State AG Opinions
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Are employee-initiated harassment complaints exempt from Arkansas FOIA as employee-evaluation records?
The AG could not see the records, so it could not confirm the custodian's classification. But the office emphasized that to count as an employee-evaluation record under Arkansas FOIA, a record has…
Could the Texas Teacher Retirement System invest in indexed universal life insurance funded by leveraged premiums?
Possibly, but the AG could not decide the necessary facts. The investment had to qualify as a security and satisfy the Texas Constitution's and Government Code's prudence and portfolio-strategy…
Can a requester who concedes he and his firm are not Delaware citizens demand Department of Insurance records under Delaware FOIA?
No, under this opinion. After the requester conceded that neither he nor his firm was a Delaware citizen, the AG found no FOIA violation in the Department of Insurance's denial. The opinion did not…
Does Virginia's monument protection statute apply when a county adds a new Emancipation Proclamation monument to a park that already holds a Confederate monument?
Based on the facts presented, placing a stone monument commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation in Fluvanna County's Civil War Park would not implicate Va. Code § 15.2-1812, because the park…
Can the City of Little Rock release a Housing & Neighborhood Programs employee's ID photograph under FOIA over his objection?
The release of the photograph is likely consistent with FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records test, and the requester's identity or…
Can the City of Little Rock release a code enforcement officer's ID photograph under FOIA over his objection?
The release of the photograph is likely consistent with FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records test, and the requester's identity or…
Can a Little Rock employee block release of her city ID photograph under Arkansas FOIA by objecting?
The custodian's decision to release the city ID photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally subject to disclosure under the personnel-records…
Can a Little Rock senior code officer block release of her ID photo and personnel file under Arkansas FOIA by objecting to the requester?
The custodian's decision to release the photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. The objection does not articulate a legally sufficient reason to withhold the records, and the requester's…
Can the Georgia National Guard share in proceeds of drug-related civil forfeitures alongside police, sheriffs, and the GBI?
Yes. The Georgia National Guard remained a 'law enforcement agency' eligible to share in proceeds of drug-related forfeitures, even after the 2015 Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act…
Does the Delaware open meeting law cover an informal gathering of a town manager, an audit committee chair, contract accountants, and an outside auditor to talk about audit issues?
No. The AG concluded the gathering was not a 'public body' because no government entity established or appointed it, and FOIA does not give the AG's office authority to enforce a town's compliance…
Can a Little Rock city employee block release of her ID photo and personnel file under Arkansas FOIA by objecting to the requester?
The custodian's decision to release the photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. The objection does not articulate a legally sufficient reason to withhold the records, and the requester's…
Can a city release a public employee's personnel file and city ID photo over the employee's objection under Arkansas FOIA?
The custodian's decision to release the city ID photograph is likely consistent with the FOIA. Records depicting public employees are generally disclosable under the personnel-records test, and a…
When a town manager and police chief sign LESO program documents without a Council vote, does Delaware FOIA require an open meeting first?
No. The AG found the Town Manager and Police Chief did not constitute a 'public body,' so FOIA's open-meeting rules did not attach. Whether their signatures exceeded municipal authority is a…
Are citizen complaints against Delaware State Police officers reachable through a Delaware FOIA request, and can a confidentiality order from prior litigation block disclosure of public records?
No to the first; the AG concluded LEOBOR keeps complaints against sworn officers confidential as part of investigatory records. Court-issued confidentiality orders can also block disclosure under §…
Does Arkansas FOIA require a city to release a public employee's hourly wage and salary history when the employee objects?
Yes. Salary information is a personnel record, and the AG has consistently said release of public-employee salary information almost never rises to a 'clearly unwarranted invasion of personal…
If a county zoning agenda lists a special-use exception by its zoning-code category (nursing home / convalescent home / home for the aged) but the actual hearing is about an assisted living facility with 35 houses, did the agenda give legally sufficient notice under Delaware FOIA?
