State AG Opinions
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What recourse did a Myrtle Beach records requester have when the city failed to answer?
The AG said the city had to respond within the statutory period and a requester could ask circuit court to enforce the Freedom of Information Act. It could not determine the disclosure status of…
Could Florence County Council use budget lines to control an elected treasurer’s staff?
The AG said county council had broad budget authority but had to fund elected offices sufficiently to perform their duties. It could not use its employment power to hire or fire staff under an…
If a payday lender takes an electronic debit instead of a paper check, do Tennessee's payday-loan rules still apply?
No. The AG concluded that 'check' under Tennessee's Deferred Presentment Services Act (the state's payday-loan statute) means a conventional paper check signed by the maker. Electronic fund…
If a city owns a museum but runs it through a partnership with a nonprofit, does the state's blind-vendor preference still apply to the gift-shop snack bar?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Blind Vendors Program reaches any vending facility on city- or county-owned property, even if the property is run jointly with a nonprofit. The city or county also…
What can a Texas city do if no local newspaper qualifies to publish its legal notices?
The Attorney General concluded that a newspaper used to publish a political subdivision's official notices must meet the requirements of Government Code section 2051.044, including holding a…
Can a Texas court order emergency medical treatment of a jail inmate under Health and Safety Code 773.008?
The Attorney General concluded that section 773.008(2) of the Health and Safety Code does not, by itself, give a court of record the authority to order emergency medical treatment of a local jail…
Can Shelby County, a Tennessee charter county, shorten one term of the county Assessor from four years to two years through a charter referendum so that the Assessor election cycle aligns with other county offices?
The AG concluded yes. The four-year-term requirement in Tenn. Const. art. VII, § 1, paragraph 1 does not apply to charter counties created under paragraph 3 of the same section, per Jordan v. Knox…
Can a Tennessee county commission, on its own authority, close several public schools and consolidate them into one to free up the savings for debt service payments?
The AG concluded no. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-203 assigns the power to manage, control, close, and consolidate public schools to the local board of education, not the county commission. A decision to…
Could a judge suspend the fine for a third driving-under-suspension offense?
The AG said yes under the 2010 amendment it examined. The restriction on suspending imprisonment or home detention did not also bar a trial judge from suspending the specified fine.
Could a swimmer be charged for blocking access to a public boat ramp?
The AG said a person swimming in a way that obstructed a boat ramp or its access area could fall under the statute. It left whether a particular swimmer actually obstructed access, and whether to…
Would the 2011 Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act, which prohibits Tennessee cities and counties from adding antidiscrimination protections beyond what state law recognizes, conflict with the contract authority of municipalities under Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-2-201, and would its retroactive nullification of existing local ordinances violate the federal or state contract clauses?
The AG concluded no on both fronts. The Bill does not conflict with the general municipal contracting authority in § 6-2-201, and even if it did, a later-enacted specific statute controls over an…
Could a Kentucky county or city ban all pain clinics by ordinance?
The AG concluded that a proposed ordinance banning pain clinics exceeded a Kentucky city or county's authority. State law already comprehensively regulated medical practice and controlled…
Can a Florida city charter require voter approval before changing or repealing an ordinance the voters enacted?
The Attorney General's office declined to rule on the validity of an existing Treasure Island charter clause requiring voter approval to amend or repeal voter-enacted ordinances, because it presumes…
Could South Carolina’s corrections director revise the drugs used in a lethal injection protocol?
The AG said the director had authority to establish and revise reasonable lethal-injection rules, including drug protocols. It said specific notice of drug changes to the inmate or counsel was…
Can a Florida officer pat down a truant or runaway minor for weapons before driving them, without suspecting a weapon?
Yes. Attorney General Pam Bondi concluded that an officer who has taken a truant or other minor into custody under section 984.13 and must transport them may perform a limited weapons frisk before…
If a tax certificate is sold after a tax-deed application but before the sale, how is that lien handled?
A tax certificate sold after someone applies for a tax deed but before the sale is a first lien on the property and is not included in the minimum opening bid under section 197.502(6). It survives…
Did Pendleton have to operate its own police force or buy a set minimum of county policing?
The AG said it knew of no state requirement that an existing town operate its own police force or provide a fixed minimum level of service. The sheriff’s countywide patrol duty remained, but…
Can a Florida city appoint one of its own commissioners to serve on a special district's board of directors?
The Attorney General's office declined to rule for the Valparaiso commission, but offered general guidance: the Florida Supreme Court has held no Florida common-law rule bars a governmental body…
Where did fines imposed by the Workers’ Compensation Commission go?
The AG said commission-imposed sanctions under the provision at issue funded commission salaries and expenses. It read the separate general-fund direction as applying to Department of Insurance…
Did existing interbasin-transfer permits survive South Carolina’s new water-withdrawal law?
The AG reaffirmed that an existing interbasin-transfer permit or registration remained effective for its term. It read the Act as barring those holders from filing a new surface-water withdrawal…
Could a South Carolina senator also serve on the Uniform Law Commission?
