State AG Opinions
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Can the same person be both a civil traffic infraction hearing officer and a 'local hearing officer' for red-light camera cases in Florida?
No. The AG concluded a 'local hearing officer' under section 316.003(91) is an office under Florida's dual office-holding ban. The statute lets a county or city use an existing code enforcement board …
Does Tennessee's charter school funding law unconstitutionally shift costs to local school districts under the state-spending clause of the Tennessee Constitution?
No. The Charter Schools Act doesn't directly require local school districts to spend more, it just makes existing per-pupil dollars follow the student. And even if it did increase local spending, the …
If a Tennessee city's annexation ordinance was finalized by court settlement before Tennessee passed a 2013 annexation moratorium, can the new moratorium retroactively undo that annexation?
No. Once a quo warranto challenge was resolved by an agreed court order and the parties' rights became vested, the Tennessee Constitution's ban on retrospective laws prevented the 2013 moratorium from…
Can the Tennessee legislature pass a private act forcing one county's general sessions court to use the county probation office (and only that office) to supervise misdemeanor probationers?
Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-302 doesn't require courts to consider all qualified providers, so a private act picking one county provider doesn't conflict with general law. And because supervising pro…
Can a Virginia city treasurer get paid a percentage for collecting delinquent court fines, and what are the limits?
Yes. A city treasurer may enter into an agreement with the local Commonwealth's Attorney under Va. Code § 19.2-349 to collect delinquent court debt (fines, costs, forfeitures, penalties, restitution).…
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Voting Rights Act preclearance coverage formula in Shelby County, are Arizona statutes that were enacted but never precleared now valid and enforceable?
Yes. The U.S. Supreme Court's June 25, 2013 decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder struck down the Voting Rights Act coverage formula in Section 4(b), removing Arizona's Section 5 preclearance o…
After Arizona's 2013 HB 2593 raised contribution limits and split them across primary and general elections, when can a candidate accept those amounts and how should the committee account for them?
Yes to most of the eleven questions. After HB 2593 (effective Sept. 13, 2013), an Arizona candidate committee may accept up to the maximum contribution for both the primary and the general election, e…
Can Texas create a second emergency services district over the same area to raise more property tax?
A House committee chair asked whether Texas can create a second emergency services district (ESD) covering the same area as an existing one, offering the same services, just to collect more property t…
Which court does a bail bondsman file with to surrender a defendant before charges are formally filed?
Houston County's attorney asked which court a surety, usually a bail bondsman, should use to file the paperwork that surrenders or releases liability on a bond principal under articles 17.16 and 17.19…
Is Texas's 10% cigarette advertising fee blocked by federal law or the First Amendment?
A House committee chair asked whether Texas's 'Advertising Fee Statute,' which charges a 10 percent fee on outdoor advertising of cigarettes and tobacco products, is blocked by the Federal Cigarette L…
Can a bail bondsman's ad in a county jail magazine count as illegal solicitation in Texas?
Bexar County's district attorney asked whether a bail bond licensee's advertising in a magazine handed out to pretrial detainees in the county jail, especially under a deal giving that licensee exclus…
Can a Texas county ban an elected official from bringing a pet to their own office?
The Titus County Attorney asked whether the county commissioners court could enforce its new ban on animals in county buildings against an independently elected official's office, after he had brought…
Can a Tennessee school district spend its leftover education fund balance on recurring expenses, or only one-time costs?
It can spend the balance above 3% of the annual budget on any educational purpose, recurring or non-recurring, if the school board recommends it. The 2005 amendment removed the old rule limiting these…
If a Tennessee driver hits a bicyclist or pedestrian who was using the road properly, is the crash itself proof the driver failed to exercise due care?
No. Tennessee uses a reasonable-person standard. The fact of a crash, even with a lawfully riding cyclist or a pedestrian in a crosswalk, does not automatically mean the driver breached the duty of ca…
Can a Tennessee county use the $5 records-preservation fee to build, buy, or lease a building that is partly used for archives and partly used for other county business?
No. The fee can only pay for the portion of a building actually used to duplicate, store, or maintain public records. It cannot fund space used for other purposes, and the county cannot lease a buildi…
Can a Tennessee city or county prohibit shooting guns within its borders?
