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 town use its own careless-driving or speed ordinance instead of state traffic charges?
The AG said towns could adopt traffic ordinances only if they did not conflict with uniform state traffic law. Ordinances used to avoid state point-system penalties appeared problematic, but the…
Could police use audio and video from a hostage-rescue phone as evidence under federal interception law?
The AG said the described hostage-rescue phone would not violate federal Title III interception law in the hostage or standoff settings presented, so that law would not require exclusion of the…
Could South Carolina charge a visiting driver whose home-state license was suspended, or who forgot a valid license?
The AG said South Carolina’s driving-under-suspension offense covered a visitor whose license was suspended by the home state. A visitor validly licensed at home but driving without that license in…
Could Florence County expand a fire district into an area served voluntarily by Pamplico without a referendum?
The AG said the county could establish or expand a fire-protection service area and levy the related tax without a referendum if it followed the statutory hearing and ordinance procedures. An area…
Could a South Carolina police department trade seized weapons or abandoned property for equipment?
The AG said some weapons confiscated under specified laws could be traded to a South Carolina licensed pistol dealer for agency-approved equipment. Other pistols and recovered abandoned property had…
Could South Carolina apply a higher DUI education fee to someone convicted before the fee changed?
The AG said applying the then-current Alcohol and Drug Safety Action Program fee or community-service alternative to the described person with an older DUI conviction did not violate state or…
Could a South Carolina county be liable for contracts signed by its local alcohol and drug abuse commission?
The AG said the county-controlled commission likely acted as a county agent and could bind the county on contracts within its authority. Express, implied, or apparent authority could matter, but the…
Could a South Carolina county pay part of an indigent person’s funeral costs by resolution?
The AG said Sumter County could contribute toward burial or funeral costs for an indigent person even if relatives did not pay, because disposition of the body served a public purpose. The…
Did South Carolina counties have to refund video poker license fees after the machines became illegal?
The AG said Spartanburg County did not have to refund the unused portion of its video poker license fee after video poker became illegal in 2000. The state law provided a prorated refund for fees…
Could a South Carolina school board member also serve as a county magistrate?
The AG said simultaneous service on the Allendale County school board and as a county magistrate violated South Carolina’s constitutional dual-office prohibition. Assuming both offices were covered,…
Who serves as sheriff in South Carolina when the elected sheriff dies or resigns?
The AG said the chief deputy or second in command acted as sheriff immediately after a vacancy from death or resignation, until the governor appointed a replacement. A special election followed if…
Who inherited a home when its life tenant died after the testator but before probate?
The AG said the sister’s life estate ended when she died, but because she survived the testator she also qualified for an equal share under the will’s residuary clause. Her estate was entitled to…
Did a South Carolina school board member need district office approval to visit a school or review district records?
The AG said an individual Rock Hill school board member could visit district schools without advance approval from the superintendent or district office and had access to district records. The…
Could a South Carolina municipal court jail someone for an unpaid fine without a new hearing?
The AG said a municipal judge could condition a suspended sentence on payment of a fine and could use a bench warrant to bring back someone who willfully failed to pay. The warrant alone did not…
Must a South Carolina county send changes to a proposed zoning regulation back to its planning commission?
The AG said Lancaster County Council had to send any change to a planning commission’s recommended zoning text or maps back to the commission for review, even if the change was minor. The commission…
Did South Carolina bail bond businesses pay one county filing fee per business, per employee, or per license?
The AG said the county fee applied to each licensed person in a bail bond business, including professional bondsmen, surety bondsmen, and runners. A person with more than one license owed one fee as…
How could South Carolina police seek drug forfeiture when the property owner could not be found to consent?
The AG said a sheriff did not need a missing defendant’s signed consent order to seek forfeiture. The circuit solicitor or designee could petition the court, and service by publication could be…
Could South Carolina enforce its littering law if no police officer saw the littering happen?
The AG said an officer did not have to witness littering for the state law to be enforced. A warrant could be supported by facts from other witnesses, subject to a magistrate’s probable-cause…
Could South Carolina’s parole board keep each member’s parole vote secret under its own policy?
The AG said individual parole board votes to grant or deny parole had to be available to the public under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act. A board policy of reporting only totals could…
Could a town planning director also sit on a South Carolina county zoning appeals board?
The AG said the Town of Hollywood planning director could not simultaneously serve on the Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals. The office read the statutory restriction on holding another…
Did a 1999 South Carolina amendment give thirty days for criminal appeals from magistrate or municipal courts?
