State AG Opinions
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Under SDCL 23A-27-18.1, a court can require a probationer to serve up to 60 days in the state penitentiary as a condition of probation. Does a probationer serving that 60 days earn the good time credits that SDCL 24-5-1 gives to convicts serving a regular prison sentence?
No. SDCL 24-5-1's good time credits apply to convicts who have been 'sentenced.' Probationers under SDCL 23A-27-18.1 are serving jail or penitentiary time as a condition of probation, not as a sentenc…
If a North Carolina county sets up a public transportation authority under Article 25 of Chapter 160A, does the county still have legal responsibility when the authority signs a contract or causes an injury?
Yes. The 1984 AG advised that a public transportation authority is a quasi-municipal corporation acting as an agency of the county that created it, so the county remains liable on the authority's cont…
Could a Texas county commissioner also serve as a gubernatorial appointee on the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission?
Yes. JM-141 found no separation-of-powers bar, no prohibited second civil office of emolument, and no common-law incompatibility between the two positions.
Can the North Carolina Building Code Council adopt a rule that forces existing buildings to install energy efficient water heaters or boilers when they replace old units, even if the building was built in full compliance with the code when it went up?
No, unless the building is being altered, reconstructed, or its use is changed. The 1984 AG concluded that the Building Code Council's statutory authority covered new construction, reconstruction, and…
Was a state trooper shot while working off-duty grocery-store security injured in the course of state employment for occupational disability benefits?
Yes. JM-140 said the trooper shifted from private security work to official peace-officer duties when he tried to apprehend armed robbers, making the disabling risk peculiar to state law-enforcement e…
Can a small-town mayor still meet a town residency requirement if his spouse lives in a different town?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that, on the specific facts presented, the Mayor of Berlin remained a legal resident of the town under the town charter's residency requir…
When a North Carolina depositor on a joint bank account with right of survivorship dies, must the personal representative of the estate take the appropriate portion of the joint account into the estate even though the funds would otherwise pass to the survivor?
Yes. The 1984 AG advised that G.S. 41-2.1(b)(4) requires the appropriate portion of a joint-with-survivorship bank account to be delivered to the personal representative for use in estate administrati…
If a North Carolina will excuses a testamentary trustee from filing inventories and annual accounts, does the trustee still have to qualify before the clerk of superior court?
Yes. The 1984 AG concluded that for wills executed after January 1, 1978, a testamentary trustee must qualify before the clerk under G.S. 36A-107, even if the will waives the duty to file inventories …
Could Blinn College lease a football stadium built with student fees to the Brenham Independent School District for football, track, and UIL events?
Yes. JM-139 relied on the junior-college board's determination that the shared use served a junior college purpose under Education Code section 130.003(e)(7).
Could Texas enforce misdemeanor penalties for violating DPS vehicle-emissions inspection rules, and could special rules be limited to vehicles registered and operated in designated counties?
Yes. JM-138 found the statute itself defined the offense and validly delegated inspection details to DPS; county-specific rules could cover vehicles both registered and operated in designated counties…
Was the Richardson Hospital Authority a political subdivision whose retirement program fell under State Pension Review Board requirements?
Yes. JM-137 treated the city-created hospital authority as a political subdivision because it matched the recognized criteria and was materially similar to expressly designated county hospital authori…
Did Texas dealer-licensing law apply to boat dealers who sold trailers, and did they have to post the new $25,000 motor-vehicle dealer bond?
The licensing provision applied because they regularly sold trailers, but JM-136 said the bond did not because its conditions and legislative purpose targeted dealers selling motor vehicles.
When North Carolina's 1984 redistricting bill ended up with contradictory language placing all of Vance County in Senatorial District 11 in one part of the bill but parts of Vance County in District 2 in another part, which version actually controls?
District 11. AG Rufus L. Edmisten concluded that the legislative history of Chapter 5 of the Extra Session of 1984 (the Senate floor amendment expressly placed all of Vance County in District 11) made…
Could a taxing unit impose the Tax Code section 33.07 delinquent-tax penalty when its collections were enforced by a county or city attorney acting officially under a direct or interlocal arrangement?
