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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Could a federal bankruptcy court stop a Maryland liquor license from expiring under state law while the licensee was in bankruptcy?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a federal bankruptcy court had full authority to enjoin a county liquor board from letting a debtor's alcoholic beverage license expire under Maryland's…
Can a Maryland homeowners association or club, organized as a nonstock corporation, block members from counting toward a meeting quorum by proxy through a bylaw, or does it take a charter amendment?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a nonstock corporation, such as a homeowners association or social club incorporated under Maryland law, could not use its bylaws alone to stop…
Can a Maryland homeowners association ban family day care homes with a vote of just a small quorum instead of a majority of all members?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a homeowners association could prohibit the operation of a family day care home only if a simple majority of all of the association's eligible voting…
Does Maryland require a license to call yourself a 'therapist' or 'psychotherapist'?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that 'psychotherapist' and 'therapist' were not protected professional titles under Maryland law and could not be licensed or restricted the way titles…
In Maryland, does the legislature have to wait for the governor to submit a redistricting map before it can vote on its own?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that under Article III, Section 5 of the state constitution, the General Assembly could hold hearings and prepare its own legislative redistricting plan…
Could Baltimore City's liquor board force a Class B-D-7 licensee to keep running an actual bar or restaurant instead of just a package goods store?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the statute governing Baltimore City's Class B-D-7 liquor license did not clearly require licensees to maintain any minimum on-premises bar or restaurant…
Could a Maryland governor's cabinet agencies make the Legislative Auditor file a formal public-records request before examining agency files?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that Executive Branch agencies could not force the Legislative Auditor to file a written Public Information Act application before examining agency…
If a Maryland county appropriated more than required for its public schools one year, does that whole higher amount become the mandatory minimum funding floor for the next year?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a county's entire prior-year school operating budget appropriation, not just narrowly defined "basic current expenses," sets the baseline for the…
Can a Maryland orphans' court judge appoint himself, or a fellow judge on that same court, to fill a vacancy as register of wills?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a common law rule against self-appointment barred an orphans' court from naming one of its own judges to fill a vacancy in the register of wills…
Can Maryland cap future state pension benefits without violating employees' contract rights?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that legislation applying the federal tax code's benefit accrual limits, IRC §415, prospectively to the state retirement and pension systems would not…
Do Maryland waterfront owners need a state permit to install erosion-control 'beach beams' on tidal land?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that installing a 'beach beam' erosion-control structure in tidal wetlands counted as regulated filling under the Wetlands Act of 1970, so a riparian…
If a Maryland will splits the residuary estate among heirs taxed at different inheritance tax rates, how is the tax calculated?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that inheritance tax on a residuary estate should generally be computed separately for each legatee at that legatee's own tax rate rather than deducted…
Could a Maryland local school board let a private day care company build its own new building on public school land?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a local board of education's authority to let a private day care provider construct its own building on public school land was doubtful under the…
If a new federal tax law cuts a high earner's itemized deductions, does Maryland cut that person's state itemized deductions too?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that when a 1990 federal tax law required certain high-income taxpayers to reduce their total itemized deductions, those taxpayers had to use the same…
If a Maryland court orders a body disinterred and reburied, does the State's Attorney still have to separately approve it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a person generally still needs the county State's Attorney's consent to disinter a body, overruling a 1954 opinion that had said this requirement…
Could Maryland's Physical Therapy Board decide by regulation that spinal manipulation was within the scope of physical therapy, not just chiropractic?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the General Assembly had not itself decided whether spinal manipulation and mobilization fell within the scope of physical therapy, so the Physical Therapy…
Can a Maryland bill that amends 113 old bond laws the same way just print the new text once instead of 113 times?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a bill amending 113 prior Baltimore City bond authorizations with the exact same new refunding provision does not have to repeat that text 113…
Could a Maryland county's Human Relations Department order an employer to reinstate a worker and pay back pay for discrimination without a specific state law allowing it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that Frederick County's commissioners could not lawfully authorize the county's Human Relations Commission or Department to impose remedies such as…
Do blind vendors have priority to run vending machines in Maryland state and local government buildings?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's blind vendor licensing law, ED §21-303(c), let the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation license blind people to run vending facilities,…
Who could ask Maryland's Interdepartmental Committee on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits to review a proposed coverage change?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the Interdepartmental Committee on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits could review a legislative proposal only at the request of the Governor or the…
