State AG Opinions
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Does a Texas child accused of truancy get a court hearing and a lawyer?
Answering the Harris County District Attorney, the Attorney General reached three conclusions about truancy cases under the Family Code. First, section 54.021 does not require a juvenile court to…
Where does a Texas county's vehicle registration fee go, and can the county spend it on anything it wants?
Answering a question from Cameron County, the Attorney General concluded that the whole $1.90 vehicle-registration fee a county tax assessor-collector keeps from each registration receipt, including…
Must the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority charge fees that cover interest on state money it borrowed?
The Attorney General concluded that sections 402.272(a), 402.2721, and 402.273(b) of the Health and Safety Code require the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority to set its…
Did FERPA prevent Kentucky colleges from releasing their campus police law-enforcement records after the 1992 amendment?
The AG concluded in 1993 that campus law-enforcement-unit records created and maintained for law enforcement were outside FERPA's education-record definition under the amended federal law. It…
Could a returning Connecticut teacher buy military-service pension credit after retirement?
Yes. The AG said a teacher reemployed under federal veterans law could receive pension credit for military leave by paying the contributions that would have been due during continuous teaching…
If DC has been overpaying retired judges by miscomputing their disability pensions, can DC sue to recover the overpayments years later, and can the judges raise estoppel as a defense?
Yes, DC can sue to recover overpayments and there is no statute of limitations because suits to recover public funds vindicate public rights. The retired judges cannot use equitable estoppel as a…
Does the federal real estate settlement law (RESPA) override Maryland's ban on real estate settlement kickbacks?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's flat prohibition on real estate settlement kickbacks was not preempted by the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, because RESPA only…
Can a Texas state agency buy fire or property insurance for its own buildings?
The Attorney General concluded that a Texas state agency may not purchase property insurance to cover its buildings unless the legislature specifically authorizes it, and the Texas Surplus Property…
Is Texas prekindergarten part of the public free schools, and which four-year-olds can enroll?
Answering questions the U.S. Department of Education needed for federal impact-aid eligibility, the Attorney General concluded that Texas's prekindergarten program under Education Code section…
Could a Kentucky sheriff hire a private CPA for the annual audit when the state auditor wanted to conduct it?
The AG concluded in 1993 that the State Auditor could choose to conduct the audit without giving a reason. A sheriff, county clerk, or fiscal court could use a CPA instead only if the Auditor…
Could Connecticut pay a private debt collector a percentage of state debts recovered?
Yes. The AG said the Department of Administrative Services could refer qualifying delinquent state debts to licensed private collectors and pay a percentage of recovered money. He found that…
Can a city charge higher parade or rally permit fees based on how the public might react to the speech?
The opinion concluded that state and local rules letting officials size a parade or rally permit fee, or grant or deny a permit, based on how the public might react to the speech violated the First…
Could a Connecticut hazardous-duty worker receive pension credit for peacetime military leave?
Yes. The AG said a Tier I hazardous-duty employee reemployed under the federal veterans law earned retirement credit for peacetime as well as wartime military leave toward the service minimum,…
If a Texas tax-foreclosure sale brings in more than the taxes owed, how do you claim the leftover money?
The Attorney General concluded that under Tax Code section 34.04 a person claiming the surplus left over after a tax-lien foreclosure sale does not have to file a new, separate lawsuit. The claimant…
Can an appointed Minnesota park district commissioner keep serving after the four-year term expires until a successor is appointed, and when exactly does the term expire?
Yes, the AG concluded that an appointed Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District commissioner could continue serving as a de facto officer after term expiration until a successor was appointed and…
A South Dakota taxpayer lives in Township B but owns property in Township A (both in the same county and school district). He did not appeal his Township A property assessment to the Township A local board of equalization when it was sitting. Can he now appeal directly to the county board of equalization, or has he lost his appeal rights?
He can appeal directly to the county board. SDCL 10-11-27 requires complaints to be made to the local board first, except that a 'nonresident of the taxing district' may be heard without a prior…
Can a Texas home-rule city set up a nonprofit corporation to issue bonds for a community project?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Texas City, a home rule city, could sponsor a non-profit, no-share corporation organized under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act to issue bonds and…
Could a Washington public library charge residents to use ordinary library services?
Generally no, under the 1992 statutes the AG analyzed. It recognized specific statutory exceptions, and said libraries could charge nonresidents and could charge for convenience services that were…
Could Frankfort enforce its anti-mask ordinance against people on Kentucky's Capitol grounds?
Yes. The AG concluded that Frankfort's anti-mask ordinance could be enforced against people on state property within the city, including the Capitol grounds. It distinguished regulation of private…
Does Texas's retirement system pick specific insurance vendors for state-employee payroll deductions, or just types of coverage?