No. JM-135 said official county and city attorneys lacked statutory capacity to make the required section 6.30 collection contract, so the added collection penalty could not be imposed.
Can a pregnant teenager in North Carolina give legal consent on her own for a sickle cell test as part of her prenatal care, or does she need a parent's permission first?
Yes, she can give consent on her own. The 1984 AG concluded that a minor may give effective consent for sickle cell testing as part of pregnancy-related medical care, because pregnancy is one of the c…
Did the State Board of Education's rules requiring evolution disclaimers in textbooks violate the Establishment Clause?
Yes. JM-134 concluded that singling out human evolution and directing students toward other meanings of existence revealed a nonsecular purpose under the constitutional test then applied.
After a major airline pulled out of the Rocky Mount/Wilson airport and a smaller commuter carrier replaced it, can the NC Department of Transportation use Article 7 of Chapter 63 aviation funds to support an airport authority's advertising campaign to attract more travelers?
No. The 1984 AG concluded that while Article 7 of Chapter 63 authorizes NCDOT to promote aviation generally statewide (under G.S. 63-66), the statute's list of activities eligible for loans or grants …
Can Maryland pass emergency legislation changing how absentee ballots are handled without violating the constitutional ban on emergency laws that change an officer's duties?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that an emergency bill adding new absentee-ballot safeguards for boards of canvassers did not violate the state constitution's ban on emer…
Did a county commissioner automatically resign by applying for election as a water-district director even though he was legally ineligible for that office?
JM-132 said yes when more than one year remained in the commissioner's term. JC-0249 later modified its reasoning and clarified that applying for a ballot position makes the officer a candidate, while…
Could one person simultaneously serve as Galveston County auditor and a Galveston city council member?
No. JM-133 found the offices incompatible because the auditor could control or review county financial actions involving the city, and accepting the auditor position automatically vacated the council …
Could Maryland flatly ban an out-of-state bank from buying a Maryland bank in the 1980s?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Maryland's flat statutory ban on a foreign bank becoming a bank holding company here could not constitutionally be applied to block W…
If a North Carolina durable power of attorney references Chapter 32B of the General Statutes (the session-law designation) instead of Chapter 32A (the codified designation), is it still legally effective?
Yes. The 1984 AG concluded that a North Carolina power of attorney citing either Chapter 32A or Chapter 32B of the General Statutes is legally effective as a durable power of attorney. The 1983 act wa…
Can North Carolina's Parole Commission grant a prisoner eligible for '1/3 parole' under G.S. 15A-1371(g) an unsupervised parole, and does the '1/3 parole' rule reach Fair Sentencing Act felons (those with sentences under 18 months for crimes committed on or after July 1, 1981)?
Yes to unsupervised parole; no to Fair Sentencing Act felons. The 1984 AG concluded that the Parole Commission has discretion to waive the supervision condition in G.S. 15A-1374(b)(6) when granting '1…
Can a North Carolina resort developer that owns the local country club refuse club membership to buyers whose homes were listed exclusively with a competing real estate broker?
No. The 1984 AG concluded that the Lake Toxaway Company's policy of denying country club membership to purchasers of homes listed exclusively with competing brokers was both an unfair method of compet…
Can a North Carolina probation or parole officer, including an intensive probation officer, lawfully carry a concealed weapon while on duty?
Yes. The 1984 AG concluded that because probation and parole officers possess the power to arrest under G.S. 15-205, they fit within the G.S. 14-269 exemption permitting officers of the State charged …
Who decides how many deputy court clerks to hire in Maryland, and who pays them, when judges and the state comptroller disagree?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General explained that circuit court judges alone decide how many deputy clerks a Clerk's office needs and must appoint, while the State Comptroller alone s…
Can a county voter registration official register an eligible voter when the official is physically outside the boundaries of the county where the official was appointed?
