State AG Opinions
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Do TN state agencies have to get local air-pollution permits from cities and counties with certified local programs (Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby)?
No. Tennessee state agencies are not subject to local air-pollution-control permits, even in counties that operate certified local programs (Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby). The Tennessee Air…
Are the meetings of a private economic-development council's committees open to the public under Florida's Sunshine Law?
Yes. The AG concluded that the subcommittees of the Lake County Economic Development Advisory Council, though run by a private nonprofit, had to follow the Government in the Sunshine Law. The county…
Can Florida cities use local option fuel tax money to pay electric and water bills for street lights and traffic signals?
No. The AG concluded that local option fuel tax (LOFT) revenue under section 336.025 could not be used to pay the operational costs (electricity and water) of running street lights, traffic signals,…
Do city zoning and land use rules apply to a county fair association's grounds inside the city?
Yes. The AG concluded that the City of Brooksville's land use and zoning ordinances applied to property inside the city occupied and operated by the Hernando County Fair Association. Chapter 616,…
Did Beaufort have to answer a records request about retiree health premiums, and could it charge pre-65 retirees a different rate?
The Attorney General said the city had to respond to the written records request under the 2010 FOIA procedure and generally disclose nonexempt records it held. It did not view the separate pre-65…
Could Ridgeland use traffic cameras to issue ordinary speeding citations when an officer watched the video?
The Attorney General concluded that the 2010 legislation allowed photographic or video evidence for the specified traffic citations only during the stated emergency circumstances. An officer…
Who owned naturally accreted beachfront land at the south end of Pawleys Island?
The Attorney General concluded that the described accreted land belonged to South Carolina under the coastal statute, rather than to the private claimant merely because he paid taxes or used it. The…
After Senator Robert C. Byrd's death in 2010, did the Governor of West Virginia have legal authority to call a special election to fill the rest of his Senate term, and on what timetable?
Yes. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 3-10-3, read in light of the Seventeenth Amendment's command that Senate vacancies be filled by election, authorized Governor Manchin to proclaim a special…
Can a Virginia city's police department use license plate readers and police vehicles to distrain property and collect delinquent municipal accounts?
No. Virginia police officers have no general authority in civil matters and may not act as collection agents to seize property for unpaid city debts. Distraint must be carried out by the treasurer,…
Where does a Virginia circuit court clerk file a foreign spousal-support order that names no specific dollar amount?
Because the foreign judgment did not state a specific monetary amount, the Virginia circuit court clerk may enter it in the judgment docket, the order book, or any other record deemed suitable, in…
Do Florida police officers who work 911 dispatch have to be certified as public safety telecommunicators?
Yes, if their duties fit the definition. The AG concluded that under section 401.465(2)(a), as amended by Chapter 2010-188, any public agency employee whose duties include answering, receiving,…
What counts as a 'subcounty special district' for Florida's local tourist development tax?
The AG said the phrase 'subcounty special district' in section 125.0104(3)(b) is not defined, so it appears to mean any special district that meets the statute's requirement of embracing all or a…
When Washington timber-tax money runs short late in the year, can the county take back earlier payments to lower-priority taxing districts to pay higher-priority levies, or raise the school property tax rate mid-year to make up the gap?
No to both. Once timber excise tax revenues have been distributed quarterly to lower-priority taxing districts under RCW 84.33.081, the county cannot claw the money back to satisfy higher-priority…
Could an Oconee County tax committee disregard a property assessment appeals board decision after the appeal period passed?
The Attorney General concluded that the tax committee could not simply disregard the appeals board’s decision; a dissatisfied party had to use the proper appeal route. The office could not determine…
Is a Tennessee home-foundation 'warranty' against future settlement damage actually unlicensed insurance?
Yes, both. A standalone 'foundation warranty' against future vertical-settlement damage, where the underlying service is just inspection (no repair work), is a contract of insurance under Tennessee…
Could Richland County voter-registration board members also be county registration staff, and could the governor name the chair?
The Attorney General concluded that board members serving as county voter-registration employees created a self-appointment conflict and that a court would likely reject the ordinance treating them…
Can a New York town's fireworks-permit officer issue a permit for a private (non-public) fireworks display now that Penal Law § 405.00 was amended in 2009, even if the town's local fireworks law has not been updated?
Yes. Penal Law § 405.00 was amended in 2009 to allow permits for displays to municipalities, fair associations, amusement parks, persons, and organizations: eliminating the prior 'public displays…
When did a two-year period begin after an uninsured driver defaulted on an accident payment agreement in South Carolina?
The Attorney General deferred to DMV’s interpretation that the two-year period in the historical license-restoration provision began when the driver defaulted on the installment agreement, when…
Did HB 3646 require my Texas school district to give me both the state raise and my local salary-schedule step increase in 2010-2011?
