State AG Opinions
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How can a Garland County property owner clear a 1953 pipeline easement that was granted to a long-defunct state commission, when every state agency disclaims authority?
The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC), now under the Department of Commerce, is the legal successor to the 1955 Industrial Development Commission, which inherited the easement from the a…
If a medical clinic bought equipment with federal grant money, is it exempt from Arkansas business personal property tax? And does sending unpaid patient bills to collections cost it any tax exemption?
No, federal-grant-funded purchases by themselves don't trigger an exemption. The clinic might qualify for the public charity exemption if it's open to the public, serves regardless of ability to pay, …
Can a corporation or LLC own both a beer wholesaler and a wine-and-spirits wholesaler in Oklahoma after the 2025 statutory amendment, even though the Oklahoma Constitution restricts who can own a wine-and-spirits wholesaler license?
Yes. Article XXVIII-A, section 4 of the Oklahoma Constitution restricts wine-and-spirits wholesaler licenses to sole proprietors or partnerships, but expressly exempts beer wholesalers from those rest…
Can Oklahoma enforce its hunting and fishing laws against tribal members who are hunting or fishing on the Cherokee, Chickasaw, or Choctaw reservations? What about tribal members hunting on a reservation other than their own?
No. Federal law preempts Oklahoma's Wildlife Conservation Code as applied to (a) members of a tribe hunting or fishing on their own Nation's reservation, and (b) members of one of the Five Tribes hunt…
If a Virginia landowner's open-space use agreement under the land-preservation tax program expires (and they don't renew it), can the locality assess roll-back taxes against them as if there were a change in use?
No. The AG concluded that the expiration of an open-space use agreement is not a 'change in use' under Va. Code § 58.1-3237. Roll-back taxes attach when actual land use changes to a nonqualifying use,…
If someone is caught driving in South Carolina without a driver's license and they have a prior conviction that would have suspended a license they never had, what should they be charged with?
Section 56-1-450, not Section 56-1-460. The AG explained that 56-1-460 only applies when a license was once issued and then canceled, suspended, or revoked. A person who has never been licensed has no…
Does an Arkansas sheriff need the county judge's approval to award a retiring deputy his service pistol, given that the county judge controls disposal of county property?
No. § 12-15-302 lets the sheriff award the pistol on his own. The general rule that the county judge disposes of county property is overridden by this specific statute, and the legislature's silence o…
Can a Florida county invoke 'extraordinary circumstances' to raise impact fees above the 50% statutory cap based on steady population growth alone?
No. A 17% population increase over five years (about 3.4% annually) is steady, not extraordinary, and does not qualify as the 'extraordinary circumstances' that § 163.31801 requires before a county ca…
Can the Tennessee General Assembly split a single county into two separate judicial districts? And if so, can those districts share the same courthouse or jail?
Yes, a county can be split. The state constitution gives the General Assembly broad power to draw judicial districts and does not require districts to track county lines. Sharing a jail is fine. Shari…
I resigned in lieu of termination from a state job. Can my former employer release my voluntary separation form, resignation letter, and the email and memo about the events that led to my forced resignation?
Yes. The voluntary separation form and resignation letter are personnel records, releasable subject to redactions. The email and memorandum are evaluation records, but a forced resignation counts as '…
Does Arizona's new China-divestment law (SB 1221, A.R.S. § 35-395) reach the AZ529 college savings plan, and how fast must the state divest?
Yes. The AZ529 Education Savings Plan trust fund is a publicly managed fund under § 35-395, so prohibited Chinese-linked investments must be divested. Fund managers must start identifying prohibited h…
Can a Kansas county destroy ballots on the usual schedule even if they're wanted for a criminal investigation?
It depends on the legal process involved. The Attorney General concluded that K.S.A. 25-2708(b)'s duty to destroy ballots after 6 or 22 months is directory, not mandatory, so it must give way to a sea…
If a Kansas city misses its newspaper notice deadline for a revenue neutral rate hearing, can the county clerk just send a new notice for a later date?
No, in the situation presented. The Attorney General concluded that because K.S.A. 79-2988(b)(2) requires a taxing subdivision to notify the county clerk of its public hearing date on or before July 2…
Can the State of Oklahoma or one of its political subdivisions (counties, cities, school districts) form and own a captive insurance company to self-insure against its own risks, without violating the Oklahoma Constitution's bans on state ownership of private companies?
