State AG Opinions
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If only two of five county council members go on an industry-sponsored tour, does that count as an illegal secret meeting under Delaware's open-meetings law?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found that a manufactured-housing industry tour attended by only two of five Sussex County Council members was not a 'meeting' under FOIA because it lacke…
Can a Minnesota home-rule charter city vote a council member out of office for missing too many meetings, without taking the question to the voters?
No. The AG concluded that under Minn. Stat. § 410.20 and Art. VIII, § 5 of the Minnesota Constitution, a charter may provide for removal of an elected city official only by vote of the electors, and o…
After Delaware's AG finds a town council violated the open-meetings law during a rezoning vote, who decides whether the vote has to be redone?
Under the law as it stood in 1996, the AG has authority to recommend, though not itself order, a remedy for a FOIA violation. On reconsidering its own earlier ruling against the Camden Town Council, t…
When North Carolina funds a charter school based on average daily membership, does the state pay based on the average ADM for the whole state or based on the ADM for the local school district where the charter school is located?
Local. The AG concluded that under G.S. § 115C-238.29H(a), the State Board of Education must allocate per-pupil funds to a charter school based on the ADM allotment for the local school administrative…
Are Texas resource conservation council volunteers protected by charitable immunity?
Representative David Counts asked whether the Charitable Immunity and Liability Act of 1987 (chapter 84 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code) covers a resource conservation and development council,…
What happens to a New York village's leftover money after the village is dissolved, sold off, and its debts paid?
The dissolution plan controls. A New York village's dissolution proposition under Village Law § 19-1904 must include a plan for disposing of village property and paying outstanding obligations. The pl…
If a valid petition to dissolve a New York village is filed but doesn't request an early referendum, can the village board push it to an early vote anyway?
No. Under Village Law § 9-912(1), when a valid petition for dissolution of a village is filed, the village board of trustees must submit the proposition in accordance with the petition. If the petitio…
If a state agency tries to grab my state tax refund to pay off an old debt I supposedly owe, can I argue that the debt is too old to collect under the statute of limitations?
No, under this 1996 AG opinion. The civil statute of limitations in Chapter 1 applies only to lawsuits filed in court. The Setoff Debt Collection Act (Chapter 105A) and the State Employees Debt Collec…
If a county planning director allegedly tells someone by phone that a zoning condition can be waived, does that count as an illegal secret 'meeting' under Delaware's FOIA?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found no FOIA violation because there was no evidence any Sussex County public body actually held a meeting or made a decision to waive a zoning condition…
Can a buyer of the Waterville Hathaway plant qualify for Maine E-TIF benefits by rehiring the existing workforce?
No. The Maine AG concluded that a purchaser of the Hathaway plant in Waterville could not qualify for reimbursement under the Maine Employment Tax Increment Financing Act by retaining the seller's wor…
Is information about individual State Health Plan members (eligibility, claims, medical history) a public record in North Carolina, and which outsiders can the Plan share it with?
No. Patient-level data held by the State Health Plan, its Board of Trustees, Executive Administrator, or Claims Processor is confidential under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 135-37 and is expressly carved out of …
How can the Maine Legislature respond to a pending clearcutting initiative without forcing every related bill to go to voters?
The Maine AG told Senate President Butland that any forest-practices bill inconsistent with L.D. 1819 must be submitted to voters as a competing measure (Dorsky rule), unless the Legislature enacts it…
Can the Maine Legislature pass forest-practices legislation at a special session in response to a pending clearcutting initiative?
Yes. The Maine AG told Governor King that the Legislature could enact a competing measure to L.D. 1819 at a special session (not only at the regular session), and that it could also pass legislation c…
Can a New York town charge a property owner when the police or fire department responds to a false alarm, or does State alarm-system law preempt that?
Yes. A New York town may impose charges on property owners for false emergency alarms to which the police or fire department responds. The state's alarm-business regulation (Article 6-D of the General…
Can a New York village trustee also be vice president of an incorporated fire department fundraising entity and a volunteer firefighter, and vote on the fire department budget?
