State AG Opinions
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Could a Washington fire district still tax annexed property to pay bonds issued before city annexation?
The Attorney General concluded in 2006 that it could levy taxes on property a code city annexed after the district issued limited-tax general obligation bonds. The annexed property remained liable…
Could a Washington county rewrite a conservation district’s proposed budget when approving special assessments?
The Attorney General concluded in 2006 that a county could modify the district’s proposed assessment system but could not rewrite its budget or spending plan. The district had to follow the approved…
Could South Carolina’s Employment Security Commission rename its state office building?
The AG said the commission lacked express or implied authority to name the building. The existing name came from a nonbinding concurrent resolution, so the AG suggested legislative action with legal…
Are grand jury and trial jury name lists confidential in Texas, or can lawyers and the public see them?
The Attorney General concluded that jury lists, which are just the jurors' names, are presumed public, and neither a clerk nor a judge has a duty to keep them confidential once the clerk opens the…
Could Webster Parish tourism funds pay for a regional promotional film and a film task force’s office expenses?
The AG said the tourism commission could fund a film promoting tourism in Webster Parish through a cooperative endeavor if the public benefit was proportionate to the cost. It said paying task-force…
Could Wyoming's Environmental Quality Council use the Environmental Quality Act to require that all coalbed natural gas produced water actually be put to beneficial agricultural use, as a way to limit how much water gets discharged?
No. Attorney General Patrick Crank concluded that the Environmental Quality Act gave DEQ and the EQC authority to regulate water quantity only when quantity affected water quality. The Act's stated…
Could a South Carolina register record a deed with street or subdivision names that differ from an earlier plat?
The AG said the register had to record a deed that met statutory filing requirements and did not have to decide whether its names matched an earlier plat. It left the deed’s validity to the courts.
Could the Colorado State Auditor inspect unredacted nursing-home complaint and occurrence reports?
No. The AG concluded that the later, more specific health-facility confidentiality statute controlled the State Auditor's general access law, and the Auditor was not a regulatory agency with…
Could Louisiana's health department change a local human services district's financing without its consent?
The AG did not decide whether the Department of Health and Hospitals could change the district's financing without consent. It said the answer depended on the parties' memorandum of understanding…
Could Folly Beach adopt its own vested-rights ordinance after South Carolina’s July 2005 deadline?
The AG said no. It read the Vested Rights Act as requiring a local ordinance by July 1, 2005; a municipality that missed that date had to operate under the Act’s default provisions.
Who bore the cost when Connecticut raised the required wage during a state service contract?
The contractor had to pay covered workers the increased standard wage. The AG concluded that the contracting state agency ultimately had to reimburse the contractor for the wage increase and…
Which Bluffton board seats did the AG treat as public offices for dual-office purposes?
The AG cited earlier opinions treating election commissioners and planning commissioners as public officers. It could not decide the requested seat combinations involving historical-preservation,…
Can a Texas city council member who isn't paid for his current term run for the state legislature?
The Attorney General concluded that the council member was eligible to run. Article III, section 19 of the Texas Constitution bars a person who holds a 'lucrative office' from being elected to the…
Does a Texas private school have to admit a child who has a vaccine exemption?
The Attorney General concluded that a private school that does not accept state tax funds is not required to accept for enrollment a child who has an exemption from the immunizations required by the…
Did a forestry officer’s appointment automatically bar his spouse from operating a bail-bond business?
The AG said marriage alone did not conclusively establish the officer’s prohibited financial interest or involvement in the spouse’s bail-bond business. Whether the particular arrangement violated…
Are unpaid guardians ad litem who serve in the New York City Civil Court Housing Part's program covered by the State's defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law § 17?
Yes. Unpaid guardians ad litem who serve in the New York City Civil Court Housing Part's guardian ad litem program are volunteers expressly authorized to participate in a state-sponsored volunteer…
Can a Delaware school board add new items to a public meeting agenda just days before the meeting?
Yes, under limited circumstances, according to this opinion. FOIA lets a public body amend an agenda up to six hours before a meeting if it explains the delay, and the AG found a school district…
Was Maine's 2006 TABOR ballot initiative, requiring 2/3 legislative votes and statewide voter approval for tax increases, constitutional under the Maine Constitution?
The Maine AG concluded that the 2006 TABOR initiative would likely fail four separate constitutional tests: (1) by requiring statewide voter approval for tax increases it surrendered the…
Did the California AG authorize a quo warranto case over a disputed appointment to the Mojave Water Agency board?
Yes. The AG granted leave to sue in 2006 because competing claims about whether the earlier board vote filled the vacancy raised substantial factual and legal questions in the public interest. It…
Could a Calhoun Falls city employee run for county council and keep the city job?
