State AG Opinions
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Can a New York village switch from one-vote-per-candidate trustee elections to cumulative voting through a local law, and does the change need a referendum?
Yes on both. The Attorney General concluded that the Village of Port Chester could adopt cumulative voting (where each voter has as many votes as there are open seats and may pile multiple votes on on…
What can happen to an Arkansas city or city official who lies about or stalls a FOIA request?
Arkansas FOIA carries a stack of remedies, not just one. The AG identified civil appeal to circuit court (with attorney's fees and costs in some cases), contempt for ignoring a court order, a Class C …
How does an Arkansas county close out a leftover school district account decades after the district was dissolved, and how is the money divided among successor districts?
Use the law that was on the books when the district dissolved. The Okolona School District dissolved in 1987, so the dissolution statutes from that era (Ark. Stat. Ann. §§ 80-422 and 80-423) determine…
Can an Arkansas city reduce or cancel its Amendment 31 police or fire pension millage without a 10% revenue increase, and can a mayor redirect that money to LOPFI?
Yes for rollback, no for redirection. The AG concluded that a city does not need a 10% revenue increase under Amendment 59 to roll back its Amendment 31 police or fire pension tax. Amendment 31 millag…
Can a constitutional agency like the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission skip competitive bidding on a major construction project?
Likely no. Amendment 35 gives the Game and Fish Commission wide authority over wildlife, but the AG concluded the Commission still has to follow Arkansas's competitive-bidding statute (§ 22-9-203) for…
Can a Texas school district pay to drive students and staff to the polls?
The AG concluded that, without an educational purpose, paying to transport students to polling places likely violates the Texas Constitution's gift clause, and the same goes for transporting employees…
Is a state agency's confidential legal advice from its own attorney the same as a public 'Attorney General opinion'?
No. The AG found DNREC could withhold a Deputy Attorney General's confidential legal advice about a proposed land-use partnership because it was privileged attorney-client communication, distinct from…
Can Delaware redact addresses and case narratives from an animal control call log released under FOIA?
Yes. The AG found the Division of Public Health could redact case numbers, addresses, witness names, and investigative narratives from an animal control call log as exempt investigatory files, though …
Could Tennessee constitutionally require a marked driver's license for DUI convicts and ban alcohol sales to anyone bearing such a license?
Such a law would be subject to deferential rational-basis review (DUI offenders are not a suspect class and the statute would not implicate a fundamental right), and the safety interests behind it are…
When can Colorado school staff share information about a student with police, parents, or other educators without violating federal student privacy law?
Often. FERPA only covers 'education records', not personal observations, peer reports, or social media posts. Education records can be shared during emergencies, with school officials who have a legit…
Can a Florida fire district levy non-ad valorem assessments against tax-exempt (but not immune) real property within its boundaries?
Yes, generally. Although the North River Fire District's special act limits assessments to 'taxable real estate,' chapter 191, Florida Statutes, supplements that authority and lets the district levy n…
Can a Washington mosquito control district charge state-owned property a special assessment for mosquito-control work?
No. The AG concluded that a mosquito control district has no power to assess state property, because RCW 17.28.255 does not expressly include state-owned land and Washington courts require an express …
If a Tennessee judge orders a prosecutor to hand the entire file to defense counsel, can the prosecutor be sued for disclosing confidential records inside it?
Generally yes. A Tennessee district attorney who complies with a court order to provide all information in the file to defense counsel is generally protected from liability, even if the file contains …
Can a city audit committee meet in closed session to protect sensitive information?
No. The AG read 'audit committee' as a subgroup of a city council or board, which makes it a governing body under the Arkansas FOIA. Governing-body meetings have to be public unless one of four narrow…
Does Florida law prohibit a person with an open arrest warrant from purchasing a firearm?
No express prohibition. Florida has no statute or case law that bans firearms transfer to a person solely because an arrest warrant is outstanding. Section 790.065(2)(c)1. does require a 'conditional …
Does Delaware FOIA require an agency to let you view records the same day you ask?