Yes. The AG concluded that citing the zoning-code subsections for the requested exception was objectively comprehensible notice, even though the agenda did not use the specific phrase 'assisted…
Under the Arkansas FOIA, can a city release a workplace harassment complaint and an exit interview as personnel records, and which redactions are required?
The records were properly classified as personnel records that must be released with redactions. Personal contact information, employee numbers, dates of birth, and similar items had to be redacted,…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 Arkansas Regulation of Marijuana Amendment ballot title?
The AG rejected the popular name, ballot title, and proposed amendment. Added regulatory language did not cure defects identified in Opinion 2018-100; a ballot title based on those features would…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject a 2018 marijuana initiated act submission that used a blacklined statute draft?
The AG rejected the submission at the threshold. Section 7-9-107 requires the sponsor to submit an 'original draft' of the proposed measure, but the submission was a blacklined working document…
Could South Carolina's governor fill a Bath Water and Sewer District seat when no election had been held?
The Attorney General concluded that a court would likely allow the governor to fill the vacant elected commission seat on the Aiken County delegation's recommendation. The statutory term still…
Could a South Carolina deputy fire chief also serve on a city council without violating dual office holding rules?
The Attorney General concluded that serving as both a deputy fire chief of the described special purpose district and a city council member would not violate South Carolina's dual office holding…
Can a Delaware town withhold surveillance video of a Town Hall confrontation when criminal charges are still pending?
Yes. The AG found that surveillance video was part of an active investigatory file for a pending criminal prosecution and was therefore exempt under 29 Del. C. § 10002(l)(3). Public interest and…
Did South Carolina's FOIA require releasing birth dates and driver license numbers from a collision database?
The Attorney General concluded that the described FOIA response could withhold private individuals' birth dates and redact personal information while releasing collision facts. It also warned that…
Did the South Carolina AG find coroners eligible for federal public safety death benefits?
The Attorney General described how South Carolina coroners and deputies held public office and performed some judicial duties, but expressly declined to decide federal benefits eligibility. The…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the Natural Resource Cannabis Amendment ballot title in 2018?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The proposal was substantially the same measure the AG had already rejected in November 2017, with added language on banking and depository institutions that…
Can the City of Alexandria, which is grandfathered to tax real estate rentals, adjust its BPOL tax rate on those rentals up or down?
Yes. The City of Alexandria, which is grandfathered under Code § 58.1-3703(C)(7) to impose BPOL taxes on real estate rentals, may adjust the tax rate up or down (or eliminate it) by affirmative vote…
Does Virginia's war monument statute block demolition of an old high school building that was originally dedicated as a memorial to World War I veterans?
No. The Dickenson County Board of Supervisors would not violate Va. Code § 15.2-1812 by authorizing the demolition of the Dickenson Memorial High School building. The statute operates prospectively,…
After Trinity Lutheran (2017), can Idaho still categorically exclude religiously affiliated schools and universities from generally available state programs like work-study and tax-free bonds under Idaho's Blaine Amendment?
The AG said Trinity Lutheran would likely limit Idaho's Blaine Amendment, but did not declare all exclusions of religious institutions unlawful. The opinion identifies factors to examine for each…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 ranked-choice voting initiative's ballot title?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The proposal failed to specify whether it was an initiated act or a constitutional amendment, the popular name and ballot title were misleading, and the…
Can a Texas county use public funds to help homeowners repair homes or to subsidize housing construction?
Only when the spending serves a predominantly public purpose, the AG concluded, and the commissioners court has to make that call first, subject to court review. A Texas House committee chair asked…
Does Texas's recreational use statute protect a landowner who hosts agritourism when a private plane lands on the property?
Yes, the AG concluded, as long as the usual conditions of Chapter 75 are met. A Texas House committee chair asked whether Chapter 75 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, the recreational use…
Can the temporary directors of a new Texas groundwater conservation district cancel the election that would confirm the district?
