State AG Opinions
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Can a Texas nursing home use an automated machine to dispense prescription drugs without a pharmacist on site?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the Texas Pharmacy Act, a machine that sorts, labels, and packages prescription drugs is dispensing them, which makes the facility where it sits a pharmacy…
Can a Texas school district keep a permanent substitute teacher whose relative was just elected to the school board?
The Attorney General concluded yes, as a general matter. A permanent substitute, an uncertified teacher hired to fill a vacancy until a certified teacher is found, who is expected to report every…
Can Oregon use Highway Fund money to administer commercial-driver drug-testing recordkeeping under HB 3292?
No. Recording positive commercial-driver drug-test results and conducting administrative hearings on them was a non-highway purpose, so Highway Fund money could not constitutionally pay for it.
Can a Texas municipal utility district hire the spouse of a board member?
The Attorney General concluded no. When a municipal utility district board hired a board member's husband as utility superintendent, the board members who voted for the hiring violated section…
Could Plaquemines Parish use public money to buy gifts for retiring employees?
No. The AG said the parish had no legal obligation to buy the gifts, so the purchases would be prohibited donations of public funds under Article 7, Section 14(A) of the Louisiana Constitution.
Could a firefighter hurt before Connecticut restored relief funding receive later state-funded benefits?
The AG said a firefighter injured before the 1998 restoration of state funding could receive relief if the Connecticut State Firefighters Association’s bylaws made the person eligible. Payments…
Could a trucking company pay to upgrade Louisiana's truck permit billing system?
Yes. The AG said DOTD could accept the upgrade if the donated software and equipment became DOTD's unconditionally and the digital billing capability served all permit customers, rather than only…
Can I still file a FOIA complaint about a school board meeting that happened over a year ago?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000. The AG declined to act on a complaint about a Red Clay Consolidated School District executive session held in November 1998 because it was filed more than six…
Does the UNC Health Care System have the legal authority to become Rex Healthcare's sole corporate member, and if it does, will Rex employees thereby become state employees?
Yes the System has authority through its broad statutory delegation under G.S. 116-37(b)(4). No Rex employees will not become state employees. Rex stays a private 55A nonprofit even with the System…
Who has to show proof of selective service registration to get a Texas state government job?
The Attorney General concluded that section 651.005 of the Government Code, which bars a state agency from hiring someone who would be required to register for the selective service unless that…
How far back can a Texas county judge recover underpaid salary, and what time limit applies?
The Attorney General reached two conclusions about three Fort Bend County court at law judges who had been underpaid for years. First, no statute of limitations automatically cuts off their back-pay…
Can a Texas credit union charge the government for the cost of producing records under a grand jury subpoena?
The Attorney General concluded no. A credit union served with a grand jury subpoena for a member's records cannot recover from the investigating authority the cost of retrieving and producing those…
Could Connecticut require an out-of-state state bank to open a branch before operating an ATM?
The Attorney General concluded that the branch and deposit-acceptance requirement for an out-of-state state-chartered bank's Connecticut ATM survived the Commerce Clause and state and federal…
Could Bradley Airport’s commission stop a state development contract over poor cooperation by the transportation department?
The AG concluded that Bradley International Airport’s commission could not cancel or block the transportation department’s statutory contracting power by alleging that DOT failed to cooperate. The…
Could a Maryland union or professional association fund its PAC from member dues or payroll deductions?
The AG said an organization could contribute dues-derived funds to a PAC in its own name within the then-applicable contribution limit. It could not pool members' individual gifts through dues.…
Did a South Carolina political party have to open every precinct for its 2000 presidential preference primary?
No, according to the February 2000 AG opinion. It read South Carolina law to leave party-financed presidential preference primaries to party rules, so the party could choose its polling places and…
Did Connecticut tobacco settlement grants need a second health department plan approval?
The AG said grants awarded from Connecticut’s Tobacco Grant account under the special approval process in Section 26 did not also require a plan approved by the health department under Section 45.…
When the NC Department of Insurance collects restitution from a regulated insurer but the affected consumers cannot be identified or each share is too small to mail, does that money have to be turned over to the State Treasurer under the unclaimed property law?
It depended on the facts. The AG drew a line between three situations. First, when a specific consumer was identified and the Department was holding a fixed sum owed to that consumer but could not…
Could a Louisiana mayor also serve on the state Board of Regents?
Yes. The AG classified a Board of Regents seat as a part-time appointive state office, which the cited dual officeholding prohibition did not bar alongside a municipal mayor's elected office.
Could a Lafayette Parish councilman also serve on Louisiana's fluoridation and rural development advisory boards?
