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.
Are Maryland CPAs, lawyers, engineers, insurance agents, or teachers exempt from registering as investment advisers?
Only certified public accountants and lawyers currently qualify, and only if they also meet the exemption's other three conditions (no commissions for referrals, no custody of client funds, and not…
If a city has a platted street showing a 60-foot right-of-way but the actual paved street is narrower, can the city widen the street to the full 60 feet without doing a new survey and plat?
The AG said no new survey and plat should be necessary if the original sixty-foot plat was duly dedicated and accepted and the unused area had not been abandoned or vacated as provided by law. On…
Can the Pennington County treasurer accept monthly installments on delinquent real-estate property taxes (in exchange for not starting tax-deed proceedings), and can the Pennington County sheriff accept installments on delinquent mobile-home taxes after the treasurer has issued a distress warrant?
Treasurer: yes, but only when the county commissioners have first authorized partial payments under SDCL 10-21-7. Sheriff: no, never. Once the treasurer hands the sheriff a valid distress warrant,…
Was Idaho's 1990 concealed-weapons licensing statute constitutional?
No. The AG concluded that Idaho Code § 18-3302 was void for vagueness in nearly every operative provision: who qualifies, what 'sport' or 'travel' means, who decides on revocation, when the…
Were San Juan County commissioner elections unconstitutional because island residency districts had unequal populations?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that unequal residency districts did not by themselves invalidate the system because all county voters nominated and elected the commissioners. The opinion…
Could Washington’s social services department contract out community residential care for people with developmental disabilities?
The Attorney General said in 1990 that a specific statute allowed the department secretary to contract for these services despite an earlier general civil-service restriction. A collective…
Were Maryland nursing homes covered by the Health-General Article's resident protections, and did the Health Services Cost Review Commission approve nursing home rates?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that nursing homes were included in the definition of 'facility' in HG §19-343(a) of the Health-General Article, so their residents got the protections of HG…
Did Connecticut state employees keep group life insurance during disability compensation or after retirement?
The Attorney General said section 5-257 covered employees retired under the state retirement act, including disability retirees. It also applied to the specified employees receiving duty-injury…
Does Idaho's penny-per-gallon fee on petroleum delivery, used to fund underground-tank cleanup insurance, illegally divert money that the state Constitution earmarks for highways?
No. The AG concluded the one-cent transfer fee is a regulatory fee tied to the cost of cleanup insurance, not a tax on motor-vehicle fuel. Even if a court called it a tax, it would tax the act of…
Could a Connecticut commission make binding decisions at a regular meeting held somewhere other than the place its chair announced?
No. The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the commission's Hartford meeting was not duly called when the chair had noticed the regular meeting for Westbrook. A quorum in Hartford did not make…
Could a Connecticut town assign its resident state trooper to enforce a junked-car removal ordinance?
No. The Attorney General said the statute allowed a town to designate a local board or officer, and a resident state trooper remained a state officer. The opinion left the separate question of…
Can a Texas city or county put up four-way stop signs to stop cut-through traffic in a neighborhood?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that neither state law nor the state's traffic control manual requires specific traffic conditions before a local authority may install multi-way stop signs to…
Can the Texas Legislature pass a special appropriation to pay claims the state has no existing legal duty to pay?
No. The Attorney General concluded that two 1989 appropriations meant to pay the unpaid wages and vendor bills of a defunct nonprofit job-training contractor were unconstitutional, because Article…
Could a Connecticut university student senate choose its president as the student representative on the university foundation board?
No, not under the 1990 law the Attorney General analyzed. The students had elected that person as senate president, not as foundation-board representative; the senate's interim selection did not…
Does interest earned on Idaho hunting and fishing license revenue belong to the Fish and Game Account or to the state general fund?
It belongs to the Fish and Game Account. A 1989 amendment to federal regulations (50 C.F.R. § 80.4) defined license revenue to include the interest it earns. Because Idaho accepts Pittman-Robertson…
If a DC property owner is cited for a housing-code violation, can the owner appeal straight to the Board of Appeals and Review?
No, under this 1990 opinion. A person cited for a Housing Regulations infraction had to proceed through Civil Infractions Act adjudication before appealing a hearing examiner's final order to the…
Does Maryland need Congress's approval to join a multistate lottery like Lotto America?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's participation in a multistate lottery agreement, like the six-state Lotto America pact, does not violate federal anti-gambling statutes (which…
Can a Maryland county open a new street inside an incorporated town without the town's consent?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Frederick County had no authority to open a street inside the Town of New Market over the town's objection, because the road-opening statutes for counties…
Did a retired Connecticut state employee's life insurance payout depend on receiving the Comptroller's coverage-reduction letter before death?
