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.
No South Carolina opinions match these filters
Try a different search term or clear the filters.
Could an Edgefield County emergency director also serve as mayor of Johnston?
The 1996 opinion said yes on the described facts. The mayoralty was a public office, but the county emergency director and E911 coordinator position appeared to be employment rather than a second…
Did South Carolina require a referendum before starting a major toll-road project?
The 1996 AG read the statute to require the Chapter 37 referendum process for a toll project costing more than $150 million, whether initiated by a county or the state transportation department. He…
Did the Southern Connector toll-road partnership make South Carolina a joint owner of a private company?
The 1996 opinion said the described arrangement appeared to be a construction contract, not state joint ownership or stockholding in the private consortium. Its conclusion rested on the reported…
Could a South Carolina public university give a coach or president a contract longer than one year?
The 1996 opinion said a multiyear university employment contract could be valid if payment in later fiscal years remained subject to continued legislative appropriations. The AG did not review a…
Could South Carolina natural resources employees buy their agency’s seized or surplus property at auction?
The 1996 opinion found no express auction statute barring such bids, but warned that employees doing business with their own agency could violate the state’s common-law public policy against…
Could Gaffney’s fire chief also work as a reserve police officer while certified as a fire marshal?
The 1996 opinion said the fire chief role was exempt from South Carolina’s dual-office restriction, but a certified fire marshal and a reserve police officer each held an office. Serving in all…
Do railroad maintenance vehicles and single locomotives trigger South Carolina crossing-stop rules?
The 1996 opinion said both a self-propelled rail maintenance vehicle of the described kind and a single locomotive counted as a railroad train under the crossing statute. Whether an approaching…
Did housing county prisoners in a city jail transfer the sheriff’s county-jail duties?
The 1996 opinion said a city-jail housing contract alone did not necessarily transfer the Union County sheriff’s jail duties to county council. A transfer required clear intent by the sheriff and…
Did a gun in a car’s center console qualify for South Carolina’s glove-compartment exception?
The 1996 opinion said no for the car described, which had a separate traditional glove compartment. The AG found the officer’s charge reasonable, while leaving a jury to decide whether the pistol…
Could a South Carolina municipal prosecutor defer a case if a defendant met conditions?
The 1996 opinion said a prosecutor generally had discretion to defer or dismiss a case on reasonable conditions, such as restitution or good behavior. It cautioned that city prosecutors lacked a…
Could a South Carolina technical college refuse records requested by its state oversight board?
The 1996 opinion said the State Board, its members, and its executive director had broad authority to request college documents related to the board’s oversight mission. A local area commission…
Could one person serve on South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind and Independent Living Council?
The 1996 opinion said concurrent service did not violate the state dual-office rule. It treated the Blind Commission seat as a state office but the federally required Independent Living Council seat…
Could police charge every minor near alcohol at a South Carolina house party?
The 1996 opinion said constructive possession could support an underage alcohol charge when evidence showed the minor knew of the alcohol and had control or the right to control it. Mere presence…
Did a railroad have to help replace a closed road bridge over its tracks in Williamston?
The 1996 opinion said the town had a defensible legal argument for railroad contribution to rebuilding the bridge, but did not decide whether the railroad owed it. The answer required the old…
What happens to bail after a South Carolina magistrate finds no probable cause?
The 1996 opinion said the magistrate must release the defendant from physical custody, but that finding is not an acquittal or a final end to the charge. Under the South Carolina authorities the AG…
Could Winthrop University pay nine-month faculty early and subsidize six credits of classes?
The 1996 opinion said Winthrop could not pay faculty in advance of work performed under the cited state pay rule, though contract terms and summer work could affect whether particular pay was…
Could Pickens County enforce its protest ordinance on county property inside city limits?
The 1996 opinion said a county ordinance would not automatically apply inside the City of Pickens. A city-county agreement could make it applicable there; under such an agreement, the sheriff could…
Could a South Carolina housing authority seek charges after accepting a tenant repayment agreement?
The 1996 opinion said a repayment agreement or partial payment did not bar a warrant for knowingly misstating income to obtain or retain public housing. Probable cause for the statutory offense was…
Could a South Carolina city court hear an unlawful phone call placed outside the city but received inside?
The 1996 opinion said a municipal court generally had jurisdiction when the unlawful call was completed and received within city limits, even if the caller dialed from outside. The analysis depended…
Were South Carolina pretrial-intervention court dockets public before expungement?
The 1996 opinion said ordinary court records for a pending PTI case remained public until the court issued an expungement order after successful completion. Entry into the program did not itself…
Would proposed South Carolina service bills violate existing annexation contracts?