The AG saw no dual-office bar to a city employee running for and serving on Abbeville County Council. Whether service alongside the job created a supervisory conflict depended on facts the AG could…
Could South Carolina’s governor, designee, and appointee vote on MUSC’s board of trustees?
The AG said the governor or designee and the governor’s appointed board member could vote. The statute made the governor or designee an ex officio member but did not make that seat nonvoting.
Are records the NC Secretary of State gathers to refer apparent lobbying violations to the Attorney General confidential criminal-investigation records?
No, under the 2006 law. The AG concluded that under the then-current N.C. Gen. Stat. § 120-47.10 the Secretary of State was not a 'public law enforcement agency.' The Secretary's role was limited to…
Could South Carolina DHEC set development conditions for bridges to coastal marsh islands?
The AG said DHEC had authority to adopt the proposed bridge-permit regulations, including conditions on development outside a critical area when that development adversely affected the area. It said…
Could Maryland's child-support agency revoke a work-restricted license if a parent still owed support?
No under the statutes the 2006 opinion examined. The Attorney General said the Child Support Enforcement Administration could seek suspension for delinquent support, but had no authority to request…
Could South Carolina make a workers’ compensation bill take effect only if its insurance department found cost savings?
The AG said a cost-savings condition alone could be lawful, but predicted that H.4427’s section 12 improperly gave the Department of Insurance the final decision on whether the bill would take…
Can New York emergency personnel cross or enter private property to rescue someone when the owner objects?
Yes. County emergency personnel may enter private property without the landowner's consent when that entry is reasonably necessary to perform their public duty in responding to an actual emergency.…
Were Colorado metropolitan sewage disposal districts required to participate in the CCOERA public-employee retirement system?
No. The governing statute authorized metropolitan sewage districts and other qualifying public employers to join CCOERA, but its permissive language did not make participation mandatory.
Did Washington’s stadium law require the Seattle Seahawks themselves to publish annual audited profit-and-loss statements?
The Attorney General concluded in 2006 that the disclosure obligation attached to the team affiliate serving as the stadium’s sole master tenant, not separately to the football team. Because the…
Could a West Baton Rouge deputy assessor also own a private accounting practice?
The AG said deputy-assessor employment and ownership of a private accounting firm did not constitute dual officeholding. It could not decide whether the firm's particular work created an ethics…
Could Baldwin's five-member board amend an ordinance with only two yes votes?
No. The AG said a majority of Baldwin's five aldermen, meaning three affirmative votes, was required to adopt an ordinance amendment. Two votes did not pass the amendment, leaving it invalid and…
Did the federal Hatch Act restrict political activity by Acadiana ASSIST Agency employees?
Yes. The AG said the private nonprofit ASSIST Agency and its employees were covered because it received Community Services Block Grant funds under a federal provision treating recipients as state or…
Could a new Louisiana town council reconsider a land lease approved but never signed by its predecessor?
Yes. The AG said no lease existed because the prior council's approval had never been put into a written, signed lease as Louisiana law required. The new council could therefore decide whether to…
Could one Idaho initiative change both eminent-domain law and the rules for regulatory takings?
The AG flagged a potential single-subject issue (eminent domain and regulatory takings might or might not be sufficiently related), a conflict with House Bill 555 which had just created a new Idaho…
Did a Washington council violate open-meeting law when a quorum attended someone else’s public event?
The Attorney General concluded in 2006 that attendance by a quorum alone did not trigger the Open Public Meetings Act. The Act applied if the members transacted council business, including…
Did a St. Andrews district board member lose the seat after moving outside the district?
The AG said board members had to remain district residents. If a member no longer resided there, the office was automatically vacated, although the person could serve as a de facto officer until a…
Can a private prison company hire the county sheriff's relative, or does nepotism law block it?
The Attorney General concluded that the nepotism statute does not apply, so the private operator of the Reeves County Detention Center was not prohibited from hiring the sheriff's son. Texas…
If a Texas seller missed annual contract-for-deed statements, do the old higher penalties or the new lower ones apply?
The Attorney General concluded that the 2005 version of Property Code section 5.077(c), which sets the lower liquidated-damages amount, applies retroactively. Under a contract for deed, the seller…
When must a Texas school district file a truancy complaint, and what happens if it misses the deadline?
The Attorney General answered three questions about the 2005 version of Education Code section 25.0951. First, the seven-school-day filing deadline runs from the student's tenth unexcused absence: a…
Does a misdemeanor conviction from another state count against you under Maryland's firearms disqualification law?
The opinion concluded that an out-of-state misdemeanor conviction disqualified a person from possessing a regulated firearm in Maryland if the offense would be classified as a misdemeanor with a…
Could Mount Pleasant add a ten-dollar administrative fee to municipal-court convictions?
