State AG Opinions
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Could a tenant serve on a Louisiana fire district board that required resident property taxpayers?
The AG concluded that a tenant who owned no property in the district did not meet the board qualification in the statute then in force. The parish governing authority had to declare a vacancy, but…
Could a South Carolina register record a mortgage satisfaction when assignments to its current holder were missing?
The 2001 AG said the register appeared to have authority to record it when the holder possessed the mortgage and supplied an affidavit explaining the missing assignments, with a notation giving…
Could a poultry farm use South Carolina farm truck plates while hauling sawdust and bark to other farms?
The 2001 AG said hauling poultry and farm soil additives qualified; hauling bedding to other farms could qualify if incidental to the larger poultry operation, but a stand-alone hauling business…
Can an Oregon district attorney run for reelection while their disbarment is on appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court?
Yes for the candidacy, no for the term. A trial-panel decision to disbar did not disqualify a district attorney from running. But Supreme Court disbarment after reelection would create an automatic…
Could one person serve as both Dunklin Fire District commissioner and its fire chief?
The 2001 AG said the constitutional dual-office ban did not apply to the fire chief role, but the two positions still created a prohibited master-servant conflict because the commission supervised…
Which open-government and procurement laws apply to a Texas local government corporation?
The Attorney General concluded that local government corporations created under chapter 431, subchapter D of the Transportation Code must comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Texas Public…
Is there a time limit to discipline a sheriff's department employee under a Texas county civil service system?
The Attorney General concluded there is no statutory time limit for taking disciplinary action against a sheriff's department employee covered by a subchapter A county civil service system, though…
Can a Texas school district operate a campus outside its own geographic boundaries?
The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district may not operate a school outside its geographic boundaries. Boles ISD, located in Hunt County, wanted to run the former private…
Could a repeat South Carolina DUS offender reclaim a forfeited car by paying towing and storage fees?
No, said the 2001 AG: the payment provision did not let a covered convicted driver avoid forfeiture. The letter also required a civil summons and complaint and expected a requested jury trial to…
Could a Louisiana assistant district attorney also teach at a state-funded college?
The 2001 opinion said yes under the educator exception to the dual officeholding law, if the college role involved professional educational work. It assumed the attorney's prosecutorial duties and…
Did scattering cremated remains in a South Carolina church courtyard make it a cemetery?
The 2001 AG said no. Scattering ashes in the described courtyard did not establish a cemetery, and the Safe Cremation Act allowed disposition on private property with the owner’s consent.
Could Louisiana credit transportation-trust operating costs against borrowing from the TIMED account?
The 2001 opinion found no prohibition against crediting Transportation Trust Fund operating costs spent on TIMED projects against the amount owed to the TIMED account.
What certificates did a Louisiana town need to annex land by petition?
The 2001 opinion said Mansura's petition-based annexation needed certifications from the parish assessor and registrar of voters for the property-value and voter-assent requirements. The materials…
Could a Louisiana fire district let an employee or volunteer live in its firehouse in exchange for work?
The 2001 opinion said a fire district could exchange living quarters for needed administrative services if it found the services' value comparable to the quarters' rental value. If the quarters were…
Was a levee-district superintendent owed compensatory time for overtime work?
The 2001 opinion did not decide the superintendent's entitlement because it required facts the office would not determine. It explained federal overtime exemptions and said an employer's established…
How long did a Louisiana indigent defender board have to keep case files, financial records and minutes?
The 2001 opinion said public records followed the state archivist's retention schedule or, absent a schedule, at least three years. It suggested checking the schedule for each record type and…
Were Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District employees covered by Louisiana state civil service?
The 2001 opinion said the district should participate in state civil service. It treated levee districts as state agencies for this purpose under a Louisiana Supreme Court decision and recalled an…
Could parish prisoners volunteer to work on private church property or cemeteries?
The 2001 opinion said voluntary parish-inmate labor could be used in public places and cemeteries or graveyards, public or private, but not on the private church property described. It also…
Could a Washington city add street-lighting costs to water, sewer, electric, or transit utility bills?
The Attorney General concluded in 2001 that cities and towns lacked authority to treat street lighting as a utility service or charge utility customers for its cost. Street lighting was a general…
Could a Pickens County airport commissioner also hold an elected city council seat?
No. The 2001 AG treated both seats as public offices, concluding that service on the Aeronautics Commission and a city council at the same time violated the dual-office rule.
Could Maryland's Department of Planning join a local zoning or land-use case?
Yes. The AG said the Department of Planning could formally intervene in local land-use proceedings under the applicable procedural rules or submit a statement of State views, with broad discretion…
Can a New York county ban drivers from using hand-held cell phones on its roads, or does state law preempt the local rule?
