State AG Opinions
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Did a Texas sheriff have to create fingerprints or photographs that no agency had made after a DWI conviction?
No. JM-601 concluded that the sheriff had to compile and send identification information already made by a law-enforcement agency, but did not have to generate missing records. Lack of staff or fundin…
Can the Texas Forest Service force pest-control tree cutting on federal or private land, and can it charge the landowner?
Only in limited circumstances. JM-600 concluded that Texas needed federal permission to enforce its forest-pest law on federal land, while a private owner could be required to cut trees or pay control…
Could a Texas county pay new or replacement employees $1,000 less during their first six months?
Yes, under the law addressed in JM-599. The commissioners court could reduce the pay of new or replacement employees during the year, provided the salary did not fall below its January 1, 1972 level; …
Could a Texas city street superintendent also write bail bonds in the same county?
Yes, as a matter of law under the circumstances addressed in JM-598. The AG found no statute barring the street superintendent from writing bail bonds for private individuals, but did not decide wheth…
Could a Texas community college give course credit for optional student work on a political campaign?
Yes. JM-597 concluded that optional campaign work could be offered for course credit if it served the course's educational purposes and any campaign effect was incidental and minimal; a teacher could …
Did Texas nonprofit water supply corporations have to open their meetings and records to the public?
Only corporations receiving state financial assistance under the cited Water Code provisions had to follow both the Open Records and Open Meetings Acts. All article 1434a water supply corporations sti…
Could DART discuss staff evaluations of consultants and competitive bidders in a closed meeting?
No. JM-595 concluded that the Open Records Act's exception for internal memoranda did not create an Open Meetings Act exception, so DART had to discuss consultant and bidder evaluations in open sessio…
Did the 1986 elimination of mandatory retirement ages under federal age discrimination law mean Maryland judges no longer had to retire at 70?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the newly amended federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which eliminated the upper age limit for most employees, freed Maryland's Dist…
Could a Texas county judge also serve as a paid director of a river authority?
No. JM-594 concluded that both positions were civil offices of emolument, so article XVI, section 40 barred one person from holding them at the same time; qualifying as county judge vacated the river-…
Could Texas use revenue from a sales tax on gasoline for purposes other than roads and the uses listed in the constitution?
No. JM-593 concluded that a gasoline sales tax was a tax on motor fuel within article VIII, section 7-a, so its proceeds could be used only for the purposes named in that constitutional dedication.
When did the first appointed members' terms on the Texas World Trade Council expire after the governor appointed them late?
Their initial terms expired February 1, 1987. JM-592 concluded that the statute fixed the term's end date and that late appointments shortened the members' tenure without extending the legal term.
Can a Texas home-rule city annex land in a rural fire prevention district after consenting to that district's creation?
Yes. JM-591 concluded that a home-rule city's earlier consent to a rural fire prevention district did not surrender its annexation power. The city could also withdraw an area from the district under s…
Could a Texas city inspect confidential taxpayer records behind a sales-tax refund that reduced the city's tax allocation?
No. JM-590 concluded in 1986 that the supporting taxpayer information was confidential and that an affected city had no greater access than any other requester. ORD-624 later narrowed language that co…
Can a justice of the peace elected to finish a constable's unexpired term wait until January 1 to take the new office?
No. JM-589 concluded that the winner had to file the required bond, take the oath, and assume the constable's unexpired term as soon as possible after receiving the election certificate.
When filing a UCC financing statement on Idaho farm products, do you need a full legal description of the land, or is the county name enough?
The AG concluded that for an Idaho UCC-1 farm products financing statement, naming the county where the products are produced or located was a legally sufficient description of real estate. A full leg…
Can an architectural professional corporation set up an ESOP that holds shares in trust for non-licensed employees, when state law limits non-licensee ownership and bans voting trusts?
Yes. The AG concluded an ESOP at an architectural professional corporation is legal under G.S. 55B-6 if the trustee is a licensed shareholder-employee who votes the trust shares, and the total non-lic…
Can a Texas DPS officer serve on a school board, city council, or other local governing body?
