State AG Opinions
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If a Tennessee public board is later found to have been illegally composed, are the decisions it already made still valid?
Yes, under longstanding Tennessee case law. The AG concluded in 2010 that if a court later declared the Tennessee Board of Regents (or any board) improperly composed, the actions taken before that dec…
Can a circuit court clerk refuse to docket a certified copy of a federal bankruptcy court judgment because it isn't labeled an 'abstract of judgment'?
No. So long as the certified copy contains the information § 8.01-449 requires, it counts as an authenticated abstract of judgment and the clerk has a mandatory duty to docket it.
Are a Florida county inspector general's investigation records and meetings confidential under the Sunshine and Public Records laws?
Partly. The 2010 public-records and open-meeting exemption (Chapter 2010-130) covered the Palm Beach County Inspector General only when investigating ethics-code complaints. Investigations of waste, i…
Can a Florida public agency cut its terminal sick-leave payout cap below the 480 hours state law requires?
No. The AG concluded that section 110.122(3), Florida Statutes, mandated terminal pay for unused sick leave (one-fourth of hours accrued after October 1, 1973, capped at 480 hours) for state employees…
When a Tennessee county changes the beer-permit distance rule mid-application, which rule does the beer board apply?
The beer board applies the distance requirement in effect at the time it votes on the application, not at the time the application was filed (Coffman v. Washington County Beer Bd.). If a board mistake…
After the 2008 recession dropped the cost of living, did Washington's voter-passed minimum wage law require Labor & Industries to bump the minimum wage back up automatically as soon as inflation returned, even before the cost of living recovered to pre-recession levels?
No. Initiative 688 (RCW 49.46.020(4)(b)) treats the minimum wage as a one-way ratchet during a downturn-recovery cycle. L&I cannot reduce the minimum wage when CPI-W declines, but it also cannot raise…
Can a notary public in Tennessee notarize their own spouse's signature?
The Tennessee AG advised against it. Notaries take an oath to act 'without favor or partiality,' and the AG concluded in 2010 that the spousal relationship prevents that. A spouse-notarized signature …
Did two directors of a Texas water conservation district have to disclose their conflicts of interest and sit out a vote on a district rule that benefited them?
The Attorney General could not give a yes-or-no answer, because it turned on facts the opinion process cannot resolve. Chapter 171 of the Local Government Code requires a local official with a 'substa…
Does the 2010 Virginia law delaying collection of residential cash proffers until after final inspection apply to proffer agreements signed before July 1, 2010, and is that constitutional?
Yes. Section 15.2-2303.1:1 applies to cash proffer agreements made before July 1, 2010, so localities cannot demand payment until after final inspection. The retroactive application does not violate t…
Can a Virginia school division employee run for and serve on that same school board, and can a Department of Health employee run an outside radon-testing business?
No, an employee of a school board cannot serve as a member of that same school board. A Department of Health employee may run a radon-testing consulting business on personal time, as long as the work …
Can a Tennessee public school require students to pay fees for field trips that take place during regular school hours?
No. Requiring students to pay a fee for a field trip that took place during the required 180 instructional days violated Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-110(c). Schools could request fees, but could not condit…
Can a Virginia sanitary district build and run community buildings or recreational facilities outside its own boundaries to serve district residents?
Generally no. A sanitary district can only operate community buildings and recreational facilities within its boundaries, unless it reaches an agreement with another jurisdiction under § 15.2-1300 to …
Does Delaware's open meetings law require a town to explain in its minutes why it went into a closed executive session?
Not technically, the AG found. FOIA only requires that a vote to hold an executive session be recorded in the minutes and that a permissible reason appear on the meeting agenda, not that the reason it…
Can a school district withhold a special-education lawsuit settlement from a reporter by calling it a confidential student record?
Not automatically, the AG found. Because federal student-privacy law lets parents consent to release their child's education records, the district first had to ask the parents for written consent; onl…
Could Oregon's Department of Education let a school district keep using the ACT instead of the state-contracted SAT-family test, given the law required the chosen contractor to be able to provide statewide data?
