State AG Opinions
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If council members pass a critical letter around and sign it one by one, does that count as an illegal secret meeting under Delaware's FOIA?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 2005. The AG found the Town of Smyrna Town Council violated FOIA when one council member drafted a letter criticizing a fellow member and, one-on-one, showed it to…
Could New Orleans City Park employees keep state group health coverage by retiring directly into Social Security?
Yes, under the Office of Group Benefits rules as interpreted in 2005. The AG said Association employees already covered by the office could keep coverage if they retired directly from active…
Could a Texas county officer close his office and still pay employees for a day the Governor declared an official day of mourning?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. An elected Texas county officer had authority to close his own office and give employees the day off, as long as the closure served a public purpose, and the…
Can an out-of-state vendor's contract with a Texas county use another state's law to override Prompt Payment Act late fees?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. A Texas county's implied authority to negotiate contract terms does not extend to a choice-of-law clause that imports another state's law to override or negate…
Can a Texas county cremate a deceased pauper's remains instead of burying them?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. Health and Safety Code section 694.002 lets a commissioners court dispose of a deceased pauper's remains by donation, cremation, or burial, and section…
Could a Washington noncharter county donate publicly funded buildings to a nonprofit disability-services provider?
The Attorney General concluded in 2005 that Yakima County lacked statutory authority to donate the land and buildings to its nonprofit lessee when the lease ended. Having answered that threshold…
Could a Maryland doctor bill an HMO patient a separate malpractice insurance surcharge?
No. The AG said a physician's separate malpractice-insurance surcharge to an HMO member was prohibited balance billing for covered services, apart from charges allowed by the HMO plan such as…
Did Maryland's municipal home-rule restriction on new fees apply to St. Mary's County commissioners?
No. The AG agreed that St. Mary's County commissioners were not a municipal corporation for Article XI-E of the Maryland Constitution. The attached legal analysis expressly left undecided whether…
Does a Texas school employee's vacation-time payout count toward Teacher Retirement System pension benefits?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. Even if an employment contract labels a payment for accumulated vacation time as salary, Government Code section 822.201 excludes payments for unused vacation…
Could South Carolina’s veterinary board use an outside complaint review committee without statutory authority?
The AG predicted in 2005 that a court would likely find no authority for the Investigative Review Committee as then constituted. He also treated it as a public body subject to FOIA and questioned…
When did interest start on Second Injury Fund assessments found in an audit?
The AG concluded that the Second Injury Fund could impose the statutory interest penalty on an additional assessment from the Treasurer’s notice of the deficiency, not retroactively from the date of…
Does soliciting bail bond business inside a jail count as a crime of moral turpitude in Texas?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. A bail bond surety convicted of illegally soliciting business inside a police station, jail, or detention facility did not commit a crime of moral turpitude, so…
Can Texas seize the profits when a death row inmate sells his artwork online?
It depends on facts this opinion did not resolve. The Code of Criminal Procedure lets the state forfeit income from selling property whose value was increased by notoriety from a conviction, but…
Could Class 3-SLE officers work crowd control, court security, and prisoner transport in 2005?
The AG deferred to the public safety department’s view that locally commissioned Class 3-SLE officers could perform the listed duties. He said their powers and duties were generally narrower than…
Who could rename a Florence street under South Carolina law in 2005?
The AG said Florence’s consolidated city-county planning commission could rename a street within its jurisdiction under the statutory notice and certificate procedure. He also noted the…
Could South Carolina’s financial institutions board order a preneed funeral contract seller to cease and desist in 2005?
The AG said he found no statute or regulation authorizing that board to issue a cease-and-desist order for the described preneed funeral contract violation. The board had investigation and referral…
Can a Texas city loosen the International Residential Code when it adopts local building code amendments?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. Local Government Code section 214.212(c)(1) lets a municipality adopt local amendments to the International Residential Code without limiting those amendments to…
Can the Texas Commission on Fire Protection pay for a firefighter's room and board while attending training school?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. The Commission's authority to set guidelines for scholarship amounts implicitly lets it treat room and board as an integral part of a Fire Department Emergency…
Can two Texas county road commissioners share one road crew across their precincts?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. Under the ex officio road commissioner system, each commissioner's hiring and supervisory authority is limited to his own precinct, so two commissioners cannot…
Can the Texas Railroad Commission use the Oil Field Cleanup Fund to clean up a commercial waste disposal site?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. The Railroad Commission may use the Oil Field Cleanup Fund to plug abandoned wells, remediate well or lease sites, and even clean up commercial disposal sites…
Could Chester annex city-owned land separated from its boundary by another parcel?
No. The AG said in 2005 that property one parcel removed from city limits was not adjacent or contiguous merely because it was near; the intervening parcel’s size did not change the need for…
Did issuing school bond anticipation notes within five years satisfy South Carolina’s referendum deadline?
