State AG Opinions
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Could Kentucky election officials share staff support and resources with a nonprofit voter education group?
Yes. The AG said Kentucky election agencies could cooperate with a nonprofit on voter education, registration, and participation programs. It treated those programs as a valid public purpose under…
Could a Washington coroner issue a presumptive death certificate based only on a suicide note and a missing body?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that a suicide note and missing body alone did not satisfy the statute, which required evidence of death from an accident or natural disaster. Other evidence…
Which Maryland state employees were covered by the old Merit System's EEO, whistleblower, leave, and overtime rules?
In 1992, Maryland's Attorney General found the EEO program covered classified executive branch employees, while whistleblower protection also reached unclassified executive branch employees and…
Did Kentucky's ten-zone limit make its enterprise-zone tax benefits unconstitutional special legislation?
The AG concluded that the enterprise-zone statutes then in force violated Kentucky's bans on local and special legislation. Limiting tax and other benefits to ten selected areas treated other…
Is a Maryland state employee's full-salary accident leave pay after a job injury subject to federal and state income tax?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that pay received by a state employee under the accident leave statute, full salary continued after a job-related injury, qualified as compensation under a…
Is random drug testing of all public employees legal in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that whether a particular government drug-testing policy is constitutional generally turns on facts, so it is beyond the scope of an AG opinion; the governing board…
Can a Texas county build its jail somewhere other than the county seat?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Although county jails were traditionally placed at the county seat, a 1989 amendment to section 292.001 of the Local Government Code authorized a commissioners…
Is a Texas county auditor's own salary subject to the 5% budget increase cap?
The Attorney General concluded no. Local Government Code section 111.013 capped year-over-year increases in 'the amount budgeted for expenses of the county auditor's office' and in an assistant…
Can a Texas lender make you buy manufactured-home insurance from a company it picks?
The Attorney General concluded a creditor in a manufactured-home credit transaction could require the buyer to carry a paid-in-full property insurance policy for whatever term the creditor set, but…
Can the Texas Commission on Jail Standards approve temporary or alternative inmate housing?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Only a county's traditional jail had to satisfy Chapter 351 of the Local Government Code. Other facilities that held county inmates answered only to the…
Can a Texas budget rider force a state agency to adopt another department's procedures?
The Attorney General concluded no. A rider to a general appropriations act may only detail, limit, or restrict how appropriated money is spent. The rider here ordered the Texas Department on Aging…
Can Maryland's Toll Facilities Police arrest someone on property that isn't owned or controlled by the Transportation Authority?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Toll Facilities Police officers could exercise their arrest powers only on property owned, leased, or controlled by the Maryland Transportation Authority,…
Could a Maryland county in 1992 pass its local piggyback income tax rate increase before June 1 and still have the increase take effect on June 1?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a county could enact or adopt a resolution or ordinance raising its local piggyback income tax rate above 50% before June 1, 1992, so long as the increase…
Could Maryland's Secretary of Personnel cut a state employee's pay without telling the legislature?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Secretary of Personnel had authority under the old Merit System Law to decrease state employee pay rates without notifying the General Assembly,…
Could Maine cut state employee salaries above $50,000 when those salaries were set by collective bargaining contracts the State had already signed?
Probably not for unionized employees. The AG concluded that the 3% and 2% salary cuts in P.L. 1991, c. 780, §§ AAA-1 and AAA-2 likely effected an unconstitutional impairment of the University of…
Can Texas's TABC presume a seller 'knowingly' sold alcohol to a minor just for not checking ID?
The Attorney General concluded no. The statutes let the Alcoholic Beverage Commission suspend or cancel a license only when the seller 'knowingly' sold alcohol to a minor, and Texas courts have read…
Can a Texas commissioners court remove people it appointed to a county district board?
The Attorney General concluded that members of the governing boards of a county emergency services district, a rural fire prevention district, and the Comal County Water Oriented Recreation District…
Can a Texas school district pick a bidder who isn't lowest because they're local or grow the tax base?
The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district could not award a competitively-bid construction contract to a bidder who was not the lowest based on the bidder's residence or…
When an Idaho inmate has multiple consecutive sentences, each with both a fixed and an indeterminate portion, how do the fixed and indeterminate parts get stacked for parole eligibility?
All the fixed (minimum) terms must be served consecutively first, before any indeterminate period starts to run. After the fixed terms are completed, the indeterminate terms are added together to…
Does a Maryland county with zoning authority have to adopt its own forest conservation program, or can it let the state handle it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Forest Conservation Act required every local government with planning and zoning authority, including Carroll County, to develop and adopt its own…
Could a Washington city or county ban rent increases used to force a residential tenant to leave?
