State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Can Tennessee cap health care provider prices or stop insurers from cutting reimbursement rates for rural providers?
Likely yes in both cases. The Attorney General said Tennessee has constitutional room to regulate health care charges and prevent insurers from reducing rural provider reimbursement rates, but the res…
Can North Dakota's Retirement and Investment Office use investment earnings to pay employee incentive compensation without a separate legislative appropriation?
Yes. The AG concluded that N.D.C.C. § 54-52.5-03 gives the Retirement and Investment Office continuing authority to use lawfully available client-fund earnings for incentive compensation authorized by…
Can a Mississippi police chief use a city vehicle to commute to a second job outside the city?
Usually no. Letting a municipal employee use a city vehicle for a second job is ordinarily an impermissible donation of public property. A city may allow it only when a specific statute authorizes the…
Can a Mississippi community college ban vaping, regulate guns, and search college property?
Generally, yes. Section 37-29-67 gives a Mississippi community college board broad authority to ban tobacco and vaping, regulate firearms, and adopt entry or search policies for college-controlled pro…
Can the South Carolina Department of Revenue audit an electric cooperative's governance, financial disclosures, and patronage capital?
No. The Department of Revenue may audit electric cooperatives for South Carolina taxes it administers, but it may not conduct the separate governance and compliance audits assigned to the Office of Re…
Which court can expunge a Mississippi municipal court conviction: the municipal court itself?
Yes. The municipal court where a person was convicted keeps the authority to expunge that conviction, unless a statute directs otherwise. Section 99-19-71 lets a first-offender misdemeanant petition t…
Can an Arizona community college develop attainable housing and partner with businesses on workforce training?
Yes, in general. The AG concluded that Yavapai College may develop housing and conduct workforce training with private, public, or tribal partners, but declined to approve any specific project and sai…
Can a North Dakota county charge city residents more for 911 dispatch or provide them fewer police dispatch services?
No. A county-operated public safety answering point must include all public safety services in its service area on equal terms and may not give city residents fewer standard dispatch services or charg…
May ad valorem taxes levied for the Cleburne County Hospital Board pay for emergency care and ambulance transport for county jail inmates?
Yes. Cleburne County may use surplus Amendment 72 hospital-tax funds for jail inmates' emergency medical care and ambulance transport, provided the money is not already pledged for hospital-board bond…
Is an Arkansas church property tax exempt if part of the building is used as a retail coffee shop?
The Attorney General declined to answer. Whether the church property qualifies for a tax exemption depends on the burden of proof and standard of construction for tax exemptions, and those exact issue…
Who pays for an Arkansas circuit court's staff and expenses, the county or the state?
A circuit judge decides whether to hire a secretary, but the county quorum court sets that salary at a reasonable level and must fund the position; it cannot refuse to create it. Most circuit court ex…
Does a Virginia town need a two-thirds vote to set its tax rate, even if the rate isn't going up?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that when a town's charter is silent on the voting threshold, § 15.2-1427(G) requires a two-thirds vote of the town council to impose a tax rate, and that requireme…
Can a county official, instead of the board of supervisors, ask VDOT to add a street to the state highway system in Virginia?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the VDOT regulations (24 VAC § 30-91-60(E)(7) and § 30-91-150(B)(3)) unambiguously require a formal resolution of the county's governing body (the board of supe…
Can a Mississippi school district subsidize rent to help its employees afford housing?
Mississippi law does give school boards a path to help employees with housing: Section 25-19-1 authorizes public employers, including school boards, to establish employer-assisted housing programs for…
Can a South Dakota water development district fund its own erosion-control projects or projects benefiting private landowners?
Yes. A South Dakota water development district may sponsor its own qualifying water-resource projects and projects for private groups, but direct beneficiaries generally must pay for the benefits they…
How can a Mississippi city pay a municipal employee more for taking on duties beyond her regular job?
The city cannot simply hand the employee extra pay for work she has already taken on. To compensate her for duties outside her regular position, the city must renegotiate the terms of her employment s…
Can a Mississippi utility district sell a perpetual easement for cell tower space on a water tank instead of just leasing it?
The Tunica County Utility District's local and private legislation gives it general authority to grant easements and contract, but does not specifically authorize an extended-term or perpetual easemen…
Can the public get police Brady lists and misconduct records held by an Arkansas prosecutor under FOIA?
Mostly yes. A prosecutor's emails carrying police 'Brady' information are personnel records that can be released. Officer evaluation forms detailing misconduct are releasable only for officers who wer…
Can the public get a fired police officer's personnel file, internal affairs records, and termination letters under the Arkansas FOIA?
Mostly yes. A terminated police officer's routine personnel records and (because officers hold significant public trust) his internal affairs investigation and termination letters are releasable under…
Can one Oklahoma rural water district charge another district whatever markup it wants for water sold through a shared pipeline?
