State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No opinions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Can a Mississippi code-charter mayor veto a procedural change approved by the board of aldermen?
Yes. Because official board action takes the form of an ordinance, resolution, or order, the mayor's statutory veto power covered a procedural change. The board could override the veto by a…
What could Mississippi's Dental Board examine when recognizing an out-of-state dental hygiene license?
The Board could determine whether every universal-recognition condition was met, including whether the out-of-state license had a similar scope of practice. It could not require Mississippi's…
Can an out-of-state dental hygienist qualify for a Mississippi license without meeting Mississippi's initial education rules?
Yes, if the applicant satisfies every condition in the Universal Recognition of Occupational Licenses Act. The Dental Board decides factual issues such as similar scope of practice but cannot add…
When is a Tennessee farm-pond excavation an agricultural use exempt from county zoning, especially if minerals are sold?
Commercial mining and quarrying generally are not agricultural uses. A farm-pond excavation has no automatic size cutoff, and selling removed minerals does not by itself make it nonagricultural, but…
Can Covington raise the sitting mayor's salary when voters switch the city to a mayor-council government?
Yes, in the circumstances addressed by the opinion. Covington may change the mayor's pay by ordinance when the voter-approved mayor-council system takes effect on January 1, 2027, if the change is…
What expenses count as the Oklahoma Multiple Injury Trust Fund's annual obligations when setting insurer assessments?
The AG concluded that annual obligations are the Fund's reasonably forecast statutory liabilities and expenses for the coming year. They include disability awards, projected compromise settlements,…
Can Dover withhold license plate camera locations and search audit reports under Delaware FOIA?
The AG found Dover had not justified withholding the locations of its plainly visible license plate cameras, and recommended disclosing them. It upheld withholding the Network Audit Report because…
When can a South Carolina county challenge a municipal annexation, and how do railroad tracks affect contiguity?
A county generally could not challenge a 100% annexation without showing harm to its proprietary interests or statutory rights, while a 75% annexation could be challenged by a county owning land in…
Can Oklahoma require U.S. citizenship or qualified-voter status for retail and wholesale alcohol licenses?
The AG concluded that the citizenship and qualified-elector requirements violated equal protection as applied to lawfully present noncitizens. The opinion did not require licenses for people…
Can an Oklahoma county force an energy developer to sign a road-use agreement and pay to improve or repair county roads?
Generally no. The AG concluded that counties lack broad authority to compel energy-project operators to sign road-use agreements requiring improvements, repairs, or prepaid damage costs. Counties…
Must a Delaware city post a downloadable FOIA request form on its website?
No. The AG found that Delaware FOIA permits copies of its standard request form on a public body’s website but does not require a city to publish a separate form there. A conforming written request…
Could Cherokee County charge its trash-removal fee to owners who did not use the service or require payment with property taxes?
The AG concluded that Cherokee County could impose a uniform trash-service charge, but likely could not charge owners who fully opted out and received no trash-removal benefit. The opinion also…
Can South Carolina Highway Patrol require a rotation tow truck to drive motorists away from a crash scene?
A rotation wrecker's standard-tow fee included responsible assistance to help the vehicle owner reach a safe location, subject to reasonableness. The AG found no authority allowing Highway Patrol to…
Can New Mexico police departments withhold an entire internal-affairs investigation as a personnel matter?
No, not under IPRA's matters-of-opinion exception. The AG concluded that a custodian must separate protected opinion material from factual or other nonopinion information and disclose the remainder,…
Can a New Mexico charter school's capital-outlay project include both its land lease-purchase cost and new school construction?
Yes. The AG concluded that a charter school's total project cost may include both the purchase option under an existing land-only lease-purchase agreement and the remaining cost to build the school…
Can New Mexico's State Auditor examine agency computer systems during a special audit, and can a rule broaden that power?
The State Auditor may examine an agency's information technology systems when the examination directly relates to its financial affairs or transactions and generally accepted auditing practices…
Could West Virginia's Election Commission remove a candidate from the ballot for lacking good moral character?
No. The AG concluded that § 3-5-19(a)(4) allowed disqualification for objective legal defects such as residency, age, party affiliation, or required licensure, but not for the Election Commission's…
Which district lines control Chickasaw County justice-court jurisdiction and criminal venue?
Judicial district lines, not supervisor election lines, distinguished Chickasaw County's two justice-court districts. Judges had countywide jurisdiction, but a criminal defendant had to be tried in…
Could South Carolina's Treasurer withhold local-option sales-tax payments from a town that missed its audit deadline?
Yes. The AG concluded that local-option sales-tax distributions were state payments under Proviso 98.9 and had to be withheld from a municipality that failed to submit the required financial…
Does a North Dakota agency violate open-records law when it has no records responsive to a request?
No. Based on the facts supplied by Health and Human Services, the agency possessed no responsive records and therefore did not withhold any records from the requester.
Was a school-bus company contracting with a North Dakota public school subject to open-records law?
