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 a Pinewood town clerk perform daily administrative duties without infringing the mayor’s authority?
The AG said the worker might be a municipal clerk or an administrator, depending on how the town established the position. A clerk could not be assigned duties that infringed the mayor’s statutory…
Could Abbeville County transfer a donated building to a private company after using grants to replace its roof?
The AG said the county had authority to convey real property, but the proposal required a fact-specific public purpose and value assessment. Council also had to examine gift restrictions, contracts…
Could Blackville release a school property reverter without receiving payment or other value?
The AG concluded that the town could not simply donate its reversionary interest to the academy. It had to receive adequate consideration, but the value depended on facts for town council to…
Could an electronic certified-mail receipt prove DMV suspension notice or service of process?
The AG said a court would likely accept the DMV’s electronic signature report as evidence of delivery comparable to a signed paper return receipt. The agency could choose electronic records, but…
Could a business offer brew-on-premises beer making or a home winemakers’ center in South Carolina?
The AG believed operators of both kinds of facility needed a Department of Revenue permit before operating. DOR had authority over beer and wine, but the AG left the permit decision for any specific…
Could SLED require Group III constables to complete 120 hours of annual volunteer service?
Yes. The AG concluded that SLED’s regulatory authority over commissioned state constables included the manual’s 120-hour annual voluntary activity requirement for Group III constables. It deferred…
Could a South Carolina circuit public defender accrue state employee annual leave?
The AG said no. Although circuit public defenders were full-time state employees, the statute tied their benefits to circuit solicitors, who did not accrue annual leave as elected officials. The AG…
Could a gated community’s bylaws restrict a nonprofit member’s statutory right to inspect records?
The AG said a nonreligious nonprofit’s bylaws had to be consistent with the statutory member inspection rights. It had not seen any specific association bylaws and did not decide whether a…
Could Barnwell’s city council contract for sewer service outside city limits without a public works commission?
Yes. The AG read the sewer contract statute together with a provision vesting public works commission powers in Barnwell City Council. Council was therefore a proper body to make the kind of…
Could South Carolina require federal officers to obtain a sheriff’s permission before federal arrests or searches?
The AG said a court would likely find the proposed Sheriffs First bill unconstitutional. The permission requirement would impede authorized federal law enforcement, and its limits on state…
Could DHEC allow limited nutrient-standard excursions in its Reedy River watershed plan?
The AG said DHEC’s interpretation allowing some excursions of a “shall not exceed” nutrient standard was reasonable when the water quality law and regulations were read together. It did not verify…
Could a city buy a fire truck with South Carolina local hospitality tax revenue?
The AG said hospitality tax revenue could pay for fire protection directly attendant to a listed tourism facility. The statute also allowed counties below the accommodations-tax threshold to use up…
Did South Carolina FOIA require Columbia to disclose who received city development loans and whether they were repaid?
The AG favored disclosure of information about publicly funded loans, especially commercial borrower names and repayment status, but left residential borrower names uncertain and final privacy…
Could DHEC require sprinklers before licensing a senior adult day care facility despite local building approval?
The AG said DHEC had licensing authority and the facility had to meet applicable statewide fire and building code standards. The sprinkler rule depended on the facility’s classification and…
Could a county legislative delegation adopt a grievance policy for its veterans affairs officer?
The AG said the officer was subject to neither the county’s grievance policy nor state personnel policy, and no statute empowered the delegation to impose its own grievance policy. A delegation…
Could Carlisle’s fire control board lease to buy a new fire station built by a private company?
The AG said a county likely could use a properly structured lease-to-buy arrangement, but had not reviewed a contract. The board’s own power to bind the county was uncertain under its ordinance, so…
Could Bamberg add two elected commissioners to its public works board under the 2010 act?
Yes, at the city’s discretion. The AG read the special act as removing a statutory age-of-board barrier for Bamberg while keeping the ordinary election procedures. The act allowed, but did not…
Who controlled investment of South Carolina retirement assets: the Investment Commission, trustee board, or Treasurer?
The AG said the Retirement System Investment Commission alone invested and managed the assets. The Budget and Control Board still held them as trustee, and the Treasurer served as custodian; both…
Could a county airport or stadium commission director also sit on the county alcohol and drug abuse commission board?
The AG said yes for the positions described. It treated the alcohol and drug abuse board seat as a public office, but the airport and stadium commission director jobs as administrative employment…
Could a South Carolina county require elected officials to pass a drug screen to hold office?
The AG said a proposed county ordinance requiring drug screens for elected officials might be constitutionally suspect. Testing without individualized suspicion would require a genuine special need…
Could Beaufort give one carriage tour company the exclusive right to use city streets?
