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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Who could recommend an appointment to the Greenwood Metropolitan District commission after a court declared a seat vacant?
The 2003 AG said the Greenwood legislative delegation could recommend a candidate and the Governor could appoint that person. It also warned that taxation by a partly appointed district board had to…
Could a Greenwood public works commissioner also serve on the GLEAMNS Human Resource Commission?
The 2003 AG said yes, assuming the elected public works commissioner joined GLEAMNS as an elected public official. It treated that second seat as ex officio service, outside the usual dual-office…
Was the Clinton–Newberry Natural Gas Authority a state agency, and could city officials sit on its board and share its net revenue?
The 2003 AG called the authority a political subdivision, not a state agency. It found the mayors' and council members' board service ex officio, and said distribution of uncovenanted net revenue…
Could Coastal Carolina University issue replacement diplomas to alumni who graduated before it became independent?
The 2003 AG said Coastal Carolina University could issue distinct 'honored alumnus' replacement diplomas to pre-1993 graduates whose original degrees came from the University of South Carolina.
Was South Carolina's joint legislative vote for judges and other officers constitutional without weighted Senate votes?
The 2003 AG concluded that a court would likely uphold the joint-session method. It treated the legislature's selection of nonlegislative officers as an appointment, for which one-person-one-vote…
Could someone carry a pistol or rifle while riding a motorcycle under South Carolina law in 2003?
The 2003 AG said a motorcycle counted as a vehicle for the then-existing closed-compartment pistol exception, and cited an earlier opinion on a latched saddlebag. It said a rifle had to be secured…
Could a James Island public service district member or city fire chief also sit on a charter high school board?
The 2003 AG said a public service district board member could not hold the charter school board seat simultaneously because both were offices. It said the fire chief could, under the Constitution's…
Could a Lexington County council member advise the joint water and sewer commission without holding a second office?
The 2003 AG said yes, if the council member's commission role was solely advisory or honorary, with no vote or commissioner authority. Its conclusion depended on the actual limits of that role.
What remedies did the 2003 South Carolina AG identify for duplicate reimbursements, diverted county funds, and a treasurer's payment to her son?
The AG said unauthorized overpayments could be recovered by suit or repayment agreement; responsibility for diverted public funds depended on facts. It said nepotism and ethics restrictions might…
Could South Carolina State University use state funds to buy water coolers after campus water tests showed lead?
The 2003 AG said a court would find a valid public purpose in providing safe drinking water to university employees on the facts supplied. The office did not express a view on the policy merits of…
How could the Inman Mills Water District be dissolved or joined with Inman–Campobello, and did a commissioner-employee have a conflict?
The 2003 AG identified statutory dissolution and consolidation routes, assuming Inman Mills was a pre-1973 legislatively created district. It found no present master-servant conflict on the stated…
Did legislators' majority and chairmanship on the Hunley Commission violate dual-office or separation-of-powers rules?
The 2003 AG said no on both questions. It characterized legislators' commission service as duties attached to their legislative offices and the commission's preservation work as a permissible…
Could a Mount Pleasant public works commissioner also serve on the town's Open Space Foundation board?
The 2003 AG said yes on the facts supplied. It treated the public works commission seat as an office but the nonprofit foundation's director seat as outside South Carolina's dual-office prohibition.
Did South Carolina's 2003 vehicle-lighting law ban additional neon-colored lights on cars?
The 2003 AG found no direct statutory ban and said the additional-accessories provision appeared to allow neon lights if installed consistently with the vehicle-lighting rules. It cited a…
Could Cherokee Springs Fire District increase its tax millage under South Carolina's homestead-exemption statute?
The 2003 AG said Section 12-37-251 did not itself authorize a fire-district millage increase. It identified other statutes for increases, overrides, referenda, or county approval, subject to their…
Could one person serve on both Hilton Head's accommodations tax advisory committee and South Carolina's tourism expenditure review committee?
The 2003 AG said the two committee roles did not violate the dual-office prohibition because the local committee only recommended spending, while the state review committee exercised public…
Could a senator resigning in January prospectively reappoint a magistrate whose term expired in April?
The 2003 AG said no. A prospective appointment could not bind a successor when the magistrate's next term would begin after the senator's own appointing authority ended.
Was a positive drug test alone enough to prove controlled-substance possession under South Carolina law in 2002?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said a positive test was circumstantial evidence of earlier possession, but South Carolina had no case directly on point. It expected a court would likely require…
Could a South Carolina magistrate's constable also serve as a reserve municipal police officer?
The 2002 AG said yes under the constitutional dual-office rule. It treated a reserve officer as an office but said a magistrate's constable fell within the Constitution's constable exception; local…
Did a South Carolina town need sheriff approval to hire outside police support, and could the sheriff direct municipal officers?
