State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
No opinions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Did the Missouri AG approve the fiscal note for Mark Pedersen's 2019 Article XIV (cannabis) initiative petition (file 2020-070)?
Yes, as to legal content and form. AG Schmitt approved the fiscal note for Pedersen's petition 2020-070, which would have amended Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution. The auditor projected at…
Could the University of South Carolina trustees waive the five-day mailed notice rule for a special meeting?
No, according to the AG's 2019 opinion. The statute required five days' notice by mail to every trustee, and the office said that requirement could not be waived.
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Winston Apple’s Chapters 130 and 143 petition 2020-099?
Yes. The AG approved the form of Apple’s petition to amend Chapters 130 and 143. The letter gives no fiscal estimate or description of the proposal’s terms; the Secretary of State retained final authority.
Could an unlicensed South Carolina shop sell raw hemp by packaging it as a hemp product?
The AG said packaging alone did not turn raw hemp into a hemp product, and unlicensed handling of raw hemp was unlawful. It said a court could find the conduct criminal, while leaving particular…
Can I use Delaware FOIA to get a city employee's personnel file, complaints, and disciplinary records?
No. The Delaware AG determined the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA by withholding a City employee's personnel file, including complaints and disciplinary records, under the personnel-file…
What did the Delaware AG decide when Wilmington said it had no records for two FOIA request items?
The AG found no FOIA violation after accepting Wilmington's representations that no records responded to the second and third items and that its copy of the request and envelope was unredacted. It…
Can a Little Rock police officer block release of his personnel file under the Arkansas FOIA?
Not on these facts. The AG found the custodian's decision to release Mueller's personnel records as redacted consistent with FOIA and his objections insufficient. Whether privacy requires…
When a sewer utility asks a public water utility for customer billing information in Arkansas, does the water utility have to comply, and can it charge a fee?
The water utility must turn over customer information within 15 days of any change. The notification is ongoing, not a one-time request. The utility can probably charge a fee, but the statute is…
Can a county rural development authority in Arkansas own or operate a hospital?
Yes, after Act 830 of 2019. The act expanded the definition of a Rural Development Authority "project" to include healthcare facilities, so a Sevier County RDA could acquire, own, and operate a…
Can an Arkansas city or county charge residents a flat fee to fund ambulance and emergency medical services?
Counties can, under Ark. Code Ann. § 20-13-305, but only after notice, a public hearing, and an opportunity for a referendum. Cities cannot impose a per-resident EMS fee. Cities and counties can…
What happens when Delaware State Police cannot show it responded on time to a FOIA request for a crime report?
The AG found State Police could not demonstrate a timely response. Because its response to Clouser’s petition supplied its FOIA denial, the AG recommended no additional steps and urged better…
Can a Delaware journalist get a list of who has filed waste-fraud-and-abuse complaints with the State Auditor of Accounts, including the agency named and the reason?
No. The Auditor of Accounts' Hotline Log is an investigatory file 'compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement purposes' under 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(3), even though AOA is not itself a police…
If my wages are already being garnished at the maximum amount, can a second creditor's later garnishment also start running, and how does the six-month clock work?
A later-filed writ that seeks less than the maximum can run alongside an existing maximum garnishment, but it cannot collect anything until the first writ ends or drops below the cap. The six-month…
If I have an amateur radio emergency license plate in Tennessee, can I run amber and white flashing lights all around my car?
No. Even with an amateur-radio 'emergency' license plate, a privately owned vehicle is still a 'nonemergency vehicle' under the lighting statute, and the prohibition on flashing lights in front and…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Winston Apple’s Chapter 192 petition 2020-096?
Yes. The AG approved the form of Apple’s petition to amend Chapter 192. The letter does not describe the amendment’s terms, and the Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject…
Why did the Missouri Attorney General reject the form of Winston Apple’s initiative petition 2020-094?
The petition lacked the required brackets for deleted text and underlining for new text. The AG rejected its form without checking for other defects; the Secretary of State retained final authority…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Winston Apple’s Article III, Section 39 petition 2020-093?
Yes. The AG approved the form of Apple’s petition to amend Article III, Section 39. The letter does not describe the proposed amendment’s terms, and the Secretary of State retained final approval…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey’s Article VIII petition 2020-098?
Yes. On July 3, 2019, the AG approved the form of Sedey’s version 2 petition to amend Article VIII. The Secretary of State retained final approval authority, and the AG did not decide the petition’s…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey’s Article VIII petition 2020-097?
Yes. On July 3, 2019, the AG approved the form of Sedey’s version 1 petition to amend Article VIII. The Secretary of State retained final approval authority, and the AG did not decide the petition’s…
Can a South Carolina county council skip one month if it holds more than twelve meetings a year?
The AG said a court likely would require a publicly noticed council meeting in every calendar month. Extra meetings in other months would not make up for a skipped month.
Did Delaware's Auditor of Accounts violate FOIA when a requester said its timekeeping policy was missing from the response?
