State AG Opinions
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If a NC town buys a private lake that is subject to a conservation easement, and the conservation easement gets amended to allow a public park with walkways and small buildings, does that create a public trust doctrine problem under NC law?
No. The proposed amendment to the conservation easement to authorize the Town of Holly Springs to rebuild a hurricane-damaged dam and use the recreated lake as a public park does not create a public t…
When a county DSS is investigating a possible welfare fraud, can it require an employer to hand over the suspect's employment information without consent, subpoena, or court order?
It depends on the employer type. Private-sector employers can voluntarily disclose to DSS (unless restricted by employment contract or collective bargaining), but no law requires them to do so without…
Who can serve as the local school district's representative on an IEP team for a child with disabilities? Does the role have to be filled by a particular position (like a principal), or does the school district have flexibility?
Local school administrative units have discretion. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the State Board's rules specify functional qualifications (must be qualified to provide o…
Can you discharge New York DMV civil penalties for driving without insurance in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Yes. The Supremacy Clause overrides Vehicle and Traffic Law § 318(11)(e), so a debtor who completes Chapter 13 plan payments can discharge DMV civil penalties imposed under Article 6 of the V&T Law.
Can a New York joint village and town planning board, formed to review border-area land use applications, weight its members' votes so the host municipality has the majority?
Yes. The AG concluded that a Village-Town joint planning board formed under municipal cooperation statutes can adopt weighted voting designed to give the municipality where the property sits a majorit…
After the Bailey court order on 401(k) and 457 plan vesting, does the August 12, 1989 date still control class membership, or did the court drop that requirement?
August 12, 1989 still controls. The NC AG concluded that the November 1998 Bailey class-definition order, even though its Conclusion of Law No. 3 did not repeat the August 12, 1989 date, did not elimi…
Can a member of the public find out whether a specific NC public school teacher has a valid teaching license, and from which agency?
Yes from the State Board of Education or DPI; no from the local school district. The AG split the analysis by record custodian. Teacher licensure status is a public record under G.S. § 132-1 in the ab…
Can off-duty New York deputies respond to a neighboring county's mutual aid request and be paid by the race track they're protecting?
No, not as mutual aid. The AG concluded that Wayne County's arrangement (off-duty deputies traveling in patrol cars to Watkins Glen, being sworn in by Schuyler County, and being paid by the NASCAR tra…
If a Texas water district director runs for another office, do they automatically lose their director seat?
A state representative asked whether Water Code section 49.072, which says a water district director who becomes a candidate for another office 'is no longer qualified to serve as director,' is uncons…
Can a New York property owner whose land is inside the village but only gets fire protection (no streets, sidewalks, lights, sewer, or water) petition to be excluded from village boundaries?
No. The AG concluded that Village Law § 18-1804 makes property ineligible for exclusion if it receives any one of the listed village benefits, including fire protection. Even though the Village of Att…
Between October 1998 and July 1, 1999, were the ex officio members of the NC Child Fatality Task Force allowed to vote on Task Force matters?
Yes, until July 1, 1999. The General Assembly had passed two bills six days apart in October 1998 with overlapping but inconsistent ex officio voting rules. Senate Bill 1260 (Session Law 1998-202) rec…
Who controls a Texas county's records management and preservation fee, the commissioners court or the county clerk?
Three county officials asked who decides how the records management and preservation fee that a county clerk collects under Local Government Code section 118.0216 may be spent: the commissioners court…
Can a Texas county add the 15% delinquent-tax collection penalty to property taxes that become delinquent on July 1?
On behalf of the Brazos County Tax Assessor-Collector, the county attorney asked whether the extra penalty that pays for collection-attorney costs (Tax Code section 33.07) reaches taxes that fall deli…
If someone with a cognitive disability needs help understanding what's happening in an Oregon court case, must the court pay for a 'process interpreter' under the ADA?
The AG concluded that an Oregon court could require a party requesting a process interpreter to file a motion and hold a hearing under UTCR 7.060, and that the court had discretion to deny the request…
Which Texas school district taxes a pooled gas well's royalties, the one with the well or the one where the land is?
