State AG Opinions
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Could East Coke County Hospital District operate a long-term care facility and levy taxes to pay for it?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The East Coke County Hospital District, a district created in 1969 by a special law under article IX, section 9 of the Texas Constitution, had authority to…
Can a Texas constable run animal control on his own, without the county commissioners court approving it?
The Attorney General concluded a constable cannot make himself the animal or rabies control authority. If a constable has reason to believe an animal is being cruelly treated, the cruelty statute…
If a Texas county jailer is also a deputy sheriff, does he need a private security guard commission to moonlight as an armed guard?
The Attorney General did not give a yes-or-no answer, because it turns on the facts of each person's job. The Private Security Act exempts only full-time peace officers from its commissioning…
Can a Texas store scan and save your driver's license when you buy cold medicine containing pseudoephedrine?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A general law (Transportation Code section 521.126) makes it a crime to read and store the data on a driver's license magnetic stripe, but it has an exception for…
Was Washington’s Department of Ecology bound by a water conservancy board’s record or findings on a water right transfer?
No. In 2006, the AG concluded Ecology could consider additional facts and need not defer to a local board’s facts or legal reading. A board was not bound by Ecology guidance that had not become law,…
Did Washington’s Legislative Ethics Board oversee the Code Reviser’s employees?
Yes. In 2006, the AG concluded that the Code Reviser’s Office was a legislative agency, so the Legislative Ethics Board had jurisdiction to enforce the state ethics law for its employees.
Could a South Carolina county use home detention for people serving short local jail sentences?
The AG said counties and municipalities could establish home detention by ordinance for eligible people awaiting trial or serving sentences outside Department of Corrections custody. A court had to…
Which Connecticut agency controlled trade apprenticeships: Labor or Consumer Protection?
The Department of Labor controlled apprenticeship training programs and apprentice registration under the 2006 law the AG reviewed. The Department of Consumer Protection controlled trade licensing…
Which county’s venue rule controlled a South Carolina magistrate civil case when a statute and court rule differed?
The AG said the applicable venue statute would probably control over a conflicting magistrate court rule, because court procedure rules were subject to statutory law. It did not resolve the venue of…
Could a deputy county auditor receive the auditor’s state salary supplement after the auditor died?
The AG concluded that the appointed deputy auditor carrying out the vacant auditor’s duties was entitled to the auditor’s compensation, including the state salary supplement. The entitlement…
Did South Carolina school-bus safety rules apply to Medicaid rides that sometimes took children to school?
The AG said Jacob’s Law generally did not apply to Medicaid transportation to medical providers. When a provider carried a student to or from school, the law could apply if the vehicle met the…
Could a South Carolina technical education board member also serve on Myrtle Beach’s convention center hotel board in 2006?
The Attorney General concluded that the two positions could be held together. The state technical education board seat was an office, but the convention center nonprofit board seat was not, on the…
Could a California prosecutor release database criminal histories in response to a public records request?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that the prosecutor could not release the requested database records or compiled criminal histories. Limited current information from investigatory files still…
Can a New York public authority swap an existing easement for a new easement without putting it out for public bid, when the exchange is needed to relocate a gas pipeline for a thruway reconstruction project?
Yes, on the specific facts. An easement-for-easement exchange that the Thruway Authority needs to relocate a gas pipeline as part of a thruway reconstruction project is subject to the 2005 Public…
Does a retired federal Customs and Border Protection officer meet Texas firearm standards to carry concealed under federal law?
The Attorney General did not answer the underlying question. A 2004 federal law, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act, lets a qualified retired law enforcement officer carry a concealed firearm…
How much can a Texas county court at law judge be paid, and is the salary capped relative to a district judge?
The Attorney General read the two salary statutes together. For Gregg County, the maximum a statutory county court at law judge may be paid is 90 percent of the total annual salary a district judge…
In a Texas parental-rights termination case, does an indigent parent get free transcripts of hearings and depositions, and who pays?
The Attorney General gave a layered answer. For pretrial (non-appellate) transcripts of hearings and depositions, there is no statute or case directly on point, so the test is the U.S. Supreme…
Can a Texas county attorney also volunteer as an ESGR ombudsman for the Guard and Reserve?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county attorney holds a state office, and the Texas Constitution bars one person from holding both a state office and a federal 'office of profit or trust.' But…
Does a Texas home-rule city have to pave and maintain a dedicated road so it can serve newly annexed property?
The Attorney General gave a two-part legal rule but left the facts to be decided elsewhere. A city must improve and maintain a dedicated right-of-way within its limits in two situations: (1) if the…
Can multiple companies get a single group license to manufacture or distribute bingo supplies in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Bingo Enabling Act requires a manufacturer or distributor of bingo equipment to be licensed, and it defines the 'person' who can hold a license to include an…
Can Texas city police officers set bail for someone they arrest, or does a judge have to do it?