The AG considered the proposed exclusive carriage tour franchise legally questionable. Section 5-7-30 allowed city street regulation but did not expressly authorize exclusive franchises or clearly…
What criminal charges applied when South Carolina scheduled bath salts and synthetic cannabinoids in 2011?
The AG identified possession, distribution-related, school-zone, minor-recipient, attempt, accomplice, and drug-proceeds offenses that could apply after eight substances entered Schedule I(d). It…
Could a budget proviso let the South Carolina Treasurer decide when to sue to recover state funds?
The AG said proposed Proviso 76.14 was constitutionally suspect because it let the Treasurer choose legal action on the state’s behalf, intruding on the AG’s control of state litigation. An enacted…
Who hired and supervised employees in a South Carolina county veterans affairs office?
The AG said the county veterans affairs officer, not county council or its administrator, administered that office and decided employee hiring and discharge. Staff were county-paid employees, but a…
Could the South Carolina Forestry Commission use waivers for public hunting events?
The AG said a clear, voluntary release might limit the Commission’s civil liability, and the submitted waiver appeared adequate for its intended purpose. It cautioned that a release of…
Must South Carolina assess real property using sales comparisons, and how did its reassessment cap treat improvements?
The AG said neither cited statute required a sales-comparison appraisal; the suitable fair-market-value method depended on the property. For the reassessment cap, improvements taxable by December 31…
Could a South Carolina city ban fireworks discharge or limit the hours for using them?
The AG said state law did not generally preempt local rules on fireworks discharge. A city could restrict places or times, but an ordinance had to stay consistent with state law and use a civil, not…
Could a sheriff bid against private firms for a paid school drug-sniffing dog contract?
The AG said no. A sheriff with resources to provide drug-sniffing dog service to schools had to provide it free of charge because no law authorized a fee; the sheriff therefore should not bid for a…
Did South Carolina charge E911 fees to people receiving free SafeLink wireless service?
The AG said no for the free SafeLink service described. Recipients were neither billed wireless subscribers nor purchasers in a prepaid retail transaction, the two categories to which the cited E911…
Did an earlier USC Greenville medical school opinion exempt other new college programs from state review?
No. The AG reaffirmed that the particular USC Greenville course expansion did not require Commission on Higher Education approval, but said that fact-specific result did not remove approval…
Was a bail bondsman soliciting at a jail by parking a branded car or wearing branded clothing?
The AG did not decide whether those displays amounted to prohibited solicitation. That required facts about the particular conduct; local authorities and prosecutors would assess violations, and the…
Could South Carolina DHEC schedule bath salts after a federal temporary Schedule I order?
The AG said DHEC was authorized and directed to schedule the three identified synthetic cathinones at its first regular or special board meeting after publication of a final federal order. Once…
Could Barnwell extend sewer service beyond city limits without extending water service?
The AG said yes through an appropriate statutory route, though section 5-31-1520 required both water and sewer to be extended. It suggested considering section 5-31-890 for sewer service and said…
Did joining South Carolina’s TERI program require school district consent or end a teacher’s continuing contract?
The AG said an eligible employee could elect TERI without district consent or advance notice to the district. A continuing-contract teacher kept that status and its protections while participating,…
Could a forfeited-land commission sell property for taxes due without adding outstanding local fees?
The AG said Lancaster County’s commission likely had discretion to sell deeded property for the taxes due without adding certain assessments and fees if that served the county and state’s best…
Could a private college nursing director serve on a competing public college commission?
The AG said simultaneous service was not necessarily prohibited, but a court could find a conflict under the ethics statute because the commissioner could influence decisions affecting her…
Did a shorter fence with an inside ditch violate South Carolina’s deer enclosure ban?
The AG said the statute defined the prohibited enclosure by a fence exceeding six feet from ground level. A ditch might impede deer, but the AG would not extend that statutory definition to the…
Could Aiken lease its airport to a private operator and allow that operator to exclude a hangar renter?
The AG said Aiken could lease the airport but retained a duty to ensure rightful, equal and uniform public use. The former 25-year lease limit appeared applicable to the older lease; a court would…
Could a South Carolina assistant deputy attorney general serve on Clemson’s Humanities Advancement Board?
The AG said yes. The assistant deputy attorney general position was a public office, but the Clemson board was an unpaid advisory and fundraising body without sovereign power, so the two roles did…
Could a county council chair take part in hiring a new administrator while applying for that job?
