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.
No South Carolina opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Could Anderson County give district funds to charities or water-service bodies without a referendum?
The AG said a bare appropriation for purely charitable purposes to a private nonprofit would likely violate the constitution, though payment for a valid public service could be lawful. Giving money…
Could a DUI charge simply be reduced to reckless driving, and must a judge explain a dismissal on the citation?
The AG said reckless driving was a separate offense, not a lesser included DUI offense. A prosecutor could dismiss or nolle prosequi a DUI charge when evidence did not justify it, then issue a…
Does a conviction for possessing a stolen vehicle count as a prior property offense for value-based sentence enhancement?
Yes. The AG said punishment under § 16-21-80 varied with the vehicle’s value, so a conviction under it qualified as a prior offense for enhancement under § 16-1-57.
Who could change the territory and governing board of the Donalds-Due West Water Authority?
The AG said the answer turned on the Authority’s legally defined service area. For a multi-county area, the General Assembly likely could legislate board and boundary changes; a county council could…
Could a county redirect victim-service surcharge money from the sheriff to an alcohol and drug commission?
The AG said required victim-assistance programs in law enforcement, detention, prosecution, and summary courts had first priority. Only after funding those programs could remaining money support…
Could a Charleston police officer also serve on Hollywood’s planning and zoning commission?
The AG said both positions were public offices, so simultaneous service would violate the dual-office rule. Taking the commission seat would vacate the earlier police office by operation of law and…
Must Johnsonville provide its mayor a lawyer in a contest over his reelection?
The AG said a court would likely find that the city was neither required nor permitted to pay for the mayor’s defense in a personal election contest. Public funds and city counsel must serve a…
Could Seneca’s victim-services coordinator also serve on Westminster City Council?
Yes, on the facts presented. The AG treated the coordinator as a municipal employee rather than a public officer because no statute or city ordinance created that office or gave it the office-holder…
Could an incapacitated county council member be removed or temporarily replaced after an accident?
The AG found no existing automatic vacancy or temporary-replacement procedure for a council member in a coma. It doubted the Governor’s removal statute applied to that situation, but said the…
Could a nursing-home resident or representative install surveillance equipment in the resident’s room?
The AG found no then-existing South Carolina statute specifically allowing or forbidding consensual room surveillance and treated it as a matter of agreement among the parties. It warned that…
Could Myrtle Beach use its Victims’ Advocate Fund to pay a nonprofit for services to fire victims who were not crime victims?
No. The AG said the statutory fund was restricted to services for crime victims as defined by law. Funding an organization, including the Red Cross, for services to non-crime victims would be unauthorized.
Could the Hunley Commission return a discovery note left at the H.L. Hunley site to its author?
The AG said a court would likely treat the note as a historical record owned by South Carolina and under the Hunley Commission’s authority. The state public-records law would not authorize removing…
Could the Transportation Infrastructure Bank withhold Greenville road grant payments because a separate wind tunnel or graduate program was not built?
The AG said a court would likely require payment under the Bank–City agreement because it did not make funding contingent on either separate Clemson project. The opinion assumed the supplied…
Could Charleston County School District force a converted charter school to accept the district’s existing Pepsi vending contract?
The AG said a court would likely find the charter school was not bound by the district’s prior vending contract and that unilateral addition of a Pepsi term could be an unauthorized material change.…
Could Bluffton revise the area map after voters signed an annexation petition, and could signers ratify the change?
The AG said a materially revised map could not simply be substituted after signing. Re-circulating the petition with the new map and obtaining signatures was clear; ratification might suffice if…
When and from what sources could research centers supply matching funds for endowed professorship grants?
The AG said matching money had to be on hand and available for the specific endowment; a promise or loan-like foundation arrangement did not suffice. A fiscal 2003–04 proviso allowed sources…
Could the State Ethics Commission declare a campaign-disclosure statute unconstitutional and dismiss a charge on that basis?
No. The AG said only a court could declare the statute unconstitutional, although it considered § 8-13-1354 constitutionally doubtful. It outlined other routes: a constitutional construction,…
Could York police arrest solely for federal immigration, counterfeiting, or firearm offenses?
The AG said local officers lacked general authority to arrest solely for federal-law violations. Passing counterfeit money could support a state-law arrest; a simple domestic-violence conviction…
Could Berkeley County reduce an incumbent magistrate’s work hours and corresponding pay during the magistrate’s tenure?
The AG said salary protection was the general rule. Under the statutory exception, a county could reduce hours and proportionate pay only after at least four years from the latest appointment and a…
Were the statutory license delays and suspensions for sixteen-year-old restricted drivers likely unconstitutional?
