State AG Opinions
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Can a 4x4 side-by-side off-road vehicle be operated and licensed on Arkansas public streets and highways?
It depends. If the side-by-side meets the statutory definition of an ATV or recreational off-highway vehicle (3/4/6 wheels, ≤50 or 75 inches wide, nonhighway tires, off-road design, ≤1000cc engine),…
Can Arkansas county election commissioners be paid an hourly or salary rate for election work performed outside public meetings, and can the county recover that cost from the State?
Partly yes. The AG concluded that State Board of Election Commissioner reimbursement to counties is limited to per-public-meeting payments under Ark. Code Ann. § 7-4-111(b), capped at not less than…
Can a Texas county commissioners court set vehicle rules that apply to the sheriff's cars?
A district attorney and the Llano County Attorney asked the AG whether a county commissioners court could adopt a county vehicle policy handbook covering vehicles allocated to the sheriff, and…
Can a Florida city or county code enforcement inspector enter private residential property to inspect for code violations without consent or a warrant?
The AG's office repeated Opinion 2002-27's conclusion that a local code inspector lacks authority to enter private commercial or residential property for code enforcement without the owner,…
Could someone serve on both Kline Town Council and the Barnwell County Museum board in 2016?
The 2016 AG said a Kline Town Council seat was an office of honor or profit, and supplied criteria for the requester to assess the Barnwell museum board seat. It did not declare the dual service…
Can a Tennessee doctor or pharmacist be sued for negligence if a patient becomes addicted to a prescribed opioid?
No Tennessee statute or common-law rule shields doctors or pharmacists from professional-negligence liability when a patient becomes addicted to a prescribed opioid. Whether they are liable in a…
Was the revised Berry cannabis amendment ballot title sufficient for certification in 2016?
No. The AG rejected the popular name and ballot title for a second time, citing nine ambiguities in the underlying measure. The revised draft fixed some issues but introduced new ones, including…
Can a Tennessee county buy one insurance policy instead of individual official bonds for its sheriff, trustee, and register of deeds?
Yes. 2016 Public Chapter 749 authorized counties to buy a single government-crime or employee-dishonesty policy of at least $400,000 per occurrence in place of individual bonds for officials such as…
Can a Tennessee city's red-light camera vendor pre-screen video footage (filtering out blurred images or exempt vehicles) before a certified officer reviews it for citations?
Yes. The AG concluded the statute permits vendors to do ministerial pre-screening like quality assurance and filtering out unusable footage or exempt vehicles. Only a certified officer can make the…
Could a South Carolina special district elect its fire board and then set millage without another referendum?
The 2016 AG predicted that an eligible single-county district could hold a referendum to elect its board by popular vote. An elected board could then set millage within applicable statutory limits;…
Could a South Carolina legislative delegation change an announced board appointment vote at a later meeting?
The 2016 AG said the ReWa appointment required a weighted majority of the entire legislative delegation. Once a winner was announced, no point of order was made, and the meeting adjourned, it said a…
Can a county attorney's employee serve on a water district board if the attorney represents that district?
The Jim Hogg County Attorney asked the AG whether section 49.052 of the Water Code disqualified one of his office employees, an investigator paid by the county, from serving on the board of a water…
Can a Texas justice of the peace open court with a prayer or run a volunteer chaplain program?
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the State Commission on Judicial Conduct asked the AG whether it is constitutional for a judge to open court with prayer and to run a volunteer chaplain program.…
Can Georgia state and local law enforcement agencies use federal forfeiture proceeds to pay officer overtime?
Yes, to the extent permitted by federal law and regulations. The Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act of 2015 repealed former O.C.G.A. § 16-13-48.1 and amended § 16-13-49 to delete the…
Can an Arkansas city police department use a 90-day probationary period for new officers despite the state CLEST regulation requiring 12 months?
No. The AG concluded that the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training (CLEST) has statewide regulatory authority over police certification standards, that CLEST Regulation 1003…
Does Florida's Sunshine Law apply to an unopposed candidate for a community development district before election day?
