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.
Is a 15-business-day response to a public records request too slow under Delaware's FOIA?
No, under the law as it stood in 2003. The AG found New Castle County's 15-business-day response to a records request wasn't unreasonable given a legitimate legal review, clarified that the 10-day…
What happens to a Georgia gubernatorial appointee when the Senate adjourns sine die without confirming the appointment, and can the Governor reappoint someone whose nomination was simply not voted on?
An appointment subject to Senate confirmation ends when the Senate adjourns sine die without confirmation, so the office becomes vacant. For appointments made under constitutional authority or under…
Did Louisiana's 25-year public-safety retirement option replace other LASERS retirement options?
No. The AG read the 25-years-of-service option for specified public-safety employees as an additional route, not their only route. He said the general LASERS eligibility options remained available,…
Could South Carolina Medicaid reduce durable medical equipment fees or decline payment for equipment it did not cover?
The AG said the state Medicaid agency could reduce equipment-provider fees within federal standards and gave advance notice of reductions. Medicaid did not have to pay cost sharing for equipment…
Was an indicted South Carolina county supervisor entitled to pay during a lawful suspension?
The AG said the Oconee County supervisor was not entitled to compensation while suspended after an embezzlement indictment. Its cited general rule also denied pay for a lawful suspension even if…
Could one person serve on both a South Carolina safety review board and a county election commission?
The AG said both positions were public offices, so simultaneous service violated the constitutional dual-office rule. Taking the second office automatically vacated the first, though acts performed…
Could Louisiana's Legislative Auditor audit river port pilot commissions?
Yes, to the extent public funds were involved. The AG classified river port pilot commissions as quasi-public agencies because the legislature created them to perform a public purpose.
Could teachers use purchased service or June credit for Connecticut’s 2003 retirement offer?
The AG concluded that teachers seeking the 2003 early retirement incentive needed ten years of actual Connecticut state employment. Purchased service or teaching for another employer did not count.…
Could employees of state-aided institutions join Connecticut’s 2003 retirement offer?
The AG concluded that qualifying employees of three named state-aided institutions could participate in Connecticut's 2003 early retirement incentive. He also found that retirees who returned to…
Could an elected Vernon Parish constable also work for the parish police jury?
Yes. The AG said the constable's elected office belonged to his ward, while the police jury job belonged to the parish, so the cited ban on employment in the same political subdivision did not apply.
Could the South Carolina Ports Authority terminate a port license for default before arbitration?
Assuming the facts supplied, the AG said a court would likely require arbitration of the claimed default and leave Charleston International Ports operating the facility while the dispute was…
Could a South Carolina attorney hire a paralegal as an independent contractor for individual projects?
The 2003 AG found no rule requiring a supervised paralegal to be the lawyer's employee. Whether a particular project worker was an employee or independent contractor depended on the facts, including…
Can Maine's Legislature create a trust to lock in dedicated revenue funds and stop a future Legislature from sweeping them?
No. The Attorney General concluded the Legislature cannot establish a trust over public dedicated revenue funds that would prevent a later Legislature from reallocating them. An irrevocable…
Did 2003 South Carolina military leave benefits cover state employees called up before the resolution took effect?
The AG said the joint resolution covered qualifying military absences from January 1 through April 21, 2003, as well as later absences that year. It also concluded the leave did not violate the…
Could on-duty South Carolina fire district employees work on Habitat for Humanity projects?
The AG said the proposed on-duty construction work lacked statutory authorization and likely failed the public-purpose test because the charity and particular families were the primary…
Did a South Carolina DUI arrest need video when the patrol vehicle had never had a camera?
The AG said the 2003 video requirement did not yet apply to a traffic-enforcement vehicle that had never been equipped with a camera. It distinguished that situation from an inoperable camera and…
Can members of a Delaware public body violate the open meeting law by discussing business over email instead of meeting in person?
Yes, according to this opinion. The AG found, as a matter of first impression, that a quorum of a committee actively exchanging opinions and reaching consensus by email over two days counted as a…
Who could appoint separate lawyers when Lafourche Parish's council and president disagreed?
The AG said the Lafourche Parish district attorney was the parish governing body's regular counsel and could appoint attorneys for the council and president when their positions conflicted.
What remedy did the South Carolina AG expect if Dreher High School land purchases or ballot disclosures were invalid?
The AG said a court would likely enjoin the challenged land purchases and use of bond proceeds for the expansion, rather than set aside the entire school bond referendum.
When the Oregon State Land Board manages state forest lands dedicated to the Common School Fund, can it pay management and operating costs from the Fund's principal?
