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 certified school psychologist truthfully use that title under South Carolina’s proposed psychology bill?
The Assistant Deputy AG believed a court would protect an accurate title identifying certification by the Department of Education, but said whether a specific designation misled the public required…
Did a Carlisle town council member forfeit office after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct?
The Assistant AG said no automatic forfeiture followed because disorderly conduct was not a crime of moral turpitude under the cited South Carolina decision. He found none of the removal or…
Could York City Council appropriate fund-balance money by a simple motion and change its manager’s budget deadline?
The Assistant AG said appropriations should use an authorization carrying the force of law, such as an ordinance, rather than a simple motion. He predicted a sitting council could change a…
Did a pending rehearing petition make the South Carolina Supreme Court’s Whitner decision nonbinding in 1997?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no: although the pending petition delayed the remittitur and final disposition of the case, he viewed the published Whitner decision as binding precedent unless and…
Could Saluda restrict downtown street parking by business owners and employees to preserve customer spaces?
The Assistant AG said the proposed ordinance could be upheld: municipalities had parking-regulation power, and a distinction aimed at congested downtown spaces was not necessarily arbitrary. He…
Could a Kiawah Island municipal judge issue a standing order directing sheriff and private-security activity without a pending case?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the municipal court lacked authority to issue the order and advised against effectuating it. He distinguished the sheriff’s countywide law-enforcement authority from…
Could South Carolina’s cosmetology board require a salon booth renter to hold a separate license under 1997 law?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the board’s approved regulations requiring a license for an independent contractor renting salon space were legally defensible under the then-current practice act. He…
Did Lexington School District Four need county governing-body consent before selling or leasing school property?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes under the 1997 reading of §59-19-250: Act No. 601’s abolition of the county education board did not appear to exempt the district, so the county governing body…
Did a South Carolina finance company have to send a new right-to-cure notice after a later missed installment on the same debt?
The Assistant AG said no under the 1997 Consumer Protection Code: once the creditor had given the statutory right-to-cure notice, another late payment on the same obligation did not require another…
Could East Richland County Public Service District expand its board members’ compensation after the 1996 amendment?
The Assistant AG said yes: the amended § 6-11-91 let the district set or change compensation and benefits by resolution or ordinance. He said the old daily per-diem cap no longer applied, while…
Did a county need a landowner petition under § 6-11-20 before forming a fire district under § 4-19-10?
The Assistant AG said no. He treated the two code routes as distinct methods for creating fire protection districts and found nothing in the § 4-19-10 route requiring the § 6-11-20 petition first.
Could Fairfield County’s clerk of court personally keep county deed-stamp tax receipts as salary subsidy?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no on the stated facts: former law sent county documentary taxes to the county general fund, and the 1996 replacement deed-recording fee was credited to state and county…
Did Lexington-Richland School District Five have to use outside facilitators for annual plan updates?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no specific committee or outside-facilitator method was required by the cited statute and regulation. He said a superintendent draft followed by board town meetings and…
Did South Carolina’s 1997 tandem-axle weight limit comply with federal interstate-highway law?
The Assistant Deputy AG reaffirmed the office’s 1988 view that South Carolina’s higher tandem-axle limit was grandfathered under federal law and could coexist with the federal overall gross-weight…
Could a South Carolina family court order a juvenile offender to get a haircut as a probation condition?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the family court probably had authority to impose a haircut or hair-length condition in a particular juvenile case, but its validity depended on the facts and the…
Could Santee’s mayor block council members from town records or the town attorney?
The Assistant AG said the mayor’s attempt to block council members from town minutes and contracts was improper. He could not decide attorney-access duties without the town ordinance, and referred…
Did the 1997 free-lunch and reduced-lunch school-fee exemptions apply in every South Carolina school district?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes. He read Proviso 19.11’s final sentence as applying statewide, including districts that already had special-act authority to charge fees, because the exemption…
Could a reserve police officer operate traffic radar after 240 hours of training without Class 1 certification?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the training hours alone did not satisfy the 1997 radar regulation. It allowed only Class 1 certified officers to be accredited as traffic radar operators, and he found…
Could Orangeburg County school board members receive salaries, per diem, or mileage under the 1996 consolidation act?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the boards could vote to pay members per diem and mileage under general law, but could not authorize salaries. The 1996 act did not itself provide for compensation.
Could officers forfeit cockfight gambling money, and could prosecutors add a school-zone drug charge?
The Assistant Deputy AG said money proved to be integral to cockfight betting could be forfeited, preferably through a separate civil case giving interested owners notice. He said there was a good…
Did Greenwood County Council inherit the former county education board’s school-bond approval power?
