State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No opinions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Could the Houma-Terrebonne Airport Commission use a design-build contract for a capital improvement?
No, on the stated understanding that the commission lacked special statutory authority. The AG said a public entity needed specific legal authorization to use design-build for public works and…
Could St. Charles Parish pay for dumpsters used by owners to clean up blighted property?
The AG said the parish could provide dumpsters through its blighted-property procedure, but it had to recover all related costs from the private landowner. The opinion identified an ordinance lien…
Did Louisiana's Public Bid Law require a port security council to bid legal and accounting services?
No under Louisiana law as the AG described it. The opinion said the Public Bid Law governed public works and material purchases, not contracts for services, but cautioned that federal grant…
Who legally controls how Delaware invests its state cash, the elected State Treasurer or the Cash Management Policy Board?
The Cash Management Policy Board, not the State Treasurer. The AG concluded that Delaware's constitution gives the Treasurer no inherent investment power, only the receipt, care, and disbursement of…
Can a nonprofit like the ACLU get an inmate's records under FOIA when the inmate himself would be barred from requesting them?
Yes, in this case. The AG found that DOC had to release Alco-Sensor calibration and maintenance records to the ACLU of Delaware because the group was pursuing its own public-interest investigation,…
May a Tennessee city subject to the Municipal Purchasing Law favor local businesses in contract bidding?
No. For a municipality subject to the Municipal Purchasing Law of 1983, a local-business preference conflicts with its competitive-bidding requirement, so the municipality lacks authority to adopt…
Could Jefferson Parish's council privately discuss hospital district marketing plans?
Yes, for discussion and development of market strategies and strategic plans as defined by the hospital competition statute. The AG treated the council, when acting as governing authority of the…
Could Slidell extend one garbage collection and disposal contract to 25 years?
Only the disposal portion could reach a total term of 25 years. The AG said collection and transportation services were limited to 10 years, even when all three services were covered by one…
Can a local housing authority operate in another Louisiana municipality or parish without its agreement?
No. The AG concluded that a local housing authority could operate beyond its statutory area only when the affected municipality or parish agreed to allow it.
Could South Mansfield let private groups use its public community center for short events?
Yes. The AG said the village could allow short events such as banquets and luncheons at its community center if it received value or a benefit commensurate with the use. It advised a fee schedule…
Does renaming police captains to 'assistant chiefs' change how many a Texas city can appoint?
No. The cap follows the 1983 headcount, not the title. Representative Tracy King asked how many officers a police department head may appoint to the rank just below chief under Local Government Code…
Can Houston METRO use job order contracting for civil works like roads and water projects?
Only for building work, not civil works. Representative Bill Callegari asked whether the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) could use 'job order contracting,' a streamlined…
Are Texas landowners liable for police actions on their land or for livestock that escape due to outside interference?
The Attorney General declined to answer. Representative Ryan Guillen asked whether existing law shields landowners, lessees, and occupants of agricultural land from liability in two situations: law…
Could someone build and display a working water-distillation unit in South Carolina without alcohol-still restrictions?
The Attorney General did not grant permission or decide the requester’s liability. In 2013 it reaffirmed an earlier opinion that state and federal restrictions could apply to equipment capable of…
Can a Florida county ban mobile homes from a residential zone that allows conventional and manufactured homes?
Responding informally, the AG advised that a county may exclude mobile homes from a zoning classification for conventionally constructed homes, because mobile homes (defined in section 320.01(2)(a))…
Can a Texas state employee run for and hold an elected county office while keeping both salaries?
Generally yes, with one federal caveat. The Attorney General concluded that no Texas statute prohibits a state employee from running for an elected county office, and that Article 16, Section 40(b)…
Do university psychology staff need a specific job title to be exempt from the Texas Psychologists' Licensing Act?
The Attorney General answered two questions from the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. First, a university does not have to use the official title 'psychologist' or 'psychological…
Does a part-time or seasonal employee still count under the Texas nepotism continuous-employment exception?
Brazoria County's district attorney asked whether an at-will employee who works consistently but only periodically can use the continuous-employment exception to the Texas nepotism law, Government…
Could a Louisiana hospital service district pay into a parish economic-development committee?
No for the proposed Vermilion Parish agreement. The AG said promoting general parish economic development did not match the hospital district's statutory purpose, so the district could not…
Could a propane supplier face charges for removing a competitor's tank and leaving it by the road?
The Attorney General said prosecution under Maryland's LPG Container Law would be problematic when the supplier left the competitor's tank on the customer's property, but could be possible if the…
Could Maryland extend State collective bargaining coverage to University of Maryland Medical Center employees?
The Attorney General concluded that University of Maryland Medical Center employees were outside the National Labor Relations Act and were not then listed under Maryland's State collective…
Can Delaware's prison system keep the identity of its lethal injection drug supplier secret under public records law?