The Attorney General concluded in 1992 that state rent-control preemption barred the proposed local ordinance. It would regulate rent by limiting a landlord’s ability to raise it when the increase…
Could Kentucky voters or election officers wear campaign buttons or shirts inside a polling place?
The AG said a campaign button or shirt counted as electioneering under KRS 117.235. The prohibition could be enforced against election officers, but the First Amendment prevented applying it to…
When did ordinary Kentucky laws from the 1992 session take effect after early adjournment?
The Attorney General said ordinary legislation from Kentucky's 1992 regular session became effective July 14, 1992. The Assembly actually adjourned April 14, one day earlier than assumed in an…
Were occasional charter and tour buses exempt from Kentucky's interstate vehicle property-tax assessment procedure?
The AG found no exemption in the interstate-vehicle assessment statute for occasional or transient buses and saw no constitutional defect in that procedure. It declined to say whether any particular…
Did a Kentucky city owe the county PVA a fee if it reused the PVA's prior-year property assessments?
The AG concluded in 1992 that a city using the county PVA's earlier assessment as the basis for its current assessment had effectively elected to use it and owed the statutory fee. Whether a…
In Texas, who picks the doctor for county jail inmates: the sheriff or the commissioners court?
The Attorney General concluded that only the county commissioners court could contract with a licensed physician to provide medical services to county jail inmates, because the commissioners court…
Could an unpaid doctor demand a victim compensation hearing for an absent patient?
No. The AG said an oral surgeon who had treated an assault victim but had not been paid could not request a victim compensation hearing in the victim’s name. The payment provision did not give a…
Is a charity casino-night fundraiser with real betting legal in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that people playing the casino games at the described nonprofit casino-night fundraiser would be committing the Penal Code offense of gambling, because paying for…
Did Texas's boxing admission tax apply to pay-per-view fees cable subscribers paid to watch fights at home?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the pay-per-view fees cable television subscribers paid to watch a live boxing telecast at home were not 'admission fees' under section 11(b) of the Texas…
Could a Texas county judge preside over probate of a will the judge drafted, witnessed, or that involved the judge's former law practice or relatives?
No single answer applied to all five situations. Constitutional disqualification required a direct financial interest, prohibited relationship to a party, or prior service as counsel in the same…
Can a Texas bail bond board make license applicants post cash instead of property deeds for their security deposit?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Smith County Bail Bond Board could not adopt a rule forcing an original bail bond applicant to make the required security deposit only in the form of a…
Can a county attorney defend a hospital district employee in a criminal case, and can the district pay the legal bills?
Mostly no. The Attorney General concluded that article 2.08 of the Code of Criminal Procedure barred the Harris County Attorney from representing a Harris County Hospital District employee in a…
Are auctioneer services 'professional services' that a Texas city can exempt from competitive bidding?
Not automatically. The Attorney General concluded that, except for the services covered by the Professional Services Procurement Act, a municipality decides in the first instance whether particular…
Do the county Site Designation Review Committees, created under G.S. § 104G-19 to advise county boards on a planned low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, have authority to enter privately-owned land for site-characterization monitoring under G.S. § 143B-285.14 or any other statute, without the landowner's consent?
No. The 1992 AG concluded that G.S. § 143B-285.14 authorizes DEHNR, the NC Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Authority, and their direct agents/contractors (including the prospective license…
Could the Texas police licensing commission require peace officers and jailers to be U.S. citizens?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education exceeded its rulemaking authority when it adopted 37 Texas Administrative Code section…
Could Connecticut health officials share or publicly release a licensed worker’s HIV status?
The AG said public health staff could not pass identifiable disease surveillance information about a licensed worker to licensing investigators or boards. He also concluded that HIV or AIDS…
Does a Texas life sentence ever end before the person dies, such as when they are paroled?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a life sentence is exactly what it says, a sentence that continues until the convicted person's death. A person serving life may become eligible for parole,…
Can a Texas juvenile board raise the salaries of its own county judge members?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the juvenile board for Castro, Hale, and Swisher counties had no authority to set the salaries of its members. Human Resources Code section 152.0411(c) gives…
Can a Texas court reporter sign an exclusive contract to handle all of one company's deposition reporting?
The Attorney General concluded that neither Texas statutes nor the Texas Supreme Court's certification rules prohibited a certified shorthand reporter from contracting with a company, often an…
Could a Kentucky county use voter registration counts instead of federal census figures when redrawing magisterial districts?
The AG said the federal census deserved a strong presumption of correctness and could be set aside only on clear and convincing, county-wide evidence of error. Voter registration figures alone did…
Could parents serve on Kentucky school-based decision-making council committees?
