State AG Opinions
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Those coin-pusher or quarter-pusher machines you sometimes see at bars, fairs, and arcades. The player drops a quarter onto a moving shelf hoping to dislodge other quarters or prizes piled up on the shelf. Are these legal amusement devices in SD (subject to the 4% amusement device tax under SDCL ch. 10-58), or are they illegal slot machines and games of chance prohibited by the SD Constitution and SDCL 22-25-13?
Illegal slot machines. Under SD law, an unconstitutional game of chance is one 'wherein chance predominates over skill' (Bayer v. Johnson). Quarter-pusher machines meet that definition. The player…
Can Oregon's Department of Administrative Services force every state agency to use DAS-prescribed indemnity and insurance clauses in the agency's own contracts?
Partially. The AG concluded that DAS may require agencies contracting under a DAS delegation to use prescribed indemnity and insurance clauses. It may only recommend those clauses to agencies…
Could a Connecticut fireworks fountain mainly whistle or flame instead of producing sparks or smoke in 2008?
No, under the 2008 interpretation. A product sold as a permitted fountain needed a shower of colored sparks or smoke as its main pyrotechnic effect; a whistle, crackle, or flame could only be…
Can the SD Department of Game, Fish and Parks enter into a Walk-In Area Program hunting-access contract with a state legislator who owns hunting land? Specifically, does SD Constitution Article III, § 12 (which bars legislators from being interested in state contracts authorized by laws passed during their term) block the contract when the underlying funding statute was enacted in 1998 and last substantively amended in 2004, and the legislator was in office during the 2004 amendment?
On the facts presented, no. The AG read Article III, § 12's phrase 'authorized by any law passed during the term for which he shall have been elected' to mean the specific term when the authorizing…
Can the South Dakota Commissioner of School and Public Lands sell a tract of state-owned school or endowment land to a city or a local economic development corporation, knowing the city or EDC plans to lease the land to a private company for a business project? And does 'economic development' count as a 'public purpose' under the statutes that govern these sales?
Yes to both. The 2008 AG read SDCL 5-9-34 and 5-9-35 as allowing sales of up to 160 acres of common school or endowment land to civil, state, religious, or public organizations for 'public…
Could Connecticut health officials obtain grocery loyalty-card customer data during a foodborne illness outbreak without consent?
Yes, in the 2008 opinion's outbreak setting. The Attorney General said state and local health officials could obtain customer identifying data from a food retailer without customer consent if it…
Could Kentucky's postsecondary education council make its interim president permanent without restarting a national search?
The AG concluded that the Council on Postsecondary Education violated KRS 164.013 when it made its interim president permanent in 2008 after terminating the earlier national search. The statute…
Does a Texas county have to issue ID cards to unpaid volunteer peace officers?
No. The Brazos County Attorney had appointed some unpaid, part-time peace officers as investigators, all licensed by the state, and asked whether a 2007 law required him to issue them the official…
Could South Carolina DMV reject a qualifying Choose Life S.C. specialty plate because of its message?
The AG predicted a court would likely require issuance if DMV found the organization met the nonprofit specialty-plate law and policy. He said DMV could not deny that qualifying application because…
Can a SD city use tax increment financing (TIF) to fund the public infrastructure (streets, curb, gutter, water/sewer mains) in a new residential subdivision, where the city's contribution stops at the infrastructure and individual lot owners pay for their own homes?
Yes. SDCL 11-9-42 says 'No tax increments shall be used for the construction of residential structures.' Reading the words plainly, that statute prohibits using TIF money to actually construct…
When did ordinary bills from Kentucky's 2008 legislative session take effect?
The AG concluded that ordinary legislation passed in Kentucky's 2008 regular session took effect at the start of July 15, 2008. General appropriation bills and acts with emergency or delayed…
Could DC's CFO release $191 million in supplemental FY 2008 funds for schools and early childhood programs, where the Mayor had submitted reprogramming requests but the Council had not yet approved them?
Yes. The 2008 Temporary Act, as amended by the Clarification Emergency Act, made fund release contingent on the Council's receipt of three specific reprogramming requests, not on Council approval of…
Can Georgia's Department of Revenue share motor vehicle registration data with other state agencies (or with private third parties working with those agencies)?
Only in the narrow circumstances the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and three Georgia statutes specifically allow. Georgia law exempts registration and title records from ordinary Open…
Could Lexington County add a road sales tax on top of its school tax?
No, under the law analyzed in 2008. Although the AG said the school-tax and transportation-tax laws generally allowed both kinds of tax, Lexington County's existing one-percent school levy exhausted…
Could a defendant demand a jury at a South Carolina magistrate's restraining-order hearing?
No. The AG said the specific restraining-order procedure called for a hearing before the magistrate, and the general statute allowing jury trials in magistrates' suits did not change that result.
Could a Washington city and county jointly hire a university extension program for climate-related education?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that they could make the described interlocal arrangement because each government already had authority over the underlying planning, recycling, and utility…
Could an off-duty South Carolina deputy run private drug sweeps and ignore suspected crimes?