No. The AG concluded that under longstanding common-law rules, a public officer cannot exercise official authority beyond the territorial limits of the political subdivision that appointed the officer…
If a Scotland County commissioner dies during the first two years of a four-year term after the filing deadline for the upcoming primary, but before the general election, how does the county select party nominees for the November ballot to fill the seat?
The county should look to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-115, even though that statute by its terms addresses clerk-of-superior-court vacancies and state/district offices, not county commissioner vacancies. Th…
If a South Dakota conservation district leases equipment to farmers, or sends its own employees to operate that equipment on private land, should it buy liability insurance? Does the district itself have sovereign immunity? What about its employees personally?
The conservation district itself was probably immune from tort liability as a quasi-municipal corporation, similar to a school district or township. But the AG warned that the district's employees wer…
Were electrical or ultrasonic apparatuses used commercially to kill or repel termites regulated as devices used in the structural pest-control business?
Yes. JM-131 treated the apparatuses as statutory devices and mechanical devices, so commercial operators using them were engaged in structural pest control.
After the 1977 water-agency reorganization, did “Commission” in a river-authority permit mean the Texas Water Commission, the department's executive director, or both?
It meant the Texas Water Commission. JM-130 said the commission decided legal release duties through its judicial function, while the executive director studied estuary inflows and advised the commiss…
Could a Dallas County Community College trustee simultaneously serve as a Dallas County commissioner?
No. JM-129 found the offices incompatible because county and college interests could conflict over tax collection, roads, and other matters within their coterminous boundaries.
Can a firefighter count service in a former department toward the two years needed for a promotion exam in a new department?
No. JM-128 concluded that the firefighter had to complete two years of qualifying service in the department giving the examination, and that the requirement was mandatory.
Could a Maryland real estate agent legally give homebuyers merchandise discount coupons without violating the ban on offering 'prizes' to influence a sale?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a real estate marketing program giving every purchaser-client identical merchandise discount coupons did not violate the state ban on…
Which waiting period governed Southwestern Bell's request to put higher rates into effect under bond when its initial filing was incomplete?
JM-127 applied the amended 150-day waiting period. Bell did not make a valid, substantially complete statement-of-intent filing until after the amendment took effect.
Did a commission member's community-property share of her husband's fixed salary disqualify her from the Texas Health Facilities Commission?
No. JM-126 treated her interest as limited, nonmanagerial, and abstract, so it was not a substantial pecuniary interest that barred appointment or service on the commission.
Could a Maryland town be sued for antitrust violations for switching cable TV franchise operators?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the Town of La Plata's decision to end one cable TV company's franchise and grant an exclusive franchise to another was protected by …
Were Texas Medical Board rules limiting where and how acupuncturists could practice constitutional?
JM-125 concluded that four rules were facially invalid because their office-location, one-supervisor, billing, and name-tag restrictions lacked a rational relationship to protecting public health.
Could Maryland force State Police officers and correctional officers to retire at a fixed age under 1980s federal age discrimination law?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that state laws mandating retirement of State Police at age 60 and certain correctional officers and maximum security attendants at age 62…
When a North Carolina county has already built a Rural Land Schedule that shows present-use value is lower than market value, does a farmer still have to prove anything else to get the present-use appraisal on his farm?
No. The 1984 AG concluded that if the county has already adopted a valid Rural Land Schedule showing the differential between present use value and highest-and-best-use value, the taxpayer only has to…
Can a person convicted of a felony in North Carolina ever obtain a handgun permit from the sheriff or clerk of court?
Generally no. The 1984 AG concluded that a convicted felon could not get a handgun permit under G.S. 14-404 or G.S. 14-409.3 until the federal firearms disability was lifted by the U.S. Treasury, and …
Are architectural and engineering drawings submitted for a Maryland building permit public records that anyone can inspect?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that construction drawings submitted to a county for a building permit were generally public records open to inspection, but that a submit…
Can a Maryland county enforce its own zoning rules against a business that already has a state permit to spread sewage sludge?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Baltimore County could generally enforce its zoning regulations on sewage sludge use, including against people who held a state sludg…
Did Maryland's Lotto game revenue go only to counties, or also to the cities and towns within those counties?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Lotto lottery revenue had to be distributed only to Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City, not to the state's roughly 166 incorpo…
Did the Texas Rehabilitation Commission supervise every resident of a facility where it bought services for some clients?