The AG said yes. A senator held public office, but the state uniform-law commission role was advisory and did not exercise state sovereign power, so the combination did not violate the dual-office…
What can a Tennessee county do when a utility district inside it fails to provide service or operates at a substantial loss? Can the county dissolve the district, take over its service area, assume its debts, or force it into receivership?
The AG concluded that (1) a county legislative body has no unilateral authority to dissolve a utility district; only the district itself can initiate dissolution by transferring to a city or county…
Could Maine's LD 340 constitutionally bar federally certified foreign workers from working in timber harvesting on Maine state lands?
No. The AG concluded LD 340 was unconstitutional on two grounds: federal preemption (because the federal foreign-worker certification program already determines who can lawfully work in U.S. timber…
Was the South Lynches Fire District invalid because a special act created it?
The AG withdrew its earlier view that the district’s enabling act was probably unconstitutional. Because the fire district covered parts of two counties, the AG believed a court would uphold the act…
Can a Virginia city keep the money collected from red-light camera tickets, or does it have to go to the state Literary Fund?
The city can keep it. Red-light camera penalties under § 15.2-968.1 are civil monetary penalties, not criminal fines. The Virginia Constitution requires only criminal fines for offenses against the…
Could Maryland require local government approval before awarding affordable housing benefits?
The Attorney General concluded that the local government endorsement requirement used by Maryland's housing department for two affordable rental housing programs did not violate the State…
Does a zoning appeal stop a planning commission from hearing a separate extension request?
The AG said no under the Jasper County facts. The appeal challenged the zoning director’s decision that a nonconforming use had ceased; the planning commission’s separate question was whether to…
Could South Carolina officials remove a city council member for missing meetings?
The AG found no constitutional or statutory provision allowing removal of a city council member for absenteeism on the facts presented. Because it found no removal authority, it did not answer who…
Would Tennessee's 2011 voter photo ID bill (HB 0007/SB 0016), which requires in-person voters to show photo identification but does not provide a free state-issued ID for those who lack one, survive constitutional challenge as a poll tax under the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and Equal Protection Clause?
The AG concluded that the bill, as drafted, would likely be struck down as a poll tax. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana's photo ID law in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board (2008) only…
Can Tennessee terminate a parent's rights under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113(g)(6) for a long criminal sentence imposed while the child was under 8, even after the parent has finished the sentence and been released?
The AG concluded yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-1-113(g)(6) requires only that the parent was confined under a sentence of ten or more years entered when the child was under eight; the statute does not…
Would Tennessee's 2011 Exclusionary Rule Reform Act (HB 401), which would let courts admit search-warrant evidence despite statutory or Rule 41 violations as long as the error was a 'good faith mistake or technical violation' and no constitutional rights were violated, survive constitutional review?
The AG concluded the bill is constitutional. It does not purport to admit evidence obtained in violation of the U.S. or Tennessee constitutions, so it does not create a statutory good-faith…
Can the Tennessee legislature require the governor to give 10 days' notice to the attorney general, district attorney general, and the victim before announcing a grant of clemency (reprieve, pardon, commutation, or exoneration)?
The AG concluded that the bill is unconstitutional as applied to reprieves, pardons, and commutations because those are powers vested in the governor alone by Tenn. Const. art. III, § 6 and the…
What did Idaho's AG certify about the 2011 referendum on Senate Bill 1184, the Luna Law on laptops and online graduation requirements?
The AG certified the referendum petition for form. SB 1184 had passed both houses and been signed. The bill had a phased effective date: most sections take effect July 1, 2011; some on July 1, 2012.
Would a proposed South Carolina canal-dredging permit exemption violate special-legislation or equal-protection rules?
The AG predicted that both versions of the proposed exemption would survive those challenges. Based on facts supplied to the office, it understood the proposals to apply in practice to Cherry Grove…
Did South Carolina’s boat property-tax day count depend on whether an individual held the title?
The AG said no. Under the statute as it read in 2011, a qualifying boat became taxable after the specified number of days in South Carolina regardless of how it was titled; the opinion did not…
Can a Virginia citizen carry a firearm for personal protection into a place of worship during services?
Yes. The AG concluded that carrying a weapon for personal protection is a 'good and sufficient reason' under Va. Code § 18.2-283 to bring a weapon into a place of worship during religious meetings.…
Can a Virginia water authority put a lien on a rental property for the tenant's unpaid water bill?
Yes. The Dinwiddie County Water Authority can record a lien for up to three months of unpaid charges without first obtaining a judgment or trying to collect from the tenant, as long as it followed…
Could Orangeburg collect DNA samples from everyone it arrested under its own local program?
The AG said no. It concluded that South Carolina’s DNA database act impliedly preempted a municipal collection program extending beyond the people the state act covered, and it did not answer the…
Did stealing a catalytic converter count as breaking into a motor vehicle under South Carolina law?
The AG said the vehicle-breaking statute required proof of breaking or attempting to break into the vehicle or one of its compartments; taking an exterior part alone did not establish that element.…
Could South Carolina courts put DMV driver photographs on warrants that might become public?
