State AG Opinions
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Can a Delaware citizen force a county to reveal who anonymously forwarded a public official's email to a staffer?
No, under the law as it stood in 2008. The AG found New Castle County could withhold records identifying whoever forwarded a councilman's public email to the Chief of Staff, because the requesting…
How should an Idaho governing body interpret the Open Meetings Act's hiring exception, and what should it do if an executive session 'drifts' from its stated purpose?
Narrowly, and immediately. The AG concluded that all of the Open Meetings Act's executive-session exceptions, including the Idaho Code § 67-2345(1)(a) hiring exception, must be read narrowly so that…
Could South Carolina districts carry unused Public Choice Innovation Schools grants into 2008–09?
No. The Attorney General concluded that school districts receiving Public Choice Innovation Schools grants in 2007–08 could not carry unspent appropriations into 2008–09 after the legislature…
Could South Carolina’s Employment Security Commission donate public funds to a charity?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Employment Security Commission had neither express nor implied statutory authority to make a charitable donation.
Did Florida's 2008 municipal-utility law cover Vero Beach, and how were its undefined customer and service-territory terms interpreted?
The Attorney General's office declined to decide whether Vero Beach qualified as an affected municipal electric utility because that mixed question of law and fact required a court. It said…
Could a retiring South Carolina university police officer keep the issued service weapon?
The Attorney General concluded that an officer associated with Lander University was a state law enforcement officer under the 2008 retirement statute. The officer, rather than the agency, chose…
Can a Texas county pay its elected officials a performance bonus for hitting goals set by the commissioners court?
Probably not, the Attorney General concluded. A commissioners court controls the county budget and can set compensation for county officers and employees, and a properly pre-approved bonus plan for…
Can a Texas city's municipal court hear an appeal of a dangerous-dog determination, and can it refuse or transfer the case?
Yes, it can hear these cases, the Attorney General concluded. A municipal court created under Government Code chapter 29, even one that is not a court of record, has jurisdiction under Health and…
If a county boundary resurvey moves part of an existing road into a different county, does that county automatically have to maintain it?
No, not on its own, the Attorney General concluded. Slama Road was established in 1902 as an Ellis County road running to the Navarro County line. A 1931 resurvey of the boundary showed the last…
Could a Florida county use an additional criminal court-cost assessment to fund a juvenile alternative-sanctions coordinator, and did it have to fund a judge's request?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the county could use the designated court-cost revenue for an alternative-sanctions coordinator. The county, however, retained discretion over whether to fund a local…
How far can a Texas county require a sexually oriented business to be located from schools, homes, and churches?
There is no single statutory maximum, the Attorney General concluded. Local Government Code section 243.006(a) lets a county prohibit a sexually oriented business within a certain distance of a…
Could a qualified interpreter attend a closed Florida Sunshine Law litigation session for a deaf board member?
Yes. The AG concluded in 2008 that a qualified interpreter could attend a closed litigation-strategy session for a deaf board member because the interpreter functioned as the member's means of equal…
Do Texas public schools and charter schools have to offer the elective Bible course?
No, the Attorney General concluded. House Bill 1287 added Education Code section 28.011, which says a school district 'may offer' elective courses on the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament and…
Can a county's one-year no-rehire policy block a constable from hiring a deputy who recently left another county job?
No, the Attorney General concluded. San Jacinto County's commissioners court adopted a policy making a former county employee ineligible for rehire for one year after leaving. The opinion held that…
Could one person serve on both Florida's Lemon Law Arbitration Board and the Workforce Florida board?
No. The AG concluded that a Lemon Law arbitrator exercised quasi-judicial authority and a Workforce Florida director exercised state policy and funding powers, making both positions public offices…
Could a trustee or beneficiary of a Florida land trust claim the homestead property-tax exemption?
In 2008, the AG concluded that a resident trustee could qualify because the land-trust statute vested legal and equitable title in the trustee. A separate beneficiary needed a qualifying residence…
Could the Santa Rosa Island Authority reduce commercial lease fees by the amount of property tax a leaseholder paid?
No. The AG concluded in 2008 that reducing lease fees by the amount of ad valorem tax paid would operate as an unauthorized tax exemption, and the special district lacked power to grant it.
Did South Carolina’s 2008 animal cruelty statute exempt ordinary livestock and farm practices?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the statute’s listed agricultural and accepted animal-husbandry practices were outside its penalties, and that livestock rearing and ranching fell within…
Could a Florida city give retirees one chance to continue city insurance and bar later reentry after they dropped coverage?
Yes. The AG concluded that Margate could require a written election within 30 days after retirement and could deny a later chance to rejoin after a retiree dropped coverage, while still satisfying…
Was a Florida community residential home with six or fewer residents exempt from the Florida Building Code?
No. Treating a small community residential home as a single-family, noncommercial use for local zoning did not exempt it from the statewide building code, and those homes were not listed among the…
Could South Carolina pause construction-debris landfill permits while revising the regulations?
