State AG Opinions

Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.

21,776 opinions and counting · 35 states and DC · Updated October 27, 2026
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If my Oklahoma property is sold at tax sale for more than I owed in delinquent taxes, do I get the leftover money, and how long do I have to claim it?

Yes, you get any excess. Section 3131(D) requires the county to hold leftover proceeds for you for one year after the sale. The U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Tyler v. Hennepin decision struck down a…

July 30, 2025
TN

Can a part-time Tennessee general sessions and juvenile court judge in one county also serve as an appointed juvenile magistrate in a different county?

Likely no. Article VI, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution forbids judges of inferior courts from holding any other 'office of trust or profit.' Under the controlling Frazier v. Elmore…

July 29, 2025
SC

What happens to a South Carolina commissioner whose six-month holdover period expires before a successor is appointed, and can their votes still count?

Once a South Carolina commissioner holds over past the statutory six-month limit, the seat is legally vacant and should be filled. The commissioner becomes a de facto officer; their votes still…

July 29, 2025
DE

Can a Delaware school district redact parent names from special education settlement agreements released under FOIA?

The AG found no FOIA violation when Indian River School District redacted parent names from six student-related settlement agreements it produced. The District had determined those agreements were…

July 29, 2025
AR

If a public agency hires me, can someone get my whole job application (resume, cover letter, references) under FOIA?

Yes, with redactions. Your application, resume, and cover letter are personnel records subject to release. Personal information (date of birth, SSN, contact info) is redacted. Your prior salaries…

July 28, 2025
AR

What does it take to get a proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment's popular name and ballot title approved by the AG before signatures can be collected?

The Attorney General certified the proposed popular name and substituted a revised ballot title after the sponsor corrected an ambiguity. The sponsor’s 9.2-grade draft still needed changes to meet…

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-102?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-102 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-101?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-101 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-100?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-100 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-099?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-099 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-098?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-098 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-097?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-097 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-096?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-096 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-095?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-095 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-094?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-094 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-093?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-093 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 28, 2025
SC

Can South Carolina's Board of Paroles and Pardons grant a pardon for a crime that has already been expunged, what counts as a quorum, and when does a social gathering of board members trigger the open-meetings law?

An expunged conviction can still be pardoned; adult expungement does not erase the crime. Four members form a quorum of the seven-member board, while all three members of a current parole panel form…

July 28, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-092?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-092 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-091?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-091 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-090?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-090 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-089?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-089 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-088?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-088 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-087?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-087 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-086?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-086 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-085?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-085 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-084?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-084 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-083?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-083 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-082?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-082 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-081?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-081 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-080?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-080 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-079?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-079 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-078?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-078 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-077?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-077 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Did Missouri approve the form of Jamie Howard's initiative petition 2026-076?

Yes. The attorney general approved petition 2026-076 as to form, but the secretary of state retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did not decide substantive sufficiency.

July 25, 2025
MO

Why did Missouri reject Zachary Dowdle's initiative petition 2026-075?

The attorney general rejected the petition because it did not correctly identify the number of sections proposed for revision, as required by Section 116.050.

July 25, 2025
MO

Why did Missouri reject Zachary Dowdle's initiative petition 2026-074?

The attorney general rejected the petition because it did not correctly identify the number of sections proposed for revision, as required by Section 116.050.

July 25, 2025
MO

Why did Missouri reject Zachary Dowdle's initiative petition 2026-073?

The attorney general rejected the petition because it did not correctly identify the number of sections proposed for revision, as required by Section 116.050.

July 25, 2025
MO

Why did Missouri reject Zachary Dowdle's initiative petition 2026-072?

The attorney general rejected the petition because it did not correctly identify the number of sections proposed for revision, as required by Section 116.050.

July 25, 2025
KS

Can a Kansas city or school district still block a tax-incentive housing district after a 2013 disaster exemption expired?

The Attorney General concluded that the disaster-declaration exemption from holding a public hearing to create a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District, found in K.S.A. 12-5252(a), only applied…

July 25, 2025
VA

When a Virginia city or town council appoints school board members and a board seat opens up mid-term, can the council just appoint a successor, or must it first hold a public hearing under § 22.1-29.1?

Public hearing required. The AG concluded that § 22.1-29.1 requires at least one public hearing before any school board appointment, including mid-term vacancy appointments. A school board member…

July 25, 2025
AR

Can someone get an internal-affairs file from a sheriff's office under FOIA, when the investigation didn't result in any discipline?

Most of this investigation file should be withheld because no employee was suspended or terminated. The signed employee-handbook memorandum is a releasable personnel record. A truly unsolicited…

July 24, 2025
SC

When a South Carolina county consolidates fire protection districts, does the new district automatically own the property of the dissolved districts?

Likely yes. When a South Carolina county council consolidates special purpose fire protection districts under Article 3 of Title 6, § 6-11-620 says the new consolidated district 'assumes all…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can a Louisiana professional nursing corporation convert itself into an LLC and keep practicing nursing?

