State AG Opinions
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Can a North Dakota city charge for record copies before sending them, and can it deny a records request just because the records contain some confidential information?
Yes on the fee (cities may charge up to 25 cents per page, plus actual postage, and may require payment in advance). No on the blanket denial: the city must redact the confidential bits and release…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-147?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 3 petition 2026-147 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-146?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 2 petition 2026-146 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did…
Did Missouri approve the form of Andrew Prewitt's Article III initiative petition 2026-145?
Yes. The Attorney General approved Andrew Prewitt's version 1 petition 2026-145 as sufficient as to form. The Secretary of State retained final authority to approve or reject it, and the opinion did…
Can a Poway resident remove a city councilmember whose appointment depended on the deciding vote of a former councilmember who had moved away?
No. The Attorney General denied leave to sue. Quo warranto could have directly challenged former Councilmember Pepin's eligibility while he was still in office, but the de facto officer doctrine…
If a council member wants to be appointed mayor and her husband is also on the council, do they have to recuse from the council vote on a third party for the same vacancy? And does abstention reduce the number of yes votes needed for a majority?
No statute or constitutional provision directly addresses this scenario. Common-law conflict principles or A.C.A. § 21-8-304(a) may apply based on specific facts, and a five-member council still…
When a county judge signs an Act 9 industrial bond and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement with a developer, is he exercising executive authority or judicial authority? And does the quorum court have any role?
The county judge acts in his judicial capacity as the sole member of the county court. The quorum court has no role: under § 14-14-502(c), it cannot exercise any power belonging to the county court…
Can Hot Springs Village or its nonprofit Property Owners’ Association become an Arkansas water authority under Act 736 of 2025?
Hot Springs Village itself cannot because it is an unincorporated community without legal status. Its nonprofit POA may qualify to form or convert to a water authority if the Natural Resources…
Can an out-of-state accounting firm that is owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) be allowed to do business in Oklahoma and to hold an Oklahoma public accounting permit, given Oklahoma's restrictions on who can own a professional accounting firm?
Yes, if the ESOP's trustees are licensed CPAs. Under trust law principles, the legal owner of stock held in an ESOP is the trustee, not the participating employees. So if the ESOP trustees are…
Can a private nonprofit corporation that provides rural water supply in Oklahoma reorganize itself as a public Rural Water District if it was formed on or after December 1, 1988?
No. The reorganization process in 82 O.S. §§ 1324.30 to 1324.35 expressly applies only to nonprofit water corporations formed before December 1, 1988. Corporations formed on or after that date…
If a Delaware city denies a journalist's FOIA request for emails about a police chief, does it have to back up the denial with sworn evidence?
Yes. The AG found the City of Dover violated FOIA by denying Maggie Reynolds's request for keyword-searched emails between the Mayor and Police Chief without supporting its denial with sworn…
Can a Mississippi county redirect money from a county-owned nursing home into fire, rescue, and 911 services instead of just ambulance services?
Yes, but the nursing home's board of trustees, not the county, must make the call. The board must find that funding the additional emergency services 'will benefit the health or welfare of the…
When can absentee voting begin for a runoff election in a Mississippi multi-county or statewide race?
Not until every county in the district has certified its results, the state executive committee or Secretary of State has tabulated the votes, the top two candidates for the entire district have…
Is the Arkansas Wind Energy Development Act's April 9, 2025 'under development' exemption deadline constitutional, given that the Act took effect August 5, 2025 with no emergency clause? And does it apply to leases signed between those two dates?
The Attorney General found the April 9 exemption cutoff constitutional despite the Act's August 5 effective date and the absence of an emergency clause. A project with leases signed after April 9…
Under South Dakota's 2025 HB 1130, do counties, cities, and school districts have to hold their elections on a single combined ballot, or can each level run its own ballot on the same day?
They can run separate ballots. HB 1130 only requires the elections to happen on the same date (June primary or November general), not that they share one ballot. 'In conjunction with' is about…
Does Delaware's FOIA give out-of-state residents the right to request public records from Delaware towns?
No. The AG read 'citizen' in 29 Del. C. § 10003(a), as a prior AG opinion (16-IB20) did, to mean a citizen of Delaware. Because the record showed Karen Miller is not a Delaware citizen, the Town of…
If a North Dakota agency hands me a $3,475 estimate to fulfill an open records request, can I challenge it as excessive?