The AG considered the ordinance constitutionally questionable because South Carolina’s unified court system required uniformity in court costs. It did not declare the fee invalid; only a court could…
Must a South Carolina register of deeds proofread documents before recording them?
The AG said the recording officer had to check statutory prerequisites, but had no duty to proofread a filer’s document. If those prerequisites were met, the officer generally had to record the…
Could a South Carolina bail bondsman also serve as a part-time deputy coroner?
The AG concluded that a deputy coroner was barred from the bail-bond activities listed in Section 38-53-190. A job description limiting actual duties did not change the deputy’s statutory authority…
If a city council's agenda only lists a general comment period, can a council member use it to trigger real debate and action on a land-use project?
No, under the law as it stood in 2006. The AG found Newark City Council violated FOIA when a councilman's comment during the 'Council Members' portion of a meeting's agenda turned into an extended,…
Could a South Carolina water and sewer district hire its executive director as an independent contractor?
The AG said Georgetown County Water and Sewer District’s enabling act appeared to permit an independent-contractor executive director acting as its agent or under a contract carrying on district…
Could unfinished affordable housing projects earn points toward a Connecticut moratorium?
The AG said a proposed development could qualify as an affordable housing development before all its units were built. But the moratorium points at issue could be awarded only for completed units…
Which South Carolina coroner investigates when a homicide victim's body is dumped in another county?
The AG said the coroner in the county where the body was found had jurisdiction to investigate and hold an inquest, even when the homicide and death occurred elsewhere. Showing the body to friends…
Which filing deadlines applied to Aiken County school board petition and write-in candidates?
The AG thought Aiken County's local election law controlled: petitions were due by 3 p.m. 60 days before the general election, and write-in notices three days before it. The opinion acknowledged…
Who was responsible for the legal bill from a Barnwell school board election protest?
The AG concluded that the Barnwell County Election Commission, which conducted the election, was responsible for the protest's legal expenses, not the school district. It cautioned that the…
Which South Carolina rule set the seven-year period for advancing a teacher's credential?
The AG said Regulation 43-53 controlled the bachelor-plus-18-hours credential: the seven years ran from when coursework began. Regulation 43-53.2 instead measured from a request, but the AG viewed…
Could a South Carolina county veterans affairs officer also serve on county council?
The AG said South Carolina's statutory dual-office exception meant a Fairfield County veterans affairs officer could serve on that county's council. It separately advised the officer to seek State…
Does Texas's 'provider of last resort' rule for local MHMR authorities cover mental health services too, or only mental retardation services?
The Attorney General concluded that section 533.035(e), which says a local mental health and mental retardation authority 'may serve as a provider of services only as a provider of last resort,'…
Could Clemson require a license to sell a photograph of Tillman Hall?
The AG found no South Carolina-law basis for the alleged fee. It said architectural copyright would not stop photographs of a building visible from a public place, but a separate copyright in an…
Who had to notify a Louisiana property owner of a parish tax sale, and who paid the costs if the sale was annulled?
For state and parish property taxes, the AG identified the sheriff as the collector responsible for notifying the owner of the impending tax sale. If the sale was later annulled under the…
Could East Ascension's hospital district lease its hospital to a private operator without a public vote?
Yes, subject to the special-services lease requirements and Attorney General review and approval of the proposed hospital acquisition. The AG said the East Ascension district could use that…
Could Sterlington voters repeal or redirect their portion of Ouachita Parish's road sales tax?
No. The AG said Sterlington could not use a town-only election to repeal or rededicate any portion of a road sales tax approved by Ouachita Parish voters. Any repeal or change in purpose had to go…
Does Texas's nepotism law apply to a junior college board hiring a relative of a board member if the president actually does the hiring?
The Attorney General concluded that the nepotism statute, Government Code section 573.041, prohibits Del Mar College from employing an adjunct instructor related within a prohibited degree to a…
Do apartment maintenance workers in Texas need a pest-control license to spray pesticides on the landscaping?
The Attorney General concluded that under Occupations Code section 1951.051, the Texas Structural Pest Control Board may not require an employee of an apartment building owner to get a license…
Could a Connecticut court consider new evidence in an affordable housing zoning appeal?
The AG said the court had to independently review whether the zoning commission met its statutory burden, using the record compiled before the commission. He cited decisions limiting review to that…
Did a South Carolina traffic-ticket defendant have to report for fingerprints and a booking photo?
The AG said fingerprinting and a photograph arose only when the officer made a lawful custodial arrest; a ticket without custody did not require the defendant to return for booking. It also said a…
Could a South Carolina municipal judge compel a visiting out-of-county witness to appear?
The AG said the cited subpoena statute covered witnesses who resided in the judge's county. It therefore did not authorize a rule to show cause or bench warrant when a visiting witness who lived in…
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