State AG Opinions
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Can a Florida county property appraiser disclose an address that is exempt from public-records inspection to a city code inspector serving notice of a code violation?
Yes. A property appraiser may release an exempt-but-not-confidential address to a code inspector seeking to comply with the statutory notice duty in § 162.06. The receiving agency must maintain the ad…
Why was the 2017 Natural Resource Cannabis Amendment rejected by the Arkansas AG?
Rejected. The AG identified two fundamental defects in Clair Danner's Natural Resource Cannabis Amendment that made any further ballot-title review impossible. First, the proposed measure was 36 pages…
Can a Virginia sheriff assign a deputy to provide full-time security at a community services board facility that serves students from local public schools?
Yes. A Virginia sheriff has authority to assign a deputy to provide full-time security at a community services board facility that serves public school students, because protecting public facilities i…
Does Virginia's International Trade Corporation legally exist, and can the Governor appoint its board even though it has no funding?
Yes, but no practical point. The AG concluded that the Virginia International Trade Corporation has had legal existence since December 1, 2016 and the Governor has statutory authority to appoint its B…
Can an Arkansas school district donate a vacated school building to a city for free for municipal use?
Possibly, if two conditions are met under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-21-108(b): the school board determines the property is surplus, and the donation serves a beneficial educational service for the district's…
Can someone serve on an Arkansas school board if her community college salary is partly paid by a grant from the same school district?
Probably yes, but it depends on whether the school district controls her work. The grant funding alone doesn't make her a district employee; the right-of-control test does. The incompatibility doctrin…
Can an Arkansas city assign its paramedics to work at a private company in exchange for an hourly fee?
Probably did not violate art. 12, sec. 5 because it was a paid contract, not a donation. But the public-purpose doctrine raised serious concerns: city paramedics serving a private mill outside the cit…
Can an Arkansas firefighter who retired and draws a pension still serve as Fire Chief without losing benefits?
Yes, but only without compensation. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 24-11-818(f), a retired firefighter can stay involved in the department and keep drawing pension benefits as long as they don't receive compe…
Does Tennessee law let a city pay less than half of the cost of reappraising property within the city if the county hasn't agreed, and can the county assessor withhold the city's tax rolls if the city refuses to pay its share?
No on both. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 67-5-1601(c)(2), a city must pay one half of the local costs of reappraisal of property within the city unless the city and county agree on a different amount; the …
Does a Delaware public body have to mail copies of records to someone who can't visit in person, like an incarcerated requester?
No. The AG found Delaware FOIA only requires a public body to make records available for inspection and copying during business hours, not to mail copies, even to an incarcerated requester who sent a …
Can a school district release a public employee's job application under Arkansas FOIA after redacting personal contact info?
Yes. The Little Rock School District's decision to release the employee's job application after redacting Social Security number, home address, personal phone numbers, personal emails, and transcript …
Can a Texas county appraisal district move a school district's boundary line?
The AG concluded it cannot. A tax appraisal district has no authority to detach property from one school district and add it to another, that process belongs to the school districts and the county und…
Does a Texas county treasurer or commissioners court control the money in a court's registry account?
The AG concluded neither one controls it the way the county controls its own funds. Money paid into a court's registry is held in trust and does not belong to the county, so it sits in a separate regi…
Can a county's contract collection attorney go after unpaid restitution owed to a crime victim?
The AG concluded it can. Article 103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a commissioners court hire a private attorney or vendor to collect a list of criminal items, and that list expressly in…
Can a county budget officer also be a staff employee of the county judge or commissioners court?
The AG concluded yes, the common-law incompatibility doctrine does not bar it. A county budget officer and an assistant budget officer can also hold employee jobs working for the county judge and the …
Can a Texas general-law city collect HOA dues for a homeowners association through its water bill?
The AG concluded it cannot. A Type A general-law city has only the powers the State expressly grants plus those reasonably necessary to carry them out, and no statute gives such a city authority to ru…
Can Arizona counties keep their own voter registration databases, and can the Secretary of State pass off public records requests for voter data to the counties?