The AG said the penalties in § 56-1-185 would likely be upheld as within the legislature’s public-safety authority. It could not invalidate the statute merely because a constituent regarded it as…
Could a South Carolina county employ its administrator through a contract with his wholly owned corporation?
The AG said a court would likely find Georgetown County's proposed contract invalid because it would delegate the administrator's discretionary duties to a private corporation, create an…
Could a South Carolina town move its municipal election date if doing so extended incumbents' time in office?
The AG said a town could reasonably move its election date for a public purpose even if incumbents served longer as a consequence, subject to federal preclearance at the time. It could not directly…
Could a licensed Georgetown harbor pilot serve on the Georgetown Pilotage Commission?
The AG said a licensed Georgetown pilot could serve as a commissioner but could not chair the board. The appointment was not automatically an Ethics Act violation, though conflict rules still…
Could a South Carolina transportation commissioner serve consecutive terms or keep acting after the holdover period?
The AG said a commissioner could not be reappointed without an intervening term, but an incumbent who continued serving could be a de facto officer whose acts remained valid for third parties until…
Could Clemson generally prohibit U-turns when South Carolina law allowed safe U-turns?
The AG said Clemson's general ban conflicted with state traffic law and would likely be invalidated by a court. The ordinance remained presumptively valid until a court set it aside.
Could a South Carolina county keep surplus school tax revenue in its general fund?
The AG said county council could not retain or redirect surplus funds from school-designated levies. The county treasurer had to carry the full unspent amount forward to the school districts for the…
Could a South Carolina town use tax money to maintain lakes owned by a property owners association?
The AG said the town needed a valid public purpose and factual findings before spending public funds on the privately owned lakes. It declined to decide whether this particular project met that test…
Could South Carolina Medicaid reduce durable medical equipment fees or decline payment for equipment it did not cover?
The AG said the state Medicaid agency could reduce equipment-provider fees within federal standards and gave advance notice of reductions. Medicaid did not have to pay cost sharing for equipment…
Was an indicted South Carolina county supervisor entitled to pay during a lawful suspension?
The AG said the Oconee County supervisor was not entitled to compensation while suspended after an embezzlement indictment. Its cited general rule also denied pay for a lawful suspension even if…
Could one person serve on both a South Carolina safety review board and a county election commission?
The AG said both positions were public offices, so simultaneous service violated the constitutional dual-office rule. Taking the second office automatically vacated the first, though acts performed…
Could the South Carolina Ports Authority terminate a port license for default before arbitration?
Assuming the facts supplied, the AG said a court would likely require arbitration of the claimed default and leave Charleston International Ports operating the facility while the dispute was…
Could a South Carolina attorney hire a paralegal as an independent contractor for individual projects?
The 2003 AG found no rule requiring a supervised paralegal to be the lawyer's employee. Whether a particular project worker was an employee or independent contractor depended on the facts, including…
Did 2003 South Carolina military leave benefits cover state employees called up before the resolution took effect?
The AG said the joint resolution covered qualifying military absences from January 1 through April 21, 2003, as well as later absences that year. It also concluded the leave did not violate the…
Could on-duty South Carolina fire district employees work on Habitat for Humanity projects?
The AG said the proposed on-duty construction work lacked statutory authorization and likely failed the public-purpose test because the charity and particular families were the primary…
Did a South Carolina DUI arrest need video when the patrol vehicle had never had a camera?
The AG said the 2003 video requirement did not yet apply to a traffic-enforcement vehicle that had never been equipped with a camera. It distinguished that situation from an inoperable camera and…
What remedy did the South Carolina AG expect if Dreher High School land purchases or ballot disclosures were invalid?
The AG said a court would likely enjoin the challenged land purchases and use of bond proceeds for the expansion, rather than set aside the entire school bond referendum.
Did a South Carolina school district need state approval before buying land for Dreher High School expansion?
The AG said the education regulation required prior state approval for the described Dreher land purchases and that the district had to comply with local zoning. It identified possible challenges to…
Could a South Carolina county force adjoining owners to accept title to old back alleys?
The AG knew of no mechanism to force landowners to accept the alleys. A gift needed acceptance, a deed could be disclaimed, and the county also needed sufficient public benefit before transferring…
Could South Carolina let counties and towns impose real estate transfer fees with legislative delegation approval?
The 2003 AG considered the proposed transfer fee bill generally constitutional, but warned that requiring a county legislative delegation to approve each fee likely violated separation of powers.…
Was South Carolina's Match Play video game machine legal because it involved skill?
The 2003 AG declined to decide whether the Match Play machine was legal. It said the governing test was whether skill or chance predominated, a factual question for law enforcement initially and…
Could South Carolina use lottery funds to contract with private colleges serving low-income students?
