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.
Can a New York village make a local school district pay for repeated false fire and EMS alarms under its alarm-permit law?
Yes, by contract. The AG concluded the Legislature has authorized agreements between school districts and local emergency service providers covering alarm-interconnection costs, including costs of fal…
What counts as 'malfeasance in office' that lets a Maryland county remove a planning commission member?
The opinion concluded that 'malfeasance in office,' a ground for removing a planning commission member under Article 66B, meant willful wrongdoing by the official that had a direct connection to the p…
Can a State Board of Education member keep his seat if his spouse works for a local public school system, and what happens if a board member's spouse takes a public school job after the member is confirmed?
The two questions get different answers. A public school employee appointed to the single dedicated public-school-employee seat under the 1989 amendment to NCGS 115C-10 keeps his seat even if his spou…
Can Oregon use Highway Fund money to start up specialty license plate programs that benefit non-highway causes?
No. Highway Fund money could not be used for start-up or administrative costs of specialty plate programs benefiting non-highway purposes. Funds already used had to be repaid, with the interest the Hi…
If a city's personnel committee posts meeting notices for two years without ever listing an agenda or keeping minutes, does that void whatever the committee recommended?
Yes, a serious violation, under the law as it stood in 1997. The AG found the City of Lewes violated FOIA by posting notices without an agenda and without keeping minutes for seventeen meetings of its…
Can a Texas regulatory agency enforce a state licensing law inside a tribal casino on an Indian reservation?
The Texas Department of Banking asked whether it could enforce the state Currency Exchange Act, which licenses currency-exchange businesses, against the casino the Texas Band of Kickapoo Indians runs …
If a judgment-creditor uses a Supplemental Proceeding to make a bank disclose a debtor's account information, does the Clerk of Superior Court have to pay the bank's record-production charge, or does the judgment-creditor?
The judgment-creditor pays. The AG concluded that although the Clerk's office is a 'governmental authority' under the NC Financial Privacy Act, the Clerk in a Supplemental Proceeding under NCGS 1-360 …
Can a Texas city give park land to a state university to build a campus?
State Senator Bill Ratliff asked whether the City of Longview could transfer a 48-acre tract of city-owned land to the University of Texas System to build a campus. The land had been bought in 1985 wi…
Who registers, pre-audits, prepares, and pays claims against a Texas county: the county treasurer or county auditor?
The county treasurer registered claims only after the auditor and commissioners court approved them, then paid registered claims in order. The auditor had the nondelegable duty to pre-audit claims, wh…
Are Oregon's laws requiring state approval before railroads close their agencies preempted by federal rail deregulation?
Yes. ORS 823.073 and 823.075 were preempted by the federal ICC Termination Act of 1995 (49 USC § 10501(b)). Oregon could not require ODOT approval before railroads closed their agencies.
Can Oregon's Legislature repeal the elected office of state schools superintendent and make the Governor fill that role instead?
Yes. The Legislature had the constitutional authority to repeal statutes providing for an elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction and assign those duties back to the Governor.
Who controls a county juvenile detention center, the juvenile court or a private company hired to run it?
Bell County had hired a private corporation to run its juvenile detention facility under a management agreement that left the juvenile court only a role of inspection. The county attorney asked how th…
How is oil and gas production equipment taxed, and how long can a county collect back taxes on it?
A county attorney asked how counties should appraise and collect taxes on oilfield production equipment (casing, tubing, pump jacks, tanks, surface pipe) sitting on a mineral leasehold, after a delinq…
Can a small New York village with no school-age residents 'opt out' of its school district and stop paying school taxes, replacing them with a private education fund?
No. The AG concluded there is no statutory authority for a village to remove itself from a school district. School-district boundaries are governed by the Education Law, school taxes attach to all non…
If a volunteer fire chief or assistant chief is sued for sex discrimination at the State Division of Human Rights, does the village have to pay for their lawyer under Public Officers Law § 18?
No, not automatically. The AG concluded Public Officers Law § 18's defense and indemnification duties are limited to civil actions or proceedings in state or federal court, which does not include Divi…
Why are North Carolina banks allowed to deduct the full amount of their federal bond interest income for state tax purposes, when other corporations have to subtract out the interest expenses associated with that income, and is that bank-specific treatment constitutional?
