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 one person serve as a county magistrate and a town code enforcement officer at the same time?
The Deputy AG said no under the South Carolina Constitution’s dual-office provision. He relied on earlier office opinions treating a magistrate and a code enforcement officer as public officers.
Could county planning commissioners privately discuss a pending application with interested parties?
The Assistant AG recommended avoiding private contacts when the commission acted in a quasi-judicial capacity. He said such contacts could jeopardize the hearing and create a rebuttable presumption…
Did a South Carolina charter school that bought state tort insurance have to buy all its other insurance from the state fund?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no. He concluded a charter school could obtain tort coverage through the Insurance Reserve Fund without being bound to buy all property and casualty coverage there.
Who received the prosecutor’s share of a forfeited bond when the Attorney General prosecuted a state-grand-jury case?
The Assistant Deputy AG concluded the Attorney General’s Office should receive the 25 percent prosecutor share under the 1997 bond-forfeiture law when it, rather than the local solicitor, prosecuted…
Could the Charleston County parks commission lease property under its enabling act?
The Assistant AG said yes, to acquire a leasehold for the park, tourism, and similar facilities described in the commission’s enabling act. He viewed a leasehold as a lesser included form of…
Could a prosecutor also serve on a South Carolina council or in the General Assembly?
The Assistant AG drew a distinction: a federal Assistant U.S. Attorney could hold one of those state or local elected posts without violating the state dual-office provision, but a city prosecutor…
Did Darlington County have to appoint each school superintendent for a three-year term?
The Assistant AG said yes under the 1978 local act as it stood in 1997. He read its three-year term as applying to later appointments as well as the first, until the legislature amended or repealed…
Could a public health district board discuss its audit and management letter behind closed doors?
The Assistant Deputy AG said an executive session generally was unavailable just to receive or discuss those documents. A closed discussion required a specific statutory ground covering its subject…
Could a city bus operator post a notice banning permit holders from carrying concealed weapons on its buses?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes under the 1996 concealed-weapons law. He read a bus as the operator’s premises or workplace and the statute’s protection of employers’ control over vehicles as…
Would a state advance to prevent school-bond default create unconstitutional state debt?
The Assistant Deputy AG saw no constitutional defect in the proposed 1997 advance mechanism. He emphasized that advances were capped by that year’s Education Finance Act appropriation and recovered…
Could Aiken County tie council members’ pay automatically to state legislators’ salaries?
The Assistant AG had serious doubts about the ordinance’s constitutionality. He said it appeared to delegate council’s salary-setting power to future legislative decisions, and he declined to decide…
Did a South Carolina public-records request have to name FOIA or use a special form?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the request had to be written under the statute as it stood in 1997, but it did not need to cite FOIA or use a particular form. He said a custodian should treat a…
Did a city police department have to transport another agency’s juvenile outside city limits as a courtesy?
The Assistant Deputy AG said no absolute duty arose from a courtesy request alone. He identified transport duties for the agency that first took the child into custody or had jurisdiction over the…
Did years of county maintenance make undocumented dirt roads public roads?
The Assistant AG did not classify Marion County’s roads. He said a public right might arise through implied dedication or prescription, but those demanding, fact-dependent rules had to be applied to…
Could someone sit on both a county transportation committee and a regional higher-education commission?
The Assistant AG said a dual-office problem would most probably arise. Earlier office opinions treated county transportation committee service as an office, and he considered the education…
Could a county officer issue an ordinance summons for littering the officer had not personally witnessed?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the 1997 uniform ordinance summons law did not require the violation to occur in the officer’s presence. He distinguished a citation from a custodial arrest, while…
Could an officer temporarily take a permit holder’s handgun during a justified investigative stop?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes under the officer-safety rule he drew from Terry, assuming the initial stop was justified. He reasoned that knowledge of the permit and probable weapon could warrant…
Could officers temporarily remove a visitor’s handgun without arresting him during a domestic disturbance call?
The Assistant Deputy AG said a protective temporary removal could be lawful if the officer reasonably believed safety was in danger. He said that rule could apply despite a concealed-carry permit or…
Could a town ask its suspended mayor to help sell a police car or advise on a parade?
The Assistant AG gave no definitive legality ruling. He thought asking the suspended mayor to solicit car-sale bids could look like indirect performance of mayoral duties, and advised discontinuing…
Did serving on Marlboro County’s economic-development partnership count as holding a public office?
The Assistant AG thought membership most likely did not count as a public office for the dual-office rule because the partnership’s duties were mainly advisory and promotional. He called it a close…
Did a 1997 South Carolina records request need to cite FOIA or use an agency form?