Yes, Arizona counties can run their own voter registration databases (Maricopa and Pima do), but they must transmit every piece of voter information they hold to the official statewide database in rea…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the Arkansas True Grass recreational marijuana ballot title in 2017?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The proposed measure had a Section 10 listing 13 categories of unlawful activity that was completely absent from the ballot title, and the text contained undefin…
Did the Idaho AG flag legal problems with the 2017 Reclaim Idaho Medicaid expansion initiative that became Proposition 2 in 2018?
Mostly no. AG Wasden's Certificate of Review flagged minor drafting issues (improper underlining in Section 2, an inappropriate emergency clause, an enactment-clause that should reference 'voters' ins…
Can a city's Advertising and Promotion Commission staff see business-by-business hotel/restaurant tax data that's exempt from FOIA?
Not as ordinary citizens under FOIA, but Commission staff and agents may have access through their official tax-collection and enforcement duties under the Advertising and Promotion Commission Act. In…
Is Arkansas's $500 personal property exemption an absolute cap, or can debtors protect more under specific statutes?
Not an absolute cap. The $500 limit in Article 9, Section 2 generally binds bankruptcy debtors and direct contract judgments, but does not block statutory exemptions claimed against third-party garnis…
Can someone who isn't already on a police force take an Arkansas civil service exam for a supervisory opening?
Yes, if the city's civil service commission rules allow it. State law permits outside law-enforcement officers to compete for supervisory openings, but does not require commissions to consider outside…
How long does the Arkansas Auditor of State have to keep redeemed and unredeemed state warrants?
There is no specific statutory time limit for keeping unredeemed warrants. Redeemed warrants must be kept for one year in original paper form, or three months for the original plus ten years for an el…
Can Tennessee state or local governments use Construction Management-at-Risk contracts (where the construction manager also performs some of the actual construction work) for jail and prison projects?
No, according to the AG. Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(b) only allows state and local governments to hire construction managers as agents or advisors for correctional facility projects, and it expressly …
Can the City of Bell Gardens file a quo warranto lawsuit to remove a city council member who missed every regular meeting for 60 straight days?
Yes. The AG granted the City of Bell Gardens leave to sue council member Jennifer Rodriguez in quo warranto. Government Code section 36513 declares a council seat vacant after 60 days of unexcused abs…
Can a licensed Arkansas architect operating as a sole proprietor use a business name with their name?
The AG declined to answer. The Arkansas State Board of Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers had already decided the issue in a quasi-judicial order. AG opinion policy reserves such…
When the West Virginia Legislature accidentally passes two different versions of the same code section in the same session, House Bill 2506 amending one piece, then Senate Bill 687 reenacting the section without that amendment, which version is law?
Both, partially. The House Bill's harmonic-mean-flow requirement (a key change in subsection (c) for calculating drinking water permit limits) likely survives, because the Senate Bill's title did not …
When a Tennessee sheriff levies on a debtor's bank account to satisfy a judgment, is the $40 levy-of-execution fee allowed instead of the $20 collection-of-money fee?
Yes, according to the AG. A levy of execution on funds held in a bank account is a levy of execution on property under § 8-21-901(a)(2)(A), so the $40 fee applies. The general $20 fee in subsection (B…
When a Tennessee sheriff serves a levy of execution on a debtor's bank account, can the sheriff charge the $40 levy-of-execution fee or only the $20 fee for collecting money to satisfy a judgment?
The AG concluded the $40 fee applies. A levy of execution on bank-held funds is still a levy of execution on property under § 8-21-901(a)(2)(A), and the specific provision controls over the general $2…
Can a Delaware police-funding committee hold a closed session to discuss a fraud investigation into grant money?
Yes. The AG found the State Aid to Local Law Enforcement Committee properly closed part of its meeting to review an active investigation into possible misuse of grant funds with the assigned investiga…
Does a voting machine that also prints a marked paper ballot still count as a direct recording electronic voting machine in Texas?