The 1996 opinion said the proposed retroactive bills could impair existing fire, water, or sewer service contracts tied to annexation, but were not facially unconstitutional. Whether a…
Could a South Carolina county cut a part-time magistrate’s hours and total pay when a new term began?
The 1996 opinion agreed that a county could reduce a part-time magistrate’s hours and proportionate total pay at the permitted four-year point after a material change in conditions. The hourly basis…
Could a South Carolina school district pay rent and teacher salaries for a private program serving pregnant students?
The 1996 AG thought the Florence Crittendon program was not a private educational institution under the state constitution on the facts supplied. If a court classified it otherwise, district rent…
Could Goose Creek residents recall recreation commissioners, and did city annexations expand the recreation district?
The 1996 AG found no recall procedure for the Goose Creek commission members. He could not determine whether city annexations automatically expanded the district because the governing acts and their…
Could a South Carolina regional planning council administer shared local government services?
The 1996 AG said a council of governments could possibly administer joint local functions, but each project had to fit the governing constitutional provision, enabling statute and council agreement.…
What limits did South Carolina place on sexual content in public school health education materials in 1996?
The 1996 AG read the health education law as strictly limiting films, pictures and diagrams to explaining bodily functions or reproduction and excluding portrayals of sexual activity. He made no…
Could South Carolina require a recipient’s consent before someone mailed sexually explicit material?
The 1996 AG considered a proposed consent requirement constitutionally defensible as a regulation of unwanted material sent to the home, including through the mail. He warned that its exemption for…
Was South Carolina’s early fingerprint deadline for sheriff candidates constitutional in 1996?
The 1996 AG expected a court to uphold the law requiring prospective sheriff candidates to submit fingerprints to SLED sixty days before qualification closed. He said the state constitution…
Did a South Carolina school district have to keep administrators’ local salary supplements in 1996–97?
Subject to any legislative change, the 1996 AG agreed that Colleton County School District had to pay certified administrators under the statewide minimum schedule and maintain their local salary…
Could Allendale make its mayor the paid town administrator under the council form of government?
The 1996 AG said the mayor could not officially serve as town administrator under Allendale’s council form of government. The council could informally designate the mayor to oversee daily operations…
Did a South Carolina pardon restore the right to buy a pistol after a violent-crime conviction in 1996?
The 1996 AG said a pardon did not permit a person convicted of a violent crime in South Carolina to buy or possess a pistol. He reasoned that a pardon restored listed civil rights but did not erase…
Could a worker be prosecuted for cashing a payroll check that the employer had written without enough funds?
The 1996 South Carolina AG said merely endorsing and cashing a bad payroll check did not make the worker criminally liable. Prosecuting the endorser required evidence that the worker knew of the…
Could a bidder protest South Carolina’s decision not to buy a proposed building under the state procurement code?
The 1996 AG said the procurement code gave no protest remedy for the Board’s decision not to act on a solicitation to buy real property. The code governed goods and services rather than…
How long after filing could a South Carolina candidate move into the district they sought to represent?
The 1996 AG gave no universal number of days. Candidate qualifications ordinarily were measured at election, but he identified exceptions: a House candidate had to reside in the district when…
Could a South Carolina party reopen candidate filing when someone withdrew after the deadline but before the primary?
The 1996 AG said a party committee could decide to reopen filing if no more than two candidates had filed and one withdrew before the primary. That discretion came from the pre-primary filing rule;…
Did Dorchester County have to provide an office and funding for its legislative delegation in 1996?
The 1996 AG said the county remained obligated under the Home Rule Act to supply office space and the appropriation the delegation deemed necessary for one delegation office. The uncodified…
Who controlled South Carolina’s H.L. Hunley recovery project under the 1996 legislation?
The 1996 AG said the new Hunley Commission, rather than the archaeology institute, held the Underwater Antiquities Act duties applicable to the Hunley project. The institute could act on the project…
Did the South Carolina AG in 1996 think the state could refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state?
Yes. In this 1996 opinion, the AG concluded that proposed legislation denying recognition to out-of-state same-sex marriages would be constitutional under his reading of state public policy and the…
How did the South Carolina AG address the Full Faith and Credit Clause in a 1996 same-sex marriage proposal?
The 1996 AG said the Full Faith and Credit Clause did not prevent South Carolina from proposing to deny recognition to same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. He viewed the proposed law as…
Who owned military items buried at the former Camp Croft site in South Carolina in 1996?
The 1996 AG applied the common-law rule that items embedded in land belonged to the landowner, not the finder. He said buried items on Croft State Park land belonged to the state and similarly…
Could a South Carolina fire district commissioner keep a paid secretary-treasurer job with the same district?
The 1996 AG said serving as both district commissioner and paid secretary-treasurer violated the common-law rule against being both supervisor and employee. The conflict arose when the employee…
Could Allendale include mayor and council pay raises in its budget ordinance instead of passing a separate salary ordinance?
