State AG Opinions
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What conflict-of-interest restrictions apply to a Georgia State Ethics Commission member who is a practicing attorney, especially regarding the lobbying, administrative-law practice, and government representation activities of the Commissioner and the Commissioner's law firm?
The Commissioner cannot lobby. Other lawyers in the firm may lobby and may practice administrative law before non-Commission agencies. The firm may represent local governments (so long as not adverse …
Can a school board pick a new superintendent almost entirely behind closed doors?
No, according to this opinion. The Delaware AG found a school board could interview finalists for superintendent in a properly limited executive session, but violated the open meeting law by using clo…
Can a Texas accounting firm with non-CPA owners incorporate as a regular business corporation or LLC?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A 2001 law (Senate Bill 1358) amended the Public Accountancy Act so an accounting firm could be licensed even though some of its owners are not certified public acc…
Can someone ordained online claim the clergy exemption from Texas psychologist licensing?
The Attorney General concluded the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists may consider the fact that a person was ordained for a fee over the internet or by mail when deciding whether that person i…
If Maine cancels school funding mid-contract, does the state owe a vendor like Apple money for laptops already delivered?
Mostly no. Maine's contract with Apple for the Maine Learning Technology Endowment included a non-appropriation clause. If the Legislature de-appropriates, the state owes only rent already due plus a …
When the NC General Assembly changed the appointing authority for public members of the State Board of Mortuary Science from the Governor to a mix of Governor, Speaker, and President Pro Tempore, can the legislature also use a specific appointment to displace an existing Governor's appointee mid-term, even if the new appointee is a licensee whom the general statute would otherwise bar?
Yes on all counts. George Parrott was validly appointed by the General Assembly under S.L. 2001-486 for a term that runs through Dec. 31, 2003, and his appointment displaces the existing Governor-appo…
Can an Oregon state auditor look at sealed juvenile expunction judgments to verify that records have actually been removed from the youth offender database, or does the auditor need a court order each time?
The AG concluded that under ORS 419C.001(3), the Secretary of State and Secretary-selected auditors may access and review confidential juvenile court records, including expunction judgments, without a…
Can a Delaware county withhold its correspondence with an outside law firm from a public records request?
Yes, according to this opinion. The county released the firm's engagement letter and its billing statements, but the AG reviewed the remaining correspondence between the county and the firm in camera …
Can a grandfathered felon employee keep working at a bail bond business after it's sold to a relative?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A 2001 law (Senate Bill 1119) barred bail bond businesses from employing anyone convicted of a felony or a moral-turpitude misdemeanor within the past ten years, bu…
Do the 2001 retirement benefit increases for Texas visiting judges apply to judges who already retired?
The Attorney General concluded no. In 2001 the Legislature added a 10 percent increase to the retirement annuity of certain judges who had recently served as visiting judges, codified at Government Co…
Can a Texas city police officer make traffic stops in the county under a mutual aid agreement?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Two parts of Local Government Code section 362.002 work independently. Subsection (a) lets one local government unilaterally send its officers to help another, but …
Is Texas's law requiring country-of-origin labels on imported meat constitutional?
The Attorney General concluded the two halves of the imported-meat chapter fared differently. Subchapter A, which required wholesalers and retailers to label imported fresh meat with its country of or…
Who can call the Maine Legislature back into a special session, and how does the required polling of legislators work?
Only the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House can issue the call, but only after polling all legislators and obtaining the consent of a majority of each political party's caucus. The M…
When the City of Jacksonville accepts a $2 million state grant from DENR to build wastewater collection facilities in an annexation area, must the City comply with NC's 10% minority business participation goal under § 143-128.2 even if a sewer system is not literally a 'building project'?
Yes, because of how the grant assurances work. The DENR grant required Jacksonville to assure compliance with § 143-128's MBE participation rules as a condition of accepting the money. Under § 160A-17…
Can a Maine governor cut school aid using an ability-to-pay formula rather than a flat percentage when revenues fall short?
The Maine AG concluded the governor had authority under 5 M.R.S.A. § 1668 to curtail General Purpose Aid using an ability-to-pay formula (85% property valuation, 15% income) rather than a uniform perc…
When an Oregon employer skips workers' comp insurance and an injured worker files a claim, who actually represents the agent that pays the claim, the contractor or the Oregon Department of Justice?
