State AG Opinions
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How were irrigation assessments handled when a Washington county or irrigation district sold foreclosed land?
The AG distinguished who held the land. A district could not give its buyer a deed until the buyer paid the outstanding taxes and assessments, even if they exceeded market value. A county selling…
Did a Washington counseling business have to register as a counselor because it employed counselors?
No. The AG said the registration and disciplinary provisions applied to individuals who performed counseling services, not the employing business merely as an employer. Whether a person was covered…
Could a Maryland county school board lease public school land to a private nonprofit school serving special-education students, like the Harbour School?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the Anne Arundel County Board of Education could lease public school property to the Harbour School, a nonprofit special-education institution, as…
Could Connecticut's emergency management director set training and qualification standards for local civil preparedness volunteers?
Yes. The Attorney General said the state director could set minimum qualifications and training standards for local civil preparedness personnel, including volunteers. Statewide orders and…
Did Washington’s mandatory HIV-testing law for sexual-offense convictions apply to juvenile adjudications?
No. The AG said the 1991 statute applied to people convicted of a sexual offense, while a juvenile adjudication under the Juvenile Justice Act was not a criminal conviction under that provision.
Which 1990 census counts did Connecticut use to decide how many package store permits a town could have?
The Attorney General said the official town counts Connecticut received on January 24, 1991 were the completed 1990 census for the package store permit ratio. Possible later corrections did not…
Does Maryland inheritance tax apply to money from a retirement plan or IRA left to someone other than a surviving spouse?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that retirement plan, IRA, and annuity proceeds are subject to Maryland inheritance tax whenever they are taxable for federal estate tax purposes, that…
Can a Texas hospital district pay dues to join a chamber of commerce or nonprofit, or reimburse an official's membership?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The Dallas County Hospital District is a creature of limited authority, and nothing in chapter 281 of the Health and Safety Code authorizes its board to spend…
Does a Texas overweight truck permit measure the five percent against the vehicle's weight or the road's limit?
Against the vehicle's allowable gross weight, the Attorney General concluded. A section 5B permit from the Highway Department lets the listed commercial vehicles run at a weight that exceeds their…
Can a Maryland public drainage association manager also hold another paid government office at the same time?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a member of the board of managers of a public drainage association holds an 'office of profit' under Article 35 of the Maryland Declaration of…
Could Maryland require its prison health care contractors to test employees for HIV and restrict what HIV-positive doctors and nurses could do?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the state could not restrict or test HIV-positive health care providers whose jobs did not involve procedures with a real risk of blood exposure,…
Could Washington cities and counties limit how many terms their elected local officials served?
The AG said charter cities and counties, noncharter first-class cities, and noncharter code cities had that authority. It distinguished their adoption methods: charter governments could use routes…
Did Maryland reimburse counties for inmates on home detention the same way it reimbursed them for inmates physically held in the local jail?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that local jurisdictions were entitled to state reimbursement under Article 27, §690 for sentenced inmates placed in a home detention program, but that…
Can a member of the public ask the North Carolina Board for Licensing of Geologists to hand over an applicant's test score?
No. The Board's records of its proceedings and its register of licensees are public records open under N.C.G.S. § 132-6. But individual test scores, applications, and supporting materials like…
Does a Maryland retirement system have to accept service credit transferred from a different type of public pension system?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a retirement system must accept a transferring member's service credit even if the member's former system was a different type (contributory or…
Did a Maryland school board have to competitively bid the refinancing of a lease-purchase deal that had already funded and built a public school?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that once a school building had already been constructed under a competitively bid lease-purchase agreement, the Board of Education of Baltimore County…
Did planning documents for a new Maryland bridge legally obligate the state to keep funding the old drawbridge next to it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that the State was not legally obligated to keep funding maintenance of the old Kent Narrows Drawbridge, because planning statements made during…
Was a Maryland county legally required to fund its local election board at the staffing level the board said it needed to run elections?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a county government could not cut a local election board's budget below the staffing level the board, with the approval of the State Administrative…
Could Washington’s governor create binding wetlands rules by executive order without statutory authority?
No. The AG said an executive order could state policy or direct officials, but could not create obligations with the force of law without constitutional or statutory authority. It found no such…
Were occupational injury reports confidential when Labor or Workers' Compensation collected them for a joint health study?
Yes, under the 1991 opinion, if those agencies collected the reports as substantive partners in a morbidity-and-mortality study with the Department of Health Services. The Attorney General said the…
Would Connecticut have to stop all state payroll and services if lawmakers missed the 1991 budget deadline?
No. The Attorney General said a missing budget did not bar every payment: essential government operations and statutory duties could continue under the rule he drew from State v. Staub. He warned…
Did a Washington contractor offering only chiropractic coverage owe a health insurance pool assessment for those subscribers?