The Assistant Deputy AG said it had to be written under the law discussed, but the requester did not need to name FOIA, cite its section, or use any particular form. A written request for records sufficed.
Could a university trustee whose term expired keep serving until the legislature chose a successor?
The Deputy AG said yes under the 1997 statute, and treated continued service as an obligation. He read the rule that trustees serve until successors are elected or appointed and qualify as covering…
Could county legislative delegations approve wildlife-fund spending and private groups designate waterfowl-board members?
The Assistant Deputy AG identified serious constitutional problems with both arrangements under cited separation-of-powers and private-appointment cases. He said the provisions still had to be…
Could a public school record video and audio of students outside an entrance to investigate suspected drug use?
The Assistant Deputy AG viewed video-only monitoring in public school areas as likely defensible, but gave no definitive approval of recording students’ conversations. He found no case on the…
Could a South Carolina charter school buy tort liability coverage through the state Insurance Reserve Fund?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes under the 1996 charter-school and insurance statutes. He concluded Lighthouse Charter School, and charter schools generally, were eligible because state law treated…
Could a municipal court mark a stack of absent defendants’ tickets “tried in absence” after an officer left?
The Assistant Deputy AG said the State still had to call each case and present evidence for a trial in absentia. He rejected a blanket gallery poll and later ticket sign-off as a substitute for the…
Did Berkeley County have to hold a noticed zoning hearing before a council member introduced an amendment?
The Assistant AG said no under the provisions discussed. The public hearing with the stated notice was required before final council action, and earlier office guidance permitted it during a reading…
Could a clerk of court receive the probate judge’s salary while filling a vacancy?
The Assistant Deputy AG said yes, relying on two earlier office opinions whose reasoning he considered applicable. He said later probate-judge salary legislation did not appear to change that conclusion.
Did Berkeley County have to notify each resident personally before starting a zoning change?
The Assistant AG identified a published public-hearing notice requirement before enactment, not an individual notice requirement before the council initiated a change. He said the notice had to…
Could an assistant solicitor also serve as a part-time municipal court judge?
The Assistant AG said the combination would most probably violate South Carolina’s dual-office provision. He relied on prior office opinions treating both the assistant solicitor and part-time…
Could a South Carolina charter school use one random admissions lottery despite a statutory racial-balance requirement?
The AG said the school should use one race-neutral random drawing when applications exceeded seats. He considered the statute’s racial quota unconstitutional and severable, and rejected separate…
Could Barnwell-area police form a joint violent-crime investigation team across municipal and county lines?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a written agreement under Section 23-1-215 could authorize the proposed multi-jurisdiction violent-crime team. He also identified temporary-transfer and…
Could a South Carolina city charge a convicted defendant $150 for choosing a municipal jury trial?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a $150 court cost imposed upon conviction after a jury trial appeared constitutionally doubtful under Article V. He stressed that only a court could decide constitutionality.
Could South Carolina bar a losing primary candidate from taking office through general-election write-in votes?
An Assistant AG said the proposed bill was probably unconstitutional as written. It could add qualifications for federal office and might bar a defeated primary candidate from ever taking the same…
Could local police enforce South Carolina poker-machine rules even though SLED was designated the state enforcer?
An Assistant Deputy AG said local officers could enforce the cited poker-machine provisions in their jurisdictions. He found no statutory restriction on local enforcement and said the Governor’s…
Why did South Carolina treat charity casino nights differently from video-poker payouts in 1997?
The Assistant Deputy AG said earlier office opinions treated paid casino nights as unlawful gambling even when proceeds or prizes had charitable features. He explained that a court had read a…
Could an officer use a Uniform Traffic Ticket to charge a shoplifting offense committed moments before the officer arrived?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a ticket could serve as the charging document for a freshly committed misdemeanor within a magistrate or municipal court’s jurisdiction, if the officer had probable…
Could Spartanburg County legislators alone choose the next transportation commissioner for South Carolina’s fourth district?
An Assistant AG said no. The commissioner needed a majority vote of the congressional district’s delegation as a whole, even if the county-rotation rule required the next commissioner to live…
Does a South Carolina governor’s executive order expire when that governor leaves office?
An Assistant Deputy AG said an authorized executive order continues after the issuing governor’s term until amended, set aside, or revoked. The letter expressly departed from earlier office opinions…
What remedy did the South Carolina AG identify if a school district paid employees’ criminal-defense costs with public funds?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a taxpayer action was the most feasible remedy for the spending he considered unauthorized. He described declaratory judgment, an injunction against future payments, and…
Could Spartanburg County’s legislative delegation or county council take over its transportation committee and spend county road funds?