The Assistant AG read the 1997 dissolution act as transferring only Chapter 15 powers needed to wind up the former board’s affairs. He did not separately decide whether a particular bond approval…
Could an unlicensed school-psychology specialist use “psychology” in a professional title under 1997 South Carolina law?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the existing title restriction had to be treated as valid until a court ruled otherwise. An unlicensed person could not use a title containing “psychologist,”…
Could a South Carolina mayor also serve as a magistrate?
The Assistant AG said simultaneous service would violate the state constitution’s dual-office prohibition. He treated both mayor and magistrate as public offices for that rule.
Could a collection agency seek bad-check warrants on checks it knew had already been dishonored?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no under the 1997 bad-check law when the agency had notice or knowledge of dishonor. Endorsement did not erase the statutory defense; he said its collection remedy was civil.
Could a magistrate issue a bad-check warrant when a check-cashing business accepted a postdated check knowing funds were lacking?
The Assistant Deputy AG said a warrant generally should not issue when the facts showed the payee knew or had reason to believe the check lacked sufficient funds. He said the holder’s normal remedy…
Could Georgetown County Council tell the clerk of court how to accept child-support payments or withhold funds to force compliance?
The Assistant Deputy AG agreed with county counsel that the council lacked authority to direct the clerk’s payment method or withhold funds to compel compliance. The short letter adopted counsel’s…
When a subdivision covenant conflicts with city zoning, which restriction controls?
The Assistant AG said the more restrictive rule controls under the South Carolina cases he cited. He could not decide whether the particular 1955 covenant or 1997 ordinance was stricter without…
Who gets lost property turned in to police if the true owner never claims it?
The Assistant Deputy AG favored treating the finder who claimed the item as the next owner after the true owner, once the applicable notice and disposition process was followed. He stressed that…
After South Carolina abandons a rerouted state road, can the county quitclaim its interest to adjoining owners?
The Assistant Deputy AG said an abandoned state-road segment could pass to local control, and the county could then discontinue it for a public benefit and quitclaim whatever interest it held. He…
Did South Carolina’s 1997 minimum-marriage-age law bar the pregnancy exception from licensing younger children?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes. After the new statute took effect, a marriage involving a female under 14 or a male under 16 was void, and the older pregnancy-related license provision could not…
How many trustees should Anderson County school boards have, when do their terms start, and who fills vacancies?
The Assistant AG said board size followed district enrollment: five members below 3,000 pupils, seven from 3,000 to under 6,000, and nine at 6,000 or more. Terms began one week after election…
Would cutting a sheriff’s or other listed county officer’s operating budget reduce state aid to the county?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes under the 1997 statute. Any reduction in compensation or operating expenditures for the six listed offices required a corresponding reduction in state aid…
Did a 1996–97 payroll-deduction fee proviso require universities and other agencies to charge employees a fee?
The Assistant Deputy AG said agencies with separate payrolls probably should not begin charging the fee under that proviso without legislative clarification. Its placement in the Comptroller…
Did a police agency owe training-cost reimbursement for an officer hired after July 1, 1997, if the officer trained earlier?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the second government employer’s hiring after July 1 triggered the 1997 reimbursement statute if its other conditions were met, even when training had occurred before…
How long should a South Carolina agency keep medical records for emotionally disturbed children?
The Assistant Deputy AG advised permanent retention, while leaving the form of preservation to the agency and state archives officials. He distinguished that advice from a statutory fixed retention…
Did a proposed eighth-grade magazine article comply with South Carolina’s 1997 health-education curriculum restriction?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the identified article fell outside the then-existing statutory exception for instruction about sexually transmitted diseases and therefore would not comply with the…
Could a county transportation committee approve road spending by phone without public meeting notice?
The Deputy AG said the committee was covered by the Freedom of Information Act’s open-meeting and notice rules, including when a quorum convened electronically. Only a court could decide whether the…
Could Georgetown County Council cut the water and sewer district board from seven members to five?
The Assistant AG said county council could not use an ordinance to reduce this preexisting special-purpose district’s board. He questioned the constitutionality of the 1975 act setting seven seats,…
Were two Georgetown County bills changing district elections and board appointments constitutionally sound?
The Assistant AG said proposed S.448 and the earlier appointment-transfer act both had doubtful constitutionality under the state ban on county-specific laws. He did not declare either invalid; only…
Could a county-specific bill change how Georgetown’s water and sewer district board was elected?
