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 Chesterfield County let its sheriff operate the county animal shelter, and must that shelter serve towns?
The AG said the county could delegate shelter operations to the sheriff but should formalize that arrangement by ordinance. The county shelter had to serve unincorporated areas; serving a town…
Could South Carolina’s Native American Indian Advisory Committee direct commission staff and projects?
The AG said the committee could advise the Commission for Minority Affairs and make nonbinding recommendations, but it had no authority to direct agency work. The executive director could appoint a…
How did South Carolina classify a lewd act upon a child under sixteen under the federal SORNA tiers?
The AG said a conviction under the lewd-act statute was Tier III when the victim was under 13. For ages 13 to 15, a sexual act involving naked genitalia was Tier III; other sexual contact described…
Could a buyer appeal a property tax valuation from before the sale and receive the resulting refund?
The AG thought a court would likely limit the appeal and refund to the owner of record on the prior December 31, who owed the tax. It also identified an argument for allowing the buyer to appeal and…
Could one person serve on both the Marion County Planning Commission and a local school board?
The AG said no. It treated both planning commission membership and a Marion County School District 2 board seat as public offices, so holding both simultaneously violated the state constitution’s…
When did collected evidence become protected by South Carolina’s Preservation of Evidence Act?
The AG said evidence for a covered crime became physical evidence or biological material when law enforcement collected and retained it for processing, even before use in court. Custodians could use…
Did South Carolina law forbid prescribed burns that could harm wildlife in a national forest?
The AG described state rules allowing prescribed fire when required plans, supervision, notice, precautions, and applicable permits were in place. It did not investigate particular Forest Service…
Could a South Carolina state trooper serve on the Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Council board?
The AG said yes. It treated a state trooper commission as a public office, but said a Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Council board seat did not exercise state sovereign power and was not a second…
How did South Carolina’s AG classify spousal sexual battery, incest, and institutional sexual misconduct under SORNA?
The AG classified the spousal sexual battery and spousal criminal sexual conduct offenses it analyzed as Tier III, as well as incest involving a victim under 16. Institutional sexual misconduct…
Could South Carolina’s unemployment agency bypass its appellate panel when a party had worked closely with panelists?
The AG said no. The statutory path required an appeal from the tribunal to the Appellate Panel before the Administrative Law Court. A special referee could serve at the tribunal stage; panelists had…
Could a veteran receiving 100% VA disability be appointed as a county veterans affairs officer?
The AG said disability itself did not bar appointment to the county office. It could not decide whether pay from the position would affect the person’s VA disability classification or benefits; the…
Could an Oconee County school board member also sit on the county parks, recreation, and tourism commission?
The AG said yes under the ordinance it reviewed. The school board seat was a public office, but the parks commission’s advisory role did not exercise state sovereign power, so it was not a second…
Could a knowingly false oral statement during a police investigation count as a false police report?
The AG read the false-report statute to cover a knowing false communication to law enforcement, whether oral or written and whether initial or later in an investigation. It also noted possible…
Could a South Carolina police department spend the first $1,000 of forfeited drug cash on general policing?
The AG said yes, for any public law enforcement purpose. It treated the first $1,000 of seized and forfeited cash as the seizing agency’s property, distinct from excess forfeiture funds restricted…
Could South Carolina apply higher 2011 military court-martial penalties to offenses committed before the amendment?
The AG said no. The federal and state Ex Post Facto Clauses barred retroactive harsher punishment, and the Act’s savings clause preserved the former law for pending cases. The opinion also treated…
Must a South Carolina county use rollback millage when reassessment lowers overall property values?
The AG said yes under the statutes as it read them: the rollback formula applied in any reassessment year, even when total assessed value fell and the calculated rate rose. It called the issue novel…
Could South Carolina’s election commission contract with parties to run the 2012 presidential primaries?
The AG said yes unless the statute was repealed or a court ruled otherwise. It read the commission’s authority in § 7-11-20(B)(2) as continuing despite a reference to the 2008 election cycle,…
Did South Carolina’s 2011 budget provisos let state and county election officials conduct the 2012 presidential primaries?
The AG said yes. It read Provisos 79.6 and 79.12 as authorizing the State Election Commission to conduct the primaries with specified carry-forward funds, and said county election commissions could…
Were recorded inmate calls and jail booking videos subject to disclosure under South Carolina FOIA?
The AG thought inmate personal calls could be disclosed, especially with express or implied monitoring consent, and that booking-area footage would generally be public. Specific privacy or…
Could the Woodruff-Roebuck Water District choose its water source instead of renewing a city supply contract?
