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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Would South Carolina’s proposed parental opt out for contraceptives cost it federal Title X funds?
The 2001 AG predicted that proposed H.3903 would not conflict with Title X or jeopardize funding because it implemented a parent’s prior instruction rather than requiring consent or notice for every…
Did a Louisiana mayor need a new council vote to sign a contract for an approved budget project?
The AG said approval of a budget containing the project could authorize the mayor of a Lawrason Act town to sign its contract. For a bid project, the public entity could designate an official to…
Can a Smart Start local partnership board member vote on a grant to a nonprofit if she also sits on that nonprofit's board?
Generally yes, when the dual-service is institutional rather than personal. Smart Start board members serving on a nonprofit's board because of their county jobs (and gaining no personal financial…
Can a public hospital trustee also serve on a nonprofit's board if the public hospital is considering making a grant to that nonprofit?
Generally yes, as long as no individual personally pockets money from the grant. The criminal conflict-of-interest statute (N.C.G.S. § 14-234) is triggered by personal financial benefit to the…
Could a parish police jury president lift a statewide burn ban, or a fire chief impose one?
The AG said a police jury president could not override a governor's proclamation imposing a state burn ban, and a fire chief had no statutory authority to invoke a burn ban. The opinion separately…
Could a Brusly council member also serve on the West Baton Rouge Parish Library board?
The AG said the two positions could be held together if the library-board role was part-time. Whether the library position was unpaid did not decide the dual-officeholding question.
Could a Louisiana university advance staff or office costs to its support foundation?
The AG said a university could provide space, personnel, or other support to a qualifying support organization under R.S. 17:3390 if the public-purpose conditions were met and the organization…
Could a sheriff's employee serve on Louisiana's Private Investigator Examiners Board?
The AG said a full-time employee of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office could also serve in the part-time appointed state-board role. The sheriff's office was a separate political subdivision,…
Could Connecticut reimburse a heating-oil tank cleanup if an unregistered worker removed the tank?
The AG concluded that the residential heating-oil tank cleanup board could not reimburse a job where an unregistered contractor removed or replaced the tank, even if a registered contractor later…
Could South Carolina’s DNR suspend a soil and water conservation commissioner before a removal hearing?
The 2001 AG reasoned that a limited power to remove a commissioner for cause could include temporary suspension, but it warned that a newer South Carolina Supreme Court decision cast serious doubt…
Could a Louisiana registrar challenge a voter for submitting a false change of address?
The AG said yes. He treated a believed fraudulent address change as a basis for the 21-day challenge notice, with the submitted change processed and cancellation only if the registrant failed to…
Could grandparents and a grandson claim Louisiana's homestead exemption on jointly owned land?
The AG said the homestead exemption appeared unavailable for the property owned in indivision by the grandparents and grandson. He stressed that eligibility depended on facts for the assessor to…
Did a Louisiana housing authority have to publish its board proceedings in a newspaper?
The AG said yes. After statutory changes recognized local housing authorities as political subdivisions, he concluded that the newspaper publication requirement in R.S. 43:171 applied to their board…
Could customers add donations to a Louisiana city utility bill to help neighbors pay theirs?
The AG said Ruston's utility could collect voluntary donations for needy customers, with the city helping establish objective and consistent criteria for need. Donations designated for charity on…
Could a Louisiana parish accept residents' donations to pave a public gravel road?
The AG found no prohibition on accepting private donations to offset the cost of paving a road in the parish road system. The parish still had to follow the Parish Transportation Fund Act's…
Does the 406th District Court of Webb County, Texas, have criminal jurisdiction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Although the statute creating the 406th District Court tells it to 'give preference' to family-violence, Family Code, and Health and Safety Code cases and does…
Does Texas cemetery law (Chapter 711) apply to old, informal burial grounds on private property?
The Attorney General concluded that the parts of chapter 711 of the Health and Safety Code that refer broadly to 'cemeteries' (as opposed to 'cemetery organizations') apply as a general matter to…
Can a Texas port navigation district limit how many years a contract can keep automatically renewing?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Port of Port Arthur Navigation District's express power to adopt rules to manage its affairs implies the power to limit, by policy, the number of times a…
Could South Carolina police seize and destroy a Domino Pete gaming machine?
The 2001 AG said the described device appeared to be a prohibited game of chance and that officers had probable cause to seize it for magistrate review under the machine statute. It separately said…
When a NC council of governments dissolves and gives up federally funded equipment bought with Older Americans Act subgrants, who decides what happens to the equipment: the state Division of Aging or the COG?
The state, applying state surplus property rules. The AG concluded that 45 C.F.R. § 92.32(b) controlled because the federal grant from HHS had gone to the State of North Carolina (the Division of…
Can Texas spend state highway money on toll roads without requiring it to be paid back?