The AG concluded yes. Under the Election Code, a 'direct recording electronic voting machine' is one designed for a direct vote by touching a screen that records votes electronically. Adding a marked …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the second Arkansas Blue Grass cannabis ballot title submission in October 2017?
The AG rejected the entire submission because the proposed amendment retained the same kinds of textual ambiguities flagged in earlier opinions, which made an accurate ballot title impossible to draft…
After Georgia's 2015 SB 100, which Georgia drug and DUI convictions does a superior court clerk have to report to the Department of Driver Services for license suspension?
Convictions under O.C.G.A. § 40-6-391(a)(2), (4), and (6) (DUI for drugs) and § 40-5-151(e) (felony drug offenses where the convicted person knowingly used a motor vehicle in the commission) must be r…
Could Green Forest Police Department deny a FOIA request for ex-officers' records because they weren't terminated?
The AG declined to opine on the specific denial because no records were submitted. The opinion sets out the framework: personnel records open unless privacy outweighs disclosure, evaluation records cl…
Did Act 877 of 2017 take away Arkansas surveyors' immunity from criminal trespass?
No. Act 877 did not amend the surveyor-immunity statute. Licensed Arkansas surveyors retained their immunity from arrest for criminal trespass, and government-employed surveyors gained an additional e…
After Act 365 of 2017 exempted Arkansas Game and Fish from the UCCA, can it still use the same compensation rules?
Yes. Even after Act 365 of 2017 largely exempted the Game and Fish Commission from the UCCA, the Commission may voluntarily follow UCCA-style compensation practices (base salaries, differentials, meri…
Can a Texas municipal utility district use surplus funds to fix or replace residents' cluster mailboxes?
The AG concluded it cannot. A municipal utility district can exercise only the powers the Legislature has clearly granted, tied to the water and natural-resource purposes behind its creation. Nothing …
Does W. Va. Code § 3-8-12(a), which forbids anonymous campaign leaflets supporting or opposing a clearly identified candidate, violate the First Amendment?
Yes, almost certainly. The AG concluded that under *Talley* and *McIntyre*, the state's flat ban on anonymous campaign leafleting fails strict scrutiny: the law is overbroad, sweeping in publications …
Which Idaho Department of Correction employees qualify for Rule of 80 retirement under PERSI, and what happens to accrued benefits if a position is reclassified out of police officer member status?
AG Wasden concluded in 2017 that only wardens and POST-certified correctional officers (those accountable for the custody, supervision, and safety of inmates inside a confinement facility) qualify for…
Can a Delaware town withhold a private investigator's report on police-misconduct allegations under attorney-client or work-product privilege?
Yes, if the report was funneled through the town's attorney as part of its legal representation. The AG found the Town of Smyrna could withhold a private investigator's report on its police chief beca…
Can a Delaware city call a special council meeting with less than seven days' notice to meet a grant deadline?
Yes, if the need for the meeting genuinely arose within the last seven days. The AG found Newark's city council properly called a special meeting on four days' notice to reconsider a bridge-funding de…
Could a Little Rock employee learn what the city would release from his FOIA'd personnel file?
The AG declined to opine on specific records because no actual records were submitted. The opinion sets out the FOIA standards the custodian must apply: personnel records open unless privacy outweighs…
Can a Tennessee county use its road crew and equipment to repair a road leading to a cemetery if the road isn't on the county's road list?
Generally no, but the cemetery-rehabilitation statute opens a private-contractor path. The AG concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-7-202 prohibits a county from using its non-monetary resources (trucks…
Is a city council's ad hoc reorganization committee a public body that must keep meeting minutes?
Yes. The AG found Wilmington's Council Organization Commission, created by council resolution with staff support, was a public body that violated FOIA by not keeping minutes of its six meetings, and o…
Can Delaware deny you your own pre-employment background check records under FOIA?
Yes, if the agency was legally required to investigate you before hiring. The AG found DOC could withhold a rejected job applicant's own background investigation file as an exempt investigatory record…
Is a college advisory committee a 'public body' that must hold open meetings under Delaware FOIA?