No. The AG said the assessment formula counted people covered under a “health plan,” which then required both hospital and medical benefits. Chiropractic-only coverage without hospital services did…
Can Maine pay its district attorneys' traffic-prosecution costs out of the Highway Fund instead of the General Fund?
Yes, but only for the portion of a district attorney's budget actually attributable to traffic-law prosecution. Article IX § 19 permits Highway Fund spending on traffic enforcement, and the AG saw…
Can a Texas school principal refuse a teacher the district wants to transfer to the campus?
Yes, the Attorney General concluded. Education Code section 13.352(d) gives each principal authority to approve all teacher and staff appointments on the campus. Nothing limits that approval power…
Could Maryland's Environmental Trust keep and spend gift money without running it through the state budget and appropriations process?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Maryland Environmental Trust, though a State agency and not fiscally independent like the Chesapeake Bay Trust, could still maintain and spend gift…
Could a Maryland minor visit the local health department for birth control or STD treatment during school hours without their parents' consent, and could the school get in trouble for not telling the parents?
In 1991, Maryland's Attorney General found no state-law barrier to a minor's health department visit for birth control and other care it analyzed without parental consent, subject to school…
What clerk fee applies to a Texas condemnation case, and when is it due?
A maximum of $40, the Attorney General concluded, with different timing in the two courts. In county court, a condemnation falls in the clerk's 'all others' filing-fee category at $40, but because a…
Could Connecticut's chief medical examiner issue a disinterment permit for a second autopsy?
No. The Attorney General said the chief medical examiner's subregistrar powers covered burial and removal permits, not disinterment permits. For a suspicious death with improper death certification,…
Could a federal bankruptcy court stop a Maryland liquor license from expiring under state law while the licensee was in bankruptcy?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a federal bankruptcy court had full authority to enjoin a county liquor board from letting a debtor's alcoholic beverage license expire under Maryland's…
What does 'locality where the work is performed' mean under the Texas prevailing wage law?
The political subdivision most nearly corresponding to where the work is done, the Attorney General concluded. Under article 5159a, a state agency setting a prevailing wage for a public works…
Do Texas detention centers and lock-ups have to follow the same single-cell rules as county jails?
Not necessarily, the Attorney General concluded. Low-risk facilities, lock-ups, detention centers, and county correctional centers are 'county jails' that fall under the Texas Commission on Jail…
Can the Maine Legislature borrow money out of a voter-approved bond fund and put it back later if it does not change the original purpose?
No. Pulling unspent bond money out of the Maine State Park and Recreation Area Fund and using it for debt service, even for 15 months, violated Article IX § 14 of the Maine Constitution because…
Could a school-district risk pool issue revenue anticipation notes through a newly created interlocal entity?
The AG said districts could create a separate risk-pool entity, but the interlocal agreement gave it no new substantive power. Because educational service districts lacked authority to issue the…
Can a Maryland homeowners association or club, organized as a nonstock corporation, block members from counting toward a meeting quorum by proxy through a bylaw, or does it take a charter amendment?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that a nonstock corporation, such as a homeowners association or social club incorporated under Maryland law, could not use its bylaws alone to stop…
When a New Jersey city council, board, or state commission has empty seats, do you count those vacant seats when figuring out whether you have a quorum to hold a meeting?
It depends on how the enabling statute is worded. If the statute sets a specific number ('5 directors of a 9-member board') or says quorum is 'a majority of all the members' / 'all the authorized…
Can a Maryland homeowners association ban family day care homes with a vote of just a small quorum instead of a majority of all members?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a homeowners association could prohibit the operation of a family day care home only if a simple majority of all of the association's eligible voting…
Can a Texas groundwater district charge fees to permit or register a water well?
No, the Attorney General concluded. Section 52.151 of the Water Code gives an underground water conservation district broad rule-making power to conserve and protect groundwater, but it does not…
Can the Texas Legislature reimburse its members for expenses beyond the per diem in the constitution?
Yes, for legislative expenses, the Attorney General concluded. Article III, section 24 of the Texas Constitution sets a member's salary, per diem, and mileage, and bars extra compensation or payment…
Who counts as a 'team physician' under the Texas athletic trainer licensing law?
Only a medical doctor, the Attorney General concluded. The term 'physician' in section 1(1) of the athletic trainer statute (article 4512d) refers to a person licensed by the State Board of Medical…
Can an Idaho resort city make sellers collect its local sales tax on ski lift tickets and building materials?
