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Could a South Carolina homeowners association give its board additional powers through bylaws?
The 1994 AG said yes for the nonprofit association described, if the added powers served management of its property or regulation of its affairs and the bylaws were consistent with existing law.
If an Idaho school district raises a student fee by more than 5 percent in a year, does the public-notice statute apply, and does the district have to hold a public hearing?
Yes. Fees a school district charges for voluntary or extracurricular activities (sports, driver's education, towels, lockers, parking, lunch, etc.) are 'fees' under the 1994 budget-cap law. Any…
When a North Carolina law enforcement agency seizes cash or property from a drug suspect, can the agency release it directly to the NC Department of Revenue to satisfy controlled-substance excise taxes without first getting a court order, and what happens if the agency does that with property that was supposed to be held for forfeiture?
Property seized as evidence may be released to Revenue without a court order in the circumstances the opinion describes, including when it is plainly unnecessary to prove the charge. For evidence…
Can Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) agents bring a drug-sniffing dog along on a routine ABC permit inspection? Do local officers need a mutual aid agreement to help? Can ALE force entry if the business owner refuses?
The AG concluded ALE may use a borrowed drug dog during a G.S. 18B-502 inspection. Local officers may assist within their own jurisdiction without a written request; a written request under G.S.…
Could a North Carolina state-chartered savings bank become a regular commercial bank in the mid-1990s and then merge with another commercial bank?
Yes. The AG concluded that while no statute authorized a savings bank to merge directly with a commercial bank, a two-step path worked: a Chapter 54C state savings bank could convert into a Chapter…
Did Connecticut gun dealers need possession certificates for assault weapons held before October 1993?
Yes. The AG said licensed gun dealers had to apply for certificates for assault weapons lawfully possessed before October 1, 1993, by the amended October 1, 1994 deadline. The law had no general…
Could a Kentucky beer label state '5.6% ALC./VOL.' without further explanation?
The AG said the proposed Molson beer label's '5.6% ALC./VOL.' statement adequately explained its alcohol content under KRS 244.520 without another narrative explanation. It distinguished that…
Must a South Dakota city let people inspect its water and sewer customer names and addresses, and must it provide them with a copy?
The city must allow inspection of subscriber names and addresses. It generally need not furnish copies or computer disks, but may choose to do so and charge a reasonable fee based on copying costs.…
Could a Kentucky DUI sentence be served in home incarceration under the 1994 law?
The AG said a court could impose home incarceration for a first, second, or third DUI conviction under the 1994 statutes, unless a specified recent violent felony conviction barred it. A fourth or…
After the NC Savings Institutions Division Administrator approved a mutual savings institution's plan to convert from mutual to stock form and merge into a bank holding company (and the conversions were consummated), can the Administrator now order the former directors to refund the benefits they received from the transactions and distribute those benefits to depositors?
No. NC statutory law does not give the Administrator (or Deputy Administrator) of the Savings Institutions Division the power to reverse a final agency conversion approval, absent a specific grant…
Can a North Carolina municipal hospital put physicians on salary, give them office space and supplies, and collect the fees those physicians earn from treating patients?
Yes. The AG read the public-hospital contracting statute (G.S. 131E-7(b)) literally: a municipal hospital may contract with any person for the provision of health care and pay for that contract out…
Could a Kentucky county clerk record a will mailed from another state before Kentucky probate?
The AG said a Kentucky county clerk could not record a will mailed from another state without documentation that a Kentucky district court had admitted it to probate. Out-of-state probate of a…
Are the two 'at-large' members on the Coastal Resources Advisory Council legally seated, when the statute lists specific seats and caps total membership at 47?
No. The AG concluded the statute names a fixed roster (45 designated seats with no at-large category) and caps the council at 47, so there is no authority for at-large appointments. The two at-large…
Could Connecticut’s Sheriffs’ Advisory Board fund a sheriff’s defense after the AG refused?
No. The AG said the Sheriffs’ Advisory Board lacked power to fund the individual defense of sheriffs or deputies after the Attorney General determined that a state-financed defense was…
When someone had two Washington health insurance policies, did the second insurer have to pay its full policy amount?
