State AG Opinions
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Does a Delaware charter school have to post its meeting notices online, or is physically posting them at the school enough?
No, according to this opinion. A charter school's budget oversight committee did not violate FOIA by failing to post meeting notice on the school's website, because FOIA's requirement to post notice…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Mary Berry's third 2017 cannabis legalization amendment, the one with effective dates of November 7, 2018 and April 19, 2019?
Three ambiguities in the measure's text. Section 2 said marijuana activities would be 'regulated and made lawful' starting November 7, 2018, but Section 9 said the state had until April 19, 2019 to…
Can an Arkansas county election commission hire its own election coordinator without the county judge's approval?
No. The AG concluded that under Amendment 55, the county judge holds the exclusive power to contract on the county's behalf. Election commissioners are not 'other elected officials' within the…
Are an Arizona public official's text messages and social media DMs about government business public records, even if sent on a personal phone or account?
It depends on the device. Messages on government-issued phones or accounts are public records. Messages on truly private devices and accounts are not, but officials still have an affirmative duty to…
Can West Virginia still force minor-party and independent candidates to file by the January 'certificate of announcement' deadline now that a federal court has enjoined the state from doing exactly that?
No. The Secretary of State should treat the August 1 deadline (under W. Va. Code §§ 3-5-23, 3-5-24) as the operative filing date for minor-party and independent candidates, and may not enforce the…
Can a school board's tax rate increase vote be challenged if the board added it to the meeting agenda as a last-minute addendum without explanation?
Yes, according to this opinion. The Milford School District Board of Directors violated FOIA by adding a Fiscal Year 2017 tax rate increase to its June 20, 2016 meeting agenda as a same-day addendum…
Can an Arkansas state agency release a former employee's resignation letter under FOIA, even when the employee says the requester is harassing them?
Yes. The AG concluded that a fill-in-the-blank resignation notice is a personnel record subject to disclosure under Arkansas FOIA. The privacy interest is at most de minimis, and there is no…
When California's jail strip-search rule says the person conducting or watching a strip search must be the 'same sex' as the inmate being searched, does that include the inmate's gender identity and expression?
Yes. The AG concluded that 'sex' in Penal Code section 4030, subdivision (k), means gender, which the Penal Code expressly defines to include gender identity and gender expression. So a transgender…
Can a Delaware county deny a public records request just because the requester isn't shown to be a Delaware citizen?
Yes, according to this opinion. A consultant asked New Castle County for records and the County denied the request because he wasn't a Delaware citizen; the AG confirmed Delaware's FOIA only…
Can a Delaware licensing board withhold its licensees' email addresses under FOIA?
Yes, in this case. The AG found Delaware engineers' email addresses protected by common-law privacy because the engineers had a clear privacy interest and disclosure would not shed light on…
Could a South Carolina town council member also serve on the Advisory Council on Aging?
The 2017 AG opinion predicted that serving on the purely advisory Council on Aging did not count as holding a second office of honor or profit under the state constitution. On the facts supplied,…
Did years served before 2016 count toward the South Carolina transportation commission’s twelve-year limit?
The 2017 AG opinion said the new cumulative twelve-year service limit operated prospectively. It predicted a court would not count a transportation commissioner’s service before the 2016 amendment…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Mary Berry's June 2017 cannabis amendment titled 'The Arkansas Adult Recreation of Marijuana Amendment'?
The AG rejected Berry's popular name because Section 1 made 'Recreation of Marijuana' the amendment's short title. She described two possible constructions, each misleading or confusing to voters,…
Can a 100%-disabled Virginia veteran or surviving spouse claim the disabled-veteran property tax exemption back to 2011, beyond the usual three-year correction window?
Yes. The AG concluded that a disabled veteran or surviving spouse who has filed the required affidavit under § 58.1-3219.5 is entitled to the property tax exemption back to the date of disability…
Could an Arkansas officer outside his jurisdiction pursue and ticket a second motorist for a misdemeanor observed there?
