State AG Opinions
Free state attorney general opinions with plain-English summaries, full citations, and the original source on every page.
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Can a New Mexico town annex part of a designated 'traditional historic community' if a single landowner asks, or does the state require the wider community to vote?
The wider community has to vote. Under NMSA § 3-7-1.1, a municipality cannot annex any land within a traditional historic community (THC) unless a majority of the qualified electors of the THC petitio…
Can the rules or bylaws of a state political party (Democratic, Republican, or other) override New Mexico state law or federal law?
No. Party bylaws and rules in New Mexico are subject to the laws that govern them: the Nonprofit Corporation Act, the Election Code, and the Campaign Reporting Act. Bylaws inconsistent with prevailing…
In New Mexico, can a county manager or county commission overrule the elected county treasurer on hiring a deputy or investing county money?
No on both counts. The treasurer (and other elected county officers) has exclusive statutory authority to hire and supervise their own deputies and staff. For investments, the treasurer makes the deci…
Can the Georgia State Election Board direct the Attorney General to bring in outside counsel and outside investigators to investigate election complaints?
No on both. The Attorney General is the sole legal counsel for the Executive Branch under Ga. Const. Art. V, § III, Para. IV and O.C.G.A. § 45-15-34, with exclusive authority to engage outside counsel…
If an Oklahoma school district doesn't spend its full share of School Resource Officer Program money in one fiscal year, does that money roll over to the next year, or does it disappear?
It rolls over. The School Security Revolving Fund (70 O.S. § 5-148.2(A)) is, by its plain statutory language, 'a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations.' School districts can carry ov…
Can Virginia's pension trustees consider ESG factors when investing the retirement fund?
No. The Virginia Retirement System Board owes a fiduciary duty of loyalty under Va. Const. art. X, § 11 and Va. Code § 51.1-124.30 to invest 'solely in the interest of' VRS beneficiaries. Decisions ba…
Can a candidate for Kansas office accept nominations from two different political parties for the same race?
No. The Attorney General confirmed that K.S.A. 25-306(a) makes a person ineligible to accept more than one party's nomination for the same office in Kansas, a rule known as a ban on "fusion" candidaci…
Are records about Delaware's pension policy decisions for state legislators public?
No. The AG ruled the Delaware Office of Pensions properly denied a Spotlight Delaware reporter's request for emails on its 2024 legislative-pension policy change. The records relate to the eligibility…
When can a Mississippi sheriff set bail, and can the sheriff refuse cash bonds?
A Mississippi sheriff may set bail only in two narrow situations: misdemeanor arrests where no judicial officer has set bond, and felony arrests in 'emergency circumstances' under Section 19-25-67. Wh…
Does Mississippi voter ID law apply to mail-in absentee voters, or only to in-person voting?
Mississippi voter ID applies only to in-person voting (at the polls or at the registrar's office), not to mail-in absentee voting. The legislature could expand the requirement to mail-in voting, but S…
Can the Arkansas State Police release a state trooper's personnel and internal-affairs file in response to a FOIA request?
Mostly yes. Routine personnel records like hire dates, transfer forms, and pay records are releasable with privacy redactions. Disciplinary suspension letters, internal-affairs files, and the underlyi…
When are texts on a Delaware state employee's personal cell phone public records under FOIA, and how must the agency document its search?
The Department of Elections did not violate FOIA. The FOIA Coordinator's sworn affidavit described a department-wide email canvas; only one employee had a related text message thread on a personal cel…
Can a West Virginia county school board pay its professional-exempt employees extra for taking on extra duties (tutoring, mentoring, robotics tournaments, building administrator) outside their regular contracts?
Yes, with care. The constitutional extra-compensation clause does not bar additional pay when the duties are 'newly imposed' beyond the original contract. The salary clause only covers public officers…
Can a Virginia locality limit or refuse the property tax exemption for solar power systems?
Localities have no discretion to refuse the solar property-tax exemptions in §§ 58.1-3660 and 58.1-3661(A) or to limit how long those exemptions last. For solar PV projects of 5 MW or less, § 58.1-260…
Can the Tennessee General Assembly delegate emergency powers to the governor or another department, or does the state constitution's separation-of-powers clause forbid that?
