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 South Carolina’s corporate credit union merge into an out-of-state union and retain its state role in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the merged out-of-state entity could not continue as South Carolina’s single corporate credit union under the cited statute without legislative authorization. It separately…
Could South Carolina deputies enforce littering laws in a posted private shopping-center lot in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said deputies had authority to enforce littering and other generally applicable crimes on private property whether or not the lot was posted. Posting under the parking-lot statute…
Could Berkeley County voters use an initiative to repeal a water and wastewater ordinance in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the proposed repeal could not use the county initiative provision. The separate referendum procedure for repealing ordinances applied only to specified debt ordinances, not…
Did occasional three-hour church child-care volunteers need fingerprint checks under South Carolina’s 1995 act?
The 1995 AG letter said volunteers in the particular “Mothers Morning Out” program described did not need those checks. The occasional, roughly three-hour program did not meet the cited day-care…
Could Florence send municipal criminal cases to a county magistrate court in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said municipal cases appeared eligible for magistrate-court handling through an agreed arrangement meeting the cited statutes, including county approval and a contract. The city…
Could police charge someone found with a stolen car when nobody saw the theft in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter declined to decide whether the particular evidence supported a charge or extradition. It said the circuit solicitor had discretion to weigh the evidence and likelihood of…
Could a South Carolina jail spend canteen and telephone proceeds on individual inmates or a staff party in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter repeated earlier guidance that jail canteen profits appeared to be public funds: they should not benefit individual inmates, could probably support the inmate population as a…
Could a South Carolina hospital waive patient copayments while billing an insurer in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said a disclosed waiver probably did not violate state law if the insurer was billed for the hospital’s true charge. It warned that waiving the patient share while representing a…
Could a South Carolina county council set term limits for its members under the law reviewed in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter reaffirmed an earlier opinion that county councils lacked authority to impose their own member term limits; it said that authority rested with the General Assembly. The author…
Did closing South Carolina’s Cemetery Board repeal every cemetery law in 1995?
No. The 1995 AG letter said only laws governing or dealing with the terminated board were deemed repealed after windup. It reviewed Chapter 55 provision by provision, finding some rules still…
Could a South Carolina city require every resident and business to use its trash service in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter did not decide whether Laurens could exclude private haulers. It found competing legal approaches, insufficient South Carolina court guidance, and no draft ordinance to assess;…
Did a Newberry County patrol commander count as a public officer for dual-office rules in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the commissioned Commander Uniform Patrol would most probably count as an officer for dual-office-holding purposes. The role involved sovereign police powers such as crime…
Could a South Carolina beer wholesaler supply a retailer with a cooler used only for soft drinks in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said no under the statute as it then stood. A beer wholesaler could not furnish prohibited equipment to a retailer merely by acting in its soft-drink capacity or restricting the…
Did South Carolina’s civil protection-order filing fee threaten federal domestic-violence grant eligibility in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said no. It read the federal grant condition as barring costs imposed on victims in criminal domestic-violence proceedings, while the state’s family-court protection-order…
Could five voters file a bond-referendum notice against a South Carolina school district bond issue in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter declined to decide the pending Newberry litigation but said the five-elector notice provision most probably applied to county and municipal bonds, not school-district bonds. It…
Could Chester County replace its 1945 forfeited-land commission law by county ordinance in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said yes. The local act remained in effect until county action, but home-rule authority allowed Chester County Council to modify it by ordinance and follow the general…
Could a South Carolina city Democratic club give leftover primary funds to the county party in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the contribution would be permissible if club or party rules did not forbid it and the club determined that it furthered legitimate party aims. The letter assumed the money…
Could an out-of-state trust company serve as trustee of a South Carolina living trust in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said foreign corporate status alone did not make a trust company ineligible to serve as trustee of an inter vivos trust. A company conducting trust business in South Carolina…
Could a Greenville water commissioner also serve as Donaldson Development Commission executive director in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said yes under the described facts. The water commissioner held a public office, but the at-will executive-director role was employment without sovereign powers, so the…
Could a South Carolina doctor charge to send records when a patient switched doctors in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the no-fee rule was not limited to physician referrals: provider requests and patient requests to send records for continuing care were covered. Whether a particular…
Did South Carolina Highway Patrol have to investigate a crash caused during a police chase without a police-car impact in 1995?
