State AG Opinions
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Can the South Carolina Department of Revenue audit an electric cooperative's governance, financial disclosures, and patronage capital?
No. The Department of Revenue may audit electric cooperatives for South Carolina taxes it administers, but it may not conduct the separate governance and compliance audits assigned to the Office of…
Did Frederica violate Delaware FOIA when a requester said she never received the town's response to permit-record requests?
No. The town clerk swore that she sent a response and cost estimate within 15 business days and resent the material after learning it had not arrived.
Which court can expunge a Mississippi municipal court conviction: the municipal court itself?
Yes. The municipal court where a person was convicted keeps the authority to expunge that conviction, unless a statute directs otherwise. Section 99-19-71 lets a first-offender misdemeanant petition…
Can an Arizona community college develop attainable housing and partner with businesses on workforce training?
Yes, in general. The AG concluded that Yavapai College may develop housing and conduct workforce training with private, public, or tribal partners, but declined to approve any specific project and…
Can New Castle County deny a Delaware FOIA request from an out-of-state reporter for records from a police death investigation?
Yes. The record did not establish that the requester or his organization was a Delaware citizen, and the requested police-response materials also belonged to an exempt investigatory file.
Can a North Dakota county charge city residents more for 911 dispatch or provide them fewer police dispatch services?
No. A county-operated public safety answering point must include all public safety services in its service area on equal terms and may not give city residents fewer standard dispatch services or…
May ad valorem taxes levied for the Cleburne County Hospital Board pay for emergency care and ambulance transport for county jail inmates?
Yes. Cleburne County may use surplus Amendment 72 hospital-tax funds for jail inmates' emergency medical care and ambulance transport, provided the money is not already pledged for hospital-board…
Is an Arkansas church property tax exempt if part of the building is used as a retail coffee shop?
The Attorney General declined to answer. Whether the church property qualifies for a tax exemption depends on the burden of proof and standard of construction for tax exemptions, and those exact…
Who pays for an Arkansas circuit court's staff and expenses, the county or the state?
A circuit judge decides whether to hire a secretary, but the county quorum court sets that salary at a reasonable level and must fund the position; it cannot refuse to create it. Most circuit court…
Does a Virginia town need a two-thirds vote to set its tax rate, even if the rate isn't going up?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that when a town's charter is silent on the voting threshold, § 15.2-1427(G) requires a two-thirds vote of the town council to impose a tax rate, and that…
Can a county official, instead of the board of supervisors, ask VDOT to add a street to the state highway system in Virginia?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the VDOT regulations (24 VAC § 30-91-60(E)(7) and § 30-91-150(B)(3)) unambiguously require a formal resolution of the county's governing body (the board of…
Can a Mississippi school district subsidize rent to help its employees afford housing?
Mississippi law does give school boards a path to help employees with housing: Section 25-19-1 authorizes public employers, including school boards, to establish employer-assisted housing programs…
Can a South Dakota water development district fund its own erosion-control projects or projects benefiting private landowners?
Yes. A South Dakota water development district may sponsor its own qualifying water-resource projects and projects for private groups, but direct beneficiaries generally must pay for the benefits…
How can a Mississippi city pay a municipal employee more for taking on duties beyond her regular job?
The city cannot simply hand the employee extra pay for work she has already taken on. To compensate her for duties outside her regular position, the city must renegotiate the terms of her employment…
Does a Delaware school district violate FOIA by not producing a direct vendor contract when sworn evidence says no such contract exists?
No. The district's chief financial officer swore that the district had no direct contract with the vendor and instead used another school district's contract, so there was no responsive direct…
Can a Mississippi utility district sell a perpetual easement for cell tower space on a water tank instead of just leasing it?
The Tunica County Utility District's local and private legislation gives it general authority to grant easements and contract, but does not specifically authorize an extended-term or perpetual…
Can the public get police Brady lists and misconduct records held by an Arkansas prosecutor under FOIA?
The AG approved releasing the Brady-related emails reviewed here. For the officer evaluation forms, suspension or termination alone is insufficient: the decision must also be administratively final,…
Can the public get a fired police officer's personnel file, internal affairs records, and termination letters under the Arkansas FOIA?
Mostly yes. A terminated police officer's routine personnel records and (because officers hold significant public trust) his internal affairs investigation and termination letters are releasable…
Can a Delaware city permanently withhold old executive-session minutes because they contain attorney-client communications?
Not automatically. Newark failed to show that releasing the requested executive-session minutes would still defeat the sessions' lawful purpose; relying on attorney-client privilege alone did not…
Can one Oklahoma rural water district charge another district whatever markup it wants for water sold through a shared pipeline?
