State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Can an Arkansas city release a clean-up lien on property so a nonprofit can buy and redevelop it, without violating the constitutional ban on giving public funds to private entities?
No constitutional violation. Article 12, section 5 of the Arkansas Constitution bans cities from donating money or property to private entities, but releasing a § 14-54-901 to -904 cleanup lien (befor…
How long can a Delaware county take to fulfill a FOIA request for emails on a controversial topic?
No violation. The AG ruled New Castle County's repeated time extensions to process 2,158 emails responsive to a councilmember's keyword search complied with FOIA, because each extension fell within th…
Can a Virginia county pick which kinds of events get hit with an admissions tax, or does it have to tax all events the same?
Yes. A Virginia county may define the class of events on which to impose an admissions tax under the catch-all in § 58.1-3817(6). The county does not have to tax every type of event in that catch-all,…
Can a Mississippi school district reclassify Sixteenth Section land and lease it to the city as a rubbish (yard waste) site?
The 2021 opinion concluded that a Mississippi school board has authority to reclassify Sixteenth Section land when conditions change, but reclassification must be based on the highest and best use for…
Can Phoenix bar its employees from giving any money to candidates for city office, or from doing any political activity on city property?
No to both. The AG concluded that Phoenix City Code § 12-217(a)'s blanket ban on employee political contributions and § 12-217(c)'s blanket ban on political activity on any city property both violated…
Can a Mississippi city accept land instead of cash to settle a special assessment debt the property owner owes?
Yes. The 2021 opinion concluded that under municipal home rule, a Mississippi city can accept real property in lieu of cash payment to satisfy a special-assessment debt, as long as the property is acq…
How many times must a Mississippi county advertise an ordinance, and can it post a shortened version online instead of the full text in the newspaper?
For ordinances not governed by a specific publication statute, Mississippi counties have no minimum number of newspaper runs and can post a shortened version on a county website. But if a particular t…
Can a Mississippi county provide group health insurance to part-time employees or non-salaried employees, and can it pick which employees to cover?
The 2021 opinion concluded that a Mississippi county can provide group health insurance only to employees who (1) work full-time for the county and (2) receive direct compensation from the county. Par…
Can a Mississippi county hire a chamber of commerce to manage a county-owned property and share offices, and does revenue generated have to flow through the county?
On the office-sharing question: yes. The 2021 opinion concluded that nothing prohibits a county and a chamber of commerce from agreeing, in a lawful management agreement, that the county retains offic…
Can a Mississippi school district sell laptop computers (purchased with COVID Equity in Distance Learning Act funds) to graduating seniors?
Yes. The 2021 opinion concluded that a Mississippi school district may sell laptop computers, purchased with grants under the Equity in Distance Learning Act (EDLA), to graduating twelfth graders. The…
Can a Mississippi county board of supervisors add secretarial expenses to the county prosecutor's base salary, raising the retirement and tax base?
No. The 2021 opinion concluded that the county prosecutor's salary (set by Section 25-3-9 based on county population and location) is separate from secretarial expenses paid under that statute or unde…
Does a Mississippi city judge in a city of 10,000 to 20,000 have to be a qualified elector of the county where the city sits?
No. The 2021 opinion concluded that Brookhaven's municipal court judge does not need to be a qualified elector of Lincoln County. Section 21-23-3 generally requires city judges in cities of 10,000+ to…
Can a Delaware agency charge me $2,374 to have its Director of Community Relations sift through 3,801 emails one-by-one for my FOIA request?
No, not without explaining why a director-level employee was the only person who could do the work. The Department of State quoted $2,374 for the Director to review emails about Gulftainer and the Por…
In West Virginia, can a local county health officer issue a binding mask requirement or other public-health rule on his own, or does it have to come from the local board of health?
It must come from the local board of health, not the health officer alone. The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code §§ 16-2-11 and 16-3-2, only a local board of health (not its individual executive off…
Are the records of a government-created advisory committee open to the public under Maryland's Public Information Act?