The AG found a substantial possibility that Rockland County lacked authority to enact the proposed hand-held phone ban. It saw a strong express-preemption argument under Vehicle and Traffic Law §…
Can a school board discuss disagreements between its own members in a closed personnel executive session?
No, under the law as it stood in 2001. The AG found the Indian River School District violated FOIA by discussing "Boardsmanship," personal disagreements among the board's own members that led to a…
Can Idaho Correctional Industries sell its prison-made goods to a private retailer or wholesaler that just wants to use the goods itself, instead of reselling them to the public?
No. Idaho Correctional Industries can sell to retail or wholesale establishments only if those buyers intend to resell the goods to the general public. The 1978 amendments to Idaho Code 20-413…
Does a Texas city have to apply its telecom right-of-way excavation permit rules to every other company too?
The Attorney General concluded that Chapter 283 of the Local Government Code does not force a city to extend a certificated telecommunications provider (CTP) excavation-permit ordinance to entities…
Can the spouse of a county political party chair serve as an early voting ballot board judge in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that the wife of the San Jacinto County Republican Party chairman could serve as a judge on the Early Voting Ballot Board, because her husband was not an opposed…
Can a Texas county commissioner use county equipment to dig graves in a private cemetery?
The Attorney General concluded that an individual county commissioner may not use county labor and equipment to open and close graves in a private cemetery, even free of charge, because public labor…
If the tax office never sent the required notice, do I owe years of penalties and interest on my delinquent Texas property tax?
The Attorney General concluded that when a tax collector fails to send the five-year delinquency notice that section 33.04(b) of the Tax Code requires, the property owner is not responsible for any…
Who paid appointed lawyers for indigent parents and children in Louisiana child-protection cases?
The 2001 opinion said the Department of Social Services could pay authorized fees for children's counsel or indigent parents' counsel, but not both. If charging DSS was improper, a court could…
Who could dismiss cases, change sentences, and control the docket in a South Carolina municipal court?
The 2001 AG assigned pre-jury dismissal to prosecutors and docket setting to judges. It said sentence changes required reasonable notice to the State and victim, and city solicitors should not issue…
Could a South Carolina police department release arrest records after the person was acquitted but never sought expungement?
The 2001 AG said no for records of that charge. It read the then-applicable statute to require law enforcement to destroy those records after acquittal without waiting for a separate court order.
Could Connecticut tax officials record collection calls, and were those recordings public records?
The AG said the proposed system was lawful only if everyone on incoming and outgoing calls received the required recording notice. The recordings counted as public records, though confidential tax…
Did selling internet time make Touch Easy Keno a lawful sweepstakes in South Carolina?
No, in the 2001 AG’s view. It said the linked cash machine and keno game supplied payment, chance, and prizes; the internet-time label and beer-permit promotion provision did not shield the game…
Could Carencro reimburse its police chief for using a personal car and insure him for duty-related liability?
The 2001 opinion allowed documented mileage reimbursement or a lump-sum car allowance treated as taxable compensation. It also said the city could buy insurance covering the chief's personal…
Does the Open Meetings Act apply to a city economic development corporation's board?
The Attorney General concluded that the board of the Bryan-College Station Economic Development Corporation was not subject to the Open Meetings Act. The corporation was a nonprofit organized under…
Does the Texas rule requiring a city to treat all proposers fairly apply to every request for proposals?
The Attorney General concluded that because his office cannot make findings of fact, it could not determine whether San Antonio broke the law in awarding a roughly $4.6 million advertising contract…
Can a Texas city or government agency ban concealed handgun license holders from its buildings and property?
The Attorney General concluded that a unit of government cannot ban concealed handgun license holders from carrying on its property just by passing its own rule, regulation, or policy, because the…
Can the Texas pest control board control what's in an exterminator's contract or force the company to honor it?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Structural Pest Control Board, an agency with only the powers the legislature gave it, may regulate the language of contracts between its licensees and…
Does a Texas county clerk have to time-stamp a document the moment it's filed, and can the clerk close early to process filings?
The Attorney General concluded that no statute expressly requires a county clerk to 'file stamp' a document, but the clerk must note the date and time on each instrument immediately when it is…
Does a Texas home warranty company need both a Real Estate Commission license and a state licensing department registration?
The Attorney General concluded that two Texas statutes regulate two different kinds of service contracts and do not overlap. Article 6573b (the Residential Service Company Act) requires a license…
Could South Carolina’s coastal permit appeal panel split into separate advisory and appeal committees?
The 2001 AG said the proposed split appeared inconsistent with the panel’s majority and quorum requirements and might impair its appeal duty. It thought the described change required legislation, or…
When North Carolina DENR receives or prepares information under its Article 9 environmental programs, how should it determine whether federal FOIA protection also makes that information confidential under state law?