No. The AG's office confirmed that AGO 98-60 still applied: an unopposed candidate for a Florida community development district board was not a 'member-elect' subject to the Government in the…
After the June 2016 flood, can White Sulphur Springs give a piece of city-owned land to a regional economic development corporation, which will then pass it to a 501(c)(3) charity to build discounted homes for displaced residents?
Yes, on the facts described. W. Va. Code § 8-32-2 lets a municipality transfer property to an area development corporation 'for or adaptable to use in industrial and economic development.' The…
Does Virginia's project-labor-agreement statute apply to highway and transportation contracts awarded under the Public-Private Transportation Act?
No. The AG concluded that § 2.2-4321.2 of the Code, the Public Procurement Act provision governing project labor agreements, does not apply to contracts awarded under Virginia's Public-Private…
Can a private nonprofit that leases city-owned property in Texas ban licensed handgun carry on it?
The Erath County Attorney asked whether a nonprofit with offices on city-owned land could prohibit licensed handguns. The AG concluded that the state law penalizing improper no-gun postings…
Can the Texas Lottery Commission deny or revoke a lottery sales agent license because of a gambling offense?
The chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission asked the AG how far the agency's licensing power reached when an applicant or sales agent had gambling problems short of a final conviction. The AG…
Can a Florida police chief direct or permit firefighters to openly carry firearms during emergency responses?
The AG's office declined to address the question because a municipal police chief generally has no statutory authority over firefighter duties, and the AG only issues opinions on a public officer's…
Did South Carolina’s ten year limited partnership limit apply to every partnership in 2016?
No. The 2016 AG read the ten year cap in Section 33-42-75 as applying only to a beer industry financing partnership of the kind described in that section, not to limited partnerships generally.
Could Arkansas legally cap enrollment in the Arkansas Works (Medicaid expansion) program at 250,000 or limit it to existing Private Option enrollees?
No. The AG concluded that a state law capping Arkansas Works enrollment or limiting it to current Private Option enrollees would not meet 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII), which requires a state…
How early and how many lease renewal options can the Texas Facilities Commission exercise for state office space?
Representative Angie Chen Button, looking for ways to lower the cost of state office space outside Austin, asked the AG about the limits on the Texas Facilities Commission's power to renew leases…
Do planning, zoning, or historic commission members have to recuse themselves when they own property in the district?
Representative Joe Deshotel asked the AG whether Beaumont planning and zoning commissioners, historic landmark commissioners, and a staff person who own or live on property in the city's historic…
When a SD township road runs along the edge of a farm or other private land, who has to control the weeds in the road ditch and right-of-way: the township or the adjoining landowner? And can a township board change the September-1 to October-1 statutory window for when weeds have to be removed?
It depends on the kind of weed. Noxious weeds (the legally-designated ones) are the township's responsibility under SDCL 38-22-22 because the township supervises the road. Everything else (regular…
Could a South Carolina HOA board change bylaws without an owner vote, and do bylaws override covenants?
The 2016 AG said restrictive covenants generally prevailed over conflicting HOA bylaws. A nonprofit HOA board could amend some bylaws without a homeowner vote if governing documents and law allowed…
Could the Little Rock School District release a teacher's personnel and disciplinary records in response to a FOIA request, and what had to be redacted?
Mostly yes, with two carve-outs. The AG concluded that the custodian's decision to release the records to a FOIA requester was generally consistent with FOIA. Two specific issues: (1) insurance…
Does an Arkansas agreement between a county and a city to split a federal Justice Assistance Grant need AG approval under the Interlocal Cooperation Act?
No. The AG concluded that an agreement under which a city accepts a Byrne JAG grant, shares the funds equally with the county, serves as fiscal agent, and lets each entity spend its share on…
When an Arkansas district court is funded by both a county and the cities within its jurisdiction, who maintains the court automation fund and who controls how it is spent?
The cities maintain it. The AG concluded that the district court automation fund created by the $5/month installment fee under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-13-704(b)(3) cannot be maintained by both the…
Can a Florida city regulate loud music or amplified noise coming from boats anchored in the Intracoastal Waterway?