The AG agreed in 2005 that timely bond anticipation notes satisfied the five-year constitutional issuance requirement for the described school bond financing. The statute used the original notes’…
Could a Louisiana parish council member also work as a city tax collector?
Yes. The AG concluded that an Iberia Parish Council member could also work as Jeanerette's tax collector because the parish and city were separate political subdivisions. The opinion said the result…
Could a South Carolina state constable also serve as deputy coroner in 2005?
Yes. The AG said deputy coroner was an office, but a state constable’s commission fell within the express exception to South Carolina’s dual office holding restriction.
Can a Delaware city keep executive session minutes secret when they cover a city solicitor's pay instead of a city employee's?
No, under the law as it stood in 2005. The AG found the City of Newark properly kept confidential the portion of its executive session minutes discussing the City Secretary's raise, since she is a…
Does the Texas Permanent School Fund need a legislative appropriation to cover management fees on mutual funds it invests in?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. When a mutual fund or investment company deducts its management fee straight from the fund's own assets, that fee is part of the investment itself, not an…
Could a suspended South Carolina magistrate ask the Supreme Court to reconsider interim suspension in 2005?
The AG quoted the judicial rule allowing a judge on interim suspension to seek Supreme Court reconsideration, with a copy filed with the commission and served on disciplinary counsel. He declined to…
Does the Texas electrical licensing exemption for industrial plants cover contract electricians who aren't direct employees of the plant?
This 2005 opinion declined to say. The AG concluded the exemption's key terms, 'person' and 'private industrial business,' are ambiguous and vague, and whether a specific worker counts as an…
Could a Kentucky county attorney use delinquent-tax account money for travel to association events?
Yes. The AG concluded that travel to board meetings and other Kentucky County Attorneys Association events could be paid from the county attorney's delinquent real estate tax collection account as…
Did Chester County have to wait for an at-large council member’s term to end before changing its government form?
The 2005 AG said no. After the required federal approval and county implementation, the voter-approved council-supervisor form could take effect while existing council members finished their elected…
Could a new agency enter Kentucky's County Employees Retirement System during the 2004–05 health-contract freeze?
No. The AG said the 2004 law barred new Personnel Cabinet health-coverage contracts required for entry into the County Employees Retirement System, creating a temporary moratorium through December…
Does a Texas physician have to report a pregnant patient's illegal drug use as child abuse?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. Even though a 2003 law expanded the definition of 'individual' to include an unborn child for wrongful-death and certain criminal statutes, that expanded…
Can the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality raise the lead cleanup level at just one contaminated site without changing its statewide rule?
No, according to this 2005 opinion. TCEQ's own rule sets a fixed 500 parts-per-million cleanup standard for lead in residential soil statewide, with no built-in variance, so applying a looser…
Does Maryland's Open Meetings Act require a school board to hold public hearings on employee discipline appeals?
The opinion concluded that a county school board's hearing on an employee's appeal of a superintendent's adverse personnel action was a 'quasi-judicial function' exempt from the Open Meetings Act,…
Could a magistrate categorically bar a qualified private process server from serving a civil summons?
The AG said in 2005 that a magistrate could deny service for sufficient facts or good cause, but otherwise the applicable civil procedure rule permitted qualified adults to serve a summons. Other…
Did South Carolina’s local-government transfer-fee ban prohibit Harbor Island’s homeowners association fee in 2005?
The AG said the statutory ban did not apply to the private association. Whether its $100 transfer fee was proper depended on agreements or bylaws binding the association and its members, which the…
Were three button slot machines lawful in Connecticut under the tribal casino agreements?
The AG concluded that three button machines remained illegal slot machines despite players being able to stop each reel. Chance predominated in the devices he reviewed. He also treated them as…
Can a single New York village trustee, acting alone, order the village clerk to keep and publish minutes of board meetings?
No. Under Village Law §§ 4-400(1)(e) and 4-402, the mayor (not the board or an individual trustee) supervises the village clerk's day-to-day duties, including taking and publishing minutes. A…
Can Texas deny a professional or occupational license to someone who refuses to give their social security number for religious reasons?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. Requiring a social security number on a license application is a neutral, generally applicable rule tied to child support enforcement, so it does not violate…
Who could finish a deceased marshal’s wage executions, and who had to audit the records?
The AG concluded that a deceased Connecticut state marshal’s daughter could not simply continue collecting wage executions unless she was a statutory levying officer. The State Marshal Commission…
Could Maryland revoke parole for alleged criminal conduct while charges were pending or after an acquittal?
Yes. The AG said the Parole Commission could consider an alleged lawbreaking release-condition violation while related charges were pending or even after they ended without guilt. A revocation…
If a Maryland child's biological parent had their parental rights legally terminated before the child died, does that parent still outrank the child's guardian in deciding whether to donate the child's organs?