JM-588 concluded that a commissioned DPS officer could not hold a second paid civil office and could not campaign for or hold a partisan local office. Article XVI, section 40 did not by itself bar an …
When did large Texas counties have to begin operating a separate veterans county service office?
September 1, 1985. JM-587 concluded that counties with at least 200,000 residents became subject to the mandatory veterans service office requirements on the amendment's effective date.
Could a former Texas district judge who lost reelection still serve as a visiting judge?
Yes. JM-586 concluded that defeat for reelection no longer made an otherwise eligible former district judge ineligible for assignment under the Court Administration Act.
Does Maryland's Public Information Act require a county ethics commission to release officials' complete financial disclosure statements, including home addresses and gift information?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that all of the information Calvert County officials and employees were required to submit on the county's ethics financial disclosure form, includ…
When does an Idaho felony conviction count as a 'conviction' under the federal Gun Control Act, especially after probation, parole, or a withheld judgment?
The AG concluded a person with a federal Gun Control Act-disqualifying Idaho felony stays disqualified after release from prison, probation, or parole, even after restoration of civil rights. Pardons …
If a company sells South Dakota consumers a contract that, in exchange for an upfront premium, promises to pay or reimburse their legal fees if they later need an attorney, is that company in the insurance business? Does it have to comply with South Dakota's insurance regulations, even though it isn't a traditional insurer?
Yes. The AG concluded that a company selling contracts that promised to pay or indemnify against legal expenses was 'doing an insurance business' under SDCL Title 58. SDCL 58-1-2(1) defined insurance …
Can Idaho's governor, attorney general, or other elected executive officers cash out unused vacation leave when their term ends?
No. The AG concluded elected officials of Idaho's executive branch (governor, secretary of state, state auditor, treasurer, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction) could not receive ca…
A nonprofit hospital in Viborg, South Dakota, built a clinic attached to the hospital and then leased it to a for-profit medical clinic that operated as a private business. The hospital also built an apartment complex for semi-independent living and rented those units out. The hospital argued all of this was part of providing health care and should be property-tax exempt. Was it?
No. The AG concluded that property owned by a tax-exempt nonprofit hospital but leased out for private profit was not exempt under SDCL 10-4-12. The for-profit clinic and the rental apartment complex …
Who handles county employees' retirement payroll deductions, the county treasurer or the county auditor?
The county treasurer. JM-585 concluded that in counties of 10,000 or more people, the treasurer, not the auditor, is the payroll disbursing officer who deducts and transmits county employees' public r…
Could Maryland's elevator safety regulator write rules that were looser than the national ANSI elevator safety code, to ease the cost burden on building owners?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland's Commissioner of Labor and Industry could adopt regulations supplementing the ANSI elevator safety code and could grant individualiz…
Was Idaho's lower wine excise tax on Idaho-produced wine constitutional, and could distributors of out-of-state wine get a refund?
The AG concluded Idaho's lower 20-cent-per-gallon excise tax on in-state wine (versus 45 cents on out-of-state wine) was an unconstitutional Commerce Clause violation under the U.S. Supreme Court's 19…
Can a Texas government board legally hold its meetings by conference call?
Not under the law as it stood in 1986. JM-584 concluded that a governmental body meeting by telephone conference call would not comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act unless the legislature specifica…
Can a community college board member who works at the district's bank vote on money decisions affecting that bank?
Yes. JM-583 concluded that the School Depository Act allowed a community college trustee tied to the district's depository bank to vote on routine expenditures that reduced the bank's deposits. JM-108…
Which firefighters are eligible to take a promotion exam under Texas civil service law?
All firefighters in the next-lower rank with enough service. JM-582 concluded that under the Firemen's and Policemen's Civil Service Act, any firefighter with at least two years of continuous service …
Can a county government hire someone related to the county judge, and is the Texas nepotism law too vague to enforce?
