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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When did South Carolina’s violent-crime driver-license code apply, and could the DMV disclose it?
The AG read the 2010 act to apply when conviction or a qualifying plea occurred on or after July 1, 2011, regardless of when the offense occurred. It said the DMV would have to disclose the code…
Could the South Carolina Forestry Commission bar bicycles from forest roads open to cars and pedestrians?
The AG said the commission could not exclude otherwise lawful cycling from the roads described, where cars and pedestrians were permitted, without another ground in state law or its regulations. The…
Could a county elections director also serve on the Greenville-Spartanburg airport commission?
The AG saw no conflict of interest apparent from the two positions and no dual-office violation because the director position was ordinarily employment rather than a public office. It did not…
Could Darlington police visit registered sex offenders to verify their reported addresses?
The AG said local police, working with the sheriff, could make the described residence checks twice monthly at reasonable hours to verify registry addresses, without imposing duties beyond existing…
Could the South Carolina State Library refuse an inmate’s information request or disclose a prison employee’s home address?
The AG said the State Library had to serve incarcerated residents seeking public information as it served others, while evaluating employee-address requests individually and protecting unlisted or…
Could a South Carolina state constable also serve on a town or county council?
The AG said the state constitution’s dual-office ban did not bar the combination. A council seat counted as an office, but constables were expressly exempt from that ban; the opinion addressed dual…
Does complying with South Carolina’s lobbyist-paid-meal rules rule out a bribery violation?
No. The AG said the lobbyist-principal benefit rule and the separate statute against giving or receiving something of value to influence official duties each applied on its own terms. Whether the…
Which convictions counted as violent crimes for South Carolina’s 2010 driver-license code?
The AG said Act 277 used the older crime-of-violence definition in § 16-23-10(3), not the separate general list in § 16-1-60. It predicted inclusion of all burglaries, armed and strong-arm robbery,…
Could Bamberg County’s emergency services director also sit on the city public works board?
The AG said the two positions did not violate the state’s dual-office ban on the facts supplied. A public works commissioner held an office, but the county emergency services director’s described…
Did proposed South Carolina school scholarships and tax credits violate the ban on direct aid to private schools?
The AG predicted that Senate Bill 414, if enacted as described, would be facially valid under the state constitution. Its analysis relied on neutral eligibility and independent student or parent…
Could a South Carolina rural water district indemnify its engineer or buy insurance for contract risks?
The AG said the district lacked authority to accept the proposed indemnity or hold-harmless clauses, even if they were limited by references to state law. It could buy insurance for contract risks,…
Could Florence City Council set a new employee’s job description while the city manager handled hiring?
The AG said council could create a position and specify its job description under the council-manager system, while the manager retained hiring discretion. It could not decide whether a proposed ban…
What did a South Carolina sheriff owe after private security guards made an arrest?
The AG said the sheriff’s office had a corresponding duty to accept and store crime evidence seized by guards at arrest. If it had resources to process evidence in a criminal case, it could not…
Could South Carolina exempt its upstate game zones from the Renegade Hunter Act?
The AG predicted that a court would uphold the exception for Game Zones 1 and 2. Deer hunting with dogs was already prohibited there, giving the distinction a presumed rational basis, and the state…
Could Columbia pay to bury utility lines owned by a private college?
The AG did not decide whether the city could fund this project. Paying for Columbia College's own campus utilities appeared to benefit the college directly, but the constitutional answer required…
Did secretly filming someone in a private place prove voyeurism under South Carolina's 2011 law?
No. The AG said the statute also required proof that the accused acted to arouse or gratify a person's sexual desire. Filming without consent in a private place did not by itself establish that intent.
What investigative and warrant powers did Anderson firefighters have when they suspected arson?
The AG said fire authorities could investigate fires, but later searches remained subject to Fourth Amendment warrant rules. It found no state statute authorizing a fire-investigation administrative…
Could a South Carolina voter ID bill exempt older voters from its photo ID rule?
The AG predicted that the bill's photo ID requirement would be facially valid, but said its proposed age-based exemption faced serious equal-protection concerns. The office believed a court would…
Could South Carolina county voters propose an initiative reducing a road-maintenance fee?
The AG could not resolve that question. The county initiative statute did not expressly exclude fee ordinances, but a fee reduction might count as an impermissible appropriation measure under the…
Could South Carolina legislators change a county initiative statute after the state Supreme Court interpreted it?
Yes, prospectively. The AG said lawmakers could amend the statute despite the court's earlier interpretation, but could not make the change retroactive to overrule that interpretation or disturb…
Who could investigate a death scene, photograph a victim, and hold personal property in South Carolina?
