State AG Opinions
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Can a town in New York appoint its tax certiorari defense attorney to serve as deputy supervisor?
No. The AG concluded the conflict was structural, not waivable. As deputy supervisor, the attorney would negotiate his own contract renewal with colleagues on the board and advise the town board on…
In New York, can the county legislature let social services department attorneys handle their own litigation without going through the county attorney?
Yes. The AG concluded that under Social Services Law § 66(1), a county legislative body may directly authorize attorneys appointed by the social services commissioner to represent the department in…
In New York, can a part-time assistant county attorney also serve as mayor of a city in that county?
Yes, under the facts presented. The AG concluded the positions are compatible: County Law § 411 does not bar the combination, the two positions are in separate governmental units (no subordination),…
Can a Texas hospital district hold an election to raise the maximum tax rate set when it converted?
The Attorney General concluded that a hospital district governed by chapter 286 of the Health and Safety Code has no authority to hold an election to raise the maximum property tax rate its voters…
How much jail-time credit do you get for an unpaid Class C misdemeanor fine in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that a defendant jailed for failing to pay a fine on a Class C misdemeanor must be credited at a rate of not less than $100 for each day, or part of a day, served.…
Can a large Texas county build or replace a cattle guard on a county road?
The Attorney General concluded that section 251.009 of the Transportation Code authorizes only counties with fewer than 60,000 residents to build cattle guards on county roads. Because Webb County's…
Does a New York public library need voter approval to be dissolved and to transfer its property to a free association library?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Abolition under Education Law § 268 requires voter approval. But the Board of Regents can dissolve a public library under §§ 219 and 220 without voter approval, and a…
Could East Baton Rouge use public money to repair private sewer lines under an EPA consent decree?
The AG said the City-Parish could not generally absorb private owners' repair costs, even under its EPA obligation, because it could require owners to repair the lines. It could charge owners the…
Could Washington invest its prepaid college tuition account in private company stocks without a constitutional amendment?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that the State Investment Board could invest the advanced college tuition account in corporate stocks and other equities under its statutory authority. The…
Did Washington campaign contribution limits apply to ordinary bank loans to candidates or their committees?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that qualifying commercial campaign loans without a third-party guarantor were exempt from contribution limits, though still reportable. Use of campaign…
Does the Hiawatha Light Rail Project Management Plan submitted by the Metropolitan Council to the Federal Transit Administration properly allocate responsibility between the Council and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, given that the enabling statute makes MnDOT responsible for design and construction?
The PMP is ambiguous and could be interpreted in more than one way. The AG concluded that conformity with state law depends on implementation. As long as the Commissioner of Transportation issues…
Can North Carolina pay its current state employees a 'Referral Incentive Award' for identifying and recommending people for hard-to-fill state positions, or does the state employment-agency statute prohibit that kind of payment?
Yes, the state can pay the referral incentive. The 2000 NC AG opinion concluded that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 126-18 does not bar an Office of State Personnel-administered Referral Incentive Award program…
Can Georgia constitutionally bar Department of Public Safety employees from contributing to political campaigns in county or state elections?
Yes, with one limit. The Georgia AG concluded that O.C.G.A. § 35-2-12 may be enforced to prohibit DPS employees (including state troopers) from making political contributions in county or state…
Can Oregon's State Treasurer sell state bonds online and post the official statement on a website instead of mailing paper copies?
The AG concluded that the Treasurer could conduct competitive bond and COP sales over the Internet, including open-bid auctions and maturity-by-maturity sales, and could publish the preliminary and…
Can a Texas licensing board outsource its scholarship program to a private nonprofit?
The Attorney General reached three conclusions. The legislative appropriation for the architectural-examination scholarship fund was backed by pre-existing law (section 7A of article 249a), so it…
Can Texas punish someone for handing out anonymous campaign flyers?
The Attorney General concluded that section 255.001(a) of the Election Code, which requires political advertising to identify who paid for it, cannot constitutionally be enforced against a private…
Can the state demand a jury trial in a Texas juvenile case?
The Attorney General concluded that the state has no right to a jury trial in a juvenile proceeding. Under the Family Code, only the child and the child's attorney can waive the child's right to a…
Can a Texas state agency turn its website into a portal for outside online courses?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Board for Educator Certification has no authority to use its official website as a portal giving direct access to distance-learning courses developed…
Could a Louisiana school board require leave or dock pay when a teacher missed required professional development?
The AG said Grant Parish could require a leave request or deduct pay for teachers who missed the required monthly sessions, but could not impose both. It treated the added development time as…
Which Louisiana local government paid autopsy and coroner costs when the deceased lived inside a town?
