State AG Opinions
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Could a Louisiana parish pay to repair a private road because a school bus used it?
The 2000 opinion said Beauregard Parish could not use public funds to maintain the described privately owned road, where the owners appeared to be the main beneficiaries. It separately noted the…
Could a Washington code city hire a private company to build, lease, or run its jail?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that a code city could hire a private contractor to construct a jail, but could not lease a jail from a private owner or delegate overall jail management,…
Could a Louisiana development district let other public bodies remove unwanted hangars without making an unlawful donation?
The 2000 opinion said yes where removal saved the district demolition and disposal costs, giving it a financial benefit. It said the constitutional cooperative-endeavor clause did not separately…
Can the Maine Senate elect two co-Presidents to share the office at the same time?
The Maine AG concluded the Maine Constitution does not permit two co-Presidents of the Senate. Article IV, Part 2, § 8 contemplates a single President. The President is first in the line of…
Can the same person serve as both the village's volunteer fire chief and its fire marshal in New York?
No, on the specific Southampton facts. The AG concluded that because the Southampton Village Code gave the fire marshal authority to investigate whether the fire department and fire chief had…
Could a Kentucky agricultural cooperative issue stock and still organize as a nonprofit?
Yes, if it organized as an agricultural cooperative association under the provisions the opinion examined. The Attorney General said that form was statutorily treated as nonprofit with or without…
Who is the 'judicial officer who collected the fees' for Texas time-payment fee funds, the clerk or the judge?
The Attorney General concluded that the 'judicial officer who collected the fees' in Government Code section 51.921(d) is the court clerk who actually receives time-payment fees under subsection…
If a Texas county drops out of the county-court judge salary program midyear, does it still get its share of the money?
The Attorney General answered two questions about a county that stops collecting the section 51.702 court fees in the middle of a program year. First, the Comptroller does not have to keep sending…
Can an out-of-state nonprofit be certified as a nonprofit health organization by the Texas Medical Board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners may certify only nonprofit corporations chartered under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act, not foreign…
Was off-reservation farmland bought by the Coushatta Tribe exempt from Louisiana property tax?
The 2000 opinion said no on the stated assumption that the land was outside the reservation and had not been taken into federal trust. It left room for special legislation or another circumstance…
Could Kenner provide rent-free space in a municipal building for a justice of the peace court?
The 2000 opinion said Kenner could do so through a cooperative endeavor with the Sixth Justice of the Peace Court. It found a public-purpose basis tied to the court's work in the city and said the…
Could a full-time district court reporter also serve on Baton Rouge's Metropolitan Council?
The 2000 opinion said no. A full-time court reporter held an appointive position and could not simultaneously hold the elected Metropolitan Council seat; she had to resign the reporter appointment…
Could a Louisiana sheriff help pay to improve a police-jury road serving the parish jail?
The 2000 opinion said Franklin Parish's sheriff could enter a cooperative endeavor with the police jury to improve the road to the parish jail. Because the jail was the road's primary user, the…
Did Louisiana's Public Records Act require a criminal court to release staff and budget records to a nonprofit requester?
The AG said the Public Records Act did not apply to the judiciary's adjudicatory or administrative functions as he understood the law in 2000. He thought the requested records appeared…
Is a Delaware school district still in violation of FOIA if it eventually turns over records, just later than the requester wanted?
Not necessarily. The Delaware AG found no FOIA violation where a school district eventually provided everything a requester asked for, including enrollment figures, meeting minutes, and access to…
When a New York village votes to move its general election from March to November, how are sitting officers' terms adjusted to avoid gaps in office?
The AG concluded the terms of incumbent and newly elected officers are extended (never truncated) to bridge the gap to the new election date. Election Law § 15-104(2) extends the terms of officers…
Could Louisiana reimburse Orleans Parish clerk staff for election work during their regular office hours?
The AG said no under the election expense statute then in force. Taking paid annual leave from the city payroll did not make election work performed during regular clerk office hours reimbursable by…
Did Lafayette's extensions and price change to a waste contract violate its home-rule budget charter?
The 2000 opinion said no. The extension amendments set compensation by a future formula, and sufficient funds had been appropriated when the amount became fixed; the office therefore found no…
Was Metairie Country Club exempt from Louisiana property taxes as a fraternal club?
The 2000 opinion said the club did not qualify merely because its articles referred to members' development and no private profit. It read the constitutional club exemption as requiring both…
Do Texas manufactured-home dealers and installers need a license to buy refrigerants?
