State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No opinions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
How often did a Texas county have to publish a bid notice, and could one bid cover both buying equipment and guaranteeing its resale?
Notice had to run at least once a week from first publication until bids opened, so a gap week made this solicitation fall short. And a single bid could not cover both the purchase and a later…
If a Texas psychologist is exempt from licensing but chooses to get licensed anyway, does the state board have authority over them?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a person who voluntarily obtains certification or licensure under the Psychologists' Certification and Licensing Act becomes subject to…
Can a Texas judge appoint a temporary district attorney if the office already has an assistant district attorney?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a district judge may appoint a district attorney pro tem under article 2.07 of the Code of Criminal Procedure when the elected district…
Can Baltimore's light rail trolleys use white signal lights instead of the standard red, yellow, and green traffic lights?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Mass Transit Administration's plan to guide light rail trolleys through downtown Baltimore intersections with a separate white bar signal, instead of the…
Can you be prosecuted in Maryland for burning or defacing a flag, or is it protected free speech?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's newly revised flag law, Article 27, §83, was constitutional even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal flag-burning ban in…
Could an individual Texas bail bondsman use a letter of credit as the required cash equivalent for a bail-bond license?
Yes. JM-1245 concluded that individual and corporate applicants could use a qualifying letter of credit as a cash equivalent, but the credit had to be irrevocable, independent of the underlying…
Does the 356th District Court in Hardin County, Texas handle probate matters like wills and estates?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the 356th District Court of Hardin County has no original probate jurisdiction. The statute creating the court gave it concurrent…
Does a county need payment and performance bonds on a unit-price road-materials contract when the final total price is not known in advance?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the unknown final price of a county unit-price requirements contract does not exempt it from bidding or bonding rules. A county estimates the…
Could Texas revive expired school-land patent claims by letting the Land Office swap in replacement state land?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that article 5414a-2, V.T.C.S., which tried to give a second chance to people whose claims to patents on permanent school fund land had lapsed,…
At the North Carolina Industrial Commission, is hiring and firing the Chairman's job alone, or does the whole three-member Commission have to decide?
The whole three-member Commission decides, and the Commission cannot delegate that authority to the Chairman by rule. The Industrial Commission's personnel statutes (N.C.G.S. §§ 97-78, 97-79, and…
In North Carolina, can a county commissioner who also chairs the county social services board talk and vote at county commission meetings on DSS personnel and the DSS budget?
Yes on both counts. Iredell County had a commissioner who was appointed to the DSS board under N.C.G.S. § 108A-3(a) and was then elected by the social services board to be its chair. The AG…
Could Harris County remove and sell trees from county road rights-of-way without paying the underlying landowner?
Generally yes, subject to the document or judgment that created the right-of-way. JM-1241 concluded that Harris County could remove or prevent trees that interfered with road purposes without…
Can a county use its own employees and equipment to deliver USDA surplus food for a nonprofit charity?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the state's decision to route USDA surplus commodities through a nonprofit did not strip Nolan County of its authority to spend on public…
Can a city council remove the person it appointed to a regional water district's board of directors?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Garland city council could not remove its appointed representative on the board of directors of the North Texas Municipal Water District…
Could Connecticut's Medicaid agency charge long-term-care insurers for binding asset-protection rulings?
Yes, conditionally. The Attorney General said the Department of Income Maintenance could contract to provide paid, binding advance determinations if program regulations authorized that mechanism.…
How far does the arrest authority of Houston-area MTA transit police reach, just the buses and stations, or the whole service area?
In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a 1989 amendment to article 1118x expanded the jurisdiction of peace officers employed by the Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority to…
Did Connecticut's narrower structural-engineering review rule apply to building permits filed before it took effect?
Yes, for review not already performed. The Attorney General treated the 1989 act as a clarification limiting independent consultant review to structural plans, even for threshold-building…
When did publication and referendum periods begin for a new city's interim council ordinances?
The 1990 AG said periods triggered by passage or adoption began when the interim council passed or adopted the ordinance. The ordinance itself could not take effect before the city's incorporation date.
Did a new Washington city have to pay for its first officials' election before incorporation?
No. The 1990 AG concluded that a city did not yet exist when its first officials were elected before the incorporation date, so the new city could not be charged for that election under the…
Can campaign workers in Maine hand out palm cards inside polling places to show voters how to write in a candidate's name?
No inside the building where voting takes place. Palm cards may be distributed outside, even within the 250-foot zone around the entrance, as long as no advertising signs or sound amplification are used.
Could a Washington school district use educational TV and school materials that contained ads?