No. The AG found the Department of Insurance did not violate FOIA by offering an NAACP official in-person access to its employee manual one business day after the request, since FOIA does not require …
Are a county commissioner's personal handwritten notes used to make a motion a public record under Delaware FOIA?
No, if they were prepared for the commissioner's own convenience and not filed with the public body. The AG found a Sussex County commissioner's notes for a zoning motion stayed private even after sta…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the 2018 recreational marijuana ballot title for the True Grass committee?
Rejected. The AG rejected the Arkansas True Grass committee's recreational marijuana ballot title, finding that the proposed amendment's regulatory scheme was too convoluted to be summarized in an int…
Is a Delaware city off the hook for a late FOIA response if it eventually answers before the AG rules?
No, but no extra remedy follows either. The AG found Wilmington violated FOIA by missing the 15-business-day deadline for a records request, but ordered no remediation because the city produced the re…
Is Bret Bielema's personal services contract with the Razorback Foundation a public record subject to release under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes, with two redactions. The AG concluded that the personal services and guaranty agreement between former Razorback football coach Bret Bielema and the Razorback Foundation was properly classified b…
When a student transfers to a Delaware charter or choice school, does the local 'match tax' money their home district collected follow them?
Yes, unless the Secretary of Education specifically excludes it. The AG found Delaware law requires local match-tax revenue, like funds raised for reading and math resource teachers, to count in the p…
Can Maryland require divorced or unmarried parents to keep paying child support while their adult child is in college, without violating equal protection?
The opinion concluded that a proposed bill letting courts order child support for college-age children of separated or divorced parents, until age 23, would not violate the Equal Protection Clause, be…
When Minnesota's lieutenant governor moves up to fill a vacancy elsewhere and the president of the state senate constitutionally takes the lieutenant governor's seat, can that senator continue to hold the senate seat at the same time?
The AG (through the Solicitor General) concluded yes on the first half: by Minn. Const. art. V, § 5, the last elected president of the senate becomes lieutenant governor when there is a vacancy. On th…
Can a licensed Texan carry a handgun at church, and do churches pay private security fees for volunteer guards?
The AG concluded that, despite a Penal Code provision that on its face bans handguns at a church, a license holder may carry there unless the church gives effective oral or written notice forbidding i…
Does the New York State Deferred Compensation Board have to investigate, monitor, or enforce compliance by local government deferred compensation plans, either generally or after it learns one might be out of compliance?
No. AG Schneiderman concluded that the Board has authority to set the framework rules for local plans but no statutory duty to investigate, monitor, or enforce compliance, even after notice. Local pla…
When the New York State Comptroller audits the State Education Department and needs access to student records protected by Education Law § 2-d, does the Comptroller have to comply with the law's special rules for 'third party contractors'?
No. AG Schneiderman concluded that the Comptroller's audit authority comes from the State Constitution, not from a contract with the audited agency, so the Comptroller is not a 'third party contractor…
Is it a crime in Tennessee to possess the Kratom plant in its natural, unprocessed form?
No, according to the AG. Tennessee's controlled-substance law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-452) prohibits only synthetic forms of mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, specifically those derived from 2-am…
Does the South Dakota State-Tribal Relations Committee (created by the Legislature as a forum for issues of mutual concern between the state and tribes) have authority to issue legislative subpoenas to compel attendance of witnesses or production of documents?
No. The State-Tribal Relations Committee is a statutory committee whose authority comes solely from SDCL 2-6-20 et seq. Those statutes do not grant subpoena power, expressly or by necessary implicatio…
If our city's police pension fund has been miscalculating retirement benefits for decades by ignoring a statutory cap, does a new 2017 statute force the fund to claw back overpayments going back thirty years, or just go forward?
Going forward only. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 8-22-27a required the Morgantown Policemen's Pension and Relief Fund to immediately recalculate every pension that had ignored the twenty-percen…
Is a state agency's public conference a 'meeting' that has to follow Delaware's open-meetings law?
No, if it's just an informational event rather than a decision-making body. The AG found DNREC's invite-only climate and health conference wasn't a FOIA 'meeting' because attendees weren't a public bo…
Should a former city employee's personnel file and internal affairs investigation be released under the Arkansas FOIA?