The Attorney General read the bail statutes to give municipal police officers limited bail-setting authority. Under Code of Criminal Procedure article 17.20, a City of El Paso police officer may set…
Can the Texas State Board of Education require school textbooks to meet content standards before approving them?
The Attorney General concluded the State Board of Education could adopt general textbook content standards, but only the kinds the Education Code already authorizes: the TEKS curriculum standards,…
Can a Shreveport city council member also become Caddo Parish administrator?
No. The AG said a Shreveport council member could not concurrently hold the full-time appointed office of Caddo Parish administrator. It advised resignation from the council seat if the appointment…
Was a Calcasieu industrial development board’s gas-storage project tax exempt while leased to a private company?
Yes. The AG said property titled to the industrial development board was exempt from ad valorem tax while leased to the private developer. The board could negotiate a payment in lieu of tax no…
Did a second-degree lynching conviction require violence and service of 85 percent of a three-year sentence under South Carolina law in 2006?
The Attorney General said second-degree lynching involved an act of violence. Because the offense was classified as a no-parole felony, a person sentenced to Corrections custody had to serve at…
Can a New York town set the speed limit on a state highway that runs through it when the road was built by New York City under the Water Supply Laws?
No. A town does not have the authority to set or initiate speed limit changes on a highway that was built by New York City under the special Water Supply Laws, even where that highway runs through…
Can a Louisiana sheriff provide office space and staff to a contract lawyer in exchange for lower fees?
Yes, under the arrangement described: the value of the sheriff's office space, supplies, and clerical support had to equal a corresponding reduction in the lawyer's fee, and the support had to be…
Can Iberia Parish's mosquito board keep leftover sales-tax money in an emergency fund?
No. The AG said the voter-approved tax proposition required unspent proceeds to be distributed annually to Iberia Parish and its incorporated municipalities for drainage work. The mosquito board…
Did a Louisiana contractor need a manufactured-housing retailer license to build a modular home?
The AG said a contractor did not need a Manufactured Housing Commission retailer license to purchase or arrange construction of modular sections assembled on a permanent foundation under the…
Could Sibley’s police chief increase a part-time officer’s hours and pay without town council approval?
The AG distinguished hours from pay. It said the chief could increase a part-time officer’s hours under his department-supervision authority, but could only recommend a pay raise to the mayor and…
When did the Village of Creola legally incorporate after a court challenge to its election?
The AG concluded that Creola incorporated on January 9, 2002, when the court dismissed the timely challenge to its incorporation election. It rejected both the earlier election-based date and the…
Is it constitutional for Texas to let state legislators' letters affect who gets low-income housing tax credits?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code section 2306.6710(b)(1) did not, on its face, violate the separation-of-powers doctrine in the Texas Constitution. The statute makes the Texas…
Could a South Carolina town police officer make a traffic case outside the town limits in 2006?
Usually, a municipal officer’s jurisdiction was limited to the town, but the opinion identified statutory exceptions for boundary roads, pursuit, requested assistance, and agreed extensions of…
Do I have to register as a sex offender in Texas for an out-of-state conviction if I was never on Texas probation or parole?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, a person who lives in Texas and has a reportable out-of-state sex-offense conviction must register under Code of Criminal Procedure chapter 62, even if the…
Could South Carolina’s Agriculture Commission collect peanut assessments under the state marketing order in 2006?
Yes. The Attorney General said the Agricultural Commodities Marketing Act and the peanut marketing order gave the Commission authority to collect peanut assessments. The opinion did not decide…
Did Walterboro and Colleton County officials violate South Carolina’s dual office rule by serving on the airport commission in 2006?
No. The Attorney General said the listed city and county officials served on the airport commission by virtue of their existing offices, or ex officio, so that service did not violate the…
Can a Delaware school board avoid open meetings law by briefing members in two separate small private sessions on the same topic?
No, under the law as it stood in 2006. The AG found that splitting a briefing on layoffs and a tax vote into two back-to-back private sessions, reaching five of the Christina School Board's seven…
Can an appointed mayor's court magistrate perform marriages in Louisiana?
No, not by virtue of the appointment. The AG said an attorney serving as an appointed mayor's court magistrate was not a city-court judge and was not among the officiants listed in Louisiana's…
Could a Louisiana film infrastructure project stack the 25 percent and 15 percent tax credits in the 2006 law?
Yes, under the version of La. R.S. 47:6007 addressed in 2006. The AG read the 15 percent infrastructure credit as additional to the 25 percent base-investment credit for qualifying in-state…
Can a Louisiana city tax collector collect parish property taxes for the sheriff?
