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 Maryland change a county's boundary line by letting all voters citywide or countywide decide, or does only the area being transferred get a vote?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a proposed bill to let Takoma Park voters decide whether to unify the city into either Montgomery or Prince George's County was uncon…
When South Dakota acquired the Milwaukee Road line from Rapid City to Mitchell in 1982 and took over the line's licensing agreements, can the state Division of Railroads charge a rural electric cooperative annual rent for utility line crossings, even though state law gives the co-op a right to cross publicly owned land?
Yes. SDCL 47-21-66 protects a co-op's right to construct and maintain lines across publicly owned land, but it does not require crossings to be free. SDCL 1-44-28 gives the Division of Railroads autho…
Can the DC Mayor agree to pay interest on emergency unemployment-trust-fund loans from the federal government, and where does the interest money come from?
Yes. The Mayor can borrow from the federal unemployment account when DC's own unemployment fund runs short and can agree to pay the federally required interest on those advances. The interest just can…
Could a Maryland non-home-rule county set up its own deferred-compensation retirement plan for elected officials like commissioners and sheriffs?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Cecil County's Board of County Commissioners had no authority to adopt a deferred compensation plan funded by county-paid annuity pre…
Could Maryland lawyers pool small client trust funds into interest-bearing NOW accounts to fund legal aid without violating federal banking law?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that lawyer trust accounts commingled under a new state law and dedicated to funding the Maryland Legal Services Corporation qualified for…
Can a Maryland county give one sport a much lower amusement tax rate than every other sport without violating equal protection?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a proposed Prince George's County ordinance temporarily taxing professional hockey admissions at 0.5% while keeping a 10% rate for vi…
Can the North Carolina Attorney General's Office act on behalf of counties under the Set-off Debt Collection Act to collect judgments against social services recipients?
No. The AG concluded N.C.G.S. § 105A-2(1)h made the Attorney General's Office a 'claimant agency' only for State agencies whose claims had been reduced to judgment. Counties were defined as claimant a…
Who gets to keep the bank interest on state welfare funds handled by the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, the state or the city?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a State directive requiring local social services departments to deposit their funds in interest-bearing accounts and remit the inter…
Are the Maryland Legal Services Corporation's board members and staff bound by the state's public ethics law?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the newly created Maryland Legal Services Corporation, its board of directors, and its employees were not subject to the Maryland Pub…
Does a Maryland tax evasion conviction disqualify someone from staying registered to vote or running for local office?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a conviction for willfully evading state income tax was an infamous crime under Article 33, section 3-4(c), which meant the convicted…
Can a coastal North Carolina county like New Hanover regulate where floating homes can be located, how dense they can be, and how they can be built when those homes sit on public waters that border the county's shoreline?
Yes. The AG concluded that New Hanover County has authority under both its general zoning power (G.S. § 153A-340) and its land use plan under the Coastal Area Management Act to regulate floating homes…
Is a North Carolina restaurant's parking lot a 'public vehicular area' for purposes of the Motor Vehicle Code when the restaurant is closed for the night?
Yes. The AG concluded G.S. 20-4.01(32)'s 'public vehicular area' definition covers a restaurant parking lot whether the restaurant is open or closed. The statute does not condition coverage on whether…
Can a Maryland farm owner keep clergy, lawyers, health workers, or other visitors away from migrant workers living in an employer-owned labor camp?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that migrant farm workers residing in camps provided by farmers or growers had the legal right to receive guests, including clergy, medica…
Can a Maryland second-mortgage lender charge the borrower for a title examination on top of a title insurance premium?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a savings and loan association making a secondary mortgage loan could require the borrower to pay for a title examination as part of …
Can a Maryland charter county sell a county-owned building to a private buyer and then lease it back for continued government use?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Harford County could sell county-owned property to a private investor and lease it back long-term, because Article 25A, section 5(B) …
When North Carolina paused new rest-home licensing in 1982 to slow the growth of institutional elder care, did that moratorium also block existing rest homes from getting relicensed when they changed owners or administrators?
No. The AG concluded that the moratorium's 'initial licensure' restriction applied only to new facilities or new beds, not to changes of ownership or administrator at an already-licensed facility. The…
Can Maryland require a circuit court judge to actually live in a specific county, not just anywhere in the multi-county judicial circuit?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the statute requiring all resident judgeships allocated to the Prince George's County Circuit Court to be filled by actual residents …
Do North Carolina vocational-education instructors need a general contractor's license to supervise student construction of residential dwellings as a classroom project on school board property?