Yes, both. The Attorney General concluded that under Education Code section 21.402, as amended by House Bill 3646, a district that had adopted a 2008-2009 local salary schedule had to pay an…
Does a Texas sheriff have a conflict of interest in accepting bail bonds if his stepson works for the bail bond company?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the conflict-of-interest provisions of Local Government Code section 171.004 do not apply to a sheriff's performance of his statutory bail-bond and forfeiture…
Could Ridgeland mail speeding tickets based on photo radar to drivers in 2010?
The Attorney General concluded that the 2010 law did not authorize ordinary photo-radar enforcement of traffic violations. Its narrow emergency exception required personal notice within one hour for…
Could a South Carolina government building record audio in areas open to the public?
The Attorney General concluded that audio recording was permissible in government-building areas to which the public had unrestricted access, because people had no reasonable expectation of privacy…
Could a South Carolina state constable serve a Florence municipal nuisance summons?
The Attorney General concluded that a state constable could have the required jurisdiction to serve the city’s nuisance summons if appointed and commissioned as a code enforcement officer. A private…
Did a South Carolina school district have to report suspected school crimes and allow police to investigate on campus?
The Attorney General concluded that districts had to make the reports required by the school-safety statute and could not limit police investigation of crimes on school grounds. It said police…
Can a Florida county require a public hearing before a farmer digs an aquaculture pond on agricultural land?
The office declined to comment directly, citing pending Miami-Dade litigation and the rule against opining on another government's actions. As general guidance, it explained that the Florida Right…
Could a South Carolina Workforce Appellate Panel member also serve on private boards or a county council?
The Attorney General concluded that panel membership was a public office under South Carolina’s dual-office rule. The requester’s private and federally created board affiliations did not constitute…
If a Portsmouth mayor is removed in a recall election, does the city charter control how the vacancy is filled, or does a newly amended state vacancy statute control?
The Portsmouth City Charter controls. Because the charter sets up a special recall procedure that fills the office simultaneously with the recall vote, and the new general state vacancy statute does…
Do petitioners have to pay a deposit to call a local option alcohol election in a Texas city that sits entirely within one county?
No deposit is required in that situation. The Attorney General concluded that the county must initially pay the expense of holding the first election to legalize, and the first election to prohibit,…
Can a company be hired as a city's construction manager-at-risk if a related company is already the project's design engineer in Texas?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that neither subsection (c) nor subsection (d) of Local Government Code section 271.118 bars a company from being selected as a construction manager-at-risk on a…
Did Virginia's Senate Bill 376 give the Gas and Oil Board power to decide who owns coalbed methane gas?
No. 2010 Senate Bill 376 did not expand the Virginia Gas and Oil Board's authority. The Board still has no power to decide ownership claims among conflicting claimants to gas royalties, to resolve…
If Tennessee transferred Department of Safety officers to Revenue, can it later put just those grandfathered officers back under mandatory retirement?
Tennessee can constitutionally bring transferred revenue regulatory agents (formerly Department of Safety officers, now in the Department of Revenue) back under the mandatory retirement age while…
Can a Florida fire district link its official website to its chaplain's religious webpage?
It depends on the content. The office advised that a fire district may run a website, including a fire-chaplain page, but only if the page relates to the chaplain's core crisis-support functions and…
Can a Florida city council member temporarily serve as acting city manager without violating the dual office-holding ban?
Yes, under these facts. The office concluded that the Polk City Charter designated the duties of acting town manager as an ex officio function of city council members, so the vice mayor's temporary…
Could a South Carolina registered nurse administer propofol for moderate sedation under a physician’s supervision?
The Attorney General concluded that a registered nurse could administer propofol for minimal to moderate sedation with an FDA-approved computer-assisted sedation system under a physician’s direct…
Can a Virginia city or county use zoning to require a special use permit for payday loan stores?
Yes. Virginia's zoning enabling statutes (§§ 15.2-2280, 15.2-2286(A)(3)) and the Southland Corp. case let local governing bodies classify payday loan businesses as a special exception or special…
Can a Tennessee county mayor veto who the soil conservation district appoints to the county growth-plan coordinating committee?
No. The county mayor cannot block the soil conservation district board's appointment to the county coordinating committee under Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-58-104(a)(1)(E). The mayor has two of their own…
How should a Florida property appraiser assess a home damaged by defective Chinese drywall under the 2010 law?
The office offered informal comments rather than a binding opinion. Chapter 2010-170 (section 193.1552, Florida Statutes) requires a property appraiser to lower the assessed value of a single-family…
Does Oregon's Medical Marijuana Act require a person to be an Oregon resident in order to receive a registry identification card?
No. AG John Kroger advised the Oregon Health Authority that the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act does not impose any residency requirement on registry identification card applicants. The legislature…
Does Kentucky's county property-tax recall threshold compare a new rate with last year's rate or with the full compensating tax rate?
The AG said a county real-property tax rate triggered the recall provision only if it exceeded the statutory compensating tax rate by more than four percent, not merely because it exceeded last…
Can a Texas water supply corporation refuse to extend water service to a new home when the subdivision's developer didn't follow its service rules?