The 1995 AG letter said the patrol-investigation statute applied to the described chase and crash even though the pursuing police car never struck anything. It interpreted “involved” to include an…
Could South Carolina reserve deputies patrol alone with radio contact after the 1995 amendment?
The 1995 informal opinion said no. It read the amended law to require a reserve officer to be physically with a full-time certified South Carolina police officer while performing reserve duties;…
Could a South Carolina deputy sheriff also serve on city council, or a reserve officer on county council, in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said simultaneous deputy-sheriff and city-council service would probably violate the dual-office rule, as would county-council and reserve-officer service. Taking a second…
How long could a South Carolina jail hold someone arrested without a warrant or charge in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion described prompt presentation before a magistrate and a prompt judicial probable-cause determination after a warrantless arrest. The federal 48-hour benchmark was a general…
Could a South Carolina magistrate change or enforce bond conditions before indictment in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the magistrate who set bond could alter or enforce its conditions in a General Sessions case until indictment, absent an appeal. After indictment, the cited circuit…
Did a federal carjacking acquittal bar South Carolina kidnapping and murder charges in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said a federal acquittal generally would not bar South Carolina prosecution arising from the same facts, because the federal and state governments were separate sovereigns.…
Could one South Carolina landowner count multiple times on a municipal annexation petition in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said no: a freeholder who owned several tracts in the proposed annexation area counted once in the freeholder-signature calculation. The owner’s multiple parcels could…
Did a county council budget meeting require public notice, and could a council member fill a citizen seat in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the described budget-information meetings appeared subject to Freedom of Information Act notice even without a vote. It also raised an unresolved self-appointment…
Could trained emergency personnel draw DUI blood in an ambulance under South Carolina law in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the statute’s licensed-medical-facility phrase described the training of certain medical personnel, not the location of every blood draw. It concluded a properly…
Could a South Carolina deputy coroner also sit on county council in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said simultaneous service as deputy coroner and county council member would most probably violate the state constitutional dual-office rule. Taking the second office would…
Was there judicial review of a denied South Carolina concealed weapon permit after the 1994 repeal?
The 1995 informal opinion said repeal of the statutory appeal provision appeared to eliminate judicial review of a SLED permit denial, with no common-law certiorari route restored. The author…
Could a South Carolina municipal officer transport a mental-health patient outside town limits in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said specific commitment statutes could authorize municipal officers to act beyond ordinary territorial limits, usually under a probate order or a proper mental-health…
What happened if a South Carolina magistrate failed certification in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said failure to meet the applicable magistrate training or examination requirements declared the office vacant under the statute. It described notice to the magistrate and…
Who paid to take a body from a South Carolina death scene to an autopsy in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion concluded that the county bore the cost of transporting a body from the death scene to a medical facility for a coroner-ordered autopsy or examination. It left the county’s…
Could a South Carolina savings and loan association convert directly into a state bank in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said a court would likely uphold the banking board’s reading that state law did not authorize a direct conversion. Existing provisions expressly covered other conversions,…
Did Greenville Arena district bonds and procedures violate South Carolina law in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion rejected the claimed illegality based solely on district boundaries, found the supplied bond-hearing notice appeared compliant, and said pledging district taxing power was…
Should a South Carolina nonprofit director vote to hire their spouse as executive director in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion advised the nonprofit board member to recuse and abstain from the executive-director selection when her husband was a candidate. It relied on a South Carolina…
Could a South Carolina sheriff dispose of confiscated guns without a conviction in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said amended pistol-forfeiture provisions might no longer require a conviction, but only a court could settle that interpretation. With ownership and seizure facts unclear,…
Could someone living outside Clarendon County sit on its hospital district board in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said no: the local act required hospital district trustees to be county residents. Eligibility turned on residence sufficient to qualify as a Clarendon County elector, with…
How could a South Carolina volunteer rescue squad dissolve and distribute assets in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion outlined nonprofit-corporation dissolution statutes but said the exact procedure and asset distribution depended on the squad’s members, governing documents, public-benefit…
Could a South Carolina town council member serve as unpaid police chief in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said no. Simultaneous service on Springfield Town Council and as its police chief violated both the state dual-office prohibition and the statute barring council members…
Could a South Carolina House committee meet with less than 24 hours notice during the 1995 session?
