State AG Opinions
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Could South Carolina require elected sheriffs to enforce public-health quarantine orders?
Yes, under the law discussed in this 2003 opinion. The AG said the constitution made sheriff an elected office but also let the legislature define sheriffs' duties, including assistance with health…
Could a South Carolina municipal judge also hold a state constable's commission?
Yes. The AG said a municipal judge held public office, but the constitution and statute specifically excluded constables from the dual-office prohibition, so the judge could accept the commission.
Could two South Carolina police agencies temporarily transfer officers by signing an agreement without their councils?
No, under the temporary-transfer provision discussed in the opinion. The AG said the written agreement had to be between the affected municipalities or counties through their councils, not solely…
Could a South Carolina county education commissioner also hold an elected position in a county political party?
Yes. The AG said the education commission seats were public offices, but a local political-party office was not an office for the state constitution's dual-office ban.
Who could issue raffle permits in a Connecticut town with no police chief or first selectman?
The AG concluded that a Connecticut municipality that had adopted the bazaar and raffle law could still process permits without a police chief or first selectman. Its chief executive authority could…
Could a South Carolina sheriff give staff Christmas bonuses based on sick days or employment status?
The AG said neither proposed payment was appropriate without a prior legal or contractual obligation. A year-end amount tied to sick days and flat full- and part-time Christmas payments would be…
Did a Maryland business with no employees need a workers' compensation certificate to get a license?
No. The AG said a sole proprietor or partnership with no covered employees and no plan to hire any for the licensed activity was not an employer under the Act and did not need a Workers'…
Did Maryland's small lead-paint brochure display satisfy the retail poster law?
No. The AG said the item might count as a poster, but it lacked the statute's required information about lead-poisoning dangers and hazards; pointing shoppers to brochures did not make up for the…
Could a Maryland electrical engineer testify about a fire's cause without a private detective credential?
Yes. The AG said a court could qualify an electrical engineer to testify about a possible electrical cause of a fire if the engineer had the needed expertise and the testimony would help the…
Can the Maryland legislature give medical malpractice defendants an automatic right to move their case to a different court?
The opinion concluded that the Maryland Constitution, as it then stood, barred the General Assembly from giving medical malpractice defendants an automatic right to move their case to a different…
Could South Carolina permit a private bridge to a marsh island before the applicant proved ownership against the state's presumed title?
The AG said OCRM could not authorize a bridge for private development of a marsh island while title was presumed to belong to the state. The applicant first had to demonstrate a sufficient original…
Did East Baton Rouge fire districts have to reapprove and report their service fees every year like property-tax millages?
No. The AG said the fire-district charges were specific taxes rather than ad valorem taxes, so the annual ordinance and Legislative Auditor reporting rules in the cited property-tax statute did not apply.
Could Louisiana's insurance department destroy premium-tax and assessment records after five years?
The AG did not set a five-year rule. The department and Secretary of State had to establish an approved retention schedule identifying which records were permanent and when others could be destroyed.
Could a Terrebonne water district pay to build a waterline serving private commercial lots as an economic-development project?
The AG said no on the proposed facts. It found no legal authority or obligation for the water district to spend its system funds on economic development, and sharing costs with the parish did not…
Could Slidell City Court hear and settle a minor child's tort claim brought by the child's father?
The AG said yes if the amount in dispute did not exceed the court's then-$20,000 limit and no tutor was required. The same conditions applied to the court's authority to approve or reject a…
Who decided which inmates could become trusties in Oakdale's city jail?
The AG said the person designated to manage the jail made its rules, including trusty status. If the town charter did not name a manager, the city council had to designate the jail's keeper or…
Who inspected a South Carolina public school building constructed and owned by a private company in 2003?
The AG said the State Superintendent of Education or a designee was responsible for code inspection and approval before occupancy. Private ownership and financing did not remove a building used as a…
After Maine voters approved slot machines at harness tracks, how much could a host municipality regulate the racino, set ballot conditions, or charge fees?
The opinion found that the racino initiative left room for traditional local regulation, including land use and public safety, but did not let a town impose a new racino tax or operating fee without…
Could a Connecticut commissioner send a regular staff member to vote on the State Traffic Commission?
The AG concluded that the transportation, public safety and motor vehicles commissioners could designate deputy commissioners to vote on the State Traffic Commission. On the facts supplied, they…
Did Slaughter, Louisiana qualify to change from a village to a town after the 2000 census?
Yes. The AG found Slaughter's submitted resolution and census certification satisfied the reclassification requirements; its reported population of 1,011 put it in the statutory town category.
Could former Las Vegas Nights dealers keep gaming devices in Connecticut for use elsewhere?
