State AG Opinions
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Who is disqualified from serving on a Texas county appraisal review board?
The Attorney General concluded the El Paso board member was ineligible to serve. The decisive point was that, when he was appointed, he was acting as paid legal counsel to the appraisal district, whic…
Can a Texas county fix an invalid appointment by waiting until the appointee becomes eligible?
No, not automatically. The Attorney General concluded that if a county attorney's appointment was invalid when made because the appointee had not lived in the county for the required six months, the d…
Could the UNC Health Care System legally spend $163 million in public funds to acquire control of Rex Healthcare, a private nonprofit hospital, without specific authorization from the General Assembly? Would Rex employees become state employees? Would Rex get state immunities?
The AG concluded yes the System had authority, no Rex employees would not become state employees, and no Rex would not get state immunities. The acquisition was structured as a corporate-control trans…
Can a physician assistant attend a birth in a North Carolina hospital instead of a doctor or a certified nurse midwife?
No. The AG read 10 NCAC 3C .4302(a) at face value: the rule said each birth had to be attended 'by a physician or certified nurse midwife' with documented current competence and appropriate privileges…
Does Maryland's law requiring people to self-identify their own race on state forms apply to police arrest and booking forms?
The Attorney General concluded that Maryland's 1998 law requiring self-identification of race and allowing multiple racial categories applies generally to state forms, including those used by the Depa…
Is it constitutional for North Carolina to make you pay the use tax on out-of-state purchases on your state income tax return?
Yes. The AG concluded that bundling use-tax collection with the individual income tax return did not run afoul of the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act or the dormant Commerce Clause restrictions in *Q…
Can a Texas state agency create an advisory committee without express statutory authority?
Yes, if the agency's own governing statutes authorize it, expressly or by implication. The Attorney General concluded that chapter 2110 of the Government Code, which is about the cost and effectivenes…
Can a Texas state agency make you use comp time before getting workers' comp benefits?
No, on both counts. The Attorney General concluded that a state agency has no authority to require an injured employee to exhaust accumulated compensatory leave before weekly income benefits begin und…
When a New York environmental conservation officer makes an arrest for a Fish and Wildlife Law offense, does the Penal Law's general firearm seizure rule apply, or only the narrower ECL rule limited to illegal deer-taking?
The ECL rule controls. The AG concluded ECL § 71-0907(4)(f)(3) authorizes firearm seizure only for misdemeanors involving the illegal taking or attempted taking of wild deer; the broader Penal Law § 4…
How does a Texas special-law city like Socorro convert to home-rule status?
The Attorney General concluded that the City of Socorro, a special-law city created by the legislature in 1871, could not amend its charter to become a hybrid special-law/home-rule city by following o…
Can a Texas nursing home use an automated machine to dispense prescription drugs without a pharmacist on site?
The Attorney General concluded no. Under the Texas Pharmacy Act, a machine that sorts, labels, and packages prescription drugs is dispensing them, which makes the facility where it sits a pharmacy tha…
Can a Texas school district keep a permanent substitute teacher whose relative was just elected to the school board?
The Attorney General concluded yes, as a general matter. A permanent substitute, an uncertified teacher hired to fill a vacancy until a certified teacher is found, who is expected to report every day …
Can Oregon use Highway Fund money to administer commercial-driver drug-testing recordkeeping under HB 3292?
No. Recording positive commercial-driver drug-test results and conducting administrative hearings on them was a non-highway purpose, so Highway Fund money could not constitutionally pay for it.
Can a Texas municipal utility district hire the spouse of a board member?
The Attorney General concluded no. When a municipal utility district board hired a board member's husband as utility superintendent, the board members who voted for the hiring violated section 573.041…
Can I still file a FOIA complaint about a school board meeting that happened over a year ago?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000. The AG declined to act on a complaint about a Red Clay Consolidated School District executive session held in November 1998 because it was filed more than six mo…
Does the UNC Health Care System have the legal authority to become Rex Healthcare's sole corporate member, and if it does, will Rex employees thereby become state employees?
Yes the System has authority through its broad statutory delegation under G.S. 116-37(b)(4). No Rex employees will not become state employees. Rex stays a private 55A nonprofit even with the System as…
Who has to show proof of selective service registration to get a Texas state government job?
The Attorney General concluded that section 651.005 of the Government Code, which bars a state agency from hiring someone who would be required to register for the selective service unless that person…
How far back can a Texas county judge recover underpaid salary, and what time limit applies?
The Attorney General reached two conclusions about three Fort Bend County court at law judges who had been underpaid for years. First, no statute of limitations automatically cuts off their back-pay c…
Can a Texas credit union charge the government for the cost of producing records under a grand jury subpoena?
The Attorney General concluded no. A credit union served with a grand jury subpoena for a member's records cannot recover from the investigating authority the cost of retrieving and producing those do…
When the NC Department of Insurance collects restitution from a regulated insurer but the affected consumers cannot be identified or each share is too small to mail, does that money have to be turned over to the State Treasurer under the unclaimed property law?