The AG said yes under the dual officeholding law examined in 2000. The fluoridation seat was a part-time state appointment, and the rural development board was solely advisory; neither prevented…
Does the Texas business-aircraft tax allocation law (Tax Code 21.055) apply to past tax years?
The Attorney General concluded that section 21.055 of the Tax Code, which bars a taxing unit from taxing the share of a business aircraft's value attributable to its use outside Texas and sets a…
Can a Texas water district lease unused fiber-optic cable capacity to a telecom company?
The Attorney General concluded that the Tarrant Regional Water District is not barred by statute from leasing the excess capacity in a fiber-optic cable (installed to run its water pipeline) to a…
Can a Texas budget rider change how emergency medical services and trauma funds are divided among counties?
The Attorney General concluded that Rider 61 was invalid. Health and Safety Code section 773.122 already set the formula for distributing emergency medical services and trauma care funds, based on…
Can National Park Service rangers arrest people for state crimes in Texas national parks?
The Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 965, which added subsection (d) to article 2.122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, gives commissioned National Park Service law enforcement officers…
Could Maryland's Housing Fund insure a refinancing loan that let an affordable-housing owner withdraw equity?
Yes for the Hanover Square transaction examined in 2000. The AG concluded that the 1994 loan was refinancing within the Maryland Housing Fund's authority and helped preserve the affordable-housing…
Could Maryland use statistically adjusted census numbers to draw state legislative districts?
The AG concluded in 2000 that Maryland could choose statistically adjusted census data or the unadjusted head count for state legislative redistricting, provided one set was used consistently across…
Are New York volunteer attorneys who help pro se litigants in Housing Court eligible for State defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law § 17?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Office of Court Administration's Volunteer Lawyers Project is a 'state-sponsored volunteer program' within the meaning of Public Officers Law § 17, so participating…
Could Kentucky authorize local voters to decide changes to public school curriculum?
The Attorney General concluded that Kentucky's legislature could authorize referenda on local public-school curriculum under the constitution's common-schools exception. A bill would still have to…
Can a Texas county make the district clerk hand out juror checks instead of the treasurer?
The Attorney General concluded that a district clerk may not deliver juror reimbursement checks; that task belongs to the county treasurer. Delivering a county warrant to the person it is payable to…
Can a Texas county paint center stripes and install speed bumps on county roads?
The Attorney General concluded that center stripes and speed bumps, when used to regulate, warn, or guide traffic, are traffic-control devices a county may install. Center stripes are allowed and…
Is a car dealership's prize drawing that requires a test drive an illegal lottery in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that an automobile dealer's promotional contest requiring an entrant to take a test drive as a condition of entering a prize drawing is not a 'lottery' under section…
Where does a Texas county deposit a fine collected after a probation modification?
The Attorney General concluded that money from an 'increase in the defendant's fine' imposed when a court modifies community supervision must go into a special county fund for the community…
Can a school district charge a records-request fee if it never adopted a formal fee policy?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000. The AG found the Brandywine School District may have violated FOIA by charging a resident $7.50 for records access without having a formal fee policy in place,…
Could the Beauregard Parish communications district adopt and run its own budget?
Yes. The AG concluded that the district, as a political subdivision, could adopt and administer its own budget, subject to the Louisiana Local Government Budget Act.
Could a Louisiana police department pay a vet bill for a privately owned horse that died on mounted patrol?
The AG said Monroe could pay the veterinary bill because the certified horse and officer were on official mounted-patrol duty, and the expense served the department's public safety purpose.
Could a Louisiana village alderman also serve as a paid fire district chief while working 35 hours a week?
The AG said the elected alderman could not also hold the appointed fire chief position if it was full time. He treated the expected schedule of at least seven hours a day and 35 hours a week as full…
Could a Louisiana parish council member take a temporary full-time job with the U.S. Census Bureau?
The AG said no. The then-current dual officeholding law barred an elected local official from simultaneous federal government employment, and the opinion found no exception for a temporary Census…
Could an elected Vernon Parish police juror also serve on the Sabine River Authority?
The AG said yes because the authority's commissioner role was a part-time appointment. The dual officeholding ban he applied covered an elected local official's simultaneous full-time state…
Could an active Connecticut judge collect an earlier state-employee pension while earning a judicial pension?
The AG concluded that an active salaried Superior Court judge could not keep drawing a pension from the State Employees Retirement Fund. At retirement, a judge with service in both systems had to…
Could a Kentucky school council spend performance reward money on teacher bonuses in 2000?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a school council, or the principal where there was no council, could use performance reward funds for teacher bonuses as a school purpose. The 1998 amendment…
Did Connecticut’s Criminal Justice Commission have to file an affirmative-action plan or share hiring reasons?
