State AG Opinions
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Could one spouse be a Washington county commissioner while the other headed the county health department?
The 1996 AG opinion said the municipal contract interest ban did not prohibit this arrangement because the health department administrator held a public office and compensation arose from the…
Can Maine spend Highway Fund money on ferries?
Yes, but only for ferries that carry motor vehicles as part of the state highway system. The Maine AG concluded that the constitutionally dedicated Highway Fund could support a ferry that functions…
Did a South Carolina sheriff already in office in 1993 need to file a candidate affidavit for reelection in 1996?
The opinion said a sheriff who held office on July 1, 1993 and remained in office did not need a copy of the sworn affidavit on file with the county election commission to qualify for reelection. It…
Was a Connecticut fuel-oil dealer’s tank leak cleanup plan regulated as insurance?
The AG agreed that the described H.E.L.P. oil-tank cleanup and replacement plan was not an insurance contract. It was attached to a dealer’s fuel and service agreement, and the customer arrangement…
Can a Maryland city let a county licensing board hear appeals under the city's own electrical code, or does letting the county 'administer or enforce' municipal law stop short of quasi-judicial appeals?
Yes. The opinion concluded that the Prince George's County Board of Registration for Master Electricians and Electrical Contractors could legally be authorized to hear appeals arising under the City…
If a North Carolina statute tells the Natural Heritage Trust Fund Board to set aside 'not to exceed 20%' of newly acquired land's value for a stewardship account, does the Board have to actually fund the account, or can it leave the account at zero?
The Board does not have to fund the account. The AG concluded that § 113-77.7(c)'s 'not to exceed twenty percent (20%)' language sets a ceiling, not a floor. Reading the statute to require a…
Does Section 19 of L.D. 1892 (the Compact for Maine's Forests) need a two-thirds vote to be enacted as a competing measure?
The Maine AG concluded that Section 19 of L.D. 1892, which prescribed how the Compact for Maine's Forests would be submitted to voters as a competing measure to the citizen-initiated clearcutting…
Could Beaufort County put the word “accelerate” in a transportation sales tax ballot question?
The 1996 opinion said yes. Reading the ordinance as a whole, it considered “accelerate” descriptive of the transportation project and unlikely to prejudice voters for or against the measure.
If a city council committee of three members is meeting publicly, can a fourth council member walk in without separate notice, and what happens if a quorum then gathers?
The fourth member may observe without separate notice, but cannot participate in the committee's discussions or deliberations. The AG concluded that mere passive attendance does not trigger Open…
Can a Texas juvenile board run an alternative school for students expelled but not found delinquent?
On behalf of the Harris County Juvenile Board, the county attorney asked whether a county juvenile board may provide educational services at a juvenile justice alternative education program (JJAEP)…
Can a deaf person get a court interpreter to serve on a Texas grand jury or attend a juvenile hearing?
The Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired asked the Attorney General three things about interpreters for deaf and hearing-impaired people in court: who is entitled to one, what…
Is Texas's three-fourths vote requirement to approve a protested subdivision replat constitutional?
Representative Harvey Hilderbran asked whether the three-fourths supermajority vote that Local Government Code section 212.015(c) requires a city planning commission or council to muster before…
Who controlled judges and support staff in a South Carolina council-manager municipal court?
The 1996 opinion said the city council appointed municipal judges and ministerial recorders, while the city manager employed and supervised nonjudicial court support staff. The council also had…
Could a Kentucky county use 911 phone-fee revenue to pay dispatchers needed for overnight and weekend coverage?
Yes. The AG concluded that funds raised for 911 emergency telephone service could pay the dispatch personnel needed to operate it around the clock. If the county's ordinance limited the funds to one…
Can a North Carolina dentist contract with a third-party company for back-office and business-support services (rent, staff, scheduling, purchasing, marketing, bookkeeping, even bridge loans) without that arrangement counting as the unauthorized practice of dentistry under § 90-29(b)(11)?
Yes. The 1996 AG opinion concluded that an outside management or services company can lawfully provide a long list of business-support services to a dentist (office leasing, administrative staffing,…
Did South Carolina’s 1996 concealed weapons permit law change when civilians could use force?
The opinion said the 1996 permit law changed who could lawfully possess a concealable weapon but did not alter the legal elements governing self-defense or other civilian uses of force. It supplied…
When did a South Carolina town have to pay a county jail for its prisoners?
The 1996 opinion repeated earlier guidance that a town generally bore the cost of people held for municipal-court matters, while the county bore the cost of state-law charges within general sessions…
Did a South Carolina school budget hearing have to let members of the public speak?
The 1996 opinion said the public had to have an opportunity to speak and express views at budget hearings covered by the cited statute. The office declined to decide whether a particular district’s…
Did South Carolina’s 1996 charter school racial-enrollment limit compare a school with its district or its attendance zone?
The opinion read the 1996 limit as comparing charter school enrollment with the racial composition of the entire school district, not an attendance area. It raised a constitutional concern about the…
Did Texas have to indemnify volunteers, contractors, and state-agency workers who helped a regional poison control center?