The 2002 informal AG opinion found no required sheriff notice or approval for the described municipal contract and no sheriff veto over contracted officers working within town limits. It also found…
Could South Carolina's State Board of Education set a uniform school start date during fiscal year 2002–03?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said any authority to adopt a uniform date appeared suspended for that fiscal year by the appropriations act. It said legislation could clarify later timing, regulation,…
Could one person serve on Union County's fair association board and its election commission?
The 2002 AG said no. It considered both the county fair board and election commission seats public offices; accepting the second would automatically vacate the first under the dual-office rule.
Could a properly certified copy of a power of attorney be recorded in South Carolina?
The 2002 AG said yes under Section 30-5-220, and expressly superseded its contrary November 2000 informal opinion. Its answer required a copy certified in compliance with the statute.
Could Emerald Center invest its public funds in stocks and other assets outside South Carolina's political-subdivision investment statute?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said no. It treated Emerald Center as a political subdivision whose investments had to fit Section 6-5-10, and flagged a separate constitutional restriction on public…
Did a public record become confidential solely because South Carolina's Legislative Audit Council obtained it?
The 2002 AG said records that were public at their original source did not become confidential in the Legislative Audit Council’s hands. It kept its 1991 interpretation despite the amendment…
Could one person serve on Spartanburg County's library board and planning commission?
The 2002 AG said the combination most likely violated South Carolina's dual-office rule if the library board had governing rather than merely advisory duties. The opinion lacked the board's creating…
Could a South Carolina county keep tax-sale surplus to pay a taxpayer's separate delinquent business taxes?
The 2002 AG said no. Once sale proceeds exceeded the taxes and costs in the relevant execution, the county could not redirect the overage to other later delinquent taxes; the statute governed its…
Could a South Carolina Consumer Affairs commissioner also join Conservation Voters' nonprofit board?
The 2002 AG said yes under the dual-office rule. It considered the public commission seat an office but found the proposed nonprofit advocacy board seat nongovernmental and outside the…
Could a South Carolina city council add to or limit a city manager's duties after adopting council-manager government?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said council could add duties consistent with municipal law and later change those added duties. It could neither remove statutory manager duties nor delegate its…
Could one person serve on both the GLEAMNS commission and Greenwood Metropolitan District board in South Carolina?
The 2002 AG said no. Both governing board positions counted as public offices exercising state authority, so simultaneous service would violate the state constitutional dual-office rule.
Could South Carolina workers’ compensation commissioners lose statutory travel subsistence under a commission policy?
The 2002 AG said the commission could not change the statutory per diem, refuse the out-of-county allowance, or cap paid hearing days by policy. It left the question of requiring hotel receipts to…
Could employees of private transit contractors join the South Carolina public retirement system?
The 2002 AG said no for employees of ATC Vancom and Connex TCT. Their contracts with a public transit authority did not make those private companies eligible public employers under the retirement statute.
Did federal health privacy rules override South Carolina medical record copy fees for workers’ compensation claims?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said the state fee rule might not be preempted by the federal individual-access rule, but its conclusion was expressly uncertain. It did not settle whether every…
Could South Carolina enact a Lexington County-only exception to boat tax liens and title-transfer rules?
The 2002 AG considered the county-only measure constitutionally suspect special legislation because a statewide law already covered the subject. The opinion said only a court could invalidate it, so…
Could the Ladies Island-St. Helena Fire District condemn property even though its creating act omitted that power?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said yes, provided a 1981 act extending general-law powers to older special districts remained in force. The author had not performed a complete year-by-year check for…
Could South Carolina authorize traffic cameras by statute, or would it need a constitutional amendment?
The 2002 AG said a properly drafted statewide statute could authorize automated traffic enforcement without a constitutional amendment. The letter cautioned that the statute would need to account…
Could a licensed South Carolina driver get a no-license charge dismissed by showing proof to the court?
The 2002 AG said the dismissal provision appeared intended to cover drivers who held a valid license but did not have it with them, if they timely showed proof to the court. The letter called that…
How long could a South Carolina municipal judge impose conditions on a suspended sentence?
The 2002 informal AG opinion found no general statutory maximum for the period a municipal judge could set. It said conditions still had to respect constitutional, statutory and public-policy…
Could South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation Commission control a commissioner’s court reporter or secretary?
The 2002 AG said no. The statute placed hiring, retention and discharge of each commissioner’s secretary and court reporter with that individual commissioner, so commission policy or an agency…
Could South Carolina pay inmates below prevailing wage for service work under private industry contracts?
