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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Can a Maryland commissioner county set its own definition of 'newspaper' for legal notices?
Maryland's Attorney General advised that St. Mary's County, a commissioner county, cannot change the state-law definition of 'newspaper' (in General Provisions Section 1-113) for legal notices require…
Can a Maryland city charge property owners and businesses a 'street utility fee' based on how much traffic they generate, to pay for street maintenance, without getting the state legislature's permission first?
No, not without state authorization. The opinion concluded a municipal 'street utility fee,' based on projected traffic generated by a property's use rather than actual consumption of a service or pro…
Can a Maryland town charge new home developments an impact fee to pay for police and fire protection?
Generally no. The opinion agreed that the City of Taneytown could not impose an impact fee on new development to fund police and fire protection without enabling legislation from the General Assembly,…
Can Anne Arundel County let its Planning Advisory Board, instead of a formal 'Planning Commission,' review development rights and responsibilities agreements with developers, and can the county require developers to submit one of these agreements as part of every concept plan?
Yes on the review board, no on making it mandatory. The opinion concluded state law lets any local entity familiar with the county's land use plan, not just one titled 'Planning Commission,' review de…
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 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 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…
Can a Maryland town let its zoning board grant a variance on an easier 'practical difficulty' standard instead of 'unnecessary hardship'?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Article 66B's zoning-variance standard, unnecessary hardship, applies to every municipality in Maryland, and a town cannot use its own ordinance to authorize va…
Can a Maryland county open a new street inside an incorporated town without the town's consent?
No. The Attorney General concluded that Frederick County had no authority to open a street inside the Town of New Market over the town's objection, because the road-opening statutes for counties apply…
Can the Maryland General Assembly direct state income tax money to specific counties without a formal budget appropriation?
The Attorney General advised Governor Schaefer in 1990 that House Bill 134, which directed the Comptroller to pay set amounts of state income tax revenue to Baltimore City and three counties, was not …
Can a Maryland county make its contractors and lobbyists disclose campaign contributions to local officials?
The Attorney General concluded in 1990 that nearly all of Prince George's County Council Bill 17-1990, which required people doing business with the county to disclose campaign contributions, barred l…
Could Maryland or its counties hire private lawyers on a contingency-fee basis to collect debts owed to the government?
In a 1989 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Maryland counties already had authority to hire private lawyers, including on a contingent-fee basis, to collect debts owed to the county,…
Can the Mayor and Town Council together appoint members to a Maryland town's planning commission, or does state law require the mayor alone to appoint them?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Ocean City's practice of having the Mayor and Council jointly appoint members of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals was c…
Can a Maryland county charge a percentage-based fee on industrial revenue bonds issued by a state financing authority?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Howard County's ordinance charging 0.125% of the face amount of MIDFA refunding bonds was, despite being labeled a fee, actually a tax the…
Can a Maryland city ban parking large trucks in residential areas even though state law regulates parking too?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that the City of Rockville had authority to regulate the parking of trucks on private property in residential areas, because the Maryland Vehic…
Can a Maryland home rule county create a private lawsuit remedy for improper vehicle towing?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Montgomery County had authority under the Express Powers Act to create an express private right of action, including a treble damages reme…
Can a Maryland town's zoning ordinance require a county to get town approval before building a public facility inside town limits?
In a 1988 opinion, Maryland's Attorney General concluded that Poolesville could not amend its zoning ordinance to require Montgomery County to get town Planning Commission and town board approval befo…
Can a Maryland town remove part of its own territory through a charter amendment?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a Maryland municipality most likely has authority under the Municipal Home Rule Amendment to detach part of its own territory by amending its …
Who counts as a qualified voter for signing a Maryland town's annexation referendum petition: someone registered before the vote, or anyone who registers in time?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that under Article 23A, §19(g), a person who meets a municipality's voter qualifications at the time a referendum petition is presented for signatu…
Can Maryland's legislature fix a town's mistaken boundary description from decades ago, or does the town have to do it itself?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded the Maryland General Assembly could not amend Highland Beach's 1922 act of incorporation to correct its boundary description, because the Home Rule…
Can a Maryland county charter let individual towns opt out of new county laws unless the town asks for them to apply?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a proposed Dorchester County Charter provision, making a countywide local law take effect in an incorporated municipality only if tha…
Could a Maryland non-home-rule county set up its own deferred-compensation retirement plan for elected officials like commissioners and sheriffs?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Cecil County's Board of County Commissioners had no authority to adopt a deferred compensation plan funded by county-paid annuity pre…
Can Maryland limit a charter county's ordinances from overriding a town's own home rule laws without amending the state constitution?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that limiting how charter county ordinances apply to municipalities within that county does not require a constitutional amendment, becaus…
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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.