State AG Opinions
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Could a Washington city raise its mayor’s salary after the primary election but before the general election?
Yes, before the general election that finally chose the mayor. The AG said a raise after the general election but before the new term would violate the constitutional bar on increasing an officer’s…
Could Washington finance rental housing for state institution employees with bonds repaid from rent?
The AG said proposed legislation for employee housing on state institution grounds likely could use private construction or revenue bonds. Its bond answer depended on a special fund repaid from…
Could a Washington school district reimburse a principal for travel to a basketball scheduling conference?
Yes. The AG treated the board-approved travel to coordinate basketball games and player eligibility as an authorized school purpose, making the principal’s actual travel expenses a valid district charge.
Could a Washington county divide tax title land into smaller parcels before resale?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 1945 session law expressly allowed counties to sell a portion of tax title land, even though its phrase including tax title land had been omitted from the codified version.
How did Washington voters approve a new school district combining whole districts and part of another?
The AG said the consolidation needed majority approval from voters in each whole district separately and from voters in the part of another district included in the proposed new district. Voters in…
Did Washington own a Bremerton dock when its lease to the city expired in 1951?
No. The AG said the dock sat on a public place dedicated to public use under city control, so the state had no ownership claim to the city improvement, its rents, or its insurance proceeds. The city…
Could Washington let a city council choose whether its clerk or attorney was elected or appointed?
The AG said proposed legislation could give eligible second- and third-class city councils that choice by ordinance without unconstitutionally delegating legislative power. Its answer concerned city…
Did time spent as a fugitive after parole revocation count toward a Washington prison sentence?
No. The AG read the statute to stop the sentence clock from revocation until the parole violator returned to custody. The board could require service of the remaining term without credit for that…
Did Washington counties have to buy blanket bonds for unelected employees one year at a time?
No. The AG found no statute requiring annual purchases for blanket bonds covering nonelective county employees. County commissioners could choose a longer term while deciding bond coverage and…
Did Washington require cash when selling gravel from navigable riverbeds in 1955?
Generally yes. The AG said the public lands commissioner had to collect cash at the date of sale for gravel from navigable riverbeds. Gravel from the Columbia River where it formed the Oregon border…
What salary step did a Washington state employee returning from military service receive in 1955?
The AG said a qualified returning employee had a right to the same salary step held before military service. The appointing officer could advance the employee to a higher step, but a merit-based…
Could a Washington bank open a branch in an unincorporated area of another county in 1955?
No. The AG read Washington’s branching statute as allowing branches in cities or towns statewide for banks meeting the larger capital requirement, but unincorporated-area branches only in the bank’s…
When did a Washington public body have to give new notice after recessing or adjourning a meeting in 1955?
The AG said no new media notice was needed for a same-day recess or a meeting continued to the next business day and then day to day. A later, noncontinuous meeting required notice to entitled…
Could a Washington real estate broker prepare clients’ deeds and contracts without a separate legal fee in 1955?
The AG said preparing deeds, mortgages, contracts, and earnest money agreements for others was practicing law even when a broker filled in blank forms and charged only the normal commission. It…
Did incorporating Bellevue and Normandy Park as third-class cities remove them from their fire district?
Yes. The AG said the new cities were automatically excluded from the district for current operations and expenses. The territory could still be taxed to satisfy fire-district debt incurred before…
Did Washington’s 1953 Cemetery Board law apply to cemetery corporations formed before 1943?
Yes. The AG said cemetery charters were subject to later reasonable regulation under the state’s police power. A 1943 savings clause protected older corporations only from that 1943 act, not from…
Could a first-class Washington school district without a large city buy a school site without a vote in 1954?
Yes, under the spending limit analyzed in the opinion. The AG said a first-class district without a first- or second-class city could use the same population-based authority to buy a site without an…
Could federally paid civilian Washington National Guard workers join the state retirement system in 1954?
Yes. The AG said civilian Guard caretakers and clerks were employees of both governments because the state adjutant general controlled their work even though federal funds paid them. It treated…
Were Washington’s World War II provisions allowing private use of prisoner labor still effective in 1954?
No. The AG read the 1943 act’s “duration of the existing war” limit as expired by 1954, so its private-labor provisions were no longer effective. That answer made the separate constitutional…
Did Washington’s 1953 extra motor vehicle registration fee cover light trailers?
No. The AG said the ten-cent catchall fee applied to motor vehicles, which the code defined as self-propelled units. Trailers under 4,000 pounds were not self-propelled, and the 1953 act set no…
Could a Washington city pay to put an advisory vote about becoming a first-class city on its primary ballot?
