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 a different search term or clear the filters.
In a Minnesota home rule city where the mayor votes only to break a tie, how do you compute a two-thirds majority for a zoning amendment under Minn. Stat. § 462.357?
Three affirmative votes (out of the four non-mayor council members). The AG concluded the mayor is not counted in computing a two-thirds majority unless an actual tie vote arises. The Minnetonka Beach…
Does a Minnesota hospital district created under Minn. Stat. § 447.31 have to follow the Uniform Municipal Contracting Law and put construction work out for sealed bids?
Yes, with limited exceptions for change-orders. The AG concluded that hospital districts under §§ 447.31 et seq. are municipal corporations and political subdivisions of the state under § 447.31, subd…
Can Texas require HMOs and PPOs to disclose their fee, bundling, and downcoding policies to doctors?
The Attorney General concluded that the prompt-payment provisions added to the Insurance Code in 1999 (article 3.70-3C, section 3A, and article 20A.18B) gave the Texas Commissioner of Insurance and th…
Can the Texas governor raise vehicle registration fees on his own to fund emergency services?
The Attorney General concluded that only the legislature may set, appropriate, allocate, and direct the use of state motor vehicle registration fees, so the governor may not raise or appropriate them …
Is the Texas racial profiling law unconstitutional because of its bill title?
The Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 1074, the 2001 law barring peace officers from racial profiling, is not unconstitutional for failing the "title" or "caption" requirement in article III…
Can a Texas private club scan a driver's license magnetic strip to build its membership list?
The Attorney General concluded that state law does not let a private club licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission use the magnetic strip on a member's driver's license to capture the membe…
Who owns a former Texas governor's records and are they still public when sent to a presidential library?
The Attorney General concluded that when a former governor sends his official records to an alternative archive (here, then-Governor George W. Bush designated the George Bush Presidential Library, a f…
After a Maryland county board of education's already-adopted budget turns out to have a much bigger surplus than expected from the prior year, can the county commissioners approve a budget amendment to add that extra local surplus money to school spending mid-year?
No, at least not in Frederick County. The opinion agreed with the County Attorney that a public local law generally bars the Frederick County Commissioners from increasing an already-adopted county bu…
Do Texas peace officers have to take radar and traffic-law training before they can enforce traffic laws?
The Attorney General concluded that, as the law stood in 2002, a peace officer was not required by section 644.101(d) of the Transportation Code to attend continuing education on enforcing traffic and…
How is the justice of the peace picked for a Texas county bail bond board, and can members be removed for missing meetings?
The Attorney General answered three questions about the El Paso County Bail Bond Board. First, the statute that lists a 'justice of the peace' as a board member does not say how that member is chosen,…
Can a Texas administrative law judge make a state agency pay the other side's attorney's fees?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) cannot order the Texas Department of Human Services to pay a licensee's attorney's fees after dismissing an actio…
Can Delaware's 60-day deadline to sue over a records denial stop the Attorney General from investigating an older complaint?
No, under the law as it stood in 2002. The AG concluded that FOIA's 60-day deadline only limits when citizens can sue in court, not when the Attorney General can investigate, and separately found that…
Can a Texas city spend its 4B economic development sales tax on a park or youth sports field?
The Attorney General concluded that the Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation could not use its section 4B sales and use tax to build a youth league football field at the city park, because…
When does a portable concrete crusher or batch plant need public notice to relocate under the Texas Clean Air Act?
The Attorney General answered several questions about 2001 amendments to the Texas Clean Air Act. The notice exemption in Health and Safety Code section 382.056(r)(1) lets a portable facility relocate…
Can a Texas school district join with cities and counties in a political subdivision corporation to buy electricity in bulk?
Not for a contract worth $25,000 or more over a twelve-month period. The Attorney General concluded that Education Code section 44.031 gives a school district an exclusive list of nine purchasing meth…
Can a Texas school district ban corporal punishment and set its own rules for physically restraining students?
Generally yes. The Attorney General concluded that a policy prohibiting corporal punishment and spelling out when staff may physically restrain a student fell within a Texas school district's authorit…
Can the same person be a county treasurer and a school board trustee in Texas at the same time?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that one person could hold both offices at once. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution bars holding two civil 'offices of emolument' (paid offices) at t…
Can the Texas Commission for the Blind sign federal vending-facility contracts that put state money at risk?
Yes, on the terms the opinion described. The Texas Commission for the Blind contracts with the federal government under the Randolph-Sheppard Act to run vending facilities (including military cafeteri…
Can a Texas city's economic-development sales tax pay for a road to undeveloped commercial property?
It can, if the road promotes business development. Lake Jackson voters approved a half-cent 4B sales tax under the Development Corporation Act of 1979 to fund infrastructure for new or expanded busine…
Does the Office of State Personnel's career banding project, which regroups job classifications into bands with associated salary ranges for State Personnel Commission positions, require formal APA rulemaking before implementation?