Yes, with one recusal. A New York village trustee can also serve as a volunteer member of the village volunteer fire department and as vice president of a separately incorporated fire department fundr…
Can the mayor of a New York village also serve as the chairperson of the town zoning board of appeals for the town the village sits in?
Yes, but with recusal. A New York village mayor can serve simultaneously as the chairperson of the town zoning board of appeals, because the two offices are in different governmental units and neither…
Can a New York county set fixed terms of office for its Industrial Development Agency board members, or do they serve at the appointing authority's pleasure?
Serve at pleasure. Under General Municipal Law § 856(2), members of the Montgomery County Industrial Development Agency are appointed by the county governing body and serve at its pleasure. The county…
Does a Delaware zoning board violate open-meetings law by saying it will take a matter 'under advisement,' or by holding a hearing in a room too small for everyone who shows up?
No violation, under the law as it stood in 1996, though the AG found the practice risked confusing the public. Taking a matter 'under advisement' after a public hearing, or holding a hearing in a room…
Does a town committee's special meeting still need public notice if the town also mails personal invitations to an affected group, like Main Street business owners?
No violation, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found Millsboro's Economic Development Committee meetings and its Main Street Enhancement special meeting were each properly and timely noticed …
If a New York city wants to take away the mayor's sole appointment power and require city council consent, does the change have to go on the ballot?
Yes. Under Municipal Home Rule Law § 23(2)(f), a local law that abolishes, transfers, or curtails any power of an elective officer is subject to mandatory referendum. The City of Ithaca's local laws m…
When the federal government approved waivers letting North Carolina run its 'Work First Program' welfare reform pilot, did the waivers automatically become enforceable, or did the state's Department of Human Resources have to go through the state Administrative Procedure Act first?
The waivers became enforceable as substitute federal regulations on HHS approval. NCDSS did not have to adopt rules under the state APA before implementing the Work First Program because the waiver te…
Can a North Carolina airport (or other public-property authority) charge handicapped drivers a fee at a parking meter for using a designated handicapped space, or does state law prohibit any meter use against handicapped placard or plate holders?
A fee is allowed, but not a time limit. G.S. § 20-37.6(a) forbids enforcement of time restrictions against properly placarded or plated vehicles, including unlimited-time parking in time-restricted zo…
Does a Texas school district have to use the city's required garbage company inside city limits?
Representative Warren Chisum asked whether the Pasadena Independent School District has to use the single garbage hauler the City of Pasadena franchised inside the city, even though the district figur…
Can a Texas parent teach their teen driver education without a driving-school license?
The Texas Department of Public Safety asked the Attorney General several questions about Senate Bill 964, which let a parent or legal guardian teach a state-approved driver education course to their o…
Can a Texas city's weaker adult-business zoning replace a county's stricter rules when it annexes the land?
Senator Don Henderson, chairing the Senate Jurisprudence Committee, asked whether the Local Government Code's annexation rules are unconstitutional because they let a city's weaker sexually oriented b…
Can a Texas tax assessor-collector spend escrow interest without commissioners court approval?
Brazos County Attorney James Kuboviak asked whether a county tax assessor-collector may set up a separate account for the interest that builds up on the dealer's motor vehicle inventory tax escrow acc…
If a Delaware public records complaint gets the documents released after the complaint is filed, does the Attorney General still rule on whether FOIA was violated?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. Once the Wilmington Housing Authority voluntarily produced the elderly-housing records a resident had requested, the AG treated her complaint as moot and did not…
Can a New York state agency spend public funds to educate the public about a Governor's reform proposal, or does that cross the line into illegal partisan advocacy?
Yes. The AG concluded the Workers' Compensation Board may use state funds to explain proposed reforms, why they were proposed, and their anticipated effects, so long as the materials are educational r…
Can a town council go into a closed executive session during a rezoning hearing without a public vote or a stated reason?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found the Camden Town Council violated FOIA by not disclosing in its agenda that it intended to hold an executive session or vote on a rezoning request, b…
Can a Texas judge charge a fee to perform a wedding and keep the money?