The AG did not give the city a direct yes-or-no authorization. It said no statute governed this preliminary advisory vote, so the Secretary of State could address it through election rules; the vote…
Could South Carolina’s utility commission jointly adopt a North Carolina carbon plan and charge South Carolina customers for it?
The Attorney General doubted the commission had statutory authority for the proposed joint proceeding or to impose North Carolina plan costs on South Carolina ratepayers. It identified…
Who should present a juvenile probation violation in South Carolina family court: the solicitor or juvenile justice department?
For the criminal-contempt Rule to Show Cause procedure described, the Attorney General predicted the circuit solicitor was the proper party, because state law vested family-court prosecution duties…
Did South Carolina’s Right to Try Act require hospitals to allow a doctor’s off-label COVID-19 prescription?
The Attorney General predicted the Right to Try Act likely did not apply to the described off-label use. It emphasized physicians’ prescribing discretion and said hospitals generally should respect…
Could Louisiana extend its Medicaid claims processing contract for less than a year?
The AG concluded that extensions of the specified Medicaid fiscal intermediary contract had to be for twelve months, not shorter increments. He said the state's contract could include a clause…
Could a Louisiana hospital service district sell surplus land directly to a physician for a nearby medical practice?
The AG concluded that a hospital service district could negotiate a private sale of surplus land to a physician building a nearby practice. He said the district should declare the land surplus and…
Did the Cheneyville mayor recall petition have enough signatures to trigger an election?
Yes. The AG said the registrar's 231 certified valid signatures exceeded the 40% required in a voting area with 496 electors, so the governor could proclaim a recall election.
Are property owners' objections to two parish street projects counted together or street by street?
Street by street. The AG said each road was a separate project for measuring written objections by owners of more than half the assessed frontage. An objection on one street did not automatically…
Could a Louisiana judge sign a final judgment electronically under the law discussed in Opinion 13-0158?
The AG said no under the statutes it reviewed: none authorized electronic signatures on judgments, and the electronic-transactions law excluded court orders. It identified separate statutory…
Could Louisiana’s wholesale drug distributor board buy the office building it occupied?
The AG concluded that the Board of Wholesale Drug Distributors lacked authority to buy immovable property because its enabling statutes did not expressly grant that power.
Could Cameron Parish use its courthouse-and-jail tax to operate nearby annex buildings?
The AG concluded that the voter-approved tax for maintaining and operating the Cameron Parish Courthouse and Jail could not be used for other buildings, including the annexes and temporary offices…
Could Rayne restrict take-home police vehicles and split an officer's week between paid and volunteer hours?
The AG said Rayne could regulate personal use of city police vehicles, but not interfere with the chief's law-enforcement authority or treat an on-call officer's trip home as personal use. It found…
Who appointed a replacement after a Reeves village alderman resigned?
The AG concluded that the remaining Reeves aldermen, not the mayor, had to appoint a qualified replacement within the statutory period. The mayor could vote only to break a tie; if a tie persisted…
Could an elected parish school-board member also work part time as an assistant district attorney?
The AG concluded that dual-officeholding law did not prohibit an elected parish school-board member from also serving as a part-time assistant district attorney. The opinion said that assistant…
Could a Louisiana school board trade a 99-year lease of Section 16 land for tribal land to build a school?
No. The AG said St. Mary Parish's school board could not use the proposed 99-year lease, land exchange, or cooperative agreement with the Chitimacha Tribe for its Section 16 tract. It suggested…
Did St. Landry Parish have to bid out a bond counsel contract?
The AG said St. Landry Parish did not have to use the Public Bid Law to hire a bond attorney because legal services were service contracts. The parish government could retain bond counsel under a…
Could the Lafourche Parish sheriff sell surplus equipment through an online auction site?
The AG concluded that, absent specific legislation, the Lafourche sheriff was not authorized to sell surplus movable property through an internet auction site. It directed the sheriff to the…
Could Plaquemines Parish use emergency bidding rules to build a safer temporary courthouse after Katrina?
Yes on the facts described. The AG said the makeshift courthouse’s present safety and security risks amounted to an emergency permitting the statutory emergency procedures for temporary courthouse…
Could a Louisiana water district invite public bids for billing services, reject both, then hire the higher bidder without rebidding?
The AG said the Public Bid Law did not require bidding for this service contract, but the water district had chosen a public-bid process and was bound by its own solicitation. Any rejection of bids…
Could Tallulah's city council limit employee travel by resolution, and what mileage rate applied to the mayor?
The AG said Tallulah's adopted budget ordinance controlled the mayor's and council's authority to change travel spending, and a budget amendment had to be made by ordinance at an open council…
How did Louisiana school boards calculate and distribute teacher pay from sick-leave savings?