The Attorney General concluded that manufacturers, retailers, rebuilders, and installers of manufactured homes are exempt from the entire Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law…
Can Texas change how state employees are paid for unused vacation accrued years earlier?
The Attorney General concluded that state employees do not have a vested constitutional right to the particular formula the state once used to value their accrued vacation when they leave. Even…
Can a Texas county change the name of a county road that already has a name?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court's power under Transportation Code section 251.013 to name public roads in unincorporated areas includes the power to rename a road…
When a county board fires an entire hospital authority and there are no remaining hospital commissioners to nominate replacements, who can appoint the new commissioners?
The AG declined to issue an advisory opinion because the same issue was already being litigated in Onslow County Superior Court. The AG's office said it ordinarily declines to opine on matters that…
Could a full-time parish employee also serve on a regional transit authority board?
The 2000 opinion said yes for the described part-time appointive transit board seat. It also quoted a per-diem restriction for appointees who held seats on participating parish agencies, boards, or…
Does a city have to produce a funding statement under FOIA if it never actually wrote one?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000. The AG found Newark didn't violate FOIA by not producing a written funding statement for a new power project because the city never actually created that…
In 2000, could a Maryland title insurer audit only its named principal agent while other companies handled its real estate closings?
The AG concluded in 2000 that a title insurer's on site review duty reached every title agency it authorized to conduct settlements involving its policies. Reviewing only an intermediary labeled its…
Could a Texas county grant a tax abatement to a business that leased tax-exempt real property in a reinvestment zone?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 312.206(a) allowed a county to make the derivative tax-abatement agreement only with the owner of taxable real property. A leaseholder of…
Could an elected Plaquemine official put a campaign sign on a city-owned vehicle assigned to them?
No. The 2000 opinion said the city's vehicle was publicly owned property under R.S.18:1470, so political signs could not be displayed on it even though it was assigned to an elected official.
Why was Oakdale's primary rescheduled after a candidate died and a new candidate qualified, then withdrew?
The 2000 opinion said the candidate's death reopened qualifying and the new qualification made rescheduling mandatory under R.S. 18:469. The law did not address the new candidate's later withdrawal…
Did South Carolina law require bidding before a school district sold or leased surplus property?
The 2000 AG letter said no state bidding requirement appeared to apply. It pointed to other school-property statutes and said local district or county procedures could supply additional rules.
Could a fire district enroll a chief who applied after age 50 and pay for his prior retirement service?
The 2000 opinion found the chief eligible because he began qualifying employment at 49, subject to the retirement board's approval and other requirements. The district could pay only its employer…
Could Carencro's elected police chief promote officers or raise police salaries without council approval?
The 2000 opinion said no. The chief had to recommend promotions and employee raises, but the mayor and board acted on promotions and the board enacted salary increases by ordinance. The board also…
What happened when no one qualified for a Louisiana justice-of-the-peace special election?
The 2000 opinion said the governor should call another special election when more than twelve months remained in the term. The sitting justice of the peace held over until the supreme court…
Could a Louisiana city let a church use its community center for services?
The 2000 opinion said Covington could contract with a church for paid, nonexclusive use of its community center. The city had to consider all applicants objectively and could not deny someone use…
Does claiming a property tax exemption trigger the agricultural rollback tax on Texas open-space land?
The Attorney General concluded that qualifying agricultural open-space land for a youth-development-association tax exemption under Tax Code section 11.19 does not, by itself, count as a change of…
Can someone employed outside a local workforce board's area serve as its private-sector member?
The Attorney General concluded that a person is not ineligible to serve as a private-sector representative on a local workforce development board just because the person is employed outside the…
Can a Texas county pay part of its retirees' health insurance premiums indefinitely?
The Attorney General concluded that COBRA does not require or authorize a county to pay any part of a retiree's health insurance premiums or to keep coverage going indefinitely. And a county may not…
Did Louisiana's insurance newsletter have to list postage separately in its public printing cost statement?
The 2000 opinion said the statement did not have to list postage separately, though postage had to be included in computing total cost. It found the newsletter's statement deficient for omitting the…
Could one person serve on Lander University’s board and the Lexington County School District 2 board?
No. The 2000 AG treated both trustee seats as public offices. It said the dual-office problem began when the person assumed the second seat, automatically vacating the first office.
Were arbitration clauses in South Carolina mortgage broker contracts automatically invalid?
No. The 2000 AG said those clauses were not invalid by their nature, but enforceability depended on statutory notice and ordinary contract-formation rules; only a court could decide a particular contract.
