State AG Opinions
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Did a Foreign Service officer automatically keep Texas domicile so a dependent child could pay resident university tuition?
No automatic presumption applied. Unlike active military personnel, a Foreign Service officer living abroad was presumed domiciled where the officer lived, although evidence of an intent to retain Tex…
After the 1986 law moved DHR and Correction educational employees off the State Personnel Act, who sets their salaries, and must those salaries exactly match the public school teacher pay scale?
(1) Whether a particular position is a teaching/educational position exempt from the State Personnel Act is decided initially by DHR or DOC, with appeal to the State Personnel Commission under § 126-5…
Did free newspaper and television promotional games using randomly selected bingo-style numbers violate the Texas Bingo Enabling Act, and did federal broadcasting law preempt the state rule?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that an unlicensed game awarding prizes from randomly selected numbers or symbols was illegal under the Bingo Enabling Act unless a statutory exception applied,…
Could Public Utility Commissioners independently sign a stay of a hearing examiner's order, and could the commission privately review allegedly privileged material in a contested case?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the Public Utility Commission had to act as a body in a properly noticed meeting when staying a hearing examiner's interim order; circulating an order for …
Could a Texas home-rule city regulate intracity towing and set towing rates, and could the Railroad Commission do the same?
A home-rule city could regulate intracity towing and set rates so long as its rules did not conflict with state law or violate federal antitrust law. The Railroad Commission lacked statutory authority…
Could the Guadalupe Valley Hospital borrow money for equipment and renovations, and could its board approve the loan without separate city and county action?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the city and county operating an article 4494i joint hospital could borrow for equipment and renovations when repayment from hospital operations was reason…
Can Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission rewrite its own program development criteria on its own authority?
Only in a limited way, according to this 1987 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Commission could adopt minor, non-substantive amendments to its program deve…
Can a driver be charged in North Carolina for passing a stopped school bus with its stop arm out if the bus is on a school driveway, not a public street?
No. G.S. 20-217, North Carolina's school-bus-stop-arm law, applies only when the bus is stopped on a 'street or highway.' Under G.S. 20-4.01, 'street' and 'highway' both require the path to be 'open t…
Can a Maryland regional planning council keep unspent local government contributions as its own reserve fund?
No, according to this 1987 opinion. The Attorney General concluded the Regional Planning Council could not carry over unspent local government contributions from one fiscal year to the next as a reser…
Can a government agency require bidders to attend a pre-bid conference or lose their bid?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that even if a State solicitation labeled attendance at a pre-bid or pre-proposal conference as mandatory, a bidder's failure to attend could not b…
Did the 'exclusive franchise' language in the Idaho telephone deregulation bill (H.B. 149) violate the Idaho Constitution's right of telephone companies to construct lines?
The AG concluded H.B. 149's 'exclusive service area franchise' language could be read constitutionally if it meant existing certificates were preserved as valuable property rights, subject to administ…
How did indigent-health-care costs affect a county's 1986 tax rollback threshold, and could the assessor recalculate the effective tax rate after the tax plan took effect?
In 1987, the Attorney General said Hardin County had to include enough in its 1986 tax rate to pay the added costs of the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, and that portion was excluded when det…
Could the Texas Polygraph Examiners Board conduct oral licensing examinations privately and withhold reusable questions and answers?
Yes, within the opinion's limits. A session used only to ask and answer questions, without board deliberation, was not a meeting under the Open Meetings Act, and unused or reusable written exam materi…
Does a North Carolina company that investigates insurance claims, personal injury, and workers' comp matters for insurance companies need a private investigator license?
Yes. Chapter 74C of the General Statutes requires a private investigator license for anyone who investigates the cause or responsibility for losses, accidents, damages, or injuries, who gathers eviden…
Could a person who moved without interruption from the Veterans Affairs Commission to the Texas Surplus Property Agency Board keep earning Employees Retirement System service credit?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the Employees Retirement System had to let the board member continue establishing service credit. Although Surplus Property Agency employees were actually …
Did Texas school districts have to give the School for the Blind the names and addresses of visually impaired students' parents?