Yes on both. The 2003 AG opinion concluded that under Article VIII, section 2(2) of the Oregon Constitution, the Board could spend Common School Fund principal to pay the full range of expenses of…
Could Louisiana Senate employees join LSU's health insurance pilot plan?
Yes, if the Office of Group Benefits approved the shared arrangement. The AG said the Senate and LSU were each authorized to provide employee health coverage and could participate together in the…
Could a New Roads council member also take a classified job with Louisiana's Department of Insurance?
The AG said a council member could not keep elected office if the insurance-department job was actually in the state civil service. A separate dual-officeholding exception might apply to a state job…
Could a watershed district board override new commissioners chosen by the parish police jury?
No. The AG said Jackson Parish's Police Jury alone appointed watershed district commissioners. It could choose replacements when terms expired, and the board had no authority to reject those appointments.
Could a charity sell gambling tickets for a casino night at Foxwoods?
The AG clarified that a Connecticut charity benefiting from a Foxwoods casino night could not sell tickets to its gambling portion. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe had to sell those tickets and gaming…
Did a South Carolina school district need state approval before buying land for Dreher High School expansion?
The AG said the education regulation required prior state approval for the described Dreher land purchases and that the district had to comply with local zoning. It identified possible challenges to…
Could a Jefferson Parish juvenile court employee also work part time for its human services authority?
Yes. The AG concluded that the dual-employment provision barred two full-time government jobs, while the proposed human services authority position was part time.
Could Louisiana's DOTD privatize its interstate logo sign program and let a contractor keep costs from sign fees?
The AG said the logo statute did not authorize DOTD to privatize the program. If separate authorization were obtained, marketing and contracting for logo placements would be a service contract…
Could a South Carolina county force adjoining owners to accept title to old back alleys?
The AG knew of no mechanism to force landowners to accept the alleys. A gift needed acceptance, a deed could be disclaimed, and the county also needed sufficient public benefit before transferring…
Could South Carolina let counties and towns impose real estate transfer fees with legislative delegation approval?
The 2003 AG considered the proposed transfer fee bill generally constitutional, but warned that requiring a county legislative delegation to approve each fee likely violated separation of powers.…
Does Delaware's public records law let a county withhold documents while an administrative appeal about a subdivision is pending?
Yes, according to this opinion, when the appeal is filed close in time to the records request and the documents relate directly to the issue on appeal. The AG found a quasi-judicial administrative…
Can a school board hold a meeting with only 24 hours' notice if weather delayed its scheduling?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 2003. The AG found Christina School District properly gave only 24 hours' notice of a meeting because a week of snow closures had prevented earlier scheduling with…
Was South Carolina's Match Play video game machine legal because it involved skill?
The 2003 AG declined to decide whether the Match Play machine was legal. It said the governing test was whether skill or chance predominated, a factual question for law enforcement initially and…
Could a Louisiana police juror work for a water district or serve on its board?
The AG drew a distinction: a police juror could not also be a water-district employee because the jury could abolish the district. The juror could serve as a district commissioner under the…
Could judges use the judicial expense fund to supplement a sheriff's bailiff salary?
Yes. The AG said the 27th Judicial District judges could use their judicial expense fund under an intergovernmental agreement with the sheriff to supplement a bailiff's salary for court security.…
How could Louisiana appropriate Millennium Trust earnings and hold school allocations from tobacco settlement money?
The AG said restricted Trust earnings became principal, school allocations held in the treasury stayed credited to their recipients, and the Louisiana Fund's $50 million deposit rule set a minimum…
Could a Louisiana waterworks district employee also serve on the parish police jury?
No. Although the AG said the parish and district were separate subdivisions for one dual-employment rule, he found the positions incompatible because the police jury could abolish the waterworks…
When did Louisiana's deadline start and end for a municipal police discipline investigation?
The AG said the investigation began when an authorized person started inquiry or evidence collection with possible discipline in view, and evidence gathering had to finish within the statute's…
Could Louisiana's private-investigator board require continuing education for license renewal?
Yes. The AG said the board's Rule 518, requiring eight hours of approved investigative education before renewal, fell within its statutory power to regulate practice and professional education. The…
Could a Ponchatoula mobile home be placed beside another dwelling under the ordinance's exception phrase?
Only if a municipal ordinance or state law specifically allowed the placement. The AG said the phrase 'except as otherwise provided' did not let private parties change the zoning prohibition by agreement.
Under Maryland's 2003 laws, could a city program give naloxone to drug users to inject someone else during an overdose?
The 2003 AG found legal obstacles to Baltimore's proposed program when a physician supplied naloxone to a participant intending to treat an unidentified third person. Prescribing it to a participant…
Can New York county water and sewer district boards pay members a $50 flat meeting fee, and can a town supervisor double as district administrator with employees of town water districts staffing the county districts?