Were trustees of Kentucky's public retirement system state officers in 2000?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a Kentucky Retirement Systems trustee held a state office because the legislature created a continuing position with defined public powers and duties. The…
What happened to voter-approved maintenance tax money when Jefferson Parish merged garbage and drainage districts?
The 2000 opinion said the former districts' tax balances transferred to the new districts and could be pooled there. The money still had to serve the purposes voters approved for the garbage or…
Can a bingo equipment maker and distributor agree on the price charged to charities in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a manufacturer and a distributor of bingo equipment may not agree, expressly or by implication, on the price at which the distributor will sell or lease that…
Can a Texas road district borrow against future road fees to repay a loan over several years?
The Attorney General concluded that Bastrop County Water Control and Improvement District No. 2, which holds the powers of a road district under article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution,…
Can a Texas city pay legal fees for council members prosecuted for Open Meetings Act violations?
The Attorney General concluded that a city council member is disqualified from voting on a resolution to pay his or her own legal fees, or the fees of another member indicted on the same facts for…
Could a South Carolina planning commissioner also work for the local planning department?
The 2000 AG said yes under the constitutional ban on holding two public offices: the described department job was employment, not a second office. The AG could not determine whether a separate…
Could a South Carolina regional transit authority condemn a building away from a right of way?
The 2000 AG read the authority’s condemnation power as covering rights of way and facilities contiguous to them. It said the authority probably could not condemn a disconnected building for a bus station.
What counted as economically disadvantaged for a Maryland small business loan guarantee in 2000?
The AG concluded in 2000 that the owner had to show a specific, identifiable economic impediment beyond the owner's control that kept the business from competing on a level playing field. Merely…
Did a South Carolina fire district need a new referendum every year to keep a voter-approved 16-mill tax rate?
No. The 2000 AG said the voter-approved 16-mill rate remained effective and should be billed each year until changed as the law allowed; a yearly referendum was not required.
Could a South Carolina mayor also serve as assistant county coroner and county EMS director?
The 2000 AG said the mayor could continue as county EMS director, but serving as assistant county coroner at the same time would violate the state constitution's dual-office rule.
Could a Louisiana parish coroner also serve as a part-time deputy custodian of voting machines?
The 2000 opinion said yes. Bienville Parish's coroner held a local elective office, and the proposed deputy voting-machine custodian job was a local part-time appointive position; the office found…
Did a Louisiana city prosecutor have to take leave while running for judge?
The 2000 opinion found no law requiring a city prosecutor to leave the job while seeking judicial office. Because this prosecutor was outside Civil Service, the mayor, as her employing authority,…
Could a Maryland county require assisted living facilities, and only those facilities, to install emergency generators in 2000?
The AG concluded in 2000 that state assisted living regulation would preempt a county emergency power requirement aimed specifically at assisted living facilities. Generally applicable zoning,…
Did 486 votes constitute a majority in Brusly's five-seat council race?
Yes. The 2000 opinion said the statute required a count greater than the calculated result, and 486 exceeded 485.7. Rounding the threshold to 486 in the state's computer did not change that comparison.
Could a South Carolina election commissioner remain in office if their spouse was elected?
The 2000 AG found no statute requiring resignation solely because a spouse won public office. But the commissioner could not take part in the spouse's campaign, and the AG left the ethics-law…
Does a Texas city incumbent keep the seat after winning only a plurality pending a runoff?
The Attorney General concluded that when a home-rule city requires a majority vote and an incumbent wins only a plurality, the incumbent does not automatically lose the seat. Article XI, section 11…
Can a Texas county clerk charge extra to find records on top of the $1 per copy fee?
The Attorney General concluded that for a request for 50 or fewer noncertified pages located in one (non-remote) building, a county clerk may charge only the statutory $1 per page or part of a page.…
Could a South Carolina sheriff collect a commission when a judgment debtor paid after a deputy's phone call?
The 2000 AG said a phone call or other help that merely prompted payment was not enough for a sheriff's collection commission. It interpreted the statute to require at least an attachment or levy on…
Must a South Carolina special purpose district follow the state procurement code when leasing property?
The 2000 AG said no. The state procurement code excluded special purpose districts, although they were required to develop their own procurement procedures. The code's remedies did not apply if a…
Could a South Carolina juvenile arbitration director also serve as a part-time municipal judge?
The 2000 AG said yes under the constitution's dual-office rule. An associate municipal judge held public office, but the described juvenile arbitration director job appeared to be employment rather…
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