The 2003 AG thought S.203 would likely survive a state constitutional challenge if funds were distributed under the bill's contracts and spent strictly on its specified student-focused purposes. It…
Did serving on the Central Midlands Council of Government count as a second public office in South Carolina?
No. The 2003 AG concluded that Central Midlands Council of Government membership was not an office for the state constitution's dual-office prohibition. It relied on constitutional provisions…
Did Cherokee County need a public vote before buying a quarry and operating a new water plant?
Yes. The 2003 AG said Cherokee County had authority to acquire the quarry, build and operate a water treatment plant, and supply the existing service network, but Article VIII, Section 16 required a…
Could Oconee County's water authority control management of Lake Keowee?
No. The 2003 AG said the authority's enabling act gave it power to acquire and distribute water for industrial and domestic use in Oconee County, but no regulatory control over Lake Keowee.
Did a homeless sex offender in South Carolina still have to register without a fixed address?
Yes. The 2003 AG said an offender covered by the registry law was not excused from registration for lacking a fixed address. The person had to provide enough location information for law enforcement…
Could a Williston school board member also serve on Barnwell County's Generations Unlimited board?
No. The 2003 AG concluded that both board seats were public offices under South Carolina's dual-office rule, so holding them at the same time would violate the state constitution.
Could an uncertified South Carolina police officer use radar to measure a driver's speed?
The 2003 AG found no South Carolina statute or DPS rule expressly barring an uncertified officer from operating radar. DPS strongly discouraged the practice, and the opinion did not resolve whether…
Did South Carolina's 2003 voting-machine approval require testing an entire voting system?
No. The AG read §7-13-1620 as requiring certification of the polling-place voting machine, not separate ballot-definition or central-counting functions of the broader voting system.
Could a private process server deliver claim-and-delivery papers in a South Carolina magistrate case?
The 2003 AG concluded that ordinary private servers could not serve those papers under the claim-and-delivery statutes. A sheriff could serve them in place of a magistrate's constable, and a…
Did Sumter County School District Two need county council approval for its 2003 budget?
The 2003 AG found no current law requiring Sumter County Council to approve the district's budget, despite that longstanding practice. It also found no apparent constitutional deficit from a lower…
Could South Carolina's governor choose a water-district appointee from several names sent by a legislative delegation?
Under the appointment wording assumed in this 2003 opinion, no. The AG said the delegation should recommend only as many people as there were vacancies; the governor's appointment duty was…
Could South Carolina lodging-tax funds support performing arts and a nonprofit cultural venue?
The 2003 AG said performing arts, festivals, and historical events could qualify as tourism-related spending. A municipality also had discretion to fund a nonprofit, nonsectarian cultural facility…
Could a client of a South Carolina staff leasing company sponsor its own self-funded health plan?
The 2003 AG found no prohibition in §40-68-120(F) on a client company sponsoring its own plan, including a self-funded plan with stop-loss coverage, if it complied with insurance law. A staff…
Was South Carolina's 30,000-gallon propane storage rule constitutional for out-of-state dealers?
The 2003 AG warned that a court would probably strike down the in-state storage requirement as an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce, based on an analogous federal appellate decision.…
Could a South Carolina hunter be charged on a public road if the gun was unloaded when an officer arrived?
The 2003 AG said nearby ammunition alone did not make an unloaded gun 'loaded' under the road-hunting statute. An officer did not have to witness a loaded gun personally: witness accounts or other…
Could a South Carolina store employee who was not a security guard detain a suspected shoplifter?
The 2003 AG said citizen-arrest authority came from statute, and a merchant with reasonable cause to believe shoplifting occurred could make an arrest. A separate statute provided a defense for a…
Could a South Carolina county regulate fireworks under its home-rule authority?
The 2003 AG said no. It concluded that the state supreme court's Terpin ruling still barred counties and municipalities from further regulating fireworks, especially through ordinances with criminal…
Could one person serve on the Hampton County economic development and Lowcountry workforce boards?
The 2003 AG concluded that concurrent service would not violate South Carolina's dual-office-holding ban. It treated the workforce board as arising under federal law and said the county economic…
If a driver is convicted of a later DUI first, does an earlier pending DUI become a second offense?
The 2003 AG said yes: a DUI conviction already entered by the time of trial made the other prosecution subject to enhanced penalties, regardless of which incident occurred first. It said the pending…
Could a 2002–03 South Carolina budget proviso temporarily override restrictions on the Uninsured Motorist Fund?
The 2003 AG agreed that the Department of Insurance could use the restricted fund for its enforcement and regulatory operations under Proviso 72.69. It said a conflicting general law was suspended…
Browse South Carolina opinions by topic
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.