Yes, largely. When one Oklahoma rural water district sells treated water to another district, both districts are acting as water wholesalers, not retail consumers, so the deal is governed by their neg…
Can a North Dakota school district charge in advance for future records requests after a costly search?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded the Mandan Public School District did not violate the open records law by providing extra context beyond the exact time period requested (since it also conf…
Is a housing authority responsible for records requested from an employee acting in an unrelated personal role, like a school board seat?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded the Morton County Housing Authority did not violate the open records law, because the citizen's records request was addressed to the Housing Authority's man…
How much control can a Texas county commissioners court exercise over employees hired by the sheriff, county clerk, or other elected officials?
Not much once a position is authorized. Local Government Code § 151.004 bars a commissioners court from screening candidates, expressing preferences, or otherwise trying to influence which specific pe…
Can a Texas city require new buildings to install 'electric-ready' wiring even if they run on natural gas appliances?
No. Texas Utilities Code § 181.903(b) bars cities from adopting codes that discriminate against a utility service based on its energy type or source, and the AG concluded Austin's 'electric-ready' Ene…
How long does a North Dakota state agency have to respond to a public records request, and does it have to create new reports from its database?
Mixed result. The North Dakota AG concluded that the Department of Veterans' Affairs did not violate the open records law by declining to create reports that did not already exist in its database, but…
What has to be announced before a North Dakota county commission can go into a closed executive session with its attorney?
The North Dakota AG found the Mercer County Commission violated the open meetings law three ways: its agenda notice for an executive session was too vague, it did not announce the specific legal autho…
Can someone serve on both a school district board and the county board of education at the same time in California?
The Attorney General didn't decide the ultimate question, but granted a private citizen permission to sue in quo warranto because there is a substantial legal issue over whether simultaneously serving…
Can a South Dakota school district skip local competitive bidding by piggybacking on an out-of-state cooperative purchasing contract for a construction project?
No. South Dakota's cooperative purchasing statute (SDCL 5-18A-37) only covers supplies and services, not public improvement construction. A school district that signs a design-build construction contr…
Can Arkansas keep taking a person's state tax refund to pay old court fines, and what hearing rights apply?
Arkansas's income tax refund setoff can be used to collect court fines and fees with no statute of limitations, until the criminal judgment is satisfied. A debtor can request a hearing, but that heari…
Do California public works contractors have to pay forepersons California's prevailing wage rate for their supervisory work?
No, not for the supervisory part of the job. California's prevailing wage law only covers manual, craft-level labor, so the Director of Industrial Relations does not have to publish a separate prevail…
Does Mississippi's sex offender school-exclusion law apply to a community college campus that also has an on-site childcare center?
Enrollment in postsecondary coursework does not fall within the statutory exception that lets a registered sex offender be present at a 'school' where they are legally enrolled, because Section 45-33-…
Who has to calculate the interest on a South Carolina property tax refund after a successful appeal, the assessor or the auditor?
Neither Section 12-60-2550(C) nor Section 12-60-2930(B) says who must calculate the interest owed on a property tax refund after a successful protest or appeal, so which office does it is a policy cho…
Can one Kansas community college absorb another college's taxing district if the other college closes?
No. If a Kansas community college closes, its taxing district ceases to exist and another college cannot absorb it automatically, though the remaining college may seek to add the territory under K.S.A…
Can recalled city council members stay in office if they refuse to accept the recall election results?
Not lawfully, according to this opinion. After Avenal voters recalled four city councilmembers by more than a three-quarters margin, the councilmembers kept meeting and spending city funds anyway. The…
Can an Oklahoma CareerTech school district run its own licensed driver's ed program?
Yes. A CareerTech technology center school district may lawfully operate a licensed driver education program under its statutory power to act as a corporation for public purposes. The program must be …
After Kentucky's HB 314, does the KCNA Board still run the state broadband authority or is it just advisory?
The Board is still the governing body, not a mere advisory group. The Attorney General concluded that HB 314 left KRS 154.15-030(3) untouched, so the Kentucky Communications Network Authority Board ke…
Has South Carolina legally waived its sovereign immunity so the federal government can enforce its highway environmental-review duties in federal court?
Yes. The South Carolina Attorney General confirmed the State has validly waived its Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity and accepted federal court jurisdiction for lawsuits arising from the Departme…
What is the deadline to get a city form-of-government change on the Arkansas November 2026 ballot?
To place a change in Fort Smith's form of government on the November 3, 2026 ballot, the petition must reach the mayor and the resulting proclamation be filed with the county clerk by August 25, 2026 …
Is an amusement machine that combines a slot-style chance game with a skill-based bonus game still an illegal gambling device in Texas?
Yes. If chance plays any role in whether a player can win something of value, the machine is a gambling device under Penal Code Chapter 47, even when a skill-based mode is also part of the play. Addin…
Can a West Virginia county commission give out gift cards to residents who fill out a public survey?