The AG said a deputy could not avoid his law-enforcement obligations by calling a paid drug sweep private work. Although deputies had discretion to investigate and assess facts, the opinion said…
Can a New York county move part of the Board of Elections (voting-machine storage, training, staff) to a building outside the city where the Board sits, without holding a referendum under County Law § 216?
Partly. The county can open an additional Board of Elections location outside its existing city office and house equipment, voting machines, training facilities, and back-office work there. What…
Can a Texas county auditor block a county hospital payment they believe is unconstitutional?
Yes, within limits. A county-owned hospital's administrator wanted to pay a former employee for some continuing obligations and had a legal opinion saying the payment satisfied the Texas…
Can Texas move permanent school fund land-sale money into the available school fund?
Probably not. The chair of the State Board of Education asked three questions about Texas's permanent school fund (PSF). First, the Attorney General concluded the three labels used in article VII of…
If three of five seats on a New York fire-commissioner board become vacant at once, can the two remaining commissioners fill those vacancies by appointment, or do they fall below quorum?
Yes. Town Law § 176(3) lets a majority of the fire commissioners 'in office' fill vacancies, which is read as an explicit departure from the General Construction Law § 41 quorum rule. The two…
Can a Texas county and its school districts jointly develop minerals on county school land?
No. The Webb County Attorney asked whether a county and the school districts in it could team up to develop or sell the oil, gas, and mineral rights on county school lands, splitting the costs and…
Can a Texas city cap the earnings used to calculate vested employees' pensions?
Probably not, to the extent it lowers their benefits. To shore up its underfunded pension after the 2001 market crash, the City of Fort Worth put a 12% cap on how much the earnings used to calculate…
Could a Florida hospital district discuss its corporation's lawsuit in a closed attorney meeting?
Yes, when the district was the real party in interest in pending litigation naming its hospital corporation. The Attorney General said it could use the statutory closed session for settlement…
Did a Florida school advisory council have to match its students' racial percentages?
No. The Attorney General said the council had to represent the ethnic, racial, and economic community in the geographic area served by the school, not mirror its student body or the district as a…
Can Texas add to the list of crimes that disqualify teachers from certification?
Yes. The State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) wanted to amend its rule listing the crimes that can cost an educator a teaching certificate, including offenses on school property and felony…
Can a Texas DA use asset forfeiture funds to buy a juvenile detention center?
No to the forfeiture funds, yes to the county buying or leasing the facility. Because Harris County had a shortage of residential treatment beds for juvenile offenders, the District Attorney asked…
Could a South Carolina city reserve a disability parking space only during certain hours?
The AG distinguished two issues. He said a sign could not time-limit the statutory parking privileges of an eligible driver, but a municipality appeared able to reserve an individual disability…
Could a police officer write a ticket solely for South Carolina's general traffic misdemeanor provision?
No. The AG said the provision classified violations elsewhere in the traffic chapter as misdemeanors unless another rule applied; it did not itself define a separate offense that could be ticketed…
Could Savannah Lakes Village use district taxes for private security instead of police protection?
The AG said a private security contract did not satisfy the district's police-protection purpose, and he viewed spending district tax funds on that private security as inappropriate. He recognized…
Could a South Carolina defendant receive a longer sentence after winning post-conviction relief?
Yes, a longer sentence was possible if a successful post-conviction case led to a new trial and conviction. The AG said due process barred increasing the sentence to punish the defendant for having…
Could a Florida city council member also sit on county investment and airport advisory boards?
For the two bodies described, yes. The Attorney General concluded that Brevard County's investment committee and Valkaria Airport Advisory Board were advisory bodies created by county legislative…
Could Anderson County Council directly hire and supervise its internal auditor?
No. For Anderson County's council-administrator government, the AG said the administrator had to employ and supervise the internal auditor. The council could create the position and define its…
What public-interest review did Florida counties owe when buying or selling water utilities?
The 2008 informal letter said a county buying or selling a covered water, sewer, or wastewater reuse utility, or entering a wastewater facility privatization contract, had to hold a public hearing…
Does a Texas city have to pay a firefighter or police officer for testifying at a civil service hearing?
No. A state representative asked whether Local Government Code section 142.009 makes a city pay a firefighter or police officer who is subpoenaed, in that capacity, to testify on time off before an…
Did South Carolina's 2006 school property-tax exemption cover homes assessed at six percent?
No. The AG said the school operating-tax exemption under the 2006 reform law was limited to owner-occupied homes receiving the four-percent legal-residence assessment ratio. A home assessed at six…
Could a South Carolina school board remove a trustee for ethics filing violations?
The AG said ethics filing violations did not automatically remove the trustee. The board could consider them as potential cause, but removal required cause, notice and an opportunity to be heard;…
Must Rock Hill release police officers' names and badge numbers under South Carolina FOIA?
Yes, generally. The AG said Rock Hill should provide the names and badge numbers of officers who worked openly with the public when requested, subject to any applicable restriction in the state's…
Do members of a Texas advisory committee have to file personal financial disclosure statements?