The Wheeler County Attorney (whose duties the District Attorney for the 31st and 223rd Judicial Districts had taken over) asked how to split ad valorem taxes on gas royalties between two school distri…
Which government-held funds count as 'public funds' that a Texas agency can invest under the Public Funds Investment Act?
Catherine Ghiglieri, the Texas Banking Commissioner, asked which funds her department controls may be invested under the Public Funds Investment Act (Government Code chapter 2256) and what 'public fun…
Can a Texas appraisal district pay its chief appraiser's legal fees for defending a criminal charge tied to his job?
Senator Judith Zaffirini asked whether the board of an appraisal district may reimburse the attorney fees its chief appraiser ran up defending a criminal prosecution for official misconduct. (In Atasc…
Can a Texas county force a road across private land to reach a landlocked neighbor's property?
Howard Freemyer, the Kent County Attorney, asked whether the county commissioners court could establish a 'neighborhood road' under Transportation Code section 251.053 for a landowner whose only acces…
Can someone with a federal conviction restore their Texas civil rights if they also have a misdemeanor on their record?
Representative Al Edwards asked whether a person convicted of a prior federal offense may apply to restore civil rights forfeited in Texas because of that federal conviction, if the person has also be…
Does a public body violate FOIA if more people show up to a meeting than it expected and the room can't hold everyone?
No, under the law as it stood in 1998, as long as the room was reasonable for the crowd the public body actually expected. The AG found Woodbridge's school district didn't violate FOIA when a larger-t…
Does the Texas colonias subdivision law apply when a school district leases teacher housing on its grounds?
Joe Rubio, the District Attorney for the 49th Judicial District, asked on behalf of the Webb Consolidated Independent School District whether the colonias statute (Local Government Code chapter 232, s…
If a court issues a stay of execution after the lethal injection has already started, must Oregon prison officials stop the execution and try to save the inmate's life?
The AG concluded that a stay received at any point before completion of all three lethal-injection chemicals was valid and required the superintendent to stop the injection; the prison had to provide …
Is it constitutional for Texas to require water-district board members to own land in the district?
Sherry Robinson, the Waller County Criminal District Attorney, asked whether the land-ownership requirement for serving on a fresh-water-supply district board (Water Code section 53.063(2)) and a para…
When two Minnesota townships split maintenance of a town-line road in an 1885 agreement and the counties later took over part of the road, can the county boards reallocate responsibility for the remaining township portion?
Yes. The AG concluded that Minn. Stat. § 164.12, subd. 6 authorizes county boards to determine the proper division of town-line road maintenance responsibility, even where the prior allocation was set…
Can off-duty employees of a New York public water authority moonlight as plumbers installing private service lines that connect to the authority's water mains?
No, regardless of whether those employees personally inspect the work. The AG concluded that Suffolk County Water Authority employees should not take off-duty work installing private water service lin…
Can someone with an arson conviction join a New York volunteer fire company or serve as a fire commissioner if they have a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities?
For membership in a volunteer fire company, yes, but the company and the fire district can still refuse based on the conviction. For fire commissioner, no: a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities re…
If a New York county misses the eight-, twelve-, or twenty-year deadline for reviewing an agricultural district, does the district just expire on its own?
No. The AG concluded that an agricultural district does not terminate by operation of law if the county fails to conduct the periodic review under Agriculture and Markets Law § 303-a. The statute requ…
Can a Minnesota statutory city move its city-owned telephone and cable television companies under a public utility commission that operates independent of the city council?
No. The AG concluded that Minn. Stat. § 412.351 enumerates the public utilities a statutory city's public utility commission may take jurisdiction over (water, light and power, gas, sewer, and similar…
How does an attorney-in-fact sign a deed for a principal in New York: with the principal's name and his own, or just his own name with the 'attorney-in-fact' label?
Either format works. The AG concluded that no New York statute (General Obligations Law power-of-attorney provisions; Real Property Law recording provisions) makes the attorney-in-fact's authority dep…
Can a New York sewage-works corporation that provides sewer service to a private development reorganize itself as a limited liability company?
No. The AG concluded that the Tracy Sewer Works Corporation could not reorganize as an LLC. Article 10 of the Transportation Corporations Law is the exclusive vehicle for private sewer service to area…
Can voters force a referendum on consolidating two New York towns by signing a petition, or does it take action by both town boards?