Representative Steve Holzheauser asked whether a judge may perform marriage ceremonies during regular office hours, using public property and public employees, and keep the fee charged for personal us…
Could a Texas justice of the peace keep hot-check restitution and fines in a separate checking account before paying them out?
A justice of the peace in a county under 190,000 could place Penal Code section 32.41(e) restitution in a separate account because the money belonged to the dishonored-check holder, not the county. Fi…
If a South Dakota homeowner lives in one unit of a duplex or triplex and rents out the others, can the property still qualify for the 20 percent owner-occupied property tax credit? What about a single-family home with a rentable basement apartment?
No to both. The AG read SDCL 10-13-39 as covering only houses, condominium apartments, townhouses, townhomes, and manufactured or mobile homes assessed as a single unit. Duplexes and triplexes are by …
Can a town council reopen a meeting after adjourning it to take a vote, or informally poll members by phone on a property deal?
It depends, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found the town council violated FOIA by reconvening after its meeting had adjourned and the public had left in order to vote on a property purchas…
Are the annual unclaimed-property reports that South Dakota businesses file with the State Treasurer open to public inspection, and can the Treasurer charge the public for copies?
Mostly yes. The AG concluded that the reports were public records under SDCL 1-27-1 because the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act required the Treasurer to keep them, but Social Security numbers, federal…
If a zoning board chairman's comments mislead the public into thinking a vote is deferred, but the board decides that same night, is that a FOIA violation?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found the board violated the Act when its chairman's ambiguous comment that a decision would have to 'wait' led attendees to reasonably believe the matte…
Can a North Carolina hospital or nursing home refuse to follow a patient's advance directive on conscience grounds, and if it does, does state law require it to transfer the patient to a facility that will honor the directive?
Yes, an institution may refuse on conscience grounds, with the same rule applying to public, private-with-public-payment, and private-no-public-payment institutions. State law does not require transfe…
Can North Carolina give insurance companies a state premium-tax credit for investing in venture-capital companies that invest only in in-state businesses, or does the dormant Commerce Clause strike that down after Fulton Corp. v. Faulkner?
The AG advised that the bill almost certainly would have been struck down under the dormant Commerce Clause if it offered the credit to taxpayers generally, because the in-state-business requirement b…
Can a North Carolina city charge more than $5 for parking in a fire lane, or is the maximum fine capped at five dollars under G.S. 20-162.1?
Yes, up to $50. G.S. 14-4(b), as amended in 1991, set a $50 cap on the penalty for violating any city ordinance regulating parking. The 1991 amendment specifically repealed all conflicting laws, inclu…
Does Maryland's Open Meetings Act ban board members from discussing public business by e-mail, and are those e-mails public records?
The Attorney General concluded that members of a public body exchanging e-mail did not trigger the Open Meetings Act unless a quorum was engaged in a simultaneous, real-time exchange, but any e-mail r…
Does Delaware's open-meetings law require a town council to let citizens set the agenda, list every visitor in the minutes, or tape every meeting?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found the Act gives a public body discretion over its own agenda and minutes content (it doesn't have to list attendees or let citizens add agenda items),…
Do judges who manage a probation department have to follow the Open Meetings Act in Texas?
Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes, Jr., asked whether the committee of district and statutory county court judges that oversees the county's Community Supervision and Corrections Departme…
Can a Texas city use public funds or hotel taxes to help build a presidential library?
Texas A&M System Chancellor Barry Thompson asked, for the City of College Station, whether the city could spend public money (including hotel-motel occupancy taxes) on the George Bush Presidential Lib…
Was the 1996 Idaho One Percent Initiative capable of being implemented as written, and how would it have affected school funding, voter-approved bonds, urban renewal districts, and charter school districts?
No. The AG concluded the initiative could not be implemented because it imposed a 1% cap without giving any official the authority to enforce it, and warned of cascading conflicts with the property ta…
Can the Delaware Attorney General rule on whether a town violated its own charter when firing an employee?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG explained that its authority under the Freedom of Information Act complaint process only reaches violations of that Act, 29 Del. C. ch. 100, not separate …
In 1996, did North Carolina have to recognize a same-sex marriage that was legally performed in another state under the U.S. Constitution's full-faith-and-credit clause?
