State AG Opinions
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Did a Texas county treasurer still have to report directly to the commissioners court when the county also had an auditor?
Yes. JM-109 concluded that the treasurer had to report both to the commissioners court and to the county auditor; the auditor statutes did not impliedly repeal the court-reporting duties.
Did a Texas firefighter pension rule barring new membership after age 35 violate the federal age-discrimination law?
No. JM-108 said the rule limited pension eligibility rather than firefighter hiring, and the federal law allowed bona fide benefit-plan terms that were not a device to evade the act.
If a Texas defendant received a misdemeanor jail term and a separate fine-and-cost sentence on the same day, did the time run together?
No. JM-107 said the jail term and confinement used to discharge the separate fine and costs ran consecutively. It also said a 72-hour sentence meant 72 hours, not three calendar days.
Did Texas Insurance Code article 21.14 make every insurance-agent record confidential, or only records about specified terminations for cause?
Only the specified records. JM-106 concluded that sections 12(c) and 14(c) protected information furnished under those respective sections, not every record submitted under article 21.14.
Could a Texas cable television provider be reimbursed for moving facilities displaced by interstate highway construction even without a property interest in the old location?
Yes. JM-105 concluded that a community antenna or cable television provider furnished communications service and could receive article 6674w-4 reimbursement for an eligible interstate-highway relocati…
Did designating school-district or other local-government land as a Texas state archaeological landmark require the owner to deed the property to the state?
No. JM-104 concluded that landmark designation did not require a deed transfer or remove local management, use, and control, although the Antiquities Committee's preservation authority prevailed when …
Could Somervell County pay a nonprofit committee to operate a senior service center?
Only for authorized county purposes. JM-103 said the county could contract for a center providing public recreation, health care, or support for indigent residents if controls ensured a public purpose…
Could a Texas sheriff or constable appoint a full-time deputy who received no compensation?
Yes. JM-102 concluded that sheriffs and constables could appoint uncompensated deputies to positions approved by the commissioners court, but the deputies had to perform legitimate law-enforcement dut…
Can a Maryland state legislator solicit donations to pay for a newsletter to constituents, and do campaign finance limits apply to that money?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the Fair Election Practices Act did not regulate contributions solicited for a purely informational 'constituent' newsletter, only fo…
Does the DC Auditor have power to audit the DC Retirement Board, or does the federal Retirement Reform Act block that?
Yes, the DC Auditor can audit the Retirement Board's accounts and operations. The 1973 Home Rule Act gave the DC Auditor broad authority to audit every agency of the DC government, and the 1979 federa…
Did Maryland tax mutual fund dividends even when the fund's income came from tax-exempt federal government bonds?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a mutual fund shareholder's distributions were subject to Maryland income tax even when the fund earned that money as interest on tax…
Can a Maryland county like Montgomery County pass its own condominium laws, or does the state Condominium Act override them?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the state Condominium Act preempted local condominium legislation unless it fell within one of four specific statutory exceptions, ma…
Could Jim Wells County hire its county treasurer's private company to acquire highway right-of-way?
Yes, as a matter of law, if the private work was separate from the treasurer's official duties and involved no conflict, self-dealing, misuse of nonpublic information, or dereliction of duty. JM-99 sa…
Did a Texas public school need a child-care license to provide custodial care after the regular school day?
No. JM-98 concluded that section 42.041(b)(7) exempted accredited public schools from Department of Human Resources child-care licensing when they operated part-day custodial programs after school, al…
Did Texas bank-record notice and challenge rules restrict Securities Commissioner subpoenas in criminal securities investigations?
No. JM-101 concluded that article 342-705 did not restrict the Securities Commissioner's bank subpoenas or require advance customer notice and a challenge opportunity when the subpoena was issued in a…
When could a Texas governmental body meet privately with its attorney under the Open Meetings Act?