Yes. Tennessee's firearms preemption statute only blocks local rules on transfer, ownership, possession, or transportation of firearms. It does not cover discharge, so cities and counties can regulate…
Can a Tennessee city or county buy liability insurance from a private company without taking competitive bids?
Only if the insurance is bought through a plan approved by an organization representing Tennessee cities and counties. Otherwise, normal competitive-bidding rules apply. The professional-services exem…
If a Virginia county downzones some property but upzones other property at the same time (no net loss of lots), does it still have to mail notice to every owner being downzoned?
Yes. Va. Code § 15.2-2204(B) requires a planning commission to give written notice to the owner of each parcel facing a downzoning, regardless of whether other concurrent rezoning proposals would incr…
Can Virginia retry a defendant whose conviction was reversed because some evidence was wrongly admitted, when the rest of the trial evidence would still support the conviction?
Yes. House Bill 2338 (codified as Va. Code § 19.2-324.1, effective July 1, 2013) requires Virginia appellate courts to consider all evidence admitted at trial when reviewing sufficiency challenges, ev…
Can a Virginia locality charge more than $50 to license a kennel with hundreds of dogs?
Yes, with a per-block cap. The AG concluded that § 3.2-6528 let a Virginia locality charge a kennel establishment with multiple kennel blocks more than $50 in total license taxes, but no more than $50…
Does a Tennessee police department have to follow special due-process steps before issuing a written reprimand to an officer?
No, not unless that reprimand also dismisses, demotes, suspends without pay, or transfers the officer for punitive reasons. Tenn. Code Ann. § 38-8-304 only triggers when one of those four employment a…
Can a sitting Arizona legislator be on the board of a super PAC or 501(c)(4) that supports other candidates, without violating Arizona campaign-finance law?
Yes, with limits. An incumbent Arizona legislator may associate with a state political committee or super PAC that supports or opposes other candidates, provided (a) the committee is not the candidate…
Can a Washington public hospital district contract with a religiously affiliated provider that won't perform abortions or provide contraception, and skip those services itself?
No. The AG concluded that under RCW 9.02.160, if a public hospital district provides maternity care (directly or by contract), it must also provide substantially equivalent benefits, services, or info…
Can a Washington irrigation district sign a contract that lets it be on the hook for the federal Bureau of Reclamation's mistakes?
No. The AG concluded that irrigation districts could contract with the United States but could not indemnify the federal government, because they have only the powers expressly granted by statute, and…
Can a Virginia local government force the circuit court clerk to grant outside access to the clerk's case management system?
No. A circuit court clerk's case management system is the clerk's record under the clerk's custody. Access to it lies within the sound discretion of the clerk. Neither the local governing body nor any…
Can a Virginia prosecutor make the defense disclose the factual basis for its motion to suppress evidence in district court?
Yes. Under Va. Code § 16.1-69.25:1, district court judges may direct the filing of a bill of particulars upon request of 'either party.' That means the Commonwealth's Attorney, just like the defense, …
Can a West Virginia public agency sue the contractor for construction defects in a building completed in 1982 when the problems are only discovered in 2012?
No. The AG concluded that W. Va. Code § 55-2-6a, the ten-year statute of repose for tort and contribution claims arising from defective construction, foreclosed the Public Service Commission from suin…
When can Texas juvenile case records be destroyed, on paper or permanently?
Brazoria County's district attorney asked the Attorney General to untangle Family Code section 58.0071, whose subsections seemed to conflict about when juvenile case records can be destroyed. The AG f…
How long must a school trustee's spouse have worked to keep their job under Texas nepotism law?
A House committee chair asked the Attorney General three questions about the continuous-employment exception to Texas nepotism law, Government Code section 573.062, as it applies to a school district …
Can one person hold both the City Administrator and Police Chief jobs in Algood, Tennessee?
No. Algood Code of Ordinances Title 1, Ch. 4, § 1-401 requires the city administrator to give 'full time' to the office. Tennessee's conflict-of-interest statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-101(a)(1), and…
When a Tennessee judge issues an attachment for a parent over 30 days behind on child support, must the bond be cash only?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 36-5-101(f)(2) requires a bond of at least $250 (up to the amount of arrears) but does not require cash. Article I, Section 15 of the Tennessee Constitution requires bail by 'suf…
Can a Florida city commission meet privately with its attorney to discuss a binding arbitration if no lawsuit has been filed?