No. The Florida AG concluded that state law preempts local sound ordinances applied to vessels on the Florida Intracoastal Waterway. A city's only opening is the narrow engine/exhaust noise rule a…
Can a Florida city or town change the age of 'minor' or the curfew hours after adopting the state juvenile curfew statute by reference?
No. The Florida AG concluded that a city which adopts the state juvenile curfew statutes by reference is bound by their exact terms. To deviate (such as redefining 'minor'), the city must draft an…
Does a Florida water control district need a voter referendum to levy a non-ad valorem assessment for park maintenance on leased county land?
No. The Florida AG concluded that neither Chapter 189 nor Chapter 298, nor the district's enabling act, requires the Indian Trail Improvement District to hold a voter referendum before levying a…
Can a Florida city levy a special assessment against a charter school's property?
No. The Florida AG concluded that section 1002.33(18)(d), Florida Statutes, expressly exempts charter school facilities from assessments for special benefits, and that specific exemption controls…
Could Florida's Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council use federal grant funds to buy meeting refreshments?
No. The Florida AG concluded that the Metropolitan Planning Organization Advisory Council had no express or necessarily implied statutory power to buy refreshments for its meetings, even using…
Was the Arkansas Cannabis Amendment's revised popular name and ballot title sufficient for ballot certification in 2016?
No. The AG rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title because additions in the underlying measure created ambiguities the AG could not resolve and the AG therefore could not draft a fair…
Could Horry County pay employees and supervisors bonuses for budget saving suggestions?
The 2016 AG said the county’s proposed plan had legal problems: an employee award needed to exclude ideas the employee could implement through normal duties, and a supervisor award without any…
Did the Arkansas AG certify the ballot title for the 2016 Arkansas Term Limits Amendment sponsored by Skip Cook?
Yes. The AG found the popular name and ballot title sufficient and certified them as submitted for petition circulation. The proposed title described limits of three two-year House terms, two…
Can the public get a letter from a public agency telling an employee about disciplinary action through an Arkansas FOIA request?
Yes, with redactions. The AG concluded that the disciplinary letter to a West River Valley RSWMD employee was an employee evaluation record, that the four-part test for release (suspension or…
Does a public body violate open-meetings law if the meeting room turns out to be too small for the crowd that shows up?
It can, according to this opinion. The State Board of Education held a heavily attended meeting on a controversial school redistricting plan in a room that turned out to be too small, and the AG…
Can a Tennessee handgun carry permit holder leave their gun in a locked car in a school parking lot, and does the gun ban also reach unoccupied school storage property?
Yes (locked car) and yes (storage property). The AG concluded § 39-17-1313's vehicle storage rule overrides § 39-17-1309's school-property ban for permit holders, but the school-property ban itself…
Where do unclaimed funds in an Arkansas lawyer's trust account (IOLTA or non-IOLTA) go: to the State Auditor under the Unclaimed Property Act, or to the Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation under Rule 1.15?
To the Foundation, under Rule 1.15. The AG concluded that funds in a lawyer's trust account are governed by Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15(c) and must be paid to the Arkansas Access to Justice…
Can the public get a copy of an ADWS employee's redacted job application through Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. After reviewing Williams's application, the AG approved its release as redacted. The opinion separately raised a classification question about a record dated August 18, 2015: if it was an…
Did Tennessee's 2015 ban on speed-cam citations apply to existing contracts between cities and camera vendors, or just to new ones?
Existing contracts too. The AG concluded Chapter 468 of 2015 applied to all existing speed-camera contracts and that this was not an unconstitutional impairment of contracts. State police power…
Do local school nutrition associations qualify as 'school support organizations' under Tennessee's School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act?
Probably not, as the associations were operating at the time. They are nongovernmental organizations supporting schools in the area of nutrition, which satisfies the first half of Tenn. Code Ann. §…
Can a Tennessee officer make a driver sign a blank screen on a tablet when issuing an electronic traffic citation, and can the officer arrest the driver who refuses?
