State AG Opinions
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Can a Florida city pass an ordinance giving bidding preference to local contractors and businesses?
Generally yes. In informal comments to a legislator, the Attorney General's office explained that Florida municipalities have broad home rule powers and that a Florida appellate court has already…
Can a Texarkana, Texas council member also be a paid firefighter across the line in Arkansas?
The Attorney General concluded that nothing in the two doctrines raised would generally bar a Texarkana, Texas city council member from also working as a paid firefighter for Texarkana, Arkansas. A…
Can a Texas residential appliance installer do electrical work on commercial pools?
The Attorney General concluded that a 'residential appliance installer' licensed under chapter 1305 of the Occupations Code may work only on residential pools, those installed as a unit in a…
Does county civil service protection cover a court investigator appointed by a probate judge in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a court investigator appointed by a statutory county probate judge IS covered by the Tarrant County civil service system. Chapter 158 of the Local Government Code…
Can a Texas school district use free open-source textbooks to satisfy the state's classroom set requirement?
The Attorney General answered seven of the State Board of Education's eight questions about 2009 changes to the Education Code. The big points: a university 'open-source' textbook (a free,…
Could a California high-speed rail board member also serve as a local mayor or transportation board member?
The 2010 opinion said no for the four offices it examined: Anaheim mayor and seats on three named transportation boards. It concluded that accepting a second incompatible office forfeited the first…
When a quorum of a Washington city council shows up at a noticed standing-committee meeting, does that count as a separate council meeting needing its own special-meeting notice under the Open Public Meetings Act?
Yes, if the council members take action while at the committee meeting. A quorum's mere presence is not enough, but if the assembled council members deliberate, discuss, take testimony, or otherwise…
Did the SC AG decide whether hospital nurses could administer propofol under federal anesthesia rules?
The AG kept its earlier conclusion about what South Carolina law allowed in most instances, but identified a possible conflict with federal hospital anesthesia rules. It said only a court could…
When a Tennessee court reporter has a conflict of interest under Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-9-136, how quickly do they have to disclose it, and is disclosure at the deposition enough?
The AG read 'timely fashion' in Tenn. Code Ann. § 24-9-136(b)(1) to require that potential conflicts be brought to the parties' attention as soon as reasonably possible, by analogy to the…
How much can a Virginia sheriff charge for serving a writ of possession or fieri facias?
$25 for a writ of possession (with an extra $12 for each additional defendant), and $12 per person served for a writ of fieri facias.
When can a Virginia school principal or teacher search a student's cell phone, and what should they do if they find sexual images of a minor?
School staff may search a student's phone or laptop based on reasonable suspicion that the student is violating the law or school rules. If they find sexual images of a minor, they should stop…
Could a special taxing district receive Maryland highway user revenue for private community roads?
The Attorney General concluded that the Calvert County special taxing districts described could not receive State highway user revenues directly for roads that remained private. The roads had to be…
Could South Carolina DMV take free queue screens and maintenance in return for commercial ads?
The AG predicted a court would allow the DMV to receive queue equipment and service in exchange for ad time under the agency powers it identified. It also said a contract of at least fifteen hundred…
Could a South Carolina town limit yard campaign signs to the 30 days before an election and seven days after it?
The AG thought courts would find a political-sign-only time limit unconstitutional if comparable signs could remain up year-round. But only a court could invalidate the Cheraw ordinance, so the AG…
Who owed property tax that accrued while a tax-sale buyer waited through South Carolina's redemption period?
The AG said the defaulting taxpayer, rather than the tax-sale buyer, owed property tax during the redemption period. The owner kept title and possession until that period expired; the buyer's…
Did different handling of a medical child support order by DSS and family court make the order enforceable?
The AG declined to decide the specific order because an appeal was pending. It said DSS's child support enforcement division had to follow the medical support statutes and federal rules, while…
Which 2010 Georgia misdemeanors did the Attorney General designate as fingerprintable?
Of 21 reviewed offenses, the AG designated 4: carrying weapons in unauthorized locations under § 16-11-127, scanning a driver's license without consent under § 40-5-120(5), causing serious injury…
Can the surviving spouse of a Texas officer killed in the line of duty buy health insurance if they had not enrolled before the death?
The Attorney General declined to decide this one. Chapter 615 of the Government Code lets an eligible surviving spouse 'purchase continued health insurance benefits' from the deceased officer's…
Does a Texas home-rule city have to pay impact fees charged by another local government?
The Attorney General concluded that a political subdivision, including a home-rule city, must pay impact fees imposed by another political subdivision under chapter 395 of the Local Government Code.…
Who issues the final decision in Texas motor vehicle dealer cases, the DMV Board or the division director?
The Attorney General answered three questions from the new Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board. First, the Board issues the final order in contested cases under Occupations Code chapter 2301…
Can a Texas 4A economic development corporation use sales tax money to help an affordable housing nonprofit?