No. Because Harlow's School Bus Service contracted with the Mandan district at fair market value, the AG followed a recent opinion classifying it as a private contractor rather than a public entity.
Did a North Dakota humane society violate open-records law by providing only part of a reporter's request?
Yes. The requester never narrowed or withdrew the remaining items, so the society's mistaken belief that he needed only certain meeting records did not excuse its partial response. It had to provide…
Did a North Dakota county violate open-records law when a request went to junk mail before a prompt follow-up response?
No. The treasurer did not receive the first email because a junk-mail filter caught it, then supplied the property-tax notices within a reasonable time after receiving the follow-up request.
Did North Prairie Regional Water District violate North Dakota open-meetings law by using a 14-person room and failing to post notice there?
The 14-person room was adequate for the number reasonably expected, so there was no access violation. The district did violate the notice requirement by failing to post at the meeting location on…
Must an Idaho church disclose its general donors after spending church funds to support or oppose a ballot initiative?
Not in the limited situation analyzed. If a church acted as a nonbusiness entity, used general gifts for religiously motivated ballot advocacy, and donor disclosure substantially burdened that…
Must a Texas county hold an election before moving deputy constable positions from one precinct to another?
Yes, for a county within Local Government Code chapter 120’s population scope. Each constable precinct is a separate law enforcement agency, so moving a deputy position from one precinct to another…
Can a Texas juvenile probation officer release a child without a detention hearing or privately email the judge about a pending case?
A juvenile probation officer acting as an intake officer or another authorized officer of the court must release a child without a hearing or judicial authorization when detention is not warranted…
What evidence may Arizona's State Board of Equalization consider in a property-tax appeal, and what hearing process is required?
The Board may consider relevant documents attached to an appeal petition. Other evidence generally must be submitted in person unless all parties agree to another method, and every party must have a…
May Mississippi's pharmacy board give licensee contact information to the pharmacists association, and how many votes does the board need to act?
The AG concluded that the board must provide license and contact information needed for the association's statutory nomination and ballot duties. Board action requires a majority of the quorum present.
Does Mississippi's nepotism statute prevent a county board of supervisors from hiring a board member's relative as park director?
No. The Attorney General concluded that park director is not one of the five employee classes covered by the nepotism statute, so hiring a supervisor's relative for that position did not violate…
May a Mississippi county emergency-management director also serve as a justice-court judge in another county?
No. An emergency-management director exercises executive core powers and a justice-court judge exercises judicial core powers. The AG concluded that accepting the judgeship would automatically…
Do Oklahoma farmers need an escort vehicle when driving or hauling an oversized implement of husbandry on a state highway?
Generally no. Implements of husbandry and trailers used to haul them are excluded from Title 47's vehicle definition, so the oversized-vehicle escort rule does not apply. Operators still must follow…
Can Delaware police withhold records about a suspect’s immigration status after an investigation closes?
In this petition, yes. The AG found that records about a person involved in a State Police criminal investigation fell within Delaware FOIA’s investigatory-files exemption, which survives the…
Did Delaware’s Birth to Three council violate FOIA by posting a meeting agenda and draft minutes late?
Yes. The AG found that the council failed to post its July meeting agenda with a physical anchor location on time and missed the deadline to publish draft minutes from its April meeting. The office…
Could a West Virginia county development authority cap its board at 11 and reject additional county-commission appointees?
No. West Virginia Code § 7-12-3 gave the county commission authority to appoint between seven and 21 members, including choosing the number within that range. A development authority had to seat all…
Was West Virginia's four-year oil-and-gas lease of state river minerals exempt from the real-property transfer excise tax?
Yes. The agreement conveyed a temporary oil-and-gas interest, required royalties only on minerals produced and sold, and contained traditional lease terms. It therefore fell within the statutory…
May a Texas county prohibit deputies from using county vehicles for private security work outside the county?
A commissioners court may adopt a vehicle-use policy for sheriff or constable offices if it does not usurp or unreasonably interfere with their core legal duties; a sheriff or constable may also set…
May a West Virginia county fund ambulance service with a percentage charge on retail sales, or with a flat transaction fee?
Randolph County's 0.4% charge on most taxable sales is an unauthorized sales tax, not the ambulance user fee permitted by W. Va. Code § 7-15-17, and it conflicts with the Streamlined Sales and Use…
What happens under Tennessee law when a county and school board cannot complete an education budget under Tenn. Code § 5-21-111?
If a director of schools refuses to submit a revised budget within the county-approved expenditure total, the district attorney general may pursue quo warranto removal under § 5-21-125, and a court…
If a South Carolina county approves Sunday liquor-by-the-drink sales, does the result cover municipalities, and may municipal residents vote?
Yes. The Attorney General read S.C. Code § 61-6-2010 to make a favorable county referendum effective throughout the county, including inside incorporated municipalities. All qualified county…
May the Texas chiropractic board authorize trained chiropractors to perform needle EMG with a nonincisive needle?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a needle electromyography procedure using a nonincisive needle falls within the statutory practice of chiropractic because it evaluates the musculoskeletal…
Can California local police stage at or patrol inside a federal immigration detention facility to respond to civil unrest?