The AG said the district had discretion under its enabling law to supply water itself or buy it. Municipal water service outside city limits was governed by contract. The AG could not say whether…
Could a South Carolina town use a local ordinance summons instead of a uniform traffic ticket for speeding?
The AG said no. Municipal ordinance violations dealing with traffic offenses had to be cited with a uniform traffic ticket; a local ordinance summons could not replace it for speeding.
When did Aiken County magistrates’ higher census-based salary base take effect?
The AG said the higher base took effect when the official 2010 census figures reached South Carolina, identified as March 23, 2011, and operated prospectively. It rejected treating the salary…
Could a restaurant use an electronic sweepstakes machine that also offered poker or other chance games?
The AG said a machine offering a prohibited poker simulation or other game of chance was illegal per se even if it also offered lawful games or free sweepstakes entries. It did not decide whether…
Could South Carolina’s governor call an extra legislative session before sine die adjournment?
The AG said yes. It reaffirmed a 1984 opinion that the governor’s extra-session power could operate while the General Assembly was in recess before sine die adjournment. It did not decide whether…
Could one person serve on both the Governor’s School arts board and Santee Cooper’s board?
The AG said no. Later legislation gave the Governor’s School board governing powers that made it a public office, and the Santee Cooper board was also an office; simultaneous service would violate…
Could Horry County Council’s chair also serve on a regional economic development nonprofit board?
The AG said yes under the dual office rule because the nonprofit board and executive committee did not exercise state sovereign power. It separately warned that council votes on nonprofit funding…
Could a privately owned gated community bar candidates from door-to-door campaigning?
The AG said yes when the community was private property used nondiscriminatorily for private purposes. It viewed uninvited candidates as lacking a general free-speech right to canvass there and left…
Could a county magistrate serve where the magistrate’s spouse worked for the solicitor?
The AG said no under its reading of the Judicial Canons and advisory opinions, because the spouse’s solicitor-office role could undermine the appearance of impartiality. It deferred final…
Could a county tax auditor employee swear out courtesy summonses for motor vehicle tax violations?
The AG said a non-law-enforcement employee could serve as the affiant if evidence supported a good-faith belief that an offense occurred. A judge still had to find probable cause; the AG cautioned…
Did Whitmire change its form of town government in the 1990 referendum?
The AG said a court would likely find that Whitmire retained its mayor-council form. The election results were unknown, the reported election date fell outside the statutory window, and federal…
Which murder sentencing and parole rules applied at a resentencing for a crime committed before 1996?
The AG said the murder punishment was governed by the law in force when the defendant committed the crime, because the later amendment applied prospectively. It also concluded that his prior murder…
Could a physician practice bill for pathology work performed by a part-time pathologist?
The AG said a billing physician could do so under the state statute if the physician directly supervised the pathologist. It could not decide whether a particular arrangement met that factual…
Could a student use property ownership to choose a different school within the same district?
The AG said property ownership did not itself entitle a student to a particular school within a district. Absent contrary local legislation, the district board decided school assignments under its…
Could a Dillon County police chief also serve on the county school board?
The AG said no. It treated both a municipal police chief and a county school-board member as public officers, so holding both positions simultaneously violated the state constitution’s dual-office rule.
Could Aiken County hire a fire district to protect property outside that district?
The AG said Aiken County could contract with the Belvedere Fire District for service outside the district but within the county. It also said the county could serve selected areas and charge…
Could a water utility charge a monthly minimum fee for a fire sprinkler line?
The AG said yes, but the fee could not exceed the actual costs associated with the water line to the sprinkler system under the statute as it stood in 2011.
Did South Carolina’s corporate-charter forfeiture statute cover unpaid county property tax?
The AG said the statute’s reference to taxes assessed on corporate property for state and county purposes included county ad valorem taxes. It declined to say whether it would sue a particular…
Could South Carolina face liability by halting an already permitted South Saluda River project?
The AG said the legislature could impose a permit moratorium, but a measure undoing an affirmed permit could raise due-process concerns and leave the state potentially financially responsible. It…
Could police discard evidence seven years after a guilty plea without a court order?
The AG said the statute allowed return or disposal without a court order after the applicable retention period for covered offenses, but warned against automatic disposal at seven years. Other…
Did USC need higher-education commission approval to expand its Greenville medical program?