It is a long-standing administrative policy under NCGS 105-130.5 that the General Assembly has implicitly ratified by leaving in place despite multiple proposed reversals. The AG concluded that, altho…
Could Maryland retailers still charge bad-check fees after a 1996 law seemed to repeal the fee statute?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's bad-check-fee statute remained legally effective despite an apparent repeal in 1996 legislation, because the repeal resulted from a drafting mistake in a…
Can a New York town board abolish the elected office of tax collector by resolution, and if so, when does it take effect?
Yes, but the timing rules are strict. A second-class town board can abolish the office under Town Law § 36 by a resolution adopted at least 150 days before a biennial town election, with abolition tak…
In New York, can a county legislator also serve on the town planning board of a town inside the county?
Yes, with one caveat. The AG concluded the two positions are compatible. But if the county legislator has authority over appointments to a county, metropolitan, or regional planning board that reviews…
Can the assistant chief of a New York fire district's fire department also sit on the board of fire commissioners?
No. The AG concluded that Town Law § 174(4) expressly prohibits the same person from holding both the office of fire district commissioner and the office of chief or assistant chief. The statutory bar…
Can a New York county attorney represent a county official who wants to sue someone for defamation arising from their county work?
No. The AG concluded that County Law § 501 does not authorize the county attorney to represent a county official as a plaintiff in a defamation action. The statute covers official-act litigation by or…
Can the same person serve as a New York town assessor while also being elected mayor of a village inside the town?
No. The AG concluded the positions are incompatible. The town assessor must value all town property impartially, but a mayor's loyalty to village taxpayers creates an inherent conflict and at minimum …
How long do Oregon's revolving-door restrictions bar former insurance and banking regulators from going to work for the industries they used to regulate?
The AG concluded that for one year after leaving office, the DCBS director and the insurance and finance administrators could not be employed by, or take any financial gain from, private companies in …
Does Senate Bill 194 clarifying that NC can charge continuing air quality penalties from the date a violation began (not from the date the notice of violation arrived) need to pass, or is the current statute already clear?
It needs to pass. Although the state and AG have consistently read the air statute the same way as the water and groundwater statutes (penalty runs from the date of violation), some violators are argu…
Can a member of a local school board moonlight as a paid high school sports referee or umpire at games played by schools under that board's control without violating the self-dealing criminal statute?
Yes, under the facts presented. The AG concluded NCGS 14-234 does not reach the situation because the school board has no role in the selection of officials. The NC High School Athletic Association as…
When North Carolina inmates are housed in private prisons rather than state-owned prisons, can community colleges still provide them with classes, waive tuition for them, and report their hours the same way?
Yes to all three. The AG concluded that NCGS 148-37(h) requires private prisons to be operated 'in accordance with applicable State laws,' which includes the State Board of Community Colleges' authori…
When the Duplin Soil and Water Conservation District lacked enough money to fully fund swine lagoon retrofit cost-share grants needed for state water-quality compliance, could the district promise farmers a grant from a future budget cycle instead, and could it do so just for Duplin or did it have to extend the same option statewide?
Yes, with structural limits. Nothing in the cost-share statute or the state constitution prevents committing future grants. But no current board can bind a future board, and no contract can obligate a…
Can a Texas court make a sex offender put a warning sign in his yard as a probation condition?
A Tarrant County district court had ordered a convicted child-sex offender to post a sign on his home reading 'A PERSON ON PROBATION FOR A CHILD SEX OFFENSE LIVES HERE,' and the district attorney aske…
Can a Delaware county be forced under FOIA to produce a subcontractor's billing records that the county itself never received?
No, under the law as it stood in 1997. The AG found Sussex County did not violate FOIA by failing to produce billing records from a paving subcontractor, because the subcontractor's bills were folded …
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down North Carolina's intangibles tax on stock, can the General Assembly refund the tax to people who paid it but never filed a formal protest?
No. The AG concluded that the exclusive emoluments clause in Article I, Section 32 of the North Carolina Constitution bars the legislature from refunding intangibles tax payments to taxpayers who did …
After the 1996 federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act amendments, what categories of information can the North Carolina Division of Social Services and county DSS agencies release publicly when a child involved in a CPS investigation has died?
