State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Does a Texas clerk charge the $37 civil filing fee on a bail bond forfeiture?
The Attorney General concluded that neither of two new court fees adopted by House Bill 11 in 2006 applies to bail bond forfeiture matters. The $37 filing fee under Local Government Code section 133.1…
Is property owned by a city's public-private partnership exempt from Texas property tax?
The Attorney General concluded that there is no automatic answer, only a framework. To be exempt under the Texas Constitution and Tax Code section 11.11(a), property must be both publicly owned and us…
Is my personal-and-business vehicle tax-free in Texas if I don't have to render it?
The Attorney General concluded that being excepted from the rendition requirement is not the same as being exempt from tax. Tax Code section 22.01(k) (added by House Bill 809 in 2005) says an individu…
Is the City of Millican, Texas still legally a city?
The Attorney General concluded that Millican is best treated as a special-law municipality, because although it first incorporated under general law in 1866, the legislature re-incorporated it by spec…
What did Idaho's AG say about Ron Gillett's third 2006 wolf-removal ballot initiative, this one aimed at the 2008 ballot?
This was Ron Gillett's third 2006 wolf-removal initiative, substantively identical to the March 9 version. Wasden cleared it on single-subject grounds (a single subject of wolf regulation), confirmed …
Can a Delaware county council discuss which outside consulting firm to hire in a private executive session?
No, according to this opinion. FOIA's executive-session exemptions for job applicants and personnel only protect individuals seeking or holding public employment, not independent contractors and vendo…
Did the NC State Personnel Commission have the legal authority to roll out 'career banding' (a system that collapses many narrow job classes into a small number of broad classes with wide pay ranges)?
Yes. The NC AG concluded that the General Assembly delegated to the State Personnel Commission plenary authority under Chapter 126 to design and adopt classification plans (G.S. 126-4(1)), compensatio…
Is a city water rights fee charged to developers an illegal impact fee in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a water rights fee imposed solely to procure a water supply, rather than to pay for building physical facilities, is not an 'impact fee' under chapter 395 of the Lo…
How can two New York towns in different counties combine their police departments into one shared service?
By an intermunicipal agreement under General Municipal Law article 5-G, specifically § 119-o. Municipal Home Rule Law § 10 does not authorize two towns in different counties to consolidate police depa…
Can a Texas city spend its bond-type funds on a different water project than first planned?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Copperas Cove may use the proceeds of its 2001 certificates of obligation for 'improvements to the City water and wastewater system,' including the repa…
Can a Texas deputy sheriff drive a county patrol car for off-duty security jobs?
The Attorney General concluded that a sheriff may let deputies use county patrol vehicles for off-duty security work without reimbursing the county only when the use satisfies the public-purpose doctr…
Can Texas deny your driver's license renewal for missing court on any charge?
The Attorney General concluded that the chapter 706 'failure to appear' program, which lets the Department of Public Safety deny a driver's license renewal, is not limited to traffic tickets, but it i…
Can a small Texas town annex a strip of roadway right-of-way next to the city limits?
The Attorney General concluded that a Type A general-law city with fewer than 5,000 residents can annex land it does not own only if that land sits inside its half-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction; …
Does an open meetings notice have to say a city council will vote on a motion, not just discuss it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Open Meetings Act requires a city to give advance notice of the topic that will come before the council, here a 'personal endorsement' motion, so a reader is al…
Can a county agency keep providing foster care and case management for CPS after Texas privatized those services?
The Attorney General concluded that after Senate Bill 6's overhaul of child protective services, the Department of Family and Protective Services may not contract with a governmental entity, such as H…
What can a Texas county attorney spend hot check fund money on?
The Attorney General concluded that money in a county attorney's hot check fund may be spent only to defray the salaries and expenses of the prosecutor's office, at the attorney's sole discretion, and…
What are the rules for Texas homestead preservation districts and their tax-increment reinvestment zones?
The Attorney General read Chapter 373A, the 2005 law (which by its population criteria applied only to Austin) that lets a qualifying city create homestead preservation districts and reinvestment zone…
Are paid guardians ad litem in the New York City Civil Court Housing Part program covered by the State's defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law § 17?
No. Guardians ad litem who receive $600 per case from New York City Adult Protective Services for their work in the Civil Court's Housing Part GAL program are not eligible for state-provided defense a…
Can a Texas county hire a road administrator instead of a licensed road engineer?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 252.304 of the Transportation Code, a county commissioners court running a county road department generally must appoint a licensed professional engin…
Does a Texas hospital district have to run an emergency ambulance, and can it pay incentives to recruit a doctor?
The Attorney General concluded that a county hospital district is not legally required to run emergency ambulance service; ambulance service is a discretionary, ancillary function, so the Sabine Count…
If a Texas county abandons a road, who gets the drainage easement, and does the county have to sell it?
The Attorney General sorted out which of three statutes governs when a county gives up a drainage easement or right-of-way. If the easement is part of a public road, then under Transportation Code sec…
Can a county use federal Justice Assistance Grant money to pay sheriff or constable overtime?
