State AG Opinions
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What did Maine's 1995 constitutional amendments on retirement funding actually require, and who do they cover?
The Maine AG read the 1995 amendments (Me. Const. art. IX, §§ 18-A, 18-B) to (1) cover service retirement, disability retirement, and death benefits as 'retirement and ancillary benefits,' but not…
Could South Carolina require a recipient’s consent before someone mailed sexually explicit material?
The 1996 AG considered a proposed consent requirement constitutionally defensible as a regulation of unwanted material sent to the home, including through the mail. He warned that its exemption for…
Are North Carolina Parole Commission records open to public inspection under the Public Records Law, or are they confidential like the underlying prison records?
Confidential. The AG concluded that parole records are prison records, and prison records in North Carolina are confidential under G.S. § 148-74 and § 148-76 (as construed in Goble v. Bounds), not…
Can the North Carolina Zoological Park build or lease out a hotel or convention center on zoo property, or does the Umstead Act block it?
The Umstead Act blocked it. The AG concluded that the N.C. Zoological Park, even though it is not formally listed as a state park, is a 'park over which the Department has jurisdiction' for purposes…
When the state issues an NPDES water-quality permit, can the Environmental Management Commission require the applicant to study how the project will combine with other nearby projects (like other hog farms) to impact water quality?
Yes. The AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 143-215.1(c)(1) gives the EMC and the Division of Environmental Management broad authority to request 'any information' the agency considers necessary to…
Was South Carolina’s early fingerprint deadline for sheriff candidates constitutional in 1996?
The 1996 AG expected a court to uphold the law requiring prospective sheriff candidates to submit fingerprints to SLED sixty days before qualification closed. He said the state constitution…
Did a South Carolina school district have to keep administrators’ local salary supplements in 1996–97?
Subject to any legislative change, the 1996 AG agreed that Colleton County School District had to pay certified administrators under the statewide minimum schedule and maintain their local salary…
Could Allendale make its mayor the paid town administrator under the council form of government?
The 1996 AG said the mayor could not officially serve as town administrator under Allendale’s council form of government. The council could informally designate the mayor to oversee daily operations…
Did a South Carolina pardon restore the right to buy a pistol after a violent-crime conviction in 1996?
The 1996 AG said a pardon did not permit a person convicted of a violent crime in South Carolina to buy or possess a pistol. He reasoned that a pardon restored listed civil rights but did not erase…
Could a worker be prosecuted for cashing a payroll check that the employer had written without enough funds?
The 1996 South Carolina AG said merely endorsing and cashing a bad payroll check did not make the worker criminally liable. Prosecuting the endorser required evidence that the worker knew of the…
Does North Carolina's direct-access-to-obstetrician-gynecologists law apply to women on Medicaid, including women in Medicaid's Carolina Access primary-care program or in a Medicaid HMO?
No. The AG concluded that N.C.G.S. § 58-51-38, the 1995 direct-access-to-OB-GYN statute, is part of the insurance code and applies only to commercial health benefit plans for small employers or…
Can a Texas public school issue driver education completion certificates without DPS approval?
A state senator asked whether the Texas Education Agency must supply driver education completion certificates to a public school whose course was not separately approved by the agency or the…
Could a bidder protest South Carolina’s decision not to buy a proposed building under the state procurement code?
The 1996 AG said the procurement code gave no protest remedy for the Board’s decision not to act on a solicitation to buy real property. The code governed goods and services rather than…
When did ordinary laws passed by Kentucky's 1996 General Assembly take effect?
The Attorney General concluded that ordinary laws passed in Kentucky's 1996 Regular Session took effect at the first moment of Monday, July 15, 1996. The opinion excluded general appropriation…
Were Connecticut special deputy sheriffs owed federal minimum wage and overtime pay for courthouse security work?
The AG concluded that special deputy sheriffs assigned to courthouse security, prisoner detention and transportation were covered employees under federal wage law. He advised paying the federal…
Can a Texas county put deputy constables under its civil service system?