The same five categories the AG identified in 1991, until federal regulations under CAPTA 1996 are promulgated. NC DSS and county DSS can release the deceased child's name; the fact that a county DSS …
Can a New York town board expand a three-member police commission to five members, or does Town Law § 150 cap the board at three?
Yes. The AG concluded that a town board may by local law amend or supersede Town Law § 150(2) to establish a five-member board of police commissioners, because the structure of a town police departmen…
When a public board in North Carolina wants to talk to its own retained attorney about a contract dispute the attorney was personally involved in, can the board legally close the meeting to the public, and can board members talk among themselves during that closed session?
Yes to both. The Open Meetings Law allows a closed session to consult with the public body's attorney where genuine attorney-client privilege exists (real attorney-client relationship, communications …
When the North Carolina Division of Travel and Tourism gives requesting parties copies of its promotional photographs and slides, can the Division attach use restrictions, or is it required to release the images and let recipients use them however they want?
The images must be released and the Division cannot control downstream use. Photographs and slides made by the Division in the conduct of public business are public records under § 132-1(a). The Divis…
Can a person who is an officer and director of a corporation that holds a contract with a North Carolina public hospital be appointed to that hospital's Board of Trustees if the person owns less than 10% of the corporation's stock?
No, not while the person remains an officer and director. N.C.G.S. § 14-234(a) makes it a misdemeanor for an appointed director to be 'in any manner concerned or interested' in a contract with the ent…
Does a Delaware public records request require a school district to answer questions or compile lists that don't already exist as a document?
No, under the law as it stood in 1997. The AG found that most of a resident's eleven information requests to the Colonial School District, phrased as questions rather than requests to inspect specific…
Can North Carolina's state revolving loan fund make loans to privately owned drinking water utilities, or does the state constitution's public-purpose limit on tax money block it?
Statutorily no, constitutionally yes if the General Assembly amends the law. The AG concluded that NCGS 159G-9 currently restricts the state revolving loan fund to units of local government, so privat…
Can a New York nursing home require a new resident to sign over power of attorney to the nursing home administrator as a condition of admission?
No. The AG concluded that a nursing home policy requiring incoming residents to execute any form of power of attorney naming the administrator as agent to manage Social Security and retirement benefit…
How should Maine treat increases in pension unfunded liability that result from court rulings, as an experience loss or as a revised certification?
The Maine AG concluded that the Board of Trustees of the Maine State Retirement System could treat an adverse ruling in Parker v. Wakelin as a revised certification of the June 30, 1996 unfunded liabi…
Did Oregon's Measure 40 make DUII roadblocks legal without separate authorizing legislation?
No. Without legislation specifically authorizing a DUII roadblock program, Oregon police could not lawfully run DUII checkpoints. Measure 40 did not supply that missing authority.
When someone asks the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles for a list of employees and former employees receiving state disability income, including their names and the dollar amount of disability income they receive, is that a public record the DMV must release, or is it protected personnel information?
It must be released. North Carolina law makes salary a public record under § 126-23. The Supreme Court has read 'salary' broadly to include retirement benefits, and the AG read it to include disabilit…
After Oregon voters passed Measure 47 capping property taxes, did the state still have the power to levy property taxes to pay off its general obligation bonds without going back to voters for approval?
The AG concluded yes: levying ad valorem property taxes to repay state general obligation bonds issued under Articles XI-A, XI-E, XI-F(1), XI-G, XI-H, XI-I(1), XI-I(2), or XI-J did not require voter a…
If a NC sheriff in one county revokes a person's concealed handgun permit, can the same person move to another county and get a fresh permit from a different sheriff?
No. A bail bondsman had his concealed handgun permit revoked by the Forsyth County Sheriff for carrying a firearm into a confinement facility in violation of G.S. § 14-415.11. He moved to Stokes Count…
Can a school district refuse a large public records request about grant spending just because gathering all the documents would take too long?
No, under the law as it stood in 1997. The AG found that once a records request specifically identifies the documents sought, like purchase orders and expense records behind a grant's computer-generat…
Could the Texas Aircraft Pooling Board own and operate an airport for state aircraft, and who could condemn land for it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Aircraft Pooling Board had implied authority to own and operate an airport for state aircraft, but neither that board nor the General Services Commission could …
Are district attorney investigators outside New York City subject to the police officer training requirements in General Municipal Law § 209-q?
