State AG Opinions
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Does a Tennessee county commission have to fund a special school district inside the county, and can the General Assembly change that rule?
No, not currently. Under City of Humboldt v. McKnight, a county commission has no duty to fund a special school district inside the county because the special district is funded by its own…
Can Tennessee's stroke-registry annual report identify which hospitals had which stroke outcomes?
No. The Tennessee Stroke Registry Act of 2008 requires ETSU's College of Public Health to report aggregate data and forbids disclosure of hospital-specific information, including hospital names. The…
Can a Florida county spend building inspection fees on general county overhead through a cost allocation plan?
Only for code-enforcement costs. In informal comments, the office explained that building inspection fees collected under section 125.56 must be used solely for enforcing the Florida Building Code,…
Who would maintain Sand Creek subdivision roads and culverts within Fairfield County’s easement?
The Attorney General predicted that a court would hold Fairfield County, as holder of the roadway easement, responsible for all or an equitable share of upkeep within it. The opinion left open…
Does Virginia's smoking ban apply to e-cigarettes in 2010, before they had their own statutory category?
No. Using an e-cigarette is not 'smoke' or 'smoking' under § 15.2-2820. The device produces water vapor with traces of particulates, is battery-powered, and is not 'lighted' in the ordinary sense of…
How much can a Virginia planning district commission spend over the term of a single architectural or engineering contract before it has to rebid?
The George Washington Regional Commission is not a 'locality,' 'authority,' or 'sanitation district' under § 2.2-4301, so the $5 million ceiling does not apply. Its multi-project architectural and…
Does Tennessee's law requiring courts to report mental commitments to the FBI background check system violate patient privacy?
No. Tennessee Code Annotated § 16-10-213, requiring courts to report mental commitments and 'mental defective' adjudications to the FBI NICS background check system, does not conflict with state…
Could vehicles in a South Carolina funeral procession pass a traffic signal without an officer directing them?
The Attorney General said funeral procession vehicles generally had to obey traffic-control devices unless a police officer directed otherwise. It also said participants in walks or runs had to…
Can a Virginia county tax clay and sand deposits as 'mineral lands,' and how should the assessor value them?
Yes, for the clay and sand deposits described in the request, which were to be extracted for commercial purposes. The AG said initial discovery is generally when mineral assessment occurs, even if…
Can a member of a Tennessee industrial-development authority board vote to make themselves the executive director?
No. If the executive director position is an office with a specific term, the Authority may not appoint one of its board members. If it is an employee position, a member has a prohibited interest in…
Can an independent fire control district in Florida charge a first responder fee that counties and cities can't?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 2009 ban on first responder fees in sections 125.01045 and 166.0446 applies only to counties and municipalities, not to an independent special district created by the…
Do Florida's open-meeting laws apply to special magistrates who hear property tax appeals for a value adjustment board?
Yes. The Florida AG concluded that when special magistrates exercise the value adjustment board's delegated authority (taking testimony and making recommendations the board can adopt without a…
Can a Florida charter school avoid nepotism rules by having a committee make hiring decisions, and are that committee's meetings public?
Partly. The AG concluded that creating a three-member team to make hiring, promotion, and discipline decisions would not by itself violate the charter school nepotism statute, section 1002.33(24),…
Can an off-duty Florida police officer volunteer to serve or sell drinks at a bar or charity event?
Only partly. Section 561.25(1) bars a municipal law enforcement officer from selling alcoholic beverages, even as an unpaid volunteer, at a licensed establishment, and from being employed by an…
Can a Florida clerk of court charge the county a fee to record a judgment for court costs as a lien?
No. The AG concluded that section 939.185 directs the clerk to cause a certified copy of a cost judgment to be recorded (creating a lien), but the statute does not make the county responsible for a…
Could Aiken County put improvements to a domestic-violence center on its local sales-tax ballot?
The Attorney General concluded that Aiken County could include infrastructure improvements to the Cumbee Center on its local option sales-tax ballot. It predicted a court would read the statute’s…
Was an unpaid South Carolina traffic fine itself a new criminal offense under the nonresident compact?
The Attorney General said failure to pay did not itself create a separate criminal offense under the compact provision. A different section made willful failure to appear as required by a traffic…
When did ordinary bills passed in Kentucky's 2010 legislative session take effect after final adjournment?
The AG concluded that ordinary acts passed in Kentucky's 2010 regular session took effect at the first moment of July 15, 2010, after 90 full days had elapsed from final adjournment. General…
When a Texas city adopts the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act, do the civil-service limits on how many deputies the department head can appoint still apply?
No, not unless the city puts them back through bargaining. The Attorney General reconsidered and affirmed Opinion GA-0662, concluding that when a municipality subject to the Fire Fighter and Police…
Can a water company that collects a Texas county's trash fees shut off the customer's water for not paying the solid waste bill?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that under section 364.034(d)(2) of the Health and Safety Code, a utility company that contracts with a county to collect the fees for the county's solid waste…
Could Cecil County's proposed charter keep staggered council terms and elect a county executive in 2012?