No. The AG concluded G.S. 87-1's general-contractor licensing requirement does not apply to vocational instructors supervising student-built residential dwellings on local school board property. G.S. …
Could an out-of-state lawyer represent a client in a Maryland health claims arbitration or other administrative hearing without being admitted to the Maryland Bar?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that an out-of-state lawyer could not be specially admitted, pro hac vice or otherwise, to represent a client in the arbitration of a heal…
An out-of-state corporation wants to build a pilot mining plant in South Dakota that mines about 5,000 tons of ore and affects one acre, just to test whether a full-scale operation makes economic sense. Should the pilot be permitted under SDCL 45-6B (the Mined Land Reclamation Act) or SDCL 45-6C (exploration)? And does the answer change if the pilot is larger?
Under SDCL 45-6B (mining), not 45-6C (exploration). The exploration definition expressly excludes development; the mining definition expressly includes development, and development expressly includes …
Are car-buying or referral services like AAA's car-buying program legal under Maryland's vehicle salesman licensing law?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that car buying and referral services like United Buying Service, and a proposed AAA car-buying program, fall within the statutory definit…
Can Maryland let a county pay for its own lawyer for the sheriff instead of using the Attorney General's office?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a bill letting Cecil County pay for a sheriff's attorney could still be constitutional, but only if it was administered as an appoint…
Did Maryland's 1982 law letting charities raffle off real estate override the usual county permit and licensing rules for raffles?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General approved House Bill 1885, which let bona fide charitable organizations raffle off real property, but warned the General Assembly that the bill's bro…
When two bills in the same legislative session both amend the same statute, does the second one signed cancel out the first?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General advised Governor Harry Hughes that two racing bills, Senate Bill 1042 and Senate Bill 1043, which each amended the same takeout provision of Article…
Could Maryland let school principals search a student based on 'reasonable belief' instead of the stricter 'probable cause' standard?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General approved House Bill 1514, which amended the Education Article to let a principal, assistant principal, or school security guard search a student bas…
Was it legal for Maryland veterinarians to euthanize dogs and cats with T-61 solution, or did that count as a banned 'curariform drug'?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that T-61 Euthanasia Solution was not a prohibited 'curariform drug' under Article 27, §59A, even though one of its three components has a…
Can a Maryland county require owners of existing, already-built swimming pools to add fencing after the fact?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Calvert County had the constitutional and statutory authority to require the fencing of swimming pools that were built or installed b…
Can a public high school officially recognize a Christian student club, like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as a school organization?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that while a public high school could let a religious student club use school facilities after hours like any other community group, grant…
In South Dakota, can the same person serve as both a county commissioner and a state legislator at the same time? And can a state legislator also sit on the South Dakota Veterans Commission?
No to both, but for different reasons. The AG concluded that simultaneous county commissioner and state legislator service created a conflict of interest, because the legislator would have authority t…
After North Carolina rewrote its alcoholic beverage laws in 1981, could the ABC Commission issue on-premises wine permits to Gastonia restaurants and hotels even though Gastonia voters had previously voted for ABC stores only (no on-premises wine)?
Yes. The AG concluded that the 1981 rewrite of NC's ABC laws (Chapter 412) preempted prior local-option election results that had limited wine sales in ABC-store jurisdictions. Under new G.S. 18B-603(…
Some South Dakota rural water associations are private nonprofit tax-exempt organizations. Can they qualify as 'public or quasi-public agencies' eligible to receive federal surplus property under federal regulations?
No. Under federal regulations (41 CFR § 101-44.207), only state agencies, political subdivisions, instrumentalities created by interstate compact, multijurisdictional substate districts established by…
Could Maryland make it a crime to publish material that defames a whole racial or religious group, like Nazi or Klan hate literature?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that House Bill 1018, which would have made it a crime to knowingly and maliciously distribute written material that defamed the members o…
Could Maryland have required every public school student to pray, read the Bible, or meditate each morning?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Senate Bill 2, which would have required every public school student to affirmatively choose to pray, read the Holy Scripture, or med…
Can Maryland raise the pay of an election board member if the raise takes effect the same day their new term starts?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that Article III, Section 35 of the Maryland Constitution, which bars changing a public officer's salary during their term of office, did …
Can Maryland limit a charter county's ordinances from overriding a town's own home rule laws without amending the state constitution?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that limiting how charter county ordinances apply to municipalities within that county does not require a constitutional amendment, becaus…
Could Maryland have required public schools to give equal classroom time to creation-science and evolution?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that House Bill 1078, which would have required public schools to give creation-science and evolution-science equal time, equal textbook p…
If Maryland spouses jointly own a house, does a lender need both signatures to use the house as loan collateral?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that state law did not require a lender to obtain a spouse's or co-owner's signature to make individually-owned or jointly-owned (non-enti…
Could Maryland's Governor issue a binding executive order setting statewide development policy that agencies had to follow?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the Governor had statutory authority under Article 41 to issue a proposed executive order setting statewide physical and economic dev…
May a North Carolina county adopt an ordinance regulating the method of trapping wildlife?
