State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Did former Texas law requiring counties to support paupers give an indigent resident a property right protected by federal due process?
No. The Attorney General concluded that former article 2351(11) required counties to make some provision for paupers but left the nature and extent of general welfare services to county discretion, so…
Could one person simultaneously serve as county judge and city attorney for a city in the same Texas county?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the city attorney's prosecution and litigation duties conflicted with the county judge's appellate role and statutory limits on practicing law.
Could a Texas sheriff use drug-forfeiture sale proceeds to buy a patrol car?
Only if the car would be used solely to investigate alleged criminal-law violations. The Attorney General could not decide that factual question because sheriffs also used vehicles for noncriminal dut…
Could a Texas criminal district attorney receive, hold, spend, and arrange the sale of drug-forfeited property?
Yes, within statutory limits. The Attorney General concluded that the court could forfeit property to the office, funds could be spent only on criminal investigations, no statute fixed a holding deadl…
Could a Texas general-law city enforce its ordinances on city-owned land outside its limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the city could not give its ordinances extraterritorial effect, but it could protect property under its control and prescribe rules for a public park acquired u…
Could a Texas constable serve civil process in another county, keep the service fee, or act as a private process server?
A constable or deputy could serve civil process in the officer's county or a contiguous county. Service fees had to be deposited with the officer's county treasurer, and a deputy serving under Rule 10…
Could the Texas Rehabilitation Commission contract with for-profit agencies for its Extended Rehabilitation Program?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the amended statute allowed contracts with public or private agencies and no longer limited the program to nonprofit providers.
If a temporary employment agency supplies security guards to North Carolina businesses or government agencies, must the agency itself be licensed by the Private Protective Services Board?
Yes. Chapter 74C requires a security guard and patrol license for any person, firm, association, or corporation engaging in the business of providing contractual private security services for a fee. T…
Did a Texas county medical examiner have to use a licensed funeral director or embalmer to move a body to the county morgue?
No. The medical examiner could order the transfer without engaging a funeral director or embalmer. If the examiner authorized a funeral director to make the transfer, the first-call supervision rules …
Did Idaho's Board of Nursing need to get the Board of Medicine's joint approval before adopting rules for certified registered nurse anesthetists?
No. The 1987 AG opinion concluded that a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) is not a 'nurse practitioner' under Idaho Code § 54-1402(d). The Board of Nursing could promulgate rules governin…
Does a North Carolina licensed professional engineer need a separate private investigator license under Chapter 74C in order to perform engineering investigations such as fire-cause analysis or accident reconstruction?
No. The Practice of Engineering statute, N.C.G.S. § 89C-3(6), expressly includes 'consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design of engineering works and systems' within the licensed en…
Were all items listed in the Texas personal-property exemption statute protected from execution regardless of their total value?
No. The Attorney General concluded that only the listed categories qualified and that their combined fair-market value could not exceed the statutory cap, then $30,000 for a family or $15,000 for a si…
Could a hazardous-waste corporate guarantee be enforced when a settlement agreement disclaimed tort liability?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the settlement created contractual liability for the agreed amount, and that liability could support enforcement of the federal-form corporate guarantee.
Could a Texas home-rule city issue general-obligation bonds to finance affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families?
Yes, the Attorney General found no categorical constitutional or statutory bar. The bonds and the housing program still had to satisfy voter-approval, public-purpose, fair-value, and adequate-control …
Did refinancing a housing development with refunding bonds trigger Texas's elderly-unit reservation requirement?
No. The Attorney General concluded that refunding bonds continued the original financing rather than funding new development, so they did not newly impose the elderly-occupancy reservation.
Could the Texas Attorney General decide whether a county had to pay a judge-approved appointed-counsel fee claim?
No. Because a judge had already entered an order directing payment, the Attorney General declined to review the order or resolve whether the claimed preappointment services and expenses were compensab…
When did related loans to a credit-union member, spouse, partnership, or company count together under the ten-percent loan limit?
The opinion did not create one automatic aggregation rule. It concluded that the credit-union commissioner had primary authority to decide violations using the borrowers' actual liability, ownership, …
Under Idaho law, when can a creditor charge a late fee on a credit card or other consumer credit account, and how does the late fee have to be disclosed?
The 1987 AG opinion concluded that late charges may be lawfully imposed on open-end credit accounts (such as credit cards) as part of the finance charge. For interest-bearing consumer credit transacti…
Could a Texas county commissioner hire another county commissioner's son as a road hand in the commissioner's precinct?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the commissioners court retained authority to approve or disapprove an ex officio road commissioner's hiring decisions, so the county nepotism statute barred th…
Who counts as a qualified voter for signing a Maryland town's annexation referendum petition: someone registered before the vote, or anyone who registers in time?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that under Article 23A, §19(g), a person who meets a municipality's voter qualifications at the time a referendum petition is presented for signatu…
Could a Texas county finance construction of a jail under the Public Property Finance Act by calling the building personal property?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the jail was ordinarily real property and that the parties could not change the statute's scope by contractually labeling it personal property.
