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Was the Colleton County Attorney a public office under South Carolina’s dual-office-holding rule?
The AG concluded the Colleton County Attorney position was not a public office for dual-office-holding purposes. The county ordinance made the relationship contractual and left the attorney serving…
In Tennessee, can a handgun carry permit holder carry a firearm into a public park athletic field while a school is using the field for sports practice or other activities?
No. The carry-permit exception in the public-parks statute is overridden by the school-property statute, which prohibits firearms on athletic fields or recreation areas being used by a school. The…
Is Tennessee's 'guns in parking lots' law for handgun-carry permit holders so vague that it can't be enforced?
No. The statute, read together with the related firearms statutes, gives ordinary people fair notice of what conduct is and is not prohibited.
Who counts as an 'unlawful user' of alcohol or drugs under Tennessee's handgun carry permit law, and how is that requirement enforced?
An 'unlawful user' means someone engaged in regular and repeated unlawful use during a period that reasonably covers the time the permit is sought. The applicant also must not have been in a…
Does Tennessee's statute capping intellectual/developmental disability residential facilities at four people, and requiring spacing between facilities, violate equal protection or fair housing law?
Probably not facially, because the state can articulate a rational deinstitutionalization purpose. But specific applications of the four-person cap and 500-yard spacing rule could face Fair Housing…
Would a Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District millage referendum bind the district board?
The AG concluded that a referendum under the statute it analyzed would be binding, not advisory. It recommended neutral ballot wording that stated the proposed millage increase and said the levy…
Can a Florida public agency pay an employee a bonus or extra compensation?
Only in limited ways. The AG advised that section 215.425 generally bars extra compensation for services already rendered, so a bonus to existing employees for past work is prohibited unless it was…
If an employee was 'forced to resign' before disciplinary action, can the public still get their employee-evaluation records under Arkansas FOIA?
Not automatically. Coerced resignation can in principle equal a constructive termination that opens the records to disclosure, but the custodian, not the AG, decides as a factual matter whether the…
Can a Tennessee probate court appoint a guardian for an undocumented immigrant minor?
Yes, if the minor (or the minor's parents or custodial parent) has established domicile in a Tennessee county. Immigration status alone does not bar an undocumented person from becoming a Tennessee…
Could South Carolina lawmakers repeal the savings clause protecting pending pollution-law actions?
The AG said the legislature could revisit and eliminate the savings clause in the earlier pollution-control act, assuming that was what the pending bill intended. It concluded that doing so in this…
Do Tennessee's residency rules for retail liquor licenses (two years of state residency, or ten years at any time) violate the dormant Commerce Clause?
Yes. The two-year and ten-year residency rules discriminate against out-of-state retailers and the legislature's stated interest in 'higher degree of oversight' for liquor sales does not justify the…
Can a Tennessee industrial loan and thrift company roll the upfront 'acquisition charge' into the principal when calculating loan charges under § 45-5-403(b)?
No. The statute's definition of principal incorporates only the subsection (a) loan charges, not the alternative subsection (b) charges added in 2000. Treating the acquisition charge as part of…
Can a Texas charter school board meet by video call, with members joining from out of state?
The AG answered several questions about how an open-enrollment charter school's governing board may meet under the Open Meetings Act. On in-person meetings, the AG could not say as a matter of law…
Could a South Carolina solicitor’s office form a nonprofit foundation for treatment-court participants?
The AG thought a court would likely permit a nonprofit foundation if creating it fell within the solicitor’s implied statutory authority and it complied with applicable charity, nonprofit and…
Does a hospital licensing inspector who finds out from a chart that a 14-year-old was pregnant have to report it as child abuse?
Only if the abuser is a parent or caretaker. The opinion concluded that a VDH licensing inspector who is a nurse and learns from a hospital chart that a 14-year-old received pregnancy-related…
Can an Arkansas city impose a flat monthly water-account charge dedicated to sewer maintenance by ordinance, or does it have to go to a vote of the people?