Yes. The AG read 'must be able to provide statewide data' as requiring only the internal capacity to compile composite results from whatever testing the contractor actually did, not as a mandate to ac…
If a Virginia school board has a vacancy, does that lower the number of members needed for a quorum?
Yes. A school board consists of the members who are 'duly appointed or elected.' A vacancy reduces that count, which in turn reduces the majority needed for a quorum.
Does Florida's home-address exemption for police protect a former officer's old addresses, and must he request it?
Two points. First, a former law enforcement officer now working for a town in a non-police job had to ask in writing to keep the public-records exemption for his home address, because the town was a r…
When a soil and water conservation district seat goes vacant in Florida, how long does the board's appointee serve?
Until the next scheduled general election. When a soil and water conservation district seat became vacant, the remaining supervisors could appoint a successor, but only through the next general electi…
Can a Delaware state agency redact the names of people who wrote in or signed a petition about a road project?
No, the AG found. Because commenting on a road study was voluntary and served the public's interest in overseeing a government decision, rather than the agency's own information needs, the minimal pri…
If a Washington state, city, or county employee thinks their employer shorted them on wages, can they file a complaint with Labor & Industries and get an investigation?
Yes. The 2006 Wage Payment Act (RCW 49.48.082-.087) covers public employees, even though the older 1935 wage-collection statutes did not. The Department of Labor & Industries must investigate wage com…
When a Virginia judge verbally orders sheriff's deputies to take a sentenced defendant into custody for a number of hours, with no written order, is that direction binding and is the sheriff's office protected from liability?
Yes. A verbal sentencing order is binding on the sheriff's office, just like a written one, and deputies acting under it generally enjoy the same qualified sovereign immunity as in any other custodial…
Can a Virginia general district court or J&DR court impose a pre-filing review requirement on a vexatious litigant, and can it bar an attorney or pro se litigant who is engaging in unauthorized practice or unethical conduct?
Yes to both. Section 8.01-271.1 lets a district court impose a pre-filing review requirement as an 'appropriate sanction' when a litigant files frivolous or harassing pleadings. The court also has inh…
Does Tennessee's 2010 amendment to the Sheriff's Civil Service Law on political activity apply to fundraising done before the law took effect?
No. The 2010 amendment to Tennessee's Sheriff's Civil Service Law political-activity rules (2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts Ch. 1025, signed June 9, 2010) does not apply to fundraising or campaign activities tha…
Can a Tennessee city or county employee run for elected office while keeping their job?
Generally yes. Tennessee state law does not bar local employees from running for elective office, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501 overrides any city or county charter that would. But the federal Hatch…
If two Texas groundwater districts both annex the same land, which one gets to regulate and tax it?
The Attorney General could not definitively answer, calling it an apparent question of first impression. Two groundwater conservation districts had each annexed the same roughly 14,202 acres in Caldwe…
Can a Texas school superintendent who has final hiring authority employ a relative of a school board member, or does the nepotism law block it?
Generally no. The Attorney General concluded that after the Legislature added Education Code section 11.1513(f), a school district is generally prohibited from employing a person related (within the n…
Can a Texas school district run fiber-optic cable along a county road right-of-way without the county's permission?
No. The Attorney General concluded that no statute gives an independent school district the right to access and use a county road right-of-way to install fiber-optic cable, so the district was not ent…
If my land was annexed into one Texas groundwater conservation district but later included in a new district the Legislature created, which district covers it?
The later special law wins. The Attorney General concluded that when a groundwater conservation district annexed a tract in an adjacent county under general law, and the Legislature then created a new…
How long does a Florida city have to issue a red-light camera ticket, and can it cite the driver named in the owner's affidavit?
A city had at most 60 days from the violation to mail a red-light camera citation: up to 30 days to notify the registered owner, then a 30-day window for the owner to pay or respond. If the owner file…
Can Oregon DMV sell an exclusive license over its electronic records to another state agency without violating the constitutional rule that highway-related funds can only be spent on highways?
Yes, the AG concluded, but only if DMV received fair market value for the license. DMV records are an asset of the constitutionally dedicated Highway Fund, so any net income from selling access to the…
Can a Florida city let board members attend by phone or video to count toward a quorum?
