State AG Opinions
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Could a South Carolina town calculate its business license tax from gross income instead of net profit?
The 2006 Attorney General said yes. It read the municipal powers statute as authorizing and apparently requiring gross income as the basis for a business license tax, while quoting statutory…
Must a California local board report a closed-session vote to keep an employee it considered firing?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that a board that rejected a proposed dismissal and retained the employee did not have to publicly report that decision or each member’s vote or abstention under…
Could a Webster Parish sales-tax commission auditor serve on the Minden City Council?
Yes under the dual-officeholding statutes the AG reviewed. It treated the sales-tax commission and City of Minden as separate political subdivisions, so the same-subdivision employment ban did not…
Could a Beauregard fire-district board secretary also serve as a Merryville alderman?
Yes on the part-time facts described. The AG treated the fire-district board secretary as an appointive office, but the dual-officeholding statute barred a local elected official only from pairing…
Could Washington Parish’s tourism commission impose a hotel occupancy tax without a parish election?
Yes under the statute discussed. The commission could levy up to three percent on qualifying lodging by resolution or ordinance without an election; a tax above that ceiling required voter approval.
Could a Slidell city court law clerk serve as an ad hoc or pro tempore judge in that court?
No. The AG treated the law clerk and staff attorney as holding a local-government court position and said the Louisiana Supreme Court’s temporary-judge rule barred that appointment. It therefore did…
Did a Louisiana city have to publish a proposed settlement after the claimant had already filed suit?
No under the provisions the AG compared. A city settling a filed lawsuit under R.S. 13:5109(A) did not have to publish the proposed settlement under subsection (C), which governed specified claims…
Could a Louisiana assessor put his name on school report-card covers paid for with campaign funds?
The AG said the assessor’s campaign-funded report-card covers did not violate the state printing law or the cited election-code provision on false ballot endorsements. It warned that school…
Could a Louisiana district court clerk hire an outside collector for unpaid court costs, including on a contingency fee?
Yes. The AG said a district court clerk could contract with a third party to help collect unpaid court costs. The clerk had to judge whether the contract's cost was proportionate to its benefit; the…
Did South Carolina's transportation department need Budget and Control Board approval for permanent improvement spending?
The AG said the 2006 statute exempted all Department of Transportation permanent-improvement expenditures from that Board's approval and regulation under § 10-1-180. Other project review and…
Could new southeast Louisiana flood authorities retain levee district police after the reorganization?
The AG said a flood protection authority's board could retain police security personnel on behalf of a levee district within its territory, but the authority could not directly employ them for…
Must a South Carolina county appoint one board member from each council district?
The AG said appointed county boards did not have to mirror council districts unless their enabling legislation required geographic representation. The federal one-person, one-vote principle did not…
Did South Carolina FOIA require a sheriff to release internal affairs reports about deputies' public duties?
The AG said the sheriff's office had to disclose internal investigation reports about employees' performance of public duties under the Court of Appeals' Burton decision. The possibility of employee…
Could South Carolina use surplus Education Lottery money for projects outside education?
The AG said lottery surplus remained restricted to educational purposes, with more than a tangential link to education, and could not cover nonlottery budget deficiencies. It lacked enough facts to…
Could California city council members redirect city-paid health benefits into deferred compensation without exceeding their salary cap?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that council members could make this switch under the city plan it examined. The city offered the same benefits to employees, and the redirected funds became a…
Could California police demand press credentials before releasing an arrestee address for a journalism request?
The California AG concluded in 2006 that a sworn declaration of journalistic purpose sufficed under the provision it examined; police could not insist on press credentials or publication records. A…
Could federal legal work in Maryland satisfy the ten-year practice requirement for Maryland Attorney General without ten years in the Maryland Bar?
The Attorney General said authorized federal legal work on Maryland matters could count toward the constitutional ten-year practice requirement even before admission to the Maryland Bar. The Court…
Did South Carolina FOIA apply to House Majority Caucus meetings and records?
The AG said yes in 2006. State-provided office space, equipment, and staff support made the House Majority Caucus a publicly supported body under FOIA, regardless of whether a quorum of the full House met.
Can a Texas home-rule city change its charter without a public vote?
The Attorney General concluded no. A home-rule city charter provision letting the city commission amend the charter by ordinance is void, because article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution…
Do Texas nail salons have to sterilize tools in an autoclave?
The Attorney General found two 2005 laws in conflict. Senate Bill 411 required nondisposable nail, hand, and foot tools to be sterilized in an autoclave; House Bill 1304 allowed an autoclave or a…
Can a Texas city change its budget without passing a new ordinance?