Does Maryland's crime victims compensation fund pay for disfigurement or scarring alone?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded Maryland's Criminal Injuries Compensation Board could award compensation for disfigurement alone if it caused serious financial hardship, could pay…
Could a Texas county bail-bond board cap the total bail bonds written by a state-authorized corporate surety?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the statute expressly exempted corporate sureties from the ten-times-security limit and made the state insurance certificate conclusive evidence of security, so…
Could a Texas defendant receive jury-recommended misdemeanor probation while already serving felony probation?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a defendant already on felony probation had a prior felony conviction for jury-probation eligibility, even though that conviction was not final for sentence enh…
Does charging sales tax on the paper and ink used to print a free community newspaper violate freedom of the press?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland's retail sales tax, which taxes the materials used to produce free publications while taxing the final sale price of publications sol…
Was a full Texas pardon the same as restoration of citizenship rights, and could the parole board recommend rights restoration without a pardon?
The Attorney General concluded that a pardon and restoration of full citizenship rights were synonymous except for the prisoner's status. After the statutory amendment, however, the board lacked autho…
Could the Texas dental board reinstate a dentist's license after it had remained unrenewed for two years?
No. Under the statute then in effect, a license expired for two years or longer could not be renewed; the former licensee had to seek a new license through reexamination and the original licensing pro…
Does North Carolina's Medical Database Commission, after 1987 amendments allowing collection of patient social security numbers, comply with federal alcohol and drug abuse patient confidentiality regulations?
Yes. Article 11 of Chapter 131E was amended in 1987 (Session Laws ch. 592) to allow the Medical Database Commission to receive social security numbers for accuracy in linking patient data across provi…
Did a Texas plumbing license exempt a plumber from the air-conditioning contractor licensing law?
Only in part. The Attorney General concluded that licensed plumbers were exempt when their plumbing services also fit the air-conditioning definitions, but not for unrelated air-conditioning work. Whi…
Did a Texas health-facilities development corporation have to follow the Open Meetings Act?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the nonprofit public corporation did not fit any state or local governmental-body category in the former Act, and its enabling statute did not independently req…
How much rulemaking authority did a Texas public-health district's administrative board have?
The board could adopt only rules and regulations specifically authorized by state law. Its rules also could not conflict with state law or an ordinance of a member city or county.
When the office of county prosecuting attorney falls vacant, who fills it, and what happens if the county can't find a qualified replacement?
The 1987 AG opinion concluded that the board of county commissioners has the duty under Idaho Code § 59-906 to fill a vacancy in the prosecuting attorney's office with a person qualified to be elected…
Could Texas voters use the former Tax Code rollback election to reduce a county tax rate set for constitutional county funds?
The Attorney General concluded that they could not under the 1987 provisions. He treated the constitution as granting the commissioners court authority to set those rates within stated ceilings, which…
Who could represent the Texas Commission on Human Rights in employment-discrimination lawsuits?
The Attorney General had authority to represent the commission. Staff or outside lawyers hired by the commission could appear in court only under the Attorney General's supervision and direction.
Could a Texas city let tenants repair a landlord's neglected property defect and deduct the cost from rent?
No, under the law considered in JM-790. The Attorney General concluded that Property Code chapter 92 occupied the field of landlord repair duties and tenant remedies and did not authorize a city-creat…
Could a Texas county require a subdivider to deed fee-simple title to subdivision streets before approving the plat?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 232 authorized road standards and dedication for public use but did not authorize a county to demand fee-simple ownership rather than an easement.
Could a Texas county spend public money to challenge a state radioactive-materials license amendment?
Yes, if the county could show actual injury or economic damage and its commissioners court found the spending served the county's interest. The county could fund lawyers and experts, contest the agenc…
Did Maryland's prepaid dental plans have to follow the general Insurance Code, or just their own special dental-plan law?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that prepaid dental plans licensed under Subtitle 42 of Article 48A were insurers generally subject to the rest of Maryland's Insurance Code, excep…
Did a Texas school district have to pay registration fees for a vehicle it leased rather than owned by title?
No. A school district or other listed government body that had the legal right to possess or control a leased vehicle counted as its owner and qualified for the registration-fee exemption if the vehic…
If a DC zoning, liquor licensing, or other agency decision affects neighborhoods on both sides of an ANC boundary, do both Advisory Neighborhood Commissions get formal notice and the right to weigh in?