The opinion concluded that a committee a government creates to advise it on public matters, such as a town's stormwater committee, is very likely a 'unit or instrumentality' under the Public Informati…
If a Maine city condemns a privately-held conservation easement so it can hand the land to a developer, does the easement automatically end, or does a court still have to approve the change?
The easement is not automatically extinguished. AG Frey concluded that since 2007, only a court can terminate or amend a conservation easement in a way that materially detracts from its protections, i…
Can a Delaware school board hold no-confidence and mask-mandate votes under a vague '2021-2022 School Year' agenda heading without separate notice?
The Indian River School District Board of Education violated FOIA. Its August 22, 2021 agenda listed only '2021-2022 School Year (D)' for discussion. Two votes followed: one expressing no confidence i…
Can someone simultaneously serve as trustee of a California county board of education and a community college board with overlapping territory?
There are substantial questions, but the AG denied the application as moot. The AG concluded that holding both offices likely creates significant clashes of duty over property acquisition, joint contr…
Does Texas's Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act block Chinese-owned companies from connecting power generation to the state's electric grid?
Generally yes, in the scenarios described. A state senator (the bill's author) asked how the Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act applies to a proposed wind-generation project in Val Verde County i…
Must a Texas school district accept and spend PTA donations earmarked for extra staff positions?
Yes, when the statute's conditions are met. The chair of the Senate Education Committee asked whether House Bill 1525 requires school districts to accept and spend PTA donations earmarked for suppleme…
If a FOIA request for an Arkansas state trooper's personnel file looks politically motivated, can the custodian deny it on that ground, and what should be redacted?
A requester's political or subjective motive is irrelevant under Arkansas FOIA. The Arkansas State Police custodian's stated redaction list (medical, personal contact info, home address, phone, DOB, S…
Can a city release a former employee's personnel and termination records when the misconduct involves honesty violations, even though the subject objects?
The City of Bella Vista's redacted release of the records was consistent with FOIA. The personnel records (job application and similar) qualify for release under Young v. Rice balancing. The evaluatio…
Can the Washington State Board of Accountancy discipline a CPA who works for the State Auditor for things they did as part of their job?
Probably not. The AG concluded that RCW 18.04.350(12), which says nothing in the Public Accountancy Act prohibits any act or words by a public official or employee in the performance of duties, likely…
Can a member agency of a California joint powers authority publicly debate a pending JPA matter with its own appointee, and can the agency tell the appointee how to vote?
It depends. The Brown Act does not bar a member agency from openly discussing a pending JPA matter with its appointee at the agency's own open meeting, because there is no serial deliberation by a maj…
Did Texas Executive Order GA-38 give people the right to refuse a local mask mandate?
The AG said yes, presuming the order was valid. In 2021, during the COVID-19 disaster declaration, the Williamson County Attorney asked whether Governor Abbott's Executive Order GA-38 created a right,…
Can a port operator's lawyer use FOIA to gather DNREC records about other Delaware companies' permits while the operator's own permit-violation appeal is pending?
DNREC did not violate FOIA. The records request, faxed from a number identified as Elliott Greenleaf (the law firm representing GT USA Wilmington in a pending Environmental Appeals Board appeal of DNR…
Does a Texas district attorney have to appear when a court modifies an emergency protective order?
No, the DA may appear but is not required to. The Nueces County District Attorney asked whether he must represent the State when a municipal judge, acting as a magistrate, hears a motion to vacate and…
Can a candidate running for office in Virginia use campaign funds to pay for childcare while campaigning?
Yes. A Virginia candidate may pay for childcare with campaign funds if those expenses are a direct result of campaign activity and would not exist if the candidate were not running. Childcare needed d…
Can West Virginia require state employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine or require businesses to check vaccine passports?
The West Virginia AG concluded that a blanket state-employee vaccine mandate or a statewide vaccine-passport requirement, without medical or religious exceptions, would likely violate the West Virgini…
Can a Kentucky sheriff spend donated money on a community event like a free movie night?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Franklin County Sheriff's use of donated funds to host a free community movie night is a public purpose of the office under KRS 61.310(8). As long as the d…
Can the membership on a Mississippi joint airport board be adjusted when one owner has been paying double the cost?