The AG concluded that after Connecticut repealed Las Vegas Nights gaming, former equipment dealers could not store the now-illegal devices in the state and repeatedly transport them to lawful events…
How could a Louisiana marina remove a boat from a rented slip after a tenant failed to leave?
The AG said the marina owner had to use the eviction process. After required notice and a court eviction order, the constable could execute a warrant by removing the boat from the slip.
Did Lafayette's school board have to approve misconduct charges before a permanent bus driver received notice?
The AG said state law did not require advance board approval for written misconduct charges against a permanent bus driver. Lafayette's own superintendent job description did require that approval…
Could a Washington city defer required sidewalk work and later offer a payment option under a development agreement?
The Attorney General concluded in 2003 that RCW 82.02.020 allowed a city to offer installation, renewed deferral, or a payment option if the initial condition and payment met the statute’s…
Could a South Carolina town gate its publicly maintained streets and restrict drivers to residents?
The AG said Briarcliffe Acres lacked authority to gate and control access to its public roads. It also said public streets could not simply be made private for residents; abandonment or vacation…
Could a Louisiana police jury advance travel money to members and employees before a work trip?
Yes, if unused or ineligible amounts had to be returned immediately and prompt repayment was reasonably expected. The AG said an advance without that expectation could violate Louisiana's…
Could Sulphur City Court charge its judicial building fund fee when someone files a small-claims case?
Yes. The AG said small claims were within the city court's jurisdiction, and La. R.S. 13:1910 allowed a judicial building fund service charge of up to $10 per filing in cases within that jurisdiction.
How long could a holdover school board's new superintendent contract run after the board's elected term expired?
The AG said Concordia's board could not extend a new superintendent's contract beyond December 31, 2004, two years after the board members' official term expired, even though they remained in office…
Could a Louisiana hospital district pay to demolish a leased building for a private medical-office project?
The AG said no under the lease and facts presented. The district had no identified legal obligation to pay for demolition so a private developer could build on the leased site, and labeling the…
Could a South Carolina county council give each member sole discretion to spend district funds?
The AG said that letting individual Florence County council members decide how appropriated district funds were spent was likely an unlawful delegation of legislative power. The road and…
Could a South Carolina officer charge misdemeanor domestic violence on a uniform traffic ticket after arriving just after the incident?
Yes, if the officer had probable cause that the misdemeanor was freshly committed. The AG said the ticket could serve as the charging document and give a magistrate or municipal court jurisdiction,…
If a Delaware county has some of my requested records on-site but must retrieve others, does FOIA require it to release the on-site records first?
The AG said Delaware FOIA did not require piecemeal release in this case. The county needed time to obtain off-site records, and the requester filed Planning Board appeals before the records were…
Could a Louisiana election board commission poll watchers when a timely filed list omitted their mailing addresses?
Possibly. The AG said the parish board had to decide whether the list substantially complied with the Election Code; if it did, the board should issue commissions, and if it did not, it should refuse them.
What can a New York district attorney do with property seized as criminal evidence that is no longer needed and no one has reclaimed?
Four options, subject to conditions. If the government chose not to file forfeiture and the property is not contraband per se, it may return it to the person it was taken from after checking that no…
Could the Iberia Parish Airport Authority lease a grant-funded storage facility to a private manufacturer for nominal rent?
The AG said it could, if the authority determined that the company's location in its industrial park would bring sufficient public and authority benefits to justify the inducement.
Could a Fairfax town council member also sit on the Allendale County Development Board?
The AG said that combination did not violate South Carolina's dual-office rule. It treated town council as a public office but inferred that the county development board, like similar boards, was…
Could a full-time Delgado instructor also teach part time at the University of New Orleans?
Yes. The AG said Louisiana's dual-officeholding law barred two full-time public positions, but did not bar this full-time Delgado job combined with a part-time UNO teaching position.
Could a Hartsville city council member also serve on the Darlington County Historical Commission?
No. The AG said both seats counted as public offices under South Carolina's dual-office rule. Accepting the historical commission seat would automatically vacate the earlier council office, although…
Could a South Carolina county cut the clerk of court salary just before appointing someone to finish the term?
No. The AG said a county council could not evade the ban on reducing a clerk's salary during the term by voting for the cut before appointing an interim clerk. The appointee inherited the unexpired…
Could one South Carolina lay guardian ad litem serve in both private custody cases and the state volunteer program?
The AG found no statute expressly forbidding the two roles. It left individual volunteer service to the Governor's program and appointments in private cases to family-court discretion, including any…
Did attorney review make a nonlawyer real estate document-preparation business lawful in South Carolina?
The AG did not decide the applicant's case because the work performed and the lawyers' review were unclear. It cited decisions holding some deed and closing work unauthorized even with attorney…
Can a New York town reimburse the legal fees of a town supervisor who pleaded guilty to criminal charges, or of town employees called as witnesses in his prosecution?
