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 South Carolina police mutual aid contract give officers authority for any law enforcement need?
The AG said no in 2005. A mutual aid agreement could not grant jurisdiction beyond the powers supplied by statute; Section 23-20-30 covered specified public safety functions, not every possible law…
Could a private security guard ticket unlicensed or uninsured drivers on a private neighborhood road in 2005?
The AG said a licensed guard could issue tickets for applicable Chapter 5 traffic violations on a private road brought under that chapter by owner consent. The cited driver licensing, vehicle…
Did South Carolina’s proposed 2005 owner-occupied home tax exemption violate the constitution?
The AG called the question close but predicted a court would likely uphold H.3264 if enacted. He emphasized that a prior state Supreme Court ruling on Charleston’s tax cap resolved a statutory…
Could South Carolina’s parks and tourism agency recover certification costs from the tourism infrastructure fund?
The AG said in 2005 that the agency could request payment from the fund for certification work delegated by the coordinating council. The opinion tied that result to the council’s statutory…
Could one person sit on both Dorchester County’s transportation committee and transportation authority in 2005?
No. The AG treated both positions as public offices and concluded that simultaneous service violated South Carolina’s dual office holding restriction.
Could a South Carolina register stamp only the first page of an original recorded document in 2005?
The AG found no statute directly addressing that change and recommended keeping the existing practice of marking every page of the original until legislation specifically authorized a different method.
Could Winthrop police use campus tickets and university hearings for traffic and parking violations?
The AG said in 2005 that Winthrop could use its own tickets, fines, bonds, and campus appeals process for traffic and parking violations on its property, assuming the governing regulations existed.…
Could a Newberry municipal judge also work as a family court prosecutor for the solicitor in 2005?
The AG said the person most probably held two prohibited public offices, assuming the prosecutor was an assistant solicitor. He separately suggested asking the judicial conduct advisory committee…
Could Gaffney use city tax money to move a storm drain serving only church property?
On the council member’s stated facts, the AG said no in 2005. The drain served only the church property and the requested work would have no public purpose, so city spending for it would violate the…
Could South Carolina’s veterinary board use an outside complaint review committee without statutory authority?
The AG predicted in 2005 that a court would likely find no authority for the Investigative Review Committee as then constituted. He also treated it as a public body subject to FOIA and questioned…
Could Class 3-SLE officers work crowd control, court security, and prisoner transport in 2005?
The AG deferred to the public safety department’s view that locally commissioned Class 3-SLE officers could perform the listed duties. He said their powers and duties were generally narrower than…
Who could rename a Florence street under South Carolina law in 2005?
The AG said Florence’s consolidated city-county planning commission could rename a street within its jurisdiction under the statutory notice and certificate procedure. He also noted the…
Could South Carolina’s financial institutions board order a preneed funeral contract seller to cease and desist in 2005?
The AG said he found no statute or regulation authorizing that board to issue a cease-and-desist order for the described preneed funeral contract violation. The board had investigation and referral…
Could Chester annex city-owned land separated from its boundary by another parcel?
No. The AG said in 2005 that property one parcel removed from city limits was not adjacent or contiguous merely because it was near; the intervening parcel’s size did not change the need for…
Did issuing school bond anticipation notes within five years satisfy South Carolina’s referendum deadline?
The AG agreed in 2005 that timely bond anticipation notes satisfied the five-year constitutional issuance requirement for the described school bond financing. The statute used the original notes’…
Could a South Carolina state constable also serve as deputy coroner in 2005?
Yes. The AG said deputy coroner was an office, but a state constable’s commission fell within the express exception to South Carolina’s dual office holding restriction.
Could a suspended South Carolina magistrate ask the Supreme Court to reconsider interim suspension in 2005?
The AG quoted the judicial rule allowing a judge on interim suspension to seek Supreme Court reconsideration, with a copy filed with the commission and served on disciplinary counsel. He declined to…
Did Chester County have to wait for an at-large council member’s term to end before changing its government form?
The 2005 AG said no. After the required federal approval and county implementation, the voter-approved council-supervisor form could take effect while existing council members finished their elected…
Could a magistrate categorically bar a qualified private process server from serving a civil summons?
The AG said in 2005 that a magistrate could deny service for sufficient facts or good cause, but otherwise the applicable civil procedure rule permitted qualified adults to serve a summons. Other…
Did South Carolina’s local-government transfer-fee ban prohibit Harbor Island’s homeowners association fee in 2005?
The AG said the statutory ban did not apply to the private association. Whether its $100 transfer fee was proper depended on agreements or bylaws binding the association and its members, which the…
Could a South Carolina solicitor operate a worthless-check unit and collect restitution under a 2004 budget proviso?
