State AG Opinions
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Can a Virginia county fund volunteer fire and rescue squads that aren't IRS nonprofits, where does a treasurer have to keep records, and can a county attorney release delinquent tax data under FOIA?
Yes to local funding under § 27-23.1, whether or not the company is a 501(c)(3) and whether or not members are paid. Treasurer records stay in the treasurer's building, retained per Library of…
If a Virginia locality passes an ordinance requiring smoke detectors in buildings with dwelling units, do existing buildings have to be retrofitted with them?
No. A local smoke detector ordinance under § 15.2-922 does not retroactively require retrofits of existing buildings. When detectors are installed in the future, the install has to follow the…
Does Tennessee annexation by ordinance violate property owners' constitutional rights when they don't get to vote on being absorbed by the city?
No. Absent invidious discrimination or violation of the one person, one vote principle, annexation by ordinance under Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-51-102 is constitutional. Neither the U.S. nor the Tennessee…
Could a quo warranto suit challenge a retired judge's assignment after the Chief Justice ended it?
The Attorney General said quo warranto could test a retired judge's authority to sit on assignment, but the Chief Justice had already ended this judge's assignment, making that issue moot.…
Did Arcadia owe the school board a tax-collection commission on vehicle taxes collected by the state?
The AG concluded that the Bienville Parish School Board could not claim a tax-collection commission on Arcadia vehicle taxes actually collected by the state Department of Public Safety. The board…
What can a Florida county spend inmate welfare fund money on, and is that money public funds?
The AG offered only informal comments. Section 951.23(9) says jail commissary profits go to the inmate welfare fund and must be used for 'overall inmate welfare,' with the officer in charge of the…
Could a South Carolina school district use the state elementary-nurse grant to hire a pediatrician instead of a licensed nurse?
The AG said the grant funds were restricted to licensed nurses and could not pay a pediatrician hired for the nursing slot. It said the district could use other available funds to employ a licensed…
Why did Arkansas reject the ballot title for the proposed Marriage Equality Amendment?
The AG rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title because the amendment was unclear about the right it created, its effect on existing marriage law, who it bound, and the scope of its…
If a California mobilehome park bans homeowners from renting their homes, must the park owner follow the ban too?
Generally yes. The Attorney General read the Mobilehome Residency Law to require park owners to obey their park's no-rental rules just as residents do. It left open a possible exception for renting…
Can a JROTC instructor or guidance counselor at an Arizona public school be paid from the Classroom Site Fund's performance-pay set-aside?
The AG concluded that a qualifying teaching certificate is necessary but insufficient for Classroom Site Fund performance pay under A.R.S. § 15-977. The employee must also be employed to instruct…
Was Arizona's House Bill 2178 (forgiving property taxes for landowners along the Colorado River) constitutional, or did it improperly favor a small group of property owners?
H.B. 2178 is an unconstitutional special law. Forgiving 1987-2009 property taxes only for Mohave County landowners in the Disputed Triangle (sued by the federal government for the Fort Mojave Tribe)…
Could Jonesboro release police suspension and firing records if a court order might cover them?
The AG could not decide because the police department had not identified the records it planned to release or supplied the claimed court order. The opinion said documents sealed by court order were exempt.
Could Arkansas release Workforce Services employees' names and work locations under the FOIA?
Yes. The Arkansas AG concluded that releasing Workforce Services employees' names and work locations was consistent with the FOIA.
Why did Arkansas reject the ballot title for the proposed Medical Marijuana Act?
The AG rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title because the measure was unclear about patient cultivation and contained directly conflicting rules on transfers between dispensaries.
Can Tennessee bar Metro Nashville's Fair Board from using the trademark 'Tennessee State Fair' even though the Board registered it first?
Yes. The Tennessee State Fair and Exposition Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-57-106, restricts use of 'Tennessee State Fair' to entities authorized by the Department of Agriculture and the Commission. A…
Can the City of Cleveland require Bradley County property owners to get a city plumbing permit just to hook up to city-owned sewer, even when the county now issues its own plumbing permits?
Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-120-101 doesn't bar the City of Cleveland from requiring an additional plumbing permit from property owners outside its limits as a condition of connecting to Cleveland…
Is machinery used at a cattle feedlot exempt from property tax in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely uphold the Comptroller's reasonable interpretation that cattle feedlots produce farm or ranch products under Tax Code section 11.161. Whether…
Can a Texas county take money from private companies to fix specific roads?
Waller County's district attorney asked whether a county that runs its roads under the County Road Department System (subchapter D of Transportation Code chapter 252) can accept money from private…
Can a Texas county charge oil companies a permit fee for new driveways onto county roads?
Howard County asked whether its commissioners court could make oil and gas operators get a permit, and pay a fee, before building a new access point connecting a private road to a county road, to…
Can Colorado district attorneys claim a priority cut of casino tax money to cover the cost of prosecuting gaming-related crimes, before the constitutional split goes to host counties and the state?
No. The AG concluded that off-the-top Limited Gaming Fund payments under Article XVIII, Section 9(5)(b)(I) are reserved for state agencies that 'administer' Section 9 itself. District attorneys…
Could South Carolina’s Forestry Commission contact program members about free enrollment with a forest foundation without unlawful commercial solicitation?
The AG predicted initial contact with existing Forest Stewardship Program members about free enrollment could fall within the Commission’s statutory mission rather than prohibited commercial…
Could the two Spartanburg applicants, a sheriff’s code enforcement officer and a state trooper, also serve as fire district commissioners?
The Attorney General concluded that either applicant would violate South Carolina's dual office holding prohibition by also serving as a special purpose fire district commissioner. The opinion…
Can the Virginia Port Authority hire a paid lobbyist to represent its interests in Washington, D.C.?
Yes. Va. Code § 2.2-434 prohibits state officers, boards, institutions, and agencies from employing compensated 'lobbyists.' But the defined terms in Va. Code § 2.2-419 limit 'lobbyist,' 'lobbying,'…
Can a Virginia county pay for school resource officers in private schools, including religious schools, alongside its public schools?
Yes. A county board of supervisors has broad police powers under Va. Code § 15.2-1200 to promote the safety of all county inhabitants, including children attending private schools. The county can…
Do Virginia Office of State Inspector General investigators have arrest powers and the authority to execute criminal process?
Yes, but only on a designated basis. Under § 2.2-311(A), the State Inspector General may designate himself plus up to 30 members of the OSIG investigations unit to have the same powers as a sheriff…
Does Virginia's State Inspector General have to take over every function from predecessor IG offices, and does its reach include non-executive branch state bodies?
No, and no. The 2011 enabling legislation lets dual reporting continue at agencies that already had internal audit programs; OSIG didn't have to absorb everything. Its jurisdiction reaches executive…
Does Fauquier County's zoning ordinance for farm wineries go beyond what Virginia law lets a county regulate?
Yes, in part. The ordinance regulates by-right winery activities (production, on-premises tasting, sale, shipment, storage) that §§ 15.2-2288.3 and 4.1-128 expressly bar localities from regulating.…
Do members of Virginia Indian tribes need a hunting or fishing license in Virginia, and do state game laws apply to them?
Qualifying reservation residents and Virginia-recognized tribal members living in the Commonwealth need no license to hunt or trap in Virginia or fish in inland waters. Members of Treaty of 1677…
Can a Virginia county cap or require approval of water rates that a town inside the county charges to county residents?
No. The AG concluded that Fairfax County had no authority to cap, review, or require approval of the water rates the Town of Vienna set for its water customers, including the roughly 40% of Vienna's…
Does the local business license tax exemption for railroads also cover a Class I railroad's transloading subsidiary?
