State AG Opinions
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Did Washington’s 1976 three-year rape confinement minimum bar earlier conditional release from a treatment commitment?
No. The AG read the three-year minimum as applying to people sent directly to prison, while a person given a deferred or suspended sentence for inpatient sexual-psychopath treatment remained under…
Could Washington public schools keep separate boys’ and girls’ sports teams under the 1976 Equal Rights Amendment analysis?
The AG said a school’s only team in a sport had to admit qualified students of either sex. It viewed separate teams as potentially permissible under the 1975 statute only if they best provided equal…
Could two members of a five-member Washington town council pass an ordinary ordinance in 1976?
Yes, if only three members attended and thus formed a quorum, two affirmative votes could pass an ordinary ordinance. The AG identified exceptions requiring more votes for payment orders, franchise…
Could a Washington legislator be paid by an outside employer to draft or promote a bill in 1976?
The AG said paid bill preparation was unlawful for a legislator who knew he was likely to exercise official discretion over that bill. The payer provision also reached knowing payment for promoting…
Could Washington exempt property from taxes already levied for collection in 1976?
The AG thought a new exemption could reach 1975 levies that had not yet been collected, but it had to take effect before collection. Taxes already paid could not simply be refunded or credited under…
Did Washington’s 1975 death-penalty initiative apply to murders committed before July 1, 1976?
The Attorney General said no. Although voters had approved the initiative, its aggravated-murder provisions depended on the new criminal code, which applied to offenses committed on or after July 1, 1976.
Could a Washington city or county pay a lobbyist or employee to advocate before the legislature?
The AG said it could spend local funds on lobbying only with specific legal authority. A charter city, charter county, or code city could supply that authority through proper local legislation;…
South Dakota Retirement System rules let a current member pay for prior service credit (years of past public service that were not previously covered) by lump sum or in level installments over up to 10 years. SDCL 3-12-83 says contributions can be made by the employee 'or have made on his behalf' by the employer. Does that 'on his behalf' authorization let employers make their prior-service-credit payments in installments too?
Yes. SDCL 3-12-83 lets employers make these contributions on behalf of employees. SDCL 3-12-87 lets members pay in installments. Read together with the employer's general authority to make…
Did a city school district owe a neighboring fire district payment for protecting its school buildings?
The Attorney General said no under the cited 1976 statute. A school building inside a city was outside the fire district’s boundaries even if the city contracted with that district to provide fire service.
Did unused vacation or sick leave payouts count toward Washington public pensions in 1976?
The AG gave different answers by retirement system. It included qualifying payouts for public employees, teachers, and state patrol members, but excluded them for law enforcement and firefighter…
Can the City of Sioux Falls use its federal Community Development Block Grant funds from Public Law 93-383 to establish a direct loan or grant program for private property rehabilitation, or do state municipal-finance laws block that use?
Yes. SDCL 9-22-1 requires all municipal money to be paid into the municipal treasury and assigned to a fund by annual appropriation ordinance. SDCL 9-21-9.1 implies the municipality has authority to…
If a South Dakota sheriff and deputies use their own vehicles for patrol but the county's mileage rate isn't enough to cover insurance, fuel, and maintenance, can the county commissioners pay for those expenses on top of the mileage rate?
No. SDCL 7-12-18(9) authorizes mileage and only mileage when private vehicles are used. SDCL 7-12-12 gives the county a different option: furnish the vehicles and equipment, in which case no mileage…
When a child is placed in a private nonprofit group home or child care institution, is the home's administrator the child's 'person in loco parentis' for school residence purposes, and does the local school district get paid by the state for educating that child?
For school residence, the AG said SDCL 13-28-9 should treat the group home administrator as a person in loco parentis, placing the child's school residence in the home's district. The district is…
South Dakota's compulsory attendance statutes (SDCL 13-27-1 through 13-27-6) require children of compulsory school age to attend school. SDCL 13-32-4 lets a school board suspend or expel insubordinate students. Can the board actually use that suspension power against a compulsory-age student, or do the compulsory attendance statutes block it?
Yes, the board can suspend. SDCL 13-32-4 expressly authorizes school boards to suspend or expel insubordinate students, and that authority operates even when the student is of compulsory attendance…
When did a Washington water district commissioner elected in November 1975 take office?