Did already-licensed Maryland nursing home administrators have to get a college degree to renew their licenses after the 1990 law?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the new statutory education requirements for nursing home administrators in HO §8-302(d) were likely not intended to apply to people who were already…
Can businesses use the Maryland flag in a state promotional logo without violating the flag desecration law?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the state's 'Maryland With Pride' promotional logo, which uses a stylized version of the Maryland flag, does not violate the law against commercial misuse…
In Maryland, does an interior designer need an architect's license to redesign the layout of non-loadbearing interior walls in a public building?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that preparing design plans for a significant movement of non-loadbearing interior walls in a building intended for public use constitutes the practice of…
Does Maryland have to follow its normal layoff notice and seniority rules when a state employee's position loses its funding?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's layoff statute and its 90-day notice regulation do not apply when a position is lost simply because no money was appropriated to pay the salary;…
Could an out-of-state dealer sell a handgun that was not on Maryland's handgun roster to a Maryland buyer?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's handgun roster law, Article 27, §36-1(b), prohibited selling an unapproved handgun whenever the buyer took physical delivery in Maryland, no…
Does a Baltimore City employee who left for military service after the draft ended in 1973 still get pension credit for that time under federal law?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that regardless of how Maryland's own veterans-benefit statute is read, the federal Veterans Reemployment Rights Act independently guarantees pension and…
Can Baltimore's light rail trolleys use white signal lights instead of the standard red, yellow, and green traffic lights?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Mass Transit Administration's plan to guide light rail trolleys through downtown Baltimore intersections with a separate white bar signal, instead of the…
Can you be prosecuted in Maryland for burning or defacing a flag, or is it protected free speech?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's newly revised flag law, Article 27, §83, was constitutional even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal flag-burning ban in…
Is Caller ID phone service legal under Maryland's wiretap and privacy laws?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Caller ID service does not violate the constitutionally protected right of privacy, because a state utility commission's mere approval of a telephone…
Can a Maryland community college's board of trustees borrow money to buy land and buildings, or does the county have to do it?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that a community college's board of trustees had no power to borrow money to buy land and buildings, because state law placed that borrowing authority in the…
Does Maryland's tax break for military pay earned outside the U.S. only apply to service members permanently stationed overseas?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's income tax subtraction for military pay attributable to service outside the United States, up to $15,000 with a phase-out between $15,000 and…
Can a Maryland business license be suspended because the owner was convicted of a drug crime?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the license sanction provisions of the Drug Enforcement Act of 1990 (Chapter 410) applied only to people licensed to work in an occupation or profession,…
Does Maryland's Board of Public Works have to approve a gift of real estate to the state, or can the Governor accept it alone?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that, unless a specific statute said otherwise, only the Governor's consent was required to accept a gift to the State of Maryland, whether the gift was real…
Can a Maryland town let its zoning board grant a variance on an easier 'practical difficulty' standard instead of 'unnecessary hardship'?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Article 66B's zoning-variance standard, unnecessary hardship, applies to every municipality in Maryland, and a town cannot use its own ordinance to authorize…
Is a marriage valid in Maryland if the person who performed the ceremony wasn't legally authorized to?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that only a sworn deputy clerk designated by the county administrative judge (along with clerks and religious officials) could legally perform a marriage, so a…
Did the Supreme Court's Cruzan decision change Maryland law on living wills and refusing life-sustaining treatment?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the Supreme Court's Cruzan decision did not require any change to Maryland's framework for forgoing life-sustaining treatment, set out in the office's…
Is a mortgage given to a federal credit union exempt from Maryland's recordation tax?
No. The Attorney General withdrew a 1975 advice letter and concluded that the federal statute exempting federal credit unions from state and local taxes, 12 U.S.C. §1768, does not exempt a mortgage…
Can a Maryland employer order a workplace drug test without a doctor, and who is allowed to see the results?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that a Maryland employer could contract directly with a laboratory for job-related drug testing; the usual rule that only a physician may order a lab test did…
Did two 1990 Supreme Court rulings make Maryland's parental notification law for a minor's abortion enforceable?
In a 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that two Supreme Court decisions issued that year, Hodgson v. Minnesota and Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, did not change existing…
In Maryland, who pays for a county's child support enforcement office, the state or the county?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Montgomery County's child support enforcement program was a 'local support enforcement office' and a component of the Circuit Court, so the county, not…
How is an independent or petition candidate listed on a Maryland general election ballot?