The Attorney General concluded that DHEC lacked authority to impose the proposed permit moratorium. New construction and debris landfills seeking construction permits had to demonstrate need; later…
Are unlicensed drivers and drivers with suspended licenses fingerprintable in Georgia after the 2008 amendments?
Yes for both. Senate Bill 350 (2008) made fourth-offense violations of O.C.G.A. § 40-5-20 (driving without a valid license) and § 40-5-121 (driving while suspended/revoked) felonies. The AG…
Could the City of Rexburg deputize BYU-Idaho's private campus security officers as Idaho peace officers, and could POST certify them?
No on both counts. The AG concluded that Idaho municipal corporations can enter joint-powers agreements only with other public agencies, so Rexburg could not delegate its police power to private…
Do Texas school districts have to use the state's standard GPA formula for college admissions?
Yes, for admissions, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 51.807 directs the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt a standard method for computing a student's high…
Who had to receive and hold state and federal asset-forfeiture money for a Virginia sheriff, the sheriff or the county treasurer?
The county treasurer. The Attorney General concluded that state and federal asset-forfeiture proceeds had to be received, distributed, and accounted for through the county treasury. The sheriff…
Must a Virginia preliminary subdivision plat show every phase when it is approved to receive the extended five-year validity period?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that all sections or phases had to appear on the preliminary plat when the planning commission approved it. A later construction plan showing phases did not…
Could a school district favor one 403(b) vendor or take sales commissions?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a district could prefer a provider for legitimate plan administration without unreasonable discrimination or limiting employees’ qualified…
Could a Maryland county move jail inmates to an out-of-state facility during an emergency?
In a genuine emergency with no viable Maryland option, a sheriff or local jail custodian could temporarily transport inmates to another jurisdiction to protect them. The Attorney General said the…
Could Anne Arundel County keep a small school-construction reserve in its own capital budget?
For the fiscal 2008 arrangement reviewed, yes. The Attorney General relied on the reserve's small size, its use for projects outside the school board's original request, and later reappropriation to…
Did Maryland's later land-use law repeal the old county public-roads petition process?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the older public-roads subtitle allowing county commissioners to open, alter, or close roads was not repealed by later land-use provisions. The two schemes…
Could a Florida village hold a public meeting in a private home under the Sunshine Law?
The informal opinion did not impose a categorical ban on private homes, but warned that the same public-access rules applied there. A meeting site had to accommodate reasonably expected attendance,…
Could Bamberg enforce its open-container ordinance in an unposted private parking lot open to the public?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that signs required to extend traffic-offense jurisdiction over a public-use parking lot were not a prerequisite for enforcing Bamberg’s open-container ordinance there.
Could a South Carolina city use nonresident water maintenance fees for unrelated city expenses?
The Attorney General distinguished line-extension assessments, which had to be used for the stated extension purpose, from ongoing service fees for nonresidents. It found no general state-law…
Could Belvedere Fire District add commissioners to its three-member board without changing state law?
Assuming Belvedere Fire District was formed under the statutory scheme the AG identified, its board had three commissioners and could be expanded only by amending the statute.
Did a business employee’s warrant for misdemeanor shoplifting or a bad check require a courtesy summons?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a courtesy summons applied to misdemeanor shoplifting and bad-check cases when a nonlaw-enforcement employee or owner signed the warrant, even if acting for…
Could South Miami pay the legal fees of a winning commission candidate named in a lawsuit contesting the election?
No. The Attorney General's office concluded that the city could not use public money to defend the successful candidate merely because election-contest law required that candidate to be joined as an…
Does a Texas wildlife rehabilitation permit let the holder keep any dangerous wild animal without registering it?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Subchapter E of Health and Safety Code chapter 822 bars anyone from keeping a dangerous wild animal (the list includes tigers, lions, bears, gorillas, and similar…
Can a Texas regional transportation authority charge different sales tax rates in different subregions?
Yes, potentially, the Attorney General concluded. The Texas Constitution requires taxation to be equal and uniform, but courts have long held that does not demand absolute equality; it allows…
Could a South Carolina public committee vote by signed ballot and count an absent member’s proxy?
The Attorney General concluded that the committee could use signed written ballots, but members’ votes became public records after submission and tabulation. It found no authority for an absent…
Did temporarily living outside Fort Mill make a town council member lose municipal residency?
Not automatically. The Attorney General said domicile depended heavily on intent to keep or return to a fixed home, but could not decide the council member’s actual residency. Fort Mill Town Council…
Could South Carolina’s Mitigation Trust Fund give money or land to a local nonprofit land trust?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the fund’s trustees lacked general authority to grant money or property to a local nonprofit land trust. The statute expressly authorized one named…
What happens if a Florida tax certificate holder wins a tax deed sale but refuses to pay stamp tax and recording fees?