No. The AG concluded that General Municipal Law § 209-q applied only to detective and rackets investigators employed by district attorneys in the five New York City counties. Investigators in other co…
Does New York recognize a Georgia concealed-carry handgun permit, or any other out-of-state firearms license?
No. The AG concluded that New York Penal Law contains no general recognition of firearms licenses issued by other states, and the AG was not aware of any reciprocal agreements. Limited exemptions exis…
Can the NC State Ports Authority finance an industrial facility that will be owned by the Authority and leased to a private company, even if the facility is not located right next to the state ports?
Yes, with two conditions. The NC Constitution Art. V § 13 lets state agencies acquire, build, and finance industrial and manufacturing facilities that 'relate to, develop or further' waterborne commer…
Did a March 1997 redraft of the Idaho One Percent Initiative fix the implementability problems the AG had identified the year before?
No. The redraft acknowledged that 'enabling legislation' would be needed but left that to future legislatures, which the AG said could not be bound, so the proposal remained incapable of self-executio…
Are uncompensated volunteer physicians and clinic staff at a SUNY medical school entitled to State defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law § 17?
Yes. The AG concluded that physicians, nurses, and other health care personnel volunteering through a SUNY-approved clinical program at Binghamton were State employees within the meaning of Public Off…
Can a New York county extend its legislators' terms from three to four years if it has recently reapportioned its districts, or does that count as a 'restructuring' the county can only do once a decade?
Yes. Changing legislator terms outside a reapportionment is not a 'restructuring' under Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(a)(13)(f). The county may enact the change under its general home-rule autho…
Can a New York county clerk reject a deed or mortgage for recording just because it doesn't follow the short-form template in Real Property Law § 258?
No. The AG concluded the county clerk must accept any properly acknowledged and executed instrument for recording. RPL § 258 provides optional short forms and expressly allows other forms; nothing in …
Can a New York village court clerk also work as a state probation officer in the same area, or would the two roles conflict?
No, the two cannot be combined. The AG concluded that even though no statute expressly prohibits the combination, the village court clerk position and the role of state probation officer are incompati…
Can a New York city's police force provide security for a city school district event held on school property that sits outside city lines in a neighboring town?
Yes. The AG concluded that a city and a town may enter into a municipal cooperation agreement under General Municipal Law Article 5-G so that city police may provide law enforcement on city-school-dis…
Can a non-charter county in New York skip the County Law's requirement to publish full text of every local law in newspapers, and instead just publish a short notice?
Yes. The AG reaffirmed that a non-charter county may by local law supersede the publication requirement in County Law § 214(2). The county can substitute a single notice of adoption and abstract with …
Can a New York town pass a local law that lets its town attorney live anywhere in the county, instead of having to live inside the town itself?
Yes. The AG concluded that a town may by local law broaden the required residency for the town attorney to the county where the town is located. A 1990s amendment to Public Officers Law § 3 carved out…
Can a New York city sell off land that has been used as a park, without first getting permission from the state Legislature?
No. The AG concluded that once a city has dedicated land for park purposes and improved and used it as a park, the land is held in public trust. The city cannot sell it or convert it to non-park use w…
Can North Carolina cap a CAPCO insurance-premium tax credit on a first-come-first-served basis, so that once the cap is reached no other insurance company gets the credit, even if they made qualifying venture-capital investments?
Probably yes, the AG said. A first-come allocation rule is unusual but would likely survive a constitutional challenge based on the uniformity clause of N.C. Const. Art. V § 2 or the federal Equal Pro…
If North Carolina enacts House Bill 295 to exempt intangible personal property (like goodwill) from ad valorem taxation, does the bill as drafted also accidentally exempt leasehold interests in real property that is itself exempt from tax, and does it constrain how appraisers may consider goodwill when valuing real property?
As written, the bill exempts all intangibles, which would sweep in taxable leasehold interests in tax-exempt real property. Section 1 needs an amendment to preserve taxation of those leaseholds. On th…
Do Texas police have to destroy a juvenile's records if the case isn't sent to juvenile court?
A district attorney asked how far the Family Code's juvenile-record destruction rule reaches. The Attorney General read section 58.001(c) to require a law enforcement agency to destroy all information…
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.