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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Could Greenville County remove annexed land from a sewer subdistrict without a council vote?
The Attorney General believed in 2015 that a county administrator alone could not reduce the Metropolitan Sewer Subdistrict's boundaries; the governing county board had to act under the statute.…
What did South Carolina's 2015 opinion say a restaurant could ask about a PTSD service dog?
The Attorney General said a restaurant could ask whether a dog was needed because of a disability and what trained work or task it performed, but could not demand the person's diagnosis, documents,…
Could old South Carolina DUI arrests be expunged after pleas to other traffic offenses?
The Attorney General believed in 2015 that two 2005 DUI charges in the request were eligible under the law in effect when they were dismissed, despite convictions for different traffic offenses…
Could a South Carolina summary court hold a bench trial when a defendant who requested a jury failed to appear?
The Attorney General concluded in 2015 that missing court, by itself, did not waive a previously demanded state constitutional or statutory jury right. A judge had to examine the complete record for…
Would South Carolina’s proposed 2015 infrastructure bill violate the constitutional one-subject rule by combining highway changes and tax provisions?
The Attorney General predicted that a court would uphold the proposed bill because its transportation governance, fuel fee increase, and tax reductions were sufficiently connected to the stated…
Could Clarendon County’s education board suspend or remove an appointed school trustee merely because he had been arrested?
The Attorney General concluded in 2015 that the county board could not suspend the trustee and could remove him only for cause after notice and a hearing. The reported arrest and charges, without a…
Did a small South Carolina jail have to disclose the names of medications given to detainees under FOIA?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that disclosure turned on whether the drug list could identify a particular detainee and reveal medical information. Redacting names did not settle the…
Could one person serve on the Irmo-Chapin Recreation Board and South Carolina’s Public Employee Benefit Authority board?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that the two roles did not violate the state dual office holding restriction. It viewed recreation board membership as a public office but reconsidered earlier…
Could a South Carolina conservation district use a land-use ordinance to stop trespassers damaging watershed structures?
The Attorney General questioned using a land-use ordinance for trespass protection because those ordinances addressed soil and water conservation through landowner regulation. In 2014 it identified…
Could a South Carolina Education Oversight Committee member also serve on the Pickens County School Board?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that simultaneous service in those two positions would violate South Carolina’s dual office holding ban. It viewed both as public offices and said taking the…
Could Oconee County promise to defend and indemnify employees under its proposed 2014 ordinance?
The Attorney General said in 2014 that the proposal’s limits to acts within employment and exclusions for fraud, malice, intentional harm, and moral turpitude were relevant, but it flagged missing…
Could Simpsonville City Council undo a police chief appointment, create a deputy chief office, and reinstate a former chief?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that a council-form city could rescind prior personnel votes if its parliamentary rules allowed reconsideration, and could create a deputy chief office under…
Did on-call maintenance workers at a South Carolina state school earn comp time for every weekend hour at home?
The Attorney General said in 2014 that the answer depended on facts, including restrictions on the workers’ personal time, response time, and any employment agreement. It could not decide whether…
Did membership on South Carolina’s Real Estate Commission count as a public office under the dual office holding rule?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that commission membership was a public office because members had fixed terms and oaths, and the commission exercised state regulatory power over real estate…
Could the South Carolina Coroners Association report coroners who missed annual training to the Governor, including nonmembers?
The Attorney General said in 2014 that the law did not clearly assign anyone responsibility for certifying coroners’ training compliance or reporting noncompliance to the Governor. The association…
Could texts or emails found on a spouse’s phone or shared computer be used in a South Carolina family court case?
The Attorney General declined in 2014 to decide the hypothetical cases. It explained that privacy claims depended on how the messages were accessed and any authorization, while admissibility still…
Could South Carolina’s infrastructure bank commit to a highway project contract extending beyond one fiscal year?
The Attorney General said in 2014 that a state agency could not obligate unappropriated state funds beyond the current fiscal year without an appropriation contingency, but a contract extending…
Could one Allendale town council member inspect personnel, town-paid phone, and contract records without a council vote?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that an individual council member could access personnel and financial records to gather information even though council generally acted as a body. It…
Can Aiken County tax an airplane owned by an out-of-state club or company because it is kept at its airport?
The AG said the auditor should not infer business use solely from the aircraft’s registered owner. Under the statute then discussed, business property was taxed where situated, while other personal…
Could Elgin enforce its school-zone ban on electronic communication while driving after South Carolina enacted a statewide law?
No. The AG concluded the statewide wireless-device statute expressly preempted Elgin Town Ordinance 224, even though the town’s ban applied only in school zones. The ordinance could not be enforced…
Could Travelers Rest ban concealed weapons at Trailblazer Park by city ordinance?