The legislature cannot delegate raw lawmaking power, but it can grant the governor or an agency the authority to carry out emergency statutes through rules and orders, as long as the statute itself se…
Is South Carolina's Robert Smalls Monument Commission a state agency, and is the monument a public purpose?
Yes on both. The Attorney General confirmed that the Robert Smalls Monument Commission, created by Act 183 of 2024, is an agency of the State of South Carolina, and that its job, designing a monument …
Is a Delaware public body's records denial still valid after the parties announce a tentative settlement?
Yes. The AG ruled the City of Wilmington did not violate FOIA when it denied access to eight years of parking ticket, appeal, towing, and booting data. The Shaheed lawsuit was still pending despite a …
When a Mississippi regional mental health commission is decertified and dissolves, who handles the disposition of patient medical records?
The State Board of Mental Health, not the State Department of Health, governs disposition of regional mental health commission records. Sections 41-9-61 et seq. (the hospital records statutes) do not …
Can the City of Alexandria ban gas-powered leaf blowers under its noise-control authority?
Yes. Although no Virginia statute expressly authorizes localities to regulate leaf blowers, the City of Alexandria's Charter grants the City the power 'to compel . . . the elimination of unnecessary n…
In a county that uses an on-call grand jury (impaneled only when needed), can the district attorney's office issue subpoenas in advance, before the grand jurors are sworn in?
Yes. Penal Code § 939.2 contains no temporal limit; a district attorney may sign and issue grand jury subpoenas before the grand jury is impaneled, provided the grand jury will be impaneled in time to…
Can a public employee block release of her middle name from a personnel record under Arkansas FOIA?
No. Under Arkansas FOIA, the subject of a personnel record cannot block release of her middle name simply because she does not want it shared. The privacy test is objective. The employee's preference …
Can a rejected job applicant FOIA the school district's emails and selection records about the positions he applied for, including communications about his own application?
No. Delaware FOIA's common-law privacy doctrine protects discussions of applicant qualifications and competencies. Even though Hamburg was the applicant for the eight positions, FOIA's identity-of-req…
Can a Delaware school board take votes on iPads or laptops at a public meeting without announcing the result, or do votes have to be open?
The Christina School District Board of Education violated FOIA. FOIA requires that votes be taken at a public meeting and that the results be made public. The Board took votes via computer at its July…
How does a Texas appraisal district calculate 'average land value' for a city's parkland dedication fee on new apartment and hotel development?
By area, not by parcel. The AG concluded that a court would likely read Local Government Code subsection 212.209(c) to require an appraisal district to add up the market value of all the land in each …
Does a Texas district clerk have to prepare an abstract of judgment for a court of appeals ruling when the trial court's own judgment was vacated?
Probably not, in this situation. The AG concluded that because the Second Court of Appeals vacated the Parker County trial court's judgment and dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, the trial c…
Can a Texas county chief appraiser keep his job if his sister is elected tax assessor-collector and joins the appraisal district board?
Usually yes, but with conditions. The AG concluded Tax Code subsection 6.05(f) does not bar his continued employment, because that statute only stops the chief appraiser from hiring a board member's r…
Does the Pima County Attorney have to provide legal advice to the new Court Administrator and Liaison positions at the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court, or are those state officials whose legal advice comes from the Arizona Attorney General?
They are state officials, not county officers. Both positions are appointed by and subordinate to the Pima County Superior Court's Presiding Judge. Their legal advice should come from the Arizona Atto…
Does a South Carolina town have to accept a subdivision's roads, and who maintains them?
A town does not have to accept them, but if it does, it has to maintain them. The Attorney General concluded that accepting a proposed dedication of subdivision roads is discretionary; a municipality …
Did the Arkansas AG approve the popular name and ballot title for a constitutional amendment to make government transparency a citizen's right?
Yes, with revisions. The Attorney General substituted his own clearer language for both the popular name and the ballot title and certified the revised version. The substituted popular name is 'The Ar…
Can the SC Ports Authority sell land held under a deed saying 'for exclusively public purposes'?
