State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Could a Texas county judge preside over probate of a will the judge drafted, witnessed, or that involved the judge's former law practice or relatives?
No single answer applied to all five situations. Constitutional disqualification required a direct financial interest, prohibited relationship to a party, or prior service as counsel in the same case;…
Can a Texas bail bond board make license applicants post cash instead of property deeds for their security deposit?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Smith County Bail Bond Board could not adopt a rule forcing an original bail bond applicant to make the required security deposit only in the form of a cash…
Can a county attorney defend a hospital district employee in a criminal case, and can the district pay the legal bills?
Mostly no. The Attorney General concluded that article 2.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure barred the Harris County Attorney from representing a Harris County Hospital District employee in a crimin…
Are auctioneer services 'professional services' that a Texas city can exempt from competitive bidding?
Not automatically. The Attorney General concluded that, except for the services covered by the Professional Services Procurement Act, a municipality decides in the first instance whether particular se…
Do the county Site Designation Review Committees, created under G.S. § 104G-19 to advise county boards on a planned low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, have authority to enter privately-owned land for site-characterization monitoring under G.S. § 143B-285.14 or any other statute, without the landowner's consent?
No. The 1992 AG concluded that G.S. § 143B-285.14 authorizes DEHNR, the NC Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority, and their direct agents/contractors (including the prospective license appl…
Could the Texas police licensing commission require peace officers and jailers to be U.S. citizens?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education exceeded its rulemaking authority when it adopted 37 Texas Administrative Code section 2…
Does a Texas life sentence ever end before the person dies, such as when they are paroled?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a life sentence is exactly what it says, a sentence that continues until the convicted person's death. A person serving life may become eligible for parole, but…
Can a Texas juvenile board raise the salaries of its own county judge members?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the juvenile board for Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties had no authority to set the salaries of its members. Human Resources Code section 152.0411(c) gives th…
Can a Texas court reporter sign an exclusive contract to handle all of one company's deposition reporting?
The Attorney General concluded that neither Texas statutes nor the Texas Supreme Court's certification rules prohibited a certified shorthand reporter from contracting with a company, often an insuran…
When an insurance company denies pre-authorization for a treatment a North Carolina doctor recommends, is the company practicing medicine without a license?
No. The North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners asked whether utilization review and pre-certification by third-party payors counted as the practice of medicine. The AG said no. The statute defines …
Can the Texas low-level radioactive waste authority base its impact-assistance fund on planning and implementation fees?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the board of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority cannot adopt a rule designating a percentage of its planning and implementation fees for i…
Can a Texas insurance company credit rehabilitation fees against its premium tax?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the fees the State Board of Insurance collects from an insurer it rehabilitates under article 21.28-A of the Insurance Code are not 'examination and evaluation …
Can Texas cities, counties, or school districts deposit their funds in savings and loan associations?
No. The Attorney General concluded that municipalities, counties, independent school districts, and state institutions of higher learning are not authorized to deposit funds in the demand accounts of …
Could parents in Maryland get an orphans' court to appoint a guardian for their child just so the child could attend public school tuition-free in a different county?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that orphans' courts could appoint a guardian of a minor only when neither parent was serving as guardian, because both parents had died or the surviving pare…
Can part-time doctors and nurses at a Texas county jail get state indemnification and a free legal defense?
Not under chapter 104. The Attorney General concluded that health care professionals employed by or under contract with a county jail are not entitled to state indemnification or legal representation …
Does Texas's voluntary paternity procedure give a child the same rights as the old voluntary legitimation procedure?
Yes, in substance. The Attorney General concluded that when Texas renamed its Family Code procedure from 'voluntary legitimation' to 'voluntary paternity' in 1989, it did not change the substance. Bot…
Can a Texas commissioners court take the county treasurer out of the process of investing county funds?
Not entirely. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court cannot remove the county treasurer from investing county funds, because the treasurer is the chief custodian of county money and…
Does a Texas city council violate the Open Meetings Act if a majority signs a letter without an open meeting?
It can. The Attorney General concluded that when a quorum of a governmental body agrees on a joint statement (such as a letter expressing the 'undersigned majority's' position) about public business u…
When a Texas tax abatement expires, does the newly taxable property count as 'new property value' for the county's effective tax rate?
No. The Attorney General concluded that improvements built on property while it was exempt under a tax abatement agreement are not 'new property value' under section 26.012(17) of the Tax Code when th…
Did Maine's statutory ban on unfunded state mandates actually stop the Legislature from passing such mandates?
No. The AG concluded that 30-A M.R.S.A. § 5684, which purported to prohibit the Legislature from enacting unfunded mandates on counties and municipalities, was of no effect. One Legislature cannot bin…
Which agency controls bidding for grass mowing along North Carolina public highways: the Department of Administration under G.S. 143-49(3), or the Department of Transportation under G.S. 136-28.1(f)?