No. The Secretary of State should not permit a professional nursing corporation to convert to an LLC if the new LLC will keep practicing nursing, since Louisiana law only allows professional nursing…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can a Louisiana professional medical corporation convert itself into an LLC and keep practicing medicine?

No. The Secretary of State should not permit a professional medical corporation to convert to an LLC if the new LLC will keep practicing medicine, since Louisiana law only allows professional…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can an elected constable in Louisiana also work as a full-time civil service firefighter for a different parish?

No. Even though the general Dual Officeholding Law would allow it, a specific civil service constitutional and statutory rule bars a classified civil service firefighter from also holding an…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can someone serve on both the parish housing authority board and the hospital district board in Louisiana at the same time?

Yes. Both board seats are part-time appointive offices, and Louisiana's Dual Officeholding Law only bars combining two full-time appointive offices, not two part-time ones.

July 24, 2025
LA

Can a Louisiana home rule parish council appoint non-council members (regular citizens) to sit on its standing committees?

Yes. Louisiana law does not stop a parish council from putting non-council members on its standing committees, as long as those committees stay advisory and the council itself still has to vote on…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can Louisiana's state public defender reimburse oversight board members for travel and meetings?

No. The Attorney General concluded that the Office of the State Public Defender lacks statutory authority to reimburse Public Defender Oversight Board members for travel or meeting expenses. The…

July 24, 2025
LA

Can an Orleans Parish assistant district attorney also contract to represent the criminal court clerk?

The dual officeholding law does not bar the proposed private legal services contract, the Attorney General concluded. But it identified an inherent conflict between the assistant district attorney…

July 24, 2025
KS

If a city accidentally includes a defeated Sunday alcohol sales ordinance in a code update, are Sunday sales legal?

No. The Attorney General concluded that Sabetha has not validly authorized Sunday sales of alcoholic liquor and cereal malt beverages. The 2005 ordinance that would have allowed it was defeated by a…

July 24, 2025
AR

Did Arkansas Corrections properly redact a warden's personnel file before releasing it to a FOIA requester?

Mostly yes, but with two errors. The custodian forgot to redact the warden's tax withholdings and net pay (those should have been redacted) and incorrectly redacted his race, sex, and salary (those…

July 23, 2025
AR

Is a 2013 suspension letter (with a written reprimand inside) and a birth certificate from a Pine Bluff officer's personnel file releasable under FOIA?

The 2013 suspension letter is releasable as an evaluation record (the four-part test is met because the discipline is over twelve years old). But the written reprimand portion of the letter must be…

July 22, 2025
AR

When a sheriff's deputy was investigated for two separate complaints, suspended on one, and exonerated on the other, what gets released under FOIA?

The corrective-action form is a personnel record (releasable). The suspension letter that states the grounds is an evaluation record but the four-part test is met for the sustained complaint, so…

July 22, 2025
AR

Can the City of Ward levy 'volunteer fire department' dues under the new 2025 fire-dues law (Act 673)?

No. Act 673 lets county quorum courts levy dues for volunteer fire departments serving unincorporated areas, and lets towns and second-class cities do the same for their volunteer fire departments.…

July 22, 2025
SC

Can a South Carolina code enforcement officer prosecute ordinance violations in magistrate's court without it being the unauthorized practice of law?

The AG predicts the South Carolina Supreme Court would allow code enforcement officers to prosecute criminal ordinance violations in magistrate court. The opinion is advisory: until that Court…

July 22, 2025
LA

Can a Louisiana parish registrar of voters also serve on the board of a parish communications district (911 board)?

No. A specific Election Code statute flatly bars registrars of voters from holding any other elective or appointive public office, so the general Dual Officeholding Law's part-time exception does…

July 22, 2025
DE

Could Delaware's Governor's Office withhold emails about corporate-franchise topics under FOIA privileges?

No violation. The Delaware AG ruled the Governor's Office properly withheld and redacted emails responsive to a News Journal FOIA request about Cambridge Analytica, Meta, and Vice Chancellor Laster,…

July 22, 2025
AR

What gets released and what gets withheld when someone FOIAs the entire personnel file of a long-serving police officer, including commendations, complaints, investigations, and disciplinary records?

The Attorney General approved release of some records with required redactions and withholding of others. Third-party commendations and complaints are personnel records, while employer-created…

July 21, 2025
SC

Can South Carolina's Hartsville Community Center Building Commission issue general obligation bonds, and what does the constitutional ban on taxation without representation mean for appointed special purpose districts?

No, not on its own. The Hartsville Commission is appointed, and GO bonds pledge taxing power. The AG says a court would likely uphold bonds issued through § 6-11-490 with county council authorization.

July 21, 2025
KS

Can a Kansas county put mental health and EMS funding on the ballot as a 'renewal' of an existing public-safety sales tax?

No, according to the Attorney General. Johnson County's ballot resolution exceeded the Board of County Commissioners' authority under K.S.A. 12-187(b)(21) because that statute only lets the county…

July 21, 2025

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