Oregon Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Oregon, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Could the Oregon Health Authority hand local law enforcement a complete list of every medical marijuana grow site address in their jurisdiction?
No. The AG concluded that ORS 475B.882(1)(b) makes grow site addresses confidential, and the law-enforcement disclosure exception in ORS 475B.882(2)(b) is limited to verifying specific addresses or sp…
Can an Oregon city or county pay for roads or sewers with new lodging-tax money by calling them "tourism-related facilities"?
Only sometimes. AG Hardy Myers concluded that local roads, sewers, sewer plants, and transportation facilities qualify as "tourism-related facilities" under ORS 320.350(5)(a) only if they draw tourist…
Does the minimum Medicaid reimbursement rate for Oregon long-term care facilities under § 24(4)(f) of Oregon Laws 2003, chapter 736 freeze at one biennium's calculation, or does it recalculate every two years?
It freezes. The AG concluded that § 24(4)(f) was a one-time calculation tied to the 70th percentile of allowable costs in the 2005-2007 biennium, which set a fixed dollar floor for future reimbursemen…
Can Oregon's Construction Contractors Board suspend a contractor's license for not paying a civil penalty for failing to fill out a prevailing wage rate survey?
No. The 2007 AG opinion concluded that responding to a BOLI prevailing-wage survey was not a 'construction activity,' so an unpaid civil penalty for failing to respond was not a 'construction debt' un…
If a state university building is damaged, can the State Board of Higher Education repair it itself instead of filing a claim with the state Insurance Fund?
Generally no. The 2007 AG opinion concluded that the Department of Administrative Services could require the Board of Higher Education to file a property damage claim with the state Insurance Fund whe…
Can a hearing officer or DMV reduce a mandatory Oregon driver's license suspension if the driver shows up at the hearing with a good excuse?
No. The 2007 AG opinion concluded that ORS 809.440(1)(d) did not give DMV (or an Administrative Law Judge running the hearing) discretion to skip a suspension that ORS 809.409 to 809.423 made mandator…
If I donate to an Oregon university venture development fund, is the total tax credit I can claim limited to $50,000, and do I have to use the credit within three years?
No on both. The $50,000 cap is a per-year limit, not a total cap. The total credit equals 60 percent of the donation. The taxpayer takes 20 percent of the contribution per year, capped at $50,000 or t…
If a public agency uses a grant agreement to fund construction, does that take the project out from under Oregon's prevailing wage rate law?
No. The 2006 AG opinion concluded that the Public Contracting Code's grants exemption (ORS 279A.025(2)(c)) did not exempt grant-funded construction from the prevailing wage rate law. If a public agenc…
If I work for an Oregon community mental health program, a state-approved noninpatient mental-health provider, or as an independent contractor doing mental-health work, am I exempt from the Oregon psychologist licensing requirement?
It depends. Employees of certified community mental health programs are exempt under ORS 675.090(1)(e). Employees of state-approved noninpatient providers are not. 'Qualified mental health professiona…
Did Oregon's prevailing wage law apply to a low-income housing project just because Oregon Housing & Community Services made the construction loan?
No. The 2005 AG opinion concluded that the standard OHCS division-10 loan program for low-income, multi-unit housing did not turn the project into a 'public works' under ORS 279C.800(5). OHCS neither …
Does an Oregon police officer have to file an accident report after deliberately ramming a fleeing suspect's vehicle, and what happens if the officer doesn't?
Yes, if the officer was driving the patrol vehicle when the intentional collision occurred and the collision met the ORS 811.720 thresholds (injury, death, or serious property damage). The 2004 AG opi…
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Attorney general opinions in Oregon are written by the Oregon 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.