Both town boards have to act. The AG concluded that Town Law Article 5-B does not authorize a citizen petition to put town consolidation on the ballot. Each town board has to pass a resolution submitt…
Can the same person serve as the Director of a county planning board and as a member of the county industrial development agency in New York?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions of director of the Fulton County Planning Board and member of the County's IDA are compatible. General Municipal Law § 856(4) expressly authorizes municipal of…
Can a county building code enforcement officer also serve as a county fire investigator who investigates the cause of fires in buildings he previously permitted?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible because the fire investigator would be reviewing his own code-enforcement work. Even when a colleague does the fire investigation, the collegial…
If a New York city wants to scrap its city personnel officer and have the county civil service commission take over, does that change require a public vote?
No. Municipal Home Rule Law § 23(2)(k) requires a mandatory referendum only for changes to a city civil service commission's membership or terms. Geneva had a personnel officer, not a commission, so a…
If a town board appointed a Deputy Supervisor by resolution but never separately created the office, was the office still validly established?
Yes. The AG concluded the Town of Forestburgh effectively created the Deputy Supervisor position. The 1992 resolution combined creation and appointment in one step, and although the appointment should…
When the law says a school finance officer 'serves at the pleasure of the superintendent,' can the superintendent fire the finance officer without the school board's approval, and can the finance officer appeal the firing to the school board?
Yes, the superintendent can fire the school finance officer unilaterally for any reason or no reason (so long as not illegal), without board approval and without giving the finance officer a right to …
Can political party observers inside a NC voting place use a video camera to film voters, or use a cell phone, while they observe?
No on video cameras, yes (with discretion) on cell phones. The AG concluded that filming voters from inside the voting enclosure exceeded what G.S. § 163-45 allowed observers to do, and would intimida…
If North Carolina repealed its Enterprise Corporation investment tax credit in 1996, can someone who invested in 1996 still claim the credit, and at what cap?
Yes, but only at the reduced cap. The AG reaffirmed its 1996 conclusion: investments made during calendar year 1996 in a NC Enterprise Corporation remained eligible for the credit on the 1997 return, …
Can a NC county officially 'recognize' a Native American tribe, and if so, does the county's recognition force the state to recognize the tribe too?
No on official state recognition; yes on supportive resolutions. Orange County had adopted a 1995 resolution recognizing the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation as a Native American tribe indigenous …
When a New Jersey town council, school board, or other public body goes into closed (executive) session, do they have to take minutes of what was discussed?
Yes. The Open Public Meetings Act requires reasonably comprehensible minutes of 'all' meetings, and that includes closed/executive sessions, not just the public portions. The minutes don't have to be …
If the General Assembly exempts a school district from local building permit fees, can the school district and the county still work around that by having the county charge the contractor and the school district reimburse the contractor?
No. A 1997 local act exempted Wake County Public Schools and qualified Wake County nonpublic schools from local development charges, including building permit fees, for school construction. The AG con…
How do New York villages handle chair designations and member terms on zoning and planning boards under the revised Village Law, and what happens when those rules are misapplied?
The AG worked through four sub-questions for Westhampton Beach: the 1996 three-year chair designation for the ZBA was invalid as to term length because Village Law now provides no term and the chair s…
If a county commissioner sits on a North Carolina district board of health, does the three-consecutive-three-year-terms limit that applies to other board members apply to that commissioner too?
No. Under N.C.G.S. § 130A-37(c), county commissioner members of a district board of health are not subject to the three-consecutive-term limit that applies to other board members. The only statutory l…
What are Newburgh city marshals authorized to do, and can they carry a pistol inside New York City?
Newburgh city marshals can serve civil and criminal process of the Newburgh City Court throughout Orange County, but the court may direct that police officers serve particular criminal process. As pea…
Can a village put a part-time police officer's towing business on the official rotation list the police use to call towers?
Yes, if the village uses an automatic rotation system and takes steps to keep the officer from being involved in calls that benefit his own business. The AG warned that the officer's own business shou…
Is the Greensprings Livestock District in Oregon a valid 'fence-out' district when over a third of its acreage is federal BLM land, and can someone still challenge it 23 years after it was formed?