The AG concluded that when DCBS assigns a noncomplying-employer claim to an assigned claims agent, the Department of Justice represents that agent for claim-processing matters but not when the issue i…
When the State diverted some quarterly franchise-tax distributions from cities to cover a budget deficit in 2001-2002, did cities regain the right to levy their own local franchise taxes on electric power companies starting July 1, 2002?
No. § 105-116(e) bars municipal franchise taxes 'so long as there is a distribution to cities from the tax imposed by this section.' Cities received the September and December 2001 distributions even …
Can Jackson County, NC use an ordinance to ban helicopter sightseeing operations or confine them to the public airport, when federal law extensively regulates aircraft altitude and flight routes?
No, for the most part. Federal aviation law preempts most county-level efforts to regulate flight altitudes and sightseeing routes. The U.S. Supreme Court's Burbank decision and the Second Circuit's N…
Can a city officer working as a drainage-district peace officer write traffic tickets in the district?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Section 49.216 of the Water Code lets a water district contract for or employ its own peace officers, with power to make arrests for any offense against the laws of…
Can a Texas county civil-service commission award back pay when it reverses an employee's discipline?
The Attorney General concluded yes. A county civil-service commission under chapter 158, subchapter A, and a sheriff's department civil-service commission under subchapter B, each have broad statutory…
Can a Texas bail bondsman collect an attorney's legal fee from a bail bond client and pass it to the lawyer?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 1704.252(9) of the Occupations Code lets a county bail bond board revoke or suspend a surety's license if the holder pays or divides fees with a person not l…
Can the University of Texas charge students a mandatory infrastructure fee without new legislative authority?
The Attorney General concluded the answer turns on the fee's purpose. Section 55.16 of the Education Code lets a university board fix and collect charges from students for the occupancy, use, and avai…
Where in Texas do I file a UCC financing statement, with the county clerk or the Secretary of State?
The Attorney General concluded that after the 1999 revision of Business and Commerce Code chapter 9 took effect on July 1, 2001, a county clerk must accept financing statements that perfect security i…
Can an unlicensed in-house engineer in Texas put 'Engineer' on a business card?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the Texas Engineering Practice Act, only a licensed engineer may call himself or herself an 'engineer' or use that term as a professional or business identific…
Can a Texas county commissioners court reject or cut the presiding administrative judge's budget request?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under section 74.043 of the Government Code, the counties that make up one of Texas's nine administrative judicial regions must pay, out of their general funds, the …
Can the Texas Public Finance Authority issue bonds for the Texas State Technical College System?
The Attorney General concluded no. Section 1232.101 of the Government Code, part of the Texas Public Finance Authority Act, gives the Authority 'exclusive' authority to issue bonds only for a specific…
After Oregon voters passed Measure 3 in 2000 to stop forfeiture funds from going to law enforcement, can Oregon police still receive their share of federal forfeiture money and use it for police work?
The AG concluded that Article XV, section 10's law-enforcement-use prohibition applies only to property and proceeds from U.S. Department of Justice civil forfeitures (not USDOJ criminal forfeitures),…
Can a Maine governor reduce General Purpose Aid for schools without calling the Legislature into special session?
The Maine AG concluded the governor's reduction of General Purpose Aid did not exceed his legal authority under 5 M.R.S.A. § 1668 and that nothing in the statute or constitution required him to call a…
Does the federal National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996 preempt Idaho's requirement that insurance holding companies obtain a solicitation permit before marketing exempt private offerings of federally covered securities to Idaho investors?
The AG concluded NSMIA preempts the Idaho solicitation-permit requirement for insurance holding companies offering federally covered securities under Rule 506 of Regulation D. Section 18(a) of NSMIA b…
Is a Texas constable without a permanent peace officer license still a peace officer?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Article 2.12(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure lists 'constables, deputy constables, and those reserve deputy constables who hold a permanent peace officer licen…
Can a Texas county make contractors disclose their business ties to county officials?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Neither the County Purchasing Act (chapter 262 of the Local Government Code) nor the Professional Services Procurement Act expressly says a county may require this,…
Can an out-of-state student living in a hotel or dorm in Texas use that address to get a Texas commercial driver's license?