It depends on the full circumstances. The California Values Act does not bar genuine state criminal-law or public-safety work merely because it incidentally helps federal officials, but it does…
Can a South Carolina mayor issue proclamations or awards on behalf of town council without council approval?
Generally no. The South Carolina Attorney General concluded that a mayor or other council member could not independently exercise the council's authority without specific legal authorization or…
Can a Tennessee elected official delete or hide critical comments on an official social-media page?
It depends. The Tennessee Attorney General concluded that deleting or hiding criticism could raise serious First Amendment concerns, but a definitive answer required specific facts. Under Lindke v.…
What must a Delaware public body include in an affidavit to prove it adequately searched for requested records?
It must provide enough sworn detail to show who was consulted, at least by position, when the search occurred, what records were reviewed, and the results. The Housing Authority's generalized…
What notice must a Delaware public body give when it needs more than 15 business days to complete a FOIA request?
It must cite an authorized reason for the extension and give a good-faith estimate of the additional time needed. Wilmington violated FOIA by leaving searches open because staff were on leave…
Can a person who is not a Delaware citizen use Delaware FOIA to require a state university to release records?
No. Delaware FOIA guaranteed access to public records only to Delaware citizens, so the University had no legal obligation to provide the requested emails to a noncitizen. The opinion did not decide…
Can a South Carolina school district with universal free lunch charge students fees for attendance make-up time?
Likely no. Although make-up time could qualify as an incidental fee, the South Carolina Attorney General concluded that a district providing free lunch to every student could not charge the fee…
Must a Delaware city manually combine towing data from separate databases and paper files to answer a FOIA request?
No. Wilmington provided a bulk export that was available, but FOIA did not require it to manually assemble and integrate additional towing information stored in separate databases and hard-copy records.
Does a Delaware housing authority prove an adequate FOIA search by saying it searched all relevant files without identifying them?
No. The authority's affidavit relied on generalized statements about searching relevant files and did not identify the locations searched or give specific results, so it failed to meet its burden.
Did Wilmington violate Delaware FOIA by failing to respond to a request for parking-enforcement contracts within 15 business days?
Yes. Wilmington did not respond within the required timeframe and provided no evidence to the Attorney General that it had complied, so the city failed to meet its burden of proof.
What happens if a South Carolina county council member no longer lives in the district after a county-boundary change?
A council member who ceases to be a qualified elector of the represented district forfeits the office, but may continue serving de facto until a successor is seated. The AG could not determine the…
Can a Mississippi public improvement district charge retailers a user fee based on taxable sales and allow it to appear separately at checkout?
Yes, with statutory conditions. A public improvement district may charge retailers for district facilities and services, calculate the fee by taxable retail sales, and allow a separately disclosed…
Must a Delaware town disclose volunteer committee members' personal email addresses if it released them in the past?
No. Committee members had a privacy interest in their personal email addresses, direct email access did not significantly advance public understanding of the committees, and earlier disclosure did…
Can Tennessee cap health care provider prices or stop insurers from cutting reimbursement rates for rural providers?
Likely yes in both cases. The Attorney General said Tennessee has constitutional room to regulate health care charges and prevent insurers from reducing rural provider reimbursement rates, but the…
Can North Dakota's Retirement and Investment Office use investment earnings to pay employee incentive compensation without a separate legislative appropriation?
Yes. The AG concluded that N.D.C.C. § 54-52.5-03 gives the Retirement and Investment Office continuing authority to use lawfully available client-fund earnings for incentive compensation authorized…
Can a Delaware city withhold police-union grievances as personnel files or collective-bargaining records?
Not on the evidence Lewes provided. The city did not show that the grievances were personnel files, part of labor negotiations or collective bargaining, or records of a covered disciplinary investigation.
Did the Delaware Department of Correction violate FOIA by failing to respond to a request for prison incident records within 15 business days?
Yes. DOC did not respond within the statutory timeframe and gave the Attorney General no evidence of compliance, so it did not meet its burden of proof.
Can a Mississippi police chief use a city vehicle to commute to a second job outside the city?
Usually no. Letting a municipal employee use a city vehicle for a second job is ordinarily an impermissible donation of public property. A city may allow it only when a specific statute authorizes…
Can a Mississippi community college ban vaping, regulate guns, and search college property?
Generally, yes. Section 37-29-67 gives a Mississippi community college board broad authority to ban tobacco and vaping, regulate firearms, and adopt entry or search policies for college-controlled…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand state law: AG opinions are authoritative interpretations of how state law applies.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court decisions, but they carry significant weight.
- Government guidance: Often clarify how state agencies and officials should interpret statutes.
- Legal research: Cite AG opinions in letters, motions, and legal arguments.
Browse opinions by state
Two states are not listed and are not pending: New Hampshire publishes its opinions on a page that automated retrieval cannot read, and Rhode Island publishes no complete full-text archive at all. We will add them if that changes.