If the charge truly behaves like a fee (fair, reasonable, and tied to the service the payer receives), the city council can impose it by ordinance and it is not an illegal exaction. If it functions…
Did Robert Harrell’s indictment require suspension from the South Carolina House and speakership?
The AG concluded that the indictments triggered immediate mandatory suspension under the ethics statute. Suspension from House membership also suspended Harrell as Speaker, and the Speaker Pro Tem…
Must Jonesboro withhold complaint-investigation records about an employee who resigned without suspension or termination?
The AG reviewed five disputed documents and said they appeared to have been created by or for the employer during its investigation. He classified them as employee-evaluation records and said FOIA…
Can a New York town pass a local law authorizing its animal shelter to spay or neuter dogs and cats once the redemption period passes, even before a specific adoption is lined up?
Yes. AG Schneiderman's office concluded that the town has home-rule authority to pass such a law for both dogs and cats; for dogs, the area is reachable through the Agriculture & Markets Law's…
Would a Tennessee bill letting HOAs sue to ban repeat criminal offenders from a neighborhood survive constitutional challenge?
The AG concluded the bill was defensible against a facial constitutional challenge. It would likely survive non-delegation, rational-basis equal-protection, procedural due process, and…
Can the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (and its three commuter councils) raise its own funds, get IRS 501(c)(3) status, take public donations, or apply for grants from state agencies?
No to all three. AG Schneiderman concluded that PCAC and the LIRR, Metro-North, and NYCTA councils are statutory creatures with only the powers expressly granted (study, investigate, monitor,…
Can a New York industrial development agency (IDA) create a subsidiary corporation (often a § 1411 local development corporation) or hand out grants or loans from its own revenue to other public or private interests?
No, on both counts. AG Schneiderman concluded that IDAs are creatures of statute with only the powers expressly granted or necessarily implied; the IDA enabling statute (Article 18-A) does not…
Did New Jersey’s September 2014 sports-wagering directive remain effective after the Legislature repealed the Sports Wagering Act?
No. The official cover says the October 17, 2014 repeal of the Sports Wagering Act made Law Enforcement Directive 2014-1 and Formal Opinion 1-2014 moot and no longer effective. The document records…
Could a homeschooled student keep playing for Landrum High after moving to another attendance zone in the same district?
The AG thought the student could keep playing at Landrum if district choice rules permitted attendance there, eligibility requirements were met, and the required school approval was obtained. It…
Did South Carolina’s disaster price-gouging law set a fixed percentage cap on price increases?
No. The AG said the law prohibited unconscionable prices during a covered emergency, disaster or abnormal market disruption, rather than imposing a fixed percentage cap. The restriction lasted until…
Can the spouse of a Tennessee deputy sheriff legally write bail bonds in the same county?
Yes, but only if the spouses keep their finances strictly separate. If they commingle funds, share expenses, or jointly accumulate assets, the deputy sheriff is treated as receiving an indirect…
In Tennessee, what farm buildings escape county zoning, does a family garden count as a farm, and what happens to the adequate-facilities tax when a county can't require a building permit?
A building 'incidental to the agricultural enterprise' (including residences for farmers and farm workers after the 2014 amendment) is exempt from county zoning. The opinion cites two statutory…
Can a sheriff's office withhold internal-affairs interview records when the deputy was placed on paid administrative leave during the probe and then resigned before the investigation closed?
Yes, if the paid leave was routine (not disciplinary) and the resignation was voluntary. Without a suspension or termination, the records fail the threshold prong of Arkansas FOIA's…
Could the Pickens County school board open its public meetings with a rotating outside invocation speaker?
The AG said a school board could have opening invocations as a deliberative body and favored the rotating speaker method discussed in the statute. It stressed nondiscrimination, the ceremonial…
Does a New York land bank have to give buyers of residential property a Real Property Disclosure Statement, or is it exempt as a 'governmental entity'?
