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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Was South Carolina’s Lake Wateree motorboat noise law unconstitutional special legislation?
The 2001 AG thought the law would very likely survive a challenge. It said distinct conditions at a particular lake could justify special boating rules, while only a court could declare the statute…
Could a South Carolina county code enforcement officer also serve on a city construction appeals board?
The 2001 AG treated the code enforcement officer as a public officer, outside the constable exception. It said a comparable construction appeals board seat would likely be a second office, but had…
Could a South Carolina House member also serve on the Economic Education Council?
Yes. The 2001 AG said the council was a nonprofit whose education work did not exercise state sovereign power, so its membership was not a second public office.
Could a South Carolina county invest surplus funds in federally backed obligations beyond CDs and Treasuries?
Yes, under the 2001 AG’s reading. The statutes allowed obligations backed by the United States or its agencies and did not limit that category to certificates of deposit and Treasuries.
Did a South Carolina school dental hygienist need a dentist’s authorization for each student?
The 2001 AG deferred to the Dentistry Board and licensing department’s interpretation requiring authorization identifying each patient; a single blanket authorization was not enough under that reading.
Could Aiken County reorder sales tax projects after voters approved the ballot’s priority list?
The 2001 AG said the county had to spend consistently with the priorities presented to voters. It saw room for unforeseen construction problems, but not a new ranking based on criteria available…
Could a car owner face larceny charges for taking a vehicle from a repair shop that held a lien?
Possibly. The 2001 AG said ownership alone did not bar larceny if the shop lawfully possessed the vehicle under a lien and the other theft elements were proved; charging turned on the facts.
Could Anderson County Council reject a board appointee chosen by a council district?
Yes. The 2001 AG read the county ordinance to require a meaningful full-council voice vote to affirm or reject a district appointee, rather than automatic approval.
Could a South Carolina register record a mortgage satisfaction when assignments to its current holder were missing?
The 2001 AG said the register appeared to have authority to record it when the holder possessed the mortgage and supplied an affidavit explaining the missing assignments, with a notation giving…
Could a poultry farm use South Carolina farm truck plates while hauling sawdust and bark to other farms?
The 2001 AG said hauling poultry and farm soil additives qualified; hauling bedding to other farms could qualify if incidental to the larger poultry operation, but a stand-alone hauling business…
Could one person serve as both Dunklin Fire District commissioner and its fire chief?
The 2001 AG said the constitutional dual-office ban did not apply to the fire chief role, but the two positions still created a prohibited master-servant conflict because the commission supervised…
Could a repeat South Carolina DUS offender reclaim a forfeited car by paying towing and storage fees?
No, said the 2001 AG: the payment provision did not let a covered convicted driver avoid forfeiture. The letter also required a civil summons and complaint and expected a requested jury trial to…
Did scattering cremated remains in a South Carolina church courtyard make it a cemetery?
The 2001 AG said no. Scattering ashes in the described courtyard did not establish a cemetery, and the Safe Cremation Act allowed disposition on private property with the owner’s consent.
Could a Pickens County airport commissioner also hold an elected city council seat?
No. The 2001 AG treated both seats as public offices, concluding that service on the Aeronautics Commission and a city council at the same time violated the dual-office rule.
Who could dismiss cases, change sentences, and control the docket in a South Carolina municipal court?
The 2001 AG assigned pre-jury dismissal to prosecutors and docket setting to judges. It said sentence changes required reasonable notice to the State and victim, and city solicitors should not issue…
Could a South Carolina police department release arrest records after the person was acquitted but never sought expungement?
The 2001 AG said no for records of that charge. It read the then-applicable statute to require law enforcement to destroy those records after acquittal without waiting for a separate court order.
Did selling internet time make Touch Easy Keno a lawful sweepstakes in South Carolina?
No, in the 2001 AG’s view. It said the linked cash machine and keno game supplied payment, chance, and prizes; the internet-time label and beer-permit promotion provision did not shield the game…
Could South Carolina’s coastal permit appeal panel split into separate advisory and appeal committees?
The 2001 AG said the proposed split appeared inconsistent with the panel’s majority and quorum requirements and might impair its appeal duty. It thought the described change required legislation, or…
Did South Carolina’s liquor possession statute itself ban drinking on a boat?
No. The 2001 AG said that statute did not itself prohibit possession or consumption of liquor on vessels merely because they were on state waters; it did not decide every other law or setting.
Could Aiken County authorize credit cards for small government purchases by ordinance?
Yes. The 2001 AG said a county could adopt a purchasing-card ordinance for nominal county purchases as part of its centralized purchasing system, while leaving the policy choice to local officials.