The AG said the new commissioner’s term began at noon on the second Monday in January after the election. It read the later uniform election statute as impliedly superseding the older water-district…
Could a Washington physician own a nursing home and receive profits from referring patients to it in 1975?
The AG said state law did not prohibit a physician from owning a nursing home where the physician cared for patients. It barred financial benefit from goods or services the physician prescribed…
Could Washington elected officials use publicly funded office resources to urge votes on a ballot measure in 1975?
The AG said legislators could use office resources for normal communications about legislative matters, but not for a message whose primary purpose was to persuade votes on a ballot measure. The…
Could Washington municipal employees speak about candidates and work on campaigns despite local restrictions in 1975?
The AG said covered employees could publicly express political opinions and display candidate signs on their own property despite contrary local rules. The state statute also protected the described…
Who enforced Washington’s Uniform Fire Code in unincorporated areas served by a fire district in 1975?
The AG said the district fire chief and department initially had the fire code’s administrative and enforcement duties in the unincorporated area they served. A county could amend the code to…
What happened to Washington public employee bargaining laws after the governor vetoed the new labor commissions in 1975?
The AG said existing agencies would keep administering public employee labor laws because the proposed replacement commission had been vetoed. The earlier school professional-negotiations act also…
Did South Carolina’s 1975 Ethics Act bar public colleges from giving legislators football season tickets?
The Attorney General declined to decide whether the particular ticket offers violated the 1975 Ethics Act, calling it a factual question for the State Ethics Commission. It said the circumstances…
Did Washington state law require a deputy sheriff to live in the county served in 1975?
No. The AG reconsidered an older contrary opinion after a 1963 amendment removed county-elector language from the civil-service qualifications; it concluded that state law did not generally require…
South Dakota passed a law that bars renewing a liquor license held by someone who has not used it for two years. Does that two-year clock run backward from the law's effective date, or does it only start counting forward from when the law took effect?
Forward only. The two-year unused-license rule applies prospectively, not retrospectively. The clock began running on July 1, 1975, the law's effective date. A licensee who had let a license sit…
A South Dakota law professor on the Board of Pardons and Paroles by Supreme Court appointment is moving to a full-time law-school faculty role with full salary. Can he also accept the Board's $1,800 statutory compensation and reimbursement for board-meeting expenses?
There is no statutory compensation to accept. SDCL 23-58-2 (which would have provided the $1,800 board salary) was repealed by SDCL 4-7-10.5 in 1971. The Code Commission's adopted schedule allowed…
Could a Washington county without a home rule charter establish child care services without a specific statute in 1975?
The AG said a properly drafted county child care ordinance had a sufficient constitutional basis, even without a home rule charter. Whether a court would uphold it depended on a recognized…
Could a Washington county force owners to remove existing trees blocking an intersection view without paying them in 1975?
The AG said no. An ordinance could not require uncompensated removal of existing trees, vegetation, or structures for road sight distance; the county could instead acquire the needed land or…
Could a Washington tavern run a sports pool or provide dice for patrons to gamble over meals in 1975?
The AG said those activities amounted to prohibited gambling for a proprietor who knowingly supplied or maintained the pool board, dice, cards, or premises, even without taking a fee or profit.…
When could Washington’s motor vehicle agency release lists of people for commercial use under the 1975 public records law?
The AG read the 1975 law to bar supplying lists of natural persons when the requester intended to contact or personally affect them for a commercial purpose, absent specific legal authority. The…
Could Washington hold a person in juvenile custody after age 18 based only on an earlier delinquency commitment in 1975?
Generally no, the AG said. A delinquency commitment alone did not authorize custody after age 18, but a 1975 law allowed a juvenile court to extend jurisdiction for some people still under 18 when…
An association of three South Dakota counties (Walworth, Edmunds, Brown) and some municipalities was trying to appropriate water from a state water source for its members' anticipated future water needs. Two questions: (1) Could the association use the future-needs water appropriation provision in SDCL 46-5-38, which was limited to 'state institution, facility or property, municipality or conservancy subdistrict'? (2) Did a new statute requiring legislative approval for appropriations over 10,000 acre-feet apply to an application filed before the new statute's effective date?