No. In 1990, the Attorney General said the payout depended on the retirement date, the group policy's 31-day conversion window, and whether the retiree converted coverage. Receipt of the…
In a Maryland county with its own liquor board, who actually issues an alcoholic beverages license, the board or the clerk of the circuit court?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that in Charles County, the Board of License Commissioners had to decide whether to approve or deny an alcoholic beverages license application and certify any…
Does a federal savings bank have to pay interest on my mortgage escrow account in Maryland?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that Maryland's law requiring lenders to pay interest on residential first-mortgage escrow accounts (CL §12-109) could not be applied to federal savings…
Can a neighborhood nonprofit hold a charitable raffle to pay for opposing a landfill permit before a Texas state agency?
The Attorney General concluded that opposing a landfill permit before the Texas Department of Health is not lobbying under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, so a nonprofit corporation raising…
Can a Maryland State's Attorney or assistant volunteer for free civil legal aid work if the law bans their 'private practice of law'?
Yes, in every Maryland county. The Attorney General concluded that Article 10, §40's various bans on the 'private practice of law' by State's Attorneys and their staff exist to control outside…
If a Texas AG opinion changes the rule on unconfirmed recess appointees staying in office, does that ruling undo appointments already made?
The Attorney General reaffirmed Opinion JM-1161 but held it applies prospectively only, from May 1, 1990: recess appointees who were not yet confirmed but were properly holding office on that date…
Can the public get records of a state investigation into abuse or neglect at a licensed drug treatment center in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded no. Records made by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse during its investigation of alleged abuse or neglect at a licensed drug treatment facility were…
Did a Washington county sheriff have to police cities that had their own police departments?
Yes. The Attorney General said in 1990 that a sheriff’s duty to enforce state law extended into incorporated cities, though no statute guaranteed a set number of officers or level of service. Cities…
If a justice precinct's boundaries change after a wet-or-dry vote, does a later election to change that vote happen in the old boundary lines or the new ones?
The Attorney General concluded that a 1989 statute requiring a subsequent local option election to be held in the original territory of a justice precinct, rather than in its current, possibly…
Can a Texas public school hold a raffle to raise money, or does that have to be done through the PTA?
The Attorney General concluded that an independent school district is not authorized to organize or conduct a raffle under the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, because the constitutional provision…
Can a Texas state agency hire the relative of a board member who oversees the agency, or does the nepotism law block it?
The Attorney General concluded the Texas Department of Banking could hire the son of a Finance Commission member as a hearings officer, because the nepotism statute only applies when the relative's…
Can a Maryland town annex the state-owned land under a navigable creek?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that the Town of Queenstown could annex the land underlying Queenstown Creek even though the beds of navigable waters are owned by the State in trust for its…
Did Texas need to pass a new law before extending Medicaid coverage to more young children under a new federal requirement?
The Attorney General concluded no. Existing Human Resources Code provisions already gave the Department of Human Services broad authority to provide medical assistance required by federal law as a…
When the State's Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services Commission writes rules for inmate substance-abuse treatment, does it have to give the Department of Correction's Substance Abuse Advisory Council a direct chance to weigh in? And can the Commission's rules drop the statutory preference for hiring recovering alcoholics and substance abusers as counselors?
No to the first, no to the second. The 1990 AG concluded that under G.S. § 148-19(d), the Commission for Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services has final authority to set…
Can a Texas municipal utility district use property tax money to buy land just to build a public park?
The Attorney General concluded no. A municipal utility district operating under chapter 54 of the Water Code could not use tax revenue to purchase real property for the independent purpose of…
Did Maine's emergency resolve concerning the Edwards Dam itself authorize a real estate purchase forbidden in emergency legislation?
No. The opinion concluded that the resolve did not confer any new authority to acquire real estate. That authority already existed under 12 M.R.S.A. § 6252-A(5); the resolve provided legislative…
Did Connecticut's resource recovery authority legally award the Mid-Connecticut plant contract after negotiating with one vendor?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that CRRA opened the project to multiple vendors and selected Combustion Engineering only after other finalists left the process, satisfying the open-bidding…
Can a Maryland lawyer who serves as a part-time court trust clerk still practice law?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a private attorney appointed as a court's part-time trust clerk is not barred from practicing law by BOP §10-603(b)(4), because more than a century of…
Can the Maryland General Assembly direct state income tax money to specific counties without a formal budget appropriation?
The Attorney General advised Governor Schaefer in 1990 that House Bill 134, which directed the Comptroller to pay set amounts of state income tax revenue to Baltimore City and three counties, was…
Can a Texas sheriff charge an inmate $20 just to file a bail bond for release?
The Attorney General concluded no. The only $20 personal-bond fee in the law was one a court could assess when it released a defendant on the recommendation of a personal bond office, and the only…
Can a North Carolina landlord and tenant agree in a lease that any eviction case will be heard by a magistrate in a different county from where the rental property sits?
No, on the residential-tenancy facts addressed. The AG said a lease cannot give a magistrate authority beyond the limits of G.S. 7A-211 or take authority from a properly empowered magistrate. A…
If a Texas banking-disclosure exception still uses the word 'bank' after a 1989 law expanded the statute, does the exception cover savings and loan associations too?