The Bexar County Criminal District Attorney asked whether a county civil service commission, in a county with a basic civil service system under subchapter A of chapter 158 of the Local Government…
Can Texas refuse a marriage license to someone behind on child support?
Two Texas prosecutors asked whether a 1995 law was constitutional. It required everyone applying for a marriage license to swear, under oath, that they did not owe delinquent court-ordered child…
How long after filing could a South Carolina candidate move into the district they sought to represent?
The 1996 AG gave no universal number of days. Candidate qualifications ordinarily were measured at election, but he identified exceptions: a House candidate had to reside in the district when…
Could an Idaho county levy property tax on land inside an Indian reservation when the land is owned in fee by an individual Indian, not held in trust by the United States?
Yes. Once the federal government issued a fee patent removing alienability restrictions, the land became subject to county ad valorem taxation regardless of the owner's tribal membership or its…
Are voice mail messages stored digitally on an agency's voice mail system (or analog tape on an answering machine) considered public records under North Carolina's Public Records Law?
Either digital or analog voice mail may be a public record. Each message must be reviewed to see whether it was made or received in connection with public business and whether a statutory exception…
Is a county jail built through a lease-purchase agreement exempt from property taxes?
Winkler County asked whether the jail and sheriff's office complex it occupies under a lease-purchase contract with a private company is subject to ad valorem (property) taxes. The Attorney General…
Could a South Carolina party reopen candidate filing when someone withdrew after the deadline but before the primary?
The 1996 AG said a party committee could decide to reopen filing if no more than two candidates had filed and one withdrew before the primary. That discretion came from the pre-primary filing rule;…
Did Dorchester County have to provide an office and funding for its legislative delegation in 1996?
The 1996 AG said the county remained obligated under the Home Rule Act to supply office space and the appropriation the delegation deemed necessary for one delegation office. The uncodified…
When the Racing and Wagering Board changed how it rounded off-track betting payouts after the 5% surcharge, did that count as 'rulemaking' that had to be formally adopted through SAPA?
Yes. The AG concluded the Board does have authority to fix post-surcharge breakage at OTBs, but because that breakage is a fixed numerical formula of general applicability, the Board had to adopt it…
Who controlled South Carolina’s H.L. Hunley recovery project under the 1996 legislation?
The 1996 AG said the new Hunley Commission, rather than the archaeology institute, held the Underwater Antiquities Act duties applicable to the Hunley project. The institute could act on the project…
Can Mecklenburg County use its own local funds to pay for additional permanent assistant district attorneys or an additional superior court judge?
No. Legislative action is required to change the number of permanent full-time assistant district attorneys or resident superior court judges in a district. County funds may pay for temporary…
Do school board members violate Delaware's open-meetings law by chatting informally in the hallway before or after a meeting?
It depends on what was discussed, under the law as it stood in 1996. The AG cleared two hallway gatherings where the evidence showed separate, unrelated conversations, but found a violation where…
Did the South Carolina AG in 1996 think the state could refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage from another state?
Yes. In this 1996 opinion, the AG concluded that proposed legislation denying recognition to out-of-state same-sex marriages would be constitutional under his reading of state public policy and the…
How did the South Carolina AG address the Full Faith and Credit Clause in a 1996 same-sex marriage proposal?
The 1996 AG said the Full Faith and Credit Clause did not prevent South Carolina from proposing to deny recognition to same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. He viewed the proposed law as…
Who owned military items buried at the former Camp Croft site in South Carolina in 1996?
The 1996 AG applied the common-law rule that items embedded in land belonged to the landowner, not the finder. He said buried items on Croft State Park land belonged to the state and similarly…
How should Connecticut calculate workers’ compensation cost-of-living increases while two agency rulings conflict?
