State AG Opinions
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If my felony record was sealed or expunged in Arkansas, can I run for county judge or mayor?
Generally, sealing or expungement restores your eligibility to hold public office in Arkansas, but a 2019 statute (Ark. Code Ann. § 21-8-305) carves out a major exception: if your conviction was a 'pu…
If a state public corporation says committee meeting minutes are exempt because they discuss confidential financial information, can it skip a sworn search?
The Fort DuPont Redevelopment and Preservation Corporation violated FOIA. The FDRPC's counsel argued, in an unsworn correction to its Response, that no Finance Committee meeting actually occurred to d…
If a North Dakota local board of equalization never actually convenes, can it still be cited for failing to give meeting notice?
No. The open meetings statute applies only when there is a meeting. If a quorum never convened and no public business was discussed, there is nothing to notice, so there cannot be a notice violation.
Does it count as a Delaware FOIA violation if the request goes to a former coordinator's spam folder?
No. The AG ruled the City of Harrington did not violate FOIA when the request reached a former FOIA coordinator's email and ended up in spam, because the new coordinator regularly checked that mailbox…
What can I do if a Delaware advisory committee never posted minutes for its meetings?
It is a FOIA violation. The AG ruled the Childhood Lead Poisoning Committee and its subcommittees violated 29 Del. C. § 10004(f) by not maintaining or posting minutes for many 2021 and 2022 meetings, …
Can a Mississippi municipal court judge wipe out unpaid fines if a defendant finishes a GED or workforce class?
Yes, with limits. Under Miss. Code Ann. § 21-23-7(5), a municipal judge can suspend (not 'forgive') misdemeanor fines on whatever terms the court imposes, including conditioning suspension on completi…
Does Delaware FOIA require school boards to give a public comment period, and how much advance notice must they give if a meeting time is moved up by an hour?
FOIA does not require a public comment period (other laws may). But a rescheduled meeting needs at least 24 hours' notice and a written explanation. The Caesar Rodney School Board changed its April 12…
Can DelDOT use 'potential litigation' to deny every record about a development dispute, including the entire DelDOT manual?
No. The AG ruled DelDOT couldn't use 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9) as a blanket bar to records about a Sussex County subdivision's propane lines, the streets dedication, and every edition of DelDOT's Devel…
What happens if a Delaware agency misses the 15-day FOIA deadline but eventually responds with an affidavit?
Mooted. The AG ruled the Delaware Auditor of Accounts missed the 15-business-day deadline to respond to a FOIA request about its pharmacist provider-status report, but the petition was moot once AOA l…
In Mississippi, who decides parking around the county courthouse, the sheriff or the board of supervisors?
The board of supervisors. Miss. Code Ann. § 19-7-33 gives the board the authority to regulate parking on county public lands around the courthouse, including the power to assign spaces. The sheriff do…
Can a Mississippi county require a damage bond from out-of-county trucking companies but not from in-county ones?
No. A county board can require a special permit and a security bond for vehicles exceeding posted size or weight limits on county roads under § 63-5-51, but the rule has to apply uniformly to every op…
Can a fireworks seller in a permanent location in Mississippi switch from transient vendor to general business classification?
No reclassification by the Board, and the fireworks seller is still a transient vendor. The municipal tax collector, not the Board of Aldermen, classifies vendors under Sections 27-17-451 and 27-17-45…
Can a Delaware town council vote on raises and a water-line project that aren't on the meeting agenda?
No. The AG ruled the Town of Blades violated FOIA by voting on employee bonuses, cost-of-living raises, and a water-line extension that never appeared on the meeting agenda, and by discussing general …
Does North Dakota's ban on 'electronic machine-readable code' for vaccination records mean the Department of Health cannot use QR codes for anything?
No. The phrase 'electronic machine-readable code' in § 23-01-05.3 is limited to QR codes that carry vaccination-record information. It does not stop the Department of Health from using QR codes in eve…
Can a California charter city council appoint a councilmember to a vacancy more than 30 days after the vacancy if its charter sets a 30-day deadline?