The AG concluded the city could not enact an ordinance restricting the carrying of concealed weapons at Trailblazer Park. It read the state firearm preemption statute as barring local regulation…
Could a person who lived outside a South Carolina town vote in its municipal election if listed on its voter rolls?
The AG said municipal voters had to reside in the town for at least 30 days before the election. A person who voted without eligibility could face charges depending on the circumstances; what to do…
Could Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District ask voters to approve a tax millage above its statutory cap?
The AG said the fire district could use the statutory referendum procedure. A proposed rate could exceed the existing statutory cap, but the rate actually imposed could not exceed the increase…
Who owned Georgetown’s Rice Museum and Town Clock after the county took control of its Historical Commission?
The AG concluded that Georgetown County was the true owner of the Rice Museum and Town Clock building because its Historical Commission was a county agency. It also treated the commission’s personal…
Could a South Carolina county require every timberland owner to submit a forest management plan for agricultural assessment?
The AG concluded that counties lacked authority to impose an extra forest-management-plan requirement for timberland to receive agricultural property tax classification. The opinion treated property…
Was the Colleton County Attorney a public office under South Carolina’s dual-office-holding rule?
The AG concluded the Colleton County Attorney position was not a public office for dual-office-holding purposes. The county ordinance made the relationship contractual and left the attorney serving…
Would a Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District millage referendum bind the district board?
The AG concluded that a referendum under the statute it analyzed would be binding, not advisory. It recommended neutral ballot wording that stated the proposed millage increase and said the levy…
Could South Carolina lawmakers repeal the savings clause protecting pending pollution-law actions?
The AG said the legislature could revisit and eliminate the savings clause in the earlier pollution-control act, assuming that was what the pending bill intended. It concluded that doing so in this…
Could a South Carolina solicitor’s office form a nonprofit foundation for treatment-court participants?
The AG thought a court would likely permit a nonprofit foundation if creating it fell within the solicitor’s implied statutory authority and it complied with applicable charity, nonprofit and…
Did Robert Harrell’s indictment require suspension from the South Carolina House and speakership?
The AG concluded that the indictments triggered immediate mandatory suspension under the ethics statute. Suspension from House membership also suspended Harrell as Speaker, and the Speaker Pro Tem…
Could a homeschooled student keep playing for Landrum High after moving to another attendance zone in the same district?
The AG thought the student could keep playing at Landrum if district choice rules permitted attendance there, eligibility requirements were met, and the required school approval was obtained. It…
Did South Carolina’s disaster price-gouging law set a fixed percentage cap on price increases?
No. The AG said the law prohibited unconscionable prices during a covered emergency, disaster or abnormal market disruption, rather than imposing a fixed percentage cap. The restriction lasted until…
Could the Pickens County school board open its public meetings with a rotating outside invocation speaker?
The AG said a school board could have opening invocations as a deliberative body and favored the rotating speaker method discussed in the statute. It stressed nondiscrimination, the ceremonial…
Could an associate probate judge serve as executor for a family friend’s estate in her court?
The AG concluded that the restriction on probate judges also covered associate probate judges. A will naming the associate judge did not permit service for a family friend who was not a “family…
Could South Carolina prosecutors disclose confidential tax returns required as evidence in a criminal case?
The AG said the tax confidentiality statute’s “otherwise provided by law” exception allowed disclosure of material tax evidence requested through a properly filed criminal Rule 5 or Brady motion.…
Where did an intestate estate’s remaining money go when no heirs could be found in South Carolina?
The AG said the remaining estate funds passed toward the state under intestacy and escheat law, rather than being handled solely as unclaimed property. The state still had to bring an action to…
Could Chapin’s mayor alone put a change-of-government referendum on the November 2014 ballot?
No. The AG said the mayor’s letter was not lawful direction from Chapin’s town council, so the county election commission should not place that question on the November general-election ballot. The…
Could Beaufort County’s library board hire its chief librarian without the county administrator’s consent?
The AG said the Beaufort County Library Board could hire and supervise the chief librarian without the county administrator’s advice and consent. It also changed its earlier view and said board…
Could a South Carolina voter with a felony conviction register after completing parole while still subject to lifetime electronic monitoring?
The AG concluded that lifetime electronic monitoring was a civil requirement, not part of a criminal sentence under South Carolina's voting-disqualification statute. A person who had completed the…
Could one person serve on both South Carolina’s technical education board and Horry County’s solid waste board?