JM-100 said a governmental body could meet privately with counsel about pending or contemplated litigation, settlement offers, or legal advice. It could not close a meeting for general policy discussi…
Did serving as a law school dean, rather than working at a traditional law firm, count as 'practicing law' for someone running for Maryland Attorney General?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a law school dean's combination of teaching, legal counseling, bar committee work, and legally-informed administrative decision-makin…
Could a Maryland county set its own mileage reimbursement rate for county commissioners, or were they stuck with the state's 10-cent-a-mile rate?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Cecil County's public local law did not clearly override the state's general mileage statute, so the county commissioners were limite…
Can a Maryland county turn its regular jail into a 'regional detention center' just by renaming it, to get the shorter 18-month sentencing cap?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a county could establish a regional detention center, or redesignate an existing jail as one, using its ordinary local procedures, bu…
Could one person serve at the same time on the Texas higher-education Coordinating Board and a junior college board?
No. JM-97 concluded that the offices were incompatible because the statewide Coordinating Board supervised critical parts of junior-college administration. Accepting one office relinquished the other.
Is it legal in North Carolina to sell or to carry a combination weapon (the 'Assassin') that consists of metallic knuckles with an attached 3 1/2 inch blade?
Yes to selling; yes to carrying it openly. The 1983 AG concluded that the sale of the combination knuckle-blade weapon is legal, and that carrying it is legal provided it is not concealed. Carrying th…
Could Texas impose its distilled-spirits gallonage tax on wholesalers' sales to military installations in the state?
No. JM-96 concluded that federal law and United States v. State of Texas preempted the $2 gallonage tax on distilled spirits sold by Texas wholesalers to United States military installations in Texas.
Can a North Carolina county social services board adopt its own grievance procedure and appoint itself as the appeal body for personnel decisions made by the county social services director?
No. The 1983 AG concluded that a county social services board cannot constitute itself as a grievance-appeal panel for personnel decisions of the county social services director. Personnel authority o…
Did the Texas Open Records Act require a county clerk to provide duplicate microfilm copies of real-property records?
JM-95 said yes and barred limits on who received the copies or how they were used, while prescribing certified and noncertified copy fees. The official Texas AG page says this opinion was overruled to…
What salary could Texas pay an employee temporarily serving in an acting state position?
JM-94 said a classified employee temporarily promoted to another classified position received the increase specified in the appropriations act. For exempt positions, the agency head could pay less tha…
Could a Texas state agency ban outside employment or require its director's approval before an employee took a second job?
Possibly. JM-93 said those policies were not unreasonable or unconstitutional as a matter of law, but their validity depended on careful drafting, demonstrated need, a legitimate government interest, …
Could Texas health officials regulate unsanitary toilets, drinking water, and wash basins on railroad trains?
Partly. JM-92 said state health officials could regulate drinking water and chemical toilets on trains, while home-rule cities and local health officers could regulate or abate qualifying sanitation n…
Was the superintendent of a Texas mental-health facility a public officer subject to state nepotism restrictions?
Yes. JM-91 said a facility superintendent was a public officer because statutes made the superintendent the institution's administrative head and gave that person independent authority to govern the f…
Could the Texas Legislature create a county court at law that sat somewhere other than the county seat?
Yes. JM-90 concluded that no constitutional provision required a legislatively created county court at law to conduct proceedings at the county seat, so the legislature could authorize another locatio…
When did the terms of Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners members expire: the statute's effective date, the first appointments, or the sunset extension date?
JM-89 said the terms expired on April 26 because the original law creating the board took effect on April 27. The first appointments four months later did not move the term cycle, and the 1981 sunset …
Did Texas Insurance Code article 3.68 bar a life insurer from paying premium-based fees to an affiliated service company with the same officers?
JM-88 originally said yes and also applied article 3.68 to commissions based on out-of-state business. JM-187 later withdrew the per se rule for affiliate service fees, while expressly reaffirming JM-…
Could Texas fish farming, shellfish culture, and other aquaculture qualify for agricultural property-tax treatment?