Yes, leave to sue is granted. Arcadia is a charter city. The Arcadia Charter, art. IV, § 400, requires the City Council by majority vote to fill a vacancy within thirty days; if it does not, the Counc…
Can the public or a legislator inspect voted ballots in Texas during the 22-month preservation period?
Yes, for anonymous ballots. After an election, Texas keeps voted ballots locked up for at least 22 months, and election officials had been citing Election Code section 66.058 to refuse all access. The…
Can a Florida city use a zoning overlay to allow vacation rentals in only part of a residential neighborhood while banning them in the rest?
No. Florida law (§ 509.032(7)(b)) prohibits cities from regulating the 'frequency' of vacation rentals, and a zoning overlay that allows rentals in some areas but not others with the same base zoning …
Does my Virginia sheriff's office need a VDOT permit to put up a photo speed enforcement sign on an interstate, and can the sign go on private property?
A Virginia law enforcement agency that wants to install a photo speed monitoring sign within the interstate right-of-way must obtain a VDOT land use permit, and a sign within 660 feet of the right-of-…
Must Wilmington compile a custom Excel of parking ticket data with appeal status if no single record contains all the requested fields?
No. The City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when it produced an Excel of parking ticket data missing some fields Markham requested (date of appeal, ruling on appeal, court hearing dates). The City…
Can Department of the Military employees block release of their basic personnel data when included in a statewide Executive Branch employee export?
No. The custodian's decision to release records on Arkansas Department of the Military (ADOM) employees, including each employee's full name, title, department/agency, race, sex, full-time/part-time s…
Can a Mississippi waste authority raise its contracted disposal rate above the original CPI cap without rebidding?
No. The Three Rivers Solid Waste Management Authority cannot grant Waste Connections an annual rate adjustment that exceeds the contracted three-percent cap without conducting a new RFP. The price adj…
Can a state agency release a roster of Executive Branch employees with names and salaries, but not their personnel ID numbers?
Yes. The Office of Personnel Management's decision to release Executive Branch employee data (full name, title, department, race, sex, full/part-time status, location, hire/termination dates, gross sa…
Can a Virginia town ban office-based opioid treatment clinics through zoning, or only regulate where they can be located?
A Virginia town cannot use its zoning powers to completely prohibit office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) clinics anywhere within its boundaries because state law explicitly authorizes such clinics, an…
Can pharmacy benefits managers or insulin manufacturers be sued under Arkansas's Unfair Practices Act over insulin rebates?
No answer. The AG declined to issue an opinion on whether insulin rebates received by pharmacy benefits managers or pharmaceutical manufacturers in Arkansas can violate the Arkansas Unfair Practices A…
Can a city council, school board, or other Arizona public body adopt a rule that prevents individual board members from responding to comments made during a 'call to the public'?
No. The AG concluded that A.R.S. § 38-431.01(H) gives the discretion to respond to *individual members* of the public body, not to the public body as a collective. A board cannot prospectively ban its…
Does the rule against cross-district nominations to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention Bureau apply to all 9 county-appointed members or just the 5 district-tied seats?
All nine. The 2013 Local and Private Law for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau says no supervisor may nominate any person from another supervisor's district to be a me…
Can a Mississippi county grant both manufacturing and free port warehouse tax exemptions to related entities?
Yes if the entities qualify. Section 27-31-101 (manufacturing exemption) and Section 27-31-53 (free port warehouse exemption) both permit county boards to grant discretionary ad valorem tax exemptions…
Does a private dance studio count as a 'school' for the medical cannabis dispensary 1,000-foot buffer in Mississippi?
No. Section 2(gg) of SB 2095 defines 'school' as a kindergarten-through-12 institution with a physical location, instructional staff, students, and in session each school year. A private dance studio …
Can a Mississippi city fire an employee who tests positive for THC, given that some THC use is now legal under medical cannabis?
Yes, with limits. Cities can adopt drug and alcohol testing policies under Section 71-7-3 and terminate employees who test positive for THC, but only if the policy fully implements the Section 71-7 fr…
Can a Mississippi town let private businesses use street parking spaces, sidewalks, or rights-of-way for inventory or seating?
