California Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in California, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can someone use a quo warranto lawsuit to remove a California school district superintendent who never had an administrative or teaching credential?
No, the Attorney General denied leave to sue. Education Code section 35029 lets a local school board waive credential requirements for the district superintendent (the 'chief administrative officer'),…
Is a California regional water management group made up of cities, counties, and water districts a public agency that has to follow the Brown Act open meeting rules?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Madera County Regional Water Management Group, which is composed of local public agencies operating under a memorandum of understanding to develop and impl…
If a city council member, school board trustee, or county supervisor has a disability that prevents them from attending in person, does the ADA require their board to let them participate remotely from home, even though the Brown Act normally requires meetings in person?
Yes. The ADA generally requires a local agency to allow remote participation as a reasonable accommodation for a board member with a qualifying disability that precludes in-person attendance. The remo…
Can a California city council majority attend a paid Chamber of Commerce 'State of the City' breakfast where the mayor speaks, without violating the Brown Act?
No, not under the facts here. If a council majority attends the event, it's a Brown Act 'meeting' because they're congregating to hear an item within their jurisdiction. Neither the conference excepti…
Does California's Brown Act apply to a county-level legislative-advocacy group that pools school-district funds to lobby on behalf of those districts?
Yes. SANDABS is an entity created by elected school boards to exercise authority those boards could lawfully delegate, so its Executive Committee is a 'legislative body' under Government Code § 54952(…
Can a city councilmember bring their personal staff into a Brown Act closed session, or share what was discussed there with that staff afterward?
1) No. As a general rule, a councilmember's individual legislative aides cannot attend Brown Act closed sessions. They can attend only if they have an official role (assigned by statute) or an essenti…
Can a member agency of a California joint powers authority publicly debate a pending JPA matter with its own appointee, and can the agency tell the appointee how to vote?
It depends. The Brown Act does not bar a member agency from openly discussing a pending JPA matter with its appointee at the agency's own open meeting, because there is no serial deliberation by a maj…
Do California's open-meeting, public-records, and government-ethics laws apply to charter schools the same way they apply to traditional public schools?
Yes. The AG concluded charter schools and their governing bodies are subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, the Public Records Act, the Government Code section 1090 conflict rule, and the Political Reform…
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Attorney general opinions in California are written by the California Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.