State AG Opinions
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What can a South Carolina city legally do with development impact fee revenues, and can the money fund parking lots for existing buildings?
Two answers. First, expenditures of development impact fees in South Carolina must be tied to the city's adopted capital improvements plan; spending outside the plan is not allowed. Second, parking lo…
If a South Carolina landowner subdivides farmland but keeps owning it and keeps farming it, does the owner need to reapply for the agricultural property tax exemption?
No. Once a parcel has been classified as agricultural under S.C. Code § 12-43-220, the owner does not have to file a new application to keep that classification after subdividing the tract, as long as…
Are privately owned mutual water companies exempt from California city and county building and zoning ordinances?
No. Government Code section 53091 exempts specified publicly owned water facilities from local building and zoning ordinances, but it does not extend that immunity to privately owned public water syst…
Can an Arkansas agency release a police officer's disciplinary suspension record under FOIA?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the 'Disciplinary Action' form was properly treated as an employee-evaluation record, and that the four conditions for releasing such records were met: the off…
When can an Arkansas sheriff's office release suspension letters from a deputy's personnel file under FOIA?
Partially consistent with FOIA. The administrative records and unsolicited third-party commendation letters are releasable with proper redactions. Supervisor commendations and promotion letters must b…
Which records in an Arkansas deputy sheriff's personnel file must be withheld from a FOIA request when there's been no final discipline?
Partially consistent with FOIA. The custodian may release the administrative records and unsolicited third-party commendation letters with proper redactions. The custodian must withhold the employee e…
Can a Mississippi county board of supervisors install a culvert or grade an entrance from private property to a state highway?
Yes. Under Miss. Code § 65-7-81, the board of supervisors has discretionary authority (subject to MDOT approval) to install culverts or maintain entrances from private property to state highways when …
Can a Mississippi state senator run for justice court judge and keep his Senate seat, or does winning the judgeship cost him the legislative seat?
A Mississippi state senator may run for justice court judge while remaining in the Senate. But taking the oath of office as a judge automatically vacates the Senate seat under Article I, §§ 1 and 2 of…
Can a Mississippi public utility commission offer different employer-paid health insurance percentages to employees who join a wellness program versus those who don't?
Yes. Mississippi law lets a public utility commission split employees into two groups based on voluntary wellness-program participation and pay a different employer share for each group, as long as ev…
Does a South Carolina solicitor have to report a healthcare provider's pre-trial intervention to the National Practitioner Data Bank, even though state law makes that information confidential?
The AG advises that solicitors should make the federally-required report to the National Practitioner Data Bank when a defendant in a healthcare-related prosecution enters pre-trial intervention. The …
Is joint custody the default in Arkansas child custody cases, and what did Act 604 of 2021 change?
Joint custody was not the default before Act 604. Act 1156 of 2013 made joint custody 'favored' in divorce but not presumed. Act 604 of 2021 imposed a rebuttable presumption that joint custody is in a…
After Arkansas Act 314 of 2025, can cities still plan and zone in unincorporated areas outside their corporate limits?
Cities lost ETJ planning and zoning authority. Act 314 of 2025 repealed § 14-56-413, eliminating municipal authority to plan or zone outside corporate limits. Previously-enacted ETJ ordinances may no …
When is the Arkansas annual school board election held, and how much advance notice does the public get?
Annual Arkansas school board elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March, on the date of the preferential primary in even-numbered years. If that Tuesday falls on a state h…
Does Kansas SB 244 require veterans nursing-home rooms, state park cabins, and prison housing to be separated by biological sex?
Only some prison cells. The Kansas AG concluded that shared prison cells with toilets are covered by SB 244, while veterans nursing-home rooms, state park cabins, and prison dormitories with separate …
Can Jacksonville, Arkansas dissolve the absorbed-but-still-dry Gray Township without going to the General Assembly?
No. Arkansas law has no mechanism for a defunct voting district like Gray Township to become fully wet (for on-premises and off-premises alcohol) without legislative action. Act 1018 of 2013 authorize…
Does an Oklahoma county sheriff have to transport jail inmates to and from court appearances when a jail trust operates the county jail?
Yes. The county sheriff is statutorily required to transport inmates between the jail and the courthouse for court appearances. Where a Title 60 jail trust operates the jail, that duty can shift to th…
Can a Mississippi county board of supervisors use county funds to repair a dam on private property when the dam threatens to wash out a nearby public road?