No on both counts. Public Officers Law § 18 covers civil defense only, so the town cannot reimburse the supervisor's criminal defense fees, and a guilty plea means the conduct fell outside the scope…
Could South Carolina's Governor place the volunteer guardian ad litem program under the Foster Care Review Board?
The AG said the Governor's office had administrative discretion to arrange the two programs because both were placed there by statute. The arrangement could not compromise either program's duties or…
Did supervision by South Carolina's Foster Care Review Board inherently compromise volunteer guardians ad litem?
The AG gave no absolute answer. It said each program had to keep its statutory functions and objectivity, and supervision could not impair guardians' duties; a court would resolve a specific conflict.
Could South Carolina suspend an educator's certificate for test-security misconduct without a criminal conviction?
Yes. The AG said the State Board's general power to discipline for just cause remained available for test-security breaches even without a conviction. The later test-security statute added a…
Could a Louisiana firefighter work 53 hours a week for one fire district and 48 hours for another as a part-time job?
The AG said the proposed 48-hour second job was not part-time under the dual-employment law, which barred two full-time public jobs. It advised reducing the second job below 35 hours per week and…
Can I demand 'all books, checking accounts and papers' a town has kept since a certain year under a public records request?
Mixed, under the law as it stood in 2003. The AG found a request for "all books, checking accounts and papers" a Delaware town kept since 1994 was too broad to honor, but ordered the town to release…
Could the New Orleans convention center waive a bidder's missing builder's risk insurance proof?
No. The AG said this project's bid form and instructions made proof of every required insurance coverage mandatory, including builder's risk; omitting it was a substantive bid deviation the owner…
Was a privately leased New Orleans industrial development board project exempt from property tax while the board owned it?
Yes. The AG concluded that the project was exempt from ad valorem tax while the industrial development board held title, even though private companies would lease and use it.
Can NC electric membership corporations (rural co-ops) restructure their wholesale power purchases by buying less from the statewide co-op (NCEMC) and more from a third-party Energy Supplier, including reselling any excess power back to the Energy Supplier?
Yes. The NC AG concluded that Chapter 117 gives EMCs the authority to enter into these wholesale Purchase Agreements. § 117-18 specifically lets EMCs buy and sell energy by contract with any person.…
Did a South Carolina clerk charge a separate recording fee for a mortgage assignment filed with the same transaction's mortgage?
No. The AG said no additional assignment fee was due when the assignment was filed at the same time as the single mortgage for the same transaction, reaffirming a 1980 opinion despite the clerk…
Could a pardoned South Carolina bail bondsman with a felony conviction continue writing bonds?
The AG said a pardon was unlikely to leave a felony conviction as a bar to bail-bondsman work. Because the Department of Insurance had not revoked this person's license, the AG said he appeared able…
Can a New York town install speed bumps on a town road, and what rules govern that?
Yes, but with caveats. State law doesn't prohibit speed bumps on town highways. They are treated as highway design features rather than traffic control devices, so the Uniform Traffic Control…
Can a New York county issue bonds to acquire land for affordable housing if part of the land will be leased for offices or stores?
Yes, with conditions. A county can issue bonds to buy property for affordable housing development even if part of the parcel is leased to non-residential tenants, as long as most of it is dedicated…
Can a New York town allow alcohol on town park or community center property, and require a permit to do so?
Yes. State liquor law preempts the sale and distribution of alcohol but not its consumption. A town may allow consumption on its property and may set up a permit system to regulate it, so long as…
Could Maryland fund faith-based service organizations under its 2004 budget restriction?
Under the 2004 budget provision, faith-based groups remained eligible for existing grants open to secular groups. A program aimed primarily at those groups was restricted, and faith-only aid raised…
Could a Louisiana clerk of court use public funds for election ads, and could staff work the polls when the clerk was a candidate?
The AG said public money could pay for purely factual information, but not advocacy for or against a candidate or ballot proposition. It found no law barring a clerk's employee from serving as a…
When a legislative appointee to NC Centennial Authority holds over past his term and then resigns, who fills the vacancy?
The remaining Authority members. The AG concluded the legislature divided two powers in § 160A-480.3(b). Appointment of members went to the General Assembly. Vacancy-filling went to the remaining…
Does the U.S. Supreme Court's Hoffman Plastic decision stop the New York Department of Labor from collecting unpaid wages for undocumented workers?
No. Hoffman Plastic stopped the NLRB from awarding backpay for time an undocumented worker did not actually work because his employer fired him before discovering his status. That ruling does not…
Does a New York fire district have to provide fire protection to a national seashore that sits outside its boundaries?
No. General Municipal Law § 209(1) makes outside-district fire response permissive, not mandatory, and the fire district's governing board can restrict or end the service by resolution. The fact…
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