The AG concluded in 2004 that the appropriations proviso authorized solicitors to establish worthless-check units with county agreement and collect the prescribed fees and restitution. He rejected…
Could a buyer get a South Carolina title for a vehicle the insurer had labeled nonrebuildable?
The AG said in 2004 that DMV’s refusal to retitle the described vehicle complied with its policy and the statutes he reviewed because the insurer had classified it as nonrebuildable and had not…
What did 'greenbelt' mean in a South Carolina half-cent sales tax referendum?
The AG pointed to a South Carolina Supreme Court decision saying the statute did not define 'greenbelt'; the court gave its common meaning as a belt of parkways or farmland encircling a community.…
Did South Carolina’s charter-school association have to follow FOIA if it received public money?
The AG said in 2004 that the association would be a public body subject to FOIA if the reported public funding was accurate. He did not independently determine whether it actually received those funds.
Could the Hunley Commission create Friends of the Hunley and let it keep exhibition revenue for the project?
The AG predicted a court would uphold the Hunley Commission’s creation of Friends of the Hunley to raise project funds. It concluded that exhibition revenue could remain with that nonprofit for…
Did South Carolina FOIA cover Friends of the Hunley, and would the AG investigate its activities?
The AG said Friends of the Hunley was subject to the Freedom of Information Act because it had received taxpayer funds. The office declined to issue a private-party legal opinion or seek an…
Was unlawful use of the telephone a felony or misdemeanor in South Carolina in 1988?
It was a misdemeanor. The AG traced the offense to the 1967 law in force at the time of the 1988 conviction and found that the law classified each listed violation as a misdemeanor.
Who had authority to operate the Anderson County Alternative School in 2004?
The AG concluded that the Anderson County Board of Education had authority to operate the Anderson County Alternative School under the 1995 act.
Could police and security guards issue traffic tickets on private South Carolina roads and parking lots?
The AG distinguished posted parking lots open to the public from private community roads. Traffic laws could reach qualifying private roads after the owner’s statutory consent; a licensed security…
Could a South Carolina charter school be closed automatically over enrollment limits or lost payments?
The AG did not find an automatic shutdown rule for a charter school’s departure from the enrollment limits. It said the statutes left many proposed fact patterns unresolved, while charter revocation…
Did a South Carolina real estate auction need both an auctioneer and a real estate license?
The AG concluded that a real estate auction needed both a licensed real estate broker and a licensed auctioneer. One person could hold both licenses, or two separately licensed people could participate.
Was the Horry County treasurer a county officer or a state officer?
The AG concluded that the Horry County treasurer held a county office, citing earlier AG opinions and statutes that expressly described county treasurers as county officers.
Could noncommittee councilmembers join committee discussions without triggering South Carolina FOIA meeting notice?
The AG predicted that a court would likely treat a committee gathering as a meeting of the full town council when participating noncommittee members brought a council quorum together. In that…
Could South Carolina use education lottery money to cover the drug and alcohol agency's operating costs?
The Attorney General concluded that lottery proceeds could not restore cuts to the drug and alcohol agency's general operating budget when the money would pay staff and expenses unrelated to…
Could a South Carolina school district withhold records or remove elected school improvement council members?
The AG said a school improvement council could obtain district records unless a specific FOIA exemption applied, and copying charges could not exceed the statutory cost limits. It also said a…
Did South Carolina procurement law prohibit design-build or construction manager at risk contracts for school buildings?
The AG accepted the procurement office's view that § 11-35-3245 did not categorically bar design-build or construction manager at risk contracts, but restricted separate construction contracts after…
Could a South Carolina state agency agree to indemnify a county if the agreement said it applied only as state law allowed?
The Attorney General said a state agency lacked authority to enter an indemnification agreement. Adding 'so far as the laws of the State permit' would not supply that authority; the office overruled…
Could private security at a South Carolina resort stop drivers and issue fines under community traffic rules?
The AG said private security could enforce a covenant-based sanction only if an agreement bound the driver, and could not use its state arrest powers for that purpose. It rejected blue-light stops…
Could a Burnettown police officer also work for a private contractor at the Savannah River nuclear site?
The AG said the officer could keep his part-time police commission because his Wackenhut job had no law enforcement authority and he held neither a special constable commission nor a private…
Could Anderson County require separate property tax bills for county and school costs?
The AG said the statutory requirement for a tax bill appeared to call for a single bill, so the county council did not appear authorized to make the auditor send separate county and school tax notices.
