State AG Opinions
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If a retired Idaho teacher still receives district-paid health insurance under an early-retirement program and then gets elected to her old school district's board of trustees, can she actually serve?
No. Receiving district-paid retirement health-insurance benefits gives the trustee a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the district's insurance contract, which the trustees themselves vote…
Can a North Carolina county pay to extend water and sewer service to the commercial parts of a private mixed-use development?
Yes. The AG concluded G.S. 158-7.1(b)(5) authorized a county to extend or assist in extending utility services to industrial facilities, whether publicly or privately owned. Read together with the…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 workers’ compensation change end COLAs for earlier injuries?
No. The AG said the 1993 act removed cost-of-living adjustments for injuries on or after July 1, 1993, while preserving them for earlier injuries. For the October 1993 adjustment, administrators…
Which Connecticut special officers needed Municipal Police Training Council certification?
The AG said the council’s 1993 authority reached statutory police officers and other people who performed police functions, even if their titles differed. He then classified many specific jobs,…
Could Washington's Health Care Facilities Authority buy a hospital facility and lease it to a public hospital district?
Yes, if the lease or purchase terms fully reimbursed the Authority's costs. The AG allowed project-specific participant fees and other identified nonstate funds for acquisition, but said…
If a disabled sportsman asks a North Carolina state agency to let him use a motorized vehicle in an area where the agency's own administrative rules ban motorized vehicles, can the agency just waive the rule for that one person under the ADA, or does it have to go through formal rulemaking?
Formal rulemaking. An agency cannot just waive its own administrative rules case-by-case to accommodate a person with a disability, because G.S. § 150B-19(6) prohibits any rule that lets an agency…
Where must a Texas DA's office or adult probation department deposit the funds it receives, and who audits them?
The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 140.003 requires a 'specialized local entity,' such as an adult probation department, to deposit all the funds it receives, from any…
Can a Texas school district give a private education foundation free office space, and can trustees sit on the foundation's board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Education Code lets an ISD's trustees accept gifts from a private foundation and supply it with office space and other school property, as long as a school…
Can the Texas Agricultural Finance Authority use bond proceeds to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for its administrative costs?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The Authority's enabling statute directs the board to reimburse the Department of Agriculture for expenses required by the Authority's business, and the Texas…
When a Minnesota city manager resigns, does the cash payout for unused accrued vacation count as 'salary' under the political subdivision salary cap (95% of the governor's salary)?
No. The AG concluded that the cash equivalent of unused, accrued vacation paid to a city manager upon resignation is not 'salary' for purposes of Minn. Stat. § 43A.17, subd. 9, so the payment does…
Can a Texas Lloyd's-plan insurance company act as a corporate surety on a public works construction bond?
The Attorney General concluded no. Even after the Legislature amended the public-works bond statute (V.T.C.S. article 5160.A) in 1991, the statute still required a 'corporate' surety. A Lloyd's-plan…
When South Dakota launches motor voter registration in 1993, can the Social Security number that the DMV already has on file from the driver's license application automatically be reused on the voter registration card without asking the applicant separately, or does the applicant need to consent?
The applicant needs to consent. The 1993 SD AG concluded that nothing in the National Voter Registration Act or federal Privacy Act authorized the involuntary use of a SSN for voter registration;…
Could Kentucky clerks print city election ballots before a late candidate filing period closed?
The 1993 AG opinion recommended that county clerks meet the 50-day ballot printing deadline even where certain small-city candidates could still file until 30 days before the election. If someone…
Did Connecticut’s 1993 Medicare supplement rating law violate unfair-insurance rules?
The AG said insurers following the 1993 law’s Medicare supplement rating requirements would not commit an unfair insurance practice merely by doing so. He expressly declined to decide whether those…
Can a trade association get a list of which state nursing-home surveyors passed or failed the federal qualification test, or is that confidential personnel information?
The AG concluded the list is confidential personnel information that cannot be released under N.C.G.S. § 126-22. Because failure could lead to an employee being removed from the survey team, the…
Could a Washington irrigation district recover attorney fees when foreclosing an unpaid assessment?