The AG reaffirmed that the Greenville expansion of an existing medical program was not a new program requiring commission approval. It said notice could be provided, but the university and…
Could school staff search everything on a student’s phone after confiscating it for a rule violation?
The AG said a school could confiscate a phone under its policy, but a phone-policy violation alone did not justify a broad search of its contents. A content search required reasonable grounds tied…
Could the Marion County library board sponsor a property-tax referendum for library renovations?
The AG said the library board lacked authority to sponsor a referendum to raise property taxes for its facilities. Under the law examined, county council controlled county-library funding and any…
Did South Carolina’s firefighters insurance fund violate the state constitution?
The AG said a court would likely uphold the fund provisions, including payments to the State Firemen’s Association, as serving a public purpose under legislative authorization. It also concluded the…
What recourse did a Myrtle Beach records requester have when the city failed to answer?
The AG said the city had to respond within the statutory period and a requester could ask circuit court to enforce the Freedom of Information Act. It could not determine the disclosure status of…
Could Florence County Council use budget lines to control an elected treasurer’s staff?
The AG said county council had broad budget authority but had to fund elected offices sufficiently to perform their duties. It could not use its employment power to hire or fire staff under an…
Could a judge suspend the fine for a third driving-under-suspension offense?
The AG said yes under the 2010 amendment it examined. The restriction on suspending imprisonment or home detention did not also bar a trial judge from suspending the specified fine.
Could a swimmer be charged for blocking access to a public boat ramp?
The AG said a person swimming in a way that obstructed a boat ramp or its access area could fall under the statute. It left whether a particular swimmer actually obstructed access, and whether to…
Could South Carolina’s corrections director revise the drugs used in a lethal injection protocol?
The AG said the director had authority to establish and revise reasonable lethal-injection rules, including drug protocols. It said specific notice of drug changes to the inmate or counsel was…
Did Pendleton have to operate its own police force or buy a set minimum of county policing?
The AG said it knew of no state requirement that an existing town operate its own police force or provide a fixed minimum level of service. The sheriff’s countywide patrol duty remained, but…
Where did fines imposed by the Workers’ Compensation Commission go?
The AG said commission-imposed sanctions under the provision at issue funded commission salaries and expenses. It read the separate general-fund direction as applying to Department of Insurance…
Did existing interbasin-transfer permits survive South Carolina’s new water-withdrawal law?
The AG reaffirmed that an existing interbasin-transfer permit or registration remained effective for its term. It read the Act as barring those holders from filing a new surface-water withdrawal…
Could a South Carolina senator also serve on the Uniform Law Commission?
The AG said yes. A senator held public office, but the state uniform-law commission role was advisory and did not exercise state sovereign power, so the combination did not violate the dual-office…
Was the South Lynches Fire District invalid because a special act created it?
The AG withdrew its earlier view that the district’s enabling act was probably unconstitutional. Because the fire district covered parts of two counties, the AG believed a court would uphold the act…
Does a zoning appeal stop a planning commission from hearing a separate extension request?
The AG said no under the Jasper County facts. The appeal challenged the zoning director’s decision that a nonconforming use had ceased; the planning commission’s separate question was whether to…
Could South Carolina officials remove a city council member for missing meetings?
The AG found no constitutional or statutory provision allowing removal of a city council member for absenteeism on the facts presented. Because it found no removal authority, it did not answer who…
Would a proposed South Carolina canal-dredging permit exemption violate special-legislation or equal-protection rules?
The AG predicted that both versions of the proposed exemption would survive those challenges. Based on facts supplied to the office, it understood the proposals to apply in practice to Cherry Grove…
Did South Carolina’s boat property-tax day count depend on whether an individual held the title?
The AG said no. Under the statute as it read in 2011, a qualifying boat became taxable after the specified number of days in South Carolina regardless of how it was titled; the opinion did not…
Could Orangeburg collect DNA samples from everyone it arrested under its own local program?
The AG said no. It concluded that South Carolina’s DNA database act impliedly preempted a municipal collection program extending beyond the people the state act covered, and it did not answer the…
Did stealing a catalytic converter count as breaking into a motor vehicle under South Carolina law?
The AG said the vehicle-breaking statute required proof of breaking or attempting to break into the vehicle or one of its compartments; taking an exterior part alone did not establish that element.…
Could South Carolina courts put DMV driver photographs on warrants that might become public?
The AG said the DMV could share photographs with the courts under their arrangement, and the courts could redisclose them for a permitted purpose such as making court documents public in the…
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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.