The Attorney General concluded that a county taking part in Operation Linebacker may not use Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) funds to compensate its sheriff or constable, including for overtime. A Gove…
Can a Delaware public housing authority refuse a reporter's records request by citing a lawsuit filed by someone else?
No, according to this opinion. FOIA's pending-litigation exemption is meant to stop a party to a lawsuit from using a records request as a shortcut around court discovery rules; it doesn't let an agen…
Could the Iberville Parish Finance Director also serve as an elected member of the parish school board?
No. At the time of this 2006 opinion, the AG concluded a full-time parish finance director could not simultaneously hold the elected office of parish school board member under Louisiana's Dual Officeh…
Can Federal Reserve notes be used as collateral for Texas state repurchase agreements?
The Attorney General clarified an earlier opinion (GA-0324) and concluded that Federal Reserve notes are eligible collateral for the state's direct security repurchase agreements. Under federal law, F…
Title companies and real estate data vendors want to buy in bulk all the digital images of recorded real estate documents (deeds, mortgages, etc.) that the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Authority makes available through its statewide system. Can the Authority sell those images itself?
No. The Authority's statutory powers don't include selling those images. The clerks of superior court are the record custodians under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-96, and that statute specifically reserves the bul…
Georgia passed a 2006 law (HB 101) letting peace officers who were denied membership in the state retirement fund before 1976 because of their race or ethnicity now claim retirement credit for that pre-1976 service. But Georgia has another law that automatically repeals retirement bills if they aren't 'concurrently funded.' Does the funding requirement repeal the racial-justice retirement credit?
No. The 2006 Act does not have an immediate fiscal impact because it doesn't actually grant retirement credit until the application/funding process plays out. Eligible peace officers had to apply betw…
Can the Georgia State Personnel Board (or the Merit System Commissioner) make rules that bind state agencies whose employees are NOT classified Merit System employees? Can the Governor expand the Board's reach by executive order?
No to both. The State Personnel Board's rule-making authority extends only to 'covered departments' (those with at least one classified employee) and to the classified employees themselves. The Merit …
Which misdemeanor offenses created in the Georgia 2005 legislative session require fingerprinting at booking, and which don't?
The AG designated 8 of 15 reviewed offenses as fingerprintable: deceptive commercial e-mail (spam), pyramid promotional schemes, two pseudoephedrine sale violations (sale by retail distributor), pseud…
In a New York fire district that has both paid and volunteer firefighters, can the paid firefighters vote at the annual meeting to nominate the volunteer fire chief and assistant chiefs?
Yes. Paid firefighters employed by a fire district are members of the fire department under Town Law § 176(11-a) and are eligible to cast ballots at the annual meeting that nominates the volunteer fir…
When a Minnesota city collects criminal background data on candidates for city council, is that data treated as private under the Government Data Practices Act, or is it presumptively public?
Presumptively public. The AG concluded that candidates for city council are not 'applicants for employment' under Minn. Stat. § 13.43, so background data the city collected on them was not private per…
Can a New York county use its public defender's office to represent indigent people in Mental Hygiene Law Article 81 guardianship proceedings?
Yes. A county whose article 18-B plan uses a public defender may rely on the public defender to represent indigent allegedly incapacitated persons when a court appoints counsel in a Mental Hygiene Law…
Can a Texas school board trustee also serve as county clerk?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district trustee is not, as a matter of law, barred from simultaneously serving as county clerk of the county where the district sits. The constitutional b…
Can a Texas hospital district operate a nursing home or long-term care facility and levy taxes to pay for it?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The East Coke County Hospital District, a district created in 1969 by a special law under article IX, section 9 of the Texas Constitution, had authority to operate …
Can a Texas constable run animal control on his own, without the county commissioners court approving it?
The Attorney General concluded a constable cannot make himself the animal or rabies control authority. If a constable has reason to believe an animal is being cruelly treated, the cruelty statute (cha…
If a Texas county jailer is also a deputy sheriff, does he need a private security guard commission to moonlight as an armed guard?
The Attorney General did not give a yes-or-no answer, because it turns on the facts of each person's job. The Private Security Act exempts only full-time peace officers from its commissioning requirem…
Can a Texas store scan and save your driver's license when you buy cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A general law (Transportation Code section 521.126) makes it a crime to read and store the data on a driver's license magnetic stripe, but it has an exception for a…
Can a New York public authority swap an existing easement for a new easement without putting it out for public bid, when the exchange is needed to relocate a gas pipeline for a thruway reconstruction project?
Yes, on the specific facts. An easement-for-easement exchange that the Thruway Authority needs to relocate a gas pipeline as part of a thruway reconstruction project is subject to the 2005 Public Auth…
Does a retired federal Customs and Border Protection officer meet Texas firearm standards to carry concealed under federal law?
The Attorney General did not answer the underlying question. A 2004 federal law, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, lets a qualified retired law enforcement officer carry a concealed firearm in …
How much can a Texas county court at law judge be paid, and is the salary capped relative to a district judge?