Not automatically. The AG concluded a Class I railroad's transloading subsidiary did not qualify for the local business license tax exemption under § 58.1-3703(C)(1) unless it had been certified by…
Could the Arkansas Lottery release a former employee's personnel-file records after removing home contact information?
The AG approved redacting the former employee's home address, home phone number, and personal email address, but could not conclusively decide whether the unseen records were properly classified or…
Could a Louisiana hospital district sell uncollectible patient accounts in bulk?
The AG concluded that the hospital district could sell accounts it had properly deemed uncollectible, including as a bulk lot. It called for reasonable collection efforts, a public determination,…
Can a Florida county appoint a county administrator who is not a certified correctional officer as the jail's chief correctional officer?
In informal comments, the AG found no requirement that a county's chief correctional officer be a certified correctional officer when that person's primary duties do not include the direct…
Could the Savannah Lakes Village Special Tax District buy property and hold title apart from McCormick County?
The Attorney General thought a court would likely find that the tax commission could buy assets needed for district services. It did not resolve whether title should be in the district's,…
Could Arkansas release wastewater employees' names, salaries, hire dates, gender, and work locations under the FOIA?
Yes. The Arkansas AG concluded that releasing the requested public employee names, job information, salaries, gender, hire dates, and work locations was consistent with the FOIA.
Why did Arkansas reject the ballot wording for a proposed Amendment 68 abortion measure?
The AG rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title because ambiguities in the amendment's text made it impossible to fairly summarize its legal effects for voters. The rejection did not…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2013 ballot title proposed for repealing the state's marriage amendment?
The AG accepted the popular name but rejected the ballot title. He concluded that its claims about restricted rights and federal law were partisan and that it failed to explain why repealing…
Was Community Counseling Services subject to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act?
The AG did not answer. Because the same questions about Community Counseling Services were already being litigated in Garland County Circuit Court, he declined to comment on matters reserved for the court.
Who had to transport an Arkansas backup inmate from a county jail to state prison once a bed became available?
The county sheriff had that responsibility, according to the AG. Although a 1933 law generally assigned inmate transport to ADC, the opinion read a 2003 reimbursement law as making counties…
Could an Arkansas county treasurer deduct a 2% commission from suburban improvement district assessments?
No. The governing statute directed the county tax collector to send the assessments directly to the improvement district's depository, so the county treasurer never handled the funds and could not…
Could an Arkansas civil service commission privately reconsider a police officer's discipline, and how could the officer appeal?
The AG declined to decide whether this commission's private meeting was lawful because that required fact-finding. The opinion explained the general open-meeting and executive-session rules and said…
Could Pine Bluff buy transit buses through another city's procurement without advertising the purchase in a local Arkansas newspaper?
Potentially. The AG found that Pine Bluff's arrangement with Brownsville appeared to qualify as cooperative purchasing, making the usual local-advertising rule inapplicable, but the State…
Can a Tennessee bar or restaurant refuse entry to people wearing motorcycle club colors, or does that violate civil rights laws?
Yes, a private bar, restaurant, or similar establishment can deny admittance to people wearing motorcycle club insignia. The First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment constrain only government…
When an Arizona legislative seat opens up in a district that crosses county lines, do the three nominees to fill the seat all have to live in the same county as the legislator who left?
Yes. Under A.R.S. § 41-1202(A), nominees to fill an Arizona legislative vacancy in a multi-county district must reside in the same county as the vacating legislator. The 1999, 2002, and 2012…
Does a West Virginia county commission have to provide ambulance service, and how can it pay for it?
Yes, but with a money-availability caveat. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 7-15-4 requires county commissions to make emergency ambulance service available where it is not otherwise available,…
Can a city redact police officers' names from records about the mayor's security detail?
Yes, in this case. The AG found Wilmington was justified in redacting the names of officers assigned to the mayor's security detail, and of unsuccessful applicants, from personnel-type records under…
When did Virginia start hiding concealed handgun permit information from the public, and does it cover permits issued before that date?