No. The AG reaffirmed its prior ruling that DOC could not use a trade-secret exemption, a state confidentiality statute, its execution protocol, or a state-secret privilege to withhold records about…
Can the Tennessee Board of Regents or the University of Memphis enter a complex deal where a private nonprofit finances and builds a student housing facility on land next to campus, with the university as a member of the nonprofit?
No. Neither TBR nor the University of Memphis has statutory authority to enter this Student Housing Affiliation Agreement. State agencies can only do what the legislature has authorized, and nothing…
Did extending and partly rededicating Lafourche Parish's library tax require a two-thirds council vote?
No. The AG said extending the 3.80-mill tax's duration did not increase its rate, so the charter's two-thirds vote rule for tax increases did not apply to the election ordinance. The proposed…
Did Mansfield's proposed legislative charter amendment pass the Louisiana AG's legal review?
Yes. The AG found the amended and restated Mansfield legislative charter consistent with state and federal law under La. R.S. 33:1181. The opinion reported three weeks of publication and council…
Could Hammond discipline an officer for refusing questions in an investigation that violated Louisiana's officer-rights law?
No, if the underlying administrative investigation failed the minimum standards in La. R.S. 40:2531. The AG said the department's cooperation rule could support discipline only when the…
Could a Louisiana city use volunteer prisoner labor at schools and let churches use city facilities free?
The AG said qualifying school property could receive prisoner labor if the prisoners volunteered and statutory conditions were met. It rejected free city-facility use for churches and other…
Can the spouse of a charter school employee sit on the school's governing board in Florida?
The AG concluded that section 1002.33(26)(c) applies to all charter schools, including municipal ones, because the statute has no limiting language. The office also concluded the prohibition is…
Could a reporter obtain the 2013 calls from the Vice President's Delaware home that concerned a possible medical emergency?
No, for these two recordings. The AG upheld New Castle County's refusal because the calls implicated an individual's constitutional and common-law privacy interests in personal health information.…
Is Tennessee's 1949 private act creating the DeKalb County Democratic Party Executive Committee still enforceable today?
No. The private act unconstitutionally restricts the Democratic Party's First Amendment associational rights. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a political party gets to set its own internal…
Could a Louisiana water district refund years of minimum charges on meters a customer said she asked to turn off?
Only if the district found a record of the customer's shutoff request and its own failure to act was the sole fault behind the charges. Without that finding, the AG said refunding the payments would…
Could a Louisiana school require written parent notice before giving emergency epinephrine to a student?
No. The AG said a school nurse or trained employee could administer auto-injectable epinephrine when they professionally believed in good faith that a student was having an anaphylactic reaction,…
Could a Louisiana fire district pay prorated vacation leave when a firefighter left midyear?
The AG concluded that St. Landry Fire District No. 3 could adopt a policy paying prorated vacation for the portion of a later year worked before separation. It could not award prorated leave during…
Could a Louisiana justice-of-the-peace constable use a locksmith to execute the court’s writ?
The AG concluded that a justice-of-the-peace constable could not use a locksmith to enter a locked building while executing that court’s writ. A narrow exception could apply when the sheriff…
Can a sheriff's office release internal investigation records that led to officer firings and forced resignations under Arkansas's FOIA?
Partly resolved, based on this opinion. The Washington County Sheriff's internal investigation records properly counted as 'employee evaluation or job performance records,' and releasing the…
Why did Arkansas's Attorney General reject a proposed ballot measure to repeal all state cannabis laws?
The Attorney General rejected the proposed measure, based on this opinion, because its text described what repealing cannabis laws 'would' do rather than actually enacting a repeal, and because its…
Could South Carolina counties keep traffic fines by charging local ordinance violations instead of state traffic offenses?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that conflicting local traffic ordinances and nonuniform traffic summonses were unlawful, while required assessments and surcharges still had to be remitted.…
Could a South Carolina school district issue its own diploma to a student who did not meet state graduation requirements?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that a district could not create or issue a separate high school diploma for students who fell short of the state requirements. It read state law as requiring…
Did York Technical College have to notify instructors about students’ convictions under South Carolina’s school crime report law?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that the school crime report statute did not require York Technical College to notify instructors or add the listed convictions to student records. The college…
Could a former Francis Marion University trustee claim a newly reorganized board seat without being elected to it?
On the facts presented, the Attorney General concluded in 2013 that the former trustee had no legal claim to the new at-large Seat Nine or any other board seat. The holdover provision did not carry…
Could South Carolina cities set their own speeding fines or use local ordinance summonses for traffic offenses?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that local speeding ordinances conflicted with statewide traffic law and that even a valid local traffic rule had to be enforced with a uniform traffic ticket.…
If two Virginia No Through Truck routes share an endpoint, can a trucker use one as a shortcut just because he lives on the other?
No. Even though VDOT had referred internally to two contiguous No Through Truck routes (one in Hanover, one in New Kent) as 'one continuous truck restriction,' they were legally separate…
What can a Washington junior taxing district like a park district actually spend its 'tier one' timber excise tax revenues on?