Did South Carolina law require bidding before a school district sold or leased surplus property?
The 2000 AG letter said no state bidding requirement appeared to apply. It pointed to other school-property statutes and said local district or county procedures could supply additional rules.
Could one person serve on Lander University’s board and the Lexington County School District 2 board?
No. The 2000 AG treated both trustee seats as public offices. It said the dual-office problem began when the person assumed the second seat, automatically vacating the first office.
Were arbitration clauses in South Carolina mortgage broker contracts automatically invalid?
No. The 2000 AG said those clauses were not invalid by their nature, but enforceability depended on statutory notice and ordinary contract-formation rules; only a court could decide a particular contract.
Could a South Carolina planning commissioner also work for the local planning department?
The 2000 AG said yes under the constitutional ban on holding two public offices: the described department job was employment, not a second office. The AG could not determine whether a separate…
Could a South Carolina regional transit authority condemn a building away from a right of way?
The 2000 AG read the authority’s condemnation power as covering rights of way and facilities contiguous to them. It said the authority probably could not condemn a disconnected building for a bus station.
Did a South Carolina fire district need a new referendum every year to keep a voter-approved 16-mill tax rate?
No. The 2000 AG said the voter-approved 16-mill rate remained effective and should be billed each year until changed as the law allowed; a yearly referendum was not required.
Could a South Carolina mayor also serve as assistant county coroner and county EMS director?
The 2000 AG said the mayor could continue as county EMS director, but serving as assistant county coroner at the same time would violate the state constitution's dual-office rule.
Could a South Carolina election commissioner remain in office if their spouse was elected?
The 2000 AG found no statute requiring resignation solely because a spouse won public office. But the commissioner could not take part in the spouse's campaign, and the AG left the ethics-law…
Could a South Carolina sheriff collect a commission when a judgment debtor paid after a deputy's phone call?
The 2000 AG said a phone call or other help that merely prompted payment was not enough for a sheriff's collection commission. It interpreted the statute to require at least an attachment or levy on…
Must a South Carolina special purpose district follow the state procurement code when leasing property?
The 2000 AG said no. The state procurement code excluded special purpose districts, although they were required to develop their own procurement procedures. The code's remedies did not apply if a…
Could a South Carolina juvenile arbitration director also serve as a part-time municipal judge?
The 2000 AG said yes under the constitution's dual-office rule. An associate municipal judge held public office, but the described juvenile arbitration director job appeared to be employment rather…
Could South Carolina county code enforcement officers issue uniform traffic tickets for littering?
The 2000 AG said no. County code enforcement officers lacked custodial arrest authority and therefore could not use the state uniform traffic ticket for littering or the other state-law offenses discussed.
Would consulting for a South Carolina public college reduce a retired sheriff's pension?
The 2000 AG said the earnings limit applied if the consulting work was covered employment, but not simply because the sheriff was paid as a consultant. Employee or independent-contractor status…
Could a South Carolina mayor promise lower business license taxes to attract annexation without council approval?
The 2000 AG said no: the mayor alone could not bind the town on a tax set by council. It also considered a challenge to an annexation several years old unlikely to succeed based on the former…
Who appointed Colleton County's transportation committee, and how long could members serve?
The 2000 AG said the county's joint legislative delegation appointed all committee members. The statute set no fixed size or term, and the delegation could remove members, subject to limits such as…
Did an arrest-related tow make a car abandoned after seven days at a South Carolina tow yard?
The 2000 AG said no for the described tow: the company had consented to keep the vehicle on its property. For truly abandoned vehicles, it read the later statutory procedure as placing notice duties…
Did a South Carolina water district's unpaid service-charge lien outrank an earlier recorded mortgage?
The 2000 AG said a lien under § 6-11-170 had no automatic priority over an earlier recorded lien. It noted a different sewer-district lien statute with stronger priority, but lacked the facts to…
Could South Carolina police obtain customer addresses from a municipal water and power utility?
The 2000 AG said officers could request the addresses through South Carolina FOIA because the Seneca utility was a public body and its customer addresses were public records. It cautioned that…
Did Clemson's police chief command state troopers and SLED agents working university football games?
The 2000 AG found no law giving one agency final operational authority over the others at the events. Clemson police, SLED and Highway Patrol each had jurisdiction, and the agencies could agree on…
Could Florence County pay a magistrate with South Carolina local accommodations tax revenue?
The 2000 AG said no under the local accommodations tax statute. Its permission to fund directly attendant 'police' operations did not extend to a magistrate's position; the AG left a final ruling to…
Should South Carolina police take a runaway report and return a 17-year-old to their parents?
