State AG Opinions
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Did Maine's mandatory reporting law require professionals to report all underage sexual activity that could constitute a crime, even consensual conduct between near-age minors with no sign of harm?
No. The AG concluded that 22 M.R.S.A. § 4011-A required a report only when the mandated reporter had reasonable cause to suspect a threat to a child's health or welfare. Mere knowledge that minor…
Could a nonprofit association get reduced-price criminal background checks for its for-profit home-care members?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that the reduced charitable-organization fee did not have to be offered when the checks were used by paid caregivers or for-profit member companies. The…
Do U.S. Postal Service inspectors have arrest powers under Texas law?
Yes, for both kinds of postal inspectors. The Bexar County District Attorney asked whether article 2.122(a)(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives certain state felony law enforcement…
How long does a Texas school district have to file a truancy complaint?
A district attorney asked whether two 2007 bills that each amended Education Code section 25.0951(a) could both take effect, since one changed the filing window from seven to ten days and the other…
Can someone be charged with criminal trespass at an RV park in Texas?
A state senator asked whether the criminal trespass statute (Penal Code section 30.05) applies to recreational vehicle parks and how police can enforce it there. The Attorney General concluded that…
Could Connecticut extend its 2008 indoor smoking ban to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that the legislature could extend Connecticut's smoking ban to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. He read the tribal gaming agreements to require health standards no…
Was Allendale County's per-acre fire-rescue fee a valid service charge on all land?
The AG said in 2008 that a county could impose fire-protection service charges, but it could not decide whether Allendale's acreage-based fee met the four-part validity test without factual findings.
Could Denmark-Olar school trustees collect a per diem in addition to their annual compensation?
The AG concluded in 2008 that the later, district-specific act providing annual compensation controlled over the general per-diem statute, so trustees could not receive both. It left proposed…
Could a South Carolina forestry law-enforcement technician also serve on county council?
The AG concluded in 2008 that a Forestry Technician III with continuing law-enforcement duties held an office, as did a county council member, so simultaneous service violated dual-office rules.…
Could a school band use its booster club’s charter buses for trips if the buses did not meet federal school bus safety standards?
The South Carolina AG concluded in 2008 that Jacob’s Law applied to the three buses used for band trips. The school could not use them for student transportation unless they met federal school bus…
Could a Florida city limit how many tow trucks operated there under the law discussed in 2008?
The 2008 Attorney General letter did not approve a city cap on towing companies. It said federal law generally preempted local rules affecting tow-truck prices, routes, or services, subject to…
When could South Carolina police use a roadblock to check drivers, and what documents did motorists have to show?
The 2008 opinion explained that checkpoints needed an administrative plan with neutral limits on officers. It also quoted restrictions on seat belt checkpoints and the then-existing duties to carry…
Could a Barnwell County employee keep her job while running for clerk of court?
The AG knew of no South Carolina statute barring a county employee from running, but said county policies could restrict it. Its no-dual-office conclusion assumed her paid job was not itself an…
Could South Carolina pay state hospital nurses for overtime before their regular payday?
The AG concluded that paying nurses for overtime they had already worked did not violate the ban on unearned salary. An early payment still required Budget and Control Board approval of an exception…
Could South Carolina create a regional airport authority and transfer Horry County's airport to it?
The AG concluded that the legislature could create a regional authority encompassing Horry County's airport and transfer county airport property to another public entity. It warned that legislation…
Were flavored malt beverages taxed and licensed as beer or distilled spirits under the Maryland statutes examined in 2008?
Under the Maryland statutes and product formulations examined in 2008, the Attorney General classified flavored malt beverages as distilled spirits for tax and licensing purposes. The opinion said…
Could a South Carolina city use an ordinance to put its primary under the statewide June primary law?
No. The AG concluded that Section 7-13-15 excluded municipal primaries altogether. Its reference to a different schedule set by statute or ordinance qualified the listed nonmunicipal primaries; it…
Could Blythewood's council let its mayor hire the town administrator alone?
The AG said a court would likely find that the mayor and council had to employ the administrator together, so the council could not delegate that decision to the mayor alone. It also said an…
Which court must a Texas sheriff bring a person held on an out-of-county warrant and a parole warrant before?
A county attorney asked what the 'proper magistrate' or 'proper court' is in article 15.20(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, after a 2007 law (Senate Bill 909) addressed prisoners held on both…
Could Naples ban riding unrestrained in pickup-truck beds under Florida's 2008 traffic law?
No. Under the Florida traffic law discussed in 2008, the Attorney General concluded that Naples could not adopt an ordinance banning riders in pickup or flatbed truck beds without restraints because…
Did South Carolina generally prohibit buying ammunition in 2008?