The AG said the DMV could share photographs with the courts under their arrangement, and the courts could redisclose them for a permitted purpose such as making court documents public in the…
When did South Carolina’s violent-crime driver-license code apply, and could the DMV disclose it?
The AG read the 2010 act to apply when conviction or a qualifying plea occurred on or after July 1, 2011, regardless of when the offense occurred. It said the DMV would have to disclose the code…
Can a Texas school district run an on-site health clinic for its employees alongside TRS coverage?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district operating an on-site health clinic that provides optional, direct healthcare services to employees is not offering 'group health coverage,' so…
Can a Texas county make volunteer assistant fire marshals reserve law enforcement officers?
The Attorney General concluded that a volunteer assistant fire marshal is not, just by virtue of the appointment, a reserve law enforcement officer. The Legislature defined 'reserve law enforcement…
Could the South Carolina Forestry Commission bar bicycles from forest roads open to cars and pedestrians?
The AG said the commission could not exclude otherwise lawful cycling from the roads described, where cars and pedestrians were permitted, without another ground in state law or its regulations. The…
Can a Delaware state employee's building access badge records be kept secret from a FOIA requester?
Yes, in this opinion. The AG held that a Department of Labor employee's badge-entry dates and times were exempt under FOIA's security exception because disclosure could endanger safety. The…
Does Virginia's ban on Sunday hunting violate the state constitutional right to hunt and fish?
No. Article XI, § 4 of the Virginia Constitution protects the right to hunt and fish but expressly allows the General Assembly to regulate it. The Sunday hunting ban in § 29.1-521(A) predates the…
What does Senate Bill 1111 do to Virginia's coal tax credit redemption rules?
If enacted, SB 1111 sets a July 1, 2016 sunset on coal-economic-interest holders' ability to redeem credits with the Tax Commissioner. After that date, only the electricity generators that earned…
Could a county elections director also serve on the Greenville-Spartanburg airport commission?
The AG saw no conflict of interest apparent from the two positions and no dual-office violation because the director position was ordinarily employment rather than a public office. It did not…
Can the Georgia Aviation Authority share in proceeds from drug forfeitures under O.C.G.A. § 16-13-49?
No. The Georgia Aviation Authority is not a 'law enforcement agency' within the meaning of O.C.G.A. § 16-13-49 because its primary purpose is to operate and maintain state aviation assets, not to…
What counts as an 'enacted revenue measure' for the Texas State Highway Fund rail appropriation?
The Attorney General concluded that 'enacted revenue measures' in article IX, section 17.10(b)(1) of the 2010-2011 General Appropriations Act means any legislative enactment that provides incoming…
Can a Texas city spend leftover hotel occupancy tax money on general city expenses?
The Attorney General concluded that hotel occupancy tax revenue collected under chapter 351 of the Tax Code must be spent only as that chapter allows, and that chapter 351 bars using the revenue,…
Can a Texas city force a school district to pay for infrastructure like a waterline by ordinance?
The Attorney General gave a layered answer. If the City of Eagle Pass ordinance imposes an 'impact fee' under chapter 395 of the Local Government Code, the school district does not have to pay it…
Could Darlington police visit registered sex offenders to verify their reported addresses?
The AG said local police, working with the sheriff, could make the described residence checks twice monthly at reasonable hours to verify registry addresses, without imposing duties beyond existing…
Could the South Carolina State Library refuse an inmate’s information request or disclose a prison employee’s home address?
The AG said the State Library had to serve incarcerated residents seeking public information as it served others, while evaluating employee-address requests individually and protecting unlisted or…
Could a South Carolina state constable also serve on a town or county council?
The AG said the state constitution’s dual-office ban did not bar the combination. A council seat counted as an office, but constables were expressly exempt from that ban; the opinion addressed dual…
Does complying with South Carolina’s lobbyist-paid-meal rules rule out a bribery violation?
No. The AG said the lobbyist-principal benefit rule and the separate statute against giving or receiving something of value to influence official duties each applied on its own terms. Whether the…
Which convictions counted as violent crimes for South Carolina’s 2010 driver-license code?
The AG said Act 277 used the older crime-of-violence definition in § 16-23-10(3), not the separate general list in § 16-1-60. It predicted inclusion of all burglaries, armed and strong-arm robbery,…
Can a Delaware agency's slow FOIA response mean records are lost to routine email purging?
Partly, the AG found. DelDOT violated FOIA by giving a reporter a summary instead of the actual records, by not searching thoroughly enough at first, and especially by waiting too long to ask the…
Would Tennessee's 2011 proposed Uniform Access, Competition and Consumer Fairness Act, which would force intrastate phone switched-access rates down to interstate levels, amount to an unconstitutional confiscatory taking of telecom company property?
The AG concluded that on its face the bill is not an unconstitutional taking: rate regulation of public utilities is constitutionally permitted so long as rates are not confiscatory, and the bill…
Can one person be both a water district's general manager and a city's city manager in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that the common-law doctrine of incompatibility does not prevent the general manager of a water district from also serving as the city manager of a home-rule city. The…
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