Health and Safety Code section 777.007 covered only poison-control-center employees, meaning compensated workers whose work the center had the right to control. It did not cover volunteers,…
Which South Carolina state officials qualified for the MUSC hospital payment rate under the 1996 appropriations provision?
The 1996 opinion read “state employees and officials of state government” broadly to include state employees and public officers. It identified a specific statutory exception for General Assembly…
Could Washington election officials accept the federal postcard form for voter registration and ongoing absentee ballots?
The 1996 AG opinion said officials could accept the federal form for permanent registration because it contained the required information, but state acceptance was discretionary under the Secretary…
Were South Carolina bail bondsmen’s monthly reports open to competitors under public records law?
The 1996 opinion said the reports appeared to be public records, but disclosure was uncertain and might be limited by personal privacy concerns. It left individual requests to the clerk of court and…
Could an Irmo fire district commissioner also serve on the Lexington-Richland school board?
The 1996 opinion said simultaneous service on the fire district board and the school board would probably violate South Carolina’s dual-office rule. A University of South Carolina business manager…
When someone overpays the North Carolina highway use tax at the time they title a motor vehicle, what is the deadline to claim a refund, and how should the Division of Motor Vehicles handle Class A and Class B commercial motor vehicle refund requests after the 1993 statutory cap reduction?
Generally, refund claims must be filed within six months after payment of the tax, since no return is filed for highway use tax. The 1993 amendment lowering the maximum tax on Class A and B…
Can the Maine Legislature appropriate against the state's reserve account for uncollectible tax receivables?
The Maine AG concluded that the Bureau of Accounts and Control's reserve account for doubtful tax receivables is properly maintained under 5 M.R.S.A. § 1541(1) and generally accepted accounting…
Does the Maine Legislature need a two-thirds vote to enact a competing measure to an initiated bill?
No. The Maine AG concluded that a competing measure to initiated legislation requires only a simple majority. The constitutional provision authorizing competing measures (art. IV, pt. 3, § 18(2))…
Who supervised nonjudicial staff in Rock Hill’s municipal court in 1996?
The opinion assigned day-to-day authority over nonjudicial court staff to Rock Hill’s city manager. The city council decided whether to establish a municipal court, selected its judges and…
Could Connecticut pool retirement and other state trust money in one investment fund?
The AG said the treasurer could combine retirement and seven other trust funds in a global investment pool if accounting identified each fund’s share and preserved its governing uses. The…
Can a Delaware resident force a county zoning office to produce a list under FOIA if the office never created or kept that list?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found that the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Office did not violate FOIA by failing to produce a list of nonconforming structures and uses, because…
Could an off-duty South Carolina officer carry a pistol into a bar outside the officer’s jurisdiction?
The 1996 opinion said the law-enforcement exception allowed the officer to carry statewide whether on or off duty, including into a business serving alcohol for on-premises consumption. It did not…
Was driving in South Carolina with a license suspended by another state treated as driving under suspension?
The 1996 opinion said yes: an out-of-state suspension remained a suspension for purposes of the South Carolina driving-under-suspension charge. It also said expiration of the suspension term alone…
Could South Carolina’s governor accept a whole town council’s resignations and leave the offices vacant?
The 1996 opinion said the governor lacked authority to accept New Ellenton’s mayoral and council resignations, so those submissions did not take effect. It added that even effective resignations by…
Could Kentucky's governor raise county clerks' salary ceiling by declaring their duties statewide?
No. The AG concluded that Executive Order 95-1462 had no effect because it classified county clerks as statewide officers for salary purposes contrary to KRS 64.527. A governor could not change the…
Did Washington’s 1996 tribal electronic gaming initiative require a 60 percent vote?
Yes. The AG said the initiative would newly authorize gaming devices treated as lotteries under the state constitution, requiring 60 percent approval. The federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act did…
When a Suffolk County, New York, landowner files a certificate to abandon a paper street, does the town assessor have to rubber-stamp it, or can the assessor refuse?
Discretion. Under Real Property Law § 335(3), when a landowner in Suffolk County files a certificate of abandonment for a subdivision (including paper streets), the assessor or board of assessors in…
Could the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority add counties outside its original six-county region?
The 1996 opinion said an authority formed under the earlier statutes might expand beyond its original region if a local governing body passed a resolution and the authority approved it by majority…
Could a South Carolina officer seek a domestic violence arrest warrant after the suspect left the scene?
Yes. The 1996 opinion found no bar to an officer serving as the warrant affiant when the officer could present probable cause to a magistrate. It also found no bar to later service at another place,…
Did Connecticut’s 1996 criminal-record changes reach already erased transcripts and pending cases?
The AG separated three 1996 changes. The new exclusion for court transcripts did not undo erasure rights already vested by October 1, but applied to pending cases. The three-year delay on physically…
Could a South Carolina legislative nominee withdraw because a new employer barred employees from running for office?