Yes. Article X, sections 15 and 17 of the Oklahoma Constitution bar the State and its political subdivisions from owning or investing in private companies and corporations, but those restrictions exis…
If three Delaware city councilmembers attend a meeting about a community Christmas event, does that automatically count as a 'public meeting' under FOIA?
No, not if they aren't conducting public business as a quorum. AG opinion 25-IB64 found that the City of New Castle did NOT violate FOIA when a councilmember and the Mayor met on November 9, 2025 to d…
If a Delaware town's meeting agenda lists a 'Second Reading: Resolution' on a property tax rate, but the council actually does the first reading of an ordinance instead, is that a FOIA violation?
No. AG opinion 25-IB63 found that the Town of Blades did NOT violate FOIA when its November 10, 2025 meeting agenda listed 'Second Reading: Resolution 2025.10.27.0001 Real Estate Property Tax Rate' bu…
When a Mississippi county sets the wrong millage rate for a school district by mistake, can the county correct the levy mid-year, and can it use general-county tax revenue to bail out the shortfall?
No to both. Once the new fiscal year begins, there is no statutory mechanism to amend the school district's millage; the school district has to issue a shortfall note under Section 37-57-108 to bridge…
Can the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission accept federal money for flood-control studies and design work, and can it operate in counties inside Mississippi River levee districts without those counties' permission?
Yes to the federal funds, conditionally. Section 69-27-13(f), (g), and (j) authorize the Commission to receive and administer federal grants for studies, classification, and recommendations on land us…
Can a Mississippi alderman who is also a PERS retiree skip his alderman salary so he can keep his retirement check, and what does the town have to do to make it official?
Yes. Section 25-11-127(6)(a)(i) lets a PERS retiree who is elected to municipal or county office file an annual written waiver of all salary or compensation in exchange for keeping the retirement allo…
If a Delaware town receives a FOIA request and never responds, what happens when the AG reviews a petition?
The town loses. The public body bears the burden to show it complied with FOIA. The Town of Blades only confirmed it received John Reiss's October 28, 2025 request for councilmember emails about a pro…
If a quorum court doesn't pass an annual appropriation ordinance by January 1, can the county judge and justices of the peace go without pay until they do, and do they get back pay once the ordinance passes?
They can go without pay temporarily, but they're entitled to back pay once the ordinance is adopted. Reading Act 24 of 2025 to deny back pay would unconstitutionally decrease the county judge's compen…
Can a Minnesota sheriff sign a 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement with ICE on their own, and does a 287(g) agreement let local officers hold someone in jail solely on an ICE detainer?
No on both counts. A Minnesota sheriff cannot unilaterally enter a 287(g) agreement; the county board of commissioners must authorize it by resolution under the Joint Powers Act. And even when a valid…
When a North Dakota county commission calls a special meeting, what notice does it have to give and what must the minutes record?
Special meetings need notice to the principal office, the meeting location, the website, the county auditor, anyone who has requested notice, AND the official newspaper. Minutes must record members pr…
Can North Dakota's Ethics Commission grant officials legal immunity through advisory opinions, and can its rules override state statutes passed by the Legislature?
No on both counts. AG Wrigley concluded that the Commission's Advisory Opinion 25-01 (greenlighting use of campaign funds for caregiving and security expenses) exceeded the Commission's authority beca…
Can the Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction unilaterally require teachers from other states to pass an extra competency exam before being certified to teach in Oklahoma?
No. The State Board of Education (not the State Superintendent acting alone) has authority over teacher certification. The Legislature has set out specific certification pathways, including an out-of-…
Can a Delaware agency refuse a FOIA request when the requester has announced an intent to sue the agency over the same records?
Yes, on these facts. The AG found DelDOT did not violate FOIA in denying a request for 1994 property acquisition records under 29 Del. C. § 10002(o)(9), which exempts records pertaining to pending or …
Who enforces South Carolina's Kratom Consumer Protection Act, and can the Department of Public Health write rules under it?
The Act names the Department of Public Health once, in a definition, but does not assign anyone enforcement responsibility or rulemaking power. As written, the AG concluded no agency clearly has eithe…
Does a Delaware town meeting agenda have to say it will hold a 'first reading' of a tax-rate proposal, or is 'New Tax Rate' specific enough?