Yes, if the board satisfies the procedural steps in § 19-5-92.1(2): (a) make a formal finding on its minutes that the work is necessary for public health, safety, and welfare; (b) give written notice …
Can the Mississippi Department of Revenue or a county tax assessor set the 'true value' for property tax purposes higher than the property's appraised or market value?
AG Fitch's only definitive answer: under § 27-35-50(1), 'true value' includes but is not limited to market value, cash value, actual cash value, proper value, and value for ad valorem appraisal. It is…
Is a student complaint about a faculty member a personnel record (releasable) or an evaluation record (closed) under the Arkansas FOIA?
It depends on whether the student submitted the complaint on their own initiative or at the school's behest. An unsolicited complaint is a personnel record, generally releasable. A complaint solicited…
Does Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Board of Investors have to follow the prudent investor rule, and can it sue companies it has invested in?
Yes on both questions. The TSET Board of Investors is bound by Oklahoma's Prudent Investor Act and by parallel language in the TSET Act, and as trustee it may bring stockholder actions to protect TSET…
Can the same person serve as a director of both a groundwater management district and a fire protection district whose boundaries overlap in California?
No. Where a groundwater district and a fire protection district share territory, simultaneously serving on both boards creates a significant potential clash of duties and is barred under California Go…
Can a Virginia town council member also serve on an elected county school board?
Yes. A sitting member of an elected town council in Virginia may also serve as an elected member of the county school board. There is no constitutional bar in Article VII, § 5 or § 6 of the Virginia C…
Can a Mississippi tax assessor compound the 10% penalty year over year when a taxpayer fails to file a rendition for personal property?
No, the 10% penalty does not compound. Section 27-35-45 increases the current year's assessment by 10% if a taxpayer fails to list taxable personal property. The statute does not provide for compoundi…
If a Fayetteville police lieutenant recorded my two-hour phone call about a citizen complaint and the city is withholding the audio as an 'employee evaluation,' is that legal under the Arkansas FOIA?
Probably partly. Without seeing the recording, the AG could not definitively rule, but the call sounds like a 'mixed record.' The portion not tied to investigating the citizen complaint is likely a pe…
What can a West Virginia county commission lawfully fund: agricultural scholarships, scholarships for firefighters and EMS personnel, and gift cards as survey-participation incentives?
Mixed. A county commission may not fund an agricultural scholarship; that authority belongs to the Commissioner of Agriculture, not counties. It may fund a scholarship for volunteer firefighters and E…
If someone serves on the board of the South Carolina Medical Malpractice Association, does that count as a 'public office' that would prevent them from holding any other state office?
Probably not. The AG concluded that a court would likely find the Association's board does not exercise sovereign power. The board takes no oath, receives no pay, has no regulatory authority, and does…
When a corrections department employee's personnel file gets a FOIA request, are administrative records, promotion letters, and demotion letters all releasable, and how should email addresses and references' contact information be handled?
Mostly yes, with consistency fixes. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded that all the records the Arkansas Department of Corrections planned to release for employee Danielle Conner, administrative r…
When a community supervision officer's personnel file gets a FOIA request, can the employer release it with redactions, and can private-sector references' contact information be redacted along with everything else?
Mostly yes, with adjustments. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded the Arkansas Department of Corrections's decision to release Thelma Delancey's personnel records with redactions was largely consis…
Can the North Dakota Tax Commissioner refuse to confirm whether a specific business holds a sales-tax permit?
Yes. The AG concluded that whether a business has a sales-tax permit is confidential taxpayer information under N.D.C.C. § 57-39.2-23(1)(a). Confirming or denying permit status would reveal the busine…
Can a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) in Oklahoma perform radiofrequency ablation, peripheral nerve blocks, or epidural steroid injections to treat pain?
CRNAs cannot perform radiofrequency ablation (RFA), period; the Pain Management Act treats RFA as the practice of medicine reserved for licensed allopathic or osteopathic physicians, and the Nursing A…
Can a new Oklahoma Governor's Mansion be built on the State Capitol Complex with private-donor funding without legislative approval, even though the State will eventually pay for upkeep?
Yes. The Governor can accept private donations of property (including a new Mansion) on behalf of the State under 60 O.S. §§ 381 to 385, without prior legislative approval. The Office of Management an…
Are San Diego police recruits hired between July 2013 and September 2024 entitled to the defined benefit pension plan that voters' invalid 2012 Proposition B took away?