The Attorney General concluded that under V.T.C.S. article 6813g the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) must designate supplemental optional benefits programs (things like permanent life,…
How does a Texas bank recover franchise taxes it overpaid, and can the state offset what the bank still owes?
The Attorney General answered several questions from the Comptroller about refunding franchise taxes that banks had paid before a string of court losses showed the tax had been collected unlawfully.…
Could a Washington doctor refer a patient to an infusion company the doctor owned, or receive a fixed service fee from it?
The AG said referral to a physician-owned infusion company was barred under the anti-kickback statute unless the people furnishing services were effectively the physician’s employees. A fixed fee…
Can a Texas government board meet privately with outside companies to hear presentations without giving public notice?
This opinion overruled Attorney General Opinion DM-17 (1991). The Attorney General concluded that after the 1987 amendments to the Open Meetings Act, a 'meeting' subject to the act includes a…
Do city employees in Texas who spray for pests need a structural pest control license?
The Attorney General concluded that after the legislature deleted the old blanket exemption for government and educational employees, a city employee who engages in the business of structural pest…
In an old Texas workers' comp claim, who pays for a medical exam the board orders, the state or the insurance company?
The Attorney General concluded that the Industrial Accident Board and its successor, the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission, had long read former article 8307, section 4(a) to make the state…
Which Maine state accounts could not be touched by the 0.9% General Fund transfer under Part KKK?
The AG identified five categories that Part KKK could not lawfully reach: Baxter State Park trust accounts; Bureau of Parks and Recreation donor-restricted gift accounts; Bureau of Public Lands…
Does property the state seizes and forfeits in a Texas drug or crime case still owe property taxes?
The Attorney General concluded that real property forfeited to the state under chapter 59 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is exempt from ad valorem (property) taxation, under Tax Code section…
Which Maine DOT accounts had to give up 0.9% to the General Fund under Part KKK of the 1991 budget bill?
It depended on the source. The AG concluded that DOT's purely project-driven 'dedicated revenue' accounts were not automatically exempt and likely had to pay the Part KKK 0.9% surcharge. Accounts…
Could a Maryland oil spill responder lose legal immunity if their attempt to prevent a spill failed, or if they acted without first getting sign-off from a federal or state official?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a responder who tried in good faith to prevent or clean up an oil spill kept immunity from liability under EN §4-419 even if the effort failed, and…
If a Texas city or school district leases out property it owns to private businesses, does it still get a property tax exemption?
The Attorney General concluded that public property keeps its ad valorem tax exemption only if it is still held and used primarily for a public purpose. Leasing public property to a private party…
When did Maryland's 1992 constitutional amendments changing the civil jury trial rules, six-person juries and a $5,000 threshold, take effect, and did they apply to cases already pending?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the 1992 constitutional amendments and implementing statutes changing civil jury trials, allowing six-person juries and raising the amount-in-controversy…
When a Texas county redraws its commissioner precincts, do the boundaries of a hospital district tied to those precincts move too?
The Attorney General concluded no. The Hamilton County Hospital District's enabling legislation described its boundaries as coextensive with Hamilton County commissioners precincts 1, 2, and 4. When…
Did interest earned by Washington natural resources funds have to go into the state general fund?
The AG gave different answers by fund: Park Land Trust interest stayed with the trust; School Construction Revolving Fund interest generally stayed, with a narrow general-fund appropriation…
Can a Texas city set up an economic development program and sell bonds to pay for business incentives?
The Attorney General concluded that section 380.001 of the Local Government Code, which lets a city establish programs (including loans and grants of public money) to promote economic development,…
Do Texas retirement systems have to follow the disadvantaged-business contracting rules when they hire investment brokers and advisers?
The Attorney General drew a line. Contracts for investment counseling or investment advice are excepted from House Bill 799 (the 1991 law amending article 601b that asks state agencies to help…
Did Maryland's hate crimes law survive after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar cross-burning ordinance in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Maryland's hate crimes statute, Article 27, §470A, remained constitutional after the Supreme Court's 1992 R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul decision, because the…
When the State of Idaho operates land or facilities inside a county, does the state agency have to comply with the county's zoning ordinances?
Yes, by default. Idaho Code § 67-6528 says state agencies must comply with local zoning ordinances adopted under the Local Planning Act unless a constitutional provision or another statute expressly…
Can a North Carolina city buy 100% of the stock of a private water/sewer company and then keep the company alive as a shell so the seller pays less tax?
No. The City of Charlotte wanted to buy all the shares of a private residential water/sewer corporation and keep the corporation alive (with City employees as directors and officers) instead of…
Did Connecticut budget fiscal notes require school grants to named organizations?
No. The AG said the education department could not award grants to organizations named in budget fiscal notes merely because the notes recommended them. The organizations still had to apply and…
Was Central Connecticut State’s alumni association a state-agency foundation?