The AG found no general South Carolina ban on buying ammunition in 2008. It identified particular restrictions on tear-gas-gun ammunition and teflon-coated rounds, plus hunting-related limits, and…
Can a Texas county split a project into phases to avoid competitive bidding?
A county attorney asked whether a project could be split into 'phases' each under $25,000 to escape the County Purchasing Act when the whole project exceeded $25,000, and whether the county auditor…
Is a private nonprofit that gets public utility money subject to Texas open records law?
A legislator asked whether a private nonprofit economic development foundation that gets part of its funding from 'quasi-public' utilities (CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System) is subject to the…
When did an elected Florida city council member have to leave a planning commission seat to avoid dual office holding?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that an unsalaried planning commissioner elected to the Maitland City Council did not have to resign at the election. He had to resign before assuming the…
Could Gaithersburg prohibit requests for work or donations in roadways, sidewalks, and parking areas?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland vehicle law preempted the parts of Gaithersburg's ordinance concerning conduct in the roadway. The surviving restrictions on solicitation in vehicles,…
Could a Florida city pay officials or employees cash instead of unused group health-insurance premiums?
Yes, under the circumstances described in 2008. The Attorney General said Live Oak could prospectively offer officials and employees cash equal to an unused city insurance premium and could limit…
Could Orange County shift its school surtax between promised projects or build schools with other funds?
The Attorney General said Orange County's school board had to use its 2002 surtax proceeds over the levy to meet the plan's promised repairs or replacements and new-school construction. It could…
Did Florida's Sunshine and public-records laws apply when city council members used a private website?
The Attorney General said in 2008 that council members could post individually or administer a private website, but exchanges among members about foreseeable council business could trigger…
Could Allendale County require CSX to establish a railroad crossing after finding it necessary?
The AG said compliance with the quoted state-law procedure appeared to authorize the Boogaloo crossing after a public convenience and necessity finding. It left possible federal restrictions to the…
Which 2007 Georgia misdemeanors did the Attorney General designate as fingerprintable offenses?
The AG designated only the two notary-fraud offenses (O.C.G.A. § 45-17-20(a) and (b)) as fingerprintable. Four other new 2007 misdemeanors (CASA confidentiality breaches, used-vehicle parking…
Could Horry County's school board set rules for board discussion and public input?
The AG said school boards had broad discretion to set governance and meeting rules consistent with state law. It could not decide whether Horry County's policy actually defrauded the public,…
Can you use Delaware's public records law to force a town to explain how it calculated an employee bonus?
No, the AG found. FOIA only requires a town to hand over records that already exist; it doesn't require the town to create an explanation, answer questions about its methodology, or defend the…
Could Colorado redistribute unused county child-welfare funds when an overspending county's caseload did not exceed estimates?
Yes, in either of two circumstances. The Attorney General concluded that unused capped child-welfare funds could go to an overspending county if the excess costs were for functions other than…
Did a Supreme Court school assignment ruling stop Connecticut from enforcing its school racial imbalance law?
No. In 2008, the AG said the state board still had to require and review local plans addressing school racial imbalance, but each plan had to comply with the Supreme Court's limits on assigning…
Did York County's later school impact fee amendments lose protection under South Carolina's 1999 law?
The AG said the 1999 Development Impact Fee Act did not authorize school facility fees. It thought York County's pre-Act fee was probably still protected after later waiver repeals, but found the…
Did a Delaware public university's board violate open meetings law by holding an entire board meeting over the phone?
Mostly no, the AG found. Delaware State University's board meeting was open as FOIA required because the public could still attend in person and listen over a speakerphone in the board room, even…
Can county officials avoid Delaware's open meetings law by holding a string of one-on-one briefings instead of one group meeting?
No, the AG found. Even though no single briefing included a quorum of Kent County's Levy Court, a coordinated series of five private sessions designed to build a majority consensus on a…
Did a Sunday move South Carolina's 2008 candidate filing deadline to Monday?
No. For the 2008 party-primary and convention candidacy statements, the AG read the statutory window as noon March 16 through noon March 30 even though both dates fell on Sundays. It found no Sunday…
Could a city settle a council member’s lawsuit filed before the member was elected?
The California Attorney General concluded in 2008 that a court could invalidate a city settlement because the member would have a financial interest in a city contract. The opinion acknowledged…
Could a South Carolina court keep someone jailed after a sentence ended because a fine was unpaid?
The fine remained unpaid after the defendant served the jail term. The AG said confinement could not simply be extended for nonpayment; the opinion described execution against property first, a…
Did renting out a Florida homestead while caring for an ill child end the owner's tax exemption in 2008?