The AG found no violation on this record. The Auditor of Accounts' counsel said it had mailed the policy with its original response, attached the policy again for the petition, and identified it as…
Can a Delaware agency demand prepayment for a $351 FOIA fee estimate before turning over a single page?
Yes. The Delaware AG ruled that the Office of Defense Services lawfully required prepayment of its $351.74 cost estimate before producing records. Section 10003(m)(5) expressly allows public bodies…
Did Delaware's insurance department violate FOIA by asking for clarification after sending a requester copies of his date-stamped filing and envelope?
No. DOI represented that it had sent copies of the date-stamped filing and envelope, and supplied copies with its response to the AG. The AG also found that DOI could seek clarification because the…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Shetova Hayes’s initiative petition 2020-092?
Yes. The AG approved the form of Hayes’s petition to amend Chapter 558, while saying the Secretary of State retained final authority and that the approval did not determine the petition’s substance.
Did the Missouri AG approve the fiscal note for SJR 14 & 9, the 2019 legislative referral imposing two-term limits on all statewide elected officials?
Yes, as to legal content and form. AG Schmitt approved the fiscal note for Senate Substitute for Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Joint Resolution Nos. 14 & 9, which would have placed a…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's later-July 2019 Article VIII voting petition (file 2020-089)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved Sedey's petition 2020-089 (the second version of a follow-on July 2019 wave) as sufficient as to form under § 116.332 RSMo. Procedural review only; the Secretary…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's later-July 2019 Article VIII voting petition (file 2020-088)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved Sedey's petition 2020-088 (the first version of a follow-on July 2019 wave of voting-access petitions) as sufficient as to form under § 116.332 RSMo. The check…
Are police officers or emergency medical workers caregivers under South Carolina's adult protection law?
The AG said it depended on whether a particular responder provided care to a vulnerable adult, a factual question it could not decide generally. It observed that officers usually do not provide care…
Must a South Carolina school board trustee file a FOIA request and pay for the district's financial records?
The AG said a trustee could access the district's existing financial documents without filing a FOIA request or paying for access. The district could control the response's timing and manner, and…
Can a police agency reimburse mandatory officer training at a flat hourly rate instead of the salary actually paid?
The AG said a court likely would require reimbursement based on actual salary paid during mandatory training, rather than a fixed number of hours. It did not decide whether particular overtime or…
Which South Carolina charge applied to riding a moped without a valid license?
The AG said a prosecutor could choose either of two overlapping moped-license statutes when the facts supported the charge. The statutes carried different penalties, but neither displaced the other.
Did a South Carolina drug trafficking prisoner have to serve a 25-year minimum day for day, or could the 85-percent rule apply?
The AG predicted that the later 85-percent statute controlled the listed no-parole trafficking offenses, making community supervision possible after at least 85 percent of the imposed term. It…
Does a Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney have to collect unpaid toll judgments owed to a private toll facility operator?
No. Code § 19.2-349 does not require a Commonwealth's Attorney to collect a judgment of civil penalties, unpaid tolls, administrative fees, and court costs awarded under Code § 46.2-819.3:1 for toll…
Is a Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney required to collect unpaid toll judgments owed to private toll facility operators, and may a court compel her to do so?
Va. Code § 19.2-349 does not require a Commonwealth's Attorney to collect a judgment of civil penalties, unpaid tolls, administrative fees, and court costs awarded to a private toll facility…
In Maryland, can a county freeze its sheriff's or state's attorney's salary to block an automatic pay raise that was set before their term began?
The opinion concluded that Queen Anne's County's State's Attorney and Sheriff were entitled to the automatic pay raises tied to District Court judges' salaries, because those raises had been set by…
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-076?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-076 as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it; substantive sufficiency was not decided.
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-075?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-075 as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it; substantive sufficiency was not decided.
Did the Missouri Attorney General approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-074?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Mary Anne Sedey’s petition 2020-074 as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it; substantive sufficiency was not decided.
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 Article VIII voting petition (version 2, file 2020-073)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved Sedey's petition 2020-073 (version 2 of a 12-version voting-access slate) as sufficient as to form under § 116.332 RSMo. Form approval is procedural and not a…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's first 2019 Article VIII voting petition (version 1, file 2020-072)?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved Sedey's petition 2020-072 (version 1, the lead version of a 12-version voting-access slate) as sufficient as to form under § 116.332 RSMo. Form approval is…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Damien Johnson's 2019 initiative petition to amend Article I of the Missouri Constitution?
No. AG Schmitt rejected the form of Damien Johnson's Article I initiative petition (file 2020-071) because it did not match the format required by § 116.040 RSMo. Under § 116.332.4 RSMo the…
Did the Missouri AG approve the ballot summary for SJR 14 & 9 (extending the two-term restriction to all statewide elected officials)?
Yes. AG Schmitt approved the ballot summary statement for Senate Substitute for SCS for SJR Nos. 14 & 9, which would amend Article VII to extend Missouri's two-term restriction (currently only…
Did the Missouri AG approve the fair ballot language for SJR 14 & 9 (extending the two-term restriction to all statewide elected officials)?