The Greater Syracuse Property Development Corporation (a land bank) was exempt from the disclosure-statement requirement because it qualified as a 'governmental entity' under Real Property Law §…
Can a person serve as both a battalion chief in a village fire department and as village mayor or village trustee in New York?
No. Village Law § 10-1012 bars one person from holding both an office of mayor or trustee and the office of village fire chief or assistant chief. The AG concluded that a battalion chief is the…
If a New York county's legislators serve staggered four-year terms (with elections every two years), how long is the county attorney appointed for?
Two years. AG Schneiderman's office concluded that the county attorney's term runs only as long as the term of the county legislature 'as a board.' After every regularly-scheduled election, the…
Can a New York county pass a local law requiring small residential landlords (fewer than six units) to put tenant security deposits in interest-bearing accounts, even though state law only requires that of larger landlords?
No. AG Schneiderman's office concluded that a county-level rule reaching small landlords would be inconsistent with the state Legislature's deliberate choice (in 1970) to draw the line at six units.…
Are city plastic bag bans legal in Texas?
The AG addressed whether Texas cities may ban single-use plastic bags or charge fees on replacement bags, in light of section 361.0961 of the Health and Safety Code (part of the Solid Waste Disposal…
Could an associate probate judge serve as executor for a family friend’s estate in her court?
The AG concluded that the restriction on probate judges also covered associate probate judges. A will naming the associate judge did not permit service for a family friend who was not a “family…
When a Tennessee state senate seat opens up after the primary but more than 45 days before the November general election, who picks the party nominee, and can a sitting House nominee jump to the open Senate race?
The party's county executive committee members representing the precincts in the Senate district nominate the candidate; the general election fills the seat. A House nominee can switch only by…
If a retired Arizona police officer works again in a PSPRS-designated state job, does receiving the PSPRS pension exempt them from ASRS membership?
No. A retired PSPRS member (Public Safety Personnel Retirement System) who returns to work for an employer participating in ASRS (Arizona State Retirement System) must join ASRS if they meet ASRS…
Can I get records about individual special-education students through a Delaware public records request?
Not when disclosure could still identify individual students, according to this opinion. The AG found that Individual Educational Plans and related documents for a small group of special-education…
Could South Carolina prosecutors disclose confidential tax returns required as evidence in a criminal case?
The AG said the tax confidentiality statute’s “otherwise provided by law” exception allowed disclosure of material tax evidence requested through a properly filed criminal Rule 5 or Brady motion.…
Do juvenile-court clerks collect the $350 Tennessee expunction fee, can records be expunged by agreed order with no petition or fee, and can a judge waive the fee?
Juvenile-court clerks collect the $350 fee when the statute requires it. Records can only be expunged without a petition in two narrow scenarios (acquittal-at-trial and § 38-3-109 bond release),…
Can one person serve as labor relations administrator for two different Maryland counties or agencies at the same time?
The opinion concluded that the Labor Relations Administrator positions for Montgomery County and for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission are each an 'office of profit' under Article 35 of…
Where did an intestate estate’s remaining money go when no heirs could be found in South Carolina?
The AG said the remaining estate funds passed toward the state under intestacy and escheat law, rather than being handled solely as unclaimed property. The state still had to bring an action to…
Could Chapin’s mayor alone put a change-of-government referendum on the November 2014 ballot?
No. The AG said the mayor’s letter was not lawful direction from Chapin’s town council, so the county election commission should not place that question on the November general-election ballot. The…
Can a West Virginia county ambulance authority delegate ambulance-allocation decisions to a subcommittee of its board, and can the squads use private companies to bill patients?
The AG concluded the answer was no on the subcommittee question and yes on the billing question. The Emergency Ambulance Service Act lodges management of an authority in the full board (each member…
Could an Arkansas custodian withhold a public employee's personnel records because the requester appeared to seek them for harassment?
