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Which fund paid a lawyer appointed for an indigent misdemeanor defendant in a Washington justice court?
The AG said constitutionally required appointed counsel could be paid under the counsel statute, but the fee came from the county current expense fund, not justice court revenues.
Could a Washington port commission choose the bank for its surplus funds when the county treasurer invested them?
Yes. The AG said the commission could name the qualified institution when authorizing an investment. The treasurer could instead use the separate authority to buy specified U.S. securities, but…
Could the public inspect Washington land commissioner records showing deposits from timber sales?
The AG said yes. Financial records of the commissioner’s deposit transactions were open for inspection at the agency during working hours; the agency did not have to surrender the records or provide…
Could a Washington community college require every classified employee to retire at 65 regardless of the job?
The AG said no. A blanket age-65 rule for classified civil service employees ignored whether age was related to each job; the retirement system’s age-70 provision did not itself promise continued…
Could Washington deny a private club a liquor license because its written rules excluded people by race?
The AG expressed substantial doubt that the liquor board could impose such a disqualification under its existing statutes. It concluded that the legislature could constitutionally give the board…
Could a Washington community college board send non-board members to negotiate with its academic employees?
The AG said the board could assign negotiations to a committee of its own trustees, but not to a committee containing outsiders. The general power to delegate duties to a college president did not…
Could a Washington sewer district assess county-owned land, and could the county object later if mailed notice went to a former owner?
The AG said specially benefited county land could be assessed. Where statutory publication and mailing rules were followed, the county’s failure to protest on time barred its later challenge, even…
Could a Washington county build separate water or sewer systems for different areas, and what planning did each need?
Yes. The AG said a county could create separate or combined systems for all or part of the county, but each separate system needed its own general plan and review committee under the 1972 statutes.
Could a Washington treasurer collect a new mobile-home property tax early in late 1972 if the home might leave the county?
No. The AG said the 1971 transition law required the first new mobile-home property tax to be paid in 1973, so a treasurer could not accelerate its collection before January 1, 1973 under the…
Did permanently affixing a Washington mobile home automatically exempt it from the 1972 mobile-home excise tax?
No. The AG said the exemption applied if the qualifying home had previously been entered and assessed on the real-property rolls under the special procedure. Merely affixing it, or its automatic…
The 1972 Legislature passed three acts (Chapters 38, 39, 44) raising salaries for elected county officials including treasurers, auditors, clerks of courts, registers of deeds, states attorneys, and sheriffs. The acts did not specify an effective date. The state Constitution said compensation of public officers could not be 'increased or decreased during his term.' Did the new salary acts take effect July 1, 1972 (the default date for legislation without a specified date), or did they have to wait until each official's next term started in 1973?
July 1, 1972. The constitutional ban on mid-term salary changes (Article XII, Section 3) had been effectively superseded by a 1946 amendment to Article XXI, Section 2, which allowed the Legislature…
Are privately or federally sponsored low-rent or elderly multi-family housing units in South Dakota classified as hotels under the state Fire Safety in Hotels law, subject to state Fire Marshal inspection?
No. SDCL 34-34-1 defines hotel by reference to transient occupancy. Low-rent housing and housing for the elderly are designed for permanent residents who qualify under continuing housing-authority…
Could a Washington sheriff’s civil-service commission bar everyone under 21 from applying because deputies might have to enter taverns?
No blanket bar, said the AG. The commission could set a 21-year minimum for specific positions that required tavern entry for law enforcement under the law then in force.
A Lawrence County assessor accidentally added an extra zero to a property's valuation sometime before 1962, making the value appear as $27,900 instead of $2,790. The error went undetected through 1969 tax years. When the taxpayer applied for an abatement and refund in August 1971, the county commissioners approved refunds for 1964-1969 but refused to refund earlier years because of the six-year statute of limitations. Was the statute of limitations a valid bar?