It depended on the facts. The AG drew a line between three situations. First, when a specific consumer was identified and the Department was holding a fixed sum owed to that consumer but could not del…
Does the Texas business-aircraft tax allocation law (Tax Code 21.055) apply to past tax years?
The Attorney General concluded that section 21.055 of the Tax Code, which bars a taxing unit from taxing the share of a business aircraft's value attributable to its use outside Texas and sets a depar…
Can a Texas water district lease unused fiber-optic cable capacity to a telecom company?
The Attorney General concluded that the Tarrant Regional Water District is not barred by statute from leasing the excess capacity in a fiber-optic cable (installed to run its water pipeline) to a priv…
Can a Texas budget rider change how emergency medical services and trauma funds are divided among counties?
The Attorney General concluded that Rider 61 was invalid. Health and Safety Code section 773.122 already set the formula for distributing emergency medical services and trauma care funds, based on eac…
Can National Park Service rangers arrest people for state crimes in Texas national parks?
The Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 965, which added subsection (d) to article 2.122 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, gives commissioned National Park Service law enforcement officers th…
Are New York volunteer attorneys who help pro se litigants in Housing Court eligible for State defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law § 17?
Yes. The AG concluded that the Office of Court Administration's Volunteer Lawyers Project is a 'state-sponsored volunteer program' within the meaning of Public Officers Law § 17, so participating volu…
Can a Texas county make the district clerk hand out juror checks instead of the treasurer?
The Attorney General concluded that a district clerk may not deliver juror reimbursement checks; that task belongs to the county treasurer. Delivering a county warrant to the person it is payable to i…
Can a Texas county paint center stripes and install speed bumps on county roads?
The Attorney General concluded that center stripes and speed bumps, when used to regulate, warn, or guide traffic, are traffic-control devices a county may install. Center stripes are allowed and must…
Is a car dealership's prize drawing that requires a test drive an illegal lottery in Texas?
The Attorney General concluded that an automobile dealer's promotional contest requiring an entrant to take a test drive as a condition of entering a prize drawing is not a 'lottery' under section 47.…
Where does a Texas county deposit a fine collected after a probation modification?
The Attorney General concluded that money from an 'increase in the defendant's fine' imposed when a court modifies community supervision must go into a special county fund for the community supervisio…
Can a school district charge a records-request fee if it never adopted a formal fee policy?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000. The AG found the Brandywine School District may have violated FOIA by charging a resident $7.50 for records access without having a formal fee policy in place, b…
Can a Texas county take over and maintain the private roads in a gated subdivision?
The Attorney General concluded that a county commissioners court may accept a dedication of the private roads in a gated subdivision, but the moment it does, those roads stop being private and become …
Can a Texas county bid on a state highway maintenance contract?
The Attorney General concluded that counties have neither express nor implied statutory authority to bid on state highway maintenance contracts, so they may not do so. A commissioners court can contra…
Can Texas use general revenue to build a museum at UT Permian Basin?
The Attorney General concluded that the 1999 appropriation of general revenue to The University of Texas of the Permian Basin to construct a presidential museum building was barred by article VII, sec…
Can a Texas public board let people comment on topics not listed on the meeting agenda?
The Attorney General concluded that a governmental body may allow public comment at its meetings on matters not specified in the posted notice. After a 1999 amendment, a 'public comment' session is it…
Can a Texas DA be sued or pay a merchant for failing to collect on a bad check?
The Attorney General concluded that a prosecutor's office could not be held civilly liable to a merchant for failing to prosecute, or for negligence in prosecuting, a bad-check collection. Collecting …
Do Maryland counties have to carry no-fault (PIP) and uninsured motorist coverage on their own vehicles?
No. The opinion concluded that Maryland counties, like the State itself, are not required by statute to maintain personal injury protection (PIP) or uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on their self-insu…
When NC police seize a car under the DWI-while-license-revoked statute and tow it through the local rotation instead of the school board's tow contractor, who pays the towing bill?
The county board of education paid the bill, and had only 10 days to retrieve the vehicle. The AG read G.S. § 20-28.3(d) as putting the retrieval and payment duty on the local school board whenever th…
Can a Georgia local law (here, a DeKalb County act) let a county commissioner stay in office until December after resigning to run for CEO, or does the Georgia Constitution force the seat vacant the moment the commissioner qualifies?
The Constitution wins. Article II, Section II, Paragraph V automatically vacates the office the moment the elected official qualifies for another office whose term would overlap by more than 30 days. …
Who appoints a Texas county purchasing agent, the commissioners court or a special board?
The Attorney General concluded that the Parker County Commissioners Court was not authorized to appoint a county purchasing agent (or call the position 'agent of contracts' or 'procurement officer') u…
Can a Texas agency waive a statutory insurance fee by rule for single-interest auto policies?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Automobile Theft Prevention Authority could not adopt a rule exempting 'single interest' automobile physical-damage policies from the $1 fee that the stat…
Can a Texas school district pay employees to take an early-exit buyout?