Yes. More than one ANC can be 'affected' by a single DC agency action and both must get the 30-day notice. An ANC is 'affected' when the action would have a substantial and predictable effect on peopl…
Could a Texas budget rider bar high school exit tests from covering material students had not reasonably been taught?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the rider was valid because it merely stated what the Education Code already implied: an exit exam given in eleventh grade had to test material eleventh grader…
Could Maryland's Racing Commission let a track hold Arabian horse races with betting in 1987, and did it need to write new regulations first?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland's Racing Commission had authority under its original 1920 licensing statute to permit Arabian horse racing with wagering at a thoroug…
Did a subpoenaed Texas state employee receive paid leave, per diem, and travel reimbursement for a court appearance?
Only when the employee appeared in an official state capacity did the appearance count as work and qualify for per diem and travel reimbursement. For a private-capacity appearance, the agency had disc…
Can a Maryland hospital association publish reports on doctors' practice patterns using ID numbers instead of names?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded a hospital association's report analyzing physician practice patterns across hospitals, using confidential ID numbers rather than names, did not vi…
When an Idaho prisoner had multiple consecutive sentences and was eligible for parole on the first one, could the parole board release them onto parole while still keeping them in prison to serve the next sentence?
The 1987 AG opinion concluded yes, for crimes committed before February 1, 1987 (the effective date of the Unified Sentencing Act). The Commission of Pardons and Parole could parole an inmate from an …
Can a Texas commissioners court shift unspent road-and-bridge money between precincts, and must it find an emergency to amend the county budget?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court using the default road-supervisor system could reallocate unencumbered road-and-bridge funds among precincts and consider prior carryover…
Could a Texas sheriff buy food and other county-jail supplies without following the County Purchasing Act?
No. The sheriff controlled the jail's daily operation, but purchases for the jail remained subject to the County Purchasing Act, including competitive-bidding rules and commissioners court approval wh…
Could a Texas House member work as executive director of a nonprofit transit system that received state-administered federal grants?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the legislator's salary interest was too remote to be an interest in the transit system's state grant contract, and the nonprofit job was not an office or posi…
The 1987 Legislature created the Department of Labor Employees Retirement Board to administer a retirement program established under SDCL 61-2-15. What is the scope of the Board's authority? Does it merely oversee the Department of Labor's administration of the plan, or does it actually administer the plan itself, including investment decisions, eligibility determinations, contribution and benefit amounts?
The Board administers the plan, fully. AG Tellinghuisen ruled that the 1987 Chapter 386 transferred the entire administrative authority from the Secretary of Labor (under SDCL 61-2-16) to the new Boar…
Could a Texas landowner divide and sell land by metes and bounds without subdivision plat approval if no public road was dedicated?
Not automatically. The Attorney General said plat requirements depended on the purpose and facts of the division, and neither a private-road label nor the absence of a public dedication was enough by …
When Maryland expunges a driver's record, can the MVA still keep a hidden copy on file, and can a hearing officer look at someone's alcohol-related probation before judgment?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a driving record the MVA is required to expunge must be completely removed from inspection by anyone, including the MVA and other government a…
Did Idaho's Medicare supplement insurance law cover policies sold to disabled people on Medicare, or only people on Medicare 'by reason of age'?
The 1987 AG opinion concluded that Medicare supplement policies could be sold to persons eligible for Medicare by reason of disability (not just by age), and the Director of the Department of Insuranc…
Could a Texas city define its own local community standard for deciding whether material was obscene?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the proposed Lewisville ordinance conflicted with state and federal law because Texas used a statewide community standard and juries had to decide prurient appe…
Did a Texas district attorney have to pay the county clerk to record a judgment abstract from a bond forfeiture case?
No. The Attorney General concluded that article 3912e barred the county clerk from collecting the recording fee from the district attorney because the charge was not a litigation cost payable by the s…
Could the Liberty County Court at Law hear a lawsuit to foreclose a lien for delinquent property taxes?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the statute creating the Liberty County Court at Law gave it jurisdiction concurrent with the district court over delinquent-tax foreclosures, as long as the a…
Did Texas prosecutors have to charge loss of mental faculties and loss of physical faculties as separate DWI offenses?
No. The Attorney General concluded that loss of normal mental or physical faculties described one way of committing DWI and could be pleaded in a single count.
Can Maryland's legislature fix a town's mistaken boundary description from decades ago, or does the town have to do it itself?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded the Maryland General Assembly could not amend Highland Beach's 1922 act of incorporation to correct its boundary description, because the Home Rule…
Could a Texas district attorney hire an investigator whose spouse owned a bail-bond business?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the investigator could serve without violating article 988b because an arrest decision was not a vote or decision on a matter involving the spouse's bail-bond …
Did an irrigation district tax assessor-collector need property-tax certification if the district charged a flat benefit-plan fee instead of ad valorem tax?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the certification statute applied through the Tax Code definition of a taxing unit, which covered entities imposing ad valorem property taxes, not this benefit-…
Can a Maryland savings bank develop real estate through a limited partnership?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded a Maryland-chartered mutual savings bank could engage in real estate development activities to the same extent as a federal savings bank, but only …
How these opinions are useful
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