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Can a Texas county sheriff impound stray livestock in an open-range county?
Yes, the AG advised. A state representative asked, on behalf of the Presidio County Sheriff, whether the estray laws (the rules for handling stray livestock) apply in an open-range county, where…
Could the City of Canton, Georgia, ban retail pet stores from selling dogs and cats and require them to use rescue groups instead?
No, not as drafted. Sections 18-354, 18-355, and 18-356 of the City of Canton Code (which prohibited the sale of dogs and cats by pet shops, limited adoptions to those obtained from animal care…
What did the Missouri AG approve as the official ballot question for the 2020 Hirner marijuana legalization initiative (petition 2020-126)?
AG Schmitt approved the form of Secretary of State Ashcroft's proposed ballot summary statement for petition 2020-126. The statement asked voters whether to amend the Missouri Constitution to…
Could a homeowners association tow a car from a county-maintained subdivision street for violating its parking covenant?
The Attorney General declined to decide whether this HOA could tow. County road maintenance could support a finding of public dedication, but the conveyance and any reserved restrictions had to be…
Could Columbia create a city extreme-risk order process for removing firearms?
The Attorney General predicted a court would invalidate the 2019 ordinance because state law preempted municipal regulation of firearm possession and transfer. It also raised a possible conflict…
Could Columbia ban carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a school despite South Carolina firearm preemption?
The Attorney General predicted a court would find Columbia’s school-zone firearm-possession ban preempted by state law. The opinion did not decide the ordinance’s separate discharge provision, and…
Can a claims administrator with a Minnesota mailing address obtain a Delaware contractor’s insurance certificate under Delaware FOIA?
No violation on this record. The AG said Delaware FOIA permits denial of a request from a noncitizen and that the only evidence showed Stifter represented a third-party claims administrator with a…
Can an urban renewal agency tear down a building the city has condemned, even if the agency does not own the property?
The AG said the answer likely turns on whether the agency acts in concert with the city, perhaps through a cooperative arrangement. The agency lacks independent power to order demolition, but may…
Can a Delaware county refuse to give me employee internet-usage records because my husband is fighting his county termination?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled Sussex County properly denied Stephanie Lynch's FOIA requests for employee internet-usage reports under the pending or potential litigation exemption. Lynch's husband, a…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Winston Apple's 2019 initiative petition to amend Chapter 192 RSMo (petition 2020-141)?
Yes, but only as to legal form. AG Eric Schmitt approved petition 2020-141 (Winston Apple's proposal to amend Chapter 192 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, the state's…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Winston Apple's 2019 initiative petition to amend Article III of the Missouri Constitution (petition 2020-140)?
Yes, but only as to legal form. AG Eric Schmitt approved petition 2020-140 (Winston Apple's proposal to amend Article III, the legislative branch article of the Missouri Constitution) under §…
Is Florida's Education Practices Commission, which disciplines teachers and school administrators, treated as a 'state agency' for purposes of the public records law, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the open-meetings rules?
Yes for the provisions examined. The AG treated the EPC as an agency under chapters 119 and 120 and as covered by four specified chapter 286 provisions on public meetings and business.
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of the State Auditor's fiscal note summary for Deirdre Hirner's initiative petition 2020-127?
Yes. AG Eric Schmitt approved the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.175.4. The letter does not describe the initiative's subject; it reproduces the…
Could a South Carolina police agency make a mutual-aid agreement with an out-of-state law enforcement provider?
The Attorney General said the 2019 mutual-aid statute allowed agreements with out-of-state providers and advised involving the appropriate out-of-state political body. A same-day addendum clarified…
Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for Deirdre Hirner's 2019 recreational marijuana initiative petition (2020-125)?
Yes, as to legal content and form. AG Schmitt approved the Secretary of State's draft summary statement for Hirner's Article XIV petition (2020-125), which would have legalized personal recreational…
Could a Kentucky county judge use emergency powers to fill a vacant road supervisor job without fiscal court consent?
No. The AG said a vacant county road supervisor position did not qualify as an emergency under Kentucky's emergency management statutes. The opinion also said a county could transfer general-fund…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of the State Auditor's fiscal note summary for Deirdre Hirner's initiative petition 2020-126?
