State AG Opinions
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Did interest retained in the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge trust count toward its fifty million dollar principal cap?
Yes. The AG said investment income left after the statute's annual allocations became part of the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge Trust and Protection Fund's principal once added to the fund, and…
Could a South Carolina private security patrol car display blue lights in 2006?
The Attorney General said a security guard could display blue lights only under the SLED regulation’s conditions for security patrol cars, including the private-road requirements and concealing or…
Can a Louisiana school board member also work for the parish clerk of court?
No. The AG said a person employed by the Pointe Coupee Parish Clerk of Court could not also serve on the parish school board. The cited law separately bars a school board member from holding any…
Could the Louisiana Airport Authority hire a lobbyist with public funds?
The AG said the Louisiana Airport Authority could not use public funds, employees, or a contract to lobby the legislature or other state bodies. It could provide information to those bodies.
Did Texas conflict-disclosure law require every local vendor, including professionals and small sellers, to file a questionnaire?
Under the law as it stood in 2006, vendors contracting or seeking to contract with a Texas local governmental entity generally had to file a conflict-of-interest questionnaire even when they had no…
Did a Seattle domestic partnership qualify for Connecticut retiree health benefits in 2006?
The AG concluded that a Connecticut court was very unlikely to treat the retiree's Seattle municipal domestic partnership as equivalent to a Connecticut civil union under 2006 law. Seattle's…
Did South Carolina sheriffs have to follow the Chief Justice’s 2006 order on sex offender registration fee indigency?
Yes. The Attorney General said sheriffs had to comply with the Chief Justice’s order designating a sheriff or designee to make the ministerial indigency determination, despite an appropriations…
Could Optimist Club directors also serve a second charity and transfer club donations to it in 2006?
The Attorney General said serving on both boards was not automatically a conflict, but a transaction between the charities could be a conflict-of-interest transaction subject to statutory…
Could a South Carolina State Board of Education member also sit on a county council in 2006?
No. The Attorney General said both the state education board seat and Anderson County Council seat were public offices for the constitutional dual office holding rule, so the same person could not…
Could a Horry County higher education commissioner serve on Conway’s zoning appeals board in 2006?
No. The Attorney General said both positions were offices under the constitutional dual office prohibition. It also believed the zoning board statute separately barred the combination, assuming the…
Could a Louisiana municipal police officer also work full time as a parish deputy sheriff?
The AG said one person could not hold both a full-time municipal police job and a full-time deputy sheriff appointment. A full-time officer could hold the deputy role part time, and a full-time…
Could Livingston Parish cancel a landfill lease it inherited with purchased land or charge for an old operating permit?
The AG said Livingston Parish could not unilaterally alter or cancel the landfill lease if it was properly recorded and the lessee had not breached it. The parish also could not demand a new payment…
Could Ascension Parish's council override decisions of drainage districts the parish created?
The AG concluded that Ascension Parish's council had general power to regulate, override, or abolish the East and West Ascension Gravity Drainage Districts it had created. Because another opinion…
Could Connecticut tax an estate’s real property located in another state?
The AG concluded that Connecticut’s revenue department could allocate the resident estate tax so that it reached Connecticut real and tangible property and the decedent’s intangible property, while…
Did District 56 have to educate children at Thornwell Home, and could a separate charter school form in 2006?
The Attorney General said the State Board of Education had to establish a school for a qualifying home on application, with the local district directing it and educating its children. The district…
Could Louisiana's Recovery School District insure school buildings through the state Office of Risk Management?
Yes. The AG said the Recovery School District had the right or obligation to insure buildings and their contents under its control. Coverage through the state Office of Risk Management would not…
Who controls a New Orleans school's student activity fund after it moves to the Recovery School District or a charter operator?
The AG said a student activity fund belonged to the individual school, not the Orleans Parish School Board. The school operator could use it for its original purpose after a transfer; funds of a…
Was the Stingrays’ paid Chuck-A-Puck million-dollar promotion likely an illegal lottery in 2006?
The Attorney General said it probably was. Fans would pay for a chance to win a prize, and the opinion judged chance to dominate the puck toss and final goal shot despite the participants’ skill.
Did an under-21 driver’s 2002 breath-test refusal cause an unlawful second suspension under South Carolina law?
The Attorney General found no second suspension in the record reviewed. The driver’s one-year suspension arose under the under-21 implied-consent provision, while the separate statute’s bar on…
Could a candidate defeated in a South Carolina primary still win a county council seat through write-in votes in 2006?