No statute directly required districts or state agencies to provide those lists. The School for the Blind could request them under the Open Records Act, and the record holder then had to release them …
Did a city have to fund indigent care at a hospital-authority facility created mainly to issue tax-free bonds?
Yes. The hospital was a public hospital under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, and the city that created the authority had to provide sufficient funding despite its earlier statement that i…
Could a school trustee resign briefly, let the board renew her daughter's teaching contract, and then win reelection without violating nepotism law?
Not through a short absence. The board could renew the teacher only after the trustee had resigned and a successor qualified, but the daughter would not gain the one-year exemption if her mother retur…
Could a county attorney who handled only misdemeanors collect statutory fees for felony-grade bad checks and forgeries?
Yes. Article 53.08 authorized county attorneys to collect and process qualifying checks, and that authority was not conditioned on accepting felony complaints or participating in felony prosecutions.
When a South Dakota school district, county, or city wants to invest extra cash, can it just buy shares of a mutual fund that holds U.S. Treasury bonds? Or does it have to actually own the Treasury bonds itself?
It had to own the bonds itself. The AG concluded that SDCL 4-5-6 authorized political subdivisions to invest in U.S. government securities and securities guaranteed by the federal government, but only…
Could one person serve at the same time as a school-board trustee and a city council member inside the same school district?
No, on the overlapping Socorro facts. The common-law incompatibility doctrine barred simultaneous service because the city council had supervisory powers affecting school property and trustee duties.
Did the Harris County Attorney have to advise the sheriff's civil-service commission, and could that office also represent the sheriff before it?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the Harris County Attorney had to give requested written advice to members of the Sheriff's Department Civil Service Commission about official duties and p…
Did interest earned on a Texas prosecutor's hot-check fund stay in that fund or go to county general revenue?
JM-632 concluded that the interest went to the county's general revenue fund rather than remaining in the prosecutor's hot-check fund. JC-0062 later agreed with severing the interest but modified JM-6…
Does Maryland's 15-day limit on domestic violence protective orders apply to custody or counseling relief too?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded Maryland's durational limit on domestic violence protective orders, 15 days for an order to vacate the family home, 25 days if the alleged abuser w…
Could the Texas Employees Retirement System let an HMO disregard State Board of Insurance rules or end a dependent's coverage for living outside the HMO service area?
No. JM-631 concluded that ERS could not authorize an HMO to violate insurance-board rules and that a state employee enrolled in an HMO remained entitled to dependent coverage even when the dependent l…
Can an unlicensed employee of a Maryland funeral home sell pre-need funeral contracts?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded Maryland's Morticians Act barred anyone who was not a licensed mortician, funeral director, or surviving-spouse licensee from soliciting, offering,…
Does a child's parent charged in juvenile court with violating Maryland's compulsory school attendance law have a right to a jury trial?
No, according to this 1987 opinion. The Attorney General concluded that a defendant charged in juvenile court with inducing or harboring a truant child under ED §7-301(e)(1) has no constitutional righ…
Does Maryland's cap on state land purchases in Garrett County also block the state from buying a conservation easement there?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland's statutory ceiling on the Department of Natural Resources acquiring "land" in Garrett County applied only to purchases of ownership …
When a North Carolina local health department sanitation inspector inspects migrant labor housing, is the inspector acting for the state or just for the county?
For the state. Under N.C.G.S. § 130A Part 5, the Commission for Health Services adopts the rules and the Department of Human Resources (now DHHS) issues migrant housing permits and runs the inspection…
Could out-of-state bank holding companies buy Texas banks without violating the Texas Constitution's ban on foreign corporations exercising banking privileges?
