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Did Virginia's 1997 local-government recodification grandfather Botetourt County's old subdivision suitability rules?
No. Section 15.2-101(A) does not grandfather the suitability-of-land provisions in Botetourt County Code sections 21-64 and 21-122, the AG concluded. It preserves local acts taken under former…
How could Darlington County forfeit seized gambling money, and could a consent order return part of it?
The Attorney General said in 2009 that gambling money was forfeitable if it was integral to or the fruit of gambling, a fact for a court to decide. It advised using the cited forfeiture procedures,…
Could a county reserve a public baseball field for school games under a joint-use lease?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a county could lease a park baseball field for a school district’s exclusive recreational use for four hours a day over three months.…
What Florida statutes let law enforcement provide escort vehicles for visiting dignitaries?
A Manatee County sheriff's captain knew section 316.1974 covers funeral-procession escorts and asked what other statutes address using escort vehicles for visiting dignitaries. The AG's office gave…
Could Maryland pension trustees carry out the 2008 Iran and Sudan divestment law while meeting their fiduciary duties?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the 2008 divestment law did not conflict with pension trustees' fiduciary duties because it required divestment only when the trustees determined in good…
Could a South Carolina sheriff limit public access to incident reports to weekday office hours?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that a sheriff's office had to provide reasonable access to incident reports at night, on weekends, and on holidays. It did not decide that the office had to…
Could the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians conduct high-stakes bingo/beano games on Houlton Band Trust Lands under Maine's tribal gaming statute?
No. While the Houlton Band, as a federally recognized tribe, was eligible to receive a license under 17 M.R.S.A. § 314-A(1), subsection (5)(C) required all licensed games to be conducted within the…
Can a Florida school district delay a public records request to let employees claim an exemption?
A school superintendent asked whether HIPAA let the district withhold the identities of employees in its self-insured health plan, and whether it could pause a public records request to let…
Did California State Military Reserve firefighters qualify for the displaced-firefighter hiring list?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a full-time, state-paid military firefighter could qualify as a permanent career state firefighter for the list. Eligibility still depended on…
Can a retiring Florida sheriff be paid for accrued vacation and sick leave?
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office asked whether sections 30.48 and 145.071 blocked paying the sheriff for accumulated vacation, compensatory, and sick leave at retirement. The AG's office…
Did federal funding make a South Carolina town serve water or sewer customers outside its limits?
The South Carolina AG found no state-law duty to serve nonresidents merely because a municipality received federal water or sewer funds. A particular federal grant might carry service requirements,…
Could someone serve on a South Carolina county drug commission and two foster-care review boards at once?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that the Cherokee County alcohol and drug abuse commission seat was an office, but the two foster-care review board seats were advisory and were not offices…
Can TxDOT transfer trust money from a state highway fund subaccount to a regional transportation authority?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Transportation Code section 228.012 requires TxDOT to hold comprehensive-development-agreement payments, like the roughly $3.2 billion surplus toll revenue from…
Could a South Carolina election commissioner use personal knowledge to decide a voter-residency protest?
The AG concluded in 2008 that a municipal election commissioner should vote only on evidence properly admitted at the protest hearing. Personal knowledge could not supply missing evidence through…
Can a Delaware county charge a flat per-record fee for downloading a huge electronic database of property records?
No, under the law as it stood in 2008. The AG found Sussex County violated FOIA by charging an arbitrary per-record fee (working out to $3,000 for about 4 million electronic property records)…
Does abolishing appointed city officers change a Florida city's 'form of government' so a referendum is required?
The Fort Walton Beach City Attorney followed up on an earlier informal opinion, asking whether planned charter changes (abolishing two appointed officers and their departments) altered the city's…
Did South Carolina's courtesy-summons rules apply when a licensed security guard signed a criminal complaint?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the cited courtesy-summons provisions did not apply to licensed security guards acting with deputy-like arrest authority on the property they protected.
Which county retirement employees had to meet the extra danger and physical-conditioning test for hazardous duty coverage in 2008?
The AG read the extra danger, physical-conditioning, and nonclerical requirements in the 2008 hazardous-position definition as applying only to emergency medical technicians among the listed new…
Can a Florida city raise mayor and council salaries by ordinance when a pre-1973 charter set them?
The North Miami city clerk said the city had raised the mayor's and council's salaries by ordinance even though the city charter, adopted in 1969 and not amended until 2008, set those salaries, and…
Can the Texas Comptroller include extra information in the Chapter 313 value-limitation report?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Tax Code sections 313.008 and 313.032 list eleven items the Comptroller's biennial report on Texas Economic Development Act value-limitation agreements must…
Could a South Carolina restaurant extend its liquor license to a sidewalk café under a city ordinance?
The AG did not decide whether the sidewalk was part of the licensed premises. In 2008 it said the Department of Revenue had authority to decide whether the area could be licensed for alcohol service.