The AG upheld this $3,475 estimate because it was based on authorized redaction charges for 78 General Orders and 63 personnel files, with one estimated hour per document and two initial hours…
Can a sheriff's office try to identify the person behind an anonymous records request, if it has separate reasons to investigate that person?
Yes, when the inquiry happens in a separate internal affairs investigation, not as part of the records-request process. The Cass County Sheriff's Office processed the anonymous CODE 4 MEDIA records…
If a Florida city's road was dedicated by an old subdivision plat, who owns the underlying land, the city or the abutting property owner?
The AG concluded that the 1922 Clearwater plat created a public easement, while title to the roadbed remained with the dedicator's successors. If the Church received that title with the abutting…
If a Delaware town misses the FOIA deadline but eventually responds, can a citizen still win on incomplete responses, an unredacted FOIA log, or untrained staff?
Partly. The AG split four claims: (1) the late-response claim was moot because the Town eventually responded; (2) two requests the petitioner flagged as 'incomplete' (legal bills and bank account…
Does Tennessee's law banning religious entities from operating public charter schools violate the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause?
Likely yes. The U.S. Supreme Court's recent free-exercise rulings (Trinity Lutheran, Espinoza, Carson) hold that excluding religious entities from generally available public benefits 'solely on…
A school district got a FOIA request for all complaints about coaches over five years. Which emails are personnel records (releasable) and which are evaluation records (mostly withheld)?
The Attorney General agreed that unsolicited emails from members of the public about coaches could be released as personnel records, subject to supported redactions. He said a December 24, 2021…
If the Governor wants to appoint someone who already holds a state office to the Health Planning Committee, does the dual office holding ban block it?
No. The AG concluded that members of South Carolina's Health Planning Committee are not officeholders for dual office holding purposes because the Committee plays a purely advisory role to the…
Can a West Virginia county use its zoning ordinance to keep a commercial slaughterhouse out of a rural conservation district when state law protects 'agricultural operations' from county zoning?
No. A slaughterhouse is an 'agricultural operation' under W. Va. Code § 19-19-2 because it produces food from animals through husbandry, packing, and shipping. State law (§ 8A-7-10(e)) bars counties…
Our city scheduled a referendum special election five months after certification. Was that lawful, or did we miss the 120-day deadline in the elections code?
A reviewing court would likely find the City of Ozark's decision to hold a referendum special election about five months after certification (November 18, 2025) was lawful. The two statutes (A.C.A.…
Did Vermont Governor Phil Scott's Executive Order 06-25 (which addresses housing construction by relaxing wetland permits and letting builders use older energy standards) effectively repeal or modify the wetlands and energy statutes the legislature enacted?
Partly. The Order is lawful to the extent it directs agencies to begin rulemaking. It exceeds the Governor's authority to the extent it tries to immediately change wetlands or building energy law…
When South Carolina county auditors decide whether a pickup truck qualifies for the lower 6 percent personal property tax assessment, should they use the truck's empty weight, its gross weight, or the gross vehicle weight rating set by the manufacturer?
The AG reads the classification statutes to use empty weight of 9,000 pounds or less and gross weight of 11,000 pounds or less, rather than manufacturer-set GVWR. It cautions that its opinions do…
Can my city ban guns at a kids' soccer game in a city park, and what about a private league that rented the field?
The Attorney General says state law preempts a municipal firearm ban at a park athletic event. A private renter may prohibit firearms in the reserved area only if it has enough control to lawfully…
Can a Texas commissioners court hire its own outside law firm to help redraw county election precincts, or does the county attorney control that choice?
The commissioners court can. A Texas commissioners court may select and contract with an outside law firm of its own choice to help it redraw county election precincts under Chapter 42 of the…
Can a South Carolina magistrate issue an administrative search warrant to allow a county code enforcement officer to inspect a home for fitness for human habitation under S.C. Code § 31-15-380, and can the code enforcement officer prosecute the resulting case in magistrate's court?
The AG says § 31-15-380 does not authorize a magistrate or other judge to issue an administrative search warrant. It did not decide when officers may otherwise enter. It also says code enforcement…
How is a quorum court supposed to implement Act 519 of 2025 for its county planning board?