The 2002 AG said no for inmates working in the program authorized by § 24-3-430. That state law expressly covered services and required the prevailing private-sector wage for similar work, even…
Could a fight between two brothers in the same South Carolina home qualify as criminal domestic violence?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said a brother was a household member under the then-existing statute’s second-degree blood-relationship definition. Physical harm or an attempt meeting the statute’s…
Could a South Carolina county create its own procedure for unclaimed money left by former jail inmates?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said two state abandoned-property statutes might apply and did not choose between them. It said a county could not adopt an inmate-funds ordinance inconsistent with…
How long did a person have to file a South Carolina public accommodations discrimination complaint with the Human Affairs Commission?
The 2002 AG interpreted the then-silent Public Accommodations Act to use the 180-day administrative filing period from the parallel Human Affairs law. The opinion called that conclusion uncertain…
Could a South Carolina officer leave a traffic ticket with another driver, and how many points followed a general traffic-law conviction?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said a traffic ticket initiating criminal proceedings required personal service on the accused. It found no point assessment listed for the broad offense cited and…
Was a South Carolina bad-check warrant timely if the applicant completed the required steps within 180 days but the judge signed it later?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said a court would likely treat the warrant as obtained on time once the applicant supplied the required documents and sworn testimony within 180 days, even if the judge…
Could Allendale County stop following a solid-waste ordinance without formally repealing it?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said a valid county ordinance remained in force until amended or repealed through the required ordinance process. The AG declined to determine whether Allendale County…
Could South Carolina release a taxpayer’s reported business address for marketing when it might also be a home address?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said the Department of Revenue could reasonably withhold an address sought for commercial solicitation when it could not tell whether the reported business address was…
Did South Carolina volunteer firefighters need commercial driver’s licenses to drive a heavy fire truck?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said volunteer firefighters operating the department’s pumper truck were exempt from the commercial-license requirement because the truck appeared to be an authorized…
Could Elloree’s town council block its public works board’s water and sewer rates or authorize a lower-rate contract?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said no. The public works commissioners had independent authority to set rates and did not need council approval; the council also could not authorize an agent to…
Did a granted sewer easement force the City of Union to use that route instead of another property?
The 2002 informal AG opinion declined to second-guess the city’s chosen sewer-line location under the stated condemnation standard. It said choosing another route might indicate abandonment of the…
Could a South Carolina House member also serve on North Greenville College’s governing board?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said yes under the constitutional dual-office rule. House membership was public office, but the private college’s governing board did not exercise state sovereign power…
Could a South Carolina casino day cruise use gambling devices while docked or within state waters?
The 2002 informal AG letter said no under the controlling Stardancer ruling: the narrow day-cruise scenario allowed gambling only after the vessel passed beyond South Carolina’s territorial waters.…
Did South Carolina’s 2002 family privacy law bar realtors from using county deed records for business?
The 2002 AG said the then-new act applied to state agencies, not county recording offices or other political subdivisions. It also viewed deed and title records generally as outside the act’s…
Could Dalzell Water District limit its annual election to water users rather than all district residents?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said no. The district’s enabling act called for nominations at a residents’ meeting, so conflicting bylaws referring to users could not exclude non-user residents from voting.
Did South Carolina’s appointed-counsel law cover indigent defendants given suspended jail sentences?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said South Carolina’s statute and court rules met the Supreme Court’s counsel requirement, including when a suspended prison term could later be activated. The office…
Did a South Carolina budget proviso give the Agriculture Commission control over its own funding?
The 2002 AG said no. The proviso protected commissioners’ per diem and subsistence from a General Fund reduction unless an individual waived payment, but it did not expand the commission’s powers or…
Was a race-car video game like Chess Challenge legal in South Carolina under the 2002 gambling law?
The 2002 informal AG opinion said no for the machine the office reviewed. Its fast-spinning icons and uncontrolled roulette-style feature made chance dominate the result, so the AG considered it…
How did the 2002 South Carolina AG distinguish a video game of skill from an illegal game of chance?
The AG favored the dominant-factor test: chance made a game a game of chance when it controlled the result more than skill. The opinion said prize merchandise did not rescue a game that involved…
Could South Carolina schools start charter conversion before new regulations were issued, and who controlled the parent and staff vote?
The 2002 AG said the amended charter law took effect without waiting for implementing regulations. It found no authority for a school board to cancel or take over the parents’ and staff’s initiation…
Did a South Carolina public employee called to emergency military duty get 30 scheduled shifts of paid leave or 30 calendar days?
The 2002 AG retained its view that the leave meant 30 regularly scheduled workdays, so each missed 24-hour shift counted as one day. The letter noted contrary decisions elsewhere and urged a South…
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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.