The Attorney General concluded in 1994 that the amended statute allowed a secondary insurer to credit amounts paid by the primary insurer, whether the secondary policy was individual or group…
Under the Unified Sentencing Act, can the Commission for Pardons and Parole shorten a felon's fixed (mandatory) prison term by commuting it, even though the Act explicitly bars parole, discharge, or good-conduct credit during the fixed term?
Yes. Idaho Code § 20-240 gives the Commission commutation authority, subject to governor approval for six listed offense classes. The AG concluded that the Unified Sentencing Act does not take that…
Could South Carolina’s revenue department revoke a license for failing to report business personal property?
The 1994 AG said the department’s discretionary revocation authority reached a taxpayer who failed to file the required business-personal-property return. The department administered that return and…
Could the NCDOT Employee Insurance Committee execute a contract with American Franklin Life Insurance Company to offer variable life insurance to NCDOT employees, given that Statewide Benefits, Inc. claimed an exclusive marketing right for 'universal' life insurance products?
Yes. The AG found no legal impediment. The NC Department of Insurance treated 'variable' life insurance and 'universal' life insurance as two distinct products, and American Franklin had been…
When a South Carolina forfeited land commission bid at a tax sale, did it have to pay immediately?
The 1994 AG said the commission did not have to pay the county treasurer when it bid in property. If the county later wanted title, it had to purchase from the commission on terms benefiting the…
Are members of the Boards of Trustees of NC's two main public-employee retirement systems prohibited under G.S. § 150B-35 from having ex parte communications with the Director of the Retirement Systems Division or with petitioners about issues of fact or law in pending contested cases, and what sanctions follow a violation?
Yes, the prohibition reaches both directions. G.S. § 150B-35 forbids the administrative law judge assigned to the case AND any member or employee of the agency making the final decision from…
Can a local school board demand that the driver-education instructors it hires under contract hold a state teaching certificate, even though state law says contract instructors are not required to be certified teachers?
Yes. The AG concluded that the General Assembly's 1991 amendments to NCGS 20-88.1 and 115C-215 were intended to limit the State Board of Education's regulatory authority (the State Board cannot…
Could Connecticut substance abuse programs share patient names with a state data system?
The AG said state-operated treatment facilities could share patient data internally for treatment and with their central office for specified management uses. Separate programs generally needed…
Would signing the 1994 budget before June 30 keep South Carolina’s dentistry and opticianry boards from sunsetting?
The 1994 AG said yes, if the governor approved the relevant budget provision before June 30. It would replace the scheduled sunset rule and leave the two boards in existence without the separate…
Did South Carolina’s 1994 video-poker vessel ban apply to licensed machines on docked boats?
The AG said the proposed rule would bar machines on boats still capable of navigating state waters, even when temporarily docked and previously licensed. A permanently moored vessel no longer…
Could Rock Hill spend voter-approved fire-protection bond money on other projects, and did alleged transfers warrant prosecution?
The AG read the referendum as approving fire-protection facilities broadly, rather than requiring two particular substations. Bond proceeds remained restricted to that purpose and surplus belonged…
Did a court ruling against mandatory student insurance invalidate Kentucky's hospital payment rule?
The AG said KRS 205.575(14)(d) remained valid for student health insurance obtained voluntarily, even though a circuit court had invalidated the separate statute compelling students to buy that…
Could a Kentucky fiscal court create a sanitation district without taxing power?
The AG said a fiscal court could not remove a KRS Chapter 220 sanitation district board's statutory taxing authority. KRS 220.035 listed fiscal court powers concerning districts and did not include…
Could a Kentucky circuit clerk count county law librarian pay toward county retirement?
The AG said pay to a circuit court clerk for part-time service as ex officio county law librarian could not be credited to either the County Employees Retirement System or Kentucky Employees…
When Alexander County Schools adopted a differentiated pay plan under the 1989 School Improvement and Accountability Act, did that decision trigger the 'hold harmless' provision in G.S. 115C-363.11(c) for teachers who had earned Career I or Career II status under the discontinued Career Development Pilot Program?
Yes. Alexander County's 1990-91 conversion triggered the protection for teachers who earned Career I or Career II status before the end of the 1989-90 school year. The protection covered only the…
Could Spartanburg County shorten appointed Cherokee Springs fire commissioners’ terms to hold an election in 1994?
The AG concluded that the General Assembly could shorten or extend these legislatively created terms. The county council’s cited statutory authority reached extensions only, so it likely could not…
Could a Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority employee also serve in the legislature?