The Attorney General concluded that a city which adopts its budget by ordinance can amend that budget only by another ordinance, an act of equal dignity, and not by a mere resolution, motion, or…
Could one person serve on South Carolina's Human Affairs Commission and a county elections board?
The AG said no. In 2006 it treated membership on both the State Human Affairs Commission and Beaufort County Board of Elections as holding two public offices, contrary to the state constitution's…
If I work for an Oregon community mental health program, a state-approved noninpatient mental-health provider, or as an independent contractor doing mental-health work, am I exempt from the Oregon psychologist licensing requirement?
It depends. Employees of certified community mental health programs are exempt under ORS 675.090(1)(e). Employees of state-approved noninpatient providers are not. 'Qualified mental health…
Could Allen Parish reimburse a police juror’s medical bills after he was injured volunteering in Hurricane Rita cleanup?
No on the facts presented. The AG said the police jury had no legal duty to pay the elected juror’s uncovered medical expenses for volunteer road clearing; using public funds for that payment would…
Who could hire a program manager for Baton Rouge public works projects under its Plan of Government?
The AG said the Metropolitan Council retained authority to procure the professional services discussed unless it empowered the Mayor-President to do so. A program manager providing services similar…
Could a Louisiana hospital district add a salary-based penalty when a nursing scholarship recipient did not work in the district?
No. The AG concluded that the Nursing Scholarship Program's statutory repayment rules were the hospital district's exclusive remedy for a recipient's default. Morehouse Parish's district could not…
Could a South Carolina election commissioner also serve as an assistant solicitor in another county?
The AG said simultaneous service on Marion County's voter registration and election commission and as a Horry County assistant solicitor would most probably violate the state constitution's…
Could one person serve on Bluffton's historic preservation commission and Beaufort County's corridor review board?
The AG said no. It treated both board memberships as public offices under South Carolina's dual-office rule and identified a separate statutory restriction on corridor board members holding another…
Could a Bossier Parish police juror keep a job with the parish district attorney’s office?
No on the facts presented. Although the district attorney’s office and parish were separate political subdivisions for the general dual-officeholding rule, the AG found the jobs incompatible because…
Could the Orleans Levee Board reduce office rent after Hurricane Katrina left its building without electricity?
Only if the tenants’ lease agreements gave them a right to reduced or remitted rent under the circumstances. The AG said an abatement without a legal obligation would be a prohibited donation and…
How many nominees were needed to fill one Terrebonne economic-development board vacancy?
Six names. The AG concluded that a single vacancy among board seats nominated by either designated association still had to be filled from a list of six, because the statute required the same…
Could an unpaid volunteer fire chief serve on his fire district board, and could its chair also be secretary?
Yes. On the facts given, the AG said the unpaid volunteer fire chief could serve on the district board because the chief position was neither a public appointive office nor compensated public…
Could Pollock pay employees a raise for months before its lease revenue arrived?
Yes on the facts presented. The AG said Pollock could pay a lump sum for January through September 2005 because its council had approved, authorized, and budgeted the raises before the fiscal year,…
Did new South Bossier firefighters have to join Louisiana’s Firefighters’ Retirement System?
The AG said membership was mandatory for employees covered by the Firefighters’ Retirement System who were hired on or after January 1, 1980, unless the municipality, parish, or fire district had…
Must a Louisiana city check subdivision restrictions before approving a zoning variance?
No. The AG said the city's land-use commission and council were not required to consider subdivision building restrictions when granting a variance or zoning change. Those restrictions would still…
Could South Carolina lawmakers preempt county rules for agricultural facilities without violating home rule?
The AG said the General Assembly could enact the proposed S.1205 without violating county home rule. The bill would have preempted nonidentical county regulation of covered agricultural operations…
Did the final amended LD 1481, with its 75-day deadline for nullifying municipal land use permits, create an unfunded mandate by forcing towns to schedule special town meetings on citizen petitions?
More likely than not, yes. The Maine AG concluded that LD 1481 (as amended by Senate Amendment 'C' to Committee Amendment 'C') implicitly required towns to schedule special meetings on timely…
Who can remove an abandoned mobile home from a Texas county road?
The Attorney General concluded that a county constable could not use Transportation Code section 545.3051, the roadway personal-property removal statute, to remove an abandoned manufactured (mobile)…
Which payment deadline applies when a Texas school district owes a city gas utility?
The Attorney General concluded that Government Code chapter 2251 (the prompt-payment statute), not the city-owned Alto Natural Gas Company's own payment policy, governs when the Wells Independent…
Can a part-time college instructor get paid to serve on a water district board?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article XVI, section 40 of the Texas Constitution generally bars a state employee from drawing a salary for serving on a local governing body, but it makes an…
Could Benedict College police carry handguns and exercise police powers at Williams-Brice Stadium?