No, according to this opinion. The AG concluded that under G.S. 51-1 (which defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman) and the public-policy exception in Loughran v. Loughran, NC could refu…
Can I still get a pardon after my conviction was set aside at the end of probation in Texas?
Then-Governor George W. Bush asked the Attorney General two questions about article 42.12, section 20 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the provision that lets a judge, at the end of 'regular' or 'sh…
Can a deaf juror bring a sign language interpreter into the jury room during deliberations?
Harris County District Attorney Mike Driscoll asked whether an interpreter for a deaf juror could go into the jury room during deliberations, given an apparent conflict between two Texas statutes: art…
Can a Texas city enter a telecom joint venture with a private phone company?
Senator David Sibley asked whether the City of San Antonio, acting through its City Public Service Board electric utility, could enter a twenty-five-year contract with ICG Access Services to jointly b…
Did the Council have to approve contracts over one million dollars for the Washington Convention Center Authority and other DC independent agencies, or only contracts run through the Mayor's office?
Yes, all of them. Section 451(b) of the DC charter (added by the 1995 federal control-board law) covers every contract by any DC government entity over one million dollars in a 12-month period, includ…
Can a town council retroactively legalize meetings that violated Delaware's open-meetings law just by taking a follow-up vote?
Not the way Georgetown tried it, under the law as it stood in 1996. After finding numerous separate violations, mostly missing 7-day meeting notices without an explanation and an improper executive-se…
When the North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance proposed rules on managed care, preferred provider organizations, and provider contracts, did the Commissioner have authority to dictate substantive terms of provider contracts and to credential providers, or do those rules go beyond what the legislature authorized?
Partially yes, mostly no. The Commissioner has authority to regulate physician networks only to the extent their contracts are contracts of insurance or fall under the hospital, medical, and dental se…
If a New York town supervisor has a son in the town police department, can she vote on the police contract or the police budget?
Partly. A New York town supervisor whose son is a sergeant in the town police department must recuse from actions affecting the terms and conditions of her son's employment, including negotiations on …
Can the same person serve on a New York town board and chair the village zoning board of appeals for a village inside that town?
Yes, the two positions are compatible. Under the People ex rel. Ryan v Green test for compatibility of office, neither role is subordinate to the other and the duties are not inherently inconsistent. …
In 1996, did the U.S. Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause force North Carolina to recognize a same-sex marriage performed legally in another state?
The 1996 AG opinion concluded no. North Carolina, the AG said, could refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states under § 51-1, which restricted marriage to a man and a woman. This…
Can a Texas city end a TIF reinvestment zone and recreate it to reset the tax base?
Representative Fred Hill asked, for the City of Dallas, whether a city can terminate a tax increment financing (TIF) reinvestment zone and create a new one with the same boundaries to set a fresh tax …
Can Delaware towns refuse to release a list of employee names and salaries by claiming privacy or administrative burden?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG ordered eleven Delaware municipalities to produce, within ten days of a proper request, a list pairing each employee's name with their salary, rejecting b…
Does a Texas county clerk have to file a judgment from a 'common law court'?
A county attorney asked whether a county clerk must file a judgment from a self-styled 'common law court,' the kind used by the 'Republic of Texas' movement. The Attorney General said no. The Texas Co…
Can a Texas coach work as an athletic trainer without a license?
The Texas Department of Health asked whether someone whose job title is 'coach,' but whose main duties are working on injured athletes, must be licensed as an athletic trainer. The Attorney General sa…
When does a Texas school district have to use formal competitive bidding for construction?
The Texas Education Agency commissioner asked how two purchasing laws fit together: Education Code section 44.031, which lets a school district pick from six purchasing methods based on best value, an…
What did Maine's 1995 constitutional amendments on retirement funding actually require, and who do they cover?
The Maine AG read the 1995 amendments (Me. Const. art. IX, §§ 18-A, 18-B) to (1) cover service retirement, disability retirement, and death benefits as 'retirement and ancillary benefits,' but not gro…
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