On the facts given, no. The second motorist's failure to change lanes occurred entirely outside the officer's jurisdiction, and no other source of authority was identified. The AG stressed that a…
Did DC need a technical-amendment act before the Mayor could sign the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission Interstate Compact, given that the DC, Maryland, and Virginia enabling statutes had small wording differences?
No. Interstate compacts are valid when member-state enabling statutes are substantially similar, even if not word-for-word identical. The 28 small variances among the DC, Maryland, and Virginia…
Does a city council's formally appointed "leadership team," created to meet regularly with the mayor's office, have to follow Delaware's open-meetings law?
Yes, according to this opinion. The Wilmington City Council President formally appointed five Council members to a "Council Leadership Team" to meet regularly with the Mayor's administration and…
Can a Florida city use city employees and equipment during business hours to help a private citizen run a fundraiser for restoring a city-owned building?
The opinion did not give a yes/no. The AG noted that municipal funds may only be used for a municipal purpose, and whether the city commission could make the necessary public-purpose findings under…
Can Delaware's Lottery Office refuse to break down monthly revenue and payout data by game and retailer if generating that report needs new computer programming?
Yes, according to this opinion. A newspaper editor asked the Delaware Lottery Office for three months of revenue and payout data broken down by individual game and by each licensed retailer, and the…
Can a Florida soil and water conservation district sponsor a nonprofit corporation that buys and runs a private water and wastewater utility on its behalf?
The opinion concluded a Florida soil and water conservation district lacked statutory authority to sponsor a nonprofit corporation owning and operating a water/wastewater utility, because Chapter…
Can a West Virginia county commission tell the county sheriff, county clerk, or other independently elected officials when their offices have to be open?
No. Independently elected county officials run the day-to-day operations of their own offices, including office hours, employee schedules, and time off. The county commission's constitutional…
Does a private consulting firm's stakeholder focus groups have to be publicly noticed under Delaware's open meetings law?
No, according to this opinion. A private planning firm hired by Sussex County to help draft a new comprehensive land use plan ran stakeholder focus groups without input from the County Council or…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Barry Emigh's 2017 casino-by-municipal-ballot proposal that would have given gambling licenses to a small group of named BQC members?
The popular name was misleading because it suggested gambling could be legalized 'simply by way of a municipal ballot measure.' The 785-word ballot title still failed to convey the sweeping changes…
After the 2016 FOCUS Act restructured Tennessee higher education governance, can state university employees still participate in the Board of Regents' 403(b) retirement plan?
Yes. The AG concluded that the FOCUS Act, which created separate governing boards for the six state universities, did not impliedly amend the Government Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Act. The…
Can a Texas charity give away bottles of liquor as a raffle prize?
The AG concluded a court would likely say yes. Two laws were in play: the Charitable Raffle Enabling Act, which lets qualified nonprofits hold raffles, and the Alcoholic Beverage Code. The Act…
Can a Texas Ethics Commission member reveal a sworn complaint that is being litigated?
The AG concluded the complaint stays confidential. Under Government Code section 571.140(a), a sworn complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, along with related documents and evidence, is…
Can the Texas Ethics Commission redact home addresses from campaign finance reports it must post online?
The AG concluded mostly no. Government Code section 552.1175 lets certain people (including some judges) keep their home address and similar personal details out of public records. But the statutes…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Ed Frizzell's 2017 'Proportional Voting Amendment' that would have shrunk the legislature into seven multi-member senate districts and 21 multi-member house districts drawn by latitude lines?
Three reasons. The popular name 'Proportional Voting' is a technical term that means different things in different electoral contexts and would mislead voters. The ballot title described the new…
Could a South Carolina county transportation committee use C-funds to pay project attorneys?
The 2017 AG opinion deferred to the Department of Transportation’s view that legal services tied to committee-selected road projects could be eligible project costs paid from C-funds. It separately…
Does a Virginia retailer break the law if a cigarette manufacturer prints a sweepstakes notice on its packs and the only place a customer can learn of the sweepstakes in the store is on the pack itself?