No, and no. JM-581 concluded that Texas's nepotism statute (article 5996a) is not unconstitutionally vague, and that it barred a county library from employing a first cousin of the county judge's moth…
Can an Idaho school district create or run a nonprofit corporation to accept donations and tax-credit gifts for the schools?
No. The AG concluded a school district could not create or be on the board of a nonprofit corporation to manage school gifts. Private individuals could set up an independent foundation, and gifts to t…
Does the state prison system have to pay hospital bills for a baby born to an inmate?
No. JM-580 concluded that the Texas Department of Corrections had no legal authority to pay the extra hospital costs of a premature infant born to an inmate. Those costs fall on the child's parents, a…
Can a Maryland state agency agree to unconditionally indemnify another state for liability arising from a product's manufacture, like a vaccine, without legislative approval?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the Department of Agriculture lacked authority to agree to a proposed contract clause requiring it to unconditionally indemnify another state …
Could a Maryland car insurance company just declare a policy void and walk away if it believed the driver lied on the application, or did it have to follow a formal cancellation process?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that an auto insurer suspecting a policyholder of material misrepresentation had to either cancel or refuse to renew the policy through the Insuran…
If a local law enforcement officer is in two retirement systems, can both systems' service count toward the Special Separation Allowance, and who decides whether the officer qualifies?
The AG concluded that for the local-government Law Enforcement Officer Special Separation Allowance, 'creditable service' means service for which credit is allowed under either retirement system the o…
When does a newly elected justice of the peace actually take office if the seat had been filled by appointment?
It depends on the term. JM-579 concluded that a justice of the peace elected to a new term takes office on the following January 1, but one elected to finish an unexpired term may qualify and take off…
Can the board of a state-operated children's hospital spend private donations without Department of Human Resources approval?
No. The AG concluded private donations to Lenox Baker Children's Hospital are state funds subject to the Executive Budget Act. The hospital board's authority to 'accept and use' donations under G.S. 1…
If a member of a state advisory council stops meeting the qualifications, are they automatically removed from the board?
No. JM-578 concluded that a member of the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities who fails the federal membership qualifications is not automatically forced to resign, and cannot cure t…
Can a Texas county set later bar hours on some nights but not others?
No. JM-577 concluded that a county under 300,000 people has only two choices for mixed-beverage hours in its unincorporated areas: keep the standard hours or adopt the full extended late hours. It can…
After Tennessee v. Garner, when can a sheriff's deputy or corrections officer use deadly force to stop someone from fleeing arrest or escaping custody?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that deadly force to make an arrest or stop a pre-trial detainee's escape was constitutional only where an officer had probable cause to believe th…
When school district employees opted into a cafeteria plan, did the employer-paid premiums count as 'salary' for PERSI retirement contributions and benefits?
Only as to the cash-elect portion. The AG concluded that under Idaho Code § 59-1302(31), as amended in 1984, cafeteria plan amounts were included in 'salary' to the extent the employee had a right to …
Who is legally allowed to administer the oath of office to a newly elected Maryland State's Attorney: a judge, the clerk of court, or the Governor?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General concluded that the Governor, a circuit court judge, or a circuit court clerk could each administer the oath of office to a Maryland State's Attorney, that a …
Does a Texas housing authority have to hold a public hearing before buying existing buildings for low-income housing?
No. JM-576 concluded that the public hearing requirement in section 13a of the Housing Authorities Law applies only before a housing authority authorizes the construction of a project. Buying existing…
Are the 'local funds' a Texas university keeps outside the state treasury public records, and can the legislature appropriate them?
Generally yes on both. JM-575 concluded that records of local funds held by state colleges and universities fall under the Open Records Act, subject to case-by-case exceptions, and that local funds, g…
Can photocopied signatures from an earlier petition count toward a tax rollback election petition in Texas?
No. JM-574 concluded that a tax rollback petition under section 26.07 of the Tax Code must be signed with actual signatures. A petition that relied in part on photocopies of signatures from an earlier…
Can a Texas municipal housing authority buy supplies through a federal HUD program instead of taking competitive bids?