Yes, the AG concluded. The delinquent-assessment lien included reasonable attorney fees, and the district could seek them through the foreclosure process. The opinion rescinded an earlier AG answer…
Can a NC county manager, acting on the fire marshal's request, issue a memo declaring certain county buildings smoke-free and have that be legally binding?
No. The AG found that this manager's smoke-free memorandum was not a rule under G.S. § 143-601(a) and had no legal effect because it was not issued under a board action and no statute gave the…
Can the same person serve as the Mount Olive City Attorney and as a commissioner of the Mount Olive Housing Authority, given that G.S. § 157-5 says 'No commissioner may be a city official'?
Yes, on the facts presented. The AG concluded that 'official' in G.S. § 157-5 is synonymous with 'officer,' and that whether the city attorney is a 'public officer' turns on whether the position…
Did Connecticut’s Second Injury Fund keep paying health benefits after ERISA preemption?
The AG said the Fund’s insurance payments were derivative of an employer obligation preempted for ERISA plans, so reimbursements and direct coverage payments under the cited provisions should stop…
If Idaho parents are using prayer or 'spiritual means' to treat a sick child instead of seeking medical care, can the state still step in, and what is the threshold?
Yes. Idaho's religious exemption lets parents substitute prayer for medical care without facing neglect liability for that choice alone, but it does not strip the state of its authority to intervene…
Can a Texas home-rule city regulate outdoor signs, displays, and storage at pawnshops?
The Attorney General concluded no, at least not specifically. The Pawnshop Act gives the Consumer Credit Commissioner authority to regulate outdoor displays, signs, and premises maintenance at…
Can the Texas Legislature merge two whole counties into one?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article IX, section 1 of the Texas Constitution lets the Legislature create counties and shift a part of one county to another (with voter approval), but it does…
If a Texas teacher asks for a public termination hearing, can the school board close it to protect student witnesses?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 13.112 of the Education Code and section 2(g) of the Open Meetings Act, a teacher facing termination is entitled to a public hearing if the teacher…
Who can serve process by certified mail or publication in a Texas justice court, and what can the clerk charge for it?
The Attorney General concluded that under Rule 536 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, any sheriff, constable, or other person authorized by law (or authorized by court order, if at least 18 and…
Can a nonresident student in Texas pay in-state tuition by winning a competitive academic scholarship, and what rules can the state attach?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's rule (19 Tex. Admin. Code § 21.31) is valid. Education Code section 54.064(a) lets a nonresident who wins a…
If a Texas police officer resigns and the city accepts it, can he take the resignation back and get his job and seniority returned?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under chapter 143 of the Local Government Code, once a police officer's resignation from a civil service position has been accepted and become effective, it cannot…
Where must a Texas district attorney keep forfeited drug-case funds, and who audits them in a multicounty district?
Forfeiture funds must be deposited with the county treasurer when that office is the county depository, but the prosecutor or law-enforcement agency may sign expenditure checks alone. In a…
Did a Texas county prosecutor have to use the County Purchasing Act when buying equipment with asset-forfeiture money?
Yes. DM-246 concluded that the County Purchasing Act applied to purchases from a prosecutor's forfeiture fund held in the county treasury. The commissioners court had to start the bidding process…
If a NC state advisory council 'elects' its vice-chair and secretary at an annual meeting by simply closing nominations without taking any vote, is that election valid, and how can the body fix it?
No, it is not valid. The AG concluded that the June 2, 1993 election of vice-chair and secretary of the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging was null and void because no vote was taken, in violation…
If a North Carolina driver gets a second DWI within seven years, do they have to spend 48 hours in jail in a row, or can the time be split up?
At least 48 of the mandated seven days have to be consecutive. A second DWI within seven years triggered Level Two punishment under N.C.G.S. § 20-179(c) and (h), which required a minimum of seven…
Could religious treatment alone stop Connecticut from investigating suspected child medical neglect?