The AG said the chair had to abstain from every aspect of the selection and make the required conflict disclosure. It also concluded that appointing a council member as administrator likely violated…
Who decided whether a Native American entity qualified for South Carolina state recognition?
The AG deferred recognition and formation questions to the Commission for Minority Affairs under its regulations. It also said the Commission likely had implied power to review and remove…
Could Greenville’s legislative delegation decide appointments by the weighted votes of members present?
The AG said yes, when a quorum was present and a weighted majority of those present and voting supported the action. The delegation did not need a weighted majority of every member unless a statute…
Could Tega Cay credit or waive stormwater fees, or accept school property instead of payment?
The AG said reasonable, equitable credits tied to a user’s demand and service cost were permissible. Broad exemptions generally were not, and the city lacked authority to accept a school district’s…
Could a South Carolina town let a shelter dispose of an unclaimed animal after three days?
The AG said no. Although local governments could regulate animal care and control, a three-day disposition rule conflicted with the state statute’s five-day minimum and would be invalid in the AG’s view.
Did Sumter County violate tax law by delaying reassessment or adding service fees beyond a millage cap?
The AG could not determine whether Sumter County had failed to reassess property; a one-year postponement ordinance was possible. A genuine service fee could be charged outside the property-tax…
Could a South Carolina public school require visitors, including parents, to show ID for scanning?
The AG said Spartanburg School District Three’s visitor-registration and ID-check policy was reasonable for school safety and did not give parents unrestricted access to secure areas. It expected a…
Could Barnwell charge every property parcel a flat public-safety fee for existing fire and police budgets?
The AG said a flat fee was not invalid merely because it ignored property value, but Barnwell’s proposed charge would likely fail the test for a service fee and be treated as a tax. Its use for…
Could someone refuse a deed by filing a notice of non-acceptance in South Carolina?
The AG said a grantee could refuse a conveyance because acceptance was necessary for a deed to take effect. A notice of non-acceptance was uncommon in South Carolina but could conceivably show…
Did a South Carolina school district need planning commission review before building a new school?
The AG said yes under the cited planning statute. Site-plan approval alone did not replace commission review and comment. Because construction had begun, the opinion discussed late submission and…
Was a paid closest-to-the-pin golf contest an illegal lottery in South Carolina?
The AG said the described contest was primarily a test of golf skill and therefore was not a lottery or a violation of state gambling law. Its answer depended on the proposed closest-to-the-pin…
Could an Aiken County magistrate hear a small credit-reporting, debt-collection or defamation claim?
The AG said magistrates had countywide civil jurisdiction, so a district line did not alone confine filing to one magistrate. The listed claims could fall within concurrent magistrate jurisdiction…
Could a voter without photo ID use a reasonable-impediment affidavit under South Carolina’s 2011 bill?
The AG read “reasonable impediment” to include a valid obstacle beyond the voter’s control, including the short time between preclearance and an election. Under the bill’s procedure, an…
Could Arcadia Lakes correct minutes that wrongly said a council member had resigned?
The AG said council could vote to correct minutes if the member had only said he would not seek reelection. It also said a purported resignation had no effect without a successor, so the member…
Did Jasper County’s late-night alcohol ordinance apply inside incorporated towns?
The AG said the county likely could regulate hours under its general powers, but its ordinance was generally unenforceable inside municipalities without an agreement or municipal assent. Section…
Did South Carolina FOIA cover the nonprofit Jenkinsville Water Company?
The AG said yes. Although organized as a nonprofit, the company had received government grant support and therefore counted as a public body under the FOIA definition; its records and affairs were…
Did an expungement order require South Carolina probation officials to destroy an entire offender file?
The AG said no. Records of the actual arrest and criminal charge, such as arrest records, indictments and sentencing sheets, had to be destroyed under the described order; routine supervision…
Could South Carolina’s Election Commission contract to market its voter registration software to other states?
The AG said the executive director, with Commission approval, had implied authority to contract with the developer to market the state-owned system. It viewed the system as likely within the…
Could South Carolina voters sign an in-person absentee ballot application on an electronic pad?
The AG said the described electronic signature process was permitted so long as it complied with the Election Code and the state electronic-transactions statute. The same reasoning covered a…
Could Williamston council members join the state employee health plan without violating council pay rules?
The AG said the town could choose to participate in the state employee insurance plans and that this did not conflict with the municipal salary statute. If eligible members joined, town premium…
Could SLED use drug forfeiture funds to maintain DUI breath-test and video sites?
The AG said yes for the described nonrecurring upgrades and maintenance. DUI enforcement included drugs as well as alcohol, and SLED had a statutory duty to supply and maintain video equipment at…
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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.