State AG Opinions
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Can Texas ban hazardous waste generated in another country from coming into the state?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 361.0235 of the Health and Safety Code banned importing hazardous waste generated in a foreign country for treatment, storage, or disposal in Texas. The…
Could Connecticut refuse payment after receiving and using computers purchased under a state contract?
The comptroller asked about an invoice for 500 computers ordered by the child welfare agency. The AG said the state had received and used them and could not avoid paying the contract amount, while…
When a North Carolina state commission spins off a private nonprofit corporation that takes over the same economic development work using state money, is that nonprofit subject to the Public Records Act, or does its private-corporate form let it keep records confidential?
The nonprofit is still subject to the Public Records Act. Under the Wake County Hospital System case, an entity that performs public functions with public funds under significant government…
Could South Carolina let coastal counties opt out of a statewide casino-cruise ban while satisfying the federal Johnson Act?
The AG’s office warned in 1999 that a bill allowing coastal localities to suspend a statewide casino-cruise ban might fail the federal Johnson Act’s state-statute requirement. It also considered the…
How does a New York village shrink its boundaries to give territory back to the surrounding town?
Village Law § 18-1804 is the exclusive procedure. A village can diminish its boundaries only if the excluded territory has no village street, sidewalk, electric, sewer, water, or fire-protection…
Can police enforce traffic laws on private streets inside a Texas city?
The Attorney General concluded no. State and municipal traffic laws in Transportation Code title 7, subtitle C apply only on publicly maintained highways and streets, not on privately owned ways.…
Can a Texas for-profit corporation convert into a nonprofit corporation?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 5.17 of the Business Corporation Act, a for-profit domestic corporation may convert to any 'other entity,' a term the Act defines to include a…
Can a Texas county use its courthouse security fund to buy clip-on microphones for deputies' radios?
The Attorney General concluded that article 102.017(d)(9) does not authorize buying clip-on microphones for deputies' radios from the courthouse security fund. They are not 'locks, chains, or other…
Can private school students in Texas take dual-credit junior college courses for high school credit?
The Attorney General concluded that, as written, no. Education Code section 130.008 lets a public junior college offer joint high school/junior college credit courses only to a student 'attending a…
Can the Texas plumbing board set statewide plumbing codes, and can cities adopt their own?
The Attorney General concluded that section 5B(a) of the Texas Plumbing License Law gives the State Board of Plumbing Examiners express authority to adopt statewide plumbing codes, superseding a…
Can a Texas school district require its contractors to pay workers a living wage?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least for contracts covered by the state prevailing-wage law. The McAllen school district wanted to require its outside contractors to pay a 'poverty level…
When the NC State Auditor audits a state agency, can he look at the confidential personnel files of state employees without their permission, their department head's permission, or a court order, or does the State Personnel Act's confidentiality rule (G.S. § 126-24) block him?
Yes, he can. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that G.S. § 147-64.13 declares the State Auditor's Article 5A powers take precedence over any conflicting provision of law. The Auditor's authority…
Does a parole condition to register as a sex offender force local police to register the parolee?
The Attorney General concluded no. A parole contract requiring a parolee to 'comply with Sex Offender Registration Program' is an agreement between the parolee and the Pardons and Paroles Division,…
Can a New York fire district board impose a fine on a property owner whose alarm system keeps triggering false alarms?
No. The AG concluded a fire district's board of fire commissioners has no statutory authority to impose fines, and the Town Law does not give that power. A town or village can pass a local law to…
Could the NC General Assembly constitutionally pass a lottery statute whose effective date depended on a favorable statewide voter referendum?
The Attorney General concluded that legislation establishing a lottery only after a favorable statewide referendum would be constitutional. The opinion says no North Carolina decision directly…
Did housing and caring for seized animals automatically entitle a humane organization to half of an animal-cruelty fine?
No automatic entitlement followed from housing animals, the AG’s office said in 1999. The trial court had to decide on the case’s facts whether a local nonprofit humane organization was materially…
When the legislature gave the ECU Medical Faculty Practice Plan 'flexibility' to handle its own real property acquisitions, did that mean it no longer needs Council of State approval, Joint Legislative Commission consultation, or AG legal work for those transactions?
No. The Plan may make rules for property functions normally performed by the Department of Administration, but its transactions still require Governor and Council of State approval unless a previous…
Must Texas local governments hold a hearing before any property tax increase, even from new construction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Tax Code section 26.05(d) requires a political subdivision to hold a public hearing before adopting a tax rate that would collect more total taxes than the…
Could a Calvert County Class NG bingo license cover the MegaMania electronic game in 1999?
The described MegaMania game counted as bingo, but the AG concluded that the Class NG license did not cover it as operated. The numbers were drawn out of state by people outside the licensee's…
Who could be liable if South Carolina police spike strips injured an innocent person during a chase?
The 1999 AG letter gave no automatic liability rule. It said responsibility would turn on the particular facts, including whether the officers’ use of the device was objectively reasonable; possible…
Did South Carolina police have to give a detention center each victim’s contact information when booking a suspect?