No. § 150B-2(8a)(i) excludes 'job classification standards, job qualifications, and salaries established for positions under the jurisdiction of the State Personnel Commission' from the APA definition…
Who owns portable horse stalls bought with state-fair track-fund money, the Fair, the Racing Commission, or the horse owners?
The Oregon State Fair controls the portable horse stalls and the State of Oregon owns them. ORS 462.057(1)(c)(F)'s special track fund did not transfer ownership to horse owners, trainers, or breeders.
Does Delaware's open meeting law require a public body to move a meeting to a bigger room if a large crowd is expected?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 2002. The AG concluded that if a public body has reason to expect a large turnout, FOIA requires it to find a larger meeting space, though a speaker system in an adjo…
Does a county attorney violate Delaware's open meeting law by privately consulting outside individuals while drafting a redistricting ordinance?
No, under the law as it stood in 2002. The AG found the Sussex County Attorney's private consultations with an elections official and an independent consultant while drafting a redistricting ordinance…
If Oregon's legislature cuts funding for the state/county community corrections partnership, can counties walk away from supervising felony offenders and hand them back to the state?
The AG concluded that counties could not invoke the SB 1145 opt-out provision in response to a legislative budget rebalance that merely eliminated an inflation adjustment, because the statutory opt-ou…
In Minnesota, can a school district agree through collective bargaining to pay a teacher's health insurance premiums and retirement contributions while the teacher is on an extended leave of absence, or reimburse the teacher for those costs?
No. The AG concluded that Minn. Stat. § 122A.46 conditions continuation of insurance and retirement credit during extended leave on the teacher (not the district) paying the premiums and the employee …
Can a Texas public board hold an official meeting outside the United States?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits the University of Texas System Board of Regents from holding a meeting of a quorum of its members in Mexico. The Act assum…
Where do I file a UCC termination statement in Texas, with the county clerk or the Secretary of State?
With whichever office holds the original. The Attorney General concluded that under Business and Commerce Code section 9.707(e), if a financing statement was originally filed with the county clerk bef…
Can a Texas city block a sexually oriented business near a church that sits just outside the city limits?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that under section 243.003(b) of the Local Government Code, a city may enforce its sexually oriented business ordinance to keep such a business away from a church, …
Can a Texas state board award a grant to one of its own members or to a university that employs a member?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a grant from the Texas Council on Environmental Technology is a contractual relationship governed by the strict common-law conflict-of-interest rule, which flat…
Can a not-for-profit childcare center at a New York State facility charge state employees and SUNY students less than the general public without losing its not-for-profit status?
Yes. Charging dual rates did not jeopardize the not-for-profit status of state-facility childcare centers under the New York Not-For-Profit Corporation Law, as long as any profits supported the corpor…
Are HOPE Scholarship and HOPE Grant recipients subject to the Fair and Open Grants Act, which regulates state grants?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that the Fair and Open Grants Act applies to grants for 'public' entities, not for private citizens. HOPE Scholarships, HOPE Grants, and other state scholarship programs t…
Can the University of North Carolina (or some of its constituent campuses) offer a cafeteria-style flexible benefits plan that lets employees pay dependent health coverage premiums on a pre-tax basis, when state law forbids state employee benefit plans from duplicating coverage offered by the State Health Plan?
No. § 116-17.2 and § 143-34.1(d) prohibit UNC benefit plans from including benefits that duplicate those provided to employees under Chapter 135, including the State Health Plan's dependent coverage. …
Does redistricting cut short a Texas justice of the peace's four-year term?
No. The Attorney General concluded that under article V, section 18(c) of the Texas Constitution, a justice of the peace elected to a four-year term is entitled to serve out that full term in the prec…
Is a charitable sweepstakes fundraiser run by a Texas nonprofit legal?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the described 'charitable sweepstakes fundraising program' run by a private nonprofit was an illegal lottery under article III, section 47 of the Texas Constitu…
Can a Texas county dictate the emergency light color on tow trucks doing police-ordered tows?
Yes, in Harris County and for nonconsent (police-ordered) tows. The Attorney General concluded that Harris County, which has special statutory authority over towing and storage, may by rule or ordinan…
Can a charity give away a raffle ticket as a prize at a bingo game in Texas?
Probably not, and doing so could be a crime. The Attorney General concluded that awarding a raffle ticket as a bingo prize could violate Penal Code section 47.03, which bars transferring for gain any …
Who manages activities in the Penobscot River Corridor inside Baxter State Park, the Baxter Park Authority or the Bureau of Parks and Lands?
Deputy Attorney General Paul Stern advised that, consistent with Governor Percival Baxter's deeds of trust, the Baxter State Park Authority oversees all activities (including recreational ones) within…
Does a county council's lunch meeting with an outside group count as a public meeting under Delaware's open meeting law?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 2002. The AG found a lunch between Sussex County Council members and a land trust group was part of a public meeting because it was listed on the meeting's agenda, so…
Can a New York county require fingerprinting and criminal background checks for nursing home and personal care employees, including those at private nursing homes?
Mixed. The county could require fingerprinting and criminal history checks for its own county-owned nursing home employees and (with state Department of Health approval) for personal care contractors …
Can the same person serve as both a water district commissioner and a fire district commissioner in New York when the two districts contract for hydrants and water service?