Yes, largely. When one Oklahoma rural water district sells treated water to another district, both districts are acting as water wholesalers, not retail consumers, so the deal is governed by their…
Can a North Dakota school district tell a requester that future board-email searches may carry a fee after it spent over two hours on a request?
No violation. Mandan Public School District supplied emails outside Jordan's date range but told her no other responsive emails existed. The AG also found no violation in telling her that future…
Is a housing authority responsible for records requested from an employee acting in an unrelated personal role, like a school board seat?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded the Morton County Housing Authority did not violate the open records law, because the citizen's records request was addressed to the Housing Authority's…
How much control can a Texas county commissioners court exercise over employees hired by the sheriff, county clerk, or other elected officials?
Not much once a position is authorized. Local Government Code § 151.004 bars a commissioners court from screening candidates, expressing preferences, or otherwise trying to influence which specific…
Can a Texas city require new buildings to install 'electric-ready' wiring even if they run on natural gas appliances?
No. Texas Utilities Code § 181.903(b) bars cities from adopting codes that discriminate against a utility service based on its energy type or source, and the AG concluded Austin's 'electric-ready'…
How long does a North Dakota state agency have to respond to a public records request, and does it have to create new reports from its database?
The AG found that Veterans' Affairs did not have to create the particular database reports Volk requested but did have to provide existing reports. Its six-day delay before acknowledging her request…
What has to be announced before a North Dakota county commission can go into a closed executive session with its attorney?
The North Dakota AG found three violations: the agenda was too vague about the closed session's topics, the Commission did not adequately announce its legal authority for closing the meeting, and…
Can someone serve on both a school district board and the county board of education at the same time in California?
The Attorney General didn't decide the ultimate question, but granted a private citizen permission to sue in quo warranto because there is a substantial legal issue over whether simultaneously…
Can a South Dakota school district skip local competitive bidding by piggybacking on an out-of-state cooperative purchasing contract for a construction project?
No. South Dakota's cooperative purchasing statute (SDCL 5-18A-37) only covers supplies and services, not public improvement construction. A school district that signs a design-build construction…
Can Delaware State Police withhold search-warrant and phone-forensics records after an investigation ends without charges?
Yes. The requested records were tied to a specific police investigation and therefore fell within the investigatory-files exemption, which continues to apply after an investigation closes.
Can Arkansas keep taking a person's state tax refund to pay old court fines, and what hearing rights apply?
Arkansas's income tax refund setoff can be used to collect court fines and fees with no statute of limitations, until the criminal judgment is satisfied. A debtor can request a hearing, but that…
Do California public works contractors have to pay forepersons California's prevailing wage rate for their supervisory work?
No, not for the supervisory part of the job. California's prevailing wage law only covers manual, craft-level labor, so the Director of Industrial Relations does not have to publish a separate…
Can Delaware's Department of Correction extend a FOIA email review without a completion estimate and charge for exemption review?
No. DOC violated FOIA by omitting a good-faith estimate of when its email review would finish, failing to address non-email portions of three requests, and proposing fees for reviewing records for…
Does Mississippi's sex offender school-exclusion law apply to a community college campus that also has an on-site childcare center?
Enrollment in postsecondary coursework does not fall within the statutory exception that lets a registered sex offender be present at a 'school' where they are legally enrolled, because Section…
Who has to calculate the interest on a South Carolina property tax refund after a successful appeal, the assessor or the auditor?
Neither Section 12-60-2550(C) nor Section 12-60-2930(B) says who must calculate the interest owed on a property tax refund after a successful protest or appeal, so which office does it is a policy…
Can one Kansas community college absorb another college's taxing district if the other college closes?
No. If a Kansas community college closes, its taxing district ceases to exist and another college cannot absorb it automatically, though the remaining college may seek to add the territory under…
Can recalled city council members stay in office if they refuse to accept the recall election results?
The Attorney General did not decide whether the four Avenal councilmembers may lawfully remain in office after the recall. The opinion finds a substantial legal question under Elections Code section…
Can a small Delaware police department deny an email request because searching accounts is burdensome and some messages may be exempt?
No. The town had to determine whether responsive emails existed and review them rather than deny the request in full based on workload, security concerns, or the likelihood that many messages were exempt.
Can an Oklahoma CareerTech school district run its own licensed driver's ed program?
Yes. A CareerTech technology center school district may lawfully operate a licensed driver education program under its statutory power to act as a corporation for public purposes. The program must…
Can a Delaware city hide the identity of a private citizen whose safety proposal influenced a public works project?
Not in this case. A person who voluntarily raised a public-safety issue and proposed a solution had only a minimal privacy interest, which was outweighed by the public's interest in knowing who…
Can a Delaware city withhold the list of outside agencies that can access its automated license plate reader system?
Not on the grounds Milford offered. The city failed to show that its list of agencies with access to the license plate reader system belonged to a specific investigatory or intelligence file.
