State AG Opinions
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Can the NC State Education Assistance Authority advance state student loan funds to colleges so the colleges can directly make federal student loans to their graduate students?
Yes. The AG concluded that the State Education Assistance Authority had statutory authority under G.S. §§ 116-201, 116-204(8), and 116-209.3 to advance funds from the NC Student Loan Fund to NC…
Can a Minnesota city pass an ordinance that completely bans smoking in restaurants, or does the state Clean Indoor Air Act preempt local rules?
Yes, a city may ban restaurant smoking. The AG concluded that the Minnesota Clean Indoor Air Act expressly preserves local government authority to impose stricter smoking limits, so a complete local…
Could a Louisiana nursing home owner also own the pharmacy serving its residents?
The AG said common ownership was not itself prohibited by the cited state law. It left whether particular transactions violated the illegal remuneration rule to the health department as a factual question.
Can Randall County have fewer than four justice of the peace precincts?
The Attorney General concluded that a 1999 amendment to the Texas Constitution added Randall County (alongside Chambers County) to a clause letting those counties set their justice of the peace and…
Can an elected college trustee also serve as a city municipal judge?
The Attorney General concluded that an elected junior college trustee may serve at the same time as a city municipal judge. The trustee post is unpaid, so it is not an 'office of emolument' that the…
Can a judge make a defendant post part personal bond and part surety bail?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas magistrate may not require a 'split bond,' meaning one bond that is partly a personal bond supervised by a pretrial services office and partly a secured…
Who controls a sheriff's budget and vehicles, the sheriff or the commissioners court?
The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court holds the county's budgetary power and may fund a sheriff's function less than he requests, but it may not cut so deep that it prevents him…
Did service on Beaufort County's old election boards count toward the new board's term limit?
No. The Attorney General's informal opinion concluded that service on the two abolished boards did not count toward the consecutive-term limit for the new Beaufort County Board of Elections and…
Could a Louisiana registrar use a self-prepared mail absentee-ballot request form?
The AG said the Commissioner of Elections' uniform-form process could be followed for a form like the one proposed, with Attorney General approval. He suggested contacting the Commissioner's office.
Would Louisiana's AG reconsider sales tax exemptions for purchases by public works contractors acting as port agents?
No new analysis was given. Because the issue was in pending litigation, the AG declined to answer the ports' questions and reaffirmed four earlier opinions.
Could one person be both a Caddo Parish justice of the peace and Rodessa's part-time police chief?
No. The AG said the judicial and law-enforcement duties were incompatible even if the police post was part-time. He also said the proposed part-time police employment did not qualify for state…
Could Tangipahoa Parish schools pay a midyear salary supplement from dedicated sales tax revenue?
Yes on the described plan. The AG treated the payment as an earned increase for future services funded by sales tax revenue dedicated to employee compensation, not a gratuitous bonus for past work.
Could a parish public health facility pay an employee two months' unearned severance on termination?
No. The AG said the proposed payment was not an earned benefit or legal obligation, so the public facility could not pay it without violating Louisiana's ban on donating public funds.
Did membership on South Carolina's Minority Affairs Commission count as holding a public office under the dual-office rule?
The Attorney General concluded that a commission member did not hold a public office for South Carolina's dual-office restriction. The commission's duties were chiefly advisory and did not exercise…
Could a Louisiana drainage district use an operations millage to buy equipment or build levees and roads?
The AG said the voted tax could buy equipment and materials essential to operating and maintaining drainage works, if those purchases were not capital outlay. It could not fund construction of…
Did a Louisiana school board have to choose its official newspaper by the lowest bid?
No. The AG said the board could use a low bid process but was not required to. Its selected newspaper still had to meet the statutory qualifications and publication rate limits.
Could the South Carolina State Museum provide free office space to its nonprofit foundation?
The assistant attorney general concluded that rent-free space would appear permissible if the proposed appropriation proviso passed. That would supply statutory authority, and the foundation's…
Could a Louisiana clerk of court buy land in the clerk's own name for office space?
The AG said R.S. 33:4713 placed the duty to provide clerk office space and related capital costs on the parish, not the clerk. The clerk would need a statutory exception to acquire title personally…
What happened if a South Carolina political party missed the deadline to file candidates' statements for the ballot?
The party had to meet the filing deadline. The Attorney General found the consequence for a candidate who had personally filed on time uncertain under conflicting language in the statute and a…
Does a school board's advisory committee have to give the public seven days' notice before it meets?
Yes, according to this opinion. The Delaware AG found that a school board's Raider Committee, made up partly of board members, counted as a public body once it discussed a matter it could recommend…
Could Baltimore apply city zoning rules to a domestic-violence shelter on state-owned land?