When a town council member is elected mayor and takes the oath of office for the mayor's job, do they automatically lose their council seat, or do they get to keep both?
He lost the council seat the moment he took the mayor's oath. The Front Royal Charter makes the mayor a presiding officer, not a council member, with no vote except as tiebreaker. The two offices…
Can the Virginia DEQ Director skip the 30-day public review and comment period when handing out nutrient-reduction technical assistance grants from the Water Quality Improvement Fund?
No. Section 10.1-2131(C) does not authorize the Director of Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality to issue a technical assistance grant for nutrient reduction without the public notice and…
Can a Virginia animal control officer break into a parked car to rescue a dog left in extreme heat or cold, and is the officer liable if it turns out the animal wasn't actually in distress?
Yes on rescue, mostly yes on immunity. A Virginia animal control officer may act to prevent an act of cruelty observed in his presence (including rescuing a companion animal from a hot or cold…
Is a private nonprofit community land trust that runs a city's affordable-housing program covered by Florida's open-meetings and public-records laws?
The AG agreed with the Delray Beach city attorney that the Delray Beach Community Land Trust, although a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is an 'agency' subject to both the Government in the Sunshine…
Can a Florida city advisory board hold online bulletin-board workshop meetings under the Sunshine Law?
Delray Beach asked whether a city advisory task force could hold its workshop meetings on an online bulletin board without violating the Sunshine Law. The AG concluded it can, with conditions. The…
Does a sinkhole report have to be notarized before a Florida county clerk can record it in the official records?
The AG concluded that a sinkhole report filed under section 627.7073 must be recorded by the clerk of court even if it has not been acknowledged or notarized under the general recording statute,…
Can a Florida city abolish appointive charter offices by ordinance without a public referendum?
In an informal opinion, the AG's office advised that because Fort Walton Beach's charter predates the 1973 Municipal Home Rule Powers Act and was never readopted, section 166.021(4) lets the city…
Could mixed martial arts events be held under Connecticut's boxing laws in 2008?
No, under the law the Attorney General reviewed in 2008. Connecticut's boxing rules prohibited techniques used in mixed martial arts, and the AG found no statute authorizing MMA events, so he said…
Who could recommend members of Greenville's technical education commission to the governor?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the Greenville County legislative delegation, rather than County Council, held authority to recommend commission members to the governor under the controlling local acts.
Can a Virginia town council member or sitting member of a town historic review board or building code appeals board also serve on the town's wetlands board?
Yes. Va. Code § 28.2-1303(A) prohibits wetlands board members from holding other public office in a 'county or city,' but the statute omits towns from that prohibition. The omission is significant:…
Could an Anderson County fire protection commissioner also serve on the county council?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that both positions counted as public offices, so one person could not hold both at once under the state constitution's dual-office prohibition.
Could Pickens County charge Six Mile residents a sewer fee without providing sewer service?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that county sewer-fee payers had to receive at least some benefit, particularly sewer service. On the facts described, it doubted the county could charge Six…
When a Virginia town council member is elected mayor and resigns the council seat, can the council appoint a replacement, and does that appointee count as an 'elected' member when laws require votes by elected members?
Yes, the Town Council can appoint a replacement under the Charter, but only within 45 days of the vacancy. After 45 days, the circuit court takes over. The appointee is not an 'elected' member for…
What made a company a Texas bidder for state service contracts, and what could happen if it falsely claimed that status?
Under the 2008 statute, a business was a Texas bidder if it was incorporated in Texas, had its principal place of business in Texas, or had an established physical presence in Texas. An inaccurate…
Did South Carolina's housing-trust law force an existing trust to lower its income eligibility limit?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the preexisting Lowcountry Housing Trust could keep its charter's higher income limit until it amended the charter. The opinion found no separate exemption based only…
Could a South Carolina county adopt the 2006 residential building code before the state's delayed start date?
The AG concluded in 2008 that local governments could not adopt the delayed code before state implementation, except where a coastal jurisdiction qualified for the flood-insurance exception.
Could Richland County use an ordinance summons for hauling unsecured refuse on public roads?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the county could use a uniform ordinance summons because the cited refuse rule regulated how a load was secured, not how a vehicle was operated.
Could a South Carolina sewer authority let other utilities or trail users share its easements?
The AG said in 2008 that shared use was possible, but each easement's written grant controlled. The opinion could not decide whether proposed irrigation pipes or trails added a new servitude or…
Could South Carolina Omega Psi Phi license plate revenue pay to build a children's summer camp?
The AG said in 2008 that a court might allow camp construction if plate revenue directly benefited campers, but the statute did not clearly authorize it. Paying children's camp attendance was the…
Does a Virginia city need a three-fourths City Council vote to swap a perpetual easement on city land for a bigger one on an adjacent parcel?