Flat meeting fees not allowed under County Law § 203(4): members get actual and necessary expenses only. Town supervisor and district administrator are compatible offices, but County Law § 261 bars…
Could South Carolina use lottery funds to contract with private colleges serving low-income students?
The 2003 AG thought S.203 would likely survive a state constitutional challenge if funds were distributed under the bill's contracts and spent strictly on its specified student-focused purposes. It…
Did serving on the Central Midlands Council of Government count as a second public office in South Carolina?
No. The 2003 AG concluded that Central Midlands Council of Government membership was not an office for the state constitution's dual-office prohibition. It relied on constitutional provisions…
Could a Louisiana school board tax auditor also serve on the parish council?
The AG found no dual-officeholding or incompatible-office bar to a school board sales-tax auditor serving on the parish council. He left the separate concern about confidential taxpayer information…
Did Cherokee County need a public vote before buying a quarry and operating a new water plant?
Yes. The 2003 AG said Cherokee County had authority to acquire the quarry, build and operate a water treatment plant, and supply the existing service network, but Article VIII, Section 16 required a…
Could Louisiana registrar-of-voters employees join the League of Women Voters?
The AG said no. He treated League membership as prohibited political activity for registrars and their employees under the then-existing statute and civil-service provisions, whether the employee…
Did Washington public four-year colleges have to bargain with faculty after the governor vetoed parts of the bargaining bill?
The Attorney General concluded in 2003 that the surviving provisions of Laws of 2002, chapter 356 still required public four-year institutions to bargain with a faculty unit’s exclusive…
Could Kentucky’s governor line-item veto a tax section of a bill that also contained one appropriation?
The Attorney General concluded that the governor’s attempted line-item veto of Section 15 of HB 390 was void. The bill was general legislation with an incidental appropriation in a different…
Could Oconee County's water authority control management of Lake Keowee?
No. The 2003 AG said the authority's enabling act gave it power to acquire and distribute water for industrial and domestic use in Oconee County, but no regulatory control over Lake Keowee.
Did a homeless sex offender in South Carolina still have to register without a fixed address?
Yes. The 2003 AG said an offender covered by the registry law was not excused from registration for lacking a fixed address. The person had to provide enough location information for law enforcement…
Could a Williston school board member also serve on Barnwell County's Generations Unlimited board?
No. The 2003 AG concluded that both board seats were public offices under South Carolina's dual-office rule, so holding them at the same time would violate the state constitution.
Could Colorado’s treasurer invest custodial funds in noninterest bearing general fund warrants?
The AG said genuinely custodial funds were not public funds available for that investment. Eligibility depended on the legal restrictions governing each fund; money could qualify only where the…
Could an uncertified South Carolina police officer use radar to measure a driver's speed?
The 2003 AG found no South Carolina statute or DPS rule expressly barring an uncertified officer from operating radar. DPS strongly discouraged the practice, and the opinion did not resolve whether…
Did South Carolina's 2003 voting-machine approval require testing an entire voting system?
No. The AG read §7-13-1620 as requiring certification of the polling-place voting machine, not separate ballot-definition or central-counting functions of the broader voting system.
Could Foxwoods host a charity casino night and a Connecticut charity raffle?
The AG concluded that the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe could run a casino-style fundraiser at Foxwoods using its own staff and equipment under federal gaming procedures. Connecticut's gaming regulator…
Could Louisiana reclassify the Village of Clarks as a town based on its population estimate?
The AG found that Clarks's submitted resolution and population estimate met the then-existing reclassification requirements. The estimate counted 1,053 residents, above the statutory threshold for a…
Did a Louisiana teacher have to work six years before using extended sick leave?
The AG said no. Under the statute he read, a teacher could use up to ninety days of extended sick leave even in the first year after regular sick leave was exhausted, subject to the statutory…
Could a private process server deliver claim-and-delivery papers in a South Carolina magistrate case?
The 2003 AG concluded that ordinary private servers could not serve those papers under the claim-and-delivery statutes. A sheriff could serve them in place of a magistrate's constable, and a…
Could Harahan police accept patrol vehicles from a casino with sponsor decals attached?
The AG said Harahan's police department could accept the donated vehicles and equipment with sponsor and gambling-help decals. He emphasized that the casino lay outside the department's jurisdiction…
Did Sumter County School District Two need county council approval for its 2003 budget?
The 2003 AG found no current law requiring Sumter County Council to approve the district's budget, despite that longstanding practice. It also found no apparent constitutional deficit from a lower…
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.