The AG said school boards compared each year's leave spending with the statutory three-year average to identify savings for teacher compensation. For 2003–04, the comparison used the 1996–99…
Did a person held as incompetent to stand trial have to register as a sex offender when released to the community?
On the specific facts in this 2004 opinion, no. The AG said unresolved charges and a delay caused by incompetence were not a guilty plea, conviction, or deferred or withheld adjudication under the…
Could Terrebonne assistant district attorneys privately contract to provide part-time legal services to the parish?
Yes under the dual-officeholding law as the AG applied it. The AG assumed the lawyers' firms would hold contracts with the parish, so the second role was contractual rather than a second public…
Was the LSU-Tulane cancer research center a private entity, and which law governed bonds issued for it?
The AG said the center met the statute's private-entity criteria. Bonds issued solely under the HEAL Act followed that act; bonds issued under the Capital Outlay Act followed it, and citing both…
Could Livingston Parish put its voter-approved mosquito control fee on the assessor's tax rolls?
Yes, if the assessor and mosquito district made a mutually agreeable arrangement and tax-roll collection would assist the district. The AG said the assessor was not required to carry the fee.
Who paid Louisiana election expenses for justice of the peace and constable races?
The AG said the parish police jury or council was the local entity responsible for its prorated share of expenses for those ward and district elections, as the Department of State had billed it.
Could Nicholls State University pay for retiree breakfasts, faculty-spouse events, or an employee holiday meal?
No, according to this 2003 Louisiana AG opinion. The university identified possible benefits from the events, but the AG found no legal obligation or authority to spend public funds on the proposed…
Were two-wheeled electric scooters vehicles under Louisiana traffic law, and could cities regulate them?
Yes for the scooters described. The AG classified them as vehicles, said local traffic ordinances could govern roads within municipal authority, and explained that sidewalks were for pedestrians…
Could a state employee run a private organization during paid state work hours or use state equipment for it?
The cited dual-employment rule created no conflict with serving as a private executive director. The AG said private-organization work during state business hours or use of state equipment violated…
Could a Louisiana state agency create a nonprofit to perform services the agency normally performs?
The AG said an agency could establish such a nonprofit if it had express or implied authority and complied with the statutory restriction on corporations that may issue debt. The opinion did not…
How did Jefferson Parish have to deliver a last-week bid addendum to contractors who requested bid documents?
For an addendum issued within the statute's seven-day window, the parish had to send it to every requesting prime bidder by fax, email, or hand delivery within 24 hours, and also by regular mail.…
Could a Louisiana clerk commission one election watcher to serve in more than one precinct?
Yes. The AG said La. R.S. 18:435 did not bar commissioning one watcher for multiple precincts, and an earlier opinion did not limit those precincts to the same polling place.
Could a parish assessor list Secret Service agents anonymously on public property-tax rolls?
The AG said no. The rolls were public records, and the cited privacy exception for certified law-enforcement officers applied only to records held by voter registrars or the secretary of state, not…
What happens to Education Excellence Fund money credited to a school that closes or loses eligibility before receiving it?
The AG said the money remained state-owned while in the treasury, but existing allocation rules could strand it under an ineligible school's credit. The opinion called for legislative action and…
Must Sulphur hold a binding vote on a zoning ordinance after a valid charter referendum petition and council refusal?
Yes, on the charter excerpts supplied. The AG said that if the petition met the signature and procedural rules and the council refused to act, Sulphur had to put passage or repeal of the zoning…
Did a town alderwoman commit public-contract fraud by placing town money in a bank where she was a branch manager?
The AG said the described certificate of deposit did not fit the cited fraud statutes on the facts given: the principal remained withdrawable and the alderwoman received no commission. Ethical…
When buying vehicles, did Capital Area Human Services District follow public bid rules or Louisiana's state fleet program?
The AG classified the district as a political subdivision, so it followed the Louisiana Public Bid Law for vehicle purchases and was outside the State Fleet Management Program's stated scope.
Does an elected Louisiana justice of the peace receive additional pay when temporarily assigned to a vacant ward?
Yes. The AG said the assigned justice was entitled to at least the assigned court's compensation and supplemental pay in addition to his existing salary, subject to the statute's funding condition…
Could a livestock owner be prosecuted for trespass while retrieving escaped animals from someone else's land?
The AG said the new trespass law included an affirmative defense for a livestock owner or agent retrieving domestic livestock escaped from a fenced area. It also concluded the law accommodated…
Could a Louisiana school board regulate students' possession of cell phones at school after state law addressed their use?
Yes. The AG said the state law regulated unauthorized use or operation, without deciding possession, so a local school board could address possession in its student code of conduct if the rule…
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