The Attorney General concluded that a school district's 'early exit' plan, which pays employees to retire or resign early, is not an unconstitutional gift of public funds as long as each participating…
Is a town responsible for producing its old records if it already transferred them to the state archives?
No, under the law as it stood in 2000, once a town no longer has custody of the records. The AG found Bellefonte didn't violate FOIA by not producing pre-1970 town records already transferred to the S…
Can sick leave a Georgia state employee earned while a member of ERS be credited toward retirement under the Teachers Retirement System after the employee transfers to a TRS-covered job?
No. The Georgia AG concluded that O.C.G.A. § 47-3-92 only authorizes credit for sick leave that was actually accrued while the employee was a TRS member. ERS-era sick leave does not transfer in for TR…
Can a Georgia trial judge use First Offender Act sentencing for a misdemeanor, or is it limited to felonies only?
Yes. The Georgia AG concluded that the First Offender Act, O.C.G.A. § 42-8-60, applies to both felony and misdemeanor offenses unless a specific statute (such as the DUI bar in § 40-6-391(f)) carves o…
Does a New York village need town consent to condemn property in another town for an electric utility project?
No. The AG concluded the Eminent Domain Procedure Law and General Municipal Law Article 14-A govern, not Village Law § 4-412(3)(1) (which requires town consent for floodwater drainage acquisitions). T…
Can a New York town pass a local law that regulates land excavation and charges applicants a fee to fund the inspection program?
Yes. The AG concluded a town may regulate excavation and reclamation under its home rule police power, and may charge fees that approximate the cost of the regulatory program. A fee that exceeds progr…
Does a New York town board of assessment review member have to recuse from voting on their own property's tax assessment?
Yes, as a matter of common-law obligation, the AG concluded. State law (Real Property Tax Law § 523) requires disclosure but does not require recusal, so a member cannot be disciplined under State law…
Can a volunteer firefighter from one New York company help fight fires in another company's territory where he lives or works?
Yes, on a recurring basis if structured under the statute. General Municipal Law § 209-i(1-a) allows a volunteer firefighter to offer his services to a different fire company in an area where he lives…
When must a Texas quarry or pit have a safety barrier near a road?
The Attorney General concluded that the Railroad Commission's rule defining an 'unacceptable unsafe location' under the Texas Aggregate Quarry and Pit Safety Act was a valid, reasonable reading of an …
Can a New York town clerk also serve as a fire district commissioner for a fire district inside that town?
Yes. The AG concluded the two offices are compatible. A fire district is a separate political subdivision from the town, so neither office supervises the other. The oath-of-office filing requirement u…
Can a New York town supervisor also serve as the town librarian?
No. The AG concluded the offices are incompatible. The supervisor sits on the town board, which appoints the library board, which selects the librarian and sets the librarian's salary. The supervisor …
Can a Texas county clerk take a fee out of a refunded cash bail bond?
The Attorney General concluded that a county or district clerk may withhold an administrative fee from a refunded cash bail bond under section 117.055 of the Local Government Code. Article 17.02 of th…
Can a Texas river authority force septic tank owners to hook up to its sewer system?
The Attorney General concluded that the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, unlike a city, has no authority to compel septic tank users to connect to a sewage disposal system. A river authority may build…
Can a Texas state council use its federal grant money to lobby the legislature?
The Attorney General concluded that the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities is a state agency that uses appropriated money, so the lobbying ban in the General Appropriations Act and chapter 5…
Does the Texas Open Meetings Act apply to a joint city-county staff committee?
The Attorney General concluded that a three-member committee of staff appointed by Harris County, the City of Houston, and the Houston Independent School District to coordinate the sale of tax-foreclo…
Can a New York county legislature appoint one of its own members to the county planning commission?
No. The AG concluded a governing body may not appoint one of its own members to another public position. The Schuyler County Legislature could not appoint a legislator to the County Planning Commissio…
Does a village justice lose his office if he temporarily moves outside the village while his new house is built?
No. The AG concluded a village justice may retain office during a temporary residence outside the village. Public Officers Law residency requirements use 'domicile' as the standard, and domicile depen…
Can a New York town adopt a local law that expands when alternate ZBA members can fill in for regulars, beyond what Town Law § 267(11) allows?
Yes. The AG concluded a town may supersede Town Law § 267(11), which only allows alternates when regular members have conflicts of interest. Under Municipal Home Rule Law § 10(1)(ii)(d)(3), the town c…
Does a town have to give special notice before voting to make trash collection mandatory for all residents?
No special notice was required beyond FOIA's normal agenda rules, under the law as it stood in 1999. The AG found the Town of Townsend properly listed "Mandatory Trash Collection For All Residents" as…
When a county board creates a hospital authority, can the county reserve the right to change the size of the authority's board later, or does only the hospital authority itself have that power?
Only the hospital authority itself. The AG concluded that § 131E-18(a) expressly grants the power to increase or decrease the number of hospital authority commissioners to 'the commissioners' (meaning…
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