Yes. JM-630 concluded that out-of-state holding companies could own Texas banks because ownership was not the same as operating a bank, but the subsidiary banks had to remain separate and independentl…
Can a state withhold part of an employee's paycheck to collect a debt the employee owes the state?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland could withhold part of a State employee's wages to offset a debt the employee owed the State, but only after giving the employee noti…
Did Texas cities have to fund hospitals created through city hospital authorities for indigent care, and was that requirement constitutional?
Yes. JM-626 concluded that hospitals owned or operated by city-created hospital authorities were public hospitals, that the cities had to provide sufficient indigent-care funding, and that the challen…
Could the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners use appropriated funds to buy liability insurance required to rent a site for a nursing examination?
No. JM-625 concluded that the current appropriations act barred the Board of Nurse Examiners from using appropriated funds to buy liability insurance for the facility rental.
What happens if an Idaho sheriff lets a deputy keep working as a peace officer without P.O.S.T. certification past the one-year deadline?
The AG concluded that under Idaho Code § 19-5109(b), a peace officer must complete P.O.S.T. certification within one year of employment. Failure exposed the deputy, the sheriff, the county commissione…
Can a small-town mayor in South Dakota write traffic tickets and patrol the streets if the city no longer has a police officer? Does the statute giving the mayor 'all powers conferred by law upon sheriffs to suppress disorder and keep the peace' make the mayor a law enforcement officer?
No. The AG concluded that SDCL 9-29-16 gave the mayor only the sheriff's specific power to call others to aid in keeping the peace, not the full status of a law enforcement officer. To issue a traffic…
How was Tyler County required to fund a criminal district attorney's office created after the Professional Prosecutors Act's 1979 funding date?
JM-628 concluded that Tyler County had no funding floor based on a 1979 office budget because the criminal district attorney's office did not yet exist. The county instead had to provide the funds nec…
Would Corpus Christi's annexation of the remaining unincorporated part of Nueces County Water Control District No. 4 automatically abolish the district?
No. JM-622 concluded that automatic abolition did not apply because the district had never provided all three listed services, including drainage. Abolition instead required mutual agreement under sec…
Does Maryland's legislature have to hold a joint session to elect the State Treasurer?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland's Constitution required the House and Senate to combine their votes into one tally to appoint the State Treasurer, that a simple majo…
Could a Texas health insurer cover some speech and hearing impairments but exclude others because they arose from a birth defect or developmental problem?
No. JM-621 concluded that an insurer could negotiate benefit levels but could not cover only selected speech and hearing problems or exclude impairments based on their cause.
Could the Texas Employment Commission disregard a corporate reorganization as a sham and keep charging the predecessor's unemployment tax rate?
No. JM-620 concluded that the Texas Employment Commission could not label a reorganized or employee-service corporation a subterfuge and impose the predecessor's experience rate; a transfer required t…
Could a Texas home-rule city prohibit drivers from consuming any alcoholic beverage inside a motor vehicle?
No. JM-619 concluded that Alcoholic Beverage Code section 1.06 exclusively governed possession and transportation of alcoholic beverages, preempting a city ordinance that prohibited drivers from consu…
Can someone serve in Maryland's House of Delegates while also working as a state university police officer?
In this 1987 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that a University of Maryland police officer holds an 'office of profit' under Article 35 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, so a newly elected…
Could a Texas agency select one long-distance carrier for all its offices with a single letter, and did it owe carriers assigned by default?
Yes, one letter was enough if it listed billed telephone numbers or otherwise clearly defined the covered lines. The department was not directly liable to carriers assigned as defaults, though the opi…
Can a Texas district clerk charge a convicted felony defendant the old conviction fees that article 1025 of the Code of Criminal Procedure once allowed?
No. JM-617 concluded article 1025 had already been impliedly repealed back in 1935, so the 1985 formal repeal changed nothing and a county clerk has no authority to collect that fee from defendants.
Is Texas's reciprocal-preference law that penalizes out-of-state bidders on public contracts constitutional?
Yes. JM-616 concluded article 601g is constitutional. Because the state acts as a market participant when it spends public funds, the reciprocal bidding preference does not violate the Commerce Clause…
Can a North Carolina notary public commission be granted to someone who cannot read or write?