After Kentucky's HB 314, does the KCNA Board still run the state broadband authority or is it just advisory?
The Board is still the governing body, not a mere advisory group. The Attorney General concluded that HB 314 left KRS 154.15-030(3) untouched, so the Kentucky Communications Network Authority Board…
Did Milford violate FOIA by missing a virtual attendee's raised hand during public comment?
Yes. The Delaware AG concluded that Milford violated FOIA when a technical or staffing failure prevented a virtual attendee with a raised hand from giving public comment.
Has South Carolina legally waived its sovereign immunity so the federal government can enforce its highway environmental-review duties in federal court?
Yes. The South Carolina Attorney General confirmed the State has validly waived its Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity and accepted federal court jurisdiction for lawsuits arising from the…
What is the deadline to get a city form-of-government change on the Arkansas November 2026 ballot?
To place a change in Fort Smith's form of government on the November 3, 2026 ballot, the petition must reach the mayor and the resulting proclamation be filed with the county clerk by August 25,…
Is an amusement machine that combines a slot-style chance game with a skill-based bonus game still an illegal gambling device in Texas?
Yes. If chance plays any role in whether a player can win something of value, the machine is a gambling device under Penal Code Chapter 47, even when a skill-based mode is also part of the play.…
Could Rehoboth Beach withhold police reports, dispatch audio, and body-camera footage from a trespass response?
Yes. The Delaware AG concluded that the requested police records were exempt investigatory files and that the remaining request did not sufficiently identify particular policies or guidance.
Can a West Virginia county commission give out gift cards to residents who fill out a public survey?
Yes. The opinion concludes the Hampshire County Commission can lawfully spend public funds on gift cards to incentivize residents to complete surveys on the MARL transmission line, substance abuse…
Can West Virginia's School Building Authority give construction grants to a charter school that doesn't own its building?
Yes. West Virginia Code § 18-9D-15(o) has no ownership requirement, so the School Building Authority can fund renovation, remodeling, or construction at a charter school's leased facility. If the…
Must Florida public schools let students leave during the school day for off-campus religious instruction when a parent asks?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Florida school boards must grant parental requests for students to leave school for off-campus religious instruction and may not impose blanket, grade-level,…
Did Lewes violate FOIA by temporarily removing a public meeting video from its website?
No. The Delaware AG concluded that FOIA required meeting minutes but did not require the commission to record its meeting or keep the video posted online.
Which Mississippi county does an out-of-state resident register a vehicle in if they keep it on land they own with a camper on it?
Under Mississippi law, a vehicle's domicile, not the owner's residence, determines where it must be registered and taxed. Whether a specific vehicle is domiciled in a Mississippi county is a factual…
Can a Mississippi town cut off water service to an out-of-town homeowner who refuses to connect to a new sewer line?
No. A Mississippi town may not terminate the water service of a homeowner outside its corporate limits solely because that homeowner rejects new sanitary sewer services, and there is no statutory…
Can an individual alderman in a Mississippi code charter city direct city employees or run a department's day-to-day operations?
An individual alderman generally has no authority to direct the daily activities of municipal employees or get involved in running a department, and doing so can violate the separation-of-powers…
Can a South Carolina county use transportation sales-tax money to build a highway noise barrier?
Likely yes. The Attorney General concluded that an engineered highway noise barrier, built to mitigate noise from a county transportation project and serving no other purpose, likely qualifies as an…
Are a public university employee's work text messages and emails public under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a university employee's text messages and the emails discussing them are personnel records, and since nothing in them was intimate enough to be a clearly…
Can the public get a fired government employee's personnel file and investigation report under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes, mostly. Under the Arkansas FOIA, a public employee's personnel records must be disclosed with private details (Social Security number, contact info, financial data) redacted. The one…
How does Virginia decide whether a long-term hotel guest is using the hotel as their 'primary residence' for tenant-protection purposes?
The determination of what constitutes a 'primary residence,' as that term is used in Virginia Code § 55.1-1201(D), requires a case-specific review considering the totality of the factual…
How do you get a citizen initiative on the Arkansas ballot, and why does the AG reject proposed ballot titles?
The Attorney General rejected the proposed 'Medical Marijuana Patient Employment Protection Act.' The sponsor submitted no ballot title (which alone requires rejection), the text lacked the required…
Could Greenwood discuss employee premium pay and handbook changes in a closed executive session?
Not on the record presented. The Delaware AG found that Greenwood failed to show that employee premium pay and handbook changes fit the personnel exception for executive session.
Can a North Dakota sheriff's office refuse to release inmate disciplinary records under an open records request?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded that the Williams County Sheriff's Office properly withheld institutional discipline and protective management records: those records are exempt (for…
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