Almost certainly not, the AG concluded. A Texas House committee chair asked about the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District, whose seven temporary directors cancelled the May…
Can a Texas groundwater district amend a historic-use permit to change the purpose of water use?
Changing the purpose of the water use makes it a new use, even if it stays inside the district, the AG concluded. A Texas House committee chair asked about a dispute over what the Texas Supreme…
Could a South Carolina university permit selected staff to carry concealed handguns on campus?
The Attorney General concluded that a university could expressly permit selected people to carry concealed handguns on its premises, subject to the permission’s terms and any other legal…
When the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality releases an employee's personnel file under FOIA, must a photocopy of the employee's driver's license be entirely withheld?
The custodian's redaction work was mostly correct, but a photocopy of the employee's driver's license must be entirely withheld, not just the license number redacted. The AG also told the employee…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 'Arkansas Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment' ballot title?
The AG rejected the resubmission because it repeated a measure rejected in Opinion 2017-006 without resolving ambiguities. She said the complex decriminalization scheme could not be fairly…
Can a Texas city set a homestead property tax exemption minimum higher than $5,000?
No, the AG concluded. A state senator asked whether a home-rule city could adopt a residential homestead property tax exemption with a minimum dollar amount above the $5,000 set in the Constitution.…
Can the survivors of a part-time firefighter or police officer who died in the line of duty buy the city's health insurance?
Yes, the AG concluded. A district attorney asked about the City of Burnet, where a part-time firefighter and EMT died in the line of duty. The city's policy did not give part-time workers or their…
Does a Texas DA's office have to turn over information from its civil cases to a criminal defendant?
Often yes, the AG concluded. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney, whose office handles both civil and criminal matters, asked whether information her civil-side attorneys obtain, such as…
Does Delaware FOIA require a state agency to answer questions in a public records request, and what happens when the agency responds after the 15-business-day deadline?
The AG found the Auditor of Accounts committed a technical FOIA violation by responding late, but declined to recommend any remedy because the records were eventually produced. FOIA does not require…
Can the Little Rock School District release a former employee's eligibility-for-continued-employment file under Arkansas FOIA over the subject's privacy objection?
Yes, mostly. The records were properly classified as employee-evaluation records, and the four-prong test for release was satisfied. The personnel-records balancing test that the subject's attorney…
Can a Virginia locality direct Four-for-Life EMS funds to its own fire department instead of a private emergency crew?
Yes. A locality may direct Four-for-Life funds under Code § 46.2-694(A)(13)(e) to its fire department if the department meets the regulatory definition of an 'emergency medical services agency' in…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 'Arkansas Marijuana Amendment 2020' ballot title that proposed adult-use legalization with a regulatory licensing scheme?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The ballot title was generic and uninformative, leaning on words like 'regulation' and 'licensing' without describing the actual legal effects. The underlying…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 'Right to Grow Cannabis Amendment' ballot title?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The popular name 'Right to Grow' was misleading because the amendment also covered possession. The ballot title was inadequate. And the text's reach (which…
Can a Dumas city clerk-treasurer combine prior city-employee service to qualify for the half-salary retirement under § 24-12-121, and can she also draw a separate city pension for earlier service?
With city-council approval, qualifying prior city service could count toward the clerk-treasurer’s vesting period, and the benefit uses clerk-treasurer salary alone. A second city pension is allowed…
Why did the Arkansas Attorney General reject the 2018 Arkansas Marijuana Legalization Amendment ballot title that would have earmarked tax revenue for K-12 schools?
The AG rejected the entire submission. The popular name added 'for School Funding' to lend partisan coloring; the ballot title was wholly inadequate to summarize the proposal's substantive changes;…
Can Tennessee's POST Commission charge retired officers a fee for the firearm certification that lets them carry under LEOSA?
