South Carolina Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in South Carolina, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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How would a South Carolina special purpose fire district choose its Firemen’s Insurance and Inspection Fund trustees?
The 2016 AG predicted that Langley Water Sewer and Fire District would be treated as an unincorporated community for this fund’s board composition. It therefore pointed to the…
Who had to approve a South Carolina sheriff’s office records retention schedule in 2016?
The 2016 AG concluded that the sheriff and the state Archives director had to approve the sheriff’s records retention schedule. It said county council approval was neither required nor authorized…
Could Oconee County validate a ground lease and settle disputed airplane property taxes without a public hearing?
The 2016 AG maintained that a public hearing was mandatory for a county ordinance leasing county land. It declined to decide whether the disputed lease or lawsuit dismissal unlawfully forgave taxes;…
Could Darlington require its municipal judge to retire by the end of the fiscal year in which the judge turns 72?
The 2016 AG predicted a city council lacked authority to impose an age 72 retirement rule on a municipal judge. State law gave councils appointment powers but had not authorized this retirement…
Did South Carolina retirees have a contractual right to pension benefits and annual cost of living adjustments in 2016?
The 2016 AG predicted that core retirement benefits could be contractual, but that a court might treat annual cost of living or benefit adjustments differently. It stressed that the South Carolina…
What voter registration information did South Carolina’s AG say could be released to a qualified elector in 2016?
The 2016 AG predicted the voter registration statute made application information public except for Social Security numbers. It treated that specific disclosure rule as controlling over general FOIA…
Could someone serve on both Kline Town Council and the Barnwell County Museum board in 2016?
The 2016 AG said a Kline Town Council seat was an office of honor or profit, and supplied criteria for the requester to assess the Barnwell museum board seat. It did not declare the dual service…
Could a South Carolina special district elect its fire board and then set millage without another referendum?
The 2016 AG predicted that an eligible single-county district could hold a referendum to elect its board by popular vote. An elected board could then set millage within applicable statutory limits;…
Could a South Carolina legislative delegation change an announced board appointment vote at a later meeting?
The 2016 AG said the ReWa appointment required a weighted majority of the entire legislative delegation. Once a winner was announced, no point of order was made, and the meeting adjourned, it said a…
Did South Carolina’s ten year limited partnership limit apply to every partnership in 2016?
No. The 2016 AG read the ten year cap in Section 33-42-75 as applying only to a beer industry financing partnership of the kind described in that section, not to limited partnerships generally.
Could a South Carolina HOA board change bylaws without an owner vote, and do bylaws override covenants?
The 2016 AG said restrictive covenants generally prevailed over conflicting HOA bylaws. A nonprofit HOA board could amend some bylaws without a homeowner vote if governing documents and law allowed…
Could Horry County pay employees and supervisors bonuses for budget saving suggestions?
The 2016 AG said the county’s proposed plan had legal problems: an employee award needed to exclude ideas the employee could implement through normal duties, and a supervisor award without any…
Could a crop dusting airplane qualify as exempt farm machinery in South Carolina in 2016?
The 2016 AG predicted that an airplane used solely for agricultural crop dusting could qualify for the farm machinery property tax exemption, including when a company sprayed farmers’ crops for a…
Would military deployment make a South Carolina town council member lose the seat?
No. The 2016 AG said deployment created a temporary vacancy, not forfeiture of the council seat. For a municipal seat, the Governor would appoint a temporary replacement on the mayor and council’s…
Could Irmo Town Council order police to remove a disruptive council member from a meeting?
The 2016 AG said a council had limited authority to eject one of its members for disruption, constrained by free speech rights. It doubted that a council in a council-manager town could directly…
Could a county supervisor spend more on a vehicle than the county council appropriated?
The 2016 AG said spending public money beyond a lawful appropriation exceeded a county supervisor’s authority. It predicted possible personal liability for the excess if the official was at least…
Could a South Carolina town give an ordinance its final reading in redline format?
The 2016 AG predicted that redlining alone did not make a proposed ordinance invalid at final reading. It still had to satisfy state reading requirements and the town’s own ordinance form rules.
Could a South Carolina HOA prohibit a removable American flag or a stand-alone flagpole?
The 2016 AG said a homeowner could display one portable, removable U.S. flag despite a contrary covenant, subject to lawful time, place, and manner limits. It declined to decide whether Cedar…
Could one person serve on both Dorchester County Water Authority and South Carolina’s transportation commission?
The 2016 AG predicted that holding both seats would violate South Carolina’s dual office holding rule. It treated each position as a public office, including the water authority seat because its…
Could an injured worker force a medical care hearing while a South Carolina workers’ compensation appeal was pending?