Yes, if otherwise qualified and receiving the most votes. The Attorney General said the defeated candidate could be elected by write-in votes, but could not appear on the general-election ballot or…
Could a South Carolina county and a city inside it hold separate alcohol-permit referendums at the same 2006 general election?
The Attorney General said both could call referendums and ask separate ballot questions. If only the county vote passed, temporary permits would be available only in unincorporated county areas; if…
Could a South Carolina veterinarian delegate administration of a rabies vaccine to an unlicensed person under the law considered in 2006?
The Attorney General concluded that only a licensed veterinarian could administer the rabies vaccination under the provision it considered. It deferred to the health department’s reasonable reading…
Could Connecticut use budgeted funds for medical rides and vision care in its general assistance program?
Yes. The AG concluded that a later budget provision for nonemergency medical transportation and vision benefits could be carried out without another legislative act, even if it conflicted with an…
Could Charleston enact a loitering ordinance to address street-corner drug activity under the constitutional law considered in 2006?
The Attorney General said a ban on loitering alone likely would fail constitutional review. A narrower ordinance tied to harmful purpose and specific conduct might survive, but the office could not…
Do New York town civil enforcement officers who serve court process have to live in the town where they serve?
Yes. Town civil enforcement officers who serve process and execute mandates of the town court are public officers, not just employees. They exercise a portion of the sovereign power, and Town Law §…
How close to a government building can a New York village or city reserve on-street parking for that building's users under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1640(a)(22)?
Only the on-street parking closest to the government building. Under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1640(a)(22), a city or village may reserve on-street parking for users of a government…
Who controlled the Colorado Division of Gaming's budget and personnel, the Revenue Department or Gaming Commission?
The Department of Revenue and its executive director held ultimate control over the Division of Gaming's personnel and budget preparation. The Limited Gaming Control Commission had to approve the…
Could Bluffton police enforce traffic laws on U.S. 278 where the highway touched town boundaries in 2006?
The Attorney General read the boundary-road statute to require some portion of the highway itself to be within town limits before it extended jurisdiction to the adjoining right of way. On the…
Can a Delaware school board discuss superintendent candidates, salary, and a search firm's advice behind closed doors?
Under the law as it stood in 2006, yes for the personnel and search-firm portions, according to the AG. But the board also strayed into procedural matters (search timeline, elections, website…
Does a veteran have to be a U.S. citizen to get the Texas veteran tuition exemption?
The Attorney General concluded that an honorably discharged veteran does not have to be a United States citizen at the time of registering for college to receive the tuition-and-fee exemption in…
Could a South Carolina Baptist education director also serve as a Rock Hill school trustee in 2006?
Yes. The Attorney General regarded the school trustee seat as an office, but the Baptist Congress director role as a private religious position that did not exercise state sovereign power, so…
Were Connecticut emergency response volunteers covered for injuries during training and disaster work?
Yes, for qualifying Community Emergency Response Team members under the law reviewed in 2006. The AG said they were covered for death, disability and injury during training or civil preparedness…
Did South Carolina’s 2006 cable franchising law unlawfully take franchise authority from cities?
The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature could shift cable franchising to a state certificate and that the law appeared to preserve constitutionally required municipal consent for use of…
Could a Greenville Technical College vice president also serve in the South Carolina Senate in 2006?
The Attorney General believed the Senate would treat the vice presidency as employment rather than a second public office, allowing simultaneous service under the dual office rule. The Senate had…
Could a Fairfield County council member direct the recreation district, and when could council remove commissioners for cause?
The Attorney General said a court might find an employment conflict because council substantially funded and supervised the district, although that was uncertain. Removal required cause, notice, and…
Could Jefferson Parish give new school bus routes to a contractor before offering them to senior drivers?
The AG said new routes first had to be offered to tenured bus operators in seniority order, then to a full-time probationary operator, and then to an approved substitute if regular operators…
Can Texas public school textbook funds be spent on computers and other equipment?
The Attorney General concluded that money in the state textbook fund cannot be used to buy computer hardware or other equipment. The Education Code defines a 'textbook' (which includes an…
Could a county grand jury request driving records for DUI defendants it had already indicted in 2006?
The Attorney General said a county grand jury ordinarily would not be authorized to seek those records simply to build pending cases after indictment. A legitimate inquiry into additional charges or…
Did a retired South Carolina state law enforcement officer retain full police power with a retired commission in 2006?
No. The Attorney General said the officer retained the same kind of commission in retired status and could keep the issued service weapon, but retirement did not preserve full law enforcement authority.
When a Minnesota city council fills a vacancy by appointment, and the city treats its council members as 'city employees,' is the personal information submitted by people applying for that appointment public or private?