The Department of Administration. The AG concluded grass mowing on highway rights of way is maintenance, not 'professional or specialized services necessary in connection with highway construction or …
If a North Carolina landlord uses 'service by posting' on the door of a rental and the tenant does not show up, can the magistrate award the landlord both possession and back rent in the same default order?
No. A small-claims magistrate cannot enter a money judgment for back rent and damages when service was made under the posting method of § 42-29. Service by posting (mail plus phone attempt plus an in-…
Can a budget rider change the competitive bidding rules that Texas school districts must follow?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Rider 30 to the 1991-1992 General Appropriations Act was unconstitutional. The Texas Constitution lets an appropriations bill cover the single subject of spendi…
If someone sues over Maryland's legislative redistricting map under the federal Voting Rights Act, do they file in a circuit court, the Court of Appeals, or federal court?
In this 1992 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a private lawsuit claiming Maryland's legislative redistricting plan violated Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act was not exclusively a…
Can the Texas engineering board still give a reduced license fee to engineers 65 and older after a $200 fee increase?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers could treat the $200 fee increase added in 1991 by House Bill 11 (section 13B of the Engineering Pra…
Does 'physician' in the Texas Occupational Therapy Title Act include chiropractors?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the word 'physician' in sections 15(b)(6) and 27 of the Occupational Therapy Title Act (V.T.C.S. art. 8851) meant a person licensed to practice medicine by the …
What lights and reflectors are required on a North Carolina farm trailer used on public roads?
Every farm trailer operated on a North Carolina highway must have a stop lamp activated by the towing vehicle's foot brake. Beyond that, the requirements depend on weight, registration status, time of…
Can Maine's Legislature raise state employee retirement contributions and divert most of the money to the General Fund, or transfer money from retiree health funds to reduce other retirement payments?
Mixed. The AG said Part W's plan to raise employee retirement contributions by 1% and pay only 20% of the increase to the retirement system would not violate the November 1991 amendment to Article IX,…
Did Maine's new constitutional protection for the Maine State Retirement System also protect the separate Maine Judicial Retirement System from legislative deappropriations?
No. The AG concluded that the Maine Judicial Retirement System is a separate corporation from the Maine State Retirement System. When voters added the anti-diversion sentence to Article IX, § 18 in No…
Can a Texas navigation district grant a tax abatement on land the county already abated, and for how long?
Only for a limited window. The Attorney General concluded that under chapter 312 of the Tax Code, the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act, only a county or a municipality can start a tax abat…
Can someone with a felony conviction run for alderman in a Texas type B general law city?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Election Code's bar on candidacy by anyone finally convicted of a felony (and not pardoned or released from the resulting disabilities), section 141.001(a)(…
Does the Texas prompt-payment law for government contracts cover construction projects?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that article 601f, V.T.C.S., the statute setting deadlines for state agencies and local governments to pay vendors (and for vendors to pay their subcontractors and …
Who has to transport juveniles between detention and court, and can the county judge order the sheriff to do it?
No one is required by statute. The Attorney General concluded that no Texas law puts a mandatory duty on any officer or office to transport juvenile defendants between the detention center and juvenil…
What is a Texas sheriff responsible for when a private company runs the county jail?
Very little, directly. The Attorney General concluded that when a county contracts with a private vendor to run a detention facility, the sheriff's only duty is the 'regular, on-site monitoring' the s…
When Maryland raised the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes in 1982, did the higher rate apply to deferred payments on estates of people who died before the law took effect?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a 1982 law raising the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes applied to all deferred estate tax payments due on or after the law's July 1, 1982 effective date…
Can Texas health agencies inspect a hospital that's already licensed and medicare-accredited?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the exemption in section 222.024 of the Health and Safety Code, which spares a medicare-certified or nationally accredited hospital from duplicate 'licensing i…
Can a restaurant in a dry Texas county give customers a free glass of wine or cook with alcohol?
Giving away wine is treated as a sale, so it is barred. The Attorney General concluded that a restaurant in a dry area that hands patrons a 'free' glass of wine with their meal violates section 101.31…
Who is allowed to run a bingo game in Texas, and where can they hold it?
Only the kinds of organizations listed in article III, section 47(b) of the Texas Constitution, churches, synagogues, religious societies, volunteer fire departments, nonprofit veterans and fraternal …
Does a Texas municipal court have jurisdiction over a bad check written for goods or services?
It depends on what the bad check bought and how the charge is framed. The Attorney General concluded that writing a bad check just to pay money is the offense of issuing a bad check under Penal Code s…
Can a Texas budget rider require state agency employees to file financial disclosure statements with their own board?