The Attorney General concluded no, not without a constitutional amendment. Article III, section 52-b lets TxDOT spend money on the Texas Turnpike Authority's toll roads only if any money taken from…
Does Maryland's Forest Conservation Act apply to a local government building project in Allegany or Garrett County, even if the project uses state funding, given that those counties are exempt from the Act for having a lot of existing forest cover?
The exemption still applies. The opinion concluded the Forest Conservation Act's exemption for counties with 200,000 or more acres of forest cover (only Allegany and Garrett counties qualified)…
Could South Carolina’s Patients’ Compensation Fund pay claims contractors and cap excess coverage?
The 2001 AG said a claims service appeared to be an administrative expense payable from the Fund, while unrelated services were not. It also read the statute as requiring uncapped excess claim…
Did a Frederick County liquor license cover a shopping mall parking lot shared with other tenants?
Generally no. The AG said that, under the provisions applicable in Frederick County, licensed premises usually meant the place described in the liquor-license application and did not include a…
Can a NC county board abolish its statutorily-created county police department and roll its duties into the sheriff's office?
No. The AG concluded that the Gaston County Board of Commissioners cannot abolish the Gaston County Police Department or assign its duties to the sheriff's office without a new act of the General…
Was Kentucky's prepaid college tuition trust a state instrumentality for federal securities laws?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Kentucky's prepaid tuition trust was a public instrumentality for the federal securities statutes named in the opinion because it performed an education…
Could a full-time Louisiana town police officer also work for the town fire department?
The AG said a full-time Simmesport police officer could also serve as a part-time firefighter if the work hours did not conflict. The answer assumed no civil service rule barred the arrangement.
Could Kenner collect referendum petition signatures through the mail?
The AG said mailed-in signatures did not meet the Election Code petition rule then in force. The statute required information identifying the person who witnessed and obtained each signature, which…
Could a Port of South Louisiana commissioner also work full time for the St. Charles Parish president?
The 2001 opinion said the two positions could be held together under the dual-officeholding law if the port commission seat was part time. It expressly left possible ethics conflicts to the ethics board.
Are Maine drivers for interstate trucking companies entitled to overtime under state law even when federal rules exempt them?
Chief Deputy Attorney General Linda Pistner withdrew a 1966 internal memorandum that had concluded Maine's overtime wage law (26 M.R.S.A. § 664) did not apply to certain interstate motor carrier…
How long could a Louisiana alderman serve as mayor pro tempore?
The AG said the alderman selected as mayor pro tempore continued in that role until the board removed that person. The Cullen Board of Aldermen could select a replacement by majority vote.
Could Iota require police officers to stay six months after paid training and raise its clerk's salary without an ordinance?
The 2001 opinion said the town could adopt a six-month post-training employment term, with contract damages rather than forced service if an officer left early. It said any clerk pay increase had to…
When a small NC town contracts with a private 'special police' company instead of hiring its own officers, can those private officers enforce traffic laws on town streets?
No. The AG said NCSP's contract with Newton Grove did not expand its company police officers' territorial authority to the town's streets and private businesses. The officers were not town employees…
Can a North Carolina county adopt a local ordinance adding its own late-payment penalty or administrative fee on top of the statewide property tax interest schedule?
No. The AG read the Machinery Act in Subchapter II of Chapter 105 as a comprehensive, integrated statewide scheme that fully occupied the field of delinquent property tax penalties. The Act already…
Could a Louisiana parish own a grant-funded well that a private nonprofit water system operated?
The AG said Union Parish could enter a cooperative arrangement for its grant-funded well, assuming it met the grant terms. The parish would be responsible for negligence arising from ownership,…
Did Maryland's 2000 Truth in Taxation Act change the Columbia Association's annual property charge?
No. The AG concluded that the 2000 Truth in Taxation Act did not alter the assessment ratio used for the Columbia Association's annual charge or the amount of that charge.
Could Louisiana pay blue crab tariff legal fees from a dedicated fund without an appropriation?
The AG said no. Although the fee revenue was dedicated to the effort, no appropriation from the fund existed, so the Legislature had to enact one before payment; a budget adjustment could not supply it.
Could a Louisiana human services district spend Medicaid collections above its appropriation?
The AG said the district, as a political subdivision, did not have to place its excess collections in the state treasury. If the money was in the treasury, however, it could not be withdrawn without…
Could Bossier Parish run highway vehicles on untaxed dyed diesel fuel?
The 2001 opinion said no for the parish's highway vehicles. It read the fuel-tax exemptions and the prohibition on dyed fuel in highway-registered vehicles together, distinguishing off-highway uses.
When can a Texas commissioners court or governmental body legally meet by telephone conference call?