The Attorney General's office declined to decide this owner's exemption because the property appraiser had to assess the facts. It said temporary absence alone did not abandon a homestead, but under…
Did Maine's Constitution require the Legislature to pass LD 203, which would have barred college students living in college-owned housing from establishing voting residency in Maine?
No. The AG concluded that Article II, Section 1 did not require LD 203, and that the bill, if enacted, would likely have been struck down on Equal Protection grounds because it singled out college…
How can a Texas county borrow money to build a voter-approved venue project?
The Terrell County Attorney asked whether the county could borrow money to build a voter-approved convention center venue project and repay the loan from the venue project sales-tax fund. The…
Did a Connecticut line-of-duty survivor keep benefits after remarrying if the officer died before the 2007 law?
Yes, for the timing the Attorney General addressed. If a paid police officer or firefighter died before October 1, 2007, the surviving spouse could keep statutory benefits when remarriage occurred…
Can a Texas county pay the operating costs of a local water district?
The Mills County Attorney asked whether the county could fund the Fox Crossing Water District, which gets all of its operation and maintenance money from the county instead of levying its own taxes,…
Could a Florida building official also serve on an independent mosquito-control district board?
Yes, under the constitutional provision analyzed in 2008. The Attorney General said its dual-office prohibition did not cover commissioner positions in independent special districts, so it did not…
Could a Florida county employee who retired early join group health insurance before or after normal retirement age?
The Attorney General said a Public Employee Optional Retirement Program early retiree who did not meet the specified normal-retirement or age-and-service criteria was not eligible to continue group…
Are NC public employee retirement benefits part of the public salary information that must be open to inspection, or are they confidential personnel data?
Public. The AG concluded Session Law 2007-508 expanded the definition of public 'salary' to include benefits and all other compensation. A literal reading would have excluded retirement benefits…
Could a South Carolina homeowners association forbid an owner from displaying the U.S. flag?
The AG said an association's restrictions depended on its governing covenants and agreements. Quoting an earlier opinion, it said federal law barred a covenant prohibiting members from displaying…
Could one person sit on South Carolina's Savannah River commission and the Jasper terminal board?
The AG concluded that simultaneous service did not violate South Carolina's dual-office provision. The Savannah River Maritime Commission was a state office, but the Jasper terminal project board…
Could Colorado inspect or certify factory-built structures brought into the state only for rent or use?
The Attorney General concluded that the Colorado Division of Housing could inspect factory-built structures brought into the state for rent or use, but could certify only structures manufactured,…
Did St. Augustine's port district charter require its commission to act by ordinance or by resolution?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that the St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach Commission had to exercise its charter powers by resolution. Its enabling legislation repeatedly used that…
Could Clay County use court-technology recording fees for fiber cable carrying both court data and phone traffic?
Yes, for the system described in 2008. The Attorney General concluded that Clay County could spend its restricted court-technology service-charge proceeds on courthouse fiber carrying digital voice,…
After a voter-approved multiyear property-tax lid lift ended, what amount formed the next levy limit in Washington?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that, unless voters expressly limited the lift to a period or purpose, the taxing district used the amount actually levied in its final lift year as the base…
Could a Washington school district transfer surplus state forest revenue from its bond debt fund to capital projects?
The Attorney General concluded in 2008 that the district could transfer state forest land revenue, including amounts deposited before the 2007 amendment, only insofar as it was unpledged and…
Can a Delaware town council meet privately with a developer to renegotiate impact fee payment terms without telling the public first?
No, under the law as it stood in 2008. The AG found Cheswold's town council violated FOIA three ways when it privately met with a developer's representatives to renegotiate impact fee payment terms:…
Can a Texas county give a tax abatement to a company building on a commissioner's land?
The Sterling County Attorney asked whether the conflict-of-interest exclusion in Tax Code section 312.402(d) blocks the county from giving a wind turbine company a tax abatement when the company's…
Could Idaho require a statewide vote before issuing permits for new coal or nuclear power plants?
The Attorney General found serious legal problems with a 2008 proposal for statewide votes on coal and nuclear plant permits. The review questioned whether such votes fit Idaho's initiative and…
Could Maryland tax private development or charge impact fees inside an exclusive federal enclave?
The Attorney General said private property interests in an exclusive federal enclave could be taxed only to the extent federal law waived immunity and Maryland law imposed the tax. An enhanced-use…
Did disability alone fully exempt a Pendleton homeowner from property tax?
No. The AG agreed that disability alone did not make a Pendleton property owner wholly exempt from property tax. It identified a homestead exemption for the first fifty thousand dollars of a…
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