The Attorney General concluded yes, in particular cases. The Transportation Code lets the Department of Public Safety issue a commercial driver's license only to a person who has a domicile in Texas, …
Can Texas put a newly created county office on the ballot for less than four years to keep its staggered election schedule?
The Attorney General concluded no as to the term length but yes as to the schedule. A 1999 amendment deleted the staggered-term language from article XVI, section 65 of the Texas Constitution, but the…
Do Georgia payday lenders need an Industrial Loan Act license, even when they dress up the cash advance as something else like a catalog coupon sale or a purchase-and-leaseback transaction?
Yes. The Georgia AG concluded that payday loans of $3,000 or less fall within the Industrial Loan Act and require a license unless the lender is exempt under O.C.G.A. § 7-3-6. Tokens like catalog coup…
Does a federal conviction for sexual abuse of a ward under 18 U.S.C. § 2243(b), where the defendant was a drug treatment specialist at a federal prison and had a sexual relationship with an inmate enrolled in her program, require registration under North Carolina's sex offender registry?
Yes. The federal offense is 'substantially similar' to NC's offense of sexual intercourse or sexual act with a custodial victim under § 14-27.7, which is listed as a 'sexually violent offense' under §…
Can a Texas city and county combine their plat and subdivision rules into one hybrid set for the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. In a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction (the unincorporated strip around a city), the city and county have overlapping authority over plats and subdivisio…
Does the Texas DOT have to issue an oversize or overweight vehicle permit if the applicant meets the requirements?
The Attorney General concluded yes, the issuance is mandatory. A 1995 codification of the Transportation Code changed the permit statute's wording from the Department 'shall' issue oversize and overwe…
Can a private collection agency collect a fine a Texas justice of the peace only suggested but never ordered?
The Attorney General concluded no. Article 103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure lets a county or city contract with a private attorney or collection vendor to collect debts and accounts receivab…
Can Texas environmental regulators count a company's violations from before the 2002 compliance-history rule took effect?
The Attorney General concluded yes on both counts. House Bill 2912 (the 2001 Sunset bill continuing the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the TNRCC) directed the Commission to adopt a un…
Does the grandfather clause in § 58-47-65(c), which exempts pre-1995 group workers' compensation self-insurance funds from the 1997 licensing rewrite, still protect a fund that was organized in 1993, filed dissolution articles in 1998, but never completely wound down before deciding to resume operations?
Yes, on the facts as presented. The fund was organized and approved before July 1, 1995, so it qualifies as a 'pre-1995' fund. Its 1998 dissolution paperwork did not terminate its existence (operation…
Is Maine required to balance its budget, and how broad is the governor's power to cut spending mid-year when revenues fall short?
The Maine AG concluded that Me. Const. art. IX, § 14 effectively requires a balanced budget by sharply limiting state debt, and that 5 M.R.S.A. § 1668 authorizes the governor to temporarily curtail al…
Can a New York village pass a helmet law that overrides a county helmet law in the village, and must the village police enforce the county law in the absence of a village one?
Yes to the first; conditional to the second. A village could enact its own helmet law that differed from a county helmet law, and inside the village the village law would govern. If the village had no…
Can the NC Department of Transportation fund the proposed Northern Durham Parkway, which includes improvements to existing inner-city roads like Roxboro Road and Duke Street, with Highway Trust Fund 'urban loop' money under § 136-176(b)(2)?
No. The Trust Fund's statutory description of the Durham Northern Loop specifies a 'multilane facility on new location from I-85 west of Durham to U.S. 70 east of Durham.' Improvements to existing inn…
If a Texas constable misses the 270-day deadline to show a permanent peace officer license, does he lose his office automatically?
The Attorney General concluded the office is forfeited by operation of law but the constable is not automatically removed. Under Local Government Code section 86.0021(b), a constable who fails to give…
Does the Texas plain-language loan contract rule apply to bank and credit union loans, or only to Consumer Credit Commissioner loans?