The AG said Benedict officers commissioned under the private-college campus police statute could carry handguns at the stadium, but their police jurisdiction did not extend there. The carry…
Could a university research-center employee run for and hold a Louisiana school board seat?
Yes for the job described. The AG found that the university employee’s research, biosafety instruction, and technician-training duties placed him in a professional educational capacity, an exception…
Could Amite’s mayor order town crews to collect private demolition and tree debris despite a local ban?
No. The AG said the mayor could not override Amite’s ordinance barring private-property debris collection, and free nonemergency removal would violate the constitutional ban on donating public…
Could Ponchatoula pay to remove a Katrina-felled tree from a private home's roof?
Only if the city had a legal obligation to remove the tree. The AG said that otherwise paying a city contractor to clear the tree from a private home was an unlawful donation of public funds, and…
Would Lake Charles have to keep its city fire department after joining a new parish fire district?
No. The AG said the proposed district arrangement did not require Lake Charles to keep operating a separate municipal fire department. The new fire protection district would need its own…
Could a Patriots Point board member run for Mount Pleasant Town Council and keep both seats?
The AG said the board member could run for town council, but could not hold both offices. If elected and sworn into the council seat, the member would automatically vacate the Patriots Point…
Could West Feliciana Parish make specific officeholders automatic members of its communications district board?
No. The AG said the police jury could appoint members under R.S. 33:9103 but could not add automatic seats for specified officeholders through a parish ordinance.
Could Greenville County move budgeted Register of Deeds money to another department midyear?
The AG said the county council could make a midyear transfer, but had to approve it by an ordinance amending the annual budget. The county administrator could not transfer the money alone; the…
Could Goose Creek replace a recreation commissioner who missed meetings during military service?
The AG said military service did not forfeit the commissioner's seat despite an absence rule in the board's bylaws. The Governor could appoint a temporary replacement until the commissioner returned…
Who paid the filing fee after a South Carolina harassment or stalking restraining-order hearing?
The AG said the court assessed the fee against the party who did not prevail after the hearing. That could be the plaintiff if the order was denied or the defendant if the plaintiff obtained the…
Did South Carolina law require a sheriff to keep every juvenile crime victim's name confidential?
The AG found no blanket statute barring sheriffs from releasing all juvenile victims' names, but advised against casual disclosure. Specific agency records were confidential, and FOIA allowed…
Was Connecticut's Siting Council assessment cap per power company or for the whole industry?
The one-million-dollar annual cap applied to the Siting Council's total assessments on the energy industry, not separately to each company. The AG distinguished those general assessments from…
Could Prince George's Community College set in-county tuition for undocumented local graduates without new Maryland legislation?
No under the law the 2006 opinion reviewed. The Attorney General said the college's trustees lacked authority to grant in-county tuition to the proposed group of undocumented local graduates, even…
Did Georgetown County's elections board invalidate an officer election by changing its bylaws?
The AG said an election held at a time different from the board's bylaws was not automatically invalid. The board had implied power to adopt and change its rules and elect officers other than its…
Could South Carolina bar sales of certain fish legally caught elsewhere or in federal waters?
The AG read a federal district court ruling as finding one South Carolina fish-sales restriction contrary to the Commerce Clause and predicted a similar result for another. It also thought federal…
If a Delaware public agency says the records a FOIA request asked for don't exist, does that end the complaint?
Yes, according to this opinion. Once a school district's attorney verified that no receipts, correspondence, or emails existed for a specific donation because the board had actually declined to…
Can the Texas Comptroller investigate and report on a state agency?
The Attorney General concluded that the Comptroller does not have authority to initiate and conduct an investigation into the effectiveness and efficiency of a state agency's policies, management,…
Could a Washington city and county include anticipated tort costs and indemnity in a criminal justice services agreement?
Yes. The AG concluded that negotiators could count anticipated spending to manage tort exposure among service costs and could agree to city indemnity for county liability, apart from intentional…
Could a Washington employer with a religious objection omit prescription contraceptives from employee insurance?
The Attorney General concluded in 2006 that the conscience statute preserved an employer’s right not to purchase coverage for an objected-to service. But it could not exercise that choice through a…
McCook County wanted to require that all land subdivisions inside the county be platted before any deed could be recorded, even though state law (SDCL 43-21-1) only requires platting when a property is divided into parcels that cannot be described except by metes and bounds. The county wanted to direct the Register of Deeds to refuse to record any deed for unplatted land. Could McCook County enact that ordinance?
No. AG Larry Long concluded the proposed ordinance was both ultra vires (beyond the county's statutory authority) and preempted by state law. Counties in South Dakota have only the powers the…
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