State AG Opinions
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Does Virginia's $25 jail processing fee under § 15.2-1613.1 apply to anyone who got booked before trial, or only to defendants jailed after conviction?
Only after conviction. The AG concluded that § 15.2-1613.1 authorizes the fee only when a person is admitted (or re-admitted) to jail following conviction. A defendant who spent pretrial time in…
Can a Virginia locality enact an ordinance letting a volunteer fire department bill an individual's home or auto insurance for responding to a fire?
No. The AG concluded that § 27-14 does not authorize a locality to let a volunteer fire department charge a person's homeowners' or automobile insurance policy for responding to a fire emergency.…
When a Virginia clerk receives a letter between opposing lawyers that's been filed in the court file, does it count as a 'proceeding' that keeps a dormant lawsuit alive?
Not by itself. The AG concluded that filing a letter between counsel is not a 'proceeding' under § 8.01-335. But if the letter's contents show that other proceedings (like a deposition notice) are…
Can a Florida water management district ban outdoor smoking on its property and bar employees from using tobacco on the clock?
Two answers. The AG concluded that section 386.209 preempts smoking regulation to the state, so the St. Johns River Water Management District could not ban outdoor smoking by everyone on district…
How did South Carolina classify a lewd act upon a child under sixteen under the federal SORNA tiers?
The AG said a conviction under the lewd-act statute was Tier III when the victim was under 13. For ages 13 to 15, a sexual act involving naked genitalia was Tier III; other sexual contact described…
Can a member of a local board be disqualified from an agency proceeding for bias or interest in Florida?
The AG declined to issue a formal opinion, because the question turned on local ordinance procedures the office cannot interpret. As informal guidance, it pointed to section 120.665, part of the…
Could a buyer appeal a property tax valuation from before the sale and receive the resulting refund?
The AG thought a court would likely limit the appeal and refund to the owner of record on the prior December 31, who owed the tax. It also identified an argument for allowing the buyer to appeal and…
Must a New York town issue a fireworks display permit when an applicant meets the statutory requirements, and can the town tack on extra requirements of its own?
The AG concluded that approval of a fireworks display permit under Penal Law § 405.00 was discretionary, not ministerial; failure to act by the display date functioned as a denial; and a town could…
Is a slot-style electronic game run by a Florida veterans' club an illegal slot machine?
Yes, as described. The AG concluded that a card-operated electronic game at a veterans' organization, where chance determines whether the player wins points convertible to money on a card, is an…
Can someone serve on a housing finance authority if their spouse's law firm represents developers seeking financing?
Yes. The AG concluded that section 159.606, Florida Statutes, does not prohibit someone from serving on a housing finance authority just because the member's spouse is a partner in a law firm that…
What can a Florida hospital-district board member do under a 'non-interference' charter clause, and what happens if they violate it?
An individual North Broward Hospital District commissioner could ask questions of or request information from staff supervised by the President/CEO, but could not otherwise direct or interfere with…
Could one person serve on both the Marion County Planning Commission and a local school board?
The AG said no. It treated both planning commission membership and a Marion County School District 2 board seat as public offices, so holding both simultaneously violated the state constitution’s…
Can a small Tennessee K-12 school that opened before 1961 build a new high school building even though it has fewer than 300 high school students?
Yes. Assuming Greenback Public School has operated a high school continuously since opening in 1921, the 1961 grandfather clause excludes it from the 300-pupil minimum in Tenn. Code Ann. §…
Can a Tennessee state legislator also serve as a paid mediator or arbitrator under the state's Rule 31 ADR program?
Yes. Serving as a Rule 31 dispute resolution neutral (including as a mediator) is not holding a 'lucrative State office' under Article II, § 26 of the Tennessee Constitution, so a member of the…
When did collected evidence become protected by South Carolina’s Preservation of Evidence Act?
The AG said evidence for a covered crime became physical evidence or biological material when law enforcement collected and retained it for processing, even before use in court. Custodians could use…
Who qualified for Virginia's 100% disabled veteran property tax exemption after the 2010 constitutional amendment, and could spouses, trusts, or relocations qualify?
The exemption took effect January 1, 2011 (statute retroactive to that date). Veterans who died before that date and their spouses did not qualify. The exemption covered land and dwelling (one-acre…
Did South Carolina law forbid prescribed burns that could harm wildlife in a national forest?
The AG described state rules allowing prescribed fire when required plans, supervision, notice, precautions, and applicable permits were in place. It did not investigate particular Forest Service…
Does a Tennessee county have to charge the same archives and records management fee for every type of filed record?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-408(b) authorizes a county legislative body to charge an archives and records management fee on filed public records, but the only constraint it imposes is that the fee…
Does Florida law allow a person to lawfully possess a federally registered destructive device?
Yes. The Attorney General's office told the ATF that Florida law allows the lawful possession of destructive devices as defined in section 790.001(4). Sections 790.161 and 790.1612 criminalize…
How can a Tennessee county capture sales tax from a state park it develops, and what does the county owe if the project loses money?