It depends on who is on it and what it does. The AG found DelTech Community College's Criminal Justice Advisory Board was a public body subject to FOIA because it could act as a group and included out…
Are a Delaware public official's personal emails about government business subject to FOIA?
Yes, according to this opinion. The AG reversed its own 2011 position and held that emails in an official's personal account are public records under Delaware FOIA if they were required by, done at th…
Would a Tennessee bill regulating motorboats carrying passengers for hire in tourist resort counties be preempted by federal law, and does its narrow application violate equal protection?
Partial preemption, no equal-protection problem. The AG concluded that the bill's state inspection and licensure requirements would likely be preempted as applied to inspected vessels (federal field p…
Does a Delaware town have to prove its electronic meeting notice posted on time, or just the physical posting?
Just the physical posting, for a municipality like Dewey Beach. The AG found the town's September 22 meeting notice was timely because it was posted at the town's office at least seven days ahead; FOI…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the Arkansas True Grass recreational marijuana ballot title in October 2017?
The AG rejected the submission because the proposed amendment's defined terms were internally inconsistent (carry/carrying on/personal effect) and its plant-cultivation rules contained multiple irreco…
Can a West Virginia county pay its public libraries with hotel occupancy tax revenue, even when the libraries' main purpose is lending books rather than promoting tourism?
Yes, if the libraries actually serve covered purposes under W. Va. Code § 7-18-14(c). Pocahontas County's free libraries function as 'tourist information centers' (free Wi-Fi, maps, flyers, staff help…
Is it a FOIA violation if a Delaware town posts meeting notice six days instead of seven before the meeting?
Yes, technically, but the AG found no remedy was needed because the only agenda item was a properly-noticed executive session and no substantive votes were taken at the meeting.
Can a Texas doctor prescribe naloxone or another opioid-overdose drug to a police department?
The AG concluded yes. Health and Safety Code section 483.102 lets a prescriber, directly or by standing order, prescribe an opioid antagonist such as naloxone to a person at risk of an opioid overdose…
Can a Tennessee county or city set appearance-based design standards for single-family homes (exterior paint, materials, roof style)?
Yes, with limits. The AG concluded that Tennessee's broad zoning statutes authorize counties and municipalities to enact appearance-based residential building design standards. Such an ordinance is va…
Can a license holder carry a concealed handgun into a Texas junior college board of trustees meeting?
The AG concluded that on a junior college campus, where campus carry already permits concealed handguns, a license holder who carries one into an open board meeting at which no Penal Code section 30.0…
Can a Texas school district run buses into a neighboring district without an interlocal agreement?
The AG concluded it cannot, at least for regular to-and-from-school transportation. Education Code section 34.007 lets a school district operate a transportation system inside its own boundaries, and …
When Connecticut has no enacted budget, does the Governor have the legal authority to reduce special education excess-cost grants, withhold municipal revenue sharing, and adjust the motor vehicle mill-rate tax cap on his own?
Probably not, on each of the three. The 1892 State v. Staub case obligates the Governor to spend what existing law requires, but does not authorize the Governor to *reduce* statutory grants or change …
Which of the new misdemeanor crimes the Georgia legislature created in 2017 should require fingerprinting at arrest?
The AG designated only one of two reviewed 2017 misdemeanors as fingerprintable: providing tobacco to a jail inmate without the jailer's consent under § 42-4-13(d.1), but only as to non-incarcerated o…
Can a party to a California administrative hearing, including a special education due process hearing under IDEA, be represented by someone who is not a licensed California attorney?
The AG concluded no on both counts. California's Administrative Procedure Act does not itself authorize a party to be represented by a non-lawyer in Office of Administrative Hearings proceedings (thou…
Does a Delaware county council violate FOIA if it votes on 'recommendations from executive session' without specifically noticing that vote on the agenda?
Not necessarily. The AG found New Castle County Council's Personnel Subcommittee did not violate FOIA by voting to direct legal research after an executive session, even though the agenda didn't flag …
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