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 Barnwell city council member also serve on the Barnwell County Hospital Board of Trustees?
The AG concluded that a Barnwell city council member could not also serve on the Barnwell County Hospital Board of Trustees because both positions were public offices under the state constitution’s…
Could South Carolina extend the 2006 sales tax referendum certification deadline if only Beaufort County benefited?
The AG said the proposed statewide-worded deadline extension might operate only for Beaufort County, making it constitutionally suspect under the home-rule ban on county-specific laws. He thought an…
Did South Carolina legislators need weighted votes to appoint a DOT commissioner from a congressional district?
The AG advised following the statute as written: only legislators residing in the congressional district could vote, without population-weighted votes. He recognized an argument based on a later…
Could a South Carolina technical college run a gunsmithing course involving firearms and ammunition on campus?
The AG thought Piedmont Technical College could offer the described gunsmithing program with firearms on campus if the authorities in charge expressly permitted possession. He acknowledged…
Could Charleston County condition sales tax funding on a town avoiding eminent domain for a project?
The AG concluded that Charleston County had discretion to condition or decline sales tax funding based on whether Mount Pleasant would use eminent domain, so long as expenditures served…
Could Richland County use vehicle road fees to fund mass transit?
The AG said counties had authority to charge a uniform service fee, but could not decide whether this particular road fee was valid. Whether the vehicle owners specially benefited and whether…
Could three South Carolina Blind Commission members remove its chair?
The AG concluded that three votes were insufficient to remove the chair of the seven-member Commission for the Blind. He said removal required four votes, cause, notice, and an opportunity to be…
Could South Carolina give a prisoner sentence credit for donating bone marrow?
The Attorney General concluded that a proposed credit of up to 60 days for donating bone marrow or blood-forming cells appeared inconsistent with the federal National Organ Transplant Act. He…
Could a South Carolina legislator employed by a school district sponsor a school closure bill?
In 2007, the AG knew of no law that categorically barred a legislator employed by a school district from introducing a bill about school closures. His answer assumed the measure would create no…
Could a nonresident water user serve on a South Carolina rural water district board?
The AG concluded that property ownership and water use alone did not qualify someone for the Georgetown County rural water district board. Board members had to be resident electors of the district,…
Could South Carolina’s governor suspend a council member arrested for DUI and leaving an accident?
No, the AG said a mere arrest did not allow the governor to suspend the West Columbia council member. The constitutional route required an indictment or waiver of indictment for a crime of moral…
Could the South Carolina Commission for the Blind remove its chair without cause?
The AG concluded that the commission chair’s fixed statutory term prevented removal at pleasure. A removal required cause, notice, and an opportunity to be heard; the opinion suggested a declaratory…
Could a freeholder petition requirement invalidate a South Carolina sewer sale referendum law?
The AG predicted that, absent a compelling state interest, a court would find the freeholder petition requirement unconstitutional and inseverable from the referendum provision for municipal utility…
Must a South Carolina county lower every neighbor’s property assessment after one tax appeal?
The AG said a successful appeal by one owner did not authorize the assessor to reassess only neighboring parcels outside a countywide reassessment year, absent a recognized exception. Other…
Could Charleston County’s park district build fitness and senior service facilities?
The AG concluded that the park district could establish wellness, fitness, and senior service facilities if they were aimed at providing recreational opportunities to the public. He based that…
Could one person serve on South Carolina’s Forestry Commission and a town zoning appeals board?
No. The AG concluded that both the state Forestry Commission seat and the Summerville Zoning Board of Appeals seat were public offices, so holding them concurrently would violate South Carolina’s…
Could Latta’s acting mayor replace election commissioners whose terms had expired?
The AG said Latta’s mayor pro tempore had the mayor’s authority while acting as mayor, but commission appointments belonged to the town council. The council could fill two seats held past expired…
Could a South Carolina school award elective credit for off-campus religious instruction?
The AG said a school board could choose whether to award up to two elective units for released-time religious classes. He concluded the credit law could be upheld if decisions used secular criteria…
Could an interim principal fill the principal seat on a South Carolina education advisory board?
Yes. The AG concluded that an interim high school principal qualified for the high school principal seat on a regional education center advisory board, assuming the person was serving until a…
Was a paid rubber-duck river race for charity an illegal South Carolina lottery?
Yes. The AG concluded that selling numbered tickets for a cash prize awarded to the first rubber duck across a river finish line supplied all three lottery elements: a prize, payment, and chance.
Could a South Carolina agency withhold employee retirement incentive names under a retirement-system rule?