The 1996 opinion said the employer policy fit the statute’s substantial-business-conflict category of legitimate nonpolitical reasons. If the nominee filed a sworn affidavit valid on its face and…
How did Washington’s trust duties limit management of federal land grants and county forest transfer lands?
The 1996 AG opinion treated federal grant lands as separate trusts governed by the statehood Enabling Act, while forest board transfer lands formed a statutory trust the Legislature could alter. DNR…
Can a school board discuss a dispute between a board member and a district employee in closed executive session under Delaware's open-meetings law?
Yes, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found the Woodbridge Board of Education properly discussed a board member's conduct toward a guidance counselor and principal in executive session,…
Do unpaid volunteers serving on New York's regional EMS councils and medical advisory committees get state-paid legal defense and indemnification if they are sued for committee work?
Yes. The AG concluded REMSCO and REMAC members are state 'employees' for purposes of Public Officers Law § 17 and are eligible for defense and indemnification when sued over acts within the scope of…
When did a Washington county auditor have to record a deed or trust document, and could a trust avoid property taxes?
In 1996, the AG said auditors had to record qualifying documents that facially affected title once form, fee, and treasurer stamp requirements were met. Merely creating a trust did not erase…
Can a Texas Lottery Commission member solicit political contributions as a private citizen?
The Executive Director of the Texas Lottery Commission asked whether a commissioner could solicit or advise political contributions while acting as a private citizen, and whether banning that would…
Could a Texas judge decide how a probationer’s partial payment would be allocated among court costs, fees, and fines?
Under the law in 1996, article 42.12 gave a judge discretion to impose and allocate most court costs, fees, and fines for a defendant placed on community supervision. The required monthly…
Can a Texas school board member take back a resignation before a successor is chosen?
On behalf of the Bridge City Independent School District, Representative Ron Lewis asked whether a school board member who resigns can withdraw the resignation before a successor qualifies for…
When can a Texas county salary grievance committee meet to raise elected officials' pay?
San Jacinto County's Criminal District Attorney, Robert Hill Trapp, explained that the commissioners court approved a $1,000 raise for elected officials for 1995 but failed to give the public the…
Can the Texas Commission on Jail Standards inspect a private prison holding only federal inmates?
Representative Robert Junell asked whether the Texas Commission on Jail Standards can regulate and inspect the Eden Detention Center, a facility the City of Eden leases and operates under contract…
Is Texas's $5 million liability cap for excursion train accidents constitutional?
Representative Clyde Alexander asked whether a 1995 Texas law (article 9030) that caps an excursion train operator's liability at $5 million per occurrence violates the Texas Constitution's open…
Can a Minnesota township use town funds to reimburse a former police chief for the costs of defending criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed?
No. The AG concluded that no statute requires or authorizes town reimbursement of criminal defense costs. Minn. Stat. § 465.76 authorizes such reimbursement only for cities and counties, and the AG…
If only two of five county council members go on an industry-sponsored tour, does that count as an illegal secret meeting under Delaware's open-meetings law?
No, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG found that a manufactured-housing industry tour attended by only two of five Sussex County Council members was not a 'meeting' under FOIA because it…
How could South Carolina collect an unpaid civil fine for drug paraphernalia in 1996?
The AG said the drug-paraphernalia fine could most probably be recovered through a civil action brought by a public official. He regarded the Court of Common Pleas as the preferable forum because a…
Can a Minnesota home-rule charter city vote a council member out of office for missing too many meetings, without taking the question to the voters?
No. The AG concluded that under Minn. Stat. § 410.20 and Art. VIII, § 5 of the Minnesota Constitution, a charter may provide for removal of an elected city official only by vote of the electors, and…
Could South Carolina use Enterprise Development, Inc. for a German sister-state exchange program?
The 1996 opinion said Enterprise Development, Inc. would most probably remain within its amended bylaws if it undertook the described German exchange work for the State. That assessment rested on…
Could a Beaufort County elections board member also serve on another South Carolina board?
The 1996 opinion said membership on the Beaufort County elections and voter-registration board counted as public office for the dual-office rule. It could not decide every possible second board in…
Could a Kershaw County transportation committee member also serve on its water and sewer authority?
The 1996 opinion said concurrent service would most probably be allowed. It treated transportation committee membership as an office but concluded, with acknowledged doubt, that the water and sewer…
Could someone living outside a Kentucky county appraise property for a judicial sale there?
Possibly. The AG concluded that sleeping outside the county did not automatically disqualify a judicial-sale appraiser. The master commissioner had to judge whether the person's aptitude and…
After Delaware's AG finds a town council violated the open-meetings law during a rezoning vote, who decides whether the vote has to be redone?
Under the law as it stood in 1996, the AG has authority to recommend, though not itself order, a remedy for a FOIA violation. On reconsidering its own earlier ruling against the Camden Town Council,…
Could the Patriots Point Development Authority lease property for development?
The 1996 opinion said the Authority’s statutory power to lease property was clear. It understood that the Budget and Control Board had already approved the master lease and that subparcel leases…
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