No. Although the Central Connecticut State University Alumni Association was tax-exempt, the AG found that its principal purpose was not to receive or use private funds to benefit the university.…
Can a Texas county make its courthouse and other county buildings smoke-free?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, a county commissioners court is authorized to regulate smoking within and on county property, including creating a smoke-free environment or designating…
Could Connecticut require Medicaid patients or lawyers to report medical-expense lawsuits?
Yes. The AG concluded that Connecticut could enact a rule requiring a Medicaid recipient or the recipient’s attorney to notify the state when filing a lawsuit to recover medical expenses from a…
Did a Washington city spanning two counties have to plan citywide when only one county followed the Growth Management Act?
Yes. The AG said a city partly inside a county planning under the Act had to adopt the required plan and development regulations for its entire territory, including its portion in a nonplanning county.
Can a Texas city require its own license to sell tobacco, on top of the state permit, to crack down on sales to minors?
The Attorney General concluded no. Sections 154.101(h) and 155.041(h) of the Tax Code say that permits to engage in business as a tobacco retailer (and as a distributor, wholesaler, or bonded agent)…
Can the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission release or destroy minor injury reports where the worker missed no work?
The Attorney General concluded several things. The Commission did not have to collect or keep employer reports of 'no lost time' (NLT) injuries (where the worker missed a day or less) and could…
Could a company that tracks down owners of unclaimed property get the dollar value of what each person is owed from Maryland's abandoned property records?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Comptroller's Unclaimed Property Section had to withhold the monetary value or description of a person's abandoned property because that information…
Could Maryland law enforcement withhold a crime victim's name and address from a public records request?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a crime victim's name and address were a public record subject to disclosure under the Public Information Act, that no law gave victims an enforceable…
Does time in a court-ordered drug treatment facility count toward your prison sentence if your probation is later revoked in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that it does not. Under the version of Penal Code section 12.422 in effect in 1992, a court could order an eligible defendant to serve two separate periods: first, six…
Does a Texas city, county, or other local government have to carry workers' compensation insurance for its employees?
The Attorney General concluded that yes, under the workers' compensation laws as rewritten in 1989, a political subdivision must provide workers' compensation coverage for its employees. It can…
Did a Washington locomotive engineer have to both ring the bell and blow the whistle at a railroad crossing?
No. The AG read the 1992 criminal statute to allow either warning at covered crossings. It also cautioned that meeting that statutory minimum did not necessarily eliminate civil liability after an…
Could Maryland's state lottery legally add keno or video lottery machines without new legislation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State Lottery Agency already had authority under existing law to offer a keno game, but that video lottery terminals resembling video poker machines…
Can a Texas community college borrow money against its delinquent maintenance taxes to fix up an old building on campus?
The Attorney General concluded that a junior (community) college district could pledge its delinquent local-maintenance taxes as security for a loan under section 20.45 of the Education Code. The…
Did Washington’s LEOFF system have to credit member contributions with every dollar its investments earned?
No. The AG said the director could set credited interest based on the fund’s net annual earnings, but the statute did not require the credited rate to equal actual net investment earnings.
Could a reelected Connecticut legislator become a state auditor before the current term ended?
The AG said a reelected legislator could accept an appointment as Auditor of Public Accounts before the existing legislative term ended if the member-elect status was resigned before the new term.…
When Idaho's 1992 legislation moved school-community libraries into the new library-district statutes, did the four existing libraries automatically become independent library districts, or did they have to hold a new election to start over?
They automatically became school-community library districts on July 1, 1992, with their own boards and continuous taxing authority. The legislative history makes clear that the Idaho Legislature…
Who is liable in Idaho when a construction project destroys a recorded land survey monument, and can the Board of Professional Engineers sue to make them put it back?
Idaho Code § 54-1234 imposes a $500 penalty plus actual damages only on persons who willfully deface, injure, or remove a monument set by a registered land surveyor. Accidental destruction has no…
Could a Kentucky city cancel an annexation referendum by repealing its intent ordinance?
No. The AG said that once a proper opposition petition was filed, the city had to hold the annexation election even if it repealed its initial intent ordinance. The city could still decide against…
When does a Texas teacher returning from temporary disability leave have to be put back to work?
The Attorney General concluded that section 13.905(e) of the Education Code required a school district to put a teacher returning from a leave of absence for temporary disability back on active duty…
Could Connecticut renew an elevator certificate before inspecting it?
No. The AG concluded that accepting a renewal fee did not authorize an elevator operating certificate before inspection. The department had to inspect and approve the elevator or escalator, as well…
Can a North Carolina probation officer throw a probationer into jail for up to 30 days for minor or technical violations, based on a special condition the sentencing judge wrote into the probation order?
No. The NC Department of Correction asked whether a sentencing judge could write a special probation condition that gave the probation officer up to 30 days of unilateral incarceration authority for…
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