On the first question, no: counties were not 'state institutions, municipalities, or conservancy subdistricts' and could not appropriate water for future use. An association that mixed counties (no…
South Dakota passed two bills in 1975 that both addressed state-employee sick leave: HB 625 removed the accumulation cap, and SB 102 added a five-day personal-emergency provision but did not touch the accumulation cap. They reach the governor's desk a few days apart. Which one is the law on July 1?
Senate Bill 102 prevails, even though it appears more limited. Under Nord v. General Life Insurance Company (S.D. 1945), when the legislature passes inconsistent acts on the same subject at the same…
Could a Washington county share its federal forest funds with a school district assigned to another county in 1975?
The AG said no. Under the state distribution statute then in force, a county could not give its federal forest funds to a joint school district assigned to another county, even if part of the…
If a senior citizens group sets up volunteer drivers who get reimbursed for mileage by a third-party sponsor (not by the elderly riders), are the drivers regulated as motor carriers, and are the riders considered 'guests' shielding the driver from negligence lawsuits?
The motor-carrier answer was qualified. The PUC and Department of Public Safety could determine from the complete facts that a volunteer-driver service was not a common carrier, and the service…
Minnehaha and Turner Counties may be asked to endorse and participate in a private nonprofit community action corporation. Can a county create or participate in such a corporation, contribute money to it, appoint county commissioners as board members, and was the counties' inclusion in the state community action agency through the Governor's 1974 executive order valid?
A county cannot itself create or be a corporate officer/incorporator of a private nonprofit, but county officials can serve as incorporators or directors as individuals. Counties can support a…
Did a Washington short plat filed after May 31 require a deposit for future property taxes under the 1975 platting law?
The AG concluded that RCW 58.08.040 did not require a tax deposit when a short plat was filed under local rules adopted pursuant to RCW 58.17.060, even if the filing was after May 31.
How were Washington property taxes prorated when the U.S. Postal Service bought taxable land in 1975?
The AG said taxes payable in the acquisition year, and their lien, were allocated only through the period before title passed to the United States. It applied the state-acquisition proration rule by…
Could Washington's governor include water withdrawals in a thermal-power-plant site certification in 1975?
The AG said yes: a governor-approved certification could authorize public-water withdrawals needed to operate the plant in place of a separate state-agency water-use permit under the then-existing…
When a county union is certified as the exclusive bargaining representative for highway department employees, is the county commission's mandatory duty to negotiate salaries with the union an unconstitutional delegation of the commission's legislative authority over county compensation?
No. Janklow concluded SDCL chapter 3-18 was constitutional as to both delegation questions presented. The county commission's duty to negotiate does not transfer its decision-making authority. Under…
Did Washington public-works contractors have to provide fringe-benefit plans in kind under the 1975 prevailing-wage law?
The AG said no. A covered employer could meet the prevailing-wage requirement by paying wages that included the prevailing cost of the identified benefit programs, without establishing the programs…
Did a Washington school director lose the seat by moving to another director district within the same school district in 1975?
The AG said yes when the director voluntarily changed both residence and voter registration to another director district. It distinguished a boundary change made by redistricting, which did not…
Could a Washington community-college board require nonunion faculty to pay union fees under a 1975 agency-shop agreement?
The AG said no for the academic employees covered by chapter 28B.52 RCW. It rejected both a dues-equivalent clause and a narrower clause charging nonmembers a share of bargaining costs, while…
Must the South Dakota Department of Health accept a tribal court order of adoption as the basis for issuing a new birth certificate under SDCL 34-25-16.1?
No. The AG concluded the Department of Health should not accept tribal court adoption orders to establish new birth records under SDCL 34-25-16.1. He said neither the Full Faith and Credit Clause…
When state employees who live in Pierre have to fly somewhere on official state business, can they be reimbursed for the mileage from their home to the Pierre airport?
Pierre-resident state employees could be reimbursed for only the portion of an airport trip outside Pierre city limits, with Travel Commission approval accompanying the claim. The AG observed that…
Did a bank's sale and leaseback of its premises trigger Washington real-estate excise tax in 1975?
The AG said both the bank's conveyance and the leaseback with an option to repurchase were taxable sales under the then-existing county tax law, despite a federal tax ruling treating the arrangement…
Did a married Washington woman have to use her husband’s residence when registering to vote?