No. The AG concluded that the section 286.011(8) attorney-client 'shade' meeting exemption applies only to pending litigation before a court or administrative agency. Mandatory, binding arbitration wi…
Does Florida law require a voter referendum before a county hospital can be sold?
Not by itself. The AG concluded that under section 155.40, the sale or lease of a county, district, or municipal hospital needs approval from the Secretary of Health Care Administration, and a voter r…
Can a Florida city pay a councilmember's legal fees for a lawsuit the member personally filed challenging a candidate's residency?
No. The AG concluded the city could not reimburse a councilmember's legal fees for individually prosecuting a suit challenging a candidate's qualifications. Public payment of an official's legal fees …
Can a Virginia school board ban its employees from keeping guns in their locked cars on school property?
Yes. Va. Code § 15.2-915 prohibits 'localities' (counties, cities, towns) from adopting workplace rules that prevent employees from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked priv…
Is Planned Parenthood's Virginia Beach facility exempt from local real and personal property taxes as a charitable hospital?
Conditionally yes. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia is licensed as both an outpatient surgical hospital and an abortion facility, both of which are 'hospitals' under Va. Code § 32.1-123. Th…
Can a Virginia county pay to fix up a private subdivision road so VDOT will adopt it, even though a covenant on the property bans using public funds on the road?
Section 33.1-72.1 provides the requirements and funding options for upgrading a road for acceptance into the secondary system. Whether a restrictive covenant prohibiting public-fund use blocks the acc…
Can a Virginia county walk away from a deteriorating bridge it owns by abandoning it and selling the property to a private party, including paying the buyer to take it?
Yes. A Virginia county may abandon a bridge that's neither in the State Highway System nor the secondary system if the bridge is no longer necessary or abandonment serves the public interest. On aband…
Can the Virginia Department of Health authorize doctors to prescribe antibiotics for the partners of patients with chlamydia or gonorrhea without seeing the partners first?
Yes, but only within strict statutory limits. Va. Code § 54.1-3303(C) lets a practitioner who has treated a diagnosed patient prescribe certain medicine to a close contact (such as a sex partner) with…
Can a Tennessee regional planning commission force homebuilders to install sprinklers in subdivisions where fire hydrants can't reach within 1,000 feet?
Yes, but only with a separately considered ordinance or resolution adopted by a 2/3 vote with the statutory readings procedure under Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-120-101(a)(8)(B)(i). The hydrant-or-sprinkler …
When are Florida law enforcement officers exempt from paying tolls, and will the AG interpret that exemption?
The AG declined to interpret the toll exemption in section 338.155. Because that statute is administered by FDOT and local transportation and expressway authorities that were not part of the request, …
Can a city redact police officers' names from records about the mayor's security detail?
Yes, in this case. The AG found Wilmington was justified in redacting the names of officers assigned to the mayor's security detail, and of unsuccessful applicants, from personnel-type records under F…
Can a Tennessee Department of Health nurse teaching family-life class be personally sued under § 49-6-1306 if she mentions contraception?
Family life educators must follow Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-6-1301 to -1307, including the bar on promoting 'gateway sexual activity' and the limited contraception-information rules. State Department of H…
Does Tennessee's service-dog law for restaurants and stores still hold up after the 2013 update, or does the federal ADA preempt it?
Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-7-112, as amended in 2013, is consistent with the ADA's service-animal regulations (28 C.F.R. § 36.302(c)) and is not preempted. The statute now mirrors the federal rules: no docu…
Can a Virginia county fund volunteer fire and rescue squads that aren't IRS nonprofits, where does a treasurer have to keep records, and can a county attorney release delinquent tax data under FOIA?
Yes to local funding under § 27-23.1, whether or not the company is a 501(c)(3) and whether or not members are paid. Treasurer records stay in the treasurer's building, retained per Library of Virgini…
If a Virginia locality passes an ordinance requiring smoke detectors in buildings with dwelling units, do existing buildings have to be retrofitted with them?
