the board, with the approval of the State Administrative…
Could Maryland's Environmental Trust keep and spend gift money without running it through the state budget and appropriations process?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Maryland Environmental Trust, though a State agency and not fiscally independent like the Chesapeake Bay Trust, could still maintain and spend gift…
Could a Maryland minor visit the local health department for birth control or STD treatment during school hours without their parents' consent, and could the school get in trouble for not telling the parents?
In 1991, Maryland's Attorney General found no state-law barrier to a minor's health department visit for birth control and other care it analyzed without parental consent, subject to school…
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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.