The 2016 AG did not decide the worker’s entitlement to a hearing. It lacked the Commission order and deferred to the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s interpretation of its own authority during the…
Who paid for a county firefighter’s respirator medical evaluation under the OSHA rule discussed in 2016?
The 2016 AG said the employer had to provide the required respirator medical evaluation, but could not give one universal answer on who paid for every physical exam. It distinguished an…
Could a Beaufort County council member also work for the county as recycling coordinator?
The 2016 AG did not view the recycling coordinator job as a second public office under the constitutional dual office rule. It nevertheless predicted a possible master-servant conflict because the…
Could a concealed weapons permit holder carry in the Lexington County treasurer’s office in 2016?
The 2016 AG told the county treasurer that his permit allowed concealed carry in that office on the facts supplied. It relied on the office being outside the courthouse and assumed no listed county…
Could a Lee County auditor also serve as a nonvoting adviser to the county archives commission?
The 2016 South Carolina AG said yes for the described advisory seat. County auditor was an office, but this nonvoting role lacked the powers and other features of a second office.
Could Meeting Street Elementary run schools of choice at both Brentwood and Burns under the 2016 South Carolina opinion?
The 2016 AG predicted that the proposed Burns location and existing Brentwood location would count as one school of choice at two sites under their shared partnership, despite separate codes and…
Could a South Carolina town council remove one of its own members from a meeting?
The 2016 AG modified its earlier answer and said a municipal council likely had inherent legislative power to remove a member from a meeting. It warned that use of this power must respect First…
Could Marlboro County use county transportation funds for lake parking and fencing?
The 2016 AG doubted that county transportation funds could pay for parking-lot resurfacing and fencing at a state-owned lake. It considered a public benefit likely but found little connection to the…
What would South Carolina Senate Bill 229 have meant for private pollution lawsuits?
The 2016 AG said the proposed bill expressly sought to eliminate a private right of action under the Pollution Control Act, subject to its stated exception. The opinion discussed the bill's effect…
Did a missed website agenda posting invalidate Duncan's 2015 town referendum?
The 2016 AG predicted that a court would likely treat the omission as technical and uphold the vote if the town substantially complied with notice rules in good faith and the error did not affect…
Did South Carolina scrap dealers need a fresh seller signature and ID copy for each metal purchase?
The 2016 AG said nonferrous-metal transactions required a signed ownership statement and photocopy of acceptable ID each time; a current seller photograph could remain on file. Vehicle transactions…
Who had authority to appoint Pickens County members of the Tri-County Technical College commission?
The 2016 South Carolina AG predicted that the Pickens County legislative delegation, rather than county council, held appointment authority under the specific technical-college statute.
Could someone serve on both Cherokee County Council and the Macedonia Fire District Board?
The 2016 South Carolina AG said no. It treated both the county council seat and the fire district board seat as public offices, so concurrent service would violate the state dual-office rule.
Could Clemson hold a second alcohol-sales referendum less than four years after its 2014 vote?
The 2016 AG said Clemson needed a new combined referendum question to authorize Sunday off-premises beer and wine sales, and had to wait the statutory forty-eight months. Calling it by council…
Could Orangeburg fund street and sidewalk repairs at South Carolina State University?
The 2016 AG said Orangeburg could provide financial assistance to the public university for campus street and sidewalk repairs. It found both a public purpose and a municipal corporate purpose in…
Did the Home Rule Act wipe out the laws governing special purpose districts?
The 2016 AG said no. It predicted that a court would not treat home rule as silently repealing the state code provisions on special purpose districts where the legislation did not specifically…
Could a South Carolina coroner candidate get extra time to finish a forensic-science program?
The 2016 AG said no waiver was provided for the one-year completion limit if a candidate used the forensic-science program route. A candidate could instead satisfy one of the statute's other…
Who set and collected the Richland County Recreation Commission's property-tax millage?
The 2016 AG said the legislature set the commission's base millage at its 1998 levy; the county auditor levied it and treasurer collected it. An increase required a district referendum or county…
Did South Carolina agricultural commodity boards have to follow the state procurement code?
The 2016 AG concluded that commodity boards were exempt from the general procurement code when spending farmer assessments under the more specific Marketing Act. It said the boards could decide how…
Could South Carolina parents use the health-education opt-out for sexual-abuse prevention lessons?
The 2016 AG said the parental exemption likely covered lesson material within the statute's specified health topics. It found no apparent opt-out for abuse-prevention instruction outside those…
Could a coroner obtain an unfounded child-abuse case file from South Carolina DSS?
The 2016 AG said a coroner was not a law-enforcement officer under the DSS disclosure exception, but could subpoena relevant unfounded case information in a child-death investigation, with law…
Could South Carolina's Legislative Audit Council audit Greenville Health System's fundraising office?