No. N.C.G.S. § 10-1.1(a) requires a notary applicant to complete an application form and a course of study on notary responsibilities, both of which presuppose literacy. Beyond the application step, a…
Could the Texas parole board require a county jail to hold a parolee on a board warrant, and could it contract to reimburse the county?
The board could direct the sheriff to hold the prisoner, and the county could not refuse even without payment. The board lacked statutory authority to contract with the county to reimburse the incarce…
Can a Texas county probation department bar supervisors from joining the same union as the employees they supervise?
No. JM-614 concluded article 5154c, section 4 guarantees every public employee the right to union membership with no exception for supervisors, so a county adult probation department cannot forbid sup…
Does a Texas peace officer commit a crime by carrying a handgun while off duty or outside the area where his department has jurisdiction?
No. JM-613 concluded a Texas peace officer is a peace officer twenty-four hours a day statewide, so section 46.03 of the Penal Code exempts him from prosecution under section 46.02 for carrying a hand…
Can someone who lives in a housing cooperative, owning corporate stock instead of the home itself, claim the Texas residence homestead tax exemption or homestead protection from forced sale?
No. JM-612 concluded that a cooperative resident owns corporate stock, not the home, so neither the residence homestead property-tax exemption nor the constitutional protection from forced sale applie…
Does registering to vote in Texas make a seasonal winter resident a Texas domiciliary for vehicles, probate, taxes, and marital law?
No. JM-611 said voter registration created a strong presumption of Texas residence but did not by itself establish domicile for every legal purpose; intent, physical presence, and the particular statu…
Can an employee of one Texas county housing authority also work as a bookkeeper or consultant for another housing authority, or own a home in another authority's housing project?
No on both counts. JM-610 read section 6a of article 1269k as an unusually broad conflict-of-interest bar with no out-of-jurisdiction exception, so a housing authority employee cannot do bookkeeping o…
Could Texas health officials regulate a self-employed massage instructor as a massage school and require registration details in every advertisement?
No to both blanket rules. JM-609 said the statute allowed instruction by independent instructors and did not authorize the proposed all-advertising disclosure, although the department could reasonably…
How long does a Texas district attorney have to answer a state prisoner's article 11.07 habeas corpus petition, and when does the clock start?
JM-608 concluded the district attorney gets a full 15 days to answer, and that 15-day clock starts when the district attorney actually receives notice of the writ, not when the petition was filed with…
Who qualified to serve on the Texas nursing-home-administrator licensing board, and did trade-association ties disqualify an appointee?
An educator's university program did not have to lead to a degree, but the AG could not decide the appointee's actual connection as a fact matter. Administrator members had to be currently serving, an…
Can a Texas county issue marriage licenses from a branch office or sub-courthouse instead of the main county courthouse?
Yes. JM-606 concluded that in counties where statutes authorize branch offices or auxiliary courthouses, the county clerk or a duly authorized deputy clerk may issue marriage licenses from those locat…
When a Texas city annexes land inside a rural fire prevention district, does the district keep taxing and serving that area, or is the area automatically removed?
JM-605 concluded the annexed area stays part of the rural fire prevention district until the city formally removes it under section 14b of article 2351a-6. Once the city removes it, the district stops…
Can a Texas city choose a credit union as the depository for its public funds?
No. JM-604 concluded that although a credit union may accept public deposits, the city depository statutes let a city select only a 'banking corporation, association or individual banker,' which does …
Did a county hospital authority's hospital stop being a public hospital when a private corporation leased and operated it?
No. JM-603 concluded that the hospital remained a public hospital because the hospital authority still owned and leased it. Title 3 indigent-care rules applied, including the conditional Hill-Burton e…
Could a nonlawyer office manager represent doctors or their unincorporated association in Texas small claims court?
A doctor could represent himself. A nonlawyer employee could represent the unincorporated association if not employed solely as a collection agent, but could not represent an individual doctor.
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