For non-homestead land with no higher bidder, the opinion treated the certificateholder as the buyer and payment of documentary stamp tax and recording fees as a condition before the clerk issues…
When an excavator calls One Call in SD before digging near a house and the dig will affect the water service line or sewer service line running from the public right-of-way to the building, whose responsibility is it under SDCL chapter 49-7A to come out and mark the line: the water/sewer utility (operator) or the homeowner (property owner who arguably owns the service line)? And does the One Call locate obligation extend all the way from the right-of-way to the meter (water) or to the building (sewer), or does the homeowner take over at some point?
The utility operator. The operator (not the property owner) must mark both the lines in the public right-of-way and any service laterals extending onto private property within the proposed…
Could a Pasco County city change its municipal election date by ordinance under Florida's voting device exception?
The AG declined a formal ruling, but informally read section 101.75 as allowing an ordinance to change a municipal election date when voting devices could not handle concurrent elections. Otherwise,…
When did South Carolina’s 2008 misdemeanor courtesy-summons rule apply, including victim and merchant cases?
The Attorney General said the 2008 rule required a courtesy summons for qualifying misdemeanors when nonlaw-enforcement personnel signed the warrant, including victim cases and eligible merchant…
Did AT&T Kentucky need Louisville's new approval to carry IP video over facilities covered by its 1886 telephone franchise?
The AG concluded that a successor to the 1886 Ohio Valley Telephone Company franchise could carry IP-enabled video over its existing Louisville-area rights-of-way without additional legislative or…
Did Florida's 2008 shooting-range law make local permits easier to obtain?
The AG's office said section 790.333 appeared aimed at immunity from certain government lawsuits over projectiles in the environment, not at streamlining local permits for a shooting range. The…
Can a Florida school district hold several continuing contracts for design services and choose a firm without another bid?
In this 2008 informal letter, the AG said the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act did not limit how many continuing contracts an agency could have at once. An agency could set criteria for…
Could a South Carolina lawyer serve on both the Lawyer Conduct Commission and a technical college commission?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Florence/Darlington Technical Center Area Commission seat counted as a public office, but membership on the Commission for Lawyer Conduct did not.…
Could South Carolina prisons deny cafeteria meals to inmates who refused the grooming policy?
The Attorney General found no South Carolina law specifically barring denial of cafeteria access, but did not decide that SCDC’s practice was lawful. Its constitutional analysis turned on whether…
Could a Virginia board of supervisors give its members the same family health insurance benefit provided to the county administrator and attorney?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that § 15.2-1414.3(4) allowed a board of supervisors, by resolution, to give its members the same family health insurance benefit provided to the county…
What happened to Virginia land-use tax status when an owner requested more intensive zoning, and could intensively zoned farmland qualify later?
Owner-requested rezoning to a more intensive use required removal from the land-use program and assessment of roll-back taxes, even if the owner failed to report the change. Property removed on that…
Do Idaho's state CAFO laws preempt county regulation of confined animal feeding operations like dairies and feedlots?
Partly. Idaho law expressly authorizes counties to regulate where large CAFOs may locate. The AG said a court would likely uphold siting rules such as setbacks or livestock-density limits, but would…
Are county indigent-health-care bills over budget an unconstitutional debt the county can't pay?
It depends on a fact question, but if the answer is the one suggested, yes, the Attorney General concluded. Texas Constitution article XI, section 7 bars a county from incurring a debt without…
For a New York state board with both voting and non-voting (ex officio) members, do you count the non-voting members when figuring out quorum, and can a bare majority of those present pass a motion under Robert's Rules?
Two answers. First: non-voting ex officio members do not count when determining quorum under General Construction Law § 41. For the 24-voting-member New York State Independent Living Council, quorum…
Did a South Carolina courtesy summons need a local magistrate’s endorsement for service in another county?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a courtesy summons issued in one county or municipality had to be endorsed by a magistrate with jurisdiction where the defendant was located before service…
Can members of the Vermont State Teachers' Retirement Board be personally sued and held financially liable for ordinary mistakes in their investment or benefit decisions?
No, not for ordinary negligence. Vermont treats retirement board members as state employees under 3 V.S.A. § 1101 and 12 V.S.A. § 5602: the state defends them at state expense, and lawsuits for…
How could Cheraw determine whether a council member with two homes still lived in town?
The Attorney General said residency depended on domicile and the member’s intent, judged from all the circumstances; owning town property or having a spouse elsewhere was not conclusive. Cheraw Town…
Can a New York town that is in an elected-legislature county switch the town supervisor from a 2-year term to a 4-year term by local law instead of by the slower Town Law § 24-a resolution route?
Yes. Where the county is governed by an elected county legislature (County Law § 150-a) rather than by a board of supervisors made up of town supervisors (§ 150), the town's supervisor is not a…
Can a Texas justice of the peace who is a lawyer be appointed to represent criminal defendants on appeal?
No statute forbids it, the Attorney General concluded, but ethics rules may. A justice of the peace in Upshur County, who is a licensed attorney, asked to be put on the criminal appellate…
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