Only debt service and capital project payments tied to the specific RCW 84.52.056 voter-approved bonds (or RCW 84.52.053 school capital levies) that qualified the district as tier one. Once those…
Can the head of Arkansas's environmental agency single-handedly freeze or halt animal feeding operation permit applications?
No, based on this opinion. Only the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, a separate rulemaking body, has statutory authority to declare a moratorium on or suspend the processing of a…
Who prosecutes misdemeanors, traffic tickets, and city ordinance violations in an Arkansas city, the prosecuting attorney or the city attorney?
The city attorney bears the default responsibility, based on this opinion. A prosecuting attorney may choose to take on misdemeanor violations of state law that occur within a city's limits, but…
Does an Arkansas improvement district keep its property-tax exemption on lots that owners just signed over by quitclaim deed instead of losing them to foreclosure?
It's genuinely unsettled, according to this opinion. Arkansas courts have held that improvement district property obtained through court-ordered foreclosure for unpaid assessments is tax-exempt…
Could Evangeline Parish license cockfighting when applicants claimed their chickens were a different species?
No. The AG said the applicants' domestic chickens fell within the Gallus gallus classification used in Louisiana's cockfighting prohibition. Evangeline Parish could not issue a local license…
Could Charleston County tax an airplane owned by an out-of-state company if it spent much of the year at a county airport?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that a business aircraft with a South Carolina tax situs could be subject to the county’s personal property tax. It did not decide whether this plane had that…
Can a Tennessee county commissioner vote on the school budget if they (or their company, or their charter school application) have a financial connection to the school system?
If the commissioner is a school employee whose job predates the election, they can vote after disclosing the conflict. If the job came after the election, they can't vote at all. If the…
Did South Carolina’s 2013 ballot law require parties that used conventions to hold a primary first?
The Attorney General concluded that the 2013 amendment did not require existing convention-nominating parties to switch to a primary. It addressed the procedure for a party already using primaries…
Could Charleston County tax a business airplane based at a local airport even though an out-of-state LLC owned it?
The Attorney General concluded in 2013 that an out-of-state owner did not prevent taxation of a business aircraft with a South Carolina tax situs. It viewed the stated airport lease and home-base…
Can a West Virginia county ambulance authority sue in magistrate court to collect unpaid emergency ambulance fees?
No, not for the special county-wide fees imposed under W. Va. Code § 7-15-17. The AG concluded that those fees are levied and collected by the county commission, not the ambulance authority. The…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General rewrite, rather than reject, the ballot title for a 2013 initiative to repeal the state's marriage amendment?
The Attorney General certified a revised popular name and ballot title, based on this opinion, for a proposed constitutional amendment that would have repealed Arkansas's Amendment 83 (the state's…
Could New Orleans choose a civil service commissioner after Loyola submitted its third nominee late?
Yes. The AG said the council could consider the two timely names and a third name received after the university's deadline but before the council's decision. With all three names in hand before its…
Could a Louisiana tax hearing notice appear beside newspaper court news?
Yes, on the facts supplied. The AG said the hearing notice was outside the paper's classified and public-notice sections, even though the page contained editorial court-news coverage.
After Miller v. Alabama and Wyoming's 2013 fix, when does an inmate sentenced to life for a crime committed before age 18 become eligible for parole, and does it matter what the law said when the crime was committed?
Attorney General Peter Michael answered four questions: (1) The 2013 amendments apply to all qualifying juvenile offenders regardless of when their crime was committed, because the statutes are…
Are Tennessee Ethics Commission lobbyist audit files always confidential, and when can the Commission release them in administrative hearings?
The Commission must keep random and investigatory audit information confidential, subject to the opinion's exceptions. It may disclose information directly related to an issue in a proceeding…
If a Tennessee county passes a bond resolution, citizens petition against it, and then the county takes the bond resolution back, does the county still have to hold the bond election?
No. Once the county commission rescinds the initial bond resolution, there is no longer any proposition for voters to approve or reject. Tennessee law does not authorize advisory or non-binding…
How does Tennessee's expunction statute for pre-1989 nonviolent offenses actually work? Which offenses qualify, and can someone with more than one conviction apply?
The 2012 expunction statute for pre-1989 nonviolent offenders is fact-specific: trial courts decide case-by-case whether a particular offense involved a substantial risk of physical force. Sentence…
If a citation for a state crime tells the defendant to appear in a Tennessee municipal court, can the city prosecutor or city attorney handle the case, or does only the district attorney general have authority?
The district attorney general remains the only person with authority to prosecute a Tennessee state criminal offense in municipal court. A citation directing the defendant to that court does not…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand state law: AG opinions are authoritative interpretations of how state law applies.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court decisions, but they carry significant weight.
- Government guidance: Often clarify how state agencies and officials should interpret statutes.
- Legal research: Cite AG opinions in letters, motions, and legal arguments.
Browse opinions by state
Two states are not listed and are not pending: New Hampshire publishes its opinions on a page that automated retrieval cannot read, and Rhode Island publishes no complete full-text archive at all. We will add them if that changes.