Where a city considers council members employees, applicant data is private personnel data except for items listed as public in §§ 13.43 and 13.601. Names and cities of residence are among the…
Did South Carolina’s 2006 Romeo amendment lower the general age of consent or create a broad mistake-of-age defense?
The Attorney General said it did neither. The office read the exemption and age-mistake language narrowly within one second-degree offense, and considered the mistake-of-age sentence likely…
Did a Louisiana hospital district need Bond Commission approval for an interest-rate swap?
The AG concluded that Terrebonne's hospital district did not need State Bond Commission approval for a swap tied to its already approved bonds, because the swap exchanged payment streams without new…
Could a California services district stop road and snow work after property owners rejected an assessment increase?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that the district could end road maintenance and snow removal in the affected zone when owners rejected the needed assessment increase. It could dissolve the zone…
Could Connecticut's election chief rule on a party name and petition signatures after staff reversed its advice?
Yes. The AG said the Secretary of the State had authority to decide both the party designation and petition signature questions. He did not decide whether the proposed name or signatures must be…
Can a Delaware town keep secret which employees received interest-free loans from taxpayer funds?
No, according to this opinion. The AG found that interest-free employee loans are a form of compensation, and just as public salaries are public information, so is the identity of employees who…
Could a city stop its chamber of commerce from posting a political sign on city-leased land?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that the city could not bar the independent chamber’s political message on its sign under the silent lease and visitors-bureau contract described. The chamber…
Could Louisiana Prison Enterprises partner with a private company to raise tilapia using inmate labor?
The AG said the Department had authority under the Prison Enterprises statute to enter the proposed cooperative endeavor for tilapia production and inmate work. It requested review of the final…
Can a Maryland county charge property owners a stormwater management fee, and is it legally a fee or a tax?
It can be either, according to the opinion. The statute lets a county or municipality set up a stormwater management 'system of charges' as a regulatory fee, a tax, or a combination of both, and…
Could Montgomery County's inspector general require a performance audit of its school board without the board's consent?
No for a performance audit without the board's agreement. The AG said Montgomery County could use its inspector general for a financial audit of school board accounts, but a performance audit…
Could an Education Oversight Committee member also sit on South Carolina’s charter school district board in 2006?
The Attorney General said yes if the charter board appointment arose by virtue of the member’s Education Oversight Committee role. In that case the second seat was ex officio for dual office purposes.
Does a property tax lien on a manufactured home follow the home or the owner?
The Attorney General concluded that a tax lien for taxes on a manufactured home attaches to the specific home (not the owner) on January 1 of the tax year, so it follows the home. A taxing unit may…
Could a Washington corrections officer carry a concealed pistol without a license?
In 2006, the AG said a qualifying full time, fully compensated Department of Corrections officer could do so only if empowered to detect or apprehend law violators in the department’s field and…
Could a Rock Hill municipal judge issue warrants for card fraud when the card number was taken in town but used elsewhere?
The Attorney General said a Rock Hill warrant could charge card-number theft and also card fraud in the described situation, because obtaining the number in town was a material part of the conduct…
Where could a South Carolina real estate broker file a magistrate interpleader over earnest money when buyer and seller lived elsewhere?
The Attorney General said the action could be filed in a county where at least one defendant lived. If both buyer and seller lived outside South Carolina, the office knew of no authority for a South…
Did a South Carolina home day care with DSS approval also have to meet building code requirements in 2006?
The Attorney General said yes. DSS licensing and the statewide building code served related but distinct purposes and both applied; the office found no direct conflict even where building…
Did offering a free sandwich to anyone wearing an “I Voted” sticker violate South Carolina election law in 2006?
The Attorney General said the described offer did not appear to violate the election bribery provisions because it encouraged voting without seeking a vote for or against a particular measure or…
Did Charleston have to keep providing wholesale sewer or water service to Hollywood outside city limits in 2006?
The Attorney General said state law did not itself require a municipality to serve nonresidents. Charleston had such a duty only if its contract with Hollywood required it.
Could South Carolina’s State Museum Commission contract with its foundation for fundraising and shared operations in 2006?
The Attorney General said the commission had implied authority to contract with the foundation for museum fundraising and to retain oversight by agreement. It found the selected agreement terms…
Could a Louisiana parish councilman also work full time for the parish school board?
Yes. The AG said a West Baton Rouge Parish councilman could keep his full-time job as the parish school board's maintenance supervisor because the council and school board were separate political…
Could a Bryceland alderman also serve on the North Bienville fire district board?
Yes on the positions described. The AG treated the alderman seat as local elective office and the fire district commissioner seat as part-time appointive office; the dual-officeholding provision…
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