No, the guardian outranks that parent. The opinion concluded that a biological parent whose parental rights were terminated as part of a guardianship proceeding no longer counts as a 'parent' with…
Can a Delaware school board stop a citizen from naming specific employees during the public comment period of an open meeting?
No, according to this opinion, at least not just because a personnel topic is involved. The AG found that once a public body opens the floor for public comment, it creates a forum where it cannot…
Can a sheriff refuse to accept a bail bond signed by an individual surety's attorney-in-fact instead of the surety personally?
Yes, according to this 2005 opinion. In a county without a bail bond board, article 17.08(4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires a bail bond to be signed personally by the surety, so a…
Does a Texas-licensed engineer have to place a Texas seal on plans for a project that will be built outside Texas?
Yes, according to this 2004 opinion. Section 1001.401 of the Occupations Code requires an engineer's seal on every plan, specification, plat, or report issued under a Texas engineering license, with…
Did a Washington county jail have to book people arrested by state officers, and could the sheriff cap admissions?
The Attorney General concluded in 2004 that a county jail had to accept arrestees presented by state officers with relevant arrest powers regardless of the charge’s severity. The sheriff could not…
Who issues the New York fireworks-display permit when the show happens on land owned by a state regulating district inside a town?
The town, city, or village in which the land sits. Penal Law § 405.00 makes the local municipality the 'permit authority' for fireworks displays, not the property owner. Neither the Regulating…
Could the public obtain a private check subpoenaed by California’s campaign finance agency?
The Attorney General concluded in 2004 that a private check obtained by the Fair Political Practices Commission through an administrative subpoena during an investigation was exempt from disclosure…
What penalties may a New York village impose for zoning violations, including for repeat offenders and for landlords who profit from illegal multi-family occupancy?
A village may impose both civil and criminal penalties for zoning violations under Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(4)(b). Criminal penalties must align with Penal Law classifications (violation,…
Did the Cerritos term limit bar council members from campaigning during a two-year break?
The Attorney General denied leave to sue the two members. Reading the charter with the voter pamphlet, the opinion found a two-year break in service, not a four-year bar caused by prohibiting…
Can the Texas Racing Commission grant a racetrack license if the county never formally certified its local option election to the Secretary of State on time?
It depends. This 2004 opinion held that some certification to the Secretary of State is mandatory before the Commission may accept or act on a license application, but the specific form of…
Can a Texas medical board deny a license to a joint MD/PhD graduate who passed the required licensing exam a few months after the statutory deadline?
This 2004 opinion concluded yes: the Occupations Code deadline for joint-degree graduates to finish the medical licensing exam is mandatory, not merely directory, so the doctrine of substantial…
If a newly formed Delaware county committee gathers on just 24 hours' notice but doesn't actually discuss any county business, does that violate the open meeting law?
No, according to this opinion. The AG found the county should have given the normal seven days' notice rather than treating the committee's first gathering as a 'special' meeting, but that the…
Could a beer shipper sponsor a free poker tournament with prizes at a bar?
The AG concluded that a proposed free poker tournament at a bar, co-sponsored by a beer shipper with prizes for patrons, violated Connecticut liquor rules against shipper-to-retailer inducements and…
When did Kentucky treat two union-backed political committees as affiliated for contribution limits?
The AG said two permanent committees were not automatically affiliated just because their sponsoring unions were related. The Registry of Election Finance had to assess their registration and actual…
Who decides whether a Texas navigation district's board members get retirement and medical benefits, the district board or the county commissioners court?
This 2004 opinion concluded the district board itself decides, because the county commissioners court's authority under Water Code section 62.070 covers only monetary pay, while sections 60.011 and…
Could the American Legion administer Connecticut’s veterans fund and charge its expenses?
The AG concluded that the American Legion could constitutionally administer Connecticut's Soldiers', Sailors' and Marines' Fund and charge necessary, reasonable expenses to fund income. Its…
When two Texas appraisal districts overlap and disagree on a property's value, do they have to use the lowest market value, the lowest appraised value, or both?
This 2004 opinion concluded chief appraisers in overlapping districts must enter both the lowest market value and the lowest appraised value on the tax rolls, not just one or the other, whenever the…
Can the Texas Real Estate Commission make rules requiring a real estate broker to actually negotiate for a client instead of just listing the property?
Yes, this 2004 opinion concluded the Commission could adopt three proposed rules spelling out what counts as negotiating on a client's behalf, because they clarified an existing rule and the…
Does a Texas state agency have to get equal employment opportunity training only after the Texas Workforce Commission finds reasonable cause that discrimination happened?
No, this 2004 opinion concluded the training requirement in Labor Code section 21.556(a) is triggered once a complaint is determined to have merit, a lower threshold than a formal reasonable cause…
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