Yes, in the office's view. The Attorney General concluded that the phrase 'for exclusively public purposes' in the 1957 deed conveying Charleston waterfront land to the State was ambiguous and, on the…
Can a religious-affiliated organization be denied public funding just for being religious?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the Free Exercise Clause of the U.S. Constitution prevents a government from denying a religiously affiliated institution generally available public funding sol…
Can a Mississippi county require a Property Indexing Number (PIN) on deeds filed with the chancery clerk?
Yes. Mississippi's county home-rule statute (Section 19-3-40) lets a board of supervisors enact an ordinance requiring landowners to add a Property Indexing Number (PIN) to deed indexing instructions,…
Can a Mississippi county sheriff use Inmate Canteen Fund money to buy prisoner uniforms and mattresses?
Yes. The sheriff may use Inmate Canteen Fund money to buy uniforms and mattresses for inmates. Section 19-3-81 lets the sheriff spend the fund on equipment and supplies for inmates' benefit, excluding…
Can a Mississippi school district give a teacher back pay if a prior district reported the wrong number of days worked?
Yes, but only if the district's board formally finds, on the minutes, that the underpayment was an administrative error. Section 96 of the Mississippi Constitution forbids retroactive raises to public…
Can a Mississippi city give money to a private citizen to buy playground equipment for a city park?
No. A Mississippi city cannot give a private citizen funds to purchase playground equipment, even for a park on city property. The city itself must make the purchase.
Do voters in Arkansas city-manager cities still have to approve compensation for the board of directors before the board can set its own salaries?
Yes. The two Arkansas statutes can be read in harmony. Section 14-61-110 (1989) requires voter authorization before city directors and mayors can be paid. Section 14-47-114(a) (1991) lets the board se…
Does a Mississippi school district have to compile a list of statistical information that doesn't already exist when someone requests it under public records law?
No. Mississippi public bodies are required to make existing records available for inspection under the Public Records Act of 1983, but they are not required to create new records (like compiling stati…
Does a Mississippi resident's pre-annexation time count toward the 2-year residency requirement to run for municipal office?
Yes for both. Continuous, uninterrupted residency in territory annexed into a city counts toward the 2-year residency requirement for municipal office. The same applies when ward lines change through …
How does the Arkansas AG decide whether a school district properly released personnel records under FOIA when the requester challenges the redactions?
The Attorney General cannot review whether a custodian's release was consistent with FOIA when the requester provides no copies of the released records. Without records, the AG can only state the lega…
Can a Delaware village hold a 'briefing' or 'informational session' the night before a public vote without giving FOIA notice, or does that count as an open meeting?
The Village of Arden violated FOIA by failing to prove that its June 23, 2024 informational session about the Schroeder Trust was not subject to open-meeting rules. Delaware courts have long held that…
If a city council member, school board trustee, or county supervisor has a disability that prevents them from attending in person, does the ADA require their board to let them participate remotely from home, even though the Brown Act normally requires meetings in person?
Yes. The ADA generally requires a local agency to allow remote participation as a reasonable accommodation for a board member with a qualifying disability that precludes in-person attendance. The remo…
Does California's AB 1305 carbon-offset disclosure law cover renewable energy certificates (RECs) that businesses buy on the voluntary market?
No. RECs do not claim to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions, so they fall outside AB 1305's definition of a 'voluntary carbon offset.' A business buying voluntary RECs to support clean-energy …
When a Kansas county adds new commissioner seats, do the old 25-day nomination deadlines apply even if the new seats are filled at the regular general election?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the expedited 25-day party-convention and independent-petition process in the former K.S.A. 19-203a(b) and (c) applied only when a new county commissioner vacan…
Does a Tennessee nonprofit (including a church) that runs a retreat center, hotel, or guest house with food and lodging have to collect and remit sales tax and local occupancy tax from its guests?
Yes. The 501(c)(3) tax exemption only excuses a nonprofit from paying sales tax on its own purchases. When the nonprofit sells lodging, food, or beverages to guests, it must collect and remit Tennesse…
Does an Arkansas sheriff's office have to keep evidence collected during a felony investigation even if it has no evidentiary value, or can a court order it released early?
Yes, the sheriff has to hold those items for the full statutory period. Section 13-4-409 sets minimum retention periods based on the type of crime: 2 years after final judgment for general felonies (3…
Do part-time police officers in Arkansas cities get the 15-day annual vacation that the statute requires for police department employees?