No. The AG concluded that Coral Gables could not adopt an ordinance letting members of its retirement board count toward a quorum by appearing electronically. Section 166.041 requires a quorum to be p…
If a Florida special district sets a zero tax rate one year, can it raise the millage the next year?
Yes. The AG concluded that an independent special district (here the St. Augustine-St. Johns County Airport Authority) that levied a zero millage rate one year was not locked out of taxing later. Beca…
If a state employee scheduled to work on the Saturday, August 28, 2010 special election day claims paid voting leave, does that employee also get a comparable day off because the election day is a legal holiday?
Yes, but the two benefits are not stacked on top of each other. The AG concluded that state employees scheduled to work and actually working on Saturday, August 28, 2010 were entitled to a comparable …
If I sell an investment property and finance the buyer's purchase myself, do I need a Tennessee mortgage license?
In most cases, yes. The Tennessee AG concluded in 2010 that an individual offering seller financing on an investment property generally has to be licensed as a mortgage lender, and possibly as a mortg…
Was Saturday, August 28, 2010, the special primary election to fill Senator Byrd's Senate seat, a legal holiday for West Virginia state employees, and did employees scheduled to work get paid time off to vote?
Yes, partly. The AG concluded that under W. Va. Code § 2-2-1(a)(13), any day on which a primary, general, or special election is held is automatically a legal holiday throughout the state. The Saturda…
Does Delaware's manufactured-home tenant protection law cover a 'modular' home community, not just traditional mobile homes?
Yes, the AG concluded. Even though the homes in a Kent County 55-plus community are built off a permanent steel chassis, making them 'modular' rather than HUD-defined 'manufactured' homes, Delaware's …
Who is on the hook for Virginia BPOL taxes when a business itemizes them on the customer's bill?
The business pays. Liability for Virginia BPOL (business, professional, and occupational license) taxes always sits with the licensee, not the customer. Only motor vehicle dealers have express statuto…
Who controls the money a Texas county jail commissary brings in, and does the interest it earns go to the county general fund?
The sheriff controls it, and the interest stays with the fund. The Attorney General concluded that proceeds from a county jail commissary are not funds 'belonging to the county' under Local Government…
Can a Texas property owner force the appraisal district to list land and the buildings on it as separate parcels, or does the chief appraiser decide?
The chief appraiser decides. The Attorney General concluded that no statute directly says who determines whether land and improvements under common ownership are combined on a single parcel identifica…
Can a Texas county post driver's license photos of people who owe traffic fines on its public website?
The Attorney General gave a split answer. The Federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and the Texas Motor Vehicle Records Disclosure Act do not prohibit the Department of Public Safety from giving dri…
Can the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation prohibit swimming in waters next to state parks if it doesn't own those waters?
DCR can regulate swimming in waters within state parks, natural area preserves, and other lands it supervises, but it has no authority to regulate swimming in other waters.
Does an occasional concert, wedding reception, or dance at a Virginia barn or other 'farm building' trigger Building Code requirements for an occupancy permit?
No. The infrequent, non-agricultural use of a 'farm building or structure' (like hosting a concert, wedding, or dance) does not change its occupancy classification. So long as the building is still pr…
Must a Virginia county prohibit holiday displays with religious symbols on public property, and if not, what conditions must the county follow?
No. A local government is not categorically required to prohibit holiday displays, including ones with religious symbols. Such displays are permissible if the government is careful about content and c…
Can Virginia regulate clinics and doctors that perform first-trimester abortions?
Yes. The Virginia Boards of Health and Medicine have broad statutory authority under Title 32.1 and Title 54.1 to regulate facilities where first-trimester abortions are performed and the physicians w…
If only the county (not the city) opted into Tennessee River Resort District liquor-by-the-drink, does the state ABC control beer sale hours inside that city?
No. The state Alcoholic Beverage Commission does not control beer sale hours in a Tennessee municipality located inside a Tennessee River Resort District where the county (not the city) made the TRRD …
Can a Virginia county force residents to drop their existing private trash collection service and use the county's service instead?