No. JM-573 concluded that Texas housing authorities, as divisions of cities, must follow the state competitive bidding statutes. Buying through HUD's Consolidated Supply Program does not satisfy those…
When a North Carolina state institution holds money for patients, students, or vocational rehab clients, which of those funds belong to the state, and which must be deposited with the State Treasurer?
The AG broke it down by fund type. Patient personal funds held in trust by mental health facilities are not state funds and do not have to be deposited with the State Treasurer. Vocational Rehabilitat…
Can Texas Parks and Wildlife enforce boating safety laws on a private lake that a city leases and runs as a public park?
Yes. JM-572 concluded that a lake on private land leased to a city and used as a public municipal park is 'public water' under the Water Safety Act. While the lease and park use continue, the lake is …
Are donations and grants held by a state-created nonprofit like the Chesapeake Bay Trust subject to Maryland's regular treasury and budget rules?
In this 1986 opinion, the Attorney General reversed an earlier 1985 opinion and concluded that the Chesapeake Bay Trust was an autonomous activity for fiscal purposes, so its funds were not "moneys of…
Do city-owned electric utilities in Texas have to file the ten-year load forecast required by the Public Utility Regulatory Act?
Yes. JM-571 concluded that section 16(c) of PURA, which requires every 'generating electric utility' to file a ten-year forecast of load and resources, applies to municipally-owned utilities even thou…
Can a Texas city invest its public funds in a money market mutual fund that holds only U.S. government securities?
No, not under the statutes then in force. JM-570 concluded that the laws letting cities invest in 'direct debt securities' or 'obligations' of the United States did not authorize the city of Arlington…
Can a Texas county or city give one company an exclusive lease at a public airport that received state or federal funds?
Generally not if it locks out competition. JM-569 concluded that counties and cities can lease airport property to a private tenant, but where federal funds have been spent on the airport, 49 U.S.C. s…
Do a Texas county's road bonds and a county road district's bonds count against the same debt limit?
Yes. JM-568 concluded that article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution sets a single ceiling, one-fourth of the assessed value of the real property, that both county road bonds under subsection …
Does the farm-commodity exemption for loading trucks also let a farmer drive an overweight truck on Texas highways?
No. JM-567 concluded that the exemption in section 5(b) of article 6701d-11 for agricultural or forestry commodities applies only to the separate offense of loading a truck with intent to exceed the w…
Could Maryland require state employees and job applicants to take drug tests?
In 1986, the Attorney General concluded that Maryland could not impose indiscriminate urine testing on most state employees and generally needed particularized probable cause. The opinion allowed a lo…
Does interest earned on bingo, bank franchise, and mixed beverage taxes go back to the cities and counties the taxes were collected for?
No. JM-566 concluded that the interest the state earns while holding bingo tax, bank franchise tax, and mixed beverage tax money belongs in the state's General Revenue Fund, not the local jurisdiction…
Can a Texas city annex a municipal utility district without taking on the district's debts and assets?
Sometimes, yes. JM-565 concluded that because Lago Vista was newly incorporated over part of the Travis County MUD No. 1 and never adopted the optional ordinance under section 6 of article 1182c-1, th…
Can Texas require proof of local need before certifying a new DWI education program?
No. JM-564 concluded that the DWI Certification Committee has no authority under article 42.12, section 6d of the Code of Criminal Procedure to require proof of local need, or letters of support from …
Can a Texas university's campus police arrest someone for a traffic violation off campus or on a public street next to campus?
Generally no. JM-563 concluded that Tarleton State University campus peace officers have limited territorial jurisdiction under Education Code section 51.203. They cannot make arrests as peace officer…
How these opinions are useful
- Understand state law: AG opinions are authoritative interpretations of how state law applies.
- Persuasive authority: Not binding like court decisions, but they carry significant weight.
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- Legal research: Cite AG opinions in letters, motions, and legal arguments.