Yes. AG Eric Schmitt approved the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.175.4. The letter does not describe the initiative's subject; it reproduces the…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 11, file 2020-139)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-139 (version 11) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 10, file 2020-138)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-138 (version 10) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 9, file 2020-137)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-137 (version 9) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 8, file 2020-136)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-136 (version 8) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 7, file 2020-135)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-135 (version 7) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 6, file 2020-134)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-134 (version 6) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 5, file 2020-133)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-133 (version 5) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 4, file 2020-132)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-132 (version 4) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 3, file 2020-131)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-131 (version 3) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 2, file 2020-130)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-130 (version 2) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 elections-article initiative petition (version 1, file 2020-129)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Sedey's petition 2020-129 (version 1) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval under § 116.332 RSMo is procedural; it…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Deirdre Hirner's 2019 Article XIV initiative petition (file 2020-128)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Hirner's petition 2020-128 to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution (the article dealing with marijuana). Form approval under §…
Did an incarcerated Kentuckian have to appear at the county clerk's office to get a marriage license?
No. The AG said county clerks could not require an incarcerated applicant to appear at the clerk's office for a marriage license. They still had to verify age, using a method that did not prevent…
Could Irvington's city council fund and hire its own lawyer if that lawyer employed a council member?
The AG said Irvington's council could amend the budget and hire an attorney as its own employee. Hiring an attorney who employed a council member as a paralegal required the disclosure, finding, and…
Was the county-funded Hagood Mill Foundation a public body under South Carolina FOIA?
The Attorney General said the Hagood Mill Foundation was a public body under the 2019 FOIA because it received county funding and likely spent public funds. Its nonprofit status did not remove it…
Does changing the bottler or importer name on a Virginia wine label create a new 'brand' that has to be re-registered with ABC?
Not automatically. The Virginia AG concluded that a change in the name or address of the manufacturer, bottler, or importer is not, by itself, a change in the wine's 'brand' as defined by Va. Code §…
Can an Idaho state agency agree to indemnify the federal government in a permit, name the United States as an additional insured under Idaho's self-insurance program, or otherwise commit Idaho funds to private-insurance-style coverage limits?
The AG found the USDA's requested indemnity and self-insurance terms contrary to Idaho law: contractual indemnity requires specific legislative appropriation, and the retained risk program cannot…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 8, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, raised tipped wages to $8.10, struck the youth subminimum, and authorized counties and cities to set higher local minimums?
No, with several drafting comments. AG Wasden's review concluded all four substantive components, including the home-rule grant authorizing counties and cities to enact higher minimum wages, were…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 2019 medical marijuana plus hemp legalization initiative (proposed Chapter 92 of title 39, Idaho Code)?
Yes, in three big areas. AG Wasden warned that bundling a medical marijuana program with hemp legalization likely violated Idaho's single-subject rule under art. XX, § 2 and would be subject to…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 12, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, authorized counties and cities to set higher local minimums, and struck the youth subminimum (without changing the tipped employees' rate)?
No. AG Wasden's review concluded all three substantive components were proper subjects of state legislation. The FLSA's savings clause permits state minimums above the federal floor; the Idaho…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the April 11, 2019 minimum wage initiative that would have raised Idaho's minimum wage to $12, raised tipped wages to $8.10, and added CPI indexing?
No, with two minor drafting comments. AG Wasden's review concluded the substantive provisions were within the legislative power of Idaho. The FLSA's savings clause at 29 U.S.C. § 218(a) explicitly…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of the State Auditor's fiscal note summary for Deirdre Hirner's initiative petition 2020-125?
Yes. AG Eric Schmitt approved the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 116.175.4. The letter does not describe the initiative's subject; it reproduces the…
Could Greenville handle civil parking-ticket appeals through city administrators instead of municipal court?
The Attorney General predicted a court would find Greenville’s written administrative review process sufficient on its face, with a separate constitutional right to judicial review. It did not…
Could an unlicensed third-party driver deliver alcohol ordered online from a South Carolina retailer?
The Attorney General found no express 2019 ban on the described post-sale delivery model, but expressed serious doubt that the Legislature intended unregulated paid delivery by third parties. The…
Can the Tennessee House of Representatives expel a member for conduct that happened more than two decades before he took office and that voters knew about when they re-elected him?
It can, but the AG counseled that historical practice, sound policy, and constitutional limits all weigh against doing so. The expulsion power should be used only in extreme circumstances and with…
If a Delaware school board's vice president emails individual members for interview-question suggestions, is that a 'meeting' under FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Christina School District Board did not violate FOIA when its Vice President individually invited members to email interview questions for board-vacancy…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Deirdre Hirner's 2019 Article XIV initiative petition (file 2020-127)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Hirner's petition 2020-127 to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution (the article dealing with marijuana). Form approval under §…
Could a South Carolina credit union add several communities after the 2018 amendment, or expand through an out-of-state merger?