The amendments to Va. Code § 18.2-308(D) took effect on July 1, 2013. From that date forward, the clerk of court must withhold from public disclosure the applicant's name and any other information…
Can a Virginia locality without a merchants-capital ordinance still tax short-term rental property like cars and party rentals as tangible personal property?
No. After a 2010 amendment to Va. Code § 58.1-3510.6(E), short-term rental property is a distinct sub-class of merchants' capital, not tangible personal property. A locality may tax it as merchants'…
Can a Virginia town or county legally run a Trap-Neuter-Release program for feral cats?
A Virginia locality may humanely trap feral cats and have them sterilized by a licensed veterinarian. The locality may NOT release sterilized cats back to where they were captured or anywhere in the…
When a Virginia locality refinances school bonds and saves money on debt service, can the school board reallocate that surplus to other school needs?
If the local governing body appropriated funds to the school board in a lump sum, the school board may keep and reallocate debt service savings from bond refunding. If the governing body…
In Virginia, who decides courthouse security rules: the chief judge, the judges collectively, the sheriff, or the court administrator?
The chief judge or the circuit judges collectively can make courthouse security rules, including a rule that allows cellular phones inside. They can't delegate that rulemaking authority to a court…
When may a Virginia legislator raise money for a Super PAC or a federal party account during session?
Mostly yes. The AG concluded that during a regular session of the Virginia General Assembly, a member could solicit or accept contributions on behalf of candidates in other states, federal PACs,…
Can a Virginia general district court order postrelease supervision for two misdemeanor failure-to-register convictions, and can it task VDOC with the supervision?
Yes. A general district court may order postrelease supervision for a misdemeanor first violation of § 18.2-472.1(A), but only six months per conviction. The court can direct VDOC to oversee the…
Can Tennessee criminalize the use of a bank's name or non-public loan information in a solicitation without specific disclosures, or does the First Amendment protect that speech?
Yes, Tenn. Code Ann. § 45-2-1709(a)(1)(D) and (E) are constitutional. The mandatory bold-face disclosures (solicitor identity, non-affiliation statement, no-sponsorship statement, and source of loan…
If an Arizona school district opens a new district-sponsored charter school, can it still claim Rapid Growth funding for students who shifted from the district's traditional schools to its charter schools?
When an Arizona school district opts to fund a district-sponsored charter school under A.R.S. § 15-185(A)(3), all charter school pupils must be excluded from the district's Rapid Growth calculation…
Does an Arizona alarm-installation business already licensed by the Registrar of Contractors also need to register with the Board of Technical Registration, and what convictions disqualify alarm operators?
An Arizona alarm business may be licensed either by the Registrar of Contractors or by the Board of Technical Registration; it does not need both. Only BTR-certified businesses must comply with the…
Did a South Carolina auto parts store need a nonferrous metals permit when it gave store credit for used batteries?
The Attorney General concluded that auto parts stores holding valid retail licenses were exempt from the nonferrous metals permitting requirements at issue. Because of that exemption, it did not…
Can a West Virginia county accept private donations to digitize property and mineral records and extend courthouse hours, and does it have to use competitive bidding for the digitization?
The AG concluded that the county commission may accept private monetary donations for digitization or extended hours, as long as the donations are unsolicited and benefit the county as a whole…
Can Tennessee require home-schooled students to attend a Tennessee home school for two years before graduation to qualify for the HOPE scholarship?
Yes. The 2-year-Tennessee-home-school requirement in Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-4-902(23) is defensible against an equal protection challenge under rational basis review. Tennessee home schools are…
Could Louisiana’s plumbing board teach the continuing education classes it required for plumbers?
The AG concluded that the Louisiana State Plumbing Board could offer continuing education courses satisfying its licensing requirements. Board-sponsored classes still had to meet the substantive and…
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