The opinion says N.C.G.S. §130A-304(a)(2) protects information received or prepared under Article 9 if it is confidential under federal or state law. DENR should examine state public-records…
Could a private property owner avoid Village of Converse sewer charges under an old mayoral agreement?
The 2001 opinion said a fee waiver with no value exchanged would be an invalid donation of public funds, while value from the landowner could change that result. It could not resolve the disputed…
Did Oregon's ban on campaign contributions to elected officials during legislative sessions violate the state free-expression clause?
Yes. ORS 260.174's session contribution ban violated Article I, section 8 of the Oregon Constitution. Under Vannatta v. Keisling, contributions are expression, and Oregon's strict free-speech…
Could North Carolina successfully challenge the federal open-container law in court, on the theory that Congress overstepped its spending power by conditioning federal highway funds on states adopting that specific drunk-driving rule?
No, the 2001 NC AG opinion concluded that a constitutional challenge to the federal open container requirements in 23 U.S.C. § 154 would not likely succeed. The 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision in…
Did South Carolina’s liquor possession statute itself ban drinking on a boat?
No. The 2001 AG said that statute did not itself prohibit possession or consumption of liquor on vessels merely because they were on state waters; it did not decide every other law or setting.
Could Aiken County authorize credit cards for small government purchases by ordinance?
Yes. The 2001 AG said a county could adopt a purchasing-card ordinance for nominal county purchases as part of its centralized purchasing system, while leaving the policy choice to local officials.
Which of fifteen new misdemeanor offenses created by the Georgia General Assembly in 2000 should be added to the list for which arrestees must be fingerprinted by the Georgia Crime Information Center?
Three. The Georgia AG designated O.C.G.A. § 48-13-60 (innkeeper false or fraudulent excise tax returns), § 50-25-7.9(b) (improper personal purchases through the Georgia Technology Authority), and §…
Could Louisiana's Indigent Defense Assistance Board conduct an official meeting by telephone?
No. The 2000 opinion said the board's official meetings had to comply with the open meetings law and could not take place by telephone conference call.
Could a Louisiana town forgive a fire district's debt for a fire truck so the district could fund services?
The 2000 opinion said Oak Grove could forgive the remaining fire-truck debt so the district could use those funds for fire protection benefiting the town. It treated that arrangement as a…
Does a mortgage banker or broker's bankruptcy filing pause a New York State Banking Department proceeding to suspend or revoke its license for consumer fraud or undercapitalization?
No. The AG concluded that an NYSBD enforcement action under Banking Law § 595 for fraudulent consumer practices or undercapitalization fits the 'police or regulatory power' exception to the…
Are Georgia's statutes letting public school classrooms display 'In God We Trust' and including 'respect for the creator' in the K-12 character curriculum facially unconstitutional under church-state separation principles?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that neither O.C.G.A. § 50-3-4.1 (the 'In God We Trust' display) nor § 20-2-145 (the character-education trait of 'respect for the creator') is unconstitutional on its…
Can a Georgia physician's assistant write prescriptions for controlled substances and obtain a DEA registration number?
Yes, in a limited way. The Georgia AG concluded that under O.C.G.A. § 43-34-103(e.1), a PA may prescribe Schedule III, IV, and V controlled substances when acting under proper physician supervision…
Can you expunge your arrest record after deferred adjudication probation in a Texas county court?
The Attorney General concluded that a person who pleaded guilty to a class C misdemeanor in a county criminal court, paid a fine, and was placed on deferred adjudication probation is not entitled to…
Can a Texas county require bidders to attend a mandatory prebid conference for a public works contract?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court could not condition acceptance of public-works bids on attendance at a mandatory prebid conference. The County Purchasing Act…
If a city council member automatically resigns by running for another office, must the city hold a special election to replace them?
The Attorney General concluded that when a home-rule city has extended its council terms beyond two years, a vacancy created by a member's automatic resignation must be filled by a special election,…
Could homeowners claim Louisiana's homestead exemption after transferring title to their corporation?
The 2000 opinion said no. Although the occupants continued to live in the house, their business owned it, so the same person or family did not both own and occupy the property as the constitutional…
Were pollution-control devices exempt from Jackson Parish sales tax because they were exempt from state sales tax?
The 2000 opinion said no. The statute excluded qualifying devices from state sales tax as sales at retail, but expressly included them in local sales taxes, and the office found no parish exemption.
Did Terrebonne Parish still need an initiative election after voters approved a smaller school board?
The 2000 opinion said the initiative process was moot after voters approved the board's own membership-reduction ordinance. It did not resolve the proposed petition-withdrawal mechanics or compare…
Could DeSoto Parish employees work while receiving vacation pay and regular pay for the same period?
The 2000 opinion said no. Paying both vacation and regular wages for the same period would give employees unearned compensation and amount to a prohibited donation of public funds.
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