An officer can require the driver to sign on a screen only if that screen is part of a statutorily compliant electronic citation the driver had a chance to read; a stand-alone blank screen is not a…
Can an Arizona constable carry a firearm into places where civilians cannot under § 38-1113, even when the constable is off-duty and not performing official duties?
Off-duty constables generally do not get the peace-officer firearm-carry exception in A.R.S. § 38-1113. A constable's peace-officer status applies only 'in the performance of the constable's…
Can a Virginia circuit court clerk refuse to forward a court-appointed lawyer's pay request for missing a 'detailed accounting' of time?
The authority to decide whether a court-appointed attorney provided a 'detailed accounting' of time belongs to the presiding judge (or, where additional waivers are sought, the chief judge). The…
Can a church or home kitchen prepare food for a homeless shelter without being treated as a restaurant for health-inspection purposes?
Yes. The AG concluded that private home and church kitchens used to prepare food donated to a charitable organization, such as a homeless shelter, were exempt from state and local food-service…
What must an Arkansas county quorum court appropriate for the coroner's office, can coroners join APERS, and can they be paid as independent contractors?
The AG concluded that no Arkansas statute fixes specific items a quorum court must appropriate for the coroner. Section 14-15-309's mutual-aid items (transport equipment, body bags, PPE, etc.)…
Can a medical marijuana cardholder in Oregon also grow and possess recreational marijuana on top of their medical limits?
Yes for plants and usable marijuana, but no for extracts and concentrates. The AG concluded that nothing in Oregon law forbade 'stacking' medical and recreational plants or usable marijuana, but…
Can a Florida town commission count members who join by video as part of the quorum for a public meeting?
No. The opinion explained that under Florida's Sunshine Law a quorum of a local board must be physically present at the meeting site. Members joining remotely can participate once a physical quorum…
How does a Florida county calculate and distribute the fire-rescue discretionary sales surtax, and what happens to any surplus?
The opinion read section 212.055(8) to fix each fire agency's share by its average annual fire-rescue spending over the five fiscal years before the surtax took effect, with recalculation only when…
Could a crop dusting airplane qualify as exempt farm machinery in South Carolina in 2016?
The 2016 AG predicted that an airplane used solely for agricultural crop dusting could qualify for the farm machinery property tax exemption, including when a company sprayed farmers’ crops for a…
If a person is appointed to fill a vacancy in an Arkansas city of the first class elected office, can they run for that same office in the next election?
Generally yes. The AG concluded that there is no general constitutional or statutory prohibition against a person running to succeed himself after being chosen to fill a vacancy in a city office.…
Can Arkansas hold a special school millage election on any day another election is being held, or are there days where other elections can occur but school millage votes cannot?
Not on every day. The AG concluded that a special school millage election may be held only when both (a) the three conditions in Ark. Code Ann. § 6-14-102(b) are met (constitutional and statutory…
In Arkansas, when a defendant makes a partial payment on a criminal or traffic court judgment, how is that payment split between court costs, restitution, and fines?
In district court, partial payments are allocated under Ark. Code Ann. § 16-10-209(5)(F)(i): first to court costs (until paid in full), then to restitution (until paid in full), then to fines. No…
Can members of Tennessee's Underground Utility Damage Enforcement Board (UUDEB) be reimbursed for travel even though the statute says they serve 'without compensation,' and can they meet by phone or video?
Yes to reimbursement. 'Without compensation' bars salary or remuneration for service, but state travel-reimbursement rules apply to UUDEB members under Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-26-116. The Open Meetings…
Did Arkansas school districts have to maintain a 1-school-nurse-per-750-students ratio under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-706?
No, not in 2016. The AG concluded that § 6-18-706's nurse-to-student ratios (1:750 generally, 1:400 for districts with high disability concentrations, 1:125 at centers for profoundly disabled…
Can a Texas county pay a nonprofit to display American flags on holidays?
Upshur County's auditor asked the AG whether it was a legal use of public funds for the county to take part in a Rotary Club flag project, in which area businesses pay to have American flags placed…
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