No. The AG found that the six-year limitations period did not bar county commissioners from refunding taxes based on this illegal valuation. The state Constitution prohibited assessment above actual…
Could Washington trailer and camper owners pay the lower 1972 excise tax by delaying their vehicle license until after May 23?
No. The AG said owners already possessing trailers or campers in Washington before the rate change owed the old 2% tax for 1972, even if they delayed licensing or payment. It also rejected refunds…
Did Washington’s 1972 senior property-tax exemption count federal civil-service and railroad pensions as income?
Yes. The AG said those pensions counted in full for the income test, except portions returning the applicant’s own capital or investment. The statute’s special two-thirds rule applied only to Social…
Could Washington’s governor alone return state jurisdiction over tribal lands after the state had assumed it?
The AG said the governor lacked general authority under 1972 state law to retrocede validly assumed jurisdiction. It distinguished correcting an earlier proclamation that had been issued in error.
Could South Dakota's Educational Television stations legally produce and broadcast programs giving time to candidates running for local, state, and federal offices, as long as they followed FCC Fairness Doctrine equal-time rules?
For federal candidates: yes, and they had to. The 1971 Federal Election Campaign Act required all broadcasting stations (commercial and noncommercial educational alike) to give legally qualified…
The 1972 Legislature appropriated $50,000 to the Legislative Research Council for a tax study. Governor Kneip signed the appropriations bill but then ordered the State Budget Officer to 'encumber' the $50,000 until he received a written justification from LRC about how the money would be used. Did the Governor have authority to block release of an appropriation pending his approval of the spending plan?
No. Appropriating money is a legislative function the Governor may not perform. The Governor's only constitutional power over appropriations is the line-item veto, which Governor Kneip had not used…
How did Washington’s 1971 lower interest rate apply to overdue property taxes across multiple parcels?
The AG said the 5% rate applied to no more than $500 of a year’s delinquent real-property taxes for the first delinquency year only. The $500 limit applied to the taxpayer’s combined parcels within…
What campaign-ad, roadside-sign and public-employee political activity restrictions did Washington’s AG identify in 1972?
The AG surveyed separate 1972 rules for ad sponsor labels, sign placement and political activity by different classes of public employees. It stressed that employee rules varied by job and that…
Could a Washington juvenile court place a child with an unlicensed foster-care agency if the agency was otherwise covered by licensing law?
No. The AG said a court order under the juvenile-court placement statute did not exempt an agency from the separate licensing requirement for receiving and caring for a dependent or delinquent child.
Could a Washington cemetery district sell plots to nonresidents and charge them more?
Yes. The AG said a cemetery district could serve people who neither lived nor owned taxable property in the district. It could charge them higher fees if the difference reasonably reflected their…
Did Washington traffic laws and speed limits apply on federal Forest Service roads in 1972?
The AG said state traffic rules applied on Forest Service roads, including special service roads, where federal rules did not conflict. It treated the state’s then 50 mph county road limit as the…
Could Washington parks officials close every ocean beach to automobile driving at all times?
The AG said the parks commission could regulate when and where cars drove on designated ocean beach highways, but it could not bar all automobile driving on every covered beach all the time.
Could a Washington county prosecutor acting as coroner appoint a deputy who was not a lawyer?
The AG said a prosecutor serving as coroner in a fourth through ninth class county could appoint deputy coroners with county commissioner consent. The commissioners set their pay, and the deputies…
South Dakota's compulsory school attendance statutes (SDCL 13-27-1 through 13-27-7) list reasons a child can be excused from attending school. Do those statutory grounds also limit a school district when it lets a student miss a few days for an educational trip, or can the school board write its own policy on field-trip absences?
The statutory excuse grounds apply only to releasing a student from membership in the school, not to day-to-day field-trip excuses. School boards have broad implied authority to adopt their own…
Could a Washington employer require women to work four ten-hour days under the laws considered in 1971?
The 1971 AG said covered employers could permit women to work four ten-hour days. Employers also covered by federal Title VII could require the schedule on the same terms as for men; employers…
Would a Washington officer be personally liable for scrapping an abandoned car mistakenly valued at $50 or less?