The AG did not settle the disputed formula. He advised the Second Injury Fund to continue its method after the compensation review board’s Wolfe decision and pursue its appeal of the conflicting Gil…
Could a South Carolina fire district commissioner keep a paid secretary-treasurer job with the same district?
The 1996 AG said serving as both district commissioner and paid secretary-treasurer violated the common-law rule against being both supervisor and employee. The conflict arose when the employee…
Could Allendale include mayor and council pay raises in its budget ordinance instead of passing a separate salary ordinance?
The 1996 AG said the statute required pay increases by ordinance but did not require a separate salary-only ordinance. He thought the council could choose an appropriate ordinance form, while…
Could a hospital employee serve on the Union Hospital District board, and did its trustees have to be elected?
In 1996, the AG concluded that a physician employed by the hospital could not also serve as its trustee because the board supervised hospital operations and employment. The AG found no apparent…
Could Hilton Head Island’s revenue collector run for Beaufort County Council and hold both posts if elected?
The 1996 AG found no state-law barrier to her candidacy on the facts presented, but concluded that serving on county council while remaining town revenue collector would violate South Carolina’s…
Could a Texas district clerk demand advance payment of sheriff or constable fees for serving civil process?
No, except for the separate out-of-county situation governed by Rule 126. Rules 17 and 149 required the service fee to be taxed as a court cost and collected after judgment. That arrangement…
Could MUSC lease its hospital to Columbia/HCA without new legislative authority?
The 1996 AG concluded that MUSC lacked authority to lease its hospital for operation by Columbia/HCA or sell the associated equipment under the proposed deal without clear authorization from the…
Was State Budget and Control Board approval enough for MUSC to lease its hospital to Columbia/HCA?
No. In 1996 the AG said that, although State Budget and Control Board approval was necessary, MUSC could not turn over hospital operations under the proposed Columbia/HCA lease without clear…
Could Pawley’s Island restrict speeding tickets from parked or unmarked police cars, or stop tickets at a revenue target?
The 1996 AG did not find the described traffic enforcement policy invalid under state law and treated it as a local council judgment, subject to town attorney advice. He said good-faith municipal…
Did South Carolina family courts have to appoint both a lawyer and guardian ad litem for a child in abuse proceedings?
The 1996 AG said the appointment requirement had not been superseded: family courts were required to appoint both counsel and a guardian ad litem for the child in abuse and neglect proceedings. He…
Did a second South Carolina speeding conviction carry a different penalty under the law considered in 1996?
The 1996 AG concluded that the graded speeding penalties applied regardless of prior speeding offenses, despite wording about a first offense. He found no separate repeat-offense penalty to invoke…
Can a New York Soil and Water Conservation District legally cover its own board members and employees against lawsuits, or does that have to come from somewhere else?
Yes. The AG concluded the district's board can opt in to Public Officers Law § 18 and cover its own people, or the county that established the district can agree to defend and indemnify district…
If a private architect or engineer audits New York City building filings and later testifies for the state in a misconduct case, will the state defend and indemnify them if they get sued?
Yes. The AG concluded that members of architectural and engineering professional associations who audit filings under NYC's professional certification program and testify at Education Department…
If a bank makes advances under a reverse mortgage decades after recording the mortgage, does the lender still keep first-priority lien position?
Yes. The AG concluded that priority of a reverse-mortgage lien dates from the recording, regardless of when individual advances are made, and the 20-year cap that applies to ordinary credit-line…
Could a 1996 Idaho ballot initiative require the Secretary of State to print 'DISREGARDED VOTERS' INSTRUCTIONS ON TERM LIMITS' next to the names of legislators and members of Congress who failed to support a federal term-limits amendment?
The AG warned the initiative would likely be unconstitutional under the First Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, and Idaho right-of-suffrage provisions because it puts the state in the role of…
Can the same person hold both a Maine LURC seat and a Franklin County Commissioner seat at the same time?