The AG concluded that the City of Sun Valley could require a seller to collect the city's local-option sales tax on ski lift tickets sold inside the city limits, and on building materials when title…
Could Washington require a recovered LEOFF Plan II officer to repeat basic training after a disability-related break in service?
No. The AG said the training commission could not apply its basic-training rule as a condition of reemployment when the officer’s service break was due solely to disability under the restoration statute.
Can a state board impose training requirements on elected community college trustees in Texas?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board could not, by rule, set educational or training requirements for trustees of junior college districts. The…
Where does money from inmate pay phones in a Texas county jail go?
To the county treasurer, the Attorney General concluded. Proceeds from pay telephones in a county jail are not commissary proceeds governed by Local Government Code section 351.0415, which gives the…
Does Maryland require a license to call yourself a 'therapist' or 'psychotherapist'?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that 'psychotherapist' and 'therapist' were not protected professional titles under Maryland law and could not be licensed or restricted the way titles…
Can a state licensing board member also work for a company the board regulates?
Not in this case, the Attorney General concluded. The audiologist member of the Texas Board of Examiners in the Fitting and Dispensing of Hearing Aids was barred by statute from having a 'financial…
Can the Maine Legislature change retirement rules for state employees who already have ten years of service?
The AG discouraged Part F of LD 927 to the extent it would change retirement age, contribution rates, or health-premium subsidies for state employees who already have ten years of service. For…
If I'm homeless in New Jersey and don't have a permanent address, can I register to vote, and what address do I put on the form?
Yes. Homelessness alone cannot bar registration. The opinion describes a constitutional requirement of 30 days' residence in New Jersey and the county, plus a statutory requirement to vote in the…
Could a Washington local government pay employee medical benefits directly without an express self-funding statute?
The AG said charter counties, charter and code cities, and municipal corporations acting in a proprietary capacity had broad enough powers to self-fund if consistent with their authority. Other…
Can a Texas transit board review bids in a closed session without violating the Open Meetings Act?
Only within narrow limits, the Attorney General concluded. The Houston METRO board was not holding a 'meeting' under the Open Meetings Act if its members merely gathered to receive information and…
Does a registered manufactured-housing installer need a Railroad Commission certificate to haul the home?
No, the Attorney General concluded. An installer who holds a valid certificate of registration under the Texas Manufactured Housing Standards Act (article 5221f) is exempt from the…
Can a Texas state agency pay for home modifications out of money not appropriated for that program?
No, the Attorney General concluded. The Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation could make architectural modifications to a client's private home only with the funds specifically…
Which Connecticut sheriff fees did the state have to report for Social Security coverage?
The Attorney General said Connecticut had to report sheriffs' and chief deputy sheriffs' state salaries and fees for employee duties, including specified court and security work. It did not report…
Could a Connecticut injury lawyer keep the insurer's no-fault fee contribution on top of a fee from the whole recovery?
No. The Attorney General said a lawyer who took the agreed fee from the whole personal-injury recovery could not also keep the insurer's contribution toward the cost of recovering basic reparations…
In Maryland, does the legislature have to wait for the governor to submit a redistricting map before it can vote on its own?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded in 1991 that under Article III, Section 5 of the state constitution, the General Assembly could hold hearings and prepare its own legislative redistricting plan…
Does a Maine legislator who is appointed to a state commission need to take a separate oath, even though she has already sworn the legislative oath?
Yes. Under Article IX, § 1 of the Maine Constitution, a legislator appointed to the Special Commission on Governmental Restructuring had to take a separate oath before discharging Commission duties,…
Could Bridgeport reset its property tax rate after the state review board rejected its budget?
Yes, if the Bridgeport Financial Review Board approved an interim budget that required a different rate to balance it. The Attorney General said the Common Council then had to reset the rate, even…
Could a Washington community college bypass its enrollment cap by labeling regular tuition classes “self-supporting”?
No. The AG said genuine contract education for outside entities could fall outside the enrollment limit, but merely calling otherwise ordinary students contract students did not let a college exceed…
Can Maine's Governor block a legislatively-created position from being filled by telling the agency chair not to fund it?
No. Governor McKernan lacked both statutory and constitutional authority to direct the Maine Board of Environmental Protection's Chair not to fund the new Executive Director position. The…
Were Connecticut's contracted rehabilitation medical consultants protected from personal liability as state employees?
Yes, for the physicians and psychologists in this opinion. The Attorney General found that the agency directed their regular file-review work, bringing them within the statutory state-employee…
Could a Maine school board defer state-mandated education programs in 1991 because the state had not restored aid to 1990 levels?
No. The mandate-deferral provision in P.L. 1991, c. 9 was not triggered, because the FY 1990-91 state aid (about $521 million, 56.76% of total allocation) already exceeded the FY 1989-90 levels…
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