The AG predicted a reviewing court would preserve the specific ten-day criminal appeal rules for magistrate and municipal courts. It read the general thirty-day language in the 1999 amendment as…
When could a South Carolina municipal officer act outside city limits during a pursuit or joint investigation?
The AG said an officer’s authority outside city limits depended on the applicable basis: hot pursuit, a distress call from an adjacent jurisdiction, an emergency request, or an agreement covering…
Did South Carolina election officials have to mail new voter cards after every stage of redistricting?
The AG said election officials had to mail notice when a voter’s precinct or ward used as a precinct changed, but the cited statute did not require new cards simply because legislative or council…
Could South Carolina police notify neighbors about a registered sex offender living nearby?
The AG said the registry law allowed a sheriff or other law enforcement officer to disseminate covered information when the officer had reason to believe release would deter criminal activity or…
Could one person serve on both a county planning commission and South Carolina’s technical education board?
The AG said both posts were public offices under the state constitution, so one person could not lawfully hold them at the same time. Taking the second office automatically vacated the first,…
Did a South Carolina coroner need to handle cremation of a potentially viable fetus under the permit law?
The AG advised the coroner to treat the described death as requiring consideration under the ordinary cremation-permit process. The letter said viability was a medical fact, but reasoned that a…
Could a South Carolina fire department accept charity-run proceeds without owing income tax?
The AG said the Blythewood Fire Department could accept the proposed fundraiser proceeds, provided donated money was used for a public purpose and handled as public funds. Because the department was…
Did Beaufort County’s unattended-animal ordinance prohibit police from leaving a cared-for K-9 in a vehicle?
The AG did not give a categorical answer. It said the ordinance could be read as protecting animals from distress rather than banning every moment a dog remained in a vehicle; a police K-9 kept…
Could one voter referendum permanently raise a South Carolina school district’s annual millage-increase limit?
The AG said the proposed Greenville County School District referendum could authorize up to 9.9 additional mills for that budget year, and the resulting amount would become part of the budget base.…
Could a South Carolina municipality dismiss a criminal charge and still keep court costs?
The AG said criminal court costs required statutory authority and generally could not be imposed after a dismissal or acquittal. The letter identified a narrow fraudulent-check provision allowing…
When could South Carolina police seize a car after a driving under suspension arrest?
The 2001 AG said officers should seize a vehicle at a new DUS arrest when the driver had at least three prior DUS convictions within five years, regardless of their degree. Pending charges did not…
Could a South Carolina town condemn county land for a new road?
The 2001 AG said a town appeared to have statutory authority to condemn county property only if it was not already devoted to public use. Because public use depended on the facts, the opinion…
Did South Carolina counties need a second referendum for Sunday beer and wine permits?
The 2001 AG said a successful temporary permit referendum held after June 21, 1993 was enough to allow the special beer and wine permit under the 1996 amendment. A locality whose referendum was held…
Could a South Carolina concealed weapon permit holder carry a gun into a bar or restaurant that served alcohol?
The 2001 AG said no. The prohibition on carrying a firearm into a business selling alcohol for on premises consumption applied even to valid concealed weapon permit holders, and the AG read it as a…
Could a South Carolina county pay its veterans affairs officer for more than 45 days of military leave?
The 2001 AG said neither the county nor its legislative delegation could extend that officer’s paid military leave beyond the forty-five days allowed under Section 8-7-90. The officer served as a…
Did South Carolina law allow cockfighters to “test” birds against each other?
The 2001 AG said no. Putting birds against each other as a test amounted to engaging in cockfighting under § 16-17-650. The opinion said the farm animal protection law did not authorize testing and…
Could county inspectors inspect an exempt South Carolina school building at the school’s request?
The 2001 AG said a school district could ask local building officials for a voluntary inspection even without opting into local ordinances. The inspectors could not demand local permits or exercise…
Did a South Carolina supervised lender license exempt a company from all mortgage broker rules?
The 2001 AG said the Department of Consumer Affairs reasonably limited the exemption to activity within a supervised lender’s existing license. It predicted a court would be unlikely to overturn…
Could employees of a South Carolina county EMS association join the state health and dental plan?
The 2001 AG deferred to the Budget and Control Board’s decision that Midlands EMS staff were ineligible. The opinion said political subdivision status did not itself qualify the association; the…
Could a South Carolina technical college employee sit on the commission that governed the college?
The 2001 AG said no. The employee would be both governed by and a member of the governing commission, which could hire, fire, and set pay for the position; the common law master-servant rule barred…
Could a South Carolina county council chair also serve on the state foresters registration board?