Yes, if the county follows the statutory displacement procedure (notice, hearing, written finding, and either five years' notice to the displaced company or a buyout) or if 55% of property owners in t…
Can Florida police ask about someone's immigration status during a lawful traffic stop or detention?
In this 2010 informal opinion, the AG advised that Florida state and local officers could ask about a person's immigration status during a lawful detention, as long as the questions did not prolong th…
Are Virginia state-employed firefighters covered by the Line of Duty Act if they are injured or killed on the job?
Not by themselves. Firefighters who work directly for the Commonwealth are outside the Line of Duty Act unless their fire company or rescue squad has been formally recognized by a county, city, or tow…
Which Shelby County court hears a Tennessee parentage action: only juvenile court, or also circuit and chancery?
Only the Shelby County Juvenile Court has jurisdiction over Tennessee parentage actions brought under Title 36, Chapter 2. The Shelby County Circuit and Chancery Courts do not, because Tenn. Code Ann.…
If a union thinks a city is withholding a wage study needed for contract talks, does Delaware's AG decide that dispute or does someone else?
The state's labor board (PERB) does, the AG concluded, deferring to PERB's authority over collective bargaining rather than deciding for itself whether a wage-study report was exempt from FOIA as a co…
Can a Virginia locality use a federal income threshold (or any extra criterion) to decide whether a homeowner is 'permanently and totally disabled' for property tax relief, and must its rules be in the published ordinance?
A locality cannot add to the statutory disability tests, including by using a federal disability income threshold to decide who is permanently and totally disabled. It can use a federal threshold as a…
Can the Oregon State Treasurer factor social or political concerns (like Sudan divestment or in-state venture capital) into how the public employees' pension fund is invested?
The Treasurer and Oregon Investment Council were told they could consider social factors, but only as a tie-breaker. They could not subordinate retirees' financial interests to unrelated social object…
Are arson investigators at the Georgia Forestry Commission and investigators at the Department of Agriculture eligible for the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefit Fund?
No. The Forestry Commission's arson investigators and the Department of Agriculture's investigators are not 'peace officers' for POAB Fund purposes because their core duties are to enforce one specifi…
Is a voluntary, employee-paid AFLAC plan a 'group insurance plan' a Florida city must extend to retirees?
The Attorney General's office declined to give a binding answer, explaining that whether a specific AFLAC plan is a 'group insurance plan' under section 112.0801 is a mixed question of law and fact it…
Can Tennessee require nonresident real estate license applicants to be Tennessee residents for 45 days, or treat them differently based on their home state's reciprocity?
Tennessee's 45-day residency requirement for a real estate license (Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-13-303(e)(2)(B), (f)(2)(B)) is unconstitutional under the Privileges and Immunities Clause, as is the parallel …
If a West Virginia State Election Commission member receives a daily per-diem allowance, can he or she also keep a job in the state classified service, or does the per diem turn the position into a 'paid public office' that bars classified employment?
The position becomes a paid public office, so dual service is barred. The AG concluded that membership on the West Virginia State Election Commission is a public office (it satisfies all five criteria…
Can a Virginia clerk of court install permanent courtroom recording systems and charge for copies of the recordings?
Yes. A clerk may install recording systems in Circuit, General District, and J&DR courts, keep them running while court is in session, and charge a fee for access to recordings, as long as statutory c…
Is a promotional sweepstakes at an internet cafe legal in Virginia if customers can either get entries by buying internet time or by entering for free?
Yes. When prize entries are available both with and without a purchase, the legal element of 'consideration' is missing, so no illegal gambling occurs under Virginia law. Section 18.2-325.1 lays out t…
Under Virginia's erosion and sediment control statute, can a building official issue a stop work order limited to just earth-moving activities, or does it stop all construction on the site?
It depends on which order. The first stop work order under § 10.1-566(C) applies only to land-disturbing activities and can be partial. If noncompliance continues, a second, more stringent order stops…
Can Virginia police, sheriffs, conservation officers, or zoning officials check the immigration status of people they encounter or stop?
Law enforcement officers, including conservation officers, may inquire into immigration status during lawful stops or arrests. Zoning officials, whose job is civil enforcement, lack the authority to i…
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