Largely consistent with the FOIA. Stacey Witherell, the City of Little Rock's custodian, asked the AG to review her decision to release former city employee Brandon Gurley's personnel file and the int…
Can a growing Arkansas city increase the number of commissioners on its housing authority board?
No. The AG concluded that Arkansas housing authorities must have five commissioners as fixed by Ark. Code Ann. § 14-169-208(a)(2)(A), and neither the City of Fayetteville nor the Fayetteville Housing …
Does a Delaware city violate open-meetings law by using vague or jargon-heavy language on a meeting agenda?
Not automatically. The AG found Seaford's agenda item describing a 'right to work' ordinance in dense regulatory language was still a valid 'general statement' under FOIA, even though it didn't use th…
Can the Arkansas House Speaker withhold a sexual harassment investigation document about a legislator under FOIA?
Yes, exempt. The AG concluded that a document related to a sexual misconduct or harassment investigation against an Arkansas legislator was exempt from disclosure under § 25-19-105(c)(1) as an employe…
Why was the December 2017 True Grass cannabis ballot title rejected?
Rejected. The AG concluded that the True Grass committee's December 2017 recreational cannabis amendment had a regulatory scheme too convoluted to be summarized in an intelligent, impartial, and hones…
Why was the Arkansas Cannabis Adult Use and Regulation Amendment of 2020 ballot title rejected?
Rejected. The AG identified two flaws in attorney John W. Hall's submission of the 'Arkansas Cannabis Adult Use and Regulation Amendment of 2020.' First, the ballot title failed to acknowledge that ma…
Does Arkansas's law against running for two offices on the same election date apply to school board candidates?
No, school district offices are not within § 7-5-111's scope. The AG concluded that Act 158 of 2017's addition of 'district' to the statute does not include the office of school-district director, bec…
Can a Tennessee public school teacher run for a partisan political office while still teaching, or do the state or federal Hatch Acts prohibit it?
The AG concluded that Tennessee's Little Hatch Act does not bar a county teacher from running for partisan office, as long as the teacher follows the Little Hatch Act's restrictions on campaigning (no…
Can a New York county's director of emergency services also serve as the assistant fire chief of a joint fire district located in the same county?
Yes. AG Schneiderman's office concluded the two roles are compatible as a matter of law, because the assistant fire chief reports to the fire district (not to the county), and the duties of the two of…
If a New York town wants to convert parkland-located parking spaces from boat-trailer spaces to general municipal parking, does the State Legislature have to pass a special law to authorize the change?
Yes. AG Schneiderman's office concluded that any meaningful change in use of land dedicated to park purposes, including converting boat-trailer spots to general car parking, is a 'diversion' of parkla…
Can Delaware's emergency management agency deny a FOIA request by saying the records don't exist in its own files?
Yes, if that's true. The AG found DEMA did not violate FOIA by saying it has no separate local database of military-surplus equipment given to Delaware police departments, since those inventory record…
Does Arkansas's Public School Health Services Advisory Committee still have to meet before its statutory term ends?
Yes, and indeed it was required to meet. The AG concluded that the Public School Health Services Advisory Committee, established by Act 935 of 2015, was both authorized and required to meet until its …
Can the California AG grant leave to sue in quo warranto to oust two trustees of a small storm-water district, one allegedly appointed by the wrong body and one allegedly not a freeholder?
Mixed. The AG granted leave to sue Sandra Meraz because there is a substantial question whether Water Code Appendix section 13-6 (which assigns vacancy-filling to the county board of supervisors) cont…
Is the Connecticut National Guard Foundation, Inc. subject to the state-foundation regulatory framework, and is the Governor's authority to use the Connecticut State Guard limited to actual emergencies?
No to both. CNGFI is a 501(c)(3) but its principal purpose is to serve Guard members and their families, not to support the Connecticut Military Department itself, so it falls outside Chapter 47's fou…
How much can the Arizona Legislature limit or expand the powers of the Arizona Board of Regents through statute?