The Attorney General did not give a yes or no. A 4A (now 'Type A') economic development corporation can spend its sales tax revenue only on 'authorized projects' as defined in the Development…
Can a civilian police review board look at officers' personnel files in Texas?
The Attorney General did not give a yes or no. Local Government Code section 143.089(g) lets a police or fire department keep an internal personnel file 'for the department's use' and flatly bars…
Must a Texas county attorney represent the county ethics commission, or can it hire its own lawyer?
The Attorney General concluded that the El Paso County Attorney is required by Local Government Code section 161.061 to represent the El Paso County Ethics Commission in all legal matters, and that…
Was a $100-entry essay contest awarding a house an illegal South Carolina lottery?
The AG said the described house contest was an illegal lottery. A house was the prize, each entry cost $100, and vague judging criteria about writing skill and who would benefit most left the winner…
Can a Virginia sheriff serve truancy meeting notices on parents at the school's request, without a court order?
Yes. A sheriff can assist a school division with enforcing compulsory attendance laws by serving notice of a truancy meeting on a parent or custodian, as long as the school board, division…
Can a Tennessee county or city ban beer sales through a drive-through window or curb service?
Counties outside metropolitan governments (Class A counties) cannot. Cities, towns, and metropolitan-government counties (Class B counties) can ban drive-through beer sales. The Tennessee AG…
Could a South Carolina mayor hire an outside lawyer at city expense without council approval?
Generally, the AG said no for a council-manager city: the council controlled retention of outside counsel. The opinion recognized a narrow good-faith exception for extenuating circumstances and said…
Did a Delaware high school athletic association violate open-meetings law by giving only one day's notice of a special board meeting?
No, the AG found. DIAA's posted notice listed the wrong date, but state records confirmed it actually went up on the website 24 hours before the meeting as FOIA requires, and DIAA's boilerplate…
Could South Carolina’s Human Affairs Commission be liable for not enforcing a duty the legislature left unfunded?
The AG thought the commission likely could not be held liable for failure to perform statutory enforcement duties when no appropriation covered their cost. It predicted a court would view the…
Can Delaware's public records law reach University of Delaware research records if state money didn't pay for the project itself?
No, the AG found. University of Delaware records are public only if they relate to the expenditure of public funds, and because no state or local funds paid for the Lewes wind turbine project…
Does a Virginia emergency vehicle driver always have to use both lights and a siren to qualify for the exemption from traffic-law prosecution?
No. The driver only has to use the lights or siren 'as may be reasonably necessary.' Both phrases are modified by that qualifier, so neither is mandatory in every circumstance.
Can a Virginia driver's license be issued, kept, or canceled based on someone's federal Employment Authorization Document?
DMV gets to decide whether the EAD alone counts as proof of lawful status (it can refuse it). Once a license is issued, DMV cannot cancel it based on later deportation, but at renewal it can require…
Can a long-serving Virginia town attorney who worked under a contract be enrolled in the state retirement system as a retirement honor?
No. The town attorney served as an independent contractor, not an employee or officer, so he is ineligible for VRS benefits even with the town council's blessing.
Can a Virginia board of supervisors reduce a school board appropriation it has already made, by passing a later budget amendment?
No. Once a county board of supervisors actually appropriates funds to the school board (as opposed to merely adopting a budget), it cannot unilaterally reduce that appropriation. The school board…
Could a South Carolina coroner release a victim’s body after preserving forensic evidence under the 2010 Act?
The AG said customary forensic techniques, including sampling, swabbing, and photography, could satisfy the Preservation of Evidence Act if the required evidence was preserved with proper chain of…
Does a city have to follow CRA public-notice rules to lease city land that sits in a redevelopment area but was bought for other reasons?
No. The 30-day public-notice procedure in section 163.380(3)(a) applies to property acquired for community redevelopment. It does not reach city-owned land that happens to sit inside a redevelopment…
Could police return a robbery victim’s checkbook and cash without violating South Carolina evidence law?
The AG said personal items could be returned after reasonable forensic collection and preservation consistent with the Act, evidence rules, and chain of custody. It declined to decide whether the…
Could a South Carolina coroner release a crime victim’s body to a funeral home after preserving evidence?
The AG said the body had to be released for burial once the coroner fully met the Preservation of Evidence Act’s duties. The coroner had to determine whether required physical and biological…
Could a South Carolina county bury an unclaimed body in another county at county expense?
The AG said the paying county’s coroner could release the unclaimed remains for burial in another county because it found no statutory prohibition. It acknowledged the absence of an absolute answer…
Could the Tennessee legislature give the Court of the Judiciary the power to dock a misbehaving judge's pay or fine the judge up to $25,000?
No to both. The Tennessee AG concluded in 2010 that either change would run into Article VI, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution, which requires judicial compensation to be 'ascertained by law'…
Under the 2010 NC public-records amendments, what salary, promotion, and disciplinary-dismissal records do public employers have to keep open for inspection, and do they have to dig up information from before October 1, 2010?