Generally no, with emergency exceptions. Section 21-27-1 prohibits granting any 'exclusive franchise or any exclusive right to use or occupy the streets, highways, bridges, or public places.' On-stree…
Can I cross a Virginia public highway on my ATV using the most direct route, or do I need special authorization first?
Yes. Clause (ii) of Va. Code § 46.2-915.1(A)(1) is independent of clauses (i) and (iii). An ATV operator may cross a public highway by the most direct route without needing authorization from proper a…
If condo unit owners have voted to terminate their condominium for redevelopment, can 51% of them petition to create a Community Development Authority over the entire site?
Yes, in the scenario described. If the termination agreement has not yet been recorded (so unit owners still hold title), and 51% of the unit owners own at least 51% of the land area or assessed value…
Did Tennessee's 2022 amendment about insurance producers free local governments from competitive bidding when they buy insurance?
No. The 2022 amendment (Public Chapter 719) added 'services from an insurance producer' to the list of professional services that local governments can procure without competitive bidding. But insuran…
When does the Arkansas FOIA require disclosure of a state police officer's employee-evaluation records, and what gets redacted?
Yes. The ASP custodian's decision to release the officer's two disciplinary files (2005 and 2007) as redacted is generally consistent with the FOIA. Employee-evaluation records may only be released wh…
After California county redistricting, who does my county supervisor represent until the next election, the old district or the new one?
For election purposes, the supervisorial district boundaries do not change until the next regularly scheduled election for that seat. Until then, a sitting supervisor remains electorally accountable t…
Does a Delaware General Assembly committee have to provide an in-person 'anchor location' for a virtual hearing, and can a witness file a FOIA petition if she gets cut off after testifying?
Mostly outside FOIA scope. The Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee held a fully virtual meeting on June 15, 2022. Janice Lorrah's three claims (no anchor location, voting outside meeting…
Can the West Virginia Economic Development Authority issue Broadband Loan Insurance Program coverage to a borrower who already has the loan in place (and is using the new insurance to swap out cash collateral), and is the lender's 'but-for' creditworthiness certification valid in that scenario?
Yes, on both counts. Re-collateralizing a pre-existing loan, swapping cash collateral for BLINS-program loan insurance, fits within the broad statutory definition of an insurable 'debt instrument' und…
Can an online-only news site publish official legal notices in Arkansas?
Generally no. Online-only news outlets cannot publish statutorily required legal notices in Arkansas because the legal-newspaper statute requires a printed publication with a second-class mailing priv…
If our Arkansas county lost its print newspaper, can we publish required legal notices online or just post in public places?
On these facts, Woodruff County has neither a newspaper of general circulation nor a legal newspaper. The county must use the statutory posting fallback: three public places designated by ordinance fo…
What can an Arkansas county do to publish legal notices when its only remaining newspaper is online or barely circulated?
Whether a publication qualifies as a 'newspaper of general circulation' is a fact question Arkansas courts decide using the Williamson v. Nixon test (substance of content, not size). The AG could not …
Can a contractor with claims pending before the DelDOT Claims Committee use FOIA to gather DelDOT's TIFIA loan records, or is that pending litigation under FOIA?
DelDOT did not violate FOIA. The contractor's claim review process under DelDOT contract Section 105.15 (claim filed, response, hearing before a five-member Claims Committee with evidence and a writte…
Can a Mississippi code-charter mayor access city employee personnel records?
Yes. Section 21-3-15 gives the mayor 'superintending control' of all officers and affairs of the municipality, which includes access to city employee personnel records. The city clerk must provide ful…
Can a Mississippi city declare an active refuse transfer station surplus and sell it for industrial use?
Only if it's actually surplus. Section 57-7-1 lets cities sell or lease land that's no longer needed for governmental purposes for industrial or commercial use. The city must first determine that prop…
What can a Delaware municipality charge for FOIA fees, and does it have to post meeting agendas online?
Mixed result. The Town of Blades violated FOIA on the records side: it charged a $50 'Additional Labor Fee' plus attorney research fees on a denied request without first sending an itemized written co…
If a North Dakota board posts notice of a phone meeting on its Facebook page and website, is that enough?