The Attorney General concluded no. Even though a 1989 amendment expanded most of article 342-705 of the Texas Banking Code to cover 'financial institutions' generally, including savings and loan…
Did Connecticut's pension-fund investment in Colt assets require a federal antitrust notification filing?
No, for the transaction described in the opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the state treasurer's investment of five state retirement funds was a transfer to or from the state, qualifying…
When a Texas law required one state agency to sell land to another, did the seller keep the mineral rights unless the law said so?
The Attorney General concluded no. Senate Bill 52's directive that the Department of Corrections and the Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation "shall sell" certain tracts of state-owned land…
Could the Texas Department of Health lower income eligibility for a children's health program without the Board of Health adopting a rule?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the Health and Safety Code, only the Texas Board of Health, acting by rule, could define eligibility criteria and set priorities for the Chronically Ill and…
Does every tow truck in Texas have to be registered, even ones not used for hire?
The acting director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation asked whether a 1989 amendment removing the words 'for compensation' from the tow truck registration statute meant all tow…
Could one Washington city tax another city’s electric utility, and could it tax its own utility’s outside-city revenue?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that a city could include out-of-city customer revenue in the measure of a tax on its own electric utility, within constitutional limits. A second city could…
Does a discount referral program that lists dentists or chiropractors offering a discount need an HMO license in Texas?
The State Board of Insurance's commissioner asked whether referral programs that charge enrollees a fee to connect them with a list of single health care providers, such as dentists, optometrists,…
Can police give a suspect a sample of a forfeited drug to bait a bigger drug deal?
A district attorney asked whether it was legal for a law enforcement officer to deliver a sample of a previously forfeited controlled substance to a suspected drug trafficker, as bait to induce the…
Can a local North Carolina school board levy taxes on its own to fund its schools?
Not on its own, but yes if the General Assembly grants it the authority. Public school financing in North Carolina rests primarily with the State and the counties. Local school administrative units…
Can a North Carolina state agency deny a performance-pay raise to an employee who has already hit the top of the salary range for the job?
Yes. The AG concluded that a state employee already at the maximum rate for the classification and pay grade may be denied a performance-pay increase. The opinion reads the performance-pay provision…
Can a mayor keep her city salary while working as an independent contractor for a nonprofit that receives state funding?
A Nueces County attorney asked whether the mayor of Corpus Christi, who worked as an independent contractor for a private corporation serving people with disabilities that received some of its…
Does Texas law require public works contracts to count fringe benefits as part of the prevailing wage?
A state senator asked the Attorney General to revisit an earlier opinion and hold that the prevailing-wage law for public works, V.T.C.S. article 5159a, requires public bodies to include the value…
Can an out-of-state insurance agent call or mail a Texas resident directly to sell or renew a policy?
The chairman of the State Board of Insurance asked whether a licensed non-resident property and casualty insurance agent could sell to Texas residents (including corporate affiliates or…
Does a Texas district clerk have to keep court-deposited money in a separate or interest-bearing account?
Tarrant County's criminal district attorney asked seven questions about a district clerk's duties regarding funds held in trust pending a court's final disposition, including which kinds of deposits…
If the governor appoints a judge during a legislative recess and the Senate never votes on it, does the judge stay in office?
A state senator asked about a district judge Governor Clements appointed during a Senate recess, whose name was never submitted to the Senate during the special session that followed, after which…
Can a Texas county let employees donate unused sick leave to a coworker who has run out?
A Smith County prosecutor asked whether the commissioners court could grant extra sick leave to an employee who had used up their allotment, and whether the county could let employees transfer or…
Can North Carolina's Private Protective Services Board pull a private investigator's case file when reviewing a trainee, and does a private investigator with a gun have to pay the full armed security guard registration fee?
Yes on all three questions. The Board has authority under N.C.G.S. § 74C-5(3) to inspect licensees' records as part of investigations or trainee evaluations, and the disciplinary rule against…
If a school reports a truant child to juvenile probation, can the parent still be separately charged for the child's absences?
A state senator asked three questions about a 1989 law aimed at students at risk of dropping out. The Attorney General concluded that a school attendance officer does not 'file a complaint' against…
Does a private bus company that hauls students for a school district get the same gas-tax exemption the school district gets?
The Speaker of the Texas House asked whether a new motor fuels tax exemption for gasoline sold to a public school district for its exclusive use would also cover gasoline bought by a private…
Can a county tax assessor-collector also serve on the board of directors of the local appraisal district?
A Hunt County attorney asked whether an independent school district could contract with the county to collect its taxes when the county tax assessor-collector also sat on the board of directors of…
Could Connecticut require the governor to appoint a department commissioner on a council's recommendation?
Yes. In 1990, the Attorney General concluded that requiring the governor to appoint the Commissioner of Mental Retardation on the Council's recommendation was constitutional. Connecticut's…
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.