The 1995 informal opinion said the committee could satisfy the Freedom of Information Act and House rule by posting notice as it customarily did during a regular-session week. The House rule called…
Did a South Carolina clerk of court have to use county purchasing rules for child-support funds in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said Lexington County’s purchasing procedures should govern the clerk’s contracted child-support funds, but those procedures could not deny the clerk’s exclusive use of…
Could South Carolina’s higher-education commission share student enrollment and research data in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the commission appeared able to tell a receiving institution about a student’s prior enrollment under the federal school-transfer exception, subject to its conditions.…
How much election notice did a South Carolina municipality have to give in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said a municipal election required one public notice at least sixty days before the vote under the municipal statute. A 1992 amendment had excluded municipal elections from…
Did South Carolina medical schools need cremation permits for donated bodies in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said whole bodies held by medical schools still needed a coroner or medical examiner permit and the statutory cremation documents, even if death occurred years earlier. It…
Could South Carolina school districts use public resources to campaign against a state education bill in 1995?
The 1995 informal letter said the answer depended on whether the activities educated the public or advocated an outcome; public spending required a public purpose. It found no general state…
Could South Carolina school districts use public resources to campaign against a state education bill in 1995?
The 1995 informal letter said the answer depended on whether the activities educated the public or advocated an outcome; public spending required a public purpose. It found no general state…
Could a South Carolina foster care review board member also hear property assessment appeals in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said yes. It treated the local foster care review board as advisory and therefore not an office for dual-office purposes, while treating the assessment appeals board seat…
Could a Croft Fire District commissioner rewrite the fire chief’s proposed budget in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion found no answer in the district’s enabling act: it assigned no budget-preparation duty to the fire chief. The author treated the chief’s role in budget preparation as a…
Could a South Carolina legislator work as a private county economic-development director in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the described interim director role at a privately formed nonprofit did not appear to be a public office, so concurrent House service did not violate the cited…
Why could South Carolina police officers not also serve on town or school boards in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion explained that police officers held public offices for dual-office purposes, while boards and councils could be second offices. Firefighters and constables had express…
Could Kiawah Island appoint private guards to issue beach ordinance summonses in 1995?
The 1995 opinion said the town could appoint association security guards as municipal code enforcement officers for the beach area, with duties limited to ordinance summonses and no custodial…
Could a South Carolina town reroute a drainage ditch across private land for a council member in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion did not decide the proposed Hampton ditch relocation. It said municipal resources used on private property generally raised a public-purpose restriction, and town council…
Could a majority corporate owner draw South Carolina unemployment benefits when the business lost money in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion did not decide eligibility or the company’s contribution formula. It said those questions required facts about actual unemployment, business status, work availability and…
Could a South Carolina college commission limit public speaking at its meetings in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said the Freedom of Information Act did not itself prescribe an agenda or public-participation procedure. Whether Denmark Technical College’s policy was reasonable,…
Could county council members also serve as the county transportation committee in 1995?
The 1995 informal opinion said such dual service would most probably violate South Carolina’s dual-office prohibition. It relied on earlier opinions treating both county council and county…
Who served on Florence City Council while a 1995 election contest was on appeal?
The 1995 informal opinion said the incumbent council members held over, could vote, and the apparent winners should not be sworn in until the election contest was finally determined. Participation…
Was the 1995 South Carolina judicial pension cutoff on a survivor’s remarriage constitutional?
The 1995 informal opinion predicted courts would uphold the rule ending a judge’s or solicitor’s survivor pension on remarriage. It reasoned that the condition did not substantially interfere with…
Could a South Carolina register charge for returning unrecordable documents or modem access to records in 1995?
The 1995 opinion said a county ordinance could authorize a postage charge for returning an unrecordable document, and supplies might also be chargeable. It found no support for charging staff time…
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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.