No. Code § 18.2-242 targets retail establishments that use games of chance to promote sales of products subject to federal and state excise taxes. A retailer that simply sells cigarettes whose…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject True Grass's 2017 recreational marijuana amendment with the prison-release and expungement provisions?
Because Section 8 of the proposal had a fundamental ambiguity. Subsection (a) and subsection (b) could be read to apply different rules about whether prisoners with non-marijuana convictions also…
Can an Arkansas adult give a firearm to a minor, and what facts matter?
The AG declined a general yes-or-no answer. Arkansas law criminalizes furnishing a firearm or deadly weapon to a minor without specified consent, and an adult who knowingly helps a minor possess a…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Larry Froelich's 2017 ballot title for an initiated act that would have made Act 570 of 2011's reduced drug sentences retroactive?
Because the popular name and ballot title referenced 'Acts 2011, No. 570' without describing the punishment changes that act made, leaving voters unable to assess what the proposal would do. The…
Could a South Carolina clerk use bail bondsman fees for employee bonuses?
The 2017 AG opinion said the clerk controlled the bondsman fee account, subject to county accounting and spending rules, but could not use it for a retrospective morale bonus beyond agreed…
Was South Carolina’s landowner petition requirement for special purpose districts constitutional?
The 2017 AG opinion said the requirement remained operative unless a court struck it down. It saw a possible equal protection problem with giving landowners the petition role, but said a court might…
Could the Peninsula Airport Commission legally guarantee a private bank loan to People Express Airlines using public airport funds?
No. The Peninsula Airport Commission's guarantee of a $5 million bank loan to People Express Airlines was an extension of public credit covered by the Credit Clause in Article X, Section 10 of the…
Can a Florida county lease or convey county-owned land to a developer for a project that includes market-rate housing as an economic-development activity?
The AG suggested § 125.045(3) lists ways a county may spend public funds toward the economic-development goals in subsection (1), rather than examples of those activities. The county governing board…
Must a Texas municipal court report a juvenile's drug paraphernalia conviction to DPS?
The AG concluded no, it found no such statute. A municipal court's jurisdiction over juveniles reaches only fine-only offenses, and possession of drug paraphernalia is a Class C misdemeanor…
Did the Arkansas AG approve a 2017 ballot title for legalizing recreational marijuana under the 'Arkansas Adult Recreation of Marijuana Amendment'?
No. The AG rejected Berry's proposed title because the amendment's Schedule VI terminology and expungement provision were too ambiguous to summarize accurately.
Is the Beach Mosquito Control District a Florida political subdivision, and may it use its mosquito-control drone commercially?
The AG confirmed the Beach Mosquito Control District as a Florida political subdivision for the FAA's public-aircraft rule and added that § 388.231(1) prohibits the district from using…
If a bill from Arkansas's 2017 First Extraordinary Session has no emergency clause and no stated effective date, when does it take effect?
August 2, 2017. Adjournment was May 3, 2017, the 90-day referendum window under Amendment 7 ran through August 1, and the acts took effect the day after.
If an Arkansas bill passed in the 2017 regular session has no emergency clause and no specified effective date, when does it become law?
August 1, 2017. Under Amendment 7, acts without an emergency clause take effect 91 days after the legislature adjourns, giving the people 90 days to file a referendum petition. Adjournment was May…
Do appointees to the Arkansas Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee have to take the constitutional oath of office before they start serving?
No. Committee members are not 'public officers' under Article 19, § 20, because they don't exercise the State's sovereign power and only issue non-binding advisory opinions. They look more like…
Can an Arkansas city pass an ordinance requiring future tax measures to win two-thirds of the vote, instead of a simple majority?
No. State law (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-55-301 and Amendment 7) requires only a majority for referred ordinances, and other Arkansas statutes set majority-vote rules for specific city taxes. A…
Was a Springdale police suspension record properly redacted before release under the Arkansas FOIA, when the suspended officer wanted broader redactions removed?