The AG concluded that Baltimore City's zoning rules did not apply to the state-owned property used by House of Ruth for a domestic-violence shelter. Another private lessee would retain that…
Could a South Carolina student keep a LIFE scholarship while on first-offense drug conditional-discharge probation?
Yes, under the circumstances described. The assistant deputy attorney general concluded that a student remained eligible during conditional-discharge probation because the court had not entered a…
Could a South Carolina school board appoint more than thirteen members to its health education advisory committee?
The assistant deputy attorney general referred to an earlier opinion concluding that the local committee should have no more than thirteen members. He did not categorically invalidate votes…
Could Marksville's housing authority pay employees' lawyers in their personal defamation suit?
No. After the authority's own claim was dismissed, the AG found no legal authority for it to pay fees and expenses for two staff members continuing as individual plaintiffs; future payments could…
Could a South Carolina clerk waive the arrest-record destruction filing fee because a person was indigent?
The assistant deputy attorney general found no indigence waiver for the filing fee in the provision or any other applicable statute he located. He noted that the provision did contain exceptions for…
After Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, can Georgia still enforce O.C.G.A. § 33-3-23, which barred banks and their affiliates from selling insurance in cities with more than 5,000 people?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that Section 104 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, codifying the Barnett Bank standard, preempts O.C.G.A. § 33-3-23. Georgia's 5,000-population cap significantly interfered…
Could a Louisiana nonprofit hospital's separate medical office property receive a property tax exemption?
Possibly. The AG said nonadjacent property leased to medical professionals could be exempt if its commercial use related to the hospital's exempt purpose. The assessor had to decide that factual question.
Could Gueydan's elected police chief pay volunteer auxiliary officers without town approval?
No. The AG said auxiliary officers appointed as unpaid volunteers could not be converted to paid work or compensated at the chief's direction alone; the mayor and aldermen had to approve municipal…
Could Ball's mayor or aldermen sit on a parish waterworks district board?
The AG said Ball could not use its own appointment power or a job description to place its mayor or aldermen on the district board. A qualified mayor or alderman could be appointed by the Rapides…
Did Waterbury’s positive fund balances end its state-created budget advisory council?
The AG concluded that Waterbury’s Budget Advisory Council remained in place because the city’s operating funds had not been in balance or surplus for three consecutive audited fiscal years under the…
Could South Carolina public libraries use Internet filters to block pornography from children?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that public libraries could use Internet filters to protect minors from harmful material. He also said libraries were not required to provide computers or…
When did ordinary bills from Kentucky's 2000 legislative session take effect?
The Attorney General calculated that ordinary legislation from Kentucky's 2000 regular session took effect at the first moment of July 14, 2000. General appropriation bills and acts with emergency…
Did Plaisance Water System's member vote replace its old board after a properly called meeting?
On the facts supplied, the AG said the new five-member board appeared valid and the old board should relinquish power if its terms had expired. An incumbent whose term had not expired would first…
When did a municipal user fee become a tax if a dedicated tax also funded the service?
The AG said a fee did not become a tax merely because it produced revenue. Its actual purpose and amount mattered; a charge clearly and materially above the cost of the service or benefit could be a…
Could Louisiana license an out-of-state esthetician by reciprocity, and could a board rule extend that route to manicurists?
The AG said state law allowed reciprocity for cosmetologists and conditionally for estheticians, with the board to decide the applicant's facts. It did not authorize reciprocal licenses for…
Did a Pollock council member automatically lose office after moving just outside town limits?
The AG said she remained in office until the change of residence was duly established and the office declared vacant under the governing process. He also discussed residence, domicile, voter…
Do the Business and Commerce Code's fraudulent-filing penalties apply to transactions excluded from UCC chapter 9?
No. The Attorney General concluded that because section 9.104 of the Business and Commerce Code excludes thirteen kinds of transactions from all of chapter 9, and the fraudulent-filing provision in…
Can a Texas home-rule city use tax money to pay for school children's out-of-state trips?
It depends. The Attorney General concluded that a home-rule city may spend public funds on an activity its charter authorizes without separate legislative permission, but every expenditure has to…
Who decides whether trimming sideburns counts as cutting hair or a beard under Texas barber law?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Board of Barber Examiners, not the AG's office, holds the power to define where 'hair' ends and 'the beard' begins under section 1601.002(1)(A) of the…
Must a hospital district board member who leads a labor council recuse from prevailing-wage votes?
No. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 171 of the Local Government Code, the local conflict-of-interest law, did not bar a Harris County Hospital District board member from voting on…
Could Denham Springs' appointed police chief also be paid to direct Livingston Parish E911?