Yes. A property exchange that releases and relocates a perpetual easement held by the City of Lexington is a 'sale' for purposes of Article VII, § 9 of the Virginia Constitution and Va. Code §…
If an elderly Virginia homeowner rolls a retirement distribution into another retirement account, does that money count as income for their property tax relief?
No. If money is distributed from one retirement account and rolled into another retirement account, or into an investment account the taxpayer treats as a retirement account, the rollover is not…
Could out-of-state wagering companies accept Colorado residents' horse-race bets by internet or telephone?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Colorado residents' telephone and internet pari-mutuel wagers could be accepted only by a track or simulcast facility licensed by the Colorado Racing…
Does Florida's Sunshine Law require county orientation sessions for value adjustment board special magistrates to be open to the public?
The AG concluded that section 286.011, the Sunshine Law, did not apply to orientation sessions that counties hold for the special magistrates who hear value adjustment board petitions, because those…
Can a Florida general magistrate also serve as a civil traffic infraction hearing officer without breaking the dual office-holding ban?
The AG's office offered informal comments without deciding whether the arrangement violates the dual office-holding ban. It noted that the two positions appear to perform similar judicial or…
Does federal law preempt Texas rules on air ambulance subscription programs?
Yes, as to price, the Attorney General concluded. The federal Airline Deregulation Act bars states from enforcing any law related to the price, route, or service of an air carrier. A Texas EMS…
What is the fine for a motorcycle or moped wheelie or a flipped-up license tag in Florida?
The AG concluded that Chapter 2008-117, Laws of Florida, authorizes a $1,000 fine for failing to keep both wheels of a motorcycle or moped on the ground and for failing to keep the license tag…
Can the same person sit on a Florida county's growth-management commission and hold another state, county, or city office at the same time?
The AG concluded that seats on the Volusia Growth Management Commission are county offices, because the commission is a dependent special district created by county charter and funded by the county.…
Can a Florida court clerk charge the $295 civil filing fee on a counterpetition?
The AG concluded that section 28.241(1)(c) did not authorize the clerk to collect the $295 filing fee on counterpetitions. That subsection imposes the fee on a party who files a pleading for…
Is a private nonprofit volunteer fire department that contracts with a county a 'state actor' that must respect free-speech rights?
The AG's office gave informal comments only, explaining that whether a private nonprofit providing county fire protection is a 'state actor,' and whether its political rally is 'state action,' are…
Could a South Carolina agency accept a driver's license instead of SAVE verification for public benefits?
The AG concluded in 2008 that agencies had to use SAVE to verify a covered alien applicant's lawful presence for public benefits; a South Carolina driver's license or ID was not a substitute.
Does a Maine county commissioner automatically vacate her seat by selling her home in her electoral district and moving to a different district within the same county?
Yes, in the AG's view. AG Steven Rowe concluded that a court would likely hold that a county commissioner who sells her home in her electoral district and buys a home outside it has changed her…
Can an Oregon city or county pay for roads or sewers with new lodging-tax money by calling them "tourism-related facilities"?
Only sometimes. AG Hardy Myers concluded that local roads, sewers, sewer plants, and transportation facilities qualify as "tourism-related facilities" under ORS 320.350(5)(a) only if they draw…
Is Maryland's old law making it a crime to be paid for joining a 'racial demonstration' still valid?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely hold Article 49B, § 6, a 1964 statute making it a crime to receive any remuneration for participating in a 'racial demonstration,'…
Can a Virginia city or county pass a local ordinance that overrides state or federal law, for example one that bans uranium mining or strips corporations of their state-law rights?
No. A Virginia locality cannot enact an ordinance that preempts or nullifies state or federal law or removes legal rights without specific authority, the AG concluded. Comprehensive state mining and…
Could a county trade land-use standards for city support of a habitat conservation plan?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2008 that the proposed intergovernmental agreement did not itself constitute criminal vote trading. The agreement could continue after elections if it…
Can a Texas county set up its own electronic monitoring program for house arrest?
No, the Attorney General concluded. A county commissioners court has no express or implied authority under Code of Criminal Procedure article 42.035 to establish an electronic monitoring program…
Can county hotel occupancy tax money pay for key-man insurance as an administrative cost?
The Attorney General did not decide this as a matter of law. Tax Code section 352.1015(c) lets a county spend hotel occupancy tax revenue on administrative costs only if those costs are incurred…
Could a South Carolina school district use a federal DOT inspection instead of the state school-bus inspection?
The AG said in 2008 that a district-owned bus could use the federal annual inspection route only if its standards met or exceeded the state's. The office did not decide whether those standards…
When a New York Board of Assessment Review term ran October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2012 but the seat sat vacant past October 2007, can a December 2007 appointee fill the slot for the rest of the statutory term, or does the appointment have to start a fresh five-year clock?
Valid. The previous member held over after September 30, 2007 under Public Officers Law § 5 until the City Council appointed a successor in December 2007. Public Officers Law § 38 then put the…
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