The 1996 AG said the statute required pay increases by ordinance but did not require a separate salary-only ordinance. He thought the council could choose an appropriate ordinance form, while…
Could a hospital employee serve on the Union Hospital District board, and did its trustees have to be elected?
In 1996, the AG concluded that a physician employed by the hospital could not also serve as its trustee because the board supervised hospital operations and employment. The AG found no apparent…
Could Hilton Head Island’s revenue collector run for Beaufort County Council and hold both posts if elected?
The 1996 AG found no state-law barrier to her candidacy on the facts presented, but concluded that serving on county council while remaining town revenue collector would violate South Carolina’s…
Could MUSC lease its hospital to Columbia/HCA without new legislative authority?
The 1996 AG concluded that MUSC lacked authority to lease its hospital for operation by Columbia/HCA or sell the associated equipment under the proposed deal without clear authorization from the…
Was State Budget and Control Board approval enough for MUSC to lease its hospital to Columbia/HCA?
No. In 1996 the AG said that, although State Budget and Control Board approval was necessary, MUSC could not turn over hospital operations under the proposed Columbia/HCA lease without clear…
Could Pawley’s Island restrict speeding tickets from parked or unmarked police cars, or stop tickets at a revenue target?
The 1996 AG did not find the described traffic enforcement policy invalid under state law and treated it as a local council judgment, subject to town attorney advice. He said good-faith municipal…
Did South Carolina family courts have to appoint both a lawyer and guardian ad litem for a child in abuse proceedings?
The 1996 AG said the appointment requirement had not been superseded: family courts were required to appoint both counsel and a guardian ad litem for the child in abuse and neglect proceedings. He…
Did a second South Carolina speeding conviction carry a different penalty under the law considered in 1996?
The 1996 AG concluded that the graded speeding penalties applied regardless of prior speeding offenses, despite wording about a first offense. He found no separate repeat-offense penalty to invoke…
Could a South Carolina jail deduct a prior stay’s elective medical cost from an inmate’s account during a later stay?
The 1996 AG concluded that a prior unpaid charge for elective medical treatment could remain collectible during a later incarceration at the same facility. The statute did not confine deductions to…
When did an indigent defendant in a South Carolina municipal court receive appointed counsel under the 1996 rule?
The 1996 AG said an indigent municipal court defendant was entitled to appointed counsel if a prison sentence was likely upon conviction. The county public defender would represent an approved…
Could Horry County’s school board pay a resigned superintendent through his contract end date without further services?
On the stated assumptions, the 1996 AG said paying salary and insurance to the superintendent after his effective resignation, with no further services or contractual severance right, would likely…
Could a South Carolina election commission reject a 1996 voter form that changed the citizenship oath?
The 1996 AG said a county commission should reject an application that struck the U.S. citizenship declaration, changed the statutory oath’s capitalization, or gave inaccurate answers. The…
Did South Carolina’s 1996 harmful-to-minors law treat a school showing an R-rated movie differently from a theater?
The 1996 AG said the harmful-to-minors prohibition could reach school officials as well as theaters, but schools had a statutory affirmative defense when carrying out a legitimate function. An R…
Did political subdivision investment limits displace a South Carolina nonprofit water company’s investment powers?
Assuming Little River Water & Sewerage Company was a political subdivision, the 1996 AG concluded that both the nonprofit corporation’s investment authority and the political subdivision investment…
Could a South Carolina school district excuse students for religious lessons held off campus under the 1996 law?
The 1996 AG concluded that districts could adopt reasonable policies allowing students to leave school for off-campus religious instruction. He found that the statutory school-day length did not bar…
Could a for-profit club open to the public claim South Carolina’s nonprofit-club alcohol license, and could a city set its hours?
Assuming the club operated for profit and sold memberships to the public, the 1996 AG said the limited-membership nonprofit provision did not apply. He also concluded that state law preempted…
Could South Carolina DHEC impose late fees on annual drinking-water system charges under its 1996 authority?
The 1996 AG found a likely gap in DHEC’s authority to assess late fees or penalties on annual drinking-water system charges. The cited funding statute directed where the base fees went, and the…
Could a 1996 South Carolina bill bar political-party donations and party-affiliation literature in school board races?
The 1996 AG considered both proposed bans constitutionally suspect. He thought an absolute ban on party contributions to school board candidates swept too broadly and that forbidding campaign…
Did South Carolina FOIA require a county assessor to create a custom property report and provide it on the requester’s chosen medium?
The 1996 AG said FOIA required access to existing nonexempt assessor records for inspection or copying, but did not require the county to extract selected data and create a new report. The county…
Browse South Carolina opinions by topic
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.