No. The Maine AG concluded the offices of Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) member and Franklin County Commissioner are incompatible at common law. A LURC member sits in quasi-judicial review of…
If a North Carolina town like Chapel Hill passes an open-container ordinance under § 18B-300(c) but does not include statutory definitions of 'malt beverage' or 'unfortified wine' inside the ordinance, is the ordinance void for vagueness, or do the Chapter 18B definitions automatically apply?
Not vague. The General Assembly has preempted alcohol regulation in North Carolina, and any local ordinance under Chapter 18B is bound by the chapter's definitions whether the ordinance restates…
Do home-rule city police officers in Texas have to take the constitutional oath of office?
Two Texas legislators asked whether a home-rule city's police officers and police-department staff must take the constitutional oath of office. The Attorney General found the law unsettled on…
When a North Carolina city like Charlotte sets up a stormwater utility and charges every property owner a stormwater fee, do state agencies that own property within city limits (universities, DOT facilities, courthouses) have to pay those fees, or are they exempt?
State agencies are not legally required to pay municipal stormwater utility fees. Long-standing North Carolina rule: general statutes do not bind the State unless the legislature has expressly said…
Where did Connecticut have to put hospital assessment money recovered after the Uncompensated Care Pool lawsuit?
The AG said hospitals had to remit Pool assessments on new revenue received after the New England Health case. The state had to place the money in a special General Fund reconciliation account and…
When Congress passed the Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act in 1993, did it unconstitutionally expand the powers of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), and could the Act be struck down under the Compact Clause or the Tenth Amendment?
The Attorney General concluded that the 1993 Act expanded the commission's powers and changed its purposes. The opinion said a Compact Clause violation was unlikely, but the constitutional question…
When a North Carolina clerk of superior court issues a memorandum setting bail-surrender procedures, does the memorandum bind magistrates, bail sureties, and jail custodians who don't work for the clerk?
No. The AG concluded that a clerk of superior court can set procedures and job requirements for the clerk's own assistants, deputies, and staff, but has no statutory authority to issue mandatory…
Can a New York town hire a for-profit business to handle dog control, or does the contractor have to be a not-for-profit?
Not-for-profit. Under Agriculture and Markets Law § 114, when a New York municipality contracts out for dog control services instead of (or in addition to) appointing its own dog control officer,…
When a New York town creates a third town justice position, does the town board appoint someone to fill it right away, or does the seat have to wait for a general election?
Election. When a New York town establishes a new town justice position, the first holder of that seat must be chosen by the voters at a general town election, not appointed by the town board. The…
In a non-charter New York county, can the community services board put the director of mental hygiene on a fixed term instead of leaving the position open-ended?
Yes. In a non-charter New York county, the community services board (which is the body that appoints and removes the director of mental hygiene under Mental Hygiene Law § 41.09(a)) may set a fixed…
Can a New York town board member also work as the deputy highway superintendent or a town highway laborer?
No. Serving simultaneously as a town board member and as the deputy superintendent of highways or as a highway department laborer was incompatible under the People v Green standard. The town board…
Can a New York town's zoning law treat an accessory apartment differently if it's rented to a relative versus a stranger?
No. New York's foundational zoning rule is that zoning regulates land use, not who owns or occupies the land. A local zoning regulation that lets an accessory apartment be used by a relative of the…
Could North Carolina make its usual debtor-property exemptions unavailable when a criminal restitution order is enforced as a civil judgment?
The Attorney General said an exception to the debtor-property exemptions for criminal restitution orders may be constitutionally permissible. A Supreme Court decision striking down an exemption…
Who had to pay the medical costs of indigent inmates in the Parker County Jail?
The Parker County Hospital District had to provide or pay for necessary care for eligible inmates who lived in Parker County. For eligible Texas inmates from elsewhere, responsibility generally…
Do Texas Medicaid providers have to certify they're current on child support?
The Texas Department of Health asked whether the Family Code rule barring child-support delinquents from state-funded contracts applied to Medicaid providers. The original statute (former Family…
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