The AG concluded that the Vocational Rehabilitation Department had to disclose records identifying its TERI participants and start dates, if it held those records. He found no applicable FOIA…
Did South Carolina’s winery shipping preferences violate the Commerce Clause?
The AG predicted that a court would likely find the in-state winery exceptions discriminatory under Granholm v. Heald. He left open whether a compelling local justification could save them and said…
Could a city-funded nonprofit director run for Bennettsville mayor or council?
The AG found no dual-office bar because the nonprofit executive director job was not a public office. He was inclined to find no master-servant conflict either, but called it close and said a court…
Could Beaufort County start all schools in July under a hybrid calendar?
The AG concluded that the proposed July 30 start with no school in June or July of the following year was not a year-round calendar. Without a waiver, the AG said the proposal appeared to conflict…
Could South Carolina DOT commissioners keep voting after the court ruled their consecutive terms unlawful?
The AG concluded that the state Supreme Court’s ruling ended the two commissioners’ authority to serve, even as de facto officers. They could not participate in commission meetings or receive…
Could an uncompensated Governor’s constable carry a handgun to a South Carolina county council meeting?
The Attorney General concluded in 2007 that a county council member appointed as an uncompensated Governor’s constable could carry a handgun to council meetings. The carry exception did not require…
Could a religious preschool join South Carolina’s 2007 four-year-old kindergarten pilot, and who was eligible?
The AG concluded that the pilot program did not violate the federal Establishment Clause or the state ban on direct aid to private schools under the analyses used in 2007. First Steps could approve…
Could a South Carolina county council cut an elected official’s budget enough to eliminate staff?
The AG said a county council had broad budget authority but could not cut an elected official’s funding so deeply that the office could not function. He warned that cuts abolishing a particular…
Was a private South Carolina water company subject to FOIA because it once received a state grant?
The AG concluded in 2006 that St. Johns Water Company was a public body under South Carolina FOIA because it had received a state grant. He distinguished its federal loans, which he said did not…
Could a South Carolina city council member also serve as a volunteer fire chief or assistant chief?
The AG concluded in 2006 that a New Ellenton council member could also serve as chief or assistant chief of its volunteer fire department. The state constitution’s dual-office restriction expressly…
Could Bonneau police patrol the nearby Bonneau Beach area under contract, and where would resulting cases be heard?
The AG said Bonneau could provide police services by agreement if Bonneau Beach was within three miles of town and the required agreement existed. Arrests made there would be heard in magistrate…
Could Cheraw spend hospitality-tax revenue on high school athletic facilities?
The AG doubted that a field house and athletic-field upgrades primarily benefiting a public school qualified as tourism-related uses of Cheraw’s hospitality-tax revenue. He said only a court could…
Did South Carolina timber landowners have to plant hardwoods in rows to retain agricultural property-tax treatment?
The AG said row planting was not a statutory requirement for timber land managed for agricultural-use classification. Natural hardwood regeneration could be relevant, but whether a particular parcel…
Could Clinton obtain a search warrant to inspect homes for violations of its student-housing occupancy rule?
The AG said South Carolina’s general criminal search-warrant statute did not authorize a home inspection for this zoning purpose. A separate provision might allow a municipal recorder to issue an…
Could South Carolina counties charge flat road-maintenance fees to interstate trucks?
The AG warned that flat county road fees might burden nonresident interstate carriers disproportionately and violate the Commerce Clause. He reviewed no specific ordinance and said only a court…
Was Jasper County bound by a South Carolina legislative resolution requesting a road name?
The AG said a General Assembly concurrent resolution requesting the John Smith Road name was not binding law. He also said Jasper County apparently had authority to name roads within its borders…
Was a school prize drawing tied to voter-registration totals an illegal South Carolina lottery?
The AG concluded in 2006 that a drawing for school donations based on voter-registration participation was not a lottery because participants paid no consideration for a chance to win. The proposal…
Could a Barnwell County vocational instructor also serve on county council?
The AG predicted that a court would likely find no master-servant conflict on the stated facts. The instructor answered to the career center director and school board, while county council’s budget…
Could a Myrtle Beach planning commissioner also sit on a downtown redevelopment nonprofit board?
The AG concluded in 2006 that serving on both bodies would not violate South Carolina’s dual-office rule. Planning commission membership was an office, but the private nonprofit redevelopment board…
If a South Carolina county delayed reassessment, which property value counted as the 2007 base-year value?
The AG concluded that a county using its statutory option to postpone revised values should use the values actually applied for tax year 2007 as the base-year fair market values, even if a…
Did delivering unsolicited advertising circulars to a road right-of-way count as littering in South Carolina?