The Attorney General concluded that Cecil County's proposed charter could retain or remove staggered council terms and could elect a new county executive in 2012. It also could use a 2012…
Can a Virginia public service authority charge a fee to residents who refuse to use its trash collection service?
No. Section 15.2-5137 authorizes nonuser service charges only for water and sewer service. A Virginia public service authority lacks the statutory power to assess a nonuser fee for refuse collection.
Can the Virginia DMV require an ignition interlock for license reinstatement after a second DUI even if the sentencing court didn't order one?
Yes. Section 46.2-391.01 makes it mandatory: when the convicting court fails to order an ignition interlock after a second DUI, the DMV Commissioner is both authorized and required to impose it…
Can a Virginia school board fund a charter school at a lower per-student rate than its other schools without violating § 22.1-212.14?
The Patrick Henry startup-cost provision does not violate § 22.1-212.14(D). On per-student funding disparities, the AG declined to rule, saying a gap is not automatically a 'financial disincentive'…
If Tennessee banned abortion coverage on the ACA exchange, would that ban also cover IUDs and the morning-after pill?
No. The AG concluded that the ban in SB 2686/HB 2681 on offering abortion coverage through a Tennessee Affordable Care Act exchange would not reach IUDs, emergency contraception, or regular birth…
Can a Tennessee city impose a fine over $50 for driving a large vehicle in a residential area without a jury trial?
No, not without a jury. Article VI, Section 14 of the Tennessee Constitution caps judge-imposed fines at $50 unless assessed by a jury of the defendant's peers. A fixed-amount fine for driving a…
Can a Florida city use police contraband forfeiture trust funds to build or renovate a police station?
Generally no for the building itself. The office gave only informal comments because the spending had already happened, but it explained that law enforcement trust funds from forfeitures may be used…
Can Tennessee issue a 'Jesus is Lord' specialty license plate even if the proceeds go to a secular charity?
No. The AG concluded a 'Jesus is Lord' specialty earmarked license plate would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and Article I, Section 3 of the Tennessee Constitution. Because…
Does Tennessee's dual-majority requirement for city-county consolidation violate 'one person, one vote'?
No. Under both the Charter Government Unification Act and the Metropolitan Government Act, voters inside the principal city and voters in the county outside that city each have to approve a unified…
Does a federal HUD conflict-of-interest waiver override Florida's housing authority conflict rules?
The office did not decide that. Because the Attorney General may opine only on questions of state law (section 16.01(3)), the office declined to interpret the federal regulation (24 C.F.R. 982.161)…
Could a permitted South Carolina precious-metals dealer buy jewelry at short parties in customers’ homes?
The Attorney General predicted a court would allow the described two-hour home parties when the dealer maintained a permanent home or office business location and met permit requirements. It…
After an NCIC warrant hit, which South Carolina agency should hold and transport an arrestee?
For an arrest outside the issuing county, the Attorney General agreed that the arresting agency should generally take the person to its own jail while the warrant agency arranged transport, and that…
Can a Tennessee local government enforce zoning against a sport shooting range that's no longer meeting the state's setback requirements?
Yes. A range that fails or stops meeting § 39-17-316(c)'s setback or vegetation conditions becomes subject to applicable land use and zoning rules. Section 39-17-316(b)(2) separately protects its…
Does a Tennessee governmental hospital have to notify the AG before merging two of its subsidiary corporations?
Yes. Even when a governmental hospital is merging two of its own subsidiaries and the assets stay under its control, the merger triggers the Tennessee Public Benefit Hospital Sales and Conveyance…
Is a letter sent to a Florida agency by mistake a public record that anyone can request?
Maybe, and the agency decides. The office gave informal comments explaining that whether a document is a public record is controlled by the statutory definition in section 119.011(12), not by the…
Does a school board's informal 'agenda prep' meeting before its regular meeting count as a meeting under Delaware's open-meetings law?
Yes, the AG found. A school board's admission that it skipped posting an agenda for one meeting and never kept minutes of its informal pre-meeting agenda sessions were both FOIA violations, even…
Can Virginia's budget bill raise taxes or fees in the same act that appropriates money, or does that violate the constitutional single-object rule?
Yes. An appropriation act that both spends money and raises taxes or fees can survive the single-object rule in Article IV, § 12 because the Virginia Supreme Court reads the rule broadly to allow…
Does a Texas county commissioner automatically resign just by showing interest in running for another office?
Not on these facts, and partly the Attorney General would not say. Under the Texas Constitution's resign-to-run provision (article XVI, section 65), certain officeholders, including county…
Can a Florida value adjustment board hear a property tax appeal filed after the deadline?
Yes, for good cause. The AG concluded that section 194.011 is not a statute of non-claim, so the filing deadline for petitioning a value adjustment board is not an absolute bar. A board may not…
Is a driver's license number in a Florida police report public, and what motor vehicle records are confidential?