The Assistant AG said proposed S.448 had doubtful constitutionality under Article VIII, Section 7 because it concerned a district wholly within one county. He expressly reserved any binding…
Could South Carolina’s Legislative Audit Council audit the regional GLEAMNS Human Resources Commission?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes. For the 1997 audit statute, he treated the legislatively created, seven-county public commission as a state agency that handled public money, placing it within the…
Could Union County’s school board raise its own meeting per diem above the amount in a 1969 local act?
The Assistant AG said the board could set its per diem under a later, statewide school-board compensation statute. He found no separate delegation power to change it and limited the conclusion to…
Were Pickens County disability-services board employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the board was a public political subdivision on the facts supplied, so its employees were outside the NLRA and NLRB jurisdiction. He noted his office had not examined…
Could a former magistrate who missed the certification deadline be reappointed after someone else held the seat?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no under the 1997 statute. The prohibition followed the person who failed the certification requirement, whether the appointment would fill the old vacancy or start a…
Did South Carolina’s 1997 law against threats to teachers cover a school guidance counselor?
The Assistant Deputy AG predicted that a court would read “teacher” in the threat statute broadly enough to protect a certified guidance counselor. The statute itself did not define that term, and…
Could a private lawyer prosecute a magistrate or municipal criminal case when the solicitor lacked staff?
The Assistant Deputy AG said a private attorney could participate with the solicitor’s authorization and the trial judge’s approval, while the solicitor retained control. He emphasized the attorney…
Did Spartanburg’s local school districts inherit the county board’s tax-levy authority for joint district programs?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes. He read a 1995 act’s transfer of all nonreserved county board powers to the seven local boards as including the separate tax-levy authority for approved…
Could a sheriff release a whole sex-offender registry, or identify an offender from an approximate address under 1997 law?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the 1997 registry law allowed specific written requests, with some flexibility when a location identified the person with reasonable certainty, but did not permit…
Did sharing a courthouse with county code-enforcement officers automatically disqualify magistrates from their cases?
The Assistant Deputy AG found no rule making shared office space an automatic conflict or ground for recusal. He said county council chose court facilities, but referred the specific judicial-ethics…
Was a South Carolina sheriff responsible for courthouse and courtroom security?
The Assistant Deputy AG said sheriffs had clear duties to attend and assist courts, and a common-law courthouse-security duty could be argued from their role as court officers. He found no South…
Did South Carolina’s 1997 health-education restrictions apply outside a dedicated health course, and what could schools teach?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the Act applied whenever instruction covered its subjects, not only in dedicated health classes. He read the then-existing restrictions to limit discussion of same-sex…
Could a public college limit protests at its entrance without violating free-speech rights?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the school-disturbance statute might apply to actual interference with students or teachers, including conduct outside campus, and reasonable content-neutral time,…
Could five counties form a multicounty industrial park if not every county bordered every other county?
The Assistant AG said the 1997 contiguity requirement could be met by a connected chain of participating counties. On the boundaries described, Newberry and Kershaw did not need to touch each other…
How could Seneca police dispose of found bicycles, and could officers seize suspended licenses or plates?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the police-disposition statute was the likely route for tangible found property such as bicycles, rather than a five-year intangible-property regime. He identified…
Who appointed members of the Newberry County Community Hall Commission after county home rule?
The Assistant AG said Newberry County Council was the appropriate body to provide for appointments under Section 4-9-170. He reaffirmed earlier AG opinions applying that later law despite the 1949…
Could Union County use public money to repair a private road through a church cemetery?
The Assistant AG said county work on private property was generally barred, and any private-road maintenance needed a public purpose and irrevocable dedication to the public. He left the factual…
Could South Carolina courts delay collecting new 1997 criminal assessments while updating forms and software?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the new assessment provisions took effect July 1, 1997, but predicted a court would consider good-faith implementation problems before compelling immediate compliance.…
Could a magistrate set bond on a first-degree burglary charge when a judge might impose less than life?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no under the 1997 bond statutes. First-degree burglary was punishable by life even though the sentencing court could impose at least 15 years instead, so bond authority…
Could a city police officer refuse to serve a magistrate’s arrest warrant that appeared valid?
The Assistant Deputy AG said an officer had no discretion to refuse a magistrate’s arrest warrant valid on its face. He said refusal could potentially expose the officer to contempt of court.
Could a police department buy photo-lineup equipment with money forfeited in drug cases?
On the facts supplied, the Assistant Deputy AG said yes: the imaging system’s primary use would be drug enforcement, although it might also help other investigations. He treated the purchase as…
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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.