Maryland Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Maryland, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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When a Maryland hospital closes, does the state's Hospital Bond Program cover bonds issued by the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority (MIDFA)?
The opinion concluded that bonds issued by the Maryland Industrial Development Financing Authority (MIDFA) on behalf of a hospital counted as covered debt under Maryland's Hospital Bond Program, so th…
Can a Maryland county or Baltimore City create a special tax or a benefit assessment district just to pay for public library services?
Yes, with limits tied to home rule status. The opinion concluded the State could levy a special library tax at any time, that Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County already had genera…
Can a deputy court clerk in Maryland also serve as a state legislator?
The opinion concluded that a deputy clerk of a Maryland circuit court could simultaneously serve as a member of the General Assembly, because a 1990 amendment to the Maryland Constitution had changed …
What counts as 'malfeasance in office' that lets a Maryland county remove a planning commission member?
The opinion concluded that 'malfeasance in office,' a ground for removing a planning commission member under Article 66B, meant willful wrongdoing by the official that had a direct connection to the p…
Could Maryland retailers still charge bad-check fees after a 1996 law seemed to repeal the fee statute?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's bad-check-fee statute remained legally effective despite an apparent repeal in 1996 legislation, because the repeal resulted from a drafting mistake in a…
Can a Maryland town annex a distant piece of land by connecting it to town limits with just a thin strip of highway?
The opinion concluded that Maryland's requirement that annexed land be 'contiguous and adjoining' generally does not allow a town to annex a distant tract by connecting it with only a narrow highway s…
Can a Maryland charter county create its own program offering cash grants to individual public schools that hit performance targets, or does the state's control over education law block that kind of county initiative?
Yes, within limits. The opinion concluded that a charter home rule county like Harford County may establish a school performance incentive grant program despite the State's preemption of education, as…
Can a government building hosting a polling place ban campaigning outside on its own property?
The Attorney General concluded that a governmental entity hosting a polling place could not prohibit electioneering in a traditional public forum, such as a park or sidewalk, or in any part of the fac…
Can a Maryland city let a county licensing board hear appeals under the city's own electrical code, or does letting the county 'administer or enforce' municipal law stop short of quasi-judicial appeals?
Yes. The opinion concluded that the Prince George's County Board of Registration for Master Electricians and Electrical Contractors could legally be authorized to hear appeals arising under the City o…
Does Maryland's Open Meetings Act ban board members from discussing public business by e-mail, and are those e-mails public records?
The Attorney General concluded that members of a public body exchanging e-mail did not trigger the Open Meetings Act unless a quorum was engaged in a simultaneous, real-time exchange, but any e-mail r…
Can a Maryland trust deduct funeral and administration expenses from inheritance tax the same way a probate estate can?
The Attorney General reaffirmed a 1959 opinion concluding that expenses ordinarily deductible from a decedent's probate estate, such as debts, funeral costs, and administration expenses, were also ded…
Could Maryland's Transportation Trust Fund pay for parking lot construction at the old Redskins stadium site?
Partly. The opinion concluded the Secretary of Transportation already had authority to use Transportation Trust Fund money for a grant to build on-site roadways and related infrastructure at the propo…
Could someone use Maryland's Public Information Act to see the licensing paperwork a private group home operator keeps on file, even though the state never actually collected copies of it?
No. The opinion concluded that licensing-related records a private child care facility applicant kept on its own premises, and that the Department of Human Resources reviewed on site rather than colle…
Is there an overall dollar cap on how much debt a Maryland county without home rule, like Somerset County, can take on, or does each borrowing project need its own separate state law?
There is no single overall debt cap. The opinion concluded that because Somerset County lacks home rule, it can only create debt when the General Assembly expressly authorizes a specific project by st…
Does Maryland's emergency medical services agency regulate 'litter van' stretcher transport, or does the Washington-area transit commission?
The opinion concluded that 'litter van' stretcher-transport services fell within the statutory definition of 'ambulance' and were generally subject to licensing by the Maryland Institute for Emergency…
Can a Maryland county cut a State's Attorney's budget so much that entire categories of crimes go unprosecuted?
The Attorney General concluded that a county could not fund a State's Attorney's office so far below need that entire categories of significant crimes, such as domestic violence or robbery, would go u…
Who is responsible for administering the optional retirement program for Maryland public college employees?
The opinion concluded that no single entity 'sponsored' Maryland's Optional Retirement Program for public college employees; responsibility was divided by statute among the Board of Trustees of the Re…
Can a Maryland circuit court clerk administer the oath of office to a public official who lives in a different county?
The Attorney General concluded that a circuit court clerk could not travel outside the clerk's own county to administer an oath of office, but a clerk could still swear in an officer who lived in, or …
When Maryland's Constitution says a newly elected or appointed official must take the oath of office 'before the Governor,' does the Governor personally have to read the oath out loud?