Campbell County may receive an allocation of state and local sales and use tax revenues equal to the taxes generated within the leased state park property under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-6-103(h)(1), but…
Can a pharmacy's contract with an insurance company override Tennessee sales tax collection rules?
No on both counts. Tennessee retailers, including pharmacists, are statutorily required to collect sales tax from purchasers of taxable tangible personal property at the point of sale. Neither the…
Could a South Carolina state trooper serve on the Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Council board?
The AG said yes. It treated a state trooper commission as a public office, but said a Waccamaw Economic Opportunity Council board seat did not exercise state sovereign power and was not a second…
Can a Virginia county board of supervisors give a 5% salary supplement to constitutional officers and their staff out of county funds?
Yes. Section 15.2-1605.1 expressly authorizes a county or city governing body to supplement the compensation of constitutional officers and their deputies or employees above the Compensation…
Can a Virginia planning commission member also serve on a school board to which they were elected?
Yes. Section 22.1-30(A) prohibits certain local officers from being 'appointed' to the school board, but not from being 'elected' to it. A 1993 amendment deleted the words 'or serve,' confirming…
Can a Florida local agency pay an official's legal fees for defending an ethics complaint that was dismissed?
Maybe. Under Florida common law a local board can pay an official's legal fees for defending an ethics complaint only if the agency's governing body finds the conduct both arose from the official's…
Does an Arizona medical-marijuana dispensary have to pay state sales tax, and can it refuse to file returns by claiming the Fifth Amendment?
Generally yes. Medical-marijuana sales fall within Arizona’s retail transaction privilege tax, and the Fifth Amendment does not excuse a dispensary from filing a generally applicable tax return. The…
Can a corporation or labor union donate money to an Arizona recall committee, and do recall committees follow the same rules as ballot-measure committees?
AZ law does prohibit corporate and labor union contributions to recall committees, but the prohibition cannot be enforced after Citizens United against committees that do not coordinate with a…
How did South Carolina’s AG classify spousal sexual battery, incest, and institutional sexual misconduct under SORNA?
The AG classified the spousal sexual battery and spousal criminal sexual conduct offenses it analyzed as Tier III, as well as incest involving a victim under 16. Institutional sexual misconduct…
Does Tennessee's 2011 law guaranteeing secret-ballot union elections conflict with federal labor law?
No. 2011 Tennessee Public Chapter 502, which gives employees and employers the right to designate an exclusive bargaining representative by secret ballot when an election is held, does not conflict…
Is a Florida property appraiser limited to making findings of fact on governmental-leasehold tax exemptions?
The office said section 196.199 appeared to require the property appraiser to review governmental-leasehold exemption applications and make findings of fact for the value adjustment board. It did…
Could South Carolina’s unemployment agency bypass its appellate panel when a party had worked closely with panelists?
The AG said no. The statutory path required an appeal from the tribunal to the Appellate Panel before the Administrative Law Court. A special referee could serve at the tribunal stage; panelists had…
Could a veteran receiving 100% VA disability be appointed as a county veterans affairs officer?
The AG said disability itself did not bar appointment to the county office. It could not decide whether pay from the position would affect the person’s VA disability classification or benefits; the…
Could an Oconee County school board member also sit on the county parks, recreation, and tourism commission?
The AG said yes under the ordinance it reviewed. The school board seat was a public office, but the parks commission’s advisory role did not exercise state sovereign power, so it was not a second…
Can Delaware make a water and sewer authority follow open-records law even though it's funded only by user fees?
Yes, the AG found. After a new law (Senate Bill 36) added water and sewer authorities to FOIA's definition of "public body," the Camden Wyoming Sewer & Water Authority had to disclose employee and…
Could the University of Virginia legally bar visitors from carrying firearms in University buildings, and did its policy reach concealed carry permit holders?
It could bar open carry through its policy, because the right to openly carry can be limited in sensitive places. But its policy could not reach concealed carry permit holders, because § 18.2-308(O)…
Can a Virginia county board of supervisors put a mixed-beverage-sales referendum on the ballot, or does the petition have to come from voters?
The board cannot. Section 4.1-124(A) requires a petition signed by qualified voters (10 percent of the locality's voters, or 100, whichever is greater). The AG concluded that neither individual…
When did a Virginia state contractor have to use E-Verify under § 2.2-4308.2, and did it cover crop pickers, delivery drivers, subcontractors, or returning seasonal workers?
Only contracts primarily for services triggered E-Verify, not contracts primarily for goods like tomatoes. The duty did not extend to subcontractors. Seasonal workers were 'newly hired' for E-Verify…
Can a Tennessee county water and wastewater authority extend service into Georgia or into other Tennessee counties outside its original service area?
Yes. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-221-607(a)(2), a water and wastewater treatment authority created under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-221-601 et seq. is authorized to plan, operate, and own treatment works…
Did Ulster County dedicate flood-buyout properties as public parkland just by signing the deed assurances required by the Greater Catskills Flood Remediation Program?
The AG concluded that the deed-assurance language required by the Greater Catskills Flood Remediation Program (use 'compatible with open space, recreation, flood mitigation or wetlands management')…
After Vermont voters amended the state constitution to let people who turn 18 by general election day vote in 'the primary election,' does that include both the presidential primary in March and the state primary in August?