A driver's license number that appears in a law enforcement officer's report is not confidential and is subject to public disclosure, no matter how the officer obtained it. Separately, 'personal…
Can Tennessee municipal police execute arrest warrants in another city in the same county, can they use deadly force there, and do they have to give the host city notice first?
The AG concluded that Tennessee municipal police could execute arrest warrants anywhere in their county, including inside another city, under Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 6-54-302 and 40-6-210. They could use…
Is Tennessee's narrower Health Care Freedom Act bill (HB 2622/SB 2560) constitutional?
Yes, with one fix. The AG concluded HB 2622/SB 2560 (a narrower companion to the Health Freedom Act analyzed in Opinion 10-43) is constitutionally valid because it only restricts State action and is…
Can a Tennessee school board member also work for the school board, contract with it, or work for a vendor of the board?
A Tennessee school board member cannot continue as a school board employee, cannot supervise a contract in which they are directly interested (personal contracts or contracts with companies they…
Could a California official pay a freight company to fly on its private jet?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2010 that a package delivery company counted as a transportation company under the state Constitution, but could offer an official a flight on its…
Once a Tennessee school board approves a charter school application, can district staff demand more negotiation before signing the charter agreement, or does approval automatically lock in the agreement?
The AG concluded that approval and signing of a Tennessee charter school agreement could not be separated. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-13-110(a) says the school board's approval of a charter application…
Could California’s prison industries agency move all civilian jobs outside civil service?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2010 that a separate personnel system for all prison-industry employees required specific evidence justifying departure from constitutional civil…
Were proposed city business-license tax breaks for new companies constitutional in South Carolina?
The Attorney General declined to decide the constitutionality of Greenville’s existing incentive and Columbia’s proposed new-business abatements. It said the answer depended on facts and that only a…
Did South Carolina’s Jacob’s Law bar carrying ten or fewer children in a personal vehicle instead of a school bus?
The Attorney General concluded that Jacob’s Law did not bar the described use of a personal vehicle to transport ten or fewer children, even if it did not meet federal school-bus standards. The…
Could an appointed board member change draft meeting minutes before the board approved them?
Assuming the body used Robert’s Rules, the Attorney General said a member should propose official corrections when the prior minutes came before the body at a regular meeting. The body would then…
Would raising Tennessee's $50 civil penalty for violating an order of protection to $500 violate the state constitution's Fifty-Dollar Fines Clause?
The AG concluded yes. The civil penalty under Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-3-610(b) is punitive in purpose because it serves general and specific deterrence rather than compensating for loss. Under City of…
Can Tennessee pass a law saying residents don't have to comply with the federal health insurance mandate?
The AG concluded that a court would likely find the proposed Tennessee Health Freedom Act and HJR 745 preempted by conflicting provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act as it stood in 2010.
Can Tennessee add a 'free enterprise' clause to its constitution without violating state or federal law?
Yes, the amendment is facially valid. House Joint Resolution 722 would add a 'free enterprise' policy clause to Article I of the Tennessee Constitution. The AG concluded it would not violate any…
Must a Texas public university invest its endowment funds only in the limited investments allowed by the Public Funds Investment Act?
No. The Attorney General concluded that when the governing board of a public institution of higher education exercises its authority to establish and manage an endowment fund under Education Code…
Did a driver still have to attend South Carolina’s alcohol-safety program after a DUI charge was dismissed?
The Attorney General concluded that the program requirement tied to refusing a breath test remained constitutional even when the DUI charge was dismissed and the driver pled to an unrelated offense.…
Did South Carolina’s clergy privilege cover a licensed, unordained minister, and who could waive it?
The Attorney General interpreted the privilege to cover clergy members generally, including ministers licensed by their denominations rather than ordained. Both clergy member and penitent could…
Could South Carolina’s Ports Authority agree to hold the federal government harmless for Charleston Harbor dredging work?
The Attorney General concluded that a specific state statute authorized the Ports Authority to enter the described Army Corps project agreement, including its hold-and-save clause for…
What can the board of directors of the Texas School Safety Center do with the Center's budget and programs?
The Attorney General answered three of the four questions. First, the Board must approve a budget for the Center each year, and because that approval requirement would be meaningless if it had to…
Can a Texas general-law city manager also serve on the local school district's board of trustees?
Yes, at least under the conflicting-loyalties rule the question asked about. The common-law doctrine of incompatibility blocks one person from holding two positions only when both are public…
Can Tennessee borrow from the federal unemployment trust fund (or issue bonds) without running afoul of its constitutional balanced-budget rule?
Maybe for the federal advances, definitely for state bonds. The Tennessee Constitution's Borrowing Limit (Article II, Section 24) bars long-term debt for current state operations. Federal advances…
Does a Florida clerk of court have to record a document someone claims is an 'agreement'?
It depends, and the clerk decides. The office gave informal comments noting that a clerk may not record a document the law does not authorize or require to be recorded, and that section 28.222(3)(a)…
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