Yes. The AG said a Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority employee could remain in that job after election to the General Assembly. CRRA was a distinct public corporation, not a state department,…
Does the North Carolina General Assembly have the constitutional authority to enact Senate Bill 883, which would create a new Professional Teaching Standards Board that operates independently of the State Board of Education and would, by plan, take over from the State Board the responsibility of setting standards for and issuing, renewing, and revoking teacher licenses?
Probably not, as drafted. The AG concluded that SB 883 as written may be unconstitutional because it completely removes the State Board of Education from one of the most critical areas of public…
If a North Carolina city expands its corporate limits through annexation (or satellite annexation), does the city school district automatically expand to cover the new area, or does the city school district's boundary stay where it was originally set?
The school district's boundary stays where it was. A city school system has no inherent power to unilaterally expand and remove students and taxable property from the surrounding county school…
Currituck County is considering setting up a water and sewer district or authority under Chapter 162A so that its water lines on US 168 right-of-way will qualify for the G.S. 136-27.1 exemption that requires the NC Department of Transportation to pay relocation costs (instead of the county paying $1.2 to $2 million). When must the new district or authority actually be in existence to qualify? And does the 1987 encroachment agreement (which said the County pays relocation costs) override the statutory exemption?
The district or authority must exist on the date the Department of Transportation lets the contract for the highway improvement project. The phrase 'let to contract' is the trigger the General…
Does the NC Wildlife Resources Commission have authority to adopt a rule designating 'critical habitat' for endangered, threatened, and special concern species, even though the statute does not specifically use that term?
Yes. The AG concluded that Article 25, read as a whole, gives the WRC both express and implied authority to designate critical habitat as part of developing conservation programs. The express grant…
Did a Connecticut state grant force a town-owned beach club to admit nonresidents?
The AG said the urban development grant statute itself did not require East Haven to admit nonresidents to a beach club bought with state funds. The administering agency could, however, put an…
Can a Texas school district pull out of a junior college district?
The Attorney General explained that a junior college district can disannex (drop) territory only when the Legislature has passed a statute authorizing it, and only by the method the statute…
Can a child support recipient change the payment address without going back to court?
The Attorney General concluded that a district clerk could honor a child support recipient's change-of-address request, including a request to send the payments in care of a child support collection…
Could a Texas district clerk charge civil filing fees for a preindictment habeas application or withhold the writ until fees were paid?
The civil fee schedule in Government Code section 51.317 did not apply to a preindictment habeas application. A clerk could charge a reasonable fee under section 51.319(5), capped by the comparable…
When a SD local government wants to piggyback on another local government's competitive bid under SDCL 5-18-18, can it change the specifications, buy a newer model, ignore a trade-in that was part of the original bid, or convert a trade-in bid into a cash-only purchase?
Limited. Any variance from the original bid must be non-material (substantial compliance with the original specs). A newer model is fine if its specs do not materially vary from the original. A…
Can my city pass an ordinance making it illegal to have an open beer or wine in a car on a street or highway in town, or does state law block that?
The AG said a city could prohibit consumption of malt beverages and unfortified wine on property it owns or occupies, including municipal street rights of way, if the ordinance did not conflict with…
If the General Assembly abolishes the NC Ports Railway Commission (PRC) and transfers its assets to the State Ports Authority (SPA), will that hurt the ongoing federal labor litigation between SPA, PRC, and the longshoremen's union over whether SPA is a Railway Labor Act 'carrier'?
The AG called an adverse effect on pending litigation unlikely but could not say the risk was insignificant, so it recommended against abolishing PRC at that time. The draft would abolish PRC and…
When did Kentucky's 1994 motor voter registration bill take effect?
The AG concluded that Kentucky Senate Bill 262, implementing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, would take effect January 1, 1995. It relied on the bill's federal-law references, the…
After the General Assembly failed to pass HB 207 (which would have appropriated Highway Fund money to raise Highway Patrol telecommunicator salaries), is the Office of State Personnel barred from reclassifying telecommunicator positions statewide?
No. The AG concluded the failed bill did not strip OSP of its statutory market-survey authority under G.S. 126-1 and 126-4. HB 207's purpose was to appropriate new money from the Highway Fund for…
If a North Carolina county wants to buy office space for its public hospital and the seller is a corporation in which one of the hospital's trustees (not a county commissioner) holds a one-third interest, does G.S. § 14-234 make that purchase illegal?