The 2016 AG said the council lacked authority to audit Greenville Health System's Office of Philanthropy and related controlled fundraising organizations. It treated the health system as a local…
What did the South Carolina AG initially say about removing an Irmo council member from a meeting?
In April 2016, the AG said Irmo council lacked power to remove a member from a meeting and did not reach whether police could enforce removal. The office modified that conclusion in a May 31, 2016 opinion.
Could a South Carolina auction company sell cars to the public without a dealer license?
The 2016 AG said a public retail car auction company met the dealer definition and needed a license. It also predicted that licensed dealers displaying or selling at an offsite retail auction…
Could armed officers provide security at a South Carolina county absentee-voting office?
The 2016 AG said election managers could summon armed peace officers to county voter registration and election offices while ballots were cast or counted. A majority of managers had to request an…
Could South Carolina restrict mobile veterinary clinics run by nonprofit animal shelters?
The 2016 AG said the General Assembly likely had power to regulate nonprofit shelters through the proposed mobile-clinic bill. It thought the proposal needed clarification of the policy behind its…
Which tax cap limited Fort Mill School District's annual operating millage increase?
The 2016 AG said the district had to use the smaller increase allowed by South Carolina's statewide millage formula or its local school law's six-mill cap. The later statewide laws had not displaced…
Which Charleston school board controlled countywide magnet schools, transfers, and discipline?
The 2016 AG divided powers between the countywide district and its constituent districts. The county board could set multi-district magnet attendance rules, while a student's home constituent board…
Could Fort Lawn's fire district hire and pay its own firefighters and provide benefits?
The 2016 AG said Fort Lawn's fire district board could hire necessary personnel, set their compensation, and likely provide benefits under the county ordinance, but only with Chester County…
Was Union County's Buffalo Volunteer Fire Department a special purpose district?
The 2016 AG said a court could find district status based on legislative acts, tax authority, and state filings, but the department's nonprofit form and member-elected leadership pointed the other…
Was a professional-licensing board hearing officer a second public office in South Carolina?
The 2016 AG said no for the described hearing officer. The officer made recommendations, while the licensing board retained final disciplinary power. A former board seat did not change the…
Could South Carolina Veterans' Trust Fund trustees be personally liable for board decisions?
The 2016 AG said trustees were generally shielded from personal tort liability for acts within official duties, but exceptions applied for misconduct or acts outside that scope. Mishandling public…
Could South Carolina’s proposed unclaimed life-insurance law cover policies already in force?
The 2016 AG said the bill as drafted would cover only newly issued policies. If lawmakers broadened it to existing policies, the AG thought it would likely survive a Contract Clause challenge, but…
Could South Carolina's governor remove officials for tax-filing convictions or DUI charges?
The 2016 AG said a guilty plea for failure to file tax returns created a county council vacancy because that offense involved moral turpitude. Ordinary DUI did not; whether felony DUI causing…
Could South Carolina DUI courts dismiss a charge after a conditional guilty plea and treatment?
The 2016 AG found no statutory authorization for the described conditional DUI guilty plea followed by dismissal. It distinguished a prosecutor's separate discretion to condition non-prosecution…
Could a South Carolina voter use a SLED concealed-weapons permit with a DMV photograph as voter ID?
The 2016 AG believed a court would likely accept the permit if it contained a photograph issued by the South Carolina DMV. The opinion relied on the reported use of DMV photographs on SLED permits.
Could the Greenville Arena District bar off-duty police officers from carrying firearms into the arena?
The 2016 AG said the district could not use the cited concealed-carry restriction to bar off-duty law-enforcement officers. It also said a special purpose district lacked authority to enact its own…
Could Cherokee Springs Fire District borrow beyond its debt limit without a voter referendum?
The 2016 AG said voter approval was required for general-obligation debt above the constitutional eight-percent limit, even though the fire board was elected. It separately noted a statutory…
Can South Carolina's geodetic survey move a county line without a vote by affected residents?
The 2016 AG said the survey statute allowed clarification of Richland County's existing statutory boundary, not a change to that boundary. The opinion said a change to the county's legal description…
Could a South Carolina coroner release a deceased person's toxicology report under FOIA?
The 2016 AG predicted that courts would treat toxicology reports as medical records closed to public access under FOIA, even when they contain only scientific test results. It distinguished…
Could a South Carolina school district directly hire licensed security officers with arrest powers on school grounds?
The 2016 AG said a school district could directly employ a SLED-licensed security officer, who would have statutory arrest power on the school property the officer was hired to protect. That did not…
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Attorney general opinions in South Carolina are written by the South Carolina 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.