Yes. Although the constitutional language uses the singular 'the primary election,' both the presidential primary and the state primary are nominating processes preceding the general election. The…
When a Florida district raises its tax rate by supermajority, is the vote counted against all seats or only the members currently serving?
Against all seats. The Attorney General's office concluded that a supermajority vote 'of the membership of the governing body' under section 200.065(5)(a) is measured against the board's total…
When does an out-of-state online retailer have to collect Tennessee sales tax because it uses an in-state warehouse or distribution center?
Yes, an out-of-state seller can be required to collect Tennessee sales tax when its goods are stored or shipped from an in-state distribution center, even when the center is owned by a separate…
If a sheriff was elected after his son was already working as a deputy in the office, and three layers of supervision separate them, does Wyoming's anti-nepotism statute force the sheriff to fire his son?
No. Attorney General Gregory Phillips concluded that Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 9-13-104 reads on its plain language: it bars an official from causing or advocating a family member's hiring, supervising or…
Could a knowingly false oral statement during a police investigation count as a false police report?
The AG read the false-report statute to cover a knowing false communication to law enforcement, whether oral or written and whether initial or later in an investigation. It also noted possible…
Could a South Carolina police department spend the first $1,000 of forfeited drug cash on general policing?
The AG said yes, for any public law enforcement purpose. It treated the first $1,000 of seized and forfeited cash as the seizing agency’s property, distinct from excess forfeiture funds restricted…
Could South Carolina apply higher 2011 military court-martial penalties to offenses committed before the amendment?
The AG said no. The federal and state Ex Post Facto Clauses barred retroactive harsher punishment, and the Act’s savings clause preserved the former law for pending cases. The opinion also treated…
Must a South Carolina county use rollback millage when reassessment lowers overall property values?
The AG said yes under the statutes as it read them: the rollback formula applied in any reassessment year, even when total assessed value fell and the calculated rate rose. It called the issue novel…
Could South Carolina’s election commission contract with parties to run the 2012 presidential primaries?
The AG said yes unless the statute was repealed or a court ruled otherwise. It read the commission’s authority in § 7-11-20(B)(2) as continuing despite a reference to the 2008 election cycle,…
Can the same attorney serve as a code-enforcement special magistrate for more than one Florida city at the same time?
No. The Attorney General's office held to its position that a special magistrate or code-enforcement hearing officer holds an 'office' under the Florida Constitution, so serving in that role for one…
Can a Florida county sell its county-owned airport to a private buyer, and must it use competitive bidding?
Yes, with conditions. Under section 332.08(4) a Florida county may sell its airport to a private party once the county commission finds the property is no longer needed for aeronautical purposes.…
Did South Carolina’s 2011 budget provisos let state and county election officials conduct the 2012 presidential primaries?
The AG said yes. It read Provisos 79.6 and 79.12 as authorizing the State Election Commission to conduct the primaries with specified carry-forward funds, and said county election commissions could…
Is eyelash tinting legal in Tennessee, and which state board regulates it?
Eyelash tinting is not prohibited by any Tennessee law the AG could find, and it falls under the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology because dyeing eyelashes is, by ordinary dictionary definition, the…
Can a Delaware school district withhold a lawsuit settlement that a court has ordered sealed?
Yes, for the terms protected by court orders in this dispute. The Delaware Superior Court settlement was sealed, and a federal court approved a public version of the other settlement with its amount…
What happens in Virginia when a county board fails to adopt a redistricting plan after the decennial census?
The board must reapportion every tenth year using the most recent census data. The AG concluded this is mandatory. If the board fails to act, any citizen may sue for a writ of mandamus to compel…
Are Hanover County's ordinances banning livestock at large, restricting firearm discharge near roads and homes, and limiting loud animal noises constitutional?
Yes, all three. The livestock ordinance is a rational property regulation. The firearm-discharge ordinance is a tailored 'sensitive places' rule that exempts self-defense and leaves carry intact.…
If a Virginia county fails to adopt a budget, can the circuit court clerk close the office, and what happens to electronic filings?
Yes. The AG concluded that a clerk may close the office when the county has not adopted a budget and the clerk cannot pay employees. The clerk and staff may volunteer, and any electronic-filing…
Were recorded inmate calls and jail booking videos subject to disclosure under South Carolina FOIA?
The AG thought inmate personal calls could be disclosed, especially with express or implied monitoring consent, and that booking-area footage would generally be public. Specific privacy or…
If a Tennessee county commissioner also works for the county, can they vote on issues that affect their department?
It depends on when the county hired the commissioner. If county employment predates the commissioner's initial election, the commissioner may vote on matters concerning the department but must read…
Can a Texas general-law city ban firearm discharge inside its original city limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 229.002 of the Local Government Code does not prohibit a Type A general-law municipality from adopting an ordinance regulating the discharge of a…
Does the Florida False Claims Act let someone sue over a false claim made to a city or municipality?
No. Attorney General Pam Bondi concluded the Florida False Claims Act reaches false or fraudulent claims made to state executive-branch agencies, not claims presented to a municipality. A city is…
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