The Attorney General read the two salary statutes together. For Gregg County, the maximum a statutory county court at law judge may be paid is 90 percent of the total annual salary a district judge in…
In a Texas parental-rights termination case, does an indigent parent get free transcripts of hearings and depositions, and who pays?
The Attorney General gave a layered answer. For pretrial (non-appellate) transcripts of hearings and depositions, there is no statute or case directly on point, so the test is the U.S. Supreme Court's…
Can a Texas county attorney also volunteer as an ESGR ombudsman for the Guard and Reserve?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county attorney holds a state office, and the Texas Constitution bars one person from holding both a state office and a federal 'office of profit or trust.' But a…
Does a Texas home-rule city have to pave and maintain a dedicated road so it can serve newly annexed property?
The Attorney General gave a two-part legal rule but left the facts to be decided elsewhere. A city must improve and maintain a dedicated right-of-way within its limits in two situations: (1) if the ci…
Can multiple companies get a single group license to manufacture or distribute bingo supplies in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Bingo Enabling Act requires a manufacturer or distributor of bingo equipment to be licensed, and it defines the 'person' who can hold a license to include an 'i…
Can Texas city police officers set bail for someone they arrest, or does a judge have to do it?
The Attorney General read the bail statutes to give municipal police officers limited bail-setting authority. Under Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.20, a City of El Paso police officer may set r…
Can the Texas State Board of Education require school textbooks to meet content standards before approving them?
The Attorney General concluded the State Board of Education could adopt general textbook content standards, but only the kinds the Education Code already authorizes: the TEKS curriculum standards, phy…
Can a New York town set the speed limit on a state highway that runs through it when the road was built by New York City under the Water Supply Laws?
No. A town does not have the authority to set or initiate speed limit changes on a highway that was built by New York City under the special Water Supply Laws, even where that highway runs through the…
Is it constitutional for Texas to let state legislators' letters affect who gets low-income housing tax credits?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 2306.6710(b)(1) did not, on its face, violate the separation-of-powers doctrine in the Texas Constitution. The statute makes the Texas Depar…
Do I have to register as a sex offender in Texas for an out-of-state conviction if I was never on Texas probation or parole?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, a person who lives in Texas and has a reportable out-of-state sex-offense conviction must register under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 62, even if the ent…
Can a Delaware school board avoid open meetings law by briefing members in two separate small private sessions on the same topic?
No, under the law as it stood in 2006. The AG found that splitting a briefing on layoffs and a tax vote into two back-to-back private sessions, reaching five of the Christina School Board's seven memb…
Can a Texas junior college district annex several school districts or counties with a single election?
The Attorney General concluded that a junior college district may not hold one annexation election covering territory that spans more than one school district or county. Education Code section 130.063…
Can a Texas junior college board start an annexation election without collecting voter signatures?
The Attorney General concluded that the governing board of a junior college district may call an annexation election without a voter petition when the student-enrollment conditions in Education Code s…
Can a Delaware town council appoint a vice mayor at a special meeting without listing it on the agenda?
No, under the law as it stood in 2006. The AG found Smyrna's agenda item 'Other Council Business' did not adequately notify the public that the council would appoint a vice mayor, and ordered the town…
Can a Delaware county subcommittee limit a public meeting to invited officials and refuse to hear from the general public?
Yes, according to this opinion. FOIA doesn't require a public body to open the floor for public comment at all, and because this subcommittee never did so, limiting the discussion to invited officials…
Can a Texas municipal utility district that never provided service dissolve and refund leftover taxes?
The Attorney General concluded that Lake LBJ Municipal Utility District No. 2 could not be dissolved by the TCEQ as an 'inactive' district under Water Code section 49.321, because TCEQ rules require t…
If a public agency uses a grant agreement to fund construction, does that take the project out from under Oregon's prevailing wage rate law?
No. The 2006 AG opinion concluded that the Public Contracting Code's grants exemption (ORS 279A.025(2)(c)) did not exempt grant-funded construction from the prevailing wage rate law. If a public agenc…
If a Delaware state agency keeps its records in an electronic database, does FOIA require giving requesters the data itself, not just paper printouts?
Yes, according to this opinion. Once a public body maintains an electronic database, even one run by a private contractor, FOIA requires giving requesters the electronic data itself, not just paper co…
Can I file a 'common-law copyright' on my name at the Texas county clerk's office?
The Attorney General concluded that a county clerk cannot file or record a 'common-law copyright' notice. A county clerk may record only documents that a statute authorizes, requires, or permits, and …
Do health insurance and a car allowance count as pay for a Texas city's mayor and council under the city charter?
The Attorney General offered a general observation that health insurance premium payments and fixed car allowances exceeding actual expenses count as 'compensation' for a city's mayor and commissioner…
Can a Texas family bury relatives on their own land without filing cemetery paperwork with the county?
The Attorney General concluded that an unincorporated family burying its own members on family-owned land is not a 'cemetery organization' under chapter 711 of the Health and Safety Code, so it is not…
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