Yes. The 2021 opinion concluded that the statutes governing joint airport boards (Sections 61-5-33 to 61-5-41) permit revision and amendment of the joint agreement, including the number of board membe…
Can a Mississippi special-charter city's board of mayor and selectmen remove school board trustees mid-term or change school board term lengths by ordinance?
No on both counts. The 2021 opinion concluded that the City of McComb's Board of Mayor and Selectman cannot remove a school board trustee mid-term and cannot adopt an ordinance conflicting with state-…
When a Mississippi statute says "latest available federal census," do you use the prior official census or the new one's preliminary numbers?
The 2021 opinion concluded that until the 2020 census numbers became finalized and official, the official 2010 census numbers were the "latest available federal census" for Section 21-23-3 (governing …
Does a Tennessee school board member who moves out of their district lose the seat?
Yes. Tennessee school board members must be residents of both the county and the specific district from which they were elected. If a member moves outside the district, even while staying in the count…
Can a Florida school board refuse to follow a state law or Department of Health emergency rule it thinks is invalid, like the 2021 parental mask opt-out rule?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a Florida school district must comply with applicable statutes and regulations until a court declares them invalid. Article IX, Section 4(b)'s grant of authorit…
During Virginia's early voting period, can I carry a gun in or near the local registrar's office, a satellite voter office, or a central absentee precinct? And does the 40-foot rule cover the whole building or just the voting area?
Yes, the firearm ban applies. Central absentee voter precincts, voter satellite offices, and offices of general registrars used as designated early-voting locations are 'polling places' under Va. Code…
Can Tennessee state and local governments stop their employees from storing handguns in their cars at work?
No. § 39-17-1313 (Tennessee's 'parking-lot storage' law) gives any person authorized to carry a handgun the right to transport and store that handgun, with no live ammunition in the chamber, in a priv…
Can a Texas general-law city switch to staggered election terms, and can council members refuse to draw lots?
It depends on whether the city used an ordinance, and council members cannot refuse the lots. The San Augustine County Attorney, for the City of San Augustine (a Type B general-law city with a mayor a…
Can a Kentucky district health department official also sit on the state retirement systems board?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that serving as a public health department director (Wedco) or home health administrator (Green River) is not incompatible with serving on the Kentucky Retirement S…
What is the longest deferred adjudication probation term for a third-degree felony in Texas?
Ten years. The Hood County District Attorney asked whether two community-supervision statutes conflict on the maximum term of deferred adjudication for certain third-degree felonies, those under Title…
Can a Texas legislator be removed from office for walking out to break quorum?
Not by the Attorney General, and not automatically. Representative James White asked, during the 2021 special sessions when House members left the state to deny a quorum, whether a legislator has a co…
Can a Texas officer force entry into a home to serve a parole revocation (blue) warrant?
Yes, within limits. Senator Joan Huffman asked whether a peace officer is barred from forcing entry into a residence to enforce a parole revocation warrant, the warrant often called a 'blue warrant,' …
Does Arkansas Act 1053 of 2021, which bans pharmacy steering using patient data, conflict with federal law for Federally Qualified Health Centers, and can FQHCs still tell patients about in-house pharmacy services?
Act 1053 of 2021 bans only one narrow practice: using patient charts or billing data to contact patients and solicit a prescription transfer to a particular pharmacy. It does not bar FQHCs from tellin…
In South Dakota, when residents want to split off part of a township and form a new township, does the petition to start the process need signatures from a majority of the whole original township, or only from a majority of the people in the area that would become the new township?
Only the affected portion. AG Ravnsborg ruled that SDCL 8-1-8(3) requires signatures from a majority of registered voters living in the portion of the township that would actually be split off, not fr…
Can Arizona employers or businesses require proof of COVID-19 vaccination?
Arizona's AG concluded that state law bars government employers and certain schools from mandating COVID-19 vaccination, and that any employer or business vaccine mandate must include accommodations f…
Can an Arkansas city council legally hold its meetings online if it has rules letting members attend virtually, and is the COVID-era virtual-meeting law still in effect?