The 1971 AG said an officer acting in good faith had a defense to a conversion claim if the car met the other statutory conditions and the officer mistakenly valued it at $50 or less. The opinion…
Could a Washington town appoint a municipal judge who lived and worked outside town but regularly represented its residents?
Under the 1971 statute, yes, if the appointee was a Washington attorney whose professional contacts in the town were substantial and continuing. A nonattorney appointee in a town under 5,000 still…
Could a Washington court extend a suspended sentence beyond the term it actually imposed?
No. The AG said the 1971 law required a definite end date no later than when the sentence actually imposed would have expired, even if that sentence was shorter than the maximum allowed for the crime.
Did Washington’s 1971 age-law amendment let eighteen to twenty-year-olds enter taverns?
No. The AG said the tavern-entry ban for people under twenty-one remained in force. An existing exception allowed professional musicians aged eighteen or older to enter during their work.
Could the public attend a Washington county board of equalization’s July sessions under the 1971 law?
Yes, generally. The AG read the board’s statutory “open session” requirement as allowing public spectators. The board had to close a portion when the assessor offered confidential taxpayer…
Could Washington reserve an Evergreen Point Bridge lane for buses or carpools under the 1971 law?
The AG said a lane could be reserved for buses if bridge revenue still met bond debt-service requirements. The highway commission lacked authority to reserve a lane for cars based only on a minimum…
Did Washington’s 1971 property-appraiser qualifications apply to the county assessor?
No. The AG said the requirements applied to assessor assistants and deputies who valued real property, but the statute did not clearly impose them on an elected or appointed county assessor.
Did a Washington fire dispatcher need to pass a firefighter civil service exam to qualify for the 1971 retirement system?
No. The AG identified two statutory routes to firefighter status that did not require the individual to pass the exam. It also addressed increased disability retirement benefits and when vested…
Did Washington’s 1971 open meetings law cover informal gatherings without a vote?
Yes, when a majority of a public agency’s governing body met to consider official business. The AG read the 1971 act to cover deliberation and informal sessions even without a formal vote, while…
How did Washington calculate taxable property value for 1971 tuberculosis facility levies?
The AG said all three tuberculosis levies in the 1971 act used county assessor valuations. Under the assessment rule then in force, multiplying each parcel’s assessed value by two yielded the actual…
Did Washington’s 1971 senior property tax exemption pass to an owner’s heirs or buyer?
No. The AG said the exemption was personal to the qualifying claimant. If that person died or sold the home before the tax became payable, heirs or other new owners did not receive the benefit.
Could a Washington deputy sheriff keep the job and join PERS if ineligible for the law-enforcement pension on medical grounds?
Yes, under the conditions in the 1971 opinion. The medical standard limited entry to the law-enforcement pension, not employment or civil-service rank. A deputy otherwise eligible for PERS had to…
Did Washington counties have to seek bids for small road contracts under the 1971 law?
Yes. The AG said road work done by contract required competitive bids regardless of a project’s cost. Day labor was an alternative for projects within the then-applicable cost cap, but equipment…
Could a South Dakota county auditor have deputies register voters outside the auditor's office, and what could the auditor do for a voter from another county who could not appear there to register?
Yes, deputies could register voters outside the office. The auditor should set the hours and places, obtain county commissioner authorization for additional deputies and their pay and hours, and…
Could a fourth-class county prosecutor also serve on a third-class city council in that county?
The AG said yes under the 1971 law. It found no statutory bar and concluded a court would likely regard the two offices as compatible.
Could a Washington senior homeowner qualify for the 1971 property tax exemption despite earnings that reduced Social Security benefits?
No. The AG said the separate Social Security earnings test disqualified an applicant even if total income fell below the amount used to calculate a full exemption. Later federal changes would not…
Did Washington’s 1970 abortion law let physician assistants perform abortions?