Yes. The AG said a sheriff and municipality may make a cooperative endeavor agreement allowing the municipal tax collector to collect parish property taxes. The fee appeared negotiable, with the…
Did Roseland have to pay past employer pension contributions for its police chief’s uncredited service?
Yes. The AG said Roseland should have enrolled the chief when he first became an eligible police employee and owed the employer share of past retirement contributions for the service credit he…
Could the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission keep its minority-business contracting program after the authorizing law expired?
No. The AG said WSSC should not continue its race- and gender-conscious MBE contracting program after its statutory authority expired, even under a temporary new name. It could conduct MBE outreach…
Could Maryland deny an alcohol dealer permit because the applicant might buy a wholesaler later?
No. The AG said the Comptroller could not deny a qualifying nonresident dealer permit solely because the applicant might later acquire a Maryland wholesaler. If the dealer later gained a…
Could Richland County pay magistrates with the same degree different salaries under its 1998 plan?
The Attorney General knew of no ban on different pay for magistrates with the same educational background if the county met the state minimum. It found the requester’s 55 percent rate consistent…
Did South Carolina’s 2006 sex offender acts apply to conduct before July 1, 2006?
The Attorney General concluded the acts were prospective. Their penalty increases could not apply to earlier conduct under the ex post facto rules, and their savings clauses preserved older law for…
Could a Tega Cay councilmember also serve on the Lake Wylie Marine Commission in 2006?
No. The Attorney General said both positions counted as public offices under South Carolina’s dual office holding rule because the marine commission exercised sovereign powers, including regulation…
Was South Carolina’s Commission for Minority Affairs a regulatory agency under the 2006 ethics conflict rule?
The Attorney General said no: its duties, including state recognition of Native American entities, did not regulate how a business operated. The specific regulatory-agency ban therefore did not bar…
Who could set a South Carolina magistrate court’s office hours under the 2006 chief judge order?
The Attorney General said the Chief Judge for Administrative Purposes had authority to designate each magistrate court office’s hours. Whether a particular McCormick County schedule matched the…
Could a Louisiana levee district remove obstructions from old levees without recorded rights of way?
The AG said the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District could rely on La. R.S. 19:14 for rights needed to maintain, repair, and clear its old levees, assuming the landowners had consented or acquiesced…
Can a Texas junior college district annex several school districts or counties with a single election?
The Attorney General concluded that a junior college district may not hold one annexation election covering territory that spans more than one school district or county. Education Code section…
Can a Texas junior college board start an annexation election without collecting voter signatures?
The Attorney General concluded that the governing board of a junior college district may call an annexation election without a voter petition when the student-enrollment conditions in Education Code…
Could a South Carolina rural community water district add sewer service under its 2006 statutes?
The Attorney General said no. The chapter governing rural community water districts authorized waterworks but gave no express or implied sewer power, and the separate sewer provision for certain…
Did a nonprofit cemetery have to pay South Carolina perpetual care cemetery licensing fees in 2006?
The Attorney General said the Cemetery Act exempted nonprofit cemeteries, including its licensing fees. Federal tax-exempt status could help a court assess whether a cemetery qualified as nonprofit,…
Can a Delaware county subcommittee limit a public meeting to invited officials and refuse to hear from the general public?
Yes, according to this opinion. FOIA doesn't require a public body to open the floor for public comment at all, and because this subcommittee never did so, limiting the discussion to invited…
Can a Delaware town council appoint a vice mayor at a special meeting without listing it on the agenda?
No, under the law as it stood in 2006. The AG found Smyrna's agenda item 'Other Council Business' did not adequately notify the public that the council would appoint a vice mayor, and ordered the…
Could California parole officials house multiple registered sex offender parolees in a licensed small residential care facility?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation could place two or more such parolees in a residential facility serving six or fewer people, as defined by…
Could St. Bernard Parish temporarily change its evening council meeting time after Katrina?
The AG said Hurricane Katrina's damage and unsafe streets fit the parish charter's public-emergency provision, allowing a temporary change to the rule that one monthly meeting begin no earlier than…
Could a Louisiana parish reassess tax-adjudicated property before its owner redeemed it?
Yes. The AG said a parish could reassess property before its former owner redeemed it. During the three-year redemption period discussed in the opinion, the property had to be listed separately in…
Could a Louisiana city pay its attorney a flat monthly fee for legal work?
The AG said a flat monthly legal-services fee was permissible if the attorney actually performed services each month and the city paid only after the work was done. The office advised against this…
Could a Louisiana hospital district reimburse an employee’s criminal bail-bond premium after charges were declined?
Yes on the stated facts. The AG said a political subdivision could reimburse the surety-bond premium its employee paid for release after arrest when the charge arose from official duties and the…
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