Yes. AG Schmitt approved the fair ballot language for Senate Substitute for SCS for SJR Nos. 14 & 9, which would extend the existing two-term cap (currently applying only to the Governor and…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 initiative petition (version 12) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the sufficiency-as-to-form of Sedey's Article VIII petition Version 12 (file 2020-083). It is the companion to Version 11 (Opinion 105-2019). Form approval is…
Did the Missouri AG approve the form of Mary Anne Sedey's 2019 initiative petition (version 11) to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution?
Yes, as to form. AG Schmitt approved the sufficiency-as-to-form of Sedey's Article VIII petition Version 11 (file 2020-082), one of several parallel versions Sedey filed targeting election law. Form…
What does the Missouri AG's procedural form approval mean for the last of a multi-version initiative petition campaign?
The AG approved the form of Mary Anne Sedey's Version 10 initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form review is a procedural gate; ballot title, signatures, and…
When a Missouri proponent files multiple versions of the same initiative petition, what does the AG's form review actually decide for each version?
The AG approved the form of Mary Anne Sedey's Version 9 initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Each version of a multi-version filing gets its own independent form review.
How does the Missouri AG's form-only approval relate to whether a constitutional amendment petition will end up on the ballot?
The AG approved the form of Mary Anne Sedey's Version 8 initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval is a narrow procedural check and does not put the…
What does the Missouri AG's form-only approval of an initiative petition mean, and what does it not cover?
The AG approved the form of Mary Anne Sedey's Version 7 initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval is a narrow procedural check; substance, ballot title,…
What does it mean when the Missouri AG approves an initiative petition 'as to form,' and what happens next in the Missouri ballot process?
The AG approved the form of Mary Anne Sedey's Version 6 initiative petition to amend Article VIII of the Missouri Constitution. Form approval is a narrow check that does not endorse the substance…
When a county commissioner files candidacy paperwork while living in one magisterial district but moves to a different district before the general election, which district counts as 'his' for the constitutional rule that no two commissioners can be elected from the same district?
The AG concluded under W. Va. Const. art. IX, § 10 and Burkhart v. Sine that a commissioner is 'elected from' the magisterial district where he or she lived on the date of the general election, not…
Can a Texas state board member receive a grant from a program their own agency administers?
No, the AG advised. The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board asked whether a 2017 change to the state contracting law let one of its own board members receive $15,000 in financial…
Could South Carolina magistrate or municipal courts hear a 17-year-old's traffic or fish and game case after the juvenile age rose?
The AG predicted that summary courts and family courts retained concurrent jurisdiction over those specified offenses for people under 18, including 17-year-olds, after the July 2019 age change.
Can a Delaware FOIA requester obtain public-health investigation records about an outbreak at an assisted-living facility?
The AG found no FOIA violation on this record. DHSS said its records were protected by medical-file and statutory privacy exemptions, and that further redaction would leave meaningless documents.…
Can a Delaware city discuss a possible property sale in executive session, then publicly vote on putting the property on the market?
On this record, yes. The City said its public vote would concern putting property on the market, not completing a sale. The AG found the preliminary executive-session purpose proper and the…
If the Missouri Attorney General approves an initiative petition 'as to form,' does that mean the petition is constitutional or that it will be on the ballot?
No. The AG approved Mark Pedersen's Article XIV initiative petition (2020-070) as to form only. Form review checks procedural and structural requirements; it does not opine on the petition's…
Did South Carolina homeowners need U.S. citizenship to qualify for the residential property tax benefit?
The AG said eligibility turned on whether the property was the owner's legal residence, which depended on domicile and individual facts. Citizenship was not an express statutory requirement, but…
When the state sends a Virginia city local sales tax that should have gone to a different locality, does the city owe interest when it pays the money back?
No. The Virginia AG concluded that the Tax Commissioner has no authority to charge interest on local sales tax revenues that the Commonwealth erroneously sent to the wrong locality; the money is…
Can a Tennessee minister ordained online still officiate weddings after Public Chapter 415 took effect?
After July 1, 2019, no. Public Chapter 415 added a sentence to Tennessee's marriage statute saying persons who receive online ordinations cannot solemnize marriages, even if their religious…
Must a Delaware agency explain redactions when it responds to a FOIA request with records?
Yes. The AG found that the Department of Agriculture failed to give reasons for redacting records in its original FOIA response, as § 10003(h)(2) requires. It later supplied the reasons, so the AG…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand state law: AG opinions are authoritative interpretations of how state law applies.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court decisions, but they carry significant weight.
- Government guidance: Often clarify how state agencies and officials should interpret statutes.
- Legal research: Cite AG opinions in letters, motions, and legal arguments.
Browse opinions by state
Two states are not listed and are not pending: New Hampshire publishes its opinions on a page that automated retrieval cannot read, and Rhode Island publishes no complete full-text archive at all. We will add them if that changes.