The 2000 AG found the law unclear, but advised police to take the parents' report, enter it in NCIC and return the 17-year-old home if found. It framed that as a cautious response to an unresolved…
When did a South Carolina agency have to repay another agency for a newly hired officer's training?
The 2000 AG limited reimbursement to salary and other costs incurred while the officer attended mandatory training, excluding recruiting and hiring. A later agency owed payment for a detention…
Could South Carolina's Museum Commission dismiss its director?
The 2000 AG said the commission had authority to remove its director, whom it elected to the role. It conditioned at-will dismissal on the absence of a rule, agreement or other state-law guarantee…
How could South Carolina campus police obtain an internet subscriber's records before an arrest?
The 2000 AG said federal law offered several routes, but many were unavailable or impractical before a case began. A warrant supported by probable cause could obtain subscriber information; a…
Did a 'consent to search' sign let South Carolina police search everyone entering private property?
The 2000 AG said a property owner could post such a sign, but the sign alone did not establish a visitor's consent to a police search. Whether it satisfied the Fourth Amendment depended on the facts…
Could a South Carolina magistrate hear a charge of illegally passing a stopped school bus?
The 2000 AG advised that a magistrate had jurisdiction over the offense. It resolved an ambiguity between the offense’s minimum fine and the magistrate’s maximum fine in favor of the defendant.
Could a sheriff excuse an older conviction from South Carolina sex offender registration under the 1999 exception?
The 2000 AG said the exception depended on a specific finding made by the convicting court at the criminal proceeding. If the court had made that finding, the offender received its benefit…
Which South Carolina service districts had to receive notice before a municipal annexation hearing?
The 2000 AG read the notice requirement to reach service and special purpose districts potentially affected by annexation. It could not identify every district in the abstract and advised notifying…
Were South Carolina parents automatically liable for a 17-year-old child’s car accident or contract?
The 2000 AG said parental liability depended on the facts, including emancipation and who provided a car for family use. Parents were not automatically liable for a minor’s contract, and a…
Could an off-duty South Carolina town officer ticket a driver for speeding observed outside town?
The 2000 AG said no on the described facts: the officer observed the cited speeding outside Williston, beyond his municipal jurisdiction. A citation would have been possible if he had observed…
Must a South Carolina magistrate issue an arrest warrant when a victim files a sworn crime affidavit?
No. The 2000 AG said the magistrate had to make an independent probable-cause decision from information given under oath. A victim’s affidavit, police report and investigation did not automatically…
Could a South Carolina foster parent also volunteer as a guardian ad litem in an unrelated case?
The 2000 AG found no express legal ban on serving in both roles for unrelated children. It deferred to the Governor’s guardian program to set eligibility policy, including its restrictions on foster…
Could the Charleston County School Board open its meetings with prayer under the Constitution?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2000 that an opening prayer at that school board’s meeting was constitutional. It treated the board as an adult deliberative body, while acknowledging a contrary…
Could South Carolina’s Patients’ Compensation Fund assess a former member for claims from its membership period?
The 2000 AG read the assessment provision as applying only to current fund members and deferred to the board’s matching interpretation. It also advised that a former member retained coverage for an…
Could a South Carolina school district return tax money to support a private company’s relocation?
The 2000 AG said a district could spend its allocated funds for that purpose only if the payment served both a public and a district corporate purpose and did not violate a trust restriction. It…
Could South Carolina require grain dealers to pledge collateral when they guaranteed a state fund loan?
The 2000 AG said immediate Southern Soya claimants had to guarantee the loan but did not also have to pledge collateral. It read the loan provision’s guarantee language as a promise to pay, without…
Could a South Carolina public transit authority spend public money on a table at an appreciation dinner?
The 2000 AG said a public contribution to the dinner would need a sufficient public purpose. The program did not prove that the authority had paid anything, and the AG lacked facts to decide whether…
Could Seabrook Island issue occupancy certificates when Charleston County performed the building inspections?
The 2000 AG said the building official who performed the inspection should also issue the occupancy certificate. It concluded the town’s proposed ordinance separating those roles would conflict with…
Could a South Carolina school board member also chair a regional council of governments?
The 2000 AG said yes. It treated a county school board seat as an office but found constitutional provisions exempting regional council members who were elected or appointed government officials or…
Could South Carolina’s Ports Authority help pay for a bridge it did not own or control?
The 2000 AG said state law did not prohibit a contribution to a bridge project within the Ports Authority’s statutory purposes solely because the authority lacked ownership or full control. It left…
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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.