The AG predicted the 2018 law still limited a state-chartered credit union to one community group, while acknowledging uncertainty. It said an out-of-state credit union could merge with a federal…
Can a Delaware school board fill a vacant seat by secret-ballot vote in open session?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that the Christina School District Board violated FOIA on October 8, 2019 by voting on its board vacancy by secret ballot in open session. FOIA requires minutes to record…
Does the Virginia State Bar's 60-day suspension for unpaid dues conflict with the statutory two-year forfeiture rule, and is the Supreme Court's rule unconstitutional?
No. The Virginia AG concluded the 60-day administrative suspension in the Rules of the Supreme Court is a permissible exercise of the Court's rulemaking authority under § 54.1-3912 and does not…
When my personnel file gets requested under FOIA, can the records custodian forget to redact things like my employee ID number?
The custodian's release decision was mostly consistent with FOIA, but the AG found an unredacted employee number on each of two leave-compensation pages. She said personnel numbers presumably aid…
Could a county charge an elected official’s budget for a consultant hired to perform that official’s duties?
The Attorney General declined a definitive answer without facts about the deduction and its effect. Counties had broad budget authority, but could not use it to interfere with an elected official’s…
Can a Florida city council move its municipal election day from a March date set by an old special law to November to align with state general elections, by ordinance and without holding a referendum?
Yes. For a move to a date concurrent with a statewide or countywide election, § 101.75(3) allowed Destin to act by ordinance despite the older local law setting a March date. The opinion concluded…
Could Forest Acres and Columbia transfer land by matching ordinances without a Forest Acres election?
The Attorney General said no. It read the agreement provision together with the statute requiring an election when a municipality’s limits are reduced, so Forest Acres and Columbia had to comply…
Can a Delaware police department withhold automated gunshot-detection data by saying every alert now starts a criminal investigation?
The AG upheld Wilmington's investigatory-files claim for requested records after April 2017, when each ShotSpotter activation began an investigation. It recommended a supplemental response for…
When can Arkansas police and police from a bordering state work together legally, and what does the AG actually approve when looking at an interlocal agreement?
The AG approves the form, not the policy. Under § 25-20-104(f)(1) the AG checks that the agreement is in proper form and compatible with Arkansas law. Texarkana, AR and Texarkana, TX got approval…
Can a Delaware agency hide police compensation records by tossing in three FOIA exemptions without explaining how any of them apply?
No. The Delaware AG ruled that DSHS violated FOIA by denying News Journal reporter Xerxes Wilson's request for Office of Highway Safety pay records to former Newport Police Chief Capriglione and…
Can a Texas credit services organization help a consumer get a loan that isn't a payday or car-title loan?
Yes, generally, the AG advised, though whether any particular deal is legal is a fact question. A state representative asked whether chapter 393 of the Finance Code lets a credit services…
Can a Florida county use its 'bed tax' (tourist development tax) to repair or improve a city-owned museum building that is operated as a museum by a for-profit company?
No. Section 125.0104(5)(a) authorizes tourist development tax revenue to be used only on museums that are 'publicly owned and operated' or 'owned and operated by not-for-profit organizations.' A…
Once a Florida city council has appointed itself as the governing board of its community redevelopment agency, can it later transfer that authority to a separate independent board?
No. The AG read Chapter 163 as authorizing the switch only in one direction (independent board to governing body), not the reverse.
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Deirdre Hirner's 2019 Article XIV initiative petition (file 2020-126)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the legal form of Hirner's petition 2020-126 to amend Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution (the article dealing with marijuana). Form approval under §…
Did a South Carolina town council have to list a closed session on its agenda, and could it add one during the meeting?
The AG found no FOIA requirement to list an executive session, though it advised listing one. Adding it to the agenda required a two-thirds vote of members present and voting, without an emergency…
Can a Delaware agency charge me $3,665 to search for migratory-bird records, and does FOIA make the FOIA Coordinator answer my follow-up questions?
Yes to the cost estimate. The Delaware AG ruled DNREC properly itemized $3,665.36 in administrative fees backed by a sworn affidavit that the lowest-paid capable employees were assigned. The FOIA…
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