The Attorney General granted leave to sue. The San Diego Police Officers' Association raised a substantial question about whether the City's existing fix for police recruits leaves out a class of offi…
Can an Arkansas city or county replace a retiring power plant with a wind project, and can it put a specific wind project up for a public vote?
No on both counts. AG Tim Griffin concluded that wind energy is statutorily defined as 'intermittent' and therefore cannot replace a 'dispatchable' generation facility being retired under A.C.A. § 23-…
Can an Arkansas charity give door-raffle prizes worth more than $100 to public-employee social workers at an event honoring their public service?
Probably not, at least not without risk. AG Tim Griffin concluded that random door-raffle prizes given to public-servant social workers at a 501(c) appreciation event are likely 'gifts' rather than st…
When someone on probation or parole picks up a new misdemeanor charge, can the judge fully revoke supervision the same way the judge could for a felony, or only impose the shorter graduated revocation periods that apply to 'technical' violations?
Only the shorter graduated periods. Under Mississippi law, a new misdemeanor that violates an 'obey all laws' supervision condition is a 'technical violation' under § 47-7-2(q), so the 90/120/180-day …
When do laws passed in Kentucky's 2026 legislative session take effect?
Most legislation passed in the 2026 Regular Session takes effect on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Under Section 55 of the Kentucky Constitution, a non-emergency act becomes law 90 days after the legislatu…
How long can a Delaware state agency take to respond to a FOIA request if it needs extra time to gather records?
A Delaware agency can take extra time beyond the initial 15 business days if records are voluminous, need legal review, or are archived, but it must keep giving good-faith updated time estimates. DNRE…
Can a justice of the peace bring a firearm into a quorum court meeting in Arkansas?
Open carry is out. AG Tim Griffin concluded that a justice of the peace may not openly carry a loaded firearm into a quorum court meeting held in a publicly owned building. Concealed carry is allowed …
Can the City of Little Rock ban all firearms at the Little Rock Zoo?
No. AG Tim Griffin concluded that the City Manager's no-exceptions firearms ban posted at the Little Rock Zoo violates A.C.A. § 14-54-1411, Arkansas's firearms-preemption statute. The Zoo is a municip…
If a Delaware agency keeps expungement statistics in a database and the requester knows the data exists (because the same agency reported it to the Governor's Office), can the agency say the data is 'not finalized' and refuse to produce it?
Not without sworn proof. Producing easily disclosable data from a computer system is not 'creating a new record' under FOIA. When the requester pointed out that the Governor's Office had received the …
Can Virginia keep purging registered voters off the rolls inside the 90 days before a federal election when the flag came from a DMV data match?
No. Both of Virginia's DMV-driven noncitizen list-maintenance programs (the documentation-of-legal-presence removals under § 46.2-328.1(E) and the self-attestation removals under § 24.2-410.1) count a…
Can a Mississippi county unilaterally declare a 40-foot right-of-way along all county-maintained roads so it can grade, drain, and run utilities through it?
No. Mississippi counties cannot unilaterally declare a uniform right-of-way easement along county roads. Easements have to be acquired through gift, purchase, deed, dedication, eminent domain, or pres…
Can the Colorado State Treasurer invest state funds directly in corporate stock?
No. Article XI, section 2 of the Colorado Constitution generally prohibits the State from directly owning stock in a corporation. Recognized exceptions cover stock that comes to the state by escheat, …
Can Charleston voters approve using Transportation Sales Tax funds to build the Battery Extension, a $300M project that is mostly described as flood control, even though TST funds are supposed to pay for transportation projects?
Probably yes. The Battery Extension protects three of Charleston's most-flooded streets (Lockwood, Morrison, East Bay) from tidal flooding and storm surge. The S.C. Transportation Sales Tax statute (§…
When a Delaware city reschedules a council meeting because of bad weather and gives less than 7 days' notice for the new date, is 'inclement weather' enough of an explanation to satisfy FOIA, or does the city have to also explain why the actual agenda items can't wait?
Both. Inclement weather explains why the original meeting got cancelled, but FOIA requires the city to also explain why each agenda item, including final readings of ordinances, has to be heard with l…
If I ask a Delaware city for the rules governing how its council moves a bill from committee to a vote, and the city says 'we don't have a separate document for that,' is that a FOIA violation?