No. A state representative asked whether chapter 572 of the Government Code, which requires certain state officers to file personal financial statements, applied to board members of the Tobacco…
Could a Florida town keep a telecom tower lease payment secret as proprietary information?
No. The Attorney General said the town did not have to treat the payment amount in its telecom tower lease as confidential proprietary information under section 202.195. The jointly made lease was…
Could a married Florida homeowner claim a second homestead for a dependent child next door?
No on the described facts. The Attorney General said a married couple living together in one permanent residence could not claim a second homestead exemption for the former home next door merely…
Did a late appointment to Maryland's nursing home administrator board count as a full term?
Yes, if the prior member's term had expired: a late appointment to that vacancy counted as a full term under the board's two-consecutive-full-terms limit. An appointment partway through an existing…
Did confidential Florida tax returns stay protected when a property appraiser hired a private contractor?
The informal letter did not give a categorical yes or no. It said tax returns remained confidential in the hands of people acting under the property appraiser's supervision and control, but whether…
Could a Washington county health board order a public utility district to fluoridate its water supply?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a county health board could order a public utility district to fluoridate water within its jurisdiction. The board could target a portion of a system or…
Did South Carolina's refusal to implement REAL ID stop private companies from seeking federal exceptions?
No. The AG said South Carolina's statutory refusal to participate in REAL ID implementation applied to the state, not private industry. A private company could request an exception for its…
If a school board adds a bid decision to its meeting agenda late, does it have to explain exactly why in detail?
No, the AG found. FOIA only requires a brief reason for adding an item to an agenda less than seven days before a meeting, not a detailed factual justification, and a Delaware school district's…
Could the Florida Attorney General investigate transportation commissioners' financial interests in department contracts?
In 2008, the Attorney General's office said the cited conflict-of-interest provision set no penalty and gave that office no power to investigate or prosecute possible violations. It suggested…
Did Washington’s electrical-contractor license exemption for utility work extend to subcontractors?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that it did. The exemption covered qualifying electrical work for a utility whether performed by its prime contractor or a subcontractor further down the…
Could South Carolina seek a federal REAL ID deadline extension without agreeing to implement REAL ID?
The AG said South Carolina law barred the state from implementing REAL ID, but the governor could describe existing license-security measures to federal officials in seeking an extension. That…
Did using a 17-year-old informant for an undercover drug buy violate South Carolina's delinquency law?
The AG said the described law-enforcement use of a 17-year-old in an undercover drug buy did not violate the statute against contributing to a minor's delinquency. He relied on the statute's knowing…
Could Maine counties spend property tax revenues from unorganized-territory TIF districts on county-wide economic development that would benefit organized areas, without violating Article IX, Section 8 of the Maine Constitution?
Likely problematic. The AG concluded that L.D. 2229 satisfied Article IX, Section 8 only if the spending produced a 'special benefit' to the unorganized territory. To the extent it allowed…
Did a Florida housing authority need the Attorney General to approve its executive director's compensation contract?
In 2008, the Attorney General's office found no state-law requirement for it to approve a housing authority's executive-director contract and declined to rule on this contract's validity. It…
Who could vote on a Florida soil and water district's land-use referendum, and what notice was required?
The 2008 letter said only landowners within the district could vote on a referendum for district land-use regulations. It explained the statute's notice rule and declined to decide whether local…
When does a Texas state agency qualify for the natural gas utility assessment exemption?
A state representative asked what triggers the exemption in Utilities Code section 104.202, which bars a gas utility from charging a state agency for a gross receipts assessment, regulatory…
Does Texas's school religious-expression law override a federal court injunction against a school district?
The Commissioner of Education asked whether the 2007 Schoolchildren's Religious Liberties Act controls over, or is limited by, a 1970 federal permanent injunction (the Guild order) that bars Houston…
Who could resolve a dispute over a South Carolina party's precinct-club reorganization?
The AG said the Election Commission had a statutory decertification role when a certified party failed to organize as required, but whether the Spartanburg clubs complied depended on facts his…
Did a defendant have a right to a jury in a South Carolina stalking or harassment restraining-order hearing?
The South Carolina Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a defendant in a restraining-order hearing under the cited stalking and harassment statutes had no right to a jury trial. The opinion…
How did Florida treat marriages performed elsewhere under its 2008 marriage laws?
A 2008 Attorney General letter said Florida generally recognized a marriage valid where celebrated, subject to Florida statutes and public policy. It then described restrictions under the law of…
When did Florida's six-month deadline for investigating an officer's certification begin, and did a missed deadline bar discipline?
The Attorney General said in 2008 that the commission's six-month investigation period began when it received the employing agency's completed disciplinary or internal-affairs report. The commission…
Could someone with a felony or domestic-violence conviction hunt with a muzzleloader in South Carolina?
The 2008 South Carolina AG opinion found no state ban on possession of a muzzleloading rifle or shotgun based on the handgun restriction it examined. It did not resolve whether federal firearms law…
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