The 2000 opinion tied payment for a natural death to the deceased person's municipality or parish of domicile, and payment after an accident or crime to the municipality or parish where the event…
Can a Texas university move donated endowment funds to its private foundation?
The Attorney General concluded that money donated to a state university for a restricted purpose, like endowed faculty positions or scholarships, is held in a charitable trust. To shift control of…
Can a Texas county stop an elected official from sending staff home early?
The Attorney General concluded that an elected county official can dismiss the employees in his or her office for all or part of a day, for any reason, as long as the closure serves some public…
Could Charleston County council review taxpayer records in a business license appeal and disclose them publicly?
The 2000 AG said council members could review taxpayer information for a business license appeal. The letter also said the public record could be redacted before inspection or copying to protect…
Does a public body have to let people speak at its meetings, and does a vague agenda item like committee meeting notices need to list every topic?
No to public comment, under the law as it stood in 2000, and yes to a real agenda requirement. The AG found FOIA doesn't require a public body to accept public comment at an open meeting, and that a…
Could a banned South Carolina video gambling machine become legal by being converted to another use in 2000?
The 2000 AG said no. Under the cited state Supreme Court rulings, video gambling machines became contraband on July 1 regardless of use or operability; converting one to an arcade or internet use…
Can a Texas county let oil companies run temporary water lines along a county road right-of-way?
The Attorney General concluded that a county's right to allow public utility lines on or under its road right-of-way does not, by itself, give it the legal right to grant a separate easement to a…
Is a Texas oyster-bed lease permanent, and can it be sold or passed to heirs?
The Attorney General concluded that an oyster-bed lease under chapter 76 of the Parks and Wildlife Code is a year-to-year (periodic) lease, not a perpetual one, so the state can end it at the close…
When does a Texas city tax abatement end if the owner joins the city council?
The Attorney General clarified that a municipal property tax abatement ends on the date the owner assumes office as a member of the city council, not on election day and not at the end of the year.…
Can dedicated cemetery land in Texas be sold or used for something else?
The Attorney General concluded that land dedicated as a cemetery must be used as a cemetery unless and until the dedication is removed, and selling the land does not change that. Moving remains to…
If my Texas dig is delayed, do I have to call the line-locate center again?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Section 251.151 of the Utilities Code requires an excavator to notify a notification center no earlier than 14 days before digging begins, so if the start date…
Can a Texas public board go into closed session to discuss a contract?
The Attorney General concluded that under section 551.071 of the Government Code a governmental body may meet privately with its attorney in executive session to get advice on the legal issues…
Could judges of Louisiana's 24th Judicial District vote by proxy at en banc meetings?
The AG concluded that the judges could not vote by proxy under their then-existing local rules. Those rules provided for en banc meetings but did not authorize proxy voting; the opinion said a…
Does a Texas county auditor's salary cap include the state salary supplement?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county auditor's compensation may not exceed what the highest paid elected county officer (in Henderson County, the county attorney) receives, and section…
Who can electronically transfer county tax money to the Texas county treasury?
The Attorney General concluded that county tax funds can be moved electronically from the tax assessor-collector's account at the county depository to the county treasury, even though no statute…
Could someone on a county First Steps board also take another local board appointment in 2000?
The 2000 AG said a First Steps partnership board seat did not itself count as a public office because the board was a private nonprofit. Its members could hold another appointment unless that…
Could South Carolina's Commission for Minority Affairs meet less than once a month in 2000?
The 2000 AG said no under the statute then in force: the commission had to meet at least once each month. The letter suggested exploring telephonic meetings, which it said FOIA permitted, as a way…
Could wine be shipped to a Louisiana consumer in a local prohibition area?
The AG said qualifying out of state wine sellers could ship directly to consumers in a prohibition area under the statute then in force, and Louisiana native wines could also be shipped intrastate…
Did Maryland law require a pay raise for every tax assessor who earned the certified assessment evaluator designation in 2000?
The AG concluded in 2000 that the statute did not mandate a particular pay increment, or even a monetary increment, for assessors who gained the certified assessment evaluator designation. The…
Could a Vermont town clerk lawfully refuse to issue civil union licenses, and what penalties applied if she did?
No. Under Act 91 § 5, a town clerk had to issue civil union licenses to qualified applicants. The opinion identified possible civil remedies and fact-dependent criminal liability for wrongful…
Could the Aroostook Band of Micmacs settlement act take effect if the Band never filed the required certificate?
Assistant Attorney General William R. Stokes found no record of the Band's required certificate. He feared the 1989 Maine implementing act may never have taken effect, but said he was unsure of the…
Could a city require permits and license fees from contractors on an approved school expansion project in 2000?