Yes. The 1990 AG said a district could use educational television if its primary purpose was educational and ads were incidental. It also could select otherwise permissible textbooks, equipment, and…
Is Caller ID phone service legal under Maryland's wiretap and privacy laws?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Caller ID service does not violate the constitutionally protected right of privacy, because a state utility commission's mere approval of a telephone…
Can a Maryland community college's board of trustees borrow money to buy land and buildings, or does the county have to do it?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that a community college's board of trustees had no power to borrow money to buy land and buildings, because state law placed that borrowing authority in the…
Can a nursing home be forced to reject or fire a worker for an old conviction even though the law says it shouldn't count against them?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that chapter 106 of the Human Resources Code, which bars certain facilities that serve the elderly or disabled from employing people…
Could Washington’s schools offer separate athletic teams and gym classes for girls and boys under the rules examined in 1990?
The 1990 AG said the cited statutes did not authorize the Superintendent to forbid substantially equal separate teams or gym classes through the challenged rule provisions. Schools still had to meet…
Can the Texas Real Estate Commission secretly send auditors into continuing-education classes without breaking the ban on undercover investigations?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Real Estate License Act's restriction on undercover or covert investigations applies only to investigations of licensees, not to…
Did circulating a Texas mixed beverage permit application among county and city officials make it a public record?
No. Passing the application among the officials who must sign it did not waive its confidential status under the Open Records Act, and it did not violate the Alcoholic Beverage Code's privilege for…
Did any past Connecticut emergency telecommunicator qualify for automatic certification under the 1990 law?
No. The Attorney General read the grandfather provision as covering people employed permanently as telecommunicators on January 1, 1990, not everyone who had held that job earlier. Other…
What liquor brand-registration fee applied when a Connecticut wholesaler imported a brand from abroad?
The Attorney General said a wholesaler importing under an out-of-state shipper's permit owed the then-applicable $100 per-brand fee, not the $3 Connecticut-manufacturer fee. The department could…
Could a Washington county assess city land for its noxious weed control program?
Yes. The 1990 AG said a county could assess land inside a city or town for its county weed program under RCW 17.10.240, subject to the statute’s assessment and special-benefit requirements.
Does a Texas county clerk charge a filing fee when you apply to have someone committed for mental illness or drug or alcohol dependency?
No. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county clerk cannot collect a fee from the person who files an application for emergency detention or court-ordered treatment, whether…
Did counsel and release of a Washington juvenile trigger notice to licensing and driver’s license revocation?
No. The Attorney General said in 1990 that the notice and revocation provisions applied when a juvenile signed a diversion agreement for specified alcohol or drug offenses, not when the unit used…
Do term limits for a state board count the service a member did before the term-limit law existed?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a Texas State Board of Pharmacy member who was appointed in 1973 and reappointed in 1979 and 1985 had already served two full terms and…
Does Maryland's tax break for military pay earned outside the U.S. only apply to service members permanently stationed overseas?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's income tax subtraction for military pay attributable to service outside the United States, up to $15,000 with a phase-out between $15,000 and…
Can a Maryland business license be suspended because the owner was convicted of a drug crime?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the license sanction provisions of the Drug Enforcement Act of 1990 (Chapter 410) applied only to people licensed to work in an occupation or profession,…
Can a Texas county sell tax-foreclosed property by private sale instead of a public auction?
Yes. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that when a county buys real property at a delinquent-tax sale, Tax Code section 34.05 impliedly lets the county resell that property by…
Can the Texas Employees Retirement System operate its own securities lending program?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the Employees Retirement System of Texas had no statutory authority to run an in-house securities lending program with its own staff.…
Does the State Funds Reform Act apply to fees collected by the Texas Board of Medical Examiners?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the State Funds Reform Act did not apply to fees collected by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. An exemption for agencies that…
Does Maryland's Board of Public Works have to approve a gift of real estate to the state, or can the Governor accept it alone?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that, unless a specific statute said otherwise, only the Governor's consent was required to accept a gift to the State of Maryland, whether the gift was real…
Can a Maryland town let its zoning board grant a variance on an easier 'practical difficulty' standard instead of 'unnecessary hardship'?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Article 66B's zoning-variance standard, unnecessary hardship, applies to every municipality in Maryland, and a town cannot use its own ordinance to authorize…
Can a Texas county or state agency provide goods or copies before receiving payment without unconstitutionally lending credit?
Yes, under the constitutional analysis adopted in JM-1229. A Texas public body could extend credit when the arrangement served a public purpose and included controls ensuring that public credit…
When the Child Day Care Commission writes a rule requiring day care licenses for preschool programs in public school buildings (whether run by the school system or by a private provider), can it lawfully reach programs run by public schools for 3 and 4 year olds even though G.S. 110-86(3) excludes 'public schools' from the definition of 'day care facility'?