The AG points the questioner to companion Opinion 2025-068, which lays out four compliance paths (addition, attrition, dissolution, or for-cause removal) and the due-process protections owed to…
Our county planning board does not meet the new rural-residency rule in Act 519 of 2025. Do we have to fire current members right away, or can we phase the change in?
The opinion discusses four possible paths for a county planning board that does not meet Act 519’s rural-residency requirement: addition, attrition, dissolution, and subtraction. It says members…
Does Michael Madigan keep his Illinois state pension after his federal corruption conviction?
No. Attorney General Kwame Raoul concluded that Madigan's federal convictions for bribery, wire fraud, and Travel Act offenses are tied directly to his service as Speaker of the Illinois House, so…
Does Texas's State Board of Education have to adopt curriculum standards for religious literature, and can it teach the topic inside other subjects instead of a separate class?
Yes, it must. The State Board of Education is required by Education Code subsection 28.002(c) to adopt, by rule, essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) for religious literature, which the Legislature…
Are utilities created under the Tennessee Municipal Energy Authority Act regulated the same way as government-owned utilities or electric cooperatives when it comes to setting rates and fees?
Generally no. An Energy Authority's board sets its own rates without state, municipal, or commission approval, and the only state oversight is for telecommunications services regulated by the…
Are city civil-service commissioners' personal email addresses and personal phone numbers exempt from a FOIA request?
Yes, they are likely exempt, but not for the reason the city gave. The personal-contact-information exemption in A.C.A. § 25-19-105(b)(13) applies only to nonelected employees of state, municipal,…
Can I carry a gun openly in an Arkansas city park, including during a kids' soccer game, without a concealed-carry permit?
The AG said § 5-73-122 allows open carry in municipal parks, including during athletic events on park fields, but it does not authorize carrying inside municipally owned or operated buildings there.…
Can the Town of Amherst, after an engineering study, unilaterally change the speed limit on a road within its town limits, even if that road is part of the state highway system?
Only on local roads. The AG concluded that § 46.2-1300(A)(1) and (A)(2) authorize a Virginia town to adjust speed limits only on roads it controls, not on state-system highways passing through town.…
Can FBI agents, U.S. marshals, or other federal officers enforce Arkansas state law in Arkansas, including outside their normal jurisdiction or on federal land?
Yes, with conditions. Arkansas law authorizes specified federal officers to arrest offenders against state law to the same extent and under the same circumstances as certified state officers.…
Do online sports bets, fantasy sports, e-sports bets and online casino games count as gambling in Oregon?
Yes. The Oregon AG concluded that the online activities described in the opinion meet ORS 167.117(7)'s gambling definition. A business offering them to Oregonians is at risk of a gambling offense if…
When a federal agency like the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency requests records for a security clearance investigation, must Virginia juvenile courts hand over criminal history information, and does that include juvenile delinquency records?
Adult criminal history yes; juvenile delinquency records no. The AG concluded that 5 U.S.C. § 9101 requires Virginia juvenile courts to share criminal history record information with covered federal…
Can a Mississippi city legally pay a $27,000 water-tap fee for a nonprofit-owned building?
Yes, if the city makes the right factual findings under one of two specific statutes (§ 21-19-65 or § 21-17-1(8)) and matches the contribution to other state, federal, or private funding. Without…
When a Mississippi deputy sheriff wants to do off-duty private security work in uniform with a county weapon and vehicle, who has to approve it: the sheriff or the county board of supervisors?
Just the sheriff. Miss. Code § 17-25-11 puts the approval power with the sheriff for deputy sheriffs, the same way it puts approval with the chief executive for municipal officers and with the DPS…
When a Newton Municipal School District board member resigns mid-term, do you hold a special election or just appoint someone to finish the term?
Appoint. The plain language of Miss. Code § 37-7-203 does not require a special election to fill a mid-term vacancy. The Newton Board of Aldermen can appoint a replacement from the resigning…
Can DeSoto County's convention tourist promotion tax pay for tourism facilities other than the civic center, like a sports complex or visitor attraction?