No. The AG read the Christian Science clause to mean that such treatment alone did not establish neglect. Reporters could still report reasonable suspicions, and the child-protection agency still…
If a South Dakota city council passes something labeled a 'resolution' to join a regional solid waste district, and the mayor vetoes it, can the council override the veto with a two-thirds vote, the way it can override the veto of an 'ordinance'?
Yes when the action is legislative in substance. The 1993 SD AG concluded that South Dakota's veto-override statutes (SDCL 9-19-10 and 9-19-11) apply only to ordinances, but the courts look to…
Can a North Carolina county charge homeowners and businesses two separate annual solid waste fees, one for using the system and one for the system being available?
Yes. The AG found Pender County's proposed $90 use fee and $30 availability fee consistent with G.S. § 153A-292(b), so long as the fees did not exceed facility costs. The use fee applied to…
Can a Texas criminal defendant be made to pay back the county for the court interpreter's fee?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 38.30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires interpreters in criminal cases to be paid out of county funds. Because court costs must be expressly…
Did Kentucky county attorneys have to send collected child support payments through the state treasury?
No, according to this 1993 opinion. Child support collected by county attorneys for recipients not receiving AFDC was private money owed by one person to another, so it did not have to pass through…
Did a federally qualified HMO have to be included in Connecticut’s new employee health plan?
No. Based on the facts supplied, the AG found no demonstrated impropriety in the state health-plan selection and said U.S. Healthcare had missed the federal advance-request window for inclusion in…
Did the 1993 NC smoking-in-public-places law wipe out NC community college smoking policies adopted earlier in 1993?
No. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 143, Article 64 limits local government control of smoking going forward, but § 143-601(a) expressly grandfathers any otherwise valid local law, rule, or ordinance…
Does the NC State Board of Refrigeration Examiners have the authority to make rules requiring NC commercial refrigeration contractors to comply with new EPA certification rules for handling refrigerants?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Board's general rulemaking authority under G.S. 87-54, combined with its mission to protect public health and safety by licensing refrigeration contractors (G.S.…
Can the NC Association of County Commissioners (an unincorporated federation of the 100 NC counties) buy through the State purchase and contract system, the same way an individual county or state agency can?
Yes. Based on its county membership, statutory treatment, tax status, and member-county revenue, the AG concluded that the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners could use the State…
If someone signs a preneed funeral contract or a cremation authorization before they die, do those written directions beat the surviving family's contrary wishes after death?
Yes to both, the AG concluded. A preneed funeral contract executed by the decedent for their own arrangements, and a cremation authorization signed by the decedent for their own cremation, generally…
Is it a conflict of interest for a county commissioner to run a company that wins a contract from a community center the county helped create?
The Attorney General concluded there is no conflict of interest where a person serves at the same time as a county commissioner and as a manager of a corporation that contracts with a community…
Is a Texas day-labor agency that supplies common workers the legal employer who owes them workers' comp and unemployment insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 5221a-10, a 'temporary common worker employer,' meaning a person who provides common worker employees to a third-party user, is the employer of…
Can a Texas school district act as its own general contractor on a renovation instead of hiring one out for competitive bids?
The Attorney General concluded yes. The competitive-bidding statutes (Education Code section 21.901 and Local Government Code section 271.024) apply when a school district awards a contract to an…
Do truckers hauling materials to a Texas highway construction site have to carry workers' compensation insurance?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Under article 8308-3.23 of the Texas Workers' Compensation Act, all contract workers on a covered public works project, including truckers hauling materials on…
When a South Dakota city is closing its old sanitary landfill and building a new solid waste transfer station, can it pay for the transfer station by issuing utility revenue bonds under SDCL 9-40-1, or are those bonds limited to traditional sewage systems?
Yes. The 1993 SD AG read SDCL 9-40-1's phrase 'sewage and other domestic, commercial and industrial wastes' broadly to cover solid waste, not just sewage that flows through sewer pipes. Limiting the…
Can a state-chartered credit union in North Carolina guarantee its members' signatures on securities transfers, the way commercial banks and brokerages do?