Yes, under the provision the AG quoted in 1999. When an agency arrested or detained a person accused of an offense involving a victim, it had to give the custodial facility each victim’s name,…
Can a lawyer advertise in the bail bond yellow pages without a bondsman license?
The Attorney General concluded yes, at least as a matter of law. Section 15(g) of the Bail Bond Act bars a person from advertising 'as a bondsman' without a license, but a 'bondsman' is defined as…
Does federal food labeling law override Texas' standard weights for loaves of bread?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least as a matter of law. Texas Health and Safety Code section 434.007 requires wholesale and retail bread loaves to weigh a pound, a pound and a half, or…
Does a water district's resign-to-run rule apply to Edwards Aquifer Authority board members?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Water Code section 49.072 says a director of a district who becomes a candidate for another office is no longer qualified to serve, and chapter 49 applies to the…
Can a city council force its police to buy vehicles with asset forfeiture money?
The Attorney General reached a two-part answer. No, a city council cannot compel its police department to buy vehicles with asset-forfeiture funds: under chapter 59 of the Code of Criminal…
Can a county invest its permanent school fund at below-market rates to support low-income housing?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under article VII, section 6 of the Texas Constitution, a county holds its permanent school fund as a trustee for local public schools and owes the fund a…
What wage rule would Idaho’s 1999 public works initiative have restored, and what change did the AG recommend?
The initiative proposed restoring a repealed public works wage rule. It would have required covered contracts to specify minimum rates and fringe benefits, using federal Davis-Bacon rates where…
What did South Carolina rental-car ads have to disclose about airport surcharges in 1999?
The AG read the 1999 law to require clear disclosure of any airport surcharge that did not apply to every rental customer, as a specific fee or range, and the method for avoiding it. He said a court…
If an Oregon legislator fails to disclose a conflict of interest before voting, can the state ethics commission investigate and fine them, or does each chamber have exclusive constitutional authority?
The AG concluded that under Article IV, section 9, of the Oregon Constitution (the state's Speech or Debate Clause), each chamber of the Legislative Assembly has exclusive authority to investigate…
Is a state agency or university exempt from another state agency's rules just because it's a state entity?
The Attorney General concluded no. A properly adopted rule from a state agency that has the legislature's rule-making authority carries the force of law, and a participant in the regulated activity…
When must the Texas Comptroller lower a school district's taxable property values after a tax appeal?
The Attorney General concluded the Comptroller had no duty to adjust. Education Code section 42.257 makes the Comptroller revise the taxable property values it reports for school funding only when a…
Is a county's racetrack admission fee an illegal local occupation tax in Texas?
The Attorney General gave a partial answer. The 15-cent racetrack admission fee a county collects under section 6.17(a) of the Texas Racing Act, to pass on to cities in the county, is an occupation…
Can an Oregon hospital discipline a doctor for performing aid-in-dying procedures on its premises in violation of hospital policy?
Yes. A hospital could enforce its contract or policy prohibiting Death with Dignity participation on its premises, including disciplining employees or terminating leases of contracted providers who…
Could a Kentucky journeyman plumber repair pipes without a master plumber's supervision in 1999?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a licensed journeyman needed a master plumber's supervision for plumbing work, including repairs. A maintenance worker could make minor repairs under a…
Could Carroll County seek a Smart Growth funding exception for bypass roads that were not grandfathered in 1999?
The AG concluded in 1999 that neither the Manchester nor Westminster bypass was grandfathered out of Smart Growth funding restrictions. Carroll County commissioners or the state transportation…
Can a local school board or the Governor appoint a county commissioner to a community college board of trustees? Can multiple county commissioners or school board members serve simultaneously? What are the term and conflict-of-interest rules?
Yes a county commissioner can be appointed by the school board or Governor, and yes more than one can serve. School board members can also be appointed by the Governor or county commissioners. Terms…
Can a New York county charter require referendums beyond what the County Charter Law specifies, and how does that interact with a county administrative code?
Two answers. A county charter can include additional referendum provisions if they were authorized by a prior version of the State Constitution or State law and have been preserved by Article IX's…
Can an outgoing Speaker of the NC House make appointments to a state board that don't take effect until after he leaves office, locking in his choices over the new Speaker's preferences?
No. The AG found the former Speaker's December 31, 1998 appointments to Board terms beginning January 1, 1999 unauthorized and void. The statute set fixed two-year calendar terms for Speaker…
Can the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission regulate where, when, and how commercial fishermen can harvest menhaden in the near-shore Atlantic waters off the state's beach communities, and can the Commission use tourism impacts as a basis for those restrictions?
Yes for conservation-based restrictions; no for tourism-based restrictions. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that the Marine Fisheries Commission's statutory authority extends to time, place,…
Did South Carolina’s ban on correctional-staff sexual intercourse with inmates include oral or anal sex in 1999?
The AG read the term broadly in 1999, beyond penile-vaginal intercourse, to include oral and anal intercourse. He also read “inmate” to include people held before trial. The letter did not…
Could a South Carolina county council give its members bonuses or automatic annual pay increases?
The 1999 AG letter said bonuses without a preexisting legal or contractual obligation were inappropriate, and it read the salary statute as barring automatic increases without a new ordinance and…
Can a village police officer in New York also serve as a member of the village zoning board of appeals?