No, not directly. The local act earmarks the convention tourist promotion tax for civic center costs and Bureau operations only. But the Bureau's other revenue (non-tax-derived income, grants, fees)…
What referendum summary did Missouri approve for House Bill 1 and new congressional boundaries?
The Attorney General approved the legal content and form of the submitted summary for referendum petition 2026-R004. The approved wording asked voters whether to approve House Bill 1, describing it…
If only three of seven Delaware school board members meet privately about public business, does that break FOIA's open-meeting rules?
No. FOIA's open-meeting requirements apply only when a quorum of a public body gathers to discuss or act on public business. The Christina School District Board has seven members, so a quorum is…
Can a West Virginia county commission negotiating a Payment-In-Lieu-Of-Taxes deal with a solar developer also require the developer to chip into a community development fund the county controls, and should those terms go inside the PILOT agreement itself?
Yes, a county commission can require contributions to a community development fund and has authority to set one up, but the contribution provisions should not be in the PILOT agreement itself. PILOT…
I want to put a clean-environment amendment on the Arkansas ballot. Why did the Attorney General reject my proposed popular name and ballot title?
The AG rejected the revised proposal because its text left three matters unclear: which governmental entities would have duties, what its fundamental environmental right would require, and how it…
Can our city legally install a Safe Haven Baby Box at our fire station, and what liability does the city take on if it does?
Yes. The Arkansas Safe Haven Act expressly permits installation of a newborn safety device (Safe Haven Baby Box) at a city-owned fire station. The city must meet specific statutory and code…
Can a South Dakota city-owned liquor store legally sell THC drinks and other THC-infused products?
The AG could not decide whether a particular THC-infused drink or product may be sold without a reputable laboratory report. The opinion says South Dakota bars sales of synthetic cannabinoids,…
Does our county have to reimburse our part-time public defenders for office rent, mileage to court, and other office expenses?
The county pays necessary office equipment, supplies, and qualifying office rent. The Public Defender Commission pays travel related to defending an indigent client. For mileage from a defender’s…
Can a state agency withhold law-enforcement officer decertification records under FOIA before the Commission has voted on the decertification?
The AG said the undisclosed-investigation, personnel-record, and personal-contact-information exemptions generally do not apply to CLEST decertification records. Other exemptions may apply, so the…
I have a deck or shed that crosses onto Corps of Engineers property. Can the Corps file a Notice of Encroachment in the county records against me, or is that a crime under Arkansas law?
The opinion says A.C.A. § 5-37-226 does not prohibit a genuine Corps Notice of Encroachment filed to protect Corps property interests and alert buyers to an actual encroachment. It treats the…
In Osage County, Oklahoma, who owns the underground 'pore space' (the empty spaces in rock and soil that can be used for carbon storage or other purposes), the surface landowner or the Osage Nation's mineral estate?
The surface owner presumptively owns empty pore space after naturally present oil, gas, and other substances have been depleted. The opinion says the 1906 Osage Allotment Act transferred pore space…
Can someone who is not a Delaware citizen use Delaware FOIA to get state contract records?
No. Delaware FOIA gives access to public records to citizens of Delaware. The requester here did not dispute that he is not a Delaware citizen, so the AG concluded the Office of Management and…
If a police officer asks a justice court judge to drop the ticket, can the judge just dismiss it, or does the prosecutor have to be involved?
After a ticket is sworn and presented to the clerk, only a judge disposes of it. The AG advises an officer seeking dismissal to contact the prosecutor, who may move under Section 99-15-51. The…
Do Texas county and district clerks need a court order to destroy old juvenile case records, or can they follow a retention schedule?
They can follow a retention schedule. Juvenile case papers held by county and district clerks are not 'permanent records,' so a clerk may destroy them without a court order as long as the office…
What fiscal impact did Missouri approve for Richard von Glahn's House Bill 1 referendum petition 2026-R004?
The Attorney General approved the legal content and form of the fiscal note summary for referendum petition 2026-R004. The approved summary said state and local governmental entities estimated no…
A sheriff's office wants to release an internal-investigation report about deputies meeting with a sheriff candidate while on duty. Can they?
No. The internal-investigation report is an employee-evaluation record because it was created by the sheriff's office to evaluate the deputies' on-the-job conduct. Employee-evaluation records can…
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