No. Posting only to Facebook and the board website misses the legal requirements: notice must also go to the principal office, the official newspaper for special meetings, and the notice must include …
I have an old approved Virginia subdivision plat that expired in 2020. Is it dead, and can my county bring it back to life?
Subdivision plats in Northampton County that were valid under § 15.2-2261 as of January 1, 2009, and that did not separately set a validity period, became invalid on July 1, 2020 under § 15.2-2209.1 (…
Can a Virginia Board of Zoning Appeals ignore the procedural rules in the local zoning ordinance, or tell only some applicants about a reconsideration option?
A local Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) is a creature of statute with only those powers expressly granted. It cannot deviate from the procedural rules in the local zoning ordinance or hear matters the g…
Can a Los Angeles council member who has already served three full terms be appointed to fill a temporary vacancy created when an indicted incumbent is suspended?
Substantial questions of law exist about whether the appointment is valid, so the AG granted leave to sue in quo warranto. The dispute hinges on whether Charter section 409 (which requires appointing …
Does former Illinois state representative Luis Arroyo lose his pension after his federal wire fraud conviction tied to sweepstakes legislation bribery?
Yes. Arroyo's wire fraud conviction grew directly out of his role as a state representative. He took $32,500 in bribes funneled through his consulting company, Spartacus, in exchange for advancing swe…
Can a county supervisor in California also serve as the general manager of a special district like an airport district whose territory overlaps the county?
No. A Nevada County supervisor cannot also serve as general manager of the Truckee Tahoe Airport District. The two are incompatible public offices under Government Code section 1099 because the agenci…
Can a California county supervisor be appointed to a vacancy if they only moved into the district four days before the appointment, and their family stays in the home they came from?
Substantial questions of law and fact exist about whether David Brown satisfied Alameda County's residency requirements when he was appointed to the District 3 supervisor seat after living in the dist…
When a sanitary district board has too few members to function and nobody wants the open seat, what must the county board of supervisors do?
Keep trying. The AG concluded that A.R.S. § 48-2010(F)'s requirement that the county board of supervisors 'shall' fill the vacancy is mandatory, but if no qualified elector is willing to serve, the bo…
Can Maine's Department of Health and Human Services hand confidential child welfare records straight to the Government Oversight Committee, or does the law route those records through a different office?
Direct release to the GOC is not authorized. AG Frey concluded that Maine's confidentiality framework routes confidential child welfare records to OPEGA, the GOC's investigative arm, not to the GOC it…
How does a Mississippi special-charter city change to code-charter form of government?
By special election. The Council can adopt a resolution calling a special election under Section 23-15-859 (or follow the special charter's specific provisions, if it has them) to put the question to …
Can a Virginia sheriff use civilian employees or private process servers to serve civil court papers, instead of sworn deputies? What training is required, and what's the sheriff's liability if something goes wrong?
Yes. A Virginia sheriff may use a civilian employee (18 or older, not a party to the case) or contract with a private process server to serve civil process, except where statute specifically requires …
Can a Virginia county Community Development Authority finance and build a retaining wall as part of its infrastructure project?
Yes. A Community Development Authority (CDA) created under §§ 15.2-5152 to 15.2-5157 may finance, fund, plan, establish, acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, extend, equip, operate, and maintain …
Can the Arkansas State Police release a former trooper's termination letter under FOIA when the misconduct involves departmental rules?
Yes. The Arkansas State Police's decision to release a former trooper's termination letter detailing the policy violations that led to discharge is consistent with the Arkansas FOIA. Misconduct by swo…
Does the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act stop a Texas utility from serving a factory owned by a Chinese company?
Not by itself. The Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act bars Texas businesses and government entities from signing agreements that give certain foreign-owned companies (those tied to China, Iran, N…
In Texas, can an engineer certify a county subdivision plat, or must a registered land surveyor do it?
Both have to sign off on their own parts. Local Government Code section 232.023(b)(1) says a county subdivision plat must 'be certified by a surveyor or engineer registered to practice in this state,'…
Can Texas force a county probation department to refund its locally collected fees to the state at the end of the biennium?
No. County community supervision and corrections departments (the probation departments that serve the courts) are funded two ways: locally generated fees they collect, and 'state aid' the Legislature…
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