It has a choice. The Attorney General concluded that under Water Code section 13.2502(a), when a water supply corporation documents that the subdivision's developer failed to comply with the…
Could an out-of-state bail bondsman enter South Carolina to arrest a defendant on another state’s bond-revocation warrant?
The Attorney General reaffirmed that an out-of-state bondsman could enter South Carolina to arrest a defendant on another state’s bond-revocation warrant without a South Carolina bondsman license.…
Can a Delaware town charge nearly $2,000 to retrieve a mayor's town-related emails from his home computer under a FOIA request?
Yes, the AG found, since the town had no employee capable of doing that kind of computer forensics work itself. Hiring an outside contractor to clone the hard drive, recover deleted emails, and sort…
Did Tennessee accidentally legalize pirated movies and post-1972 music in 2009?
No, Tennessee did not accidentally decriminalize piracy. The 2009 amendment to Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-139 reflected federal copyright preemption (17 U.S.C. § 301), which bars state prosecution of…
What happens when a Florida city commissioner keeps serving after the term expired and no election was held?
The office declined to resolve it, calling these mixed questions of law and fact about local ordinances and recommending the city seek a court ruling. As general guidance, it suggested the city's…
Does Florida's Sunshine Law apply to a fact-finding committee that only gathers information for a city council?
It depends on what the committee actually does. The Attorney General's office advised that a body created and used strictly for fact-finding, gathering and reporting information with no…
Does the Texas law banning transfer-fee deed restrictions wipe out covenants that were already recorded before the law took effect?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Property Code section 5.017(b), which voids deed restrictions and other covenants requiring a fee on a future transfer of residential property, operates…
Could Clarendon County use local hospitality tax revenue to operate and maintain a tourism building?
The Attorney General concluded that the county could use hospitality tax revenue for operation and maintenance if it collected at least nine hundred thousand dollars a year in accommodations taxes…
Could a South Carolina county assessor lower a home’s tax value immediately after its market value fell?
For the opinion’s 2010 hypothetical, the Attorney General said a home’s $200,000 base-year value remained the tax value despite a later $150,000 market estimate until reassessment. An assessment…
Could Tennessee constitutionally bar registered sex offenders from living in Board of Regents student housing, including retroactively?
The proposed student-housing restriction would apply only to Board of Regents institutions, and the AG found a credible argument that it was regulatory rather than punitive under the ex post facto…
Does serving on the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority count as a public 'office' under Florida's dual office-holding ban?
The office would not give a clean answer. An Ethics Commission member asked whether also sitting on the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority would violate Article II, section 5(a). Because the…
Did South Carolina’s advertising-approval rule prevent the Agriculture Department from promoting state-grown products?
The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely treat the Commissioner of Agriculture’s specific statutory publicity duties as an exception to the general advertising-approval rule. It said…
When did ordinary laws passed in Kentucky's 2010 extraordinary legislative session take effect?
The AG concluded that ordinary legislation from Kentucky's 2010 extraordinary session took effect at the first moment of August 28, 2010. General appropriation measures and acts with emergency or…
Can a Florida water control district claim roads it maintained under the statutory presumption of dedication?
No. The AG concluded that section 95.361, Florida Statutes, which presumes a road dedicated to the public after four years of continuous government maintenance, applies only to counties,…
Can a Florida town dissolve itself through a charter amendment, or only by the statutory dissolution process?
No. The AG concluded that section 165.051, Florida Statutes, sets the exclusive ways to dissolve a Florida municipality: a special act of the Legislature or an ordinance of the governing body…
Can a Florida city pause or cut its local business tax outside the every-other-year review?
No. The AG concluded the City of Titusville could not revisit its business-tax reclassification ordinance before the scheduled biennial review or cut individual classifications by more than 5…
How does a Florida tax collector refund a tax-deed buyer when the property was taxed in error?
The AG concluded that section 197.432(10), Florida Statutes, and Rule 12D-13.057, Florida Administrative Code, govern how a tax collector refunds a tax-deed purchaser when the deed was sold on an…
Can a Florida county add its own conditions before a mobile home park is rezoned or redeveloped?
No. Chapter 723, Florida Statutes, preempts local regulation of mobile home parks. The AG concluded a county could not adopt an ordinance imposing extra conditions on redeveloping or rezoning a park…
Can a Florida county score price along with qualifications when picking an engineering firm under the CCNA?
No, on the first question. The AG concluded the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act (section 287.055) is a qualifications-based selection process, and nothing in it lets an agency weigh…
Can a Florida city commissioner or code-enforcement board member also serve as a special magistrate?
No. The AG concluded that a city commissioner, a planning and zoning commission member, a code enforcement hearing officer, or a regional planning commission member with final-action authority all…
Would South Carolina’s proposed physical-therapy employment bills include chiropractors as physicians?
The Attorney General predicted that a court would likely read “physician” and “physician group” in the proposed bills to include chiropractors. The opinion interpreted bills pending in 2010, so its…
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