Mostly no. The Attorney General concluded that article V, section 79 of the 1991-92 General Appropriations Act was valid only to the extent it restated the existing financial-disclosure statute (then …
Can a Texas city use an industrial development corporation's bonds to build or run a for-profit hospital?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a hospital or clinic is not a 'manufacturing or industrial facility,' nor a facility 'required or suitable for the promotion of commercial development,' under t…
Who hires and fires juvenile probation department staff, the juvenile board or the chief probation officer?
The two share authority in a defined way. The Attorney General concluded that under sections 152.0007 and 152.0008 of the Human Resources Code, the chief juvenile probation officer of the Brazos Count…
Are a Texas river authority's oil and gas working interests exempt from property tax?
It depends on the facts, and the Attorney General could not resolve it in an opinion. The Lower Colorado River Authority owns leasehold (working) interests in oil and gas wells in Fayette County and c…
If a check-cashing company takes a customer's check that both know is currently no good, gives the customer cash minus a fee, and agrees to hold the check until the customer's account has money, is that a regulated loan, and can the company be criminally prosecuted under North Carolina's Consumer Finance Act and bad-check laws?
Yes. A deferred-presentment check-cashing transaction is in essence a small-dollar loan. If the loan amount is $10,000 or less and the fees exceed Chapter 24 interest caps, the company is making consu…
Can a Texas sheriff investigate crimes or make arrests outside his own county or out of state?
No, not generally. The Attorney General concluded that a sheriff has no general authority to investigate criminal activity outside the county for which he was elected, and certainly none outside Texas…
Is it illegal to use a computer in Maryland to buy an out-of-state lottery ticket?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that using a computer in Maryland to buy or arrange the purchase of an out-of-state lottery ticket violated Maryland's anti-lottery statutes, even though the buye…
Does Texas nepotism law apply to relatives hired as independent contractors, not just employees?
On the two questions asked: a school board may hire a board member's second cousin, because a 1991 change to the nepotism law adopted the civil-law method of counting kinship, under which second cousi…
If redistricting abolishes a Texas constable's precinct, does he have to get a peace officer license?
No, not on these facts. The Attorney General concluded that when redistricting eliminates a constable's precinct and folds it into a new, larger precinct, and the incumbent is reelected as constable o…
Can one Texas district judge pay his court reporter a different salary than the other judges in the county?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a district judge can set the salary of his official court reporter at a level different from the salaries set by the other district judges in the same county. …
Can a Texas county pre-trial services office hold a defendant's property as security for a personal bond?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not authorize a county personal bond office, like the Harris County Pre-Trial Services Agency created under ar…
When a Maryland sheriff or State's Attorney joins the state pension system, does the state or the county pay the employer's share of the contribution?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State, not the counties or the officials themselves, was legally required to pay the employer's share of pension contributions for sheriffs, State's Atto…
Can Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration discipline a licensed wholesale car dealer for selling vehicles to retail buyers at an out-of-state auction?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Motor Vehicle Administration could not discipline a licensed wholesale dealer merely for selling vehicles to retail buyers in another state, since Maryla…
Did the Supreme Court's Hafer v. Melo decision expose Maryland prosecutors to new personal liability for doing their jobs?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hafer v. Melo, which allowed state officials to be personally sued under Section 1983 for actions taken in their officia…
Who decides how a Texas city spends police asset-forfeiture money, the city council or the police department?
The law enforcement agency, not the city council. The Attorney General concluded that under article 59.06 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, forfeiture funds are awarded to, distributed to, and spent …
Can a Texas public housing authority evict a tenant just for legally owning or keeping a gun at home?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a municipal housing authority is a division of the city that created it, so it is bound by section 215.001 of the Local Government Code, which bars a municipali…
Are Idaho's residency-waiting-period rules for veterans' emergency relief and admission to the state veterans' home (three years for relief, two years for admission) constitutional?
No. The AG concluded that the durational residency requirements in Idaho Code §§ 65-203 and 66-901 unconstitutionally burden the fundamental right to migrate and deny equal protection to newcomer vete…
Can a Texas city buy excess or surplus insurance without competitive bidding under Local Government Code 252.024?
No, not on the strength of that section alone. The Attorney General concluded that section 252.024 of the Local Government Code does not by itself exempt a municipality's purchases of excess or surplu…
Can a Texas security licensing board punish someone just for being indicted, before conviction?
No, not on the charge alone. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Board of Private Investigators and Private Security Agencies could not discipline a licensee, registrant, or commissioned sec…
Could Maine cancel merit pay step increases for state employees during the budget crisis, even when collective bargaining agreements promised those increases?
Probably not for current contracts. The AG concluded that Section NN-1 of L.D. 1985, which barred all merit increases between January and December 1992, would likely be an unconstitutional impairment …
Can Maine's Governor cut state-municipal revenue sharing payments to towns when state finances are tight?
Yes, but with limits. The AG concluded that the Governor's allotment-curtailment power under 5 M.R.S.A. § 1668 extends to the state-municipal revenue sharing program in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 5681. The Legis…
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