The Attorney General concluded that section 551.125 allows a telephone conference call meeting only in a genuine emergency or public necessity where convening a quorum in one place is 'difficult or…
Is the City of Anson, Texas, a home-rule municipality?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Anson adopted a home-rule charter by voter approval on April 6, 1920, and has been a home-rule municipality under article XI, section 5 of the Texas Constitution…
Can a Texas state agency spend appropriated funds to promote itself to the public or hire a PR firm?
The Attorney General concluded that a state agency, here the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, may use appropriated funds to make information about its functions available to the public,…
If a Georgia superior court judge resigns to take a federal judgeship, does he keep his rights to JRS spouses' benefits and to disability retirement benefits?
Half and half. The Georgia AG concluded that a JRS member who has paid spouses'-benefits contributions for at least ten years has a vested right to those benefits even after leaving JRS-covered…
Could Kentucky counties issue industrial revenue bonds for electric generating plants?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the proposed electric generating stations qualified as industrial buildings for Kentucky's industrial revenue bond law because generating electricity was…
Did Louisiana's wildlife department have to pay court costs to execute its administrative judgments?
The AG said the department was exempt under R.S. 13:4521 from paying clerk and sheriff costs for issuing writs and executing judgments in its favor arising from wildlife violations, because he…
Could St. Landry Parish use surplus solid waste funds to buy a dump truck for road work?
The AG said yes. He read Section 4(g) of Act 1249 broadly enough to allow surplus funds covered by an intergovernmental agreement to buy a truck used to haul road and drainage materials.
Did a county tax collector have to collect a town’s abandoned building removal costs?
The 2001 AG said no statute made municipal removal costs part of a county’s contract to collect municipal taxes merely because the costs were collectible in the same manner as taxes. Whether…
Can a Georgia public university let a student do an academic-credit internship at a religious organization that hires only people of its own faith, or would the university violate the Constitution by allowing it?
The opposite is true. The Georgia AG concluded there is no legal barrier to the university letting a student satisfy an internship requirement at a sectarian facility that limits hiring to people of…
Could a Louisiana cemetery board use maintenance tax money to buy land for an expansion?
The AG said no. The two Ward Two tax propositions funded cemetery maintenance and upkeep, not acquisition of land. He said voters could be asked to rededicate the proceeds, subject to State Bond…
Did a private Louisiana community action agency need Bond Commission approval before borrowing?
The AG said a community action agency organized as a private nonprofit corporation was outside the general approval rule for public bodies. Bond Commission approval could still be required if its…
Could a licensed or former auctioneer fill a consumer seat on Louisiana's auctioneer board?
The AG said a current licensed auctioneer could not hold one of the two consumer seats. A former licensee was not automatically barred and could qualify as a consumer.
Could a South Carolina fire district chair also work as a city firefighter?
The 2001 AG said fire department membership was exempt from the constitutional dual office rule, so the two positions did not violate that rule. But if the district supervised the city firefighter…
Could a South Carolina city council member also serve on the Spartanburg higher education commission?
The 2001 AG said no. The letter treated city or town council membership as a public office and reaffirmed that the Spartanburg County Commission on Higher Education’s members also held public office…
Could a South Carolina county council chair also serve on a DNR legal advisory board?
The 2001 AG said yes under the dual office rule. County council membership counted as an office, but the legal advisory board was purely advisory and did not exercise sovereign power, so it was not…
Can an out-of-state company use Delaware's public records law to get copies of local police accident reports?
No, according to this opinion. Delaware's FOIA only gives access rights to Delaware citizens, and a company that is not incorporated in Delaware and has no genuine Delaware presence does not count…
Could South Carolina raise the fee for a copy of a driving record from two to six dollars?
The 2001 AG said the Department of Public Safety had authority to charge for driver records, but the proposed fee still had to meet FOIA’s actual cost ceiling and lowest possible cost requirement.…
How did a Pawleys Island homeowner qualify for South Carolina’s four percent residence tax assessment?
The 2001 AG said the owner had to own and occupy the property as a domicile during some part of the tax year, apply before the first tax penalty date, certify household residency facts, and provide…
Could a Clemson University patrol officer also serve on a South Carolina town council?
The 2001 AG said the dual office restriction appeared not to bar the particular officer from serving on Liberty’s council because his campus law enforcement authority came solely from a constable…
Could a St. Tammany Parish constable also take a part-time clerical job with Abita Springs police?
The 2001 opinion said yes. The proposed police job was part time and in a different political subdivision from the elected constable office, so the dual officeholding restriction did not bar the…
Did a South Carolina county Senate delegation have to use weighted voting to approve magistrate nominees?
The 2001 AG said yes under the then operative federal court remedy. The district court’s interim formula covered county legislative delegations voting as a single branch as well as both branches…
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