No. JM-124 limited the commission's supervision to its own clients; the licensing agency or another government agency remained responsible for other residents.
Did a new political party's presidential nominee have to file nominating petitions to get on Maryland's general election ballot in the 1980s?
In this 1984 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a new political party's presidential and vice-presidential nominees could appear on Maryland's general election ballot after being pr…
Could Cameron County force utilities to deny service to buildings that violated county floodplain rules?
No. JM-123 concluded that utility law and PUC rules prevented the county from requiring denial of service, although a utility could refuse voluntarily for reasons allowed by its approved rules.
Could one chamber of the Texas Legislature make committee records confidential by adopting its own rules?
Not when the chamber rule conflicted with the Texas Open Records Act. JM-122 said the House could change the disclosure rule only through legislation, although particular records might fit an existing…
Could a Texas city apply different subdivision-plat standards inside its extraterritorial jurisdiction than inside the city limits?
No. JM-121 said a city could exercise plat-approval authority within its extraterritorial jurisdiction, but not outside it, and could not adopt a lesser set of approval standards for subdivisions in t…
Did Texas industrial development corporations have to hold open meetings, post public notice, and release records?
Yes. JM-120 treated corporations created under article 5190.6 as governmental bodies for the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts, required them to post notice like their sponsoring political subdivisi…
Could a Texas community-college records custodian use Open Records Act exceptions to deny a trustee access to district records?
No. JM-119 said a trustee acting officially had an inherent right to district records and was not merely a member of the public, although a reporter's separate request could be denied under the litiga…
Could a Texas public-school teacher paid through a federal program also receive a salary as a city council member?
No. JM-118 concluded that the teachers received part of their compensation indirectly from state funds, so article XVI, section 40 allowed city-council service only without a council salary.
Did a 1983 Texas zoning amendment exempt all state and federal agency property from city zoning, or only historically significant sites?
It exempted all buildings, structures, and land under federal or state agency control. JM-117 rejected a reading limited to places of historical, cultural, or architectural significance.
Did a multi-state athletic conference funded by public universities have to follow Texas open-meetings and open-records laws?
Only in part. JM-116 concluded that the proposed Gulf Star Conference was not covered by the Open Meetings Act, but was covered by the Open Records Act because university payments supplied its general…
Was the Texas Legislature legally required to appropriate enough money to cover university employees' minimum insurance premiums?
No. JM-115 said the insurance statute did not obligate later legislatures to fully fund premiums. It declined to decide whether employees at an underfunded university had a cause of action because tha…
Could a Texas agency charge an open-records requester for employee time spent finding, copying, or redacting records?
JM-114 generally said no under the 1983 statute, and identified mandamus as the remedy for disputed charges. The official landing page says ORD-488 partly overruled it after later cost amendments.
When a Texas criminal court is told that a defendant or witness is deaf, must it appoint an interpreter?
Yes. JM-113 said appointment was mandatory once a party notified the court, although the judge could choose the communication method best suited to the person. The county general fund paid reasonable …
Could a Texas city or county adopt its own ban on open containers of alcohol in motor vehicles?
No under the law analyzed in JM-112. The opinion concluded that the Alcoholic Beverage Code exclusively governed possession of alcoholic beverages and preempted a local open-container ban.
Could a Texas county transfer an arrested parolee to state prison before the local parole-revocation hearing?
No. JM-111 said local authorities had to hold the parolee until the hearing was completed or waived, and the Texas Department of Corrections had to refuse a premature transfer.
Could a Texas notary public take a deposition by written questions without acting as a certified shorthand reporter?
Yes. JM-110 concluded that notaries could take non-stenographic written depositions. The certification restriction applied to shorthand reporting of oral proceedings, not every deposition.
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