The AG said programs operated by public schools under legislative and State Board authority were excluded from Child Day Care Commission licensing, regardless of children’s ages. A private…
How much can a company charge to help me recover unclaimed property in Texas?
In this 1990 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that anyone who helps a claimant recover unclaimed property held by the State Treasurer (an heirfinder or private investigator) could not charge…
Could a Texas city guarantee a private company's economic development loan and repay it with property taxes if the company failed to create jobs?
Not under the statute the city pointed to. Article III, section 52-a lets the legislature authorize such programs, but it is not self-executing. Government Code section 481.191 was not enabling…
If the North Carolina legislature passes a bill creating a new crime but specifies an effective date earlier than the day it actually became law, can the State still prosecute people who commit the crime after the bill is enacted?
Yes, but only for conduct after the bill was actually passed. The retroactive effective date is unconstitutional under the Ex Post Facto Clause and cannot be enforced, but it is severable from the…
Could Connecticut's 1990 parole law cover people already incarcerated or in community release?
Yes, if they met the law's other criteria. The Attorney General said people imprisoned before October 1, 1990 but still incarcerated on that date could be considered for parole. Inmates transferred…
Is a marriage valid in Maryland if the person who performed the ceremony wasn't legally authorized to?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that only a sworn deputy clerk designated by the county administrative judge (along with clerks and religious officials) could legally perform a marriage, so a…
Did the Supreme Court's Cruzan decision change Maryland law on living wills and refusing life-sustaining treatment?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the Supreme Court's Cruzan decision did not require any change to Maryland's framework for forgoing life-sustaining treatment, set out in the office's…
Did every building drawing page need an architect or engineer seal, and could a building official accept unsealed plans?
In 1990 the Attorney General said a registered architect or engineer generally had to sign and seal each drawing page or revision submitted for a permit, subject to statutory exemptions. An…
If the Maine Legislature removes a position from the unclassified service in one statute but forgets to amend another statute that lists the same position as unclassified, which one controls?
The newer enactment controls. AG Tierney concluded that the later, express amendment removing the Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of Information Services from the unclassified service prevailed…
In 1990, did Mexican commercial truck drivers need Texas driver's licenses to operate in Texas?
Yes, under the law and federal determinations addressed in 1990. JM-1226 concluded that Mexican commercial drivers lacked the reciprocal-license exemption and needed a Texas license or another…
Can a Texas student keep a car phone in their car parked at school?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the Education Code's ban on students possessing 'paging devices' at school does not prohibit a car telephone sitting in a car…
Who controlled records that elected Harris County officers stored in the county computer, and could the county allow private dial-up access?
The elected county, district, or precinct officer whose office created or received the information retained statutory control over it, even when it was stored in the county computer. The…
Does being a 'resident' for Texas insurance guaranty coverage require U.S. citizenship?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that a person does not have to be a U.S. citizen or a legally present immigrant to count as a Texas 'resident' for the state's life…
Can a Texas city's municipal court warrant officers serve warrants and act as bailiffs?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that warrant officers of the Longview municipal court of record, who are certified peace officers, have authority to serve…
Which groundwater district could tax severed mineral interests when surface owners annexed their land into a neighboring district?
The Santa Rita district retained taxing authority over separately owned severed mineral interests when only the surface owners petitioned to annex their land into the Glasscock County district. A…
Which competitive-bidding law governed a Texas county contract to build a vehicle maintenance facility?
The County Purchasing Act governed. The Attorney General concluded that Local Government Code section 271.024 did not independently require bidding and that subchapter B of chapter 271 did not…
Could a Washington school district mortgage property to borrow money for a school site?
No. In 1990 the Attorney General said an individual district lacked authority to finance a real-property purchase with an institutional loan secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on the property.…
Can I get a replacement Texas boat title with an affidavit if the original is missing?
It depends on the facts, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that whether the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department can issue a replacement certificate of title for a…
Do new government purchasing rules apply to a contract that was signed before the law took effect?
No, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that section 140.003 of the Local Government Code, which made district attorney purchases subject to the county competitive-bidding…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand state law: AG opinions are authoritative interpretations of how state law applies.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court decisions, but they carry significant weight.
- Government guidance: Often clarify how state agencies and officials should interpret statutes.
- Legal research: Cite AG opinions in letters, motions, and legal arguments.
Browse opinions by state
Two states are not listed and are not pending: New Hampshire publishes its opinions on a page that automated retrieval cannot read, and Rhode Island publishes no complete full-text archive at all. We will add them if that changes.