The Attorney General said no. The state equal-rights amendment displaced the old rule assigning a married woman her husband’s domicile; her voting residence was to be determined by the same…
Could Washington require governor and lieutenant governor candidates to run as one ticket by statute?
The AG said no. The state constitution required the named executive officers to be elected separately, and making a governor candidate share a party ticket would add a qualification; the AG said the…
When the Sioux Falls Bicentennial Commission held celebrations and sold tickets to bicentennial events in 1975-76, did the proceeds from ticket sales have to bear South Dakota sales tax?
No. SDCL 10-45-13 exempted gross receipts from sales of tickets or admission to community-operated celebrations sponsored by certain municipal nonprofit corporations or associations. The Sioux Falls…
Could a Washington superior court judge raise court staff salaries or take county office space?
The AG said a judge could not override salaries fixed by statute or county authority through an administrative order. Courts could use a judicial mandamus case for arbitrarily inadequate pay or…
What could a new Washington city-county charter change about cities, districts, contracts, taxes, and employees?
The AG said a voter-approved city-county charter could retain or absorb municipalities and redesign most county offices, but several consequences depended on existing law or further legislation. It…
Could Washington’s schools superintendent require districts to adopt their own affirmative-action hiring policies?
The AG said the superintendent could require districts to formulate their own policies, but neither the superintendent nor state education board could impose one statewide hiring policy under…
If a person elected to the board of trustees of a South Dakota sanitary district moves outside the district during her term, must she give up her seat? Does state law require board members to live inside the district?
No. SDCL chapter 34-17 contains no express requirement that a sanitary-district trustee reside within the district. SDCL 37-14-18 requires the nominating petition to be signed by qualified electors…
When the South Dakota Legislature adopted the Multistate Tax Compact but stripped out the line that said Article VIII (interstate audits) would be in force, did the state still get the interstate audit authority, or was that piece left out?
South Dakota got the interstate audit authority. Janklow concluded that Article VIII's section 1 (saying it would be in force only as specifically provided) was prefatory surplusage that did not…
Can Campbell County use its snow removal equipment on the streets of Mound City and Artas at county expense, or does it need a formal agreement first?
It needs an agreement. South Dakota's intergovernmental cooperation statute SDCL 1-24-3 allows political subdivisions to enter agreements for joint or cooperative action, and SDCL 31-12-41…
Did a Washington code city have to seek competitive bids before selling its real estate?
The 1974 AG said no general bidding requirement applied to a code city’s real-property sale. A charter code city still had to follow any applicable bidding restriction in its own charter.
Could a Washington fire protection district abolish a civil-service system it had adopted for paid firefighters?
The AG said no under 1974 law. The district could choose whether to adopt the statutory system, but once it had done so, its board lacked authority to rescind it without further express statutory…
Could a state-permitted surface mine operate on a Washington shoreline despite a conflicting local shoreline program?
The 1974 AG said no under the facts presented. If the mining was shoreline “development” and conflicted with a properly formulated shoreline master program, the state mining permit did not defeat…
Could a veteran use Washington’s public-job exam preference again when applying to a different agency?
In 1974, the AG said a veteran who had already received a first covered public appointment through the preference could not use it again on an entrance exam, even for a different public employer.…
What could a Washington school district pay for when it made interscholastic sports part of its educational program?
The 1974 AG allowed district spending on sanctioned sports, including uniforms, necessary travel meals and lodging, and nominal letters. It required gate receipts to be accounted for and rejected…
Lawrence County's Board of County Commissioners had statutory zoning authority under SDCL 11-2. The organized township of St. Onge within Lawrence County wanted to take over full zoning powers (not just fact-finding) for its territory. The St. Onge township board had been making zoning recommendations to the county zoning commission. Could the county commissioners delegate full zoning authority to the township board?
No. SDCL 8-2-9 specified the limited circumstances when a township could pass zoning ordinances (only townships near a city of 50,000+ people, which St. Onge was not). SDCL 8-2-10 expressly limited…
Could a Washington municipality give the county treasurer blanket authority to invest all its current and future surplus money?
The AG said no in 1974: the municipality’s governing body needed action concerning specific funds at a specific time. It could delegate investment directions to one of its own officials if its…
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