Yes, when the activity involved cultivating or producing aquatic life. JM-87 said fish farming, shellfish culture, and similar mariculture could receive agricultural tax treatment, but merely catching…
Are leases of buildings on the North Carolina State Fair grounds, including year-round leases to flea-market vendors, exempt from the statutory ban on government competition with private enterprise (G.S. 66-58), or does the exemption apply only during the nine-day October fair?
Year-round exempt. The 1983 AG concluded that 'The North Carolina State Fair' in G.S. 66-58(b)(12) refers to the year-round operation of the State Fair, not just the nine-day October event. The conclu…
Could the Fort Worth Transportation Authority condemn land, including a station or terminal site, without Fort Worth City Council approval?
No. JM-86 concluded that the transit authority needed Fort Worth City Council approval to exercise eminent domain generally and to acquire land for a station or terminal complex.
Could Corpus Christi require pawnshops to keep more detailed customer records and delay redemption for 72 hours?
Corpus Christi could require detailed pawnshop records because that rule complemented state law. It could not impose a 72-hour redemption delay because state law required pledged goods to be returned …
Could a Texas county use combination tax and revenue bonds to build toll roads without violating the constitutional ban on lending public credit?
Yes, assuming the bonds complied with all constitutional and statutory debt requirements. JM-84 said charging tolls did not itself create a constitutional problem and county toll roads could serve a l…
Can Maryland's Comptroller force county court clerks and registers of wills to pay their employees through the state's Central Payroll Bureau?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the State Comptroller could not require Clerks of the Circuit Courts or Registers of Wills to pay their employees through the Central…
Could Texas impose a 3% gross-receipts tax only on out-of-state railroad-car companies while exempting Texas companies doing the same business?
No. JM-83 concluded that taxing only out-of-state railroad-car companies, with no legitimate purpose for the discrimination, violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
After the U.S. Supreme Court's Lehr v. Robertson decision in 1983, do North Carolina adoption courts and child-placing agencies still have to notify a child's biological father of adoption or termination-of-parental-rights proceedings when the parents were not married?
Yes, in every case, regardless of Lehr. The 1983 amendment to G.S. 48-6(a)(3) added an explicit statutory requirement: a court can dispense with a putative father's consent only after giving him notic…
Could a Texas county commissioner donate copyrighted court forms to his own county while marketing the same forms to other counties for personal profit?
No. JM-82 treated the accepted donation as a contract and concluded that the commissioner's planned use of Collin County as a sales showcase created an indirect interest prohibited by article 2364.
Could Harris County release the names and addresses of parents whose infants died from sudden infant death syndrome without the parents' consent?
No. JM-81 concluded that the parents' identities were protected by common-law privacy because disclosure would reveal highly intimate or embarrassing family information with no sufficient public inter…
In a North Carolina nonpartisan town or city election, can a candidate drop out after the filing deadline has passed and have their name taken off the ballot?
Yes, if there is still time to reprint the ballots before election day. If the candidate withdraws before the ballots are printed, the name should not appear at all. If withdrawal happens after the ba…
Could Texas retroactively impose new 67% or unanimous voting rules on condominium declarations and deeds that already contained different amendment rules?
Not when the existing condominium deeds or declarations contained contrary provisions. JM-80 said the new rules were not invalid in every application, but retroactive use that changed existing contrac…
Could the Harris County Commissioners Court reject the hospital district's entire budget because it funded a pregnancy-termination clinic?
Yes. JM-79 concluded that the commissioners court's statutory right of final approval allowed it to reject any hospital-district budget, and no statute required the court to state a reason for disappr…
Did federal disability law prevent Texas from requiring school-bus drivers to meet a minimum hearing standard?
JM-78 said federal law did not categorically bar a reasonable hearing standard, but it did not decide whether the particular rule was fully lawful or reasonable on the facts. A cited district-court ru…
Did using former state ad valorem tax funds exempt Texas public-college construction from Coordinating Board approval?
No. JM-77 said Coordinating Board approval was required whether ad valorem tax receipts funded all or part of the project, unless the legislature itself approved the project. It expressly overruled MW…
Could a Texas university faculty member receive a lump-sum payout or use vacation earned while also serving as an administrator?