The Attorney General concluded the rule reaches only loans the consumer credit commissioner regulates. Finance Code section 341.502(a) requires that a contract for a Chapter 342 loan, a Chapter 348 re…
What can the Texas Funeral Service Commission regulate at cemeteries and crematories?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Funeral Service Commission's authority over registered cemetery and crematory owners or operators is narrow. In 2001, House Bill 3067 brought cemeteries a…
Did Idaho's AG correct or supplement Opinion 01-4 on the Land Board's authority over the land bank fund?
This opinion supersedes Section D.2 of Opinion 01-4 to the extent of conflict with Idaho Code provisions identified in this opinion. The other conclusions of 01-4 (which endowments are eligible, that …
Under Maryland's 911 Law, can a wireless phone company bill the state's 911 Trust Fund for its own costs of providing enhanced 911 service, or does the fund only reimburse counties?
No automatic right. The opinion concluded that a wireless telephone company is not entitled to recover its enhanced 911 costs from Maryland's 911 Trust Fund, but the Emergency Number Systems Board has…
Can the Texas Health Care Information Council use confidential or non-public data to prepare its reports?
The Attorney General drew a line between using data and releasing it. The Texas Health Care Information Council collects hospital and provider data, only a stripped-down subset of which (public use da…
Can Texas require elevators to meet the current ASME safety code, or only the older adopted version?
The Attorney General concluded the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation could not require elevators, escalators, and related equipment to meet the current ASME safety codes. Health and Safety …
Does the Texas ban on hiring former water-board members apply to a board created before the law passed?
The Attorney General concluded the statute did not reach the San Antonio Water System. In 2001, the Legislature added Local Government Code section 402.909, which bars a municipality (or its water-uti…
When the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board spends Measure 66 lottery money to monitor a stream or control invasive weeds, does that count as a 'capital expenditure' for the 65% mandate, or as ordinary operations?
The AG concluded that monitoring, evaluation, and weed control could be capital expenditures, but only when they were part of a specific project to restore, protect, or improve a wild salmonid populat…
Do Texas hospitals need patient consent before reporting their data to the Health Care Information Council?
The Attorney General concluded hospitals do not need written patient authorizations to send required data to the Texas Health Care Information Council. Chapter 108 of the Health and Safety Code requir…
Can a Texas university use a bank as its depository if a regent works for that bank?
The Attorney General reaffirmed an earlier opinion (JC-0426) and held that Texas Woman's University could not use a bank as a depository when one of its regents was an officer and employee of that ban…
Can a Texas county auditor sit in on a commissioners court's closed-session meeting with its attorney?
The Attorney General concluded a county commissioners court may let the county auditor attend a closed meeting, but only on conditions, and with a real risk attached. For a meeting closed under Govern…
Can a town council go into a closed executive session to discuss police salaries or get legal advice about the police department?
No, under the law as it stood in 2002. The AG found the Fenwick Island Town Council improperly used executive session three times to discuss police salary increases and general police department issue…
When the EPA delegated NPDES general permit authority for concentrated animal feeding operations to NC's Environmental Management Commission, can NC use its own stricter 'storm event more severe than the 25-year, 24-hour storm' standard from § 143-215.10C(b), can DENR co-permit swine integrators, and can DENR include bypass-and-upset provisions and other more-stringent conditions?
Yes to all the main questions. NC's § 143-215.10C(b) standard is more stringent than federal law, not less, and DENR must not authorize discharges under EPA's broader 'chronic rainfall' or 'catastroph…
Do you need a funeral director's license in Texas to sell caskets?
The Attorney General concluded a casket is "funeral merchandise" under Chapter 651 of the Occupations Code, but that selling a casket by itself, even for an imminent burial, is not an act of funeral d…
Does Texas's school 'disruptive activity' crime require intent to disrupt?
The Attorney General concluded that section 37.123 of the Education Code, the "disruptive activity" offense, requires proof that the actor intended to bring about one of the prohibited results, not ju…
Can a Texas county maintain a road the public uses but that was never officially made public?
The Attorney General concluded a county may spend public funds to build, improve, or maintain only a "public road," and may not maintain a private road, except for the narrow constitutional exception …
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