The 1992 AG said the local school board could decide by policy whether parents could serve on committees that recommended matters to the school council. The statute gave certified staff a…
Could Connecticut lottery and off-track betting investigators carry pistols without a permit?
Yes, for appointed Special Revenue Investigators investigating or arresting people for offenses arising from the lottery or off-track betting system. The AG said their delegated State Police powers…
Could Kentucky's proposed 1992 job development assessment on employees be an illegal tax or special legislation?
The AG concluded that the proposed employee assessment was a payment to the employer, not a tax, because it would not go to government or pay governmental costs. It also found the bill's standards…
When an insurance company denies pre-authorization for a treatment a North Carolina doctor recommends, is the company practicing medicine without a license?
No. The North Carolina Board of Medical Examiners asked whether utilization review and pre-certification by third-party payors counted as the practice of medicine. The AG said no. The statute…
Did Kentucky's 1990 subdivision-road amendment make counties pay all maintenance costs for roads accepted before July 1990?
The 1992 AG said no. The amendment changed how qualifying roads could be accepted for public maintenance; it did not erase then-existing reimbursement requirements for abutting property owners or…
Can the Texas low-level radioactive waste authority base its impact-assistance fund on planning and implementation fees?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the board of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Authority cannot adopt a rule designating a percentage of its planning and implementation fees for…
Can a Texas insurance company credit rehabilitation fees against its premium tax?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the fees the State Board of Insurance collects from an insurer it rehabilitates under article 21.28-A of the Insurance Code are not 'examination and…
Can Texas cities, counties, or school districts deposit their funds in savings and loan associations?
No. The Attorney General concluded that municipalities, counties, independent school districts, and state institutions of higher learning are not authorized to deposit funds in the demand accounts…
Could local investors jointly develop a Kentucky horse-racing simulcast facility with a licensed track or buy part of that track?
The 1992 AG said local interests could invest through a joint venture with a licensed track or by buying an ownership interest, provided the licensed track maintained and operated the simulcast…
Could Connecticut make new residents wait for General Assistance or pay them less?
No. The AG concluded that all three proposed distinctions between new and longer-term residents would violate equal protection: denying benefits during a waiting period, paying newcomers less, and…
Could a Kentucky superintendent’s spouse remain an assistant principal if she sometimes filled in for the principal?
The 1992 AG said yes on the stated facts: the spouse met the service exception, and occasional short periods acting for the principal did not amount to regular, permanent supervision of certified or…
Could parents in Maryland get an orphans' court to appoint a guardian for their child just so the child could attend public school tuition-free in a different county?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that orphans' courts could appoint a guardian of a minor only when neither parent was serving as guardian, because both parents had died or the surviving…
Could Kentucky fourth graders join an ungraded primary classroom with kindergarten through third grade?
The 1992 AG said fourth graders could not be placed in a joint class with ungraded primary students under the statute then in force. It noted a State Board exemption process for unusual class-size…
Can part-time doctors and nurses at a Texas county jail get state indemnification and a free legal defense?
Not under chapter 104. The Attorney General concluded that health care professionals employed by or under contract with a county jail are not entitled to state indemnification or legal…
When did the cancellation period start for a home solicitation sale if the seller helped arrange financing after the sales contract?
The 1992 AG said a seller-assisted sale and financing formed one transaction for Kentucky’s home-solicitation rule. The three-business-day cancellation period did not start until the credit contract…
Does Texas's voluntary paternity procedure give a child the same rights as the old voluntary legitimation procedure?
Yes, in substance. The Attorney General concluded that when Texas renamed its Family Code procedure from 'voluntary legitimation' to 'voluntary paternity' in 1989, it did not change the substance.…
Can a Texas commissioners court take the county treasurer out of the process of investing county funds?
Not entirely. The Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court cannot remove the county treasurer from investing county funds, because the treasurer is the chief custodian of county money…
Could a Kentucky university skip competitive procurement for an audit by declaring allegations about its finances an emergency?
The AG said the university's stated need to investigate financial allegations did not show an emergency under KRS 45A.095. It could not decide whether the audit contract was illegal because it…
Did a Kentucky administrative law judge's violation of a governor's ethics order automatically justify removal?
No. The AG said violating a governor's executive order did not automatically violate the Code of Judicial Conduct. The workers' compensation board could remove an administrative law judge for a Code…
Could a Kentucky pharmacist refill a physician’s prescription on a physician assistant’s own authorization?
The 1992 AG said no. A physician assistant could not prescribe or independently authorize a refill under the law the AG read, but could convey the supervising prescriber’s specific authorization if…
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