The AG found the custodian's decision to release the records as redacted consistent with FOIA. She deferred to the custodian's factual finding that the records formed a basis for the suspension,…
Why did Arkansas reject Larry Morris's 2017 recreational-marijuana ballot title?
The AG rejected Morris's ballot title because the measure did not make clear what its Schedule VI and marijuana terms covered or whose convictions its expungement clause would erase. She separately…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the 2017 'Fairplay Holdings' ballot title proposal that would have given specific people exclusive rights to operate casino gambling?
No. The AG rejected the proposal because the popular name was nonsensical, the 833-word ballot title was too long and confusing for voters to digest in five minutes, and the measure failed to…
Were Oregon physical therapists allowed to perform 'dry needling' in 2017, or was that acupuncture and outside their scope of practice?
No. The Oregon AG concluded in 2017 that dry needling was not a physical therapy intervention under ORS 688.010(6)(b) and was outside licensed physical therapists' scope of practice. The opinion…
Can a civilly committed sexually violent predator in Texas vote by mail?
The AG concluded a court would likely say yes. A person who is civilly committed as a sexually violent predator under chapter 841 of the Health and Safety Code keeps the right to vote if he fully…
Could a South Carolina police department buy a gyroplane with drug forfeiture funds?
The 2017 AG opinion said forfeiture money could buy a gyroplane, related equipment, and pilot training when its primary purpose remained drug law enforcement, even with incidental other uses. It…
Can a Georgia dispensing optician still duplicate eyeglasses or contact lenses without a prescription, given a 2016 statute that bars dispensing without one?
Yes. There was no conflict between the 2016 amendment to O.C.G.A. § 31-12-12(c) (which prohibits dispensing or adapting contact lenses or spectacles without a prescription) and O.C.G.A. §…
Is a resident of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation reservation also a 'bona fide permanent resident' of the Town of Ledyard for purposes of getting a Connecticut pistol permit?
Yes. The MPTN reservation sits geographically inside Ledyard, and Connecticut law treats reservation residents as residents of the surrounding municipality for state-administered licensing programs.…
Did a county nuisance ordinance prevail over HOA covenants, and was a complainant owed notice?
The 2017 AG opinion said a valid county ordinance prevailed over conflicting homeowners association covenants. It also said a person who reported a violation but was not a party to the enforcement…
Could a nonlawyer help a South Carolina business with magistrate court abandoned-property proceedings?
The 2017 AG opinion said a genuine nonlawyer officer of the business could represent it in a civil magistrate proceeding under the court rule, with required written authorization. A separate…
Under the Arkansas FOIA, what records can a Little Rock police officer get from the city's investigation file on a complaint they filed against a superior, when no discipline resulted?
Mostly the records the officer themselves submitted, plus the original complaint as the personnel record of both employees. Most of the rest are employee-evaluation records of the superior, and…
Does Virginia's State Air Pollution Control Board have authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and set a statewide cap on power-plant carbon?
Yes. The AG concluded that the State Air Pollution Control Board has legal authority under §§ 10.1-1306, 10.1-1307, and 10.1-1308 to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, including establishing a…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the 2017 'Arkansas Fair Voting Amendment' ballot title for ranked-choice voting and a redistricting overhaul?
No. The AG rejected it. The popular name's word 'fair' gave partisan coloring, the title used the technical term 'ranked-choice voting' without defining it, the title described 'eliminating…
Do new Texas school buildings have to follow the commercial energy conservation code?
The AG concluded a court would likely say yes. Chapter 388 of the Health and Safety Code adopts the International Energy Conservation Code for all 'residential, commercial, and industrial'…
Can I keep my Texas homestead exemption if I move into a senior or care facility?
The AG concluded a court would likely read the statute broadly. A home keeps its residence-homestead character during a temporary absence caused by the owner's residency in a 'facility that provides…
Can New Jersey contribute the entire state lottery enterprise to certain state pension funds for 30 years to help close the pension funding gap, without violating the state constitution?
Yes, in the Attorney General's view. As long as the State continues to operate and control the lottery (the Division of the State Lottery keeps running it, the State Lottery Commission keeps…
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