The AG concluded that the Criminal Justice Commission did not have to file an affirmative-action plan with CHRO under the executive-agency statute. It also did not have to give the Division of…
Can a Texas county take over and maintain the private roads in a gated subdivision?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court may accept a dedication of the private roads in a gated subdivision, but the moment it does, those roads stop being private and…
Can a Texas county bid on a state highway maintenance contract?
The Attorney General concluded that counties have neither express nor implied statutory authority to bid on state highway maintenance contracts, so they may not do so. A commissioners court can…
Can Texas use general revenue to build a museum at UT Permian Basin?
The Attorney General concluded that the 1999 appropriation of general revenue to The University of Texas of the Permian Basin to construct a presidential museum building was barred by article VII,…
Can a Texas public board let people comment on topics not listed on the meeting agenda?
The Attorney General concluded that a governmental body may allow public comment at its meetings on matters not specified in the posted notice. After a 1999 amendment, a 'public comment' session is…
Can a Texas DA be sued or pay a merchant for failing to collect on a bad check?
The Attorney General concluded that a prosecutor's office could not be held civilly liable to a merchant for failing to prosecute, or for negligence in prosecuting, a bad-check collection.…
Do Maryland counties have to carry no-fault (PIP) and uninsured motorist coverage on their own vehicles?
No. The opinion concluded that Maryland counties, like the State itself, are not required by statute to maintain personal injury protection (PIP) or uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on their…
Did a federally registered investment adviser need workers’ compensation proof to renew a Connecticut notice filing?
The AG concluded that a federally registered investment adviser’s Connecticut notice filing and annual renewal were not a license or permit to operate. The workers’ compensation proof requirement…
Could a Washington boundary review board add land to a city annexation proposed by property-owner petition?
The Attorney General concluded in 2000 that a boundary review board could add land to a direct-petition annexation proposal without invalidating a previously sufficient petition. The city could then…
When NC police seize a car under the DWI-while-license-revoked statute and tow it through the local rotation instead of the school board's tow contractor, who pays the towing bill?
The county board of education had to retrieve the vehicle within 10 days and pay the towing and storage charges. G.S. § 20-28.3(d) places that duty on the board when the vehicle was not towed under…
Can a Georgia local law (here, a DeKalb County act) let a county commissioner stay in office until December after resigning to run for CEO, or does the Georgia Constitution force the seat vacant the moment the commissioner qualifies?
The Constitution wins. Article II, Section II, Paragraph V automatically vacates the office the moment the elected official qualifies for another office whose term would overlap by more than 30…
Who appoints a Texas county purchasing agent, the commissioners court or a special board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Parker County Commissioners Court was not authorized to appoint a county purchasing agent (or call the position 'agent of contracts' or 'procurement officer')…
Can a Texas agency waive a statutory insurance fee by rule for single-interest auto policies?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Automobile Theft Prevention Authority could not adopt a rule exempting 'single interest' automobile physical-damage policies from the $1 fee that the…
Can a Texas school district pay employees to take an early-exit buyout?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district's 'early exit' plan, which pays employees to retire or resign early, is not an unconstitutional gift of public funds as long as each…
Could Kentucky's Reform Party use a state presidential preference primary in 2000?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Reform Party's 1996 presidential vote share fell below the statutory threshold for a political party entitled to a state presidential preference primary…
Is a town responsible for producing its old records if it already transferred them to the state archives?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000, once a town no longer has custody of the records. The AG found Bellefonte didn't violate FOIA by not producing pre-1970 town records already transferred to the…
Can sick leave a Georgia state employee earned while a member of ERS be credited toward retirement under the Teachers Retirement System after the employee transfers to a TRS-covered job?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that O.C.G.A. § 47-3-92 only authorizes credit for sick leave that was actually accrued while the employee was a TRS member. ERS-era sick leave does not transfer in for…
Can a Georgia trial judge use First Offender Act sentencing for a misdemeanor, or is it limited to felonies only?
Yes. The Georgia AG concluded that the First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, applies to both felony and misdemeanor offenses unless a specific statute (such as the DUI bar in § 40-6-391(f)) carves…
Does a New York village need town consent to condemn property in another town for an electric utility project?
No. The AG concluded the Eminent Domain Procedure Law and General Municipal Law Article 14-A govern, not Village Law § 4-412(3)(1) (which requires town consent for floodwater drainage acquisitions).…
Can a New York town pass a local law that regulates land excavation and charges applicants a fee to fund the inspection program?
Yes. The AG concluded a town may regulate excavation and reclamation under its home rule police power and charge fees that approximate the program's cost. A fee far exceeding that cost or used for…
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