Did South Carolina require a second owner and lienholder search before selling an abandoned vehicle?
The AG said the amended abandoned-vehicle law did not require a second owner and lienholder search under the cross-referenced storage statute. Certified or registered mail to the known owner and…
Could Charleston County put roads, transit, and greenbelts into one yes-or-no sales tax vote?
The AG said the county could list several transportation projects within one ballot question, but each separate project needed its own yes-or-no vote. It said the statute did not permit unrelated…
When did a South Carolina DUI license suspension begin: at conviction or after written notice?
The AG said the suspension under the statute it examined began at conviction, sentencing on a plea, or forfeiture of bail, subject to statutory exceptions, rather than when the driver later received…
How should a South Carolina school crime report an incident handled without an arrest?
The AG said the school crime incident report could be marked 'Handled by school' when the school handled the matter and no arrest was made. A qualifying incident still had to be reported to the…
Could a South Carolina magistrate dismiss a traffic citation just because it listed the wrong code section?
The AG said a magistrate should give the officer an opportunity to correct a wrong section number before trial when the offense was otherwise correctly described and the error was known. Dismissing…
Could a solicitor threaten a worthless-check warrant because someone failed to pay diversion program fees?
The AG said the solicitor's diversion fees were lawful but separate from the $30 service charge in the fraudulent-check statute. Failure to pay the diversion fees did not create the statute's…
Could a paid nonemployee agent represent a South Carolina business in civil magistrate court?
The AG said Section 33-1-103 should be read consistently with a South Carolina Supreme Court decision allowing a business to use a compensated nonlawyer agent in civil magistrate court. The statute…
Could a South Carolina party replace a withdrawn House candidate after the normal certification deadline?
The AG said the candidate-withdrawal provision, not the ordinary April 9 certification deadline, governed this situation. The state party could choose to reopen filing, but had to give other…
Did South Carolina's suspended agriculture commissioner keep salary or benefits during suspension?
The AG said the suspended commissioner was not entitled to salary or benefits, including the employer health-insurance contribution, during suspension, or back pay if later acquitted or the charges…
Did a disused South Carolina railroad right of way revert to neighboring owners?
The AG did not decide whether the Port Royal Railroad right of way had been abandoned or reverted to adjacent owners; that required facts and a court ruling. It also referred allegations under the…
Could Charleston County's election board rewrite the county council's sales tax ballot question?
The AG said the election board lacked authority to change the wording of the ballot question submitted by county council. The board's ballot duties were ministerial, and the governor's order for a…
Could a South Carolina coroner keep the Book of Inquisitions only in a computer database?
The AG said electronic copies could be kept for convenience, but a separate Book of Inquisitions still had to be maintained under the statute as the office read it in 2004. A database alone did not…
Could Kiawah Island change its mayor and council from two-year terms to staggered four-year terms by ordinance?
The AG said the town could make the change by ordinance. It cited the statute allowing two- or four-year municipal terms and earlier opinions saying a referendum was not required to extend mayor and…
Could Habitat for Humanity build a South Carolina home with volunteers and no licensed contractor on site?
The AG said yes for the Habitat arrangement described in the letter. It treated the cost-recovery mortgages and absence of profit as a transfer without consideration under the 2004 statutory exception.
Could a South Carolina jail keep holding someone based only on another agency’s unproduced warrant?
The AG said the jail director was reasonable to expect a warrant before continuing to hold a person. An indefinite hold without a warrant or court order could expose a jailer to a false-imprisonment…
Could a South Carolina county auditor refuse a treasurer’s list of uncollected taxes?
The AG said the auditor had no discretion to reject the treasurer’s delinquent-tax list under the statute as it read in 2004. The auditor had to accept the list and carry out the statutory steps.
Could Hilton Head use liquor permit revenue to repay debt on land it bought before the funding law?
The AG said no. It read the 2004 provision as allowing revenue for future land acquisitions, not principal and interest payments on land acquired before the law was passed.
Could a Midlands Technical College program director also serve on South Carolina’s Auctioneers Commission?
The AG said yes on the described facts. Commission membership counted as a public office, but the college program director position did not, so the two roles did not violate the dual-office rule.
Could a South Carolina jail hold a person awaiting transfer to a mental health facility for safekeeping?
The AG said a jail could be used temporarily only during an extreme emergency while the person awaited transfer. The opinion described ordinary safekeeping detention in jail as prohibited and said…
Could a South Carolina magistrate hire a private firm to take payment of overdue court fines?
The AG said a private firm could help with letters or calls but could not physically collect or handle the fine money without legislative authorization. The magistrate or court staff had to retain…
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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.