The employee could use qualifying vacation leave from administrative duties without losing administrative salary, but could not use it for faculty duties. A returning faculty member was not separated …
When Texas's amended bail-bond law referred to crimes committed after 'the effective date of this Act,' did it mean 1973 or 1981?
It meant August 27, 1973, the original Bail Bond Act's effective date. JM-75 said the 1981 complete reenactment did not reset the cutoff for license eligibility, suspension, or revocation.
Can a North Carolina life care center receive a certificate of need to add nursing home beds, even though the 1983 session law has a cross-reference to a subsection that doesn't quite fit, suggesting the legislature may not have meant to include life care centers?
Yes. The 1983 AG concluded that the reference in section 1 of Chapter 920 to 'section 31(f)' was a clerical mistake. The reference should be read as a reference to section 31 (which does authorize lif…
If the DC Office of Human Rights dismisses my private-sector discrimination complaint for no probable cause, can I appeal to the DC Commission on Human Rights for review?
No. After 1973, the Commission on Human Rights lost its authority to review no-probable-cause dismissals by the Office of Human Rights. Your only path to challenge a no-probable-cause dismissal is to …
Does a Superior Court or Appellate Court judge who took the bench before January 1, 1974 but retired after that date get later increases to keep his retirement at two-thirds of the current salary paid to the office he left?
No. The 1983 AG concluded that the Uniform Judicial Retirement System protected the initial retirement allowance for pre-1974 judges by using the higher of the old (Chapter 7A) or new (Chapter 135) ca…
Did North Carolina have to provide a free public education to children with disabilities through age 21, the same as for nondisabled students, even though the special-needs definition statute only mentioned ages 5-18?
Yes. The AG concluded that the State's obligation to children with disabilities extended through graduation or age 21, the same as for other students. The narrower age range in the special-needs defin…
Can Maryland cut future pension benefits for state employees and teachers without violating the constitutional ban on impairing contracts?
In this 1983 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a bill reducing future benefits under the State Employees' and Teachers' Retirement Systems would likely not violate the U.S. Constit…
Could a Texas appraisal district waive the 5% penalty and 10% interest on a taxing unit's late budget payment?
No. JM-74 said an appraisal district lacked statutory authority to waive or rescind the mandatory penalty and interest. LO-95-62 later reaffirmed that conclusion.
Could a Texas sheriff award county-jail good-time credit for days an inmate served before sentencing?
Yes. JM-73 said presentence confinement was part of the sentence for good-time purposes and had to receive equal consideration. An inmate receiving article 5118a good-time credit could not also receiv…
Could an appraisal district replace its chief appraiser with an independent contractor and let the chief appraiser hire his wife as secretary?
No on both points. JM-72 said the Tax Code did not authorize outsourcing the chief appraiser's statutory office, and the chief appraiser's personnel authority made the nepotism law applicable to hirin…
Who controlled money and property donated to or raised by a county historical commission, and could the commission keep its own bank account?
JM-71 treated the commission as the county's agent. The commissioners court controlled acceptance and disposition of donated real property, while all money, including fundraising receipts and interest…
Could a commissioners court control state Professional Prosecutors Act funds paid to a district attorney, and how could those funds appear in the county budget?
JM-70 said the district attorney controlled the state funds for authorized office expenses. The commissioners court could show their availability but could not direct their use or include them in the …
Was a motor-carrier permit or certificate transferred for tax purposes when a creditor took it after default on a secured note, and how was the transfer tax calculated?
Yes. JM-69 treated the assignment after default as a taxable transfer when the creditor could continue service. The tax was 10% of the cancelled debt plus 10% of additional cash consideration—$7,500.1…
In North Carolina, does a company that builds commercial billboards for lease to advertisers need a Building Code permit before putting one up?
Yes. Commercial billboards (permanent outdoor advertising displays) are governed by Chapter XXIII of Volume 1 of the State Building Code, which requires a permit from the Building Official before any …
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