Not under current Subchapter III of Chapter 54, but possibly through a parity rule. North Carolina credit unions are creatures of statute with no powers beyond those expressly granted or fairly…
Can the State of North Carolina accept donated consulting services from a vendor (Northern Telecom) on a major project like the NC Information Highway without compromising the future competitive bid process?
Yes, the AG concluded, subject to four conditions and a written Memorandum of Understanding: the vendor must not gain any usable competitive information, the State must take on no current or future…
Did Kentucky's 1988 state lottery amendment allow casino gambling without another constitutional amendment?
No. The 1993 AG opinion concluded that casino gambling fell within Kentucky's constitutional lottery prohibition and that the 1988 state lottery exception did not cover casinos. It said another…
Could the Avery County Board of Education refuse to enroll children living at Crossnore School and Grandfather Home (private residential child-care facilities in the county) unless the children's parents also lived in Avery County?
No. N.C.G.S. § 115C-366(a1), enacted in 1991, says children living in and cared for and supported by an institution established to rear and care for children who do not live with their parents…
If both houses of the NC legislature passed a bill on third reading and ordered it enrolled, but the presiding officers forgot to sign it before adjournment, did the bill still become law?
The AG believed five unsigned bills should be ratified during a later legislative session. An older state Supreme Court opinion said the presiding officers must sign before adjournment, but the AG…
If a buyer and seller record a 'notice of contract for deed' (not the full contract) with the South Dakota register of deeds to keep the purchase price private, does the register still have to certify the transfer to the secretary of revenue, and does the recording have to include a certificate of value form?
Yes. On receipt of the described notice, the register must certify the specified transfer information to the secretary of revenue, county auditor, and director of equalization. A certificate of real…
Did Maryland's public notice and hearing requirements for licensing group homes for people with mental illness or developmental disabilities violate the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act?
The opinion concluded that, in light of a 1993 federal court decision striking down similar Montgomery County rules, Maryland's public notice and hearing requirements for licensing group homes under…
Could a Kentucky write-in candidate elected property valuation administrator take office without first passing the qualifying exam?
In 1993, the AG said a write-in candidate elected property valuation administrator could take the qualifying examination after the election and before taking office. Passing would make the candidate…
Under the new federal Family and Medical Leave Act, does a local school system have to pay for optional family-member health-insurance coverage while a teacher or staff member is out on FMLA leave?
The AG concluded that the FMLA requires a covered employer (including a local school system) to maintain the pre-existing health-plan coverage during authorized leave at the same level and on the…
Can UNC Charlotte refinance a balloon payment due on a 1987 bank loan that financed a cafeteria addition, and can the chancellor's signature bind the university to a new promissory note?
Yes to both. The AG concluded that the 1987 Board of Governors authorization for UNC-C to take out a $1.398M bank loan for the cafeteria addition implicitly authorized later refinancing of the…
Can the members of the North Carolina State Board of Education (including the elected Lieutenant Governor and State Treasurer, who sit ex officio) send proxies to cast their votes or take part in Board deliberations?
No. The AG concluded that G.S. 115C-11(d) flatly forbids voting by proxy on the State Board of Education, and that prohibition applies to all thirteen members, including the Lieutenant Governor and…
Can a Minnesota city require successful bidders on a municipal construction project to sign a project labor agreement with construction trade unions?
Yes, with limits. The AG concluded that a city may include project labor agreement specifications when soliciting construction bids if motivated by legitimate economic reasons as a purchaser of…
Did a replacement Connecticut utility executive director get a new four-year term?
Yes. The AG said a person appointed to a vacancy as executive director of the Department of Public Utility Control received a full four-year term starting on the appointment date, not merely the…
What counts as a 'significant interest' that blocks a Texas school board from contracting with a trustee's business?
The Attorney General concluded that the Legislature did not define 'significant interest' in the 1993 statute (Education Code section 23.201) barring a school board from contracting with a business…
Was 1993 N.C. House Bill 935 (deleting references to the Department of Public Education from the General Statutes) constitutional under Article IX of the North Carolina Constitution?
Yes. The AG concluded that HB 935 did not alter the constitutional responsibilities of either the State Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and so was constitutional. The…
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