The 2001 AG said that simultaneous service would violate South Carolina’s dual office holding rule. Prior opinions treated county council membership as a public office, and the AG found the…
Could North Myrtle Beach police patrol the stretch of Highway 17 inside Atlantic Beach?
The 2001 AG said the shared road boundary statute did not give North Myrtle Beach concurrent jurisdiction over the one third mile of Highway 17 inside Atlantic Beach. The provision reached a right…
Would South Carolina’s proposed parental opt out for contraceptives cost it federal Title X funds?
The 2001 AG predicted that proposed H.3903 would not conflict with Title X or jeopardize funding because it implemented a parent’s prior instruction rather than requiring consent or notice for every…
Could South Carolina’s DNR suspend a soil and water conservation commissioner before a removal hearing?
The 2001 AG reasoned that a limited power to remove a commissioner for cause could include temporary suspension, but it warned that a newer South Carolina Supreme Court decision cast serious doubt…
Could South Carolina police seize and destroy a Domino Pete gaming machine?
The 2001 AG said the described device appeared to be a prohibited game of chance and that officers had probable cause to seize it for magistrate review under the machine statute. It separately said…
Could South Carolina’s Patients’ Compensation Fund pay claims contractors and cap excess coverage?
The 2001 AG said a claims service appeared to be an administrative expense payable from the Fund, while unrelated services were not. It also read the statute as requiring uncapped excess claim…
Did a county tax collector have to collect a town’s abandoned building removal costs?
The 2001 AG said no statute made municipal removal costs part of a county’s contract to collect municipal taxes merely because the costs were collectible in the same manner as taxes. Whether…
Could a South Carolina fire district chair also work as a city firefighter?
The 2001 AG said fire department membership was exempt from the constitutional dual office rule, so the two positions did not violate that rule. But if the district supervised the city firefighter…
Could a South Carolina city council member also serve on the Spartanburg higher education commission?
The 2001 AG said no. The letter treated city or town council membership as a public office and reaffirmed that the Spartanburg County Commission on Higher Education’s members also held public office…
Could a South Carolina county council chair also serve on a DNR legal advisory board?
The 2001 AG said yes under the dual office rule. County council membership counted as an office, but the legal advisory board was purely advisory and did not exercise sovereign power, so it was not…
Could South Carolina raise the fee for a copy of a driving record from two to six dollars?
The 2001 AG said the Department of Public Safety had authority to charge for driver records, but the proposed fee still had to meet FOIA’s actual cost ceiling and lowest possible cost requirement.…
How did a Pawleys Island homeowner qualify for South Carolina’s four percent residence tax assessment?
The 2001 AG said the owner had to own and occupy the property as a domicile during some part of the tax year, apply before the first tax penalty date, certify household residency facts, and provide…
Could a Clemson University patrol officer also serve on a South Carolina town council?
The 2001 AG said the dual office restriction appeared not to bar the particular officer from serving on Liberty’s council because his campus law enforcement authority came solely from a constable…
Did a South Carolina county Senate delegation have to use weighted voting to approve magistrate nominees?
The 2001 AG said yes under the then operative federal court remedy. The district court’s interim formula covered county legislative delegations voting as a single branch as well as both branches…
Did living together for years automatically create a common law marriage in South Carolina?
No. The 2001 AG letter said time living together did not itself create a marriage. A court ordinarily determined marital status from evidence of the couple’s mutual intent to be married.
Did South Carolina require booking and fingerprints for misdemeanor arrestees released on recognizance?
Yes. The 2001 AG letter said SLED required booking reports for every lawful arrest regardless of offense seriousness or release on bail, and that fingerprinting was a necessary part of the report.
Did South Carolina’s school bus safety law cover city recreation vans taking children to parks and movies?
The 2001 AG could not settle that question. It found plausible broad and narrow readings of the law and said legislative or judicial clarification was needed for Aiken’s recreation vans.
Did South Carolina’s FOIA cover a county economic development advisory board that received no public funds?
The 2001 AG thought a court would likely treat Chester County’s board as a public body because the county created it to perform government advisory work, even though it had not received public funds.
Could South Carolina’s State Museum give its supporting foundation office space rent-free?
The 2001 AG said yes under that year’s appropriations proviso and probably even without its renewal, because supporting the museum served a public purpose. It left the foundation’s possible tax…
Did South Carolina jail inmates earn good-time credit for days spent in custody before trial?
The 2001 AG found it reasonable to credit pretrial detention day for day without awarding good-time deductions for those days. It read the good-time statute as beginning after conviction and sentencing.
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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.