No. The opinion concluded that an officer qualifies 'before the Governor' as long as the oath is taken in the Governor's presence; the Governor is not required to personally administer or read the oat…
Could a Maryland resident get a driver's license without a photograph in the 1990s if being photographed violated their religious beliefs?
At the time, no. The opinion concluded Maryland could lawfully deny a driver's license to a person who objected on religious grounds to being photographed, because the state's compelling interest in p…
If a Maryland home seller gives the buyer a property disclaimer statement late, after the contract is already signed, can the buyer back out?
Yes, according to the opinion. Even though the statute's text only explicitly addressed late disclosure statements, the opinion concluded the legislature meant to treat late disclaimer statements the …
Did Maryland's public notice and hearing requirements for licensing group homes for people with mental illness or developmental disabilities violate the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act?
The opinion concluded that, in light of a 1993 federal court decision striking down similar Montgomery County rules, Maryland's public notice and hearing requirements for licensing group homes under t…
Could Maryland CPAs share a client's tax return information with another accounting firm doing a confidential quality peer review of their work?
The opinion concluded that Maryland law did not prohibit a CPA firm from disclosing client information, including tax return information, to another CPA firm conducting a confidential quality review o…
What did Maryland's new Health Care Decisions Act mean by 'end-stage condition,' and who was allowed to make medical decisions for an incapacitated patient who never signed an advance directive?
The opinion interpreted several parts of Maryland's newly enacted Health Care Decisions Act, including how 'end-stage condition' should be understood, how a court-appointed guardian fit into the prior…
Did Maryland's blind-made-products law require Blind Industries and Services of Maryland's vending machine business to keep mostly blind employees, even though the snacks and drinks weren't made by blind workers?
The opinion concluded that Maryland's law requiring products sold as 'made by the blind' to have at least 75 percent blind direct labor applied to Blind Industries and Services of Maryland's vending m…
Does the federal real estate settlement law (RESPA) override Maryland's ban on real estate settlement kickbacks?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's flat prohibition on real estate settlement kickbacks was not preempted by the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, because RESPA only displaces…
Can a city charge higher parade or rally permit fees based on how the public might react to the speech?
The opinion concluded that state and local rules letting officials size a parade or rally permit fee, or grant or deny a permit, based on how the public might react to the speech violated the First Am…
Could a Maryland oil spill responder lose legal immunity if their attempt to prevent a spill failed, or if they acted without first getting sign-off from a federal or state official?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a responder who tried in good faith to prevent or clean up an oil spill kept immunity from liability under EN §4-419 even if the effort failed, and even …
When did Maryland's 1992 constitutional amendments changing the civil jury trial rules, six-person juries and a $5,000 threshold, take effect, and did they apply to cases already pending?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the 1992 constitutional amendments and implementing statutes changing civil jury trials, allowing six-person juries and raising the amount-in-controversy thr…
Did Maryland's hate crimes law survive after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a similar cross-burning ordinance in R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Maryland's hate crimes statute, Article 27, §470A, remained constitutional after the Supreme Court's 1992 R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul decision, because the Ma…
Could a company that tracks down owners of unclaimed property get the dollar value of what each person is owed from Maryland's abandoned property records?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Comptroller's Unclaimed Property Section had to withhold the monetary value or description of a person's abandoned property because that information coun…
Could Maryland law enforcement withhold a crime victim's name and address from a public records request?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a crime victim's name and address were a public record subject to disclosure under the Public Information Act, that no law gave victims an enforceable right …
Could Maryland's state lottery legally add keno or video lottery machines without new legislation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State Lottery Agency already had authority under existing law to offer a keno game, but that video lottery terminals resembling video poker machines were…
Does a Maryland county have to fund the full budget its local liquor licensing board requests?
The Attorney General concluded that, applying the reasoning of a Talbot County circuit court decision about election board funding, Talbot County's council had to appropriate the full amount the count…
Was Maryland's 300-foot electioneering ban around polling places in certain counties still constitutional after the Supreme Court's 1992 Burson v. Freeman decision?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the 300-foot electioneering ban applying in seven counties (Anne Arundel, Cecil, Charles, Garrett, Harford, Kent, and Queen Anne's) was so likely unconstitut…
Could Maryland's Blue Cross Blue Shield legally sell part of its for-profit HMO and managed-care subsidiaries to outside investors?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Blue Cross could lawfully create a for-profit holding company for its managed care subsidiaries, but that the Insurance Commissioner could not approve sellin…
Does the Americans with Disabilities Act require a state legislature, like Maryland's General Assembly, to accommodate people with disabilities?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Americans with Disabilities Act applied to the state's Legislative Branch, meaning the General Assembly had an obligation to provide reasonable accommoda…
Could Maryland's State Board of Education ban smoking on school grounds by regulation, without negotiating with teachers' unions first?