Yes. The opinion concludes the Hampshire County Commission can lawfully spend public funds on gift cards to incentivize residents to complete surveys on the MARL transmission line, substance abuse tre…
Can West Virginia's School Building Authority give construction grants to a charter school that doesn't own its building?
Yes. West Virginia Code § 18-9D-15(o) has no ownership requirement, so the School Building Authority can fund renovation, remodeling, or construction at a charter school's leased facility. If the scho…
Which Mississippi county does an out-of-state resident register a vehicle in if they keep it on land they own with a camper on it?
Under Mississippi law, a vehicle's domicile, not the owner's residence, determines where it must be registered and taxed. Whether a specific vehicle is domiciled in a Mississippi county is a factual q…
Can a Mississippi town cut off water service to an out-of-town homeowner who refuses to connect to a new sewer line?
No. A Mississippi town may not terminate the water service of a homeowner outside its corporate limits solely because that homeowner rejects new sanitary sewer services, and there is no statutory auth…
Can an individual alderman in a Mississippi code charter city direct city employees or run a department's day-to-day operations?
An individual alderman generally has no authority to direct the daily activities of municipal employees or get involved in running a department, and doing so can violate the separation-of-powers doctr…
Can a South Carolina county use transportation sales-tax money to build a highway noise barrier?
Likely yes. The Attorney General concluded that an engineered highway noise barrier, built to mitigate noise from a county transportation project and serving no other purpose, likely qualifies as an '…
Are a public university employee's work text messages and emails public under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a university employee's text messages and the emails discussing them are personnel records, and since nothing in them was intimate enough to be a clearly unwar…
Can the public get a fired government employee's personnel file and investigation report under the Arkansas FOIA?
Yes, mostly. Under the Arkansas FOIA, a public employee's personnel records must be disclosed with private details (Social Security number, contact info, financial data) redacted. The one investigatio…
How does Virginia decide whether a long-term hotel guest is using the hotel as their 'primary residence' for tenant-protection purposes?
The determination of what constitutes a 'primary residence,' as that term is used in Virginia Code § 55.1-1201(D), requires a case-specific review considering the totality of the factual circumstances…
How do you get a citizen initiative on the Arkansas ballot, and why does the AG reject proposed ballot titles?
The Attorney General rejected the proposed 'Medical Marijuana Patient Employment Protection Act.' The sponsor submitted no ballot title (which alone requires rejection), the text lacked the required e…
Can a North Dakota sheriff's office refuse to release inmate disciplinary records under an open records request?
No violation. The North Dakota AG concluded that the Williams County Sheriff's Office properly withheld institutional discipline and protective management records: those records are exempt (for senten…
Does Arkansas Act 1002 stop a city historic district from regulating exterior changes to a county courthouse?
No. Act 1002 stops a city from enforcing its building and zoning regulations on county property used for a public purpose, but the AG concluded it does not touch the separate authority of a historic d…
Can a West Virginia county commission obtain financial records from volunteer fire departments, and are those departments subject to FOIA?
A county commission may ask volunteer fire departments to provide financial records voluntarily, but it may not present the request as mandatory, condition levy distributions, or threaten adverse acti…
Can a California county pass its own ordinance against copper wire theft, or does state law preempt it?
No, state law does not preempt it. Fresno County's ordinance banning possession, transport, or stripping of scrap commercial-grade copper wire doesn't duplicate or contradict state theft, receiving-st…
Can a federally recognized tribe sell cannabis to California-licensed businesses off tribal lands without a California cannabis license?
No. A federally recognized tribe must obtain a California Department of Cannabis Control license before conducting commercial cannabis activity with California licensees off tribal lands, even if the …
Can Arkansas release an employee's personnel file if personal identifiers are redacted?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Arkansas Department of Public Safety correctly classified the 16 requested records as personnel records that are open to the public, and that the custodian…
Can a California county deposit government grant money and private gifts into its treasury without violating the ban on private deposits?
Yes to both. Government grant money is not a barred 'private and unofficial source' even when a nonprofit intermediary hands it to the county, because the government remains the true source. Gifts and…
How should a police department handle FOIA release of complaints and medical info in an officer's file?
Partly. The Attorney General found the custodian's plan to release Rachael Kear's records with some redactions was only partially consistent with the FOIA. He said the custodian must look at the facts…
Can a city withhold a fired employee's termination letter and investigative file under Arkansas FOIA?
It depends, but likely yes. The AG could not review the actual records, so he could not confirm the custodian's classification or whether the firing was administratively final. But he explained the ru…
Can a police department release all of a fired officer's records without redacting anything under FOIA?
No. The Attorney General concluded that a blanket release of all the requester's personnel and evaluation records, with no redactions, would be inconsistent with the FOIA. Before releasing anything, t…
Can a South Carolina county zoning ordinance block the state parks agency from building hiking and biking trails on land bought for that purpose?
Probably not. A court would likely hold that Article VIII, § 14 of the South Carolina Constitution prevents Greenville County's zoning ordinance from blocking the Department of Parks, Recreation and T…
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