The AG said the dual officeholding law allowed the second job if it was part-time, but prohibited the combination if both positions were full-time. The classification depended on the hours and…
Would a Connecticut bill requiring towns to close for Martin Luther King Day unconstitutionally impair union contracts?
The AG concluded that a proposed bill requiring municipal offices to close for Martin Luther King Day would likely withstand a challenge based on existing employee contracts. The proposal reopened…
Could Connecticut’s governor authorize high-stakes bingo for veterans by signing a memorandum of understanding?
The AG concluded that the governor could not authorize high-stakes bingo by agreement when state law required a permit and limited prizes. The veterans organization could conduct charitable bingo…
Could South Carolina's fisheries division director serve on the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission?
The assistant attorney general found no statutory or case-law prohibition on the proposed appointment. He also thought the division directorship was not a public office for dual-office purposes, but…
Could South Carolina bar public bodies from giving records to private firms for commercial solicitation?
The deputy attorney general concluded that the proposed bill limited access to government information without abridging free speech, and was entitled to a presumption of constitutionality. He did…
Could the State of NC set up a nonprofit corporation to issue tax-exempt Certificates of Participation to buy prison facilities, where the lease payments back the bonds?
No. The AG concluded the public bidding requirements of Article 8 of Chapter 143 do NOT apply to private construction of the three new close security prisons authorized by S.L. 1999-237 § 18.20(a) /…
How did Louisiana calculate a withdrawing candidate's qualifying-fee refund when a clerk's fee applied?
The AG selected the method that first halved the qualifying fee, then subtracted the additional clerk fee. In the request's $300 fee and $30 clerk-fee example, the refund was $120 under the 2000 law.
Can a North Carolina county board of elections force a public school, town hall, or other tax-supported building to be used as a polling place against the wishes of the people who run it?
Yes. The AG read G.S. § 163-129 to give county boards of elections clear power to demand and use any school or other tax-supported building, or part of one, as a voting place, even over the…
Are officers and directors of a university foundation, athletic foundation, or alumni association protected by the State's Defense of State Employees Act if they're sued?
No. The AG concluded that the officers, directors, and employees of the Foundation of UNC Charlotte, the Athletic Foundation of UNC Charlotte, and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association are not 'State…
Could a South Carolina code enforcement officer detain a driver with an outstanding warrant until police arrived?
The opinion said a code enforcement officer had no statutory authority to detain a suspect beyond a citation while waiting for police. A felony warrant might support a citizen's arrest, but the…
Must a Louisiana town close its offices when its municipal building serves as a polling place?
No. The AG said the municipal offices could keep regular hours during voting. The mayor could not close them for the election without board of aldermen action, and a candidate official could go to…
Could a South Carolina prosecutor mail a jury-selection questionnaire directly to prospective jurors?
The assistant deputy attorney general advised against a prosecutor's direct pretrial mailing to prospective jurors. He favored questionnaires sent under court auspices, with both sides aware and…
Can North Carolina prohibit or regulate private prisons that house federal or out-of-state inmates, and what authority do private prison employees have to make arrests?
The Attorney General said North Carolina could not prohibit a private prison housing federal inmates, though it could apply regulations that do not conflict with federal authority. It could prohibit…
Could missing information or signatures on a Louisiana absentee ballot envelope lead to a ballot challenge?
In 2000, the AG said missing certificate blanks, a voter signature, or required witness or notary authentication supported a challenge for cause. An undated witness or notary signature alone did…
Can a county juvenile board hire its own lawyer and pay the fees without commissioners court approval?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Potter County Juvenile Board, a separate statutory entity, had implied authority to hire private counsel to defend itself, including in a suit brought…
Can Texas police secretly record or broadcast what suspects say in the back of a patrol car?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a person sitting in a police car has no expectation of privacy that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable, so what they say there is not a protected…
Can a Texas school district charge tuition for prekindergarten or under-age kindergarten students?
No, not just because of the student's status. The Attorney General concluded that a school district may not charge tuition for a prekindergarten student, or for a kindergarten student who is not…
Does the County Purchasing Act cover a local government corporation a county sets up?
No. The Attorney General concluded that 1999 amendments to the Transportation Code, in section 431.101(e), exempt the contracts of a local government corporation from the competitive-bidding…
Could Maryland police arrest someone for violating another state's domestic-violence protective order in Maryland?
The AG concluded that Maryland could criminally enforce an out-of-state protective order when a comparable breach of a Maryland order was criminal and the then-required procedures, including…
Can a North Carolina town accept up to $400,000 in private contributions from some property owners, hold it in escrow, and use it to fund the costs of condemning right-of-way from other (resisting) property owners along a state secondary road that the town wants widened and improved?
Yes, it appears so. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that nothing in North Carolina law prohibits a town from accepting private contributions to fund road-improvement condemnation costs along a…
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