The Attorney General concluded that the State Board of Education had statutory authority under the Education Article's general-control provision to adopt tobacco-free school environment regulations, a…
Can a service member who is discharged from the military, not just transferred, break a residential lease early under Maryland law?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the state law letting military personnel break a residential lease after receiving permanent change of station orders also covered personnel who were dischar…
Could Maryland's Legislative Auditor get access to the financial records of a University of Maryland medical school doctors' private-practice corporation?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Legislative Auditor's Division of Audits could not compel access to the records of University Physicians, Inc., the nonprofit corporation that administer…
Could Worcester County, Maryland raise its hotel room tax rate above 3% on its own using code home rule powers, or did it need state law authority?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Worcester County could not use its own code home rule powers to amend the local law capping its hotel room tax at 3%, but the county commissioners could rais…
Can a Maryland state agency hand off one of its programs to a private nonprofit without legislative approval, and does the nonprofit's money count as public funds?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a state disability agency lawfully transferred one of its programs to a private nonprofit corporation without legislative or Board of Public Works approval b…
Could Maryland's health department legally require drug companies to pay rebates to keep their drugs covered under state-funded health programs?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had statutory authority under the Health-General Article to limit drug coverage in two state-funded programs to d…
Could a Maryland District Court judge in one county issue a search warrant for property located in a completely different city or county?
Yes. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a District Court judge had statewide authority to issue a search warrant for property anywhere in Maryland, not just within the judge's own district or …
Could Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration let its investigators carry handguns, and were those investigators police officers?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Motor Vehicle Administration could let its Division of Investigative Services investigators carry handguns, but only if the investigators first obtained …
Could Maryland enforce its 1992 'gas guzzler' tax surcharge and fuel-efficiency credit law, or did federal fuel economy law preempt it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a federal disclosure statute preempted the notice provision of Maryland's new gas guzzler tax law, that the tax surcharge and credit provisions themselves we…
Can a Maryland funeral home legally refuse to embalm, or charge extra, because the deceased had HIV?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a funeral home refusing to embalm, or charging extra fees for handling, an HIV-positive body was illegal discrimination under Maryland's mortician licensing …
Could Maryland's Office of Administrative Hearings dismiss an appeal because someone failed to pay a required filing fee?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's Chief Administrative Law Judge had the discretion to adopt a regulation providing that a nonindigent party's appeal would be dismissed for failing to pay…
Which Maryland state employees were covered by the old Merit System's EEO, whistleblower, leave, and overtime rules?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the equal employment opportunity and whistleblower laws covered only classified and unclassified executive branch employees, while leave, holiday, and promot…
Is a Maryland state employee's full-salary accident leave pay after a job injury subject to federal and state income tax?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that pay received by a state employee under the accident leave statute, full salary continued after a job-related injury, qualified as compensation under a statut…
Can Maryland's Toll Facilities Police arrest someone on property that isn't owned or controlled by the Transportation Authority?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Toll Facilities Police officers could exercise their arrest powers only on property owned, leased, or controlled by the Maryland Transportation Authority, wi…
Could a Maryland county in 1992 pass its local piggyback income tax rate increase before June 1 and still have the increase take effect on June 1?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a county could enact or adopt a resolution or ordinance raising its local piggyback income tax rate above 50% before June 1, 1992, so long as the increase it…
Could Maryland's Secretary of Personnel cut a state employee's pay without telling the legislature?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Secretary of Personnel had authority under the old Merit System Law to decrease state employee pay rates without notifying the General Assembly, because …
Does a Maryland county with zoning authority have to adopt its own forest conservation program, or can it let the state handle it?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Forest Conservation Act required every local government with planning and zoning authority, including Carroll County, to develop and adopt its own local …
Could parents in Maryland get an orphans' court to appoint a guardian for their child just so the child could attend public school tuition-free in a different county?
No. Maryland's Attorney General concluded that orphans' courts could appoint a guardian of a minor only when neither parent was serving as guardian, because both parents had died or the surviving pare…
If someone sues over Maryland's legislative redistricting map under the federal Voting Rights Act, do they file in a circuit court, the Court of Appeals, or federal court?
In this 1992 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a private lawsuit claiming Maryland's legislative redistricting plan violated Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act was not exclusively a…
When Maryland raised the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes in 1982, did the higher rate apply to deferred payments on estates of people who died before the law took effect?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that a 1982 law raising the interest rate on unpaid estate taxes applied to all deferred estate tax payments due on or after the law's July 1, 1982 effective date…
Is it illegal to use a computer in Maryland to buy an out-of-state lottery ticket?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that using a computer in Maryland to buy or arrange the purchase of an out-of-state lottery ticket violated Maryland's anti-lottery statutes, even though the buye…
When a Maryland sheriff or State's Attorney joins the state pension system, does the state or the county pay the employer's share of the contribution?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the State, not the counties or the officials themselves, was legally required to pay the employer's share of pension contributions for sheriffs, State's Atto…
Can Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration discipline a licensed wholesale car dealer for selling vehicles to retail buyers at an out-of-state auction?
Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the Motor Vehicle Administration could not discipline a licensed wholesale dealer merely for selling vehicles to retail buyers in another state, since Maryla…
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Attorney general opinions in Maryland are written by the Maryland 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.