The AG advised against serving on both boards at once. It thought the Horry County Solid Waste Authority seat was a public office, making simultaneous service with the state technical education…
Who sets the date of a South Carolina town's special election when the county conducts its municipal elections?
The AG said Chapin's governing body still had to choose the special-election date because its agreement with Lexington County transferred only the conduct of elections. In that 2014 case, the…
Could a South Carolina retirement commission member recover legal fees after a criminal investigation ended without charges?
The AG said a court would likely allow reimbursement under Section 9-16-370 if the investigation concerned official duties, the member acted in good faith, no charges were filed, and the fees were…
Could a South Carolina school board trustee also work temporarily for the same school district?
The AG concluded that even temporary employment by the district created a conflict for a trustee on that district's board. The conflict arose as soon as one person held both the board's supervisory…
Did South Carolina's property-crime sentencing enhancement require three convictions for the same offense?
The AG said no. Under Section 16-1-57 as it stood in 2014, three qualifying property convictions could trigger the enhancement even if they were for different offenses; the opinion treated…
Did South Carolina's school bond payment protection apply to school district tax anticipation notes?
The AG concluded that the statutory payment protection applied to tax anticipation notes backed by a school district's full faith, credit and taxing power. It acknowledged ambiguity in the statute…
Did a South Carolina trespass warning expire, and could a store ban someone from its other locations?
The AG said the criminal-trespass statute imposed no expiration date on an adequate warning. An authorized company agent could potentially bar a patron from multiple locations, but the agent's…
Could two friends on the same South Carolina council committee socialize without holding a public meeting?
The AG said a court would likely find no open-meetings violation if the two committee members socialized without discussing or acting on committee business. Their presence together could form a…
Could a South Carolina public-records request obtain current or former county grand jurors' names and contact details?
The AG predicted that a court would exempt identifying information for both current and former county grand jurors from public disclosure because of grand-jury secrecy and privacy. It assumed FOIA…
Could Coastal Carolina University form a nonprofit foundation to handle research grants and contracts?
The AG predicted that a court would likely allow the university to establish a nonprofit research foundation, provided the foundation complied with nonprofit law and transfers of public funds were…
Could Beaufort County change or abandon a proposed capital projects sales tax after its commission drafted a ballot question?
The AG predicted that the county council could choose not to proceed with the tax. If it did proceed, it had to use a ballot question formulated by the capital projects sales tax commission; the…
Did Beaufort County's library trustees have to report to the county administrator?
On reconsideration, the AG said no. It amended a March 2014 opinion and concluded that the library board was not accountable to the county administrator, who lacked control over it under the…
When did Richland County's new voter registration and elections board have to be appointed, and when did the old board stop serving?
The AG said the Governor had six months after June 2, 2014 to appoint the initial members under the new statute. Incumbents kept serving together until at least five successor-board members were…
Did redrawing Colleton County school board districts cut short trustees' terms or require special elections?
The AG said the new district map operated prospectively, so sitting trustees could finish their existing terms even if their homes fell in different new districts. It found no vacancy and no need…
Could someone serve as court clerk in two South Carolina towns while also serving as a municipal judge?
The AG said no. Municipal court clerk and judge positions were public offices under South Carolina's dual-office-holding rule, even when held in different towns. Taking the second covered office…
Could a South Carolina officer release a DUI arrestee after a low breath test and issue a different traffic charge?
The AG said an officer could drop the DUI charge, issue a supported alternative charge, and release the person when the evidence conclusively showed the arrestee's innocence. A breath result of…
Could Edgefield restore its old 81-mill property tax rate after reducing it to zero?
The AG said Edgefield could not simply restore the old 81-mill rate because the increase from zero exceeded South Carolina's millage cap. The town had to calculate a permitted rate under the statute…
Could Oconee County keep late property-tax penalties in its general fund instead of sharing them with the school district?
The AG predicted that the county could retain late-payment penalties for its general fund unless a statute directed otherwise. The treasurer had to disburse collected money according to lawful…
Could a South Carolina seller record a one-sided cancellation of a land contract after the buyer defaulted?
The AG found no South Carolina statute authorizing the register of deeds to set its own cancellation-recording rules or allowing a seller's unilateral filing to settle the buyer's rights. It…
Could Pickens County condition election-board funding on giving the council control over board operations?
The AG said the county council could not use a funding agreement to take operational control of the voter registration and elections board. It also said council could not withhold legally required…
Did a South Carolina mandatory reporter have to report an adult's disclosure of childhood abuse?
The AG predicted no duty under the child-abuse reporting statute for a mentally competent adult's disclosure of past abuse, provided no child was or might be at risk and no other law required a…
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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.