The AG said coroners and police had overlapping investigative authority, with no automatic priority for either. A fire chief was not categorically barred from taking photographs, but disclosure…
Could an Aiken County charity hold a ticketed casino night with play money and no prizes?
The AG predicted that a court would find the proposed event unlawful even without cash prizes. It read the card-and-dice gaming ban as applicable without a prize and said the charity-event statute…
Could Florence County use road-maintenance fees to pay its entire Public Works budget?
The AG could not decide without knowing how the department spent the money. It said a court could treat the charge as a tax if fee proceeds funded work outside the road, bridge, and drainage…
Did South Carolina's 2009 school-spending website rule cover athletics and booster clubs?
For the 2009–10 fiscal year rule, the AG said school districts had to post expenditures over one hundred dollars, including qualifying publicly funded athletic or booster spending. The Act did not…
Could Fort Lawn discard old town council minutes and financial records?
The AG said those were public records and could not simply be eliminated. The municipal retention schedule required permanent retention of council minutes; financial records had their own schedules.…
Could a South Carolina register of deeds refuse a document believed to be fraudulent or a sham?
Yes, if the register reasonably believed the document was materially false, fraudulent, or sham legal process. The AG said the statute also allowed removal of a recorded document on the same basis…
Could North Myrtle Beach require removal of a catamaran stored on beach property covered by its easement?
The AG predicted a court would likely recognize the city's right to require removal of a vessel that obstructed its beach protection easement. It also warned that exempting catamarans from the beach…
Could a St. Stephen business obtain a Sunday alcohol sales license under Berkeley County's ordinance?
The AG said the county ordinance did not automatically apply inside St. Stephen. Businesses there could not obtain the license on that basis unless the town and county agreed to make the ordinance…
Did a South Carolina prisoner receive credit for pretrial jail time despite a no-credit sentence?
The AG said the described prisoner had to receive credit for twenty days held before trial if neither statutory exception applied. The jail still had to follow court commitment orders and could not…
Could Jasper County's zoning appeals board deliberate on an appeal in a closed meeting?
The AG said the board could not use executive session to deliberate on an appeal heard in public. It predicted a court would permit a closed session to receive qualifying legal advice from board…
Could Kershaw County's treasurer also serve as interim county administrator?
The AG said holding both positions at once would violate South Carolina's dual office holding prohibition, even if the administrator role was interim. It distinguished actually holding the second…
Could South Carolina technical colleges offer optional payroll deductions through their own payroll systems?
The AG said technical colleges could deduct money from employees' pay only where the Legislature authorized it. Processing payroll outside the Comptroller General's office did not supply general…
Could a Mount Pleasant council member also serve as a reserve deputy sheriff?
The AG said simultaneous service as a Mount Pleasant council member and reserve deputy sheriff would violate South Carolina's constitutional ban on holding two public offices. It relied on earlier…
Could Surfside Beach negotiate a pier lease after its public requests for proposals produced no responsive bid?
The AG said the town still had to follow its procurement procedures unless an ordinance exception applied. It said the town administrator could not negotiate directly with prospective tenants merely…
Would a homeowners association board member's ineligibility void the votes and documents he signed?
The AG predicted a court would likely treat the member's acts as valid for third parties and the public if he was a de facto officer and did not act for his own benefit. The opinion assumed he was…
Could a water supplier with an existing interbasin transfer permit seek a new withdrawal permit early to avoid drought rules?
The AG said the supplier's existing interbasin transfer permit remained effective for its term and could not be bypassed by an early application under the new Act. It also said the supplier remained…
Did USC need higher education commission approval to add first and second year medical classes in Greenville?
The AG said the proposed Greenville expansion was an addition to USC's existing medical program, so commission approval was unnecessary on the facts presented. USC still had to notify the commission…
Must a police agency reimburse training costs when it hires an officer fired by the agency that trained him?
The AG said yes if the new governmental employer hired the officer within two years after mandatory training. The statute did not make termination by the training agency an exception to its…
Must a South Carolina resident register a nonresident relative's car kept and driven in Lancaster County?
The AG said the two cars described did not need South Carolina registration because their nonresident owners kept valid home-state registrations and had not themselves driven the cars in South…
Could South Carolina prison officials identify inmates' prohibited cell phone calls using a managed access system?
The AG predicted a court would allow the described system to identify calls and dialed numbers through a service provider's pen register, based on presumed provider status and implied inmate…
Could Clemson end its Extension Service without losing its land-grant status or state approval?