Yes, but conditionally. One person could hold both offices if matters affecting both districts came up rarely. He or she had to recuse on the hydrant contract, water sales, and backflow testing. If co…
Must a New York city publish its plumbing regulations as a chapter of the city code, and can a building inspector handle plumbing inspections when the plumbing inspector is unavailable?
The city did not have to keep plumbing rules in the City Code: a separately published pamphlet of rules from the plumbing board satisfied General City Law § 44(3). And a building inspector could perfo…
Does the Georgia Department of Corrections have to pay county jails for housing probationers who are awaiting transfer to a probation detention center or diversion center?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that the county-reimbursement statute (O.C.G.A. § 42-5-51(c)) covers only felony inmates serving sentences of incarceration. Probationers awaiting transfer to probation de…
Do new Texas bail bond license requirements apply to an application filed before the law took effect?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the work-experience and continuing-education eligibility requirements Senate Bill 1119 added to section 1704.152(a)(4) of the Occupations Code applied only to a…
Who controls the content of Texas's statewide student tests, the State Board of Education or the Education Agency?
The Texas Education Agency, not the State Board of Education. The Attorney General concluded that while the State Board's job under section 39.022 of the Education Code is to create and implement the …
When you cancel a Texas prepaid funeral plan, do you get back half the earnings on your money?
Only if the plan is trust-funded. The Attorney General concluded that the 2001 amendment to section 154.155(d) of the Finance Code, which lets a purchaser who cancels a prepaid funeral benefits contra…
Can a Texas county commissioners court create its own courthouse police force?
Not on its own authority. The Attorney General concluded that article 102.017 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a commissioners court spend the courthouse security fund to pay for security servic…
Under North Carolina's 2001 MBE construction-contracting law, does each state agency receiving construction money have to develop its own minority-business outreach plan, or can the Department of Administration write one plan covering all of them?
Each public entity must develop its own outreach plan. The 2001 Session Laws use 'public entity' to mean every elected or appointed authority with legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administr…
Does a Texas oil or gas well location have to be measured by a licensed land surveyor?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying could not require every proposed well location filed with the Railroad Commission to be surveyed by a registered …
Can a city council member appoint himself to a board the council fills?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a member of the Watauga City Council could not appoint himself to the board of directors of the Watauga Crime Control and Prevention District. Because the counc…
Does an assistant prosecutor's longevity-pay service credit carry over between Texas counties?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that 'lifetime service credit,' which determines longevity pay for assistant prosecutors under subchapter D of chapter 41 of the Government Code, does not have to b…
Does a New York village trustee who owns property in a Business Improvement District have a conflict of interest that requires recusal on the BID budget vote?
It depends on the size of the trustee's stake. The AG laid out a Tuxedo-Parker framework: if the trustee's interest in the BID budget outcome is substantial and direct (large property holding, a propo…
Can a New York village design review board include a practicing architect whose firm occasionally has projects before the board?
Yes. The architect did not have to resign as long as his firm's projects came before the board only rarely (about once a year). On those occasions he had to recuse entirely. If conflicts became freque…
Can a New York city building department typist also serve on the same city's zoning board of appeals?
No. The AG concluded the positions were incompatible because the typist's supervisor (the building inspector and zoning administrator) had determinations subject to review by the zoning board, creatin…
Can a New York city pass a local law letting its city court judge live in the county instead of the city?
No. The AG concluded a city may not adopt a local law inconsistent with Public Officers Law § 3 and Uniform City Court Act § 2104, which require a city court judge to reside in the city. Even if those…
What is a Certificate of Review, and what did the Idaho AG do with the 2002 ballot initiative to reinstate state term limits?
This is a Certificate of Review, the advisory review the Idaho AG must issue under Idaho Code § 34-1809 before a ballot initiative circulates. It concerns the 'Idaho State Term Limits Act of 2002.' A …
Can a deceased Texas bail bondsman's relative keep running the business without a new license?
No. The Attorney General concluded that section 1704.152(c)(2) of the Occupations Code excuses the close relative or surviving spouse of a deceased bail bond licensee only from the work-experience and…
Can a Texas county fax an elected officer the written notice of their proposed salary?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 152.013 of the Local Government Code requires only that the commissioners court give each elected county and precinct officer 'written notice' of the s…
What does 'rehabilitation' legally mean for Texas blind services run by the Commission for the Blind?
The Attorney General gave the statutory definition: under chapter 91 of the Human Resources Code, 'vocational rehabilitation' or 'vocational rehabilitation services' means services the Commission for …
Can the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for hospital data instead of using the open records fee schedule?
Yes, for two kinds of data. The Attorney General concluded that section 108.012(b) of the Health and Safety Code specifically lets the Texas Health Care Information Council set its own fees for public…
Is a Texas county on-site sewage (septic) system inspector a peace officer?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the designated representative of an authorized agent (here, Hale County) of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, working under chapter 366 of the…
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.