Yes, an Arkansas city council can meet virtually under rules adopted per § 14-43-501, as long as the public can hear and participate. Act 2 of 2020's virtual-meeting language expired June 30, 2021. Ac…
Was Governor Ducey's 2020 letter opting Arizona out of the federal CRNA-supervision rule valid, and did it change Arizona's scope-of-practice rules?
Yes and no. The AG concluded that the Governor's consultation with the Executive Directors of the Arizona Medical and Nursing Boards likely satisfied the federal regulation's consultation requirement,…
Can DNREC keep septic-inspection records secret while it investigates a Lewes manufactured-home community?
Yes. The investigatory files exemption in 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(3) covers DNREC's septic-inspection records of a Lewes community where DNREC has issued a notice of violation and is pursuing enforcemen…
Does teaching critical race theory or antiracism in Arkansas public schools and universities violate Title VI or the Equal Protection Clause?
Yes, with qualifications. The AG concluded that practices based on critical race theory or antiracism, when they classify, segregate, or stereotype students by race, can violate Title VI, the Equal Pr…
Can a first responder or law enforcement officer who works for an Arkansas state, city, or county take paid leave for voluntary National Guard or reservist training, and does the employer have to hold the job?
Yes to all three questions, with limits. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 21-4-102, Arkansas public employees (including first responders and law enforcement) are entitled to paid leave for National Guard, rese…
Did Texas's no-mask-mandate order override the federal mask rules for buses and trains?
The AG could not say for sure that the federal orders won. Representative Senfronia Thompson asked how Governor Abbott's executive order interacted with the federal mask mandate on public transit. The…
Can a Texas city or state agency require an emergency-use COVID-19 vaccine to enter a government building?
No, the AG said. Representative James White asked whether a government jurisdiction could legally condition access to a government facility on receipt of a vaccine issued under an emergency use author…
Is every email a public employee sends from their work account automatically a public record under Arkansas FOIA, and can a vague or voluminous request be denied?
No to both. Whether an email is a public record depends on its content, not who sent it. The custodian decides that case by case. A voluminous request can be acknowledged with a longer timeline, but c…
Can a Washington, DC lawyer working for Tesla file a Delaware FOIA request for DelDOT's records about Tesla's motor vehicle dealer license dispute?
No. Delaware FOIA only guarantees access to citizens of Delaware. The petitioner conceded she was not a Delaware citizen, so DelDOT's denial on that basis was proper. The AG also flagged that the peti…
If a West Virginia county commissioner dies and the county commission misses its 30-day deadline to appoint a replacement, can the local party committee nominate the late commissioner's spouse even if she only just recently registered with the party?
Yes. The 60-day party-membership requirement in § 3-10-7(a) applies only when the county commission itself fills a vacancy. Once that 30-day window passes and the local party executive committee takes…
Can a Mississippi school district run a tuition-based 3K (three-year-old) program and a tuition-based after-school program?
Yes. The 2021 opinion confirmed that Mississippi school districts can run a tuition-based program for three-year-olds (3K) under Section 37-7-301(zz), as long as it does not conflict with the Early Le…
Can a California county recorder pull back base recording fees that the county deposited in the general fund, or offset them against other county charges?
No to both. The AG concluded that base recording fees collected under Government Code section 27361(a) belong to the county as a whole, not to the recorder. The board of supervisors decides how to bud…
Can a county clerk use poll books instead of voter registration applications to verify absentee ballot signatures, and how far does the county judge's authority over county buildings reach during elections?
No, the county clerk must use the voter registration application for signature verification, not the poll book. And the county judge's authority over county property is real but limited: it cannot int…
Can a Tennessee grocery store with a wine license also hold a license to deliver alcohol?
Yes, with several layers. (1) A retail food store wine licensee under § 57-3-803 is not statutorily prohibited from also holding a delivery service license under § 57-3-224. (2) That same single entit…
Does a Kentucky fire protection district have to give firefighters paid military leave?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that KRS 61.394 and KRS 61.396 require a fire protection district created under KRS Chapter 75 to provide paid military leave to firefighter employees who serve in …
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