The AG said ending extension services alone would not revoke Clemson's land-grant charter under the Morrill Act. It also said Clemson could not unilaterally discontinue the Extension Service without…
Could a South Carolina county prohibit concealed weapons in its public parks?
The AG said a county could not enact a rule regulating concealed weapon carrying in a county park under the state firearm preemption statute. It superseded its 2009 opinion that had allowed such a…
How did a 2010 South Carolina AG opinion read “unlawful use of a controlled substance” for officer certification?
The AG left the technical meaning of “controlled substance” in the certification rules to the Department of Public Safety. It read “unlawful use” as illegal use and concluded that the specific…
Did the SC AG decide whether hospital nurses could administer propofol under federal anesthesia rules?
The AG kept its earlier conclusion about what South Carolina law allowed in most instances, but identified a possible conflict with federal hospital anesthesia rules. It said only a court could…
Could South Carolina DMV take free queue screens and maintenance in return for commercial ads?
The AG predicted a court would allow the DMV to receive queue equipment and service in exchange for ad time under the agency powers it identified. It also said a contract of at least fifteen hundred…
Could a South Carolina town limit yard campaign signs to the 30 days before an election and seven days after it?
The AG thought courts would find a political-sign-only time limit unconstitutional if comparable signs could remain up year-round. But only a court could invalidate the Cheraw ordinance, so the AG…
Who owed property tax that accrued while a tax-sale buyer waited through South Carolina's redemption period?
The AG said the defaulting taxpayer, rather than the tax-sale buyer, owed property tax during the redemption period. The owner kept title and possession until that period expired; the buyer's…
Did different handling of a medical child support order by DSS and family court make the order enforceable?
The AG declined to decide the specific order because an appeal was pending. It said DSS's child support enforcement division had to follow the medical support statutes and federal rules, while…
Was a $100-entry essay contest awarding a house an illegal South Carolina lottery?
The AG said the described house contest was an illegal lottery. A house was the prize, each entry cost $100, and vague judging criteria about writing skill and who would benefit most left the winner…
Could a South Carolina mayor hire an outside lawyer at city expense without council approval?
Generally, the AG said no for a council-manager city: the council controlled retention of outside counsel. The opinion recognized a narrow good-faith exception for extenuating circumstances and said…
Could South Carolina’s Human Affairs Commission be liable for not enforcing a duty the legislature left unfunded?
The AG thought the commission likely could not be held liable for failure to perform statutory enforcement duties when no appropriation covered their cost. It predicted a court would view the…
Could a South Carolina coroner release a victim’s body after preserving forensic evidence under the 2010 Act?
The AG said customary forensic techniques, including sampling, swabbing, and photography, could satisfy the Preservation of Evidence Act if the required evidence was preserved with proper chain of…
Could police return a robbery victim’s checkbook and cash without violating South Carolina evidence law?
The AG said personal items could be returned after reasonable forensic collection and preservation consistent with the Act, evidence rules, and chain of custody. It declined to decide whether the…
Could a South Carolina coroner release a crime victim’s body to a funeral home after preserving evidence?
The AG said the body had to be released for burial once the coroner fully met the Preservation of Evidence Act’s duties. The coroner had to determine whether required physical and biological…
Could a South Carolina county bury an unclaimed body in another county at county expense?
The AG said the paying county’s coroner could release the unclaimed remains for burial in another county because it found no statutory prohibition. It acknowledged the absence of an absolute answer…
Could South Carolina’s parole board revote just because a member wanted to change a completed vote?
The AG predicted a court would say no. Under the board’s operations manual, rehearing required one of the listed grounds, such as new misconduct, new charges, after-acquired information, unmet…
Could Aiken County area advisory councils hear student suspension and expulsion appeals under Senate Bill 442?
The AG said the councils already had authority to hear student-discipline grievances under the 1982 Aiken County school act. It predicted that Senate Bill 442, if passed, would leave that authority…
Did South Carolina Advisory Council on Aging members need Secretary of State commissions?
The AG said yes. Even though the council’s creating statute did not expressly mention commissions, the AG read the state constitution and general office-holding rules as requiring a commission when…
Could the Irmo Fire District issue its own summons or become a certified police agency?
The AG found no authority for the fire district to create its own summons forms or certify its investigation unit as a police agency. It said the fire chief or designee could possibly use a uniform…
Could a South Carolina coroner issue a cremation permit when a death might become a criminal case?
The AG said a coroner could issue the permit after fully complying with the Preservation of Evidence Act and making a best effort to preserve required evidence. It did not read the Act as requiring…
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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.