The AG concluded that federal lands may be counted toward the 2,000-acre minimum required to form a livestock district under ORS 607.010(3), that any challenge to the 1974 formation of the Greenspring…
Is it a FOIA violation if a public body briefly strays into an improper topic during executive session but stops as soon as someone objects?
No, according to this opinion. The AG cleared Woodbridge's school district of any FOIA violation across five executive-session topics, finding that personnel and labor-negotiation items fit within FOI…
Can a town agenda say a council will consider 'nominations' for a vacant seat and then hold an actual election at the same meeting?
No, under the law as it stood in 1998. The AG found the Town of Townsend violated FOIA by posting notice of its meeting only six days ahead of the required seven, and by listing the agenda item as "no…
When a NC public charter school enrolls students from a school district that levies a supplemental school tax, does the charter school get a per-pupil share of that supplemental tax revenue or only state funding?
It gets a share. The Charter School Act requires the local school administrative unit to transfer to the charter school a pro-rata share of its 'local current expense appropriation' for each enrolled …
Can Oregon ODOT share driver and vehicle personal information with other state agencies, and what limits apply to redisclosure?
Yes, with limits. ODOT could disclose motor vehicle personal information to state agencies for their governmental functions. Resale or redisclosure to outside parties was restricted to ORS 802.179's a…
When must a NC public school principal report an act of indecent liberties with a minor to law enforcement, and what's the age cutoff?
When the principal has personal knowledge or actual notice from school personnel of conduct violating G.S. § 14-202.1, and the victim is under 16. The principal's specific reporting duty under G.S. § …
Can the mayor of a New York city serve at the same time as a member of the county legislature?
Yes. The AG concluded that the positions of city mayor and county legislator are compatible. County Law § 411 does not list either office in its bar on dual elective county/town office, and the AG saw…
Can a New York city charter require a super-majority (four-fifths) vote of the city council to enact local laws?
No. The AG concluded that a city charter provision requiring a four-of-five vote of the council to adopt a local law was inconsistent with State law. Municipal Home Rule Law § 20(1) requires only a ma…
Can a New York village vote to abolish its police department, and what does the legal process look like?
Yes, but only after the village board first passes a local law to abolish the department. The local law is subject to permissive referendum: voters can force a vote by petition, or the board can call …
Can a Texas sheriff make an attorney or bondsman post collateral, or refuse the attorney's bail bond for a client?
Two county attorneys, Richard Miller of Bell County and Bill Moore of Johnson County, asked about a sheriff's authority over bail bonds, especially bonds an attorney executes for a client the attorney…
Can a Texas commissioners court continue a meeting for up to a week without posting a new notice?
Jose Rodriguez, the El Paso County Attorney, asked whether a commissioners court could continue a meeting for up to one week without reposting notice, pointing to the Local Government Code provision t…
If a NC county votes in 1998 to expand its board of commissioners from three to five, when does the expansion actually take effect, the next county election in 2000 or 2002 as the resolution said?
The next election for county offices, which was the year 2000. The Madison County Board of Commissioners had passed a resolution scheduling the November 1998 referendum that, if approved, would seat a…
If a tiny Oregon county is absorbed into a larger one, can the bigger county keep its landfill 'host fee' programs only for residents who lived there before the merger, or does the constitution require equal treatment?
The AG concluded that, on the facts provided, there was no apparent justification for restricting Gilliam County's host-fee-funded economic development programs to citizens and businesses in the Count…
If a person moves to South Dakota for a 12-month contract job but keeps voting and paying taxes in their home state, can they get a South Dakota concealed pistol permit after 30 days?
No. The AG concluded that the 30-day county-or-municipal residency requirement in SDCL 23-7-7.1 required actual residency, not just temporary physical presence. A contract worker who kept voting regis…
If a foreign visitor wants to get married in NC and is not eligible for a Social Security number, can the register of deeds still issue a marriage license?
Yes. NC Session Laws 1997-433 had added an SSN requirement to G.S. § 51-8 as part of the state's response to a federal child support enforcement law (42 U.S.C. § 666(a)(13)(A)) that required SSNs on l…
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