The Legislature has broad authority to define the Arizona Board of Regents' powers by statute, with one constitutional exception: it cannot transfer general conduct and supervision of state universiti…
Does Virginia's Scenic Rivers Act stop a landowner from damming tributaries of a scenic river, or from grading or timbering land that drains into one?
No. The Virginia Scenic Rivers Act restricts dams and other obstructions only on the designated river or section, not its tributaries (unless the tributary itself is designated). The Act also does not…
Are extra meals at a Virginia independent-living facility taxable under local meals tax when residents pay for them separately on top of a monthly fee?
No. Under Code § 58.1-3833, all meals served at an age-restricted apartment complex or residence with a restaurant where meals are included in rental fees are exempt from local meals tax. The exemptio…
Does the VCU Health System Authority have absolute sovereign immunity from lawsuits, and is liability capped at $100,000 for employee negligence?
Likely absolute immunity. The AG concluded that the Supreme Court of Virginia would probably hold the VCU Health System Authority is a State agency or arm of the Commonwealth for sovereign immunity pu…
Could Tennessee public colleges and universities offer in-state tuition to undocumented students if state law gave each institution authority to set its own tuition eligibility rules?
No, according to the AG. Federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1621) makes unlawfully present aliens ineligible for state and local public benefits, including in-state tuition, unless the state legislature passes a…
Can a sitting Tennessee state legislator also serve on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority?
No. Article II, section 26 of the Tennessee Constitution prohibits a sitting member of the General Assembly from also holding any office under the authority of the United States, and a TVA Board direc…
Can a Georgia state law enforcement officer like a state trooper carry their service weapon into a Georgia courthouse, and what about into the actual courtrooms?
Yes for the courthouse building. Under HB 292 (2017), active law enforcement officers including Department of Public Safety officers were authorized to carry their service weapons into any courthouse …
Can Delaware DOT redact the names of people who report problems through its online road-condition complaint form?
Yes. The AG found DelDOT could redact the names and addresses of everyone who submits a Road Condition Report, treating each submission as a potential civil investigatory file regardless of what categ…
Can a Delaware county keep the details of an ongoing land-purchase negotiation out of its public meeting minutes?
Yes, while the deal is still active. The AG found Sussex County Council could keep a redacted portion of its executive session minutes about an ongoing land acquisition confidential, since the purchas…
Can an Escambia County commissioner have his legal fees paid from county funds when defending a defamation lawsuit over Facebook posts of pre-election emails?
On the facts presented, no Thornber factor was facially met. The challenged statements were made before the commissioner took office, did not serve a public purpose, did not implicate the county's bus…
Did the Little Rock Police Training Academy properly handle the FOIA release of CLEST records related to Officer Schiefelbein?
Mostly consistent, with two exceptions. The AG agreed with the Little Rock Police Training Academy's classification of forms and documents sent to the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards …
Can a Florida county withdraw from its statutorily designated regional planning council if the interlocal agreement says it can?
No. Section 186.504(5) requires that 'each county shall be a member of the regional planning council created within the comprehensive planning district encompassing the county.' Section 186.512 names …
Why was the November 2017 Arkansas True Grass cannabis ballot title rejected by the AG?
Rejected. The AG found two threshold problems in the True Grass committee's November 2017 recreational cannabis amendment. First, the proposed ballot title essentially copied verbatim the lengthy 'unl…
If Tennessee passed a law letting counties, cities, and towns deposit public funds in a state-chartered credit union, would that violate the Tennessee Constitution's prohibition on local governments becoming stockholders in private corporations?
Yes, according to the AG, unless the law also includes the referendum required by article II, section 29 of the Tennessee Constitution. Depositing in a Tennessee-chartered credit union requires becomi…
Can a Florida sheriff use Contraband Forfeiture Act proceeds to pay the contractual share of school resource officer salaries each year?
Yes for school resource officer program duties, even when costs recur year over year, because § 932.7055(5)(a) expressly authorizes use for school resource officer programs. No for time officers spend…
Can a Florida county use tourist development tax revenue to fund a transit system operated by a private company?
Not generally. Section 125.0104(5)(a)3 authorizes tourist development tax revenues for transportation services that have 'as one of [their] main purposes the attraction of tourists.' A general public …
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