Public employers must now keep open for inspection each employee's full salary and position-classification history with that employer, plus a general description of the reasons for each promotion.…
How are vacancies filled on a multicounty water control district board, by appointment or by special election?
Apparently by special election. After a 2009 amendment, the East County Water Control District's act says vacancies are filled under section 189.405(3)(a), which routes the popularly elected board…
Can a Florida city spend leftover garbage-collection impact fees on other utilities, or does it have to refund them?
No to both shifting and refunding. Impact fees the City of Wildwood collected for refuse collection must be spent on refuse and other solid-waste purposes, not on unrelated utility services. And…
Can a Florida fire district buy a fire truck on an installment loan that lets the lender repossess it if the district defaults?
Not the way it was structured. The Dorcas Fire District may buy a fire truck on an installment sales contract if it has the funds for that year's payments, but without referendum approval it cannot…
Does Florida's Sunshine Law cover a private nonprofit that runs a county program, like a county-backed energy loan fund?
Yes. The Solar and Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County, a private nonprofit, has to follow Florida's open meetings law because the county delegated its energy-financing program to the fund. When a…
Did Florida's 2010 permit-extension law apply to building permits issued by cities, not just state permits?
Yes. The 2010 amendment to section 380.06 (Chapter 2010-147) applied to building permits issued by local governments, not just state-agency permits. It gave a two-year extension to permits with…
Does Florida require the Child Abuse Death Review Committee to make a full recording of its closed meetings?
Yes. Section 383.412 requires that all proceedings of the State Child Abuse Death Review Committee, including the closed portions, be recorded so the entire discussion is captured verbatim with…
If a Washington city sits in two counties (one with an EMS property tax and one without), must the city reduce its own EMS levy because of the one county's overlapping tax?
No. RCW 84.52.069(6) only addresses cities that lie entirely within one county. A city like Milton, which is divided between King County (which has its own EMS levy) and Pierce County (which does…
Can a Virginia debt note authorize a confession of judgment by 'any substitute' chosen later by the named attorney-in-fact?
No. Section 8.01-435 requires the attorney-in-fact to be specifically named in the note itself. A 'full power of substitution' clause that lets the named person hand off the role to an unnamed third…
Does a county sanitation authority have to review subdivision water and sewer construction plans, and is there a deadline?
Yes. When a county refers a subdivision's water or sewer construction plans to the sanitation authority for review, the authority has 45 days from receipt of the plans to approve or disapprove.
When a married homeowner applies for Virginia's elderly/disabled real estate tax relief, does the absent or separated spouse's net worth still count, even if the spouse isn't on the deed?
Yes. The applicant must report both spouses' net worth to determine net combined financial worth under § 58.1-3211(2), even if the spouses are separated or one has abandoned the other, and even if…
In a large Texas county, who chooses the outside lawyer for the county's lawsuits, the commissioners or the DA?
The Attorney General concluded that in Dallas County the line runs like this: the commissioners court decides whether to bring or defend a lawsuit, but Local Government Code section 89.001 makes the…
Can Texas require day-care workers to take more training hours than the statute's minimum?
The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely find that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services may, by rule, require more training hours for day-care center and group…
Who gets the money from phone cards sold in a Texas county jail commissary, the sheriff or the county?
The Attorney General concluded that revenue from prepaid phone cards sold in a county jail commissary should be credited to the sheriff, as sole custodian of the commissary fund, for the benefit of…
Could South Carolina’s parole board revote just because a member wanted to change a completed vote?
The AG predicted a court would say no. Under the board’s operations manual, rehearing required one of the listed grounds, such as new misconduct, new charges, after-acquired information, unmet…
Could Aiken County area advisory councils hear student suspension and expulsion appeals under Senate Bill 442?
The AG said the councils already had authority to hear student-discipline grievances under the 1982 Aiken County school act. It predicted that Senate Bill 442, if passed, would leave that authority…
Can a Tennessee school board member who is also a law enforcement officer bring a firearm to a school board meeting held on school grounds?
Yes, with conditions. The Tennessee AG concluded in 2010 that an off-duty law enforcement officer could carry a firearm at a school board meeting on school property, unless federal law, a court…
If Tennessee broadened the fetal-victim definition in assault and homicide statutes to include nonviable fetuses, would that interfere with legal abortion?
The AG concluded no. HB 3495/SB 3699 would have broadened the category of fetal victims under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-107(a) and 39-13-214(a) to include nonviable fetuses, but the bill left intact…
Could Kentucky racing regulators search licensed trainers' vehicles and tack rooms without a warrant, and did that include dormitory rooms?
The AG concluded that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission could conduct reasonable warrantless administrative searches of licensees' property on association grounds, including vehicles, for…
Did a low winning bid remove Kentucky's prevailing-wage requirement when the public project's pre-bid estimate exceeded the threshold?
The AG said the public authority's estimated project cost submitted before bidding controlled the prevailing-wage threshold, rather than the final contract amount. Nicholasville's $307,026 estimate…
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