An Assistant AG said the delegation could replace committee members, subject to constitutional limits, but neither it nor county council could act as the committee or spend the earmarked road funds.…
Could a South Carolina transportation commissioner serve a second term immediately after the first?
An Assistant Deputy AG reaffirmed that a commissioner could not succeed himself or herself under the county-rotation provision. The same person could serve again later after representation had…
Could a Florence city council member also sit on a nonprofit microloan advisory committee?
A Deputy AG said yes on the facts provided. The committee was formed by a charitable organization, its duties were not set by state law, and deciding loan eligibility did not appear to exercise…
Did South Carolina law require the Comptroller General’s personal name on state payment checks?
An Assistant Deputy AG found no express requirement in Section 11-3-140 for the officeholder’s name on checks. He said using the title alone could satisfy the statute’s purpose, treated the check…
Was a Beaufort-only bill transferring appointment powers from legislators to county council constitutional?
An Assistant AG raised substantial constitutional concerns about the proposed bill because it applied only to Beaufort County. He found its validity doubtful under the ban on county-specific laws…
Was Aiken County’s mobile-home registration program manager a public officer?
An Assistant AG said the manager was an employee rather than a public officer on the supplied job description, because the position did not exercise state sovereign power. He cautioned that a court…
Could an Aiken County code enforcement officer carry an issued pistol while working?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a code enforcement officer could be treated as exempt from the pistol-carrying prohibition if the officer met the statutory law-enforcement category, subject to a court…
Could an apartment owner bar a tenant’s guest from common areas and seek a trespass charge after notice?
An Assistant Deputy AG said a tenant’s invitation did not automatically defeat a trespass charge after the owner warned the guest away. The result depended on the lease, the guest’s conduct and…
Could Isle of Palms city council authorize its administrator to declare a state of emergency?
An Assistant AG said no. He read state law as giving the governor authority to declare a state of emergency; the city could adopt a limited emergency ordinance but could not delegate a declaration…
Would South Carolina speeding and first-offense DUI charges from the same drive violate double jeopardy?
An Assistant Deputy AG said no. He applied the separate-elements approach: speeding required proof of exceeding the speed limit, while DUI required proof of impairment, so neither offense duplicated…
Did the South Carolina AG consider convenience-store scratch-and-win promotions an illegal lottery in 1997?
An Assistant Deputy AG said these games generally were lotteries in his view, including when an entry was called free but required a purchase or other consideration. He stressed that the facts of…
Could New Ellenton’s mayor also serve as an Aiken County tax code enforcement officer?
An Assistant AG said the combination would violate South Carolina’s dual-office prohibition. He treated both the mayorship and the county code enforcement role as public offices because the latter…
Did the 1997 South Carolina AG consider the charter-school racial quota constitutional, and could the rest of the act survive?
AG Condon considered the ten-percent racial-composition quota unconstitutional and severable from the rest of the Charter Schools Act. He said only a court could decide those questions finally, and…
Could Easley utility commissioners replace free utility service with salaries, and when could salaries begin?
An Assistant AG said state law did not prohibit salaries for these commissioners, assuming the utility was organized under the cited public-works laws. Any salary had to apply prospectively, and he…
Could a South Carolina municipal court order a dangerous animal destroyed after hearing the criminal case?
An Assistant Deputy AG said the municipal court could order destruction under the dangerous-animal statute when it had jurisdiction over the related criminal case and found a continuing serious…
Could Marlboro County hold a special election to fill an elected county auditor’s unfinished term?
An Assistant AG said no. Under the vacancy statutes as he applied them, the governor would appoint an interim auditor and voters would choose a successor at the next general election for the…
Could a sheriff sell confiscated guns and reserve the proceeds for sheriff’s equipment by agreement with county officials?
An Assistant Deputy AG said the sheriff could trade eligible pistols for equipment or transfer weapons to the clerk for statutory sale. Sale proceeds went to the county general fund, and an…
Did South Carolina privileges for legislators, voters, and court attendees prevent criminal arrest?
An Assistant Deputy AG said the listed privileges against arrest, with exceptions for treason, felony, or breach of peace, protected against civil arrest rather than criminal charges generally. He…
What did the South Carolina AG conclude in 1997 about racial and gender set asides in state road and procurement contracts?
AG Condon considered the South Carolina set-aside programs unconstitutional and predicted courts would strike them under equal protection. He contrasted those preferences with race- and…
Could a South Carolina municipal judge set a $38 fine for a seat-belt violation in 1997?
An Assistant Deputy AG said no under the 1997 seat-belt statute. It capped a single violation’s fine at $10, barred court costs, and capped one incident at $20; the general municipal-court penalty…
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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.