No. Under the law then in force, the AG said the exception from older criminal statutes covered licensed physicians and a pregnant woman following such a physician’s directions, but did not extend…
Could Washington’s game commission regulate imported wild animals bred in captivity?
Yes. The AG concluded that the commission could regulate importation and commercial breeding and sale of animals wild by nature, even if they were nonnative or born in captivity, subject to…
Could Washington’s secretary of state keep minor-party nominating-certificate signers confidential by rule?
No. The AG concluded that the secretary could not use a rule to make the names and addresses on filed minor-party nominating certificates confidential when statutes made those election records…
Could Washington keep issuing occupational driving permits after the governor vetoed their replacement law?
Yes. The AG concluded that the governor’s veto of the proposed replacement also defeated its dependent repeal, leaving the existing occupational-license statute in effect.
Did Washington’s 1971 lower interest rate apply to property taxes already delinquent?
Yes. The AG concluded that the reduced rate applied to eligible delinquent real-property taxes when payment was tendered on or after the amendment took effect, even if the taxes had become…
Which games at a Washington agricultural fair escaped criminal gambling penalties under the 1971 law?
The AG distinguished pure skill games from gambling and found conditional criminal exemptions for qualifying bingo, raffles and amusement games. It treated electronic horse-racing devices as chance…
Could Washington put a British Columbia traffic conviction on a resident’s driving record?
The AG said yes. The motor vehicle department could record a properly reported British Columbia violation and consider it in licensing decisions, even though the interstate driver-license compact…
Did a Washington prosecutor who endorsed an involuntary mental-health commitment petition have to appear at the hearing?
The AG said yes. By endorsing a petition after investigating it, the prosecutor took on a duty to appear and support it at the commitment hearing under the law then in force.
Did Washington cities have to share county costs for keeping voter-registration records?
The AG said yes. Costs could include filing equipment, supplies and clerical work, with each city’s share calculated by precinct and by registered voters in split precincts.
When a South Dakota highway construction project pushes a utility's power lines off private property and onto a new highway right-of-way (with federal aid paying for the move), can the State Highway Commission sign a subordination agreement promising that the utility will not have to bear future relocation costs if subsequent highway construction makes another move necessary?
No. South Dakota law treats utility facilities on highway right-of-way as subordinate to the state's dominant easement. If a future highway change requires relocation, the utility company pays. A…
Can a South Dakota board of county commissioners agree to settle a real-estate tax delinquency by accepting the full amount of back taxes from the former owner, without interest or penalty, when the property has since been taken over by a town?
The AG gave no definite yes or no. He said SDC 57.0802(2) appeared applicable and could support accepting the offer if commissioners, after full consideration, found it in the county's best interest…
Can the South Dakota Board of Finance lawfully say that a state employee stops earning new annual leave once they put in notice that this vacation is the last thing before they quit?
No. The AG said a state employee remained employed during a vacation ending in resignation and could accrue annual leave during that period despite Board of Finance Regulations 40.00800 and…
Did Washington subdivision rules apply when one owner rented five mobile-home or camper sites on short terms?
The AG said yes. Dividing land into at least five sites for monthly mobile-home rentals or daily and weekly camper rentals met the statute’s lease-based subdivision definition, even without selling…
Could a Washington city use its old firefighters’ pension fund for contributions, leave pay, or medical costs under the newer system?
The AG allowed the old fund to pay specified hospitalization and medical costs, but not employer contributions or disability leave under the newer retirement system. Separate old-system disability…
Under Washington’s 1970 abortion statute, did a husband’s temporary absence or a marital separation affect the consent requirement?
The 1971 AG read “residing with” as a shared marital home, not continuous physical presence. Consent was required despite a temporary employment absence, but not when the couple lived apart after a…
Could a Washington disability board try a limited return to duty before deciding retirement, and grant a second leave if it failed?
The AG allowed a limited conditional return when the medical exam was inconclusive. If the same disability persisted, the member did not receive a second six-month disability leave; disability…
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