The AG said no: the personnel-record privacy test was objective and did not let the custodian weigh this requester's identity or motive. He approved disclosure of the reviewed records with…
Could Beaufort County’s library board hire its chief librarian without the county administrator’s consent?
The AG said the Beaufort County Library Board could hire and supervise the chief librarian without the county administrator’s advice and consent. It also changed its earlier view and said board…
Under Virginia's 2014 Sunday hunting law, does the exception for landowner-permitted hunting apply when the land is owned by a corporation or LLC, and does it cover public land?
The word 'landowner' in the 2014 Sunday hunting exception (Chapter 482 of the 2014 Acts of Assembly, amending § 29.1-521) is not limited to natural persons. It includes corporations, LLCs, and other…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the popular name and ballot title for the 'Cultivate Hemp and Regulate Marijuana Amendment'?
The proposal had multiple internal ambiguities and misleading tendencies, including imperative-mood phrasing in the popular name, contradictory regulatory-authority language in the text, and silence…
Did Maryland's 1970 school staffing integration rule require racial hiring quotas, and was it still valid?
The Attorney General concluded in 2014 that Maryland's Integration Rule did not require racial quotas or preferences in individual school employment decisions. It remained valid when read as an…
Could Little Rock withhold seven internal-investigation records when the employee investigated was not suspended or terminated?
Based on the custodian's descriptions, the AG said withholding seven specified records was consistent with FOIA. He treated them as employee-evaluation records created by or for the city to evaluate…
Can a Florida town control traffic on a highway just outside its town limits?
No. The AG advised that under section 316.006(2), a municipality's traffic-control jurisdiction reaches only streets and highways within its boundaries (state roads aside). A town has no authority…
Does a Florida property appraiser have to keep a protected officer's home address confidential even if that officer does not own the property?
The AG advised yes on both points. The home-address exemption in section 119.071(4)(d) protects listed officials (law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, code officers, and others) regardless of…
Could a South Carolina voter with a felony conviction register after completing parole while still subject to lifetime electronic monitoring?
The AG concluded that lifetime electronic monitoring was a civil requirement, not part of a criminal sentence under South Carolina's voting-disqualification statute. A person who had completed the…
Could one person serve on both South Carolina’s technical education board and Horry County’s solid waste board?
The AG advised against serving on both boards at once. It thought the Horry County Solid Waste Authority seat was a public office, making simultaneous service with the state technical education…
Does ending deferred adjudication early remove the duty to register as a sex offender in Texas?
The AG concluded that getting deferred adjudication community supervision terminated early does not free a person from the duty to register as a sex offender under chapter 62 of the Code of Criminal…
Did Arkansas's 2014 ballot push to legalize medical marijuana clear the AG's ballot-title gatekeeper?
Yes, for the popular name (certified as submitted); the AG substituted a refined ballot title and certified that. The measure cleared this stage with a cautionary note about ballot-title litigation…
Can a Tennessee special school district lower its property tax rate below what the private act says, and can the legislature delegate rate-setting flexibility to the district?
No on both counts. A special school district has no authority to vary from the rate set in its private act, except for State Board of Equalization adjustments after a reappraisal under § 67-5-1704.…
Can married parents in Tennessee give their child a 'mashed-up' surname combining parts of each parent's last name on the birth certificate?
No. The statute lets married parents use the father's surname, the mother's surname or maiden name, or those names combined (typically hyphenated), but does not permit a hybrid like 'Johnister'…
Could a Kentucky housing discrimination complainant sue after the human rights commission found no probable cause?
The Kentucky AG concluded in 2014 that a no-probable-cause finding by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights did not bar an independent housing discrimination lawsuit in state or federal court.
Can a Texas county use tax increment financing to fund energy-area road projects?
The AG warned that the way a county energy transportation reinvestment zone (CETRZ) is funded may be unconstitutional. CETRZs, created under 2013's Senate Bill 1747 (section 222.1071 of the…
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