Yes. The Tennessee AG concluded the POST Commission has express authority to set a reasonable fee for the in-state retired-officer firearm certification, and general rulemaking authority to set a…
Is a Tennessee General Sessions Court with separate civil and criminal dockets and multiple judges one court or many for the clerk's pay calculation?
One court. The Tennessee AG concluded the General Sessions Court of a county is a single unified court for purposes of § 8-24-102, so the clerk does not get the 10% pay supplement reserved for…
Did South Carolina’s Doe decision allow domestic violence prosecution involving unmarried same sex partners?
The Attorney General read the revised Doe decision as allowing domestic violence prosecution involving unmarried same sex partners who were cohabiting or formerly cohabited, when the statutory…
Can a former Arkansas Department of Human Services employee block release of her personnel file by arguing the requester wants it 'for personal gain'?
No. The custodian's analysis cannot be based on the requester's subjective motive. The FOIA personnel-records test is objective. Without seeing the actual records, the AG could not opine on…
Can Tennessee require U.S. citizenship for funeral director, embalmer, polygraph, or security licenses, and does federal law allow it?
No to citizen-only requirements (preempted and unconstitutional under Equal Protection); preempted in part for citizen-or-resident-alien requirements. The Tennessee AG instructed the Department of…
Can a Little Rock firefighter use Arkansas FOIA to obtain the internal affairs investigation file resulting from his complaint against another employee, plus the Civil Service Commission appeal transcript?
The AG approved giving the complainant his own statement and submissions and withholding the internal investigation records. She could not decide whether releasing the Civil Service transcript and…
In Arkansas, can a qualified retired law enforcement officer carry a concealed handgun in publicly owned buildings without an enhanced carry license?
Yes under Arkansas law. A retired law enforcement officer who satisfies Ark. Code Ann. section 12-15-202(b) is exempt from the licensing requirements of subchapter 5-73-3, including the 'enhanced'…
Can an Arkansas public school require students to pay for private lessons or summer camps as a condition of participating in extracurriculars or graded courses?
It depends on whether the activity is integral to a free public education. Fees for elective, non-credit activities are less constitutionally suspect, but the AG did not approve any particular fee.…
When two close-in-age minors engage in sexual conduct, does an Oregon mandatory reporter (such as a teacher) have to report that conduct to DHS as child abuse?
Not always. The 2018 AG opinion concluded that the mandatory child abuse reporting statutes did not require every instance of sexual conduct between minors to be reported, where Oregon's age-gap…
Do the limits in RCW 54.28 on city utility taxes (including the carve-out from 'gross revenue') restrict a First Class city's authority under RCW 35.22.280(32) to tax investor-owned utilities?
No for investor-owned utilities, yes for public utility districts. The AG concluded that a First Class city's general business-licensing authority in RCW 35.22.280(32) supports a utility tax on…
Can a Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney revert his office to part-time status after a predecessor elected full-time status?
No. Once a part-time Commonwealth's Attorney elects full-time status under Code § 15.2-1629 with Compensation Board consent, the election is binding on the office, and successors cannot revert to…
Are the monthly volume and price reports that Delaware alcohol importers file with the Division of Revenue accessible under FOIA, or are they confidential tax records?
The AG concluded the reports were tax records and exempt from FOIA. Because 30 Del. C. § 368 made it unlawful to disclose the contents of any report required under Title 30, and the Rule 401 monthly…
If a quorum of a town council shows up at a properly noticed committee meeting but does not discuss public business among themselves, is that a separate open-meeting violation under Delaware FOIA?
No. The Delaware AG concluded that mere attendance by a quorum at another body's public meeting was not a separate Council meeting, because there was no discussion or deliberation among the…
Should an Arkansas school district release an unverified anonymous email accusing a former employee in response to a FOIA request?
The custodian's classification was correct, but the disclosure decision was questionable. The AG concluded that the anonymous email was a personnel record, but warned that releasing an unsolicited,…
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