'New Tax Rate' was specific enough. The AG found the Town of Blades did not violate FOIA when its October 27, 2025 special-meeting agenda listed 'New Tax Rate' without stating that the Council would h…
Can a Mississippi city let a political party's local executive committee meet in city hall for free?
Yes, but only if the city has adopted a uniform written policy that allows private groups to use city facilities, and the city collects from the user any actual costs the city incurs (cleaning, utilit…
Federal grant funding for our prosecutor's victim-services and administrative staff just expired. Are the counties in our judicial district legally required to keep paying these positions?
Only if those positions existed at the time of the county's January 1, 1999 appropriation. If they did, the counties must fund the positions at sufficient levels for operation, but no less than the 19…
Can my city stop someone from tearing down a building while the council decides whether to declare it historic?
No. The 2024 amendment to § 15.2-2306 only stays demolition for 30 days after a locality approves an application to demolish an already-designated historic structure. It does not give localities a too…
If a state agency deletes a meeting video on a records-retention schedule and a journalist asks for it later, is that a violation of the open records law?
No. A public entity does not violate the open records law by failing to provide a record that no longer exists, when the record was deleted in accordance with a published retention schedule. The agenc…
Can the public get a list of which specific companies and how much money each individual investment manager has put the North Dakota Legacy Fund into?
No. Manager-specific position information is confidential commercial and financial information under N.D.C.C. § 44-04-18.4. The Retirement and Investment Office must publish aggregate Legacy Fund hold…
If a public-entity insurance pool denies my claim, can it also refuse to give me its claim file by calling it 'active litigation records'?
No, not on these facts. The North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund violated the open records law by refusing the Kommers' claim file twice, first under an overbroad reading of the reserves-confidentialit…
When someone asks a North Dakota sheriff's office for records about a victim or witness in a criminal case, must the sheriff release them?
Records that could be used to locate a victim or witness are exempt and protected. But the sheriff cannot deny the entire records request just because some pages contain protected information. The she…
Can sitting county commissioners have one-on-one chats with newly elected commissioners about portfolios and the chair election before the new commissioners take office?
Yes, on the facts here. Conversations before a commissioner-elect's term began (the first Monday in December under N.D.C.C. § 11-10-05.1) don't involve a quorum of the current commission. As long as t…
Is a private nonprofit senior services organization that gets county mill levy funding subject to North Dakota's open records and meetings laws?
Partially. The Williston Council for the Aging, a private nonprofit getting about 27% of its budget from county mill levies under N.D.C.C. § 57-15-56, is a 'public entity' to the extent of those publi…
Can a North Dakota city charge for record copies before sending them, and can it deny a records request just because the records contain some confidential information?
Yes on the fee (cities may charge up to 25 cents per page, plus actual postage, and may require payment in advance). No on the blanket denial: the city must redact the confidential bits and release th…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-147?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 3 petition 2026-147 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did n…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-146?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 2 petition 2026-146 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did n…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-145?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 1 petition 2026-145 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did n…
Can a Poway resident remove a city councilmember whose appointment depended on the deciding vote of a former councilmember who had moved away?
No. The Attorney General denied leave to sue. Quo warranto could have directly challenged former Councilmember Pepin's eligibility while he was still in office, but the de facto officer doctrine bars …
If a council member wants to be appointed mayor and her husband is also on the council, do they have to recuse from the council vote on a third party for the same vacancy? And does abstention reduce the number of yes votes needed for a majority?
There's no statute that automatically requires recusal, but common-law conflict-of-interest rules and Arkansas's ethics statute may require it depending on the specific facts. The Ethics Commission ha…
When a county judge signs an Act 9 industrial bond and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with a developer, is he exercising executive authority or judicial authority? And does the quorum court have any role?
The county judge acts in his judicial capacity as the sole member of the county court. The quorum court has no role: under § 14-14-502(c), it cannot exercise any power belonging to the county court wi…
Can Hot Springs Village or its Property Owners Association qualify as a 'water authority' under Arkansas's expanded Water Authority Act and access the state's water-infrastructure loan programs?
Hot Springs Village itself cannot. As an unincorporated community, it has no legal status, so it can't be a 'qualified corporation' or a 'person' under the statute. The Property Owners Association, as…
Can an out-of-state accounting firm that is owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) be allowed to do business in Oklahoma and to hold an Oklahoma public accounting permit, given Oklahoma's restrictions on who can own a professional accounting firm?