Yes. The AG concluded the offices are compatible. No statute prohibits the combination; Village Law § 3-300(3) bars only elective-plus-appointive village office combinations, and the police officer…
Can a New York county legislator also serve on the board of the Montgomery-Otsego-Schoharie Solid Waste Management Authority, given the extensive interaction between the Authority and the participating counties?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions are compatible. Public Authorities Law § 2041-b requires MOSA board members to be county residents and bars only elected officials being appointed as MOSA…
Could a commission member continue serving after a term expired without a replacement?
The AG concluded that commission members whose terms had expired, and who had neither been reappointed nor replaced, could continue serving at least in a de facto capacity until an appointing…
How did Maryland calculate good conduct credits for inmates with sentences imposed before and after 1992?
The AG concluded in 1999 that sentences imposed before October 1, 1992 earned five days of good conduct credit per month, while later sentences generally earned ten unless a covered violent or drug…
Can a North Carolina public body close a meeting to talk with its attorney about potential lawsuits that have not yet been filed, or does the open meetings law require an actual existing lawsuit before the body can go behind closed doors?
Yes, with a reasonable basis. AG Mike Easley's office concluded that G.S. § 143-318.11(a)(3)'s attorney-client exception allows a public body to close a meeting to consult with its lawyer about…
Can a North Carolina county Department of Social Services report to credit bureaus the debts owed to it by people who received public-assistance overpayments, or does the law that protects the confidentiality of welfare recipients block that?
The AG said collecting public-assistance overpayment debts was directly connected to program administration under § 108A-80, so reporting an unpaid judgment or settlement to a credit bureau could be…
If a New York village uses its supersession authority to enact a local law replacing part of the Village Law, do later state amendments to that Village Law section automatically supersede the village's local law?
No. The AG concluded that a village local law enacted under supersession authority remains valid despite later State amendments to the superseded Village Law provisions, until the village repeals…
Can Westchester County require public school districts to comply with the county's air quality permit rules for school boilers, or does the state Commissioner of Education's authority preempt the county?
No, the county's rules don't apply. The AG concluded that school boilers are reviewed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation under Environmental Conservation Law Article 19, as a…
Can the UNC Board of Governors limit Optional Retirement Program (ORP) eligibility to senior academic and administrative officers, when the statute speaks generally of 'administrators and faculty with the rank of instructor or above'?
Yes. The statutory phrase 'administrators and faculty of the University of North Carolina with the rank of instructor or above' is ambiguous. It clearly limits faculty to those holding the rank of…
Could a South Carolina school board promote a student after an appeal despite assessment results below standard?
The 1999 AG letter did not resolve that question. It said the Education Accountability Act preserved a district appeal process but did not define how broadly an appeal could consider factors beyond…
Could Kentucky's community college boards change which institution awarded degrees to protect accreditation in 1999?
The Attorney General concluded that the University of Kentucky and KCTCS boards could use their statutory corrective authority to shift degree awards under their accreditation agreement. The…
How was Washington public employee military leave counted for overnight or nonstandard shifts?
The Attorney General concluded in 1999 that one of the 15 annual military-leave days was used for each calendar date on which military duty prevented a public employee from working scheduled hours.…
Could a Louisiana town cut the pay of an appointed police chief filling a vacancy before a newly elected chief took office?
The 1999 opinion said the town could not reduce the interim chief's pay during the existing elected term. It could set a lower salary by ordinance for the newly elected chief if it acted before the…
Could a Connecticut voter withdraw a Social Security number previously given to registrars for election use?
The AG advised that voters who had voluntarily supplied Social Security numbers to registrars under an election-only notice could request their removal when a later act added jury administration as…
Does the Nassau County Charter's mandatory-referendum requirement for local laws affecting elective officers still stand, even though the State Constitution now calls only for a permissive referendum?
Yes. The AG concluded that under the savings clause in Article IX, § 3(b) of the State Constitution, Nassau County Charter § 155 (enacted 1937) remains in force and requires a mandatory referendum…
Does a New York school board trustee automatically lose her seat after pleading guilty to petit larceny?
Yes. The AG concluded that under Public Officers Law § 30(1)(e), a school board trustee vacates her office by operation of law on a guilty plea to petit larceny. Petit larceny is a misdemeanor that…
Can the Wake County manager and the Raleigh city attorney serve on the Centennial Authority (the body that operated the RBC Center)? If they do, can they participate in votes that affect the county and city that employ them?
Yes to both questions as presented. The AG found no statutory bar or inherent incompatibility preventing the county manager or city attorney from serving on the Centennial Authority. Section…
Could Webster Parish create a public museum, and could its library board pay for it with library funds?
The 1999 opinion said the parish police jury could establish and fund a public museum in a parish-owned building. It said the library board lacked authority to establish a museum or spend funds…
Would a proposed South Carolina ban on casino cruises require compensation to existing boat owners?
The 1999 AG letter said available authorities supported the view that a proposed ban would not create a compensable taking, but only a court could decide on specific facts. The office took no…
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