The AG found no G.S. § 14-234 violation in the proposed purchase because the county commissioners, not the hospital trustees, were buying and the interested trustee was not a commissioner. The…
Can a Minnesota Housing and Redevelopment Authority commissioner bid on cabinet work for development projects that the same HRA has approved?
Yes, with notice and nonparticipation. The AG concluded that Minn. Stat. § 469.009's specific HRA conflict-of-interest rule (written notice plus nonparticipation in HRA decisions affecting the…
When did Kentucky schools have to hold minority school council elections under the 1994 amendment?
The AG said qualifying schools whose councils lacked a minority member had to arrange special elections in a timely manner after Senate Bill 51 took effect July 15, 1994. They could not wait for the…
Are jailers and 911 communicators (telecommunicators / dispatchers) employed by a North Carolina sheriff's office automatically considered 'law enforcement officers' under the state retirement statutes just because they are sworn officers with the power of arrest?
No job-title rule decides eligibility. Being sworn, certified, or authorized to arrest is insufficient by itself. The position must have assigned primary duties in crime prevention or detection,…
Did Kentucky's 1992 executive lobbying registration fine apply despite the statute saying 'legislative agent'?
The AG said KRS 11A.990(6)'s reference to a 'legislative agent' was a clear drafting error and had to be read as 'executive agency lobbyist.' The commission could apply the filing-deficiency fine to…
What can police tell a school when they arrest a student in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that article 15.27 of the Code of Criminal Procedure let a law enforcement agency tell the right school official much more than the bare fact that a student had been…
Can a sitting Maine legislator serve on the Maine Health Care Reform Commission, which the same Legislature created with $75-per-day compensation?
No. The AG read Me. Const. art. IV, pt. 3, § 10 to bar any member of the 116th Legislature from being appointed during that term to the Maine Health Care Reform Commission, which the 116th…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 chronic hospital tax grant change the 1993–94 municipal payment?
This May 1994 opinion initially excluded free-standing chronic disease hospital property from the 1993–94 grant. A later 1994 act applied the grant provision retroactively, and the AG expressly…
Who covered Connecticut workers’ compensation claims after an insurer became insolvent?
The AG said Connecticut’s insurance guaranty association, not the Second Injury Fund, bore liability for covered workers’ compensation claims after an insurer’s insolvency. CIGA provided up to 30…
Could a Kentucky school district pay a deceased teacher's unused sick leave to the estate?
The AG said a school district could not pay the unused sick leave of an active teacher who died before retirement to the estate or a named beneficiary, even if the teacher had been eligible to…
When can a North Carolina substance abuse treatment facility release information about a patient to police, a court, or to anyone else, and how do federal rules and state rules interact?
A federally assisted treatment program had to satisfy federal disclosure limits as well as any stricter State limits. The opinion described federal routes such as patient consent, child-abuse…
When the North Carolina Commissioner of Banks decides a matter and the loser appeals to the State Banking Commission, may the Commissioner talk to Commission members off-the-record about the case, and if not, what happens to people who do that anyway?
No, ex parte communications are prohibited. G.S. § 150B-40(d) bars Commission members from discussing the facts or law of a pending contested case with anyone except on notice to all parties,…
Could a Kentucky school board adopt seniority rules for classified employee layoffs?
The AG said a local school board could adopt a seniority policy for classified employees after House Bill 50 required written employment policies, including layoff procedures. It expressly overruled…
Is the State of NC protected from large medical malpractice judgments, and if so, why does NC still buy liability insurance for some agencies?
Yes. NC's sovereign immunity is absolute except where waived, and the only relevant waiver for medical malpractice runs through the State Tort Claims Act, which caps state liability at $100,000 per…
Could Connecticut’s governor sign the 1994 Mohegan gaming compact without a legislative vote?
The AG said existing Connecticut statutes let the governor execute the 1994 Mohegan gaming compact and video-game memorandum without submitting the compact for legislative approval. Separate parts…
Can a Texas bar or liquor store owner keep a gun for self-defense?
The Attorney General concluded that a holder of a retail license or permit to sell alcoholic beverages could possess a firearm for self-defense without risking the license. The 1993 amendments…
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