Yes, if the ESOP's trustees are licensed CPAs. Under trust law principles, the legal owner of stock held in an ESOP is the trustee, not the participating employees. So if the ESOP trustees are license…
Can a private nonprofit corporation that provides rural water supply in Oklahoma reorganize itself as a public Rural Water District if it was formed on or after December 1, 1988?
No. The reorganization process in 82 O.S. §§ 1324.30 to 1324.35 expressly applies only to nonprofit water corporations formed before December 1, 1988. Corporations formed on or after that date cannot …
If a Delaware city denies a journalist's FOIA request for emails about a police chief, does it have to back up the denial with sworn evidence?
Yes. The AG found the City of Dover violated FOIA by denying Maggie Reynolds's request for keyword-searched emails between the Mayor and Police Chief without supporting its denial with sworn statement…
Can a Mississippi county redirect money from a county-owned nursing home into fire, rescue, and 911 services instead of just ambulance services?
Yes, but the nursing home's board of trustees, not the county, must make the call. The board must find that funding the additional emergency services 'will benefit the health or welfare of the citizen…
When can absentee voting begin for a runoff election in a Mississippi multi-county or statewide race?
Not until every county in the district has certified its results, the state executive committee or Secretary of State has tabulated the votes, the top two candidates for the entire district have been …
Is the Arkansas Wind Energy Development Act's April 9, 2025 'under development' exemption deadline constitutional, given that the Act took effect August 5, 2025 with no emergency clause? And does it apply to leases signed between those two dates?
Yes, the retroactive deadline is constitutional. The Arkansas Constitution doesn't ban all retroactive laws; only specific categories like ex post facto criminal laws, impairment of contracts, and due…
Under South Dakota's 2025 HB 1130, do counties, cities, and school districts have to hold their elections on a single combined ballot, or can each level run its own ballot on the same day?
They can run separate ballots. HB 1130 only requires the elections to happen on the same date (June primary or November general), not that they share one ballot. 'In conjunction with' is about timing;…
Does Delaware's FOIA give out-of-state residents the right to request public records from Delaware towns?
No. The AG read 'citizen' in 29 Del. C. § 10003(a), as a prior AG opinion (16-IB20) did, to mean a citizen of Delaware. Because the record showed Karen Miller is not a Delaware citizen, the Town of Gr…
If a North Dakota agency hands me a $3,475 estimate to fulfill an open records request, can I challenge it as excessive?
Only if the charges aren't authorized by law. The West Fargo Police Department's $3,475 estimate (78 General Orders + 63 personnel files, one hour redaction each, $25/hour after the first two free hou…
Can a sheriff's office try to identify the person behind an anonymous records request, if it has separate reasons to investigate that person?
Yes, when the inquiry happens in a separate internal affairs investigation, not as part of the records-request process. The Cass County Sheriff's Office processed the anonymous CODE 4 MEDIA records re…
If a Delaware town misses the FOIA deadline but eventually responds, can a citizen still win on incomplete responses, an unredacted FOIA log, or untrained staff?
Partly. The AG split four claims: (1) the late-response claim was moot because the Town eventually responded; (2) two requests the petitioner flagged as 'incomplete' (legal bills and bank account regi…
Does Tennessee's law banning religious entities from operating public charter schools violate the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause?
Likely yes. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent free-exercise rulings (Trinity Lutheran, Espinoza, Carson) hold that excluding religious entities from generally available public benefits 'solely on accoun…
A school district got a FOIA request for all complaints about coaches over five years. Which emails are personnel records (releasable) and which are evaluation records (mostly withheld)?
Unsolicited emails from third parties (parents, community members) about coaches are personnel records and must be released, with redactions for things like personal contact information, dates of birt…
If the Governor wants to appoint someone who already holds a state office to the Health Planning Committee, does the dual office holding ban block it?
No. The AG concluded that members of South Carolina's Health Planning Committee are not officeholders for dual office holding purposes because the Committee plays a purely advisory role to the Departm…
Can a West Virginia county use its zoning ordinance to keep a commercial slaughterhouse out of a rural conservation district when state law protects 'agricultural operations' from county zoning?
No. A slaughterhouse is an 'agricultural operation' under W. Va. Code § 19-19-2 because it produces food from animals through husbandry, packing, and shipping. State law (§ 8A-7-10(e)) bars counties f…
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