Yes. Section 14-52-106(a)(1) requires the head of each police department to grant 'each employee' at least 15 working days of annual vacation with full pay. The statute does not say full-time only. Th…
Did the Arkansas AG approve a ballot measure to exempt feminine hygiene products and diapers from state sales and use tax?
Yes, with a substituted ballot title. The AG certified David Couch's popular name 'An Act to Exempt Feminine Hygiene Products and Diapers from Sales and Use Tax' as submitted, and certified a substitu…
Can an Arkansas school district stop a student athlete from playing varsity sports just because the student transferred between schools within the same district?
No. Act 768 of 2023 applies equally to interdistrict and intradistrict transfers. The statute protects students 'who transfer[] to another public school or a nonresident school district.' Reading 'ano…
Can a city council get legal advice outside a public meeting and bind future councils to a city attorney's term?
On the open-meetings question, yes; on binding future councils, no. The Attorney General concluded the Freedom of Information Act does not restrict a city council or its members to requesting legal ad…
Can a Tennessee city like Memphis ban its police officers from making traffic stops for minor equipment violations when they suspect a driver of a more serious crime?
No. Tennessee law (§ 7-63-301) bars any local policy that limits an officer's ability to make a traffic stop based on observed or reasonably suspected violations of state or local law, so the Memphis …
Can a special-purpose district's executive director also serve as a soil and water conservation commissioner in South Carolina?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that serving at the same time as Executive Director of the Chester Metropolitan District and as a commissioner of the Chester Soil and Water Conservation District d…
Can a South Carolina county use a special tax district to pay for private road maintenance?
It can set up the district, but not to pay for private roads. The Attorney General concluded that a county may create a special tax district to fund road construction and maintenance if it follows the…
Can a school board close a school by quietly defunding it in the budget?
Maybe not without proper notice. The Attorney General agreed a board of education has authority to close and consolidate schools, but flagged a real FOIA problem with how the Berkeley County board did…
Can a North Dakota city commission go into executive session for attorney consultation when the meeting notice didn't mention an executive session, and discuss general updates rather than just legal advice?
No to both. The Tioga City Commission's July 18, 2022 meeting notice violated open meetings law because it didn't mention any anticipated executive session even though the city attorney and auditor kn…
Can an Oklahoma city pay a nonprofit to help renters avoid eviction without violating the Oklahoma Constitution's public-purpose rule?
Yes. A city council can decide that eviction prevention services serve a public purpose because evictions are tied to homelessness, housing instability, and the cost of public services like emergency …
Can a Delaware game warden's body-camera footage from a citation incident be released through FOIA, or is it exempt as an investigatory file?
DNREC did not violate FOIA. A Fish and Wildlife officer who issues a citation is a law enforcement officer with police powers, and body-camera and radio recordings of that incident are investigatory f…
Can an Arkansas county sue a federally recognized tribe (or a tribal-owned LLC) to enforce a contract if the contract does not include a waiver of tribal sovereign immunity?
Maybe. Indian tribes (and tribal entities that act as 'arms of the tribe,' including some tribally-owned LLCs) enjoy sovereign immunity from suit unless Congress has expressly abrogated immunity or th…
Can a Kentucky city or tax commission publish a list of businesses that are behind on occupational taxes, including how much they owe?
Partly. The Attorney General concluded that KRS 424.330 and KRS 424.130, the statutes about publishing delinquent taxes, do not cover occupational taxes; they apply to city ad valorem property taxes. …
When Arizona counties pass rules for short-term rentals like Airbnb properties (occupancy limits, smoke detector requirements, neighbor notification), do those rules also have to apply to ordinary single-family homes, or are they allowed to apply only to vacation rentals?
They can apply only to vacation rentals if they are public health and safety rules. The state law that says vacation-rental zoning ordinances must apply equally to all class three and four property do…
Can Mississippi charter schools operate as hybrid in-person/online or as virtual-only schools?
Hybrid charter schools (in-person plus virtual) are expressly authorized in § 37-28-43(6) with Authorizer Board approval. Virtual-only charter schools are not prohibited but require the Authorizer Boa…
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