No, as long as the city's response is clear that no separate document exists. The City of Dover told Shyanne Miller that it conducts its legislative proceedings 'in accordance with the City of Dover C…
If a Mississippi church owns property but uses it primarily as a school, does the property still qualify for ad valorem (property) tax exemption?
Maybe. There are two possible exemptions in Section 27-31-1(d): one for religious-society property used 'exclusively' for the society and not for profit, and a separate one for any property used to op…
Will the Arkansas Attorney General certify the proposed Natural Environment Amendment ballot measure for circulation, and what would the proponent need to fix?
Rejected. AG Tim Griffin would not certify the popular name and ballot title for the Natural Environment Amendment because the ballot title doesn't accurately summarize the measure's text, has interna…
Can a Jasper County, South Carolina elected treasurer hire his own outside lawyer (separate from the county attorney) and bind the county to pay the bills?
Generally no. The county ordinance requires county council approval before any county agency hires outside counsel, and state law gives the county council, not the treasurer, the exclusive authority t…
Did the Arkansas Attorney General certify the popular name and ballot title for a proposed constitutional amendment that would abolish the office of constable?
Yes, with substituted language. Attorney General Tim Griffin substituted a more concise popular name ('The Constable Amendment of 2026') and a revised ballot title ('This is a proposed amendment to th…
When a Regional Intermodal Facility in Arkansas wants to award a public works contract, buy commodities, or sell off real or personal property, does the state procurement law apply to it the way it applies to a state agency?
No. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded that Regional Intermodal Facilities are public corporations created by counties or municipalities, not state agencies, and the Arkansas Procurement Law does …
When a public employee's personnel records get a FOIA request, can the employee block release by objecting to the requester's motives or what the requester might do with the records?
No. Attorney General Tim Griffin concluded that under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, the requester's intent and motives are generally irrelevant to the custodian's release decision. Employee…
Did the Arkansas Attorney General eventually certify the ballot title for the four-year-term-of-office initiative for justices of the peace?
Yes, after the sponsor revised the proposal. AG Tim Griffin certified a substituted popular name and ballot title for David Dinwiddie's resubmitted initiated amendment to extend justice-of-the-peace t…
Can Oklahoma cabinet secretaries be paid more than the maximum salary the Legislature set for their position, and what happens if they have already received excess pay?
No. The salaries in 74 O.S. § 10.5 are statutory maximums, ranging from $65,000 to $90,000 depending on the position. Anything paid above that maximum is an improper overpayment that the State can rec…
Can the New Mexico Commission for the Blind use Title VII Part B federal funds and Social Security reimbursements for independent living services, and do the Statewide Independent Living Council's proposed public-comment policies violate the First Amendment?
Yes, the Commission can use Part B funds for independent living services for people under 55. Receipt of Part B funds is not a prerequisite for using Social Security reimbursements for independent liv…
When New Mexico law enforcement uses a warrant to extract data from someone's phone or email and then is required by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to seal portions unrelated to the investigation, can a third party still get those sealed portions through an Inspection of Public Records Act request?
No. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act's sealing provisions (§ 10-16F-3(D)(2), (G), (H), and (L)) qualify for IPRA's catchall exception under § 14-2-1(N), which exempts records 'otherwise provi…
Is New Mexico's refundable Film Production Tax Credit (which can pay film companies more than they owe in tax) constitutional under the state constitution's Anti-Donation Clause?
Yes. The Anti-Donation Clause prohibits gifts of public funds without consideration. The Film Production Tax Credit Act requires film companies to fulfill specific statutory obligations (employment of…
When New Mexico's legislature changed watershed district director selection from elections to appointments in 2025 and dropped the residency requirement built into the old election framework, did the change make it unconstitutional to require directors to live in the district?
No, the amendment is not facially unconstitutional. The New Mexico Constitution (art. 5, § 13) independently requires that 'district officers' be residents of the political subdivision they represent,…
Can my Arkansas city withhold the entire internal affairs file on a police officer who was not disciplined?
Mostly yes, but not the routine call-for-service report inside it. AG Tim Griffin concluded that the City of Lowell was right to withhold the memorandums, reprimands, and most of the internal affairs …
Does a Mississippi bank have to pay the city's local business privilege tax, or does the statewide finance-company privilege tax exempt it?
The statewide finance-company privilege tax in § 27-21-3 specifically excludes 'banks, state or national,' but that exclusion only applies to the statewide tax. It does not exempt banks from the local…
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