No. A local smoke detector ordinance under § 15.2-922 does not retroactively require retrofits of existing buildings. When detectors are installed in the future, the install has to follow the current …
Does Tennessee annexation by ordinance violate property owners' constitutional rights when they don't get to vote on being absorbed by the city?
No. Absent invidious discrimination or violation of the one person, one vote principle, annexation by ordinance under Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-51-102 is constitutional. Neither the U.S. nor the Tennessee C…
What can a Florida county spend inmate welfare fund money on, and is that money public funds?
The AG offered only informal comments. Section 951.23(9) says jail commissary profits go to the inmate welfare fund and must be used for 'overall inmate welfare,' with the officer in charge of the jai…
Can a JROTC instructor or guidance counselor at an Arizona public school be paid from the Classroom Site Fund's performance-pay set-aside?
Possessing a teaching certificate is necessary but not sufficient for Classroom Site Fund performance pay under A.R.S. § 15-977. Per Reeves v. Barlow, a school employee must hold a Board of Education …
Was Arizona's House Bill 2178 (forgiving property taxes for landowners along the Colorado River) constitutional, or did it improperly favor a small group of property owners?
H.B. 2178 is an unconstitutional special law. Forgiving 1987-2009 property taxes only for Mohave County landowners in the Disputed Triangle (sued by the federal government for the Fort Mojave Tribe) b…
Can Tennessee bar Metro Nashville's Fair Board from using the trademark 'Tennessee State Fair' even though the Board registered it first?
Yes. The Tennessee State Fair and Exposition Act, Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-57-106, restricts use of 'Tennessee State Fair' to entities authorized by the Department of Agriculture and the Commission. A muni…
Can the City of Cleveland require Bradley County property owners to get a city plumbing permit just to hook up to city-owned sewer, even when the county now issues its own plumbing permits?
Yes. Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-120-101 doesn't bar the City of Cleveland from requiring an additional plumbing permit from property owners outside its limits as a condition of connecting to Cleveland Utili…
Is machinery used at a cattle feedlot exempt from property tax in Texas?
Representative Harvey Hilderbran asked the Attorney General whether machinery and equipment used at a cattle feedlot are 'used in the production of farm or ranch products,' which would make them imple…
Can a Texas county take money from private companies to fix specific roads?
Waller County's district attorney asked whether a county that runs its roads under the County Road Department System (subchapter D of Transportation Code chapter 252) can accept money from private com…
Can a Texas county charge oil companies a permit fee for new driveways onto county roads?
Howard County asked whether its commissioners court could make oil and gas operators get a permit, and pay a fee, before building a new access point connecting a private road to a county road, to offs…
Can Colorado district attorneys claim a priority cut of casino tax money to cover the cost of prosecuting gaming-related crimes, before the constitutional split goes to host counties and the state?
No. The AG concluded that off-the-top Limited Gaming Fund payments under Article XVIII, Section 9(5)(b)(I) are reserved for state agencies that 'administer' Section 9 itself. District attorneys prosec…
Can the Virginia Port Authority hire a paid lobbyist to represent its interests in Washington, D.C.?
Yes. Va. Code § 2.2-434 prohibits state officers, boards, institutions, and agencies from employing compensated 'lobbyists.' But the defined terms in Va. Code § 2.2-419 limit 'lobbyist,' 'lobbying,' '…
Can a Virginia county pay for school resource officers in private schools, including religious schools, alongside its public schools?
Yes. A county board of supervisors has broad police powers under Va. Code § 15.2-1200 to promote the safety of all county inhabitants, including children attending private schools. The county can lega…
Do Virginia Office of State Inspector General investigators have arrest powers and the authority to execute criminal process?
Yes, but only on a designated basis. Under § 2.2-311(A), the State Inspector General may designate himself plus up to 30 members of the OSIG investigations unit to have the same powers as a sheriff or…
Does Virginia's State Inspector General have to take over every function from predecessor IG offices, and does its reach include non-executive branch state bodies?
No, and no. The 2011 enabling legislation lets dual reporting continue at agencies that already had internal audit programs; OSIG didn't have to absorb everything. Its jurisdiction reaches executive b…
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