The 2000 AG agreed that a city inspector could not impose local building-standard permit or license requirements if the school project had State Department of Education review and approval. The…
Can North Carolina's Massage and Bodywork Therapy Board require massage schools to post a guaranty bond as a condition of approval, charge schools fees for the approval process, and require approval as a prerequisite to operating?
The 2000 NC AG opinion gave three answers. (1) NO bond: The Board cannot require schools to post a guaranty bond as a condition of approval, because the Massage and Bodywork Therapy Practice Act…
What does 'adequate' mean when North Carolina law requires county commissioners to provide 'adequate' funding to a community college?
'Adequate' meant 'sufficient to meet specific requirements,' a standard imported from a 1951 NC Supreme Court decision and consistent with both Black's Law Dictionary and the American Heritage…
Could Kentucky's retirement board apply an unclear 2000 pension increase provision?
The Attorney General concluded that Section 4 of a 2000 retirement bill was so unclear about whose benefits and what adjustment it covered that the retirement system could not apply it. The opinion…
Did a Louisiana airport authority have to solicit public bids before leasing land for crop production?
The AG said the cited statute did not require public bidding for an airport-property lease on a share basis for growing crops. Its specific agricultural-lease provision overrode the general…
Could Louisiana's psychology board recognize an interstate professional qualification certificate for licensing reciprocity?
The AG said the proposed reciprocity rule was valid if the certificate's qualifications equaled the board's requirements. Under the law reviewed in 2000, applicants also had to satisfy the cited…
Could a Louisiana city council member also serve part time on the state Real Estate Commission?
Yes. The AG said the cited law barred the combination of a local elective office and a full time state appointive office, while the commission position in this request was part time.
Could the New Orleans First City Court clerk use an expense allowance for office costs?
Yes. The AG said the clerk's expense fund could cover the office expenses described in the request, within the statutory cap of 10 percent of the clerk's annual salary.
Could a Louisiana town donate baseball equipment for a summer program for needy children?
Yes, under the 2000 opinion, if the program solely benefited children identified as needy through objective criteria. The AG also noted the town's separate authority to run recreation programs.
Could a Louisiana police chief appoint an unpaid reserve officer without aldermen approval?
No. The AG said a reserve with law enforcement powers needed board of aldermen approval even if unpaid. A purely honorary commission with no police authority could be issued by the chief without…
Could a Louisiana school board member work full time as a university job coach?
Yes for the job described. The AG said the university's Welfare to Work job coach qualified as professional educational employment under an exception to the dual officeholding restriction.
Were farm conservation plans held by Washington conservation districts open to public inspection in 2000?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that farm plans prepared or held by conservation districts were public records and generally disclosable under state law. Particular information might qualify…
Does putting his investments into a blind trust let a Georgia public officer skip itemizing them on his ethics disclosure form?
A blind trust itself does not create a disclosure exemption. The AG found Governor Barnes had a direct ownership interest in its assets because his trust gave him legally enforceable rights to use…
Can a Maryland town's charter bar its own employees from also serving on the town council, or does the state law protecting public employees' political rights (the anti-Hatch Act) override that kind of local rule?
No, the anti-Hatch Act does not preempt that kind of charter provision. The opinion concluded the anti-Hatch Act protects a municipal employee's right to run for town council, but a town charter may…
Can a NC hospital authority sell vacant land to a doctor without following the special hospital-property sale procedures in § 131E-13?
Yes, if the vacant land is not necessary, convenient, or related to the operation of a hospital facility owned by the Authority. The opinion says that in that event the land is not part of a…
Should every co owner receive a Louisiana property tax assessment notice for jointly owned land?
The AG said property owned in indivision should be assessed to all record owners, with assessment mailings sent to each. It also said jointly owned land could qualify for use value if it met the…
Could one person serve on Berkeley County's zoning appeals board and Hanahan's election commission in 2000?
The 2000 AG said no: both seats were public offices under South Carolina's dual-office prohibition. Taking the second office automatically vacated the first, although the person could act in the…
Can North Carolina warehouses legally store video poker machines that would be illegal to operate in the state?
No. The NC AG concluded in 2000 that even storing or warehousing video poker machines that would be illegal to operate is itself unlawful. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-304 makes it unlawful to 'manufacture,…
Who appointed and audited the Pointe Coupee Parish Tourism Commission, and how could it use hotel tax revenue?
The AG said the parish governing authority appointed commissioners for three year terms, while the commission operated as an independent state political subdivision. It could use its hotel occupancy…
Does repeal of the federal supply schedule program change Texas local government purchasing authority?
The Attorney General concluded that when Congress repealed the federal program that let states and local governments buy off the General Services Administration's federal supply schedules, the one…
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