The Attorney General worked through Maryland's tangled ballot-designation statutes in 1990 and concluded that a petition candidate registered as 'declined' and not affiliated with any party or…
Did Maryland's mortgage escrow interest law apply to loans made under the credit grantor closed end credit provisions?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that CL §12-109, Maryland's requirement that lenders pay borrowers interest on residential first-mortgage escrow accounts, applied to loans made under any…
Can a Maryland social services caseworker report a client's crime to the police, or does confidentiality law forbid it?
It depends on how the employee learned the information. The Attorney General concluded that a social services employee may always report a client's criminal activity learned off-duty in a personal…
Can Maryland suspend a lawyer's license to practice law for failing to pay workers' compensation assessments?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Article 101, §91's requirement to suspend a delinquent employer's 'license to do business' applies to attorneys who fail to pay assessments owed to the…
Do special-education suspension and expulsion protections apply to private schools in Maryland?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that a State-approved private school offering special education had to protect a disabled student against a suspension or expulsion that disrupts the child's…
Could Maryland deny Medicaid and state medical assistance to people incarcerated in jails and prisons?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's policy of excluding people incarcerated in detention centers from Medical Assistance Program coverage was authorized by both federal and state…
Can a Maryland county charge condominiums, co-ops, and HOAs a per-unit fee for a county dispute-resolution service?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Montgomery County's proposed per-unit fees on condominiums, cooperatives, and homeowners associations, meant to fund a county dispute-resolution service,…
Is a capitated employer health benefits plan considered insurance that the state can regulate?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the health care providers participating in the Healthnet program were engaged in the business of insurance and fell under the Insurance Commissioner's…
Are Maryland CPAs, lawyers, engineers, insurance agents, or teachers exempt from registering as investment advisers?
Only certified public accountants and lawyers currently qualify, and only if they also meet the exemption's other three conditions (no commissions for referrals, no custody of client funds, and not…
Were Maryland nursing homes covered by the Health-General Article's resident protections, and did the Health Services Cost Review Commission approve nursing home rates?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that nursing homes were included in the definition of 'facility' in HG §19-343(a) of the Health-General Article, so their residents got the protections of HG…
Does Maryland need Congress's approval to join a multistate lottery like Lotto America?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's participation in a multistate lottery agreement, like the six-state Lotto America pact, does not violate federal anti-gambling statutes (which…
Can a Maryland county open a new street inside an incorporated town without the town's consent?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Frederick County had no authority to open a street inside the Town of New Market over the town's objection, because the road-opening statutes for counties…
In a Maryland county with its own liquor board, who actually issues an alcoholic beverages license, the board or the clerk of the circuit court?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that in Charles County, the Board of License Commissioners had to decide whether to approve or deny an alcoholic beverages license application and certify any…
Does a federal savings bank have to pay interest on my mortgage escrow account in Maryland?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's law requiring lenders to pay interest on residential first-mortgage escrow accounts (CL §12-109) could not be applied to federal savings…
Can a Maryland State's Attorney or assistant volunteer for free civil legal aid work if the law bans their 'private practice of law'?
Yes, in every Maryland county. The Attorney General concluded that Article 10, §40's various bans on the 'private practice of law' by State's Attorneys and their staff exist to control outside…
Can a Maryland town annex the state-owned land under a navigable creek?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the Town of Queenstown could annex the land underlying Queenstown Creek even though the beds of navigable waters are owned by the State in trust for its…
Can a Maryland lawyer who serves as a part-time court trust clerk still practice law?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a private attorney appointed as a court's part-time trust clerk is not barred from practicing law by BOP §10-603(b)(4), because more than a century of…
Can the Maryland General Assembly direct state income tax money to specific counties without a formal budget appropriation?
The Attorney General advised Governor Schaefer in 1990 that House Bill 134, which directed the Comptroller to pay set amounts of state income tax revenue to Baltimore City and three counties, was…
Does Maryland's crime of distributing drugs require proof that the person knew what they were handling?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that knowledge is a required element of the Maryland crime of unlawfully manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled dangerous substance under…
Can a Maryland county make its contractors and lobbyists disclose campaign contributions to local officials?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that nearly all of Prince George's County Council Bill 17-1990, which required people doing business with the county to disclose campaign contributions, barred…
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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.