The AG said such delivery probably was not littering under the state statute. He relied on an earlier opinion finding that unsolicited newspapers and circulars were not the discarded material the…
Could South Carolina DMV publish DUI license-suspension names and addresses under federal driver-privacy law?
The AG did not decide whether the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act displaced South Carolina’s publication requirement. He identified possible federal exceptions but found no decisive authority…
Could a South Carolina homeowners association bar a resident from displaying the U.S. flag?
The AG said federal law barred a homeowners association from broadly prohibiting a member’s flag display, subject to permitted restrictions on how it was displayed. South Carolina law protected one…
Could a South Carolina town use its own summons instead of the uniform traffic ticket for careless driving?
The AG said a town had to use the uniform traffic ticket when citing a traffic-related municipal ordinance such as careless operation. He left unresolved whether using a town summons triggered…
Who had to deposit South Carolina deed-recording fees and file the fee return?
The AG inferred that the county office responsible for collecting deed-recording fees also made the daily deposits and filed the return. Ordinarily that was the clerk of court or register of deeds,…
Could timber tracts in different South Carolina counties be combined for agricultural-use property taxes?
The AG read the timber-property law to allow qualifying tracts in different counties to be combined because it imposed no same-county rule. He also said a written management plan was evidence, not a…
Could a Jasper County resident serve on both an election board and another county board?
The AG said membership on the election board plus either a county transportation committee or zoning appeals board violated the state dual-office rule. A contractor could serve on the planning…
Did Chesnee need a voter referendum before transferring its sewer system to a sanitary sewer district?
The AG said yes. South Carolina law authorized municipalities to sell sewer facilities, but required the city council to submit the proposed sale to qualified city voters before transferring the…
Could a South Carolina sheriff refuse a municipal prisoner after a mental-health center cleared her for jail?
The AG said the sheriff generally had to accept a properly presented municipal prisoner when no life-threatening condition or other statutory ground required different handling. On the facts…
Was the Stingrays hockey team’s paid Chuck-A-Puck contest illegal gambling in South Carolina?
After receiving test results, the AG changed his assessment and predicted a court would treat the described promotion as predominantly a game of skill rather than a prohibited lottery. He accepted…
Could a South Carolina Native American recognition committee vote when one member recused and a seat was vacant?
The AG said three members still had to attend to make a quorum, and a recused attendee could count toward it. If the other three members were present and voting, two affirmative votes sufficed to…
Did a county option to tax newly completed buildings sooner violate South Carolina’s property-tax uniformity rules?
The AG said the 2006 county-option law appeared consistent with two state constitutional uniformity clauses but could conflict with the clause requiring equal assessment of property classes…
Could a South Carolina agency demand $434,250 to let a requester inspect public records?
The AG said an agency could charge only actual, lowest-possible production costs and could not use excessive fees to deny records indirectly. He said the $434,250 quote appeared excessive on its…
Could West Columbia collect its own 911 surcharge or reclaim county collections for its police dispatch center?
The AG said West Columbia had no basis to collect a separate 911 charge while it was part of Lexington County’s approved system plan, nor to demand previously collected charges. He noted the city’s…
Did a South Carolina law-enforcement applicant still need a South Carolina driver’s license after the 2006 amendment?
The AG concluded that ordinary law-enforcement certification candidates still needed a South Carolina driver’s license despite the amended phrase “state driver’s license.” He read the separate…
Could someone serve on both Georgetown County’s parks commission and the Waccamaw Equal Opportunity Council?
Yes. The AG found membership on Georgetown County’s Parks and Recreation Commission was not a public office because the commission was advisory and did not exercise sovereign power. It therefore did…
Could Richland County fund its regional transit authority with property taxes or vehicle registration fees?
The AG concluded that Richland County could use property-tax revenue and vehicle registration fees for the regional transit authority, subject to the Regional Transportation Authority Law. The…
Could a Limestone College trustee also serve on the South Carolina State University board?
Yes. The AG reaffirmed its 2005 conclusion that a South Carolina State University trustee held a public office, but a Limestone College trustee did not; holding both positions therefore did not…
Did Greenwood School District 50 need a referendum to issue bonds above its debt limit?
A school district needed voter approval to issue general-obligation debt above eight percent of its assessed taxable property value. The AG did not determine whether Greenwood School District 50’s…
Could Spartanburg’s city attorney or deputy city attorney serve on the state charter school board?
The AG concluded that the deputy city attorney described in the request could serve on the state charter school board because her job was not a public office. It concluded, with some doubt, that 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.