No. The AG concluded the General Assembly had preempted the entire field of wildlife regulation in G.S. 113-133.1, leaving only ordinances with 'minor and incidental' impact (such as a no-firearm-disc…
If a convicted Maryland official's felony conviction is reversed on appeal, are they owed back pay right away, or only once the appeal is completely final?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that the 1979 payment of back pay to former Governor Marvin Mandel was lawful, because Article XV, Section 2 of the Maryland Constitution …
Did the 1981 amendment to North Carolina's interest-on-judgments statute, G.S. 24-5, allow clerks to assess interest on costs?
No. The AG concluded the 1981 amendment to G.S. 24-5 (Session Laws 1981, c. 327) was aimed at changing the accrual period for interest on compensatory damages in tort actions covered by liability insu…
Could a Maryland bank in 1980 raise the interest rate on an existing credit card balance after the state's usury ceiling went up?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that a bank could raise the interest rate on a cardholder's existing credit card balance after Maryland raised its usury ceiling in 1980, …
If a North Carolina business holds a federal firearms license and brings handguns into inventory for resale, does the business also need a sheriff's permit for each handgun, and what happens when a pawn shop owner pulls a handgun out of inventory for personal use?
No sheriff's permit is required to bring a handgun into a federally licensed dealer's or pawn shop's resale inventory. But once a handgun is removed from inventory and converted to the dealer's or paw…
When can a North Carolina sheriff deny a permit to possess a machine gun for scientific or experimental purposes, and does federal firearms registration override the state permit requirement?
The AG concluded a sheriff had wide discretion under G.S. 14-409. The sheriff had to satisfy himself the applicant fit within the statute's scientific-or-experimental exception and complied with any c…
If Maryland closed or merged a state college, would it lose federal Land Grant Act funding, and what would happen to tenured faculty?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that closing or consolidating a public college that received Morrill-Nelson land grant funding would not jeopardize the State's federal fu…
When a Maryland circuit judge's 15-year term expires and the judge holds over until retirement, when must the newly appointed successor run for election?
In this 1982 opinion, the Maryland Attorney General concluded that when a circuit court judge's 15-year term expired and the judge then held over in office under Article IV until reaching mandatory re…
SDCL 46-5-6.4 lets the Department of Agriculture take water samples from wells to validate water analyses submitted with irrigation permit applications. Some samples submitted by applicants turn out to be invalid (improper sampling, fraud). Does the Department's validation power continue after the irrigation permit has been conditionally or unconditionally approved, or after a water right based on the permit has been acquired? And who pays for the validation sampling?
The validation power is ongoing. The Department can validate water samples both during the application process and afterward, including after a permit has been granted and even after a water right has…
Does the 1981 dual-compensation rule in G.S. 135-72 cut off Uniform Judicial Retirement System benefits for North Carolina judges who had already retired and started serving as federal judges before the statute's October 9, 1981 effective date?
No. The AG concluded G.S. 135-72 (enacted by Chapter 978 of the 1981 Session Laws) used the future-oriented phrases 'members who are appointed' and 'should a retired former member be appointed,' which…
Can a North Carolina nonprofit raffle off a house or other real estate, and if so, who has to be licensed (the organization, the ticket sellers, real estate brokers), and is there a cap on how valuable the property can be?
Yes, an exempt nonprofit may raffle real estate. The $500 prize cap in G.S. § 14-292.1(g) covers cash raffle prizes only, leaving no statutory cap on real estate prize value. The exempt organization's…
When Congress changed federal depreciation rules in August 1981 to apply retroactively to property placed in service after December 31, 1980, did NC corporations get to use those faster federal write-offs for state income tax purposes too, given that NC's corporate tax statute cross-referenced the Internal Revenue Code 'in effect on January 1, 1981'?
Yes. The AG concluded that the federal Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981's accelerated depreciation rules flowed through to NC corporate income tax for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1…
Can a North Carolina court order a criminal defendant to take psychotropic medication against his will, when the medication is needed to make him competent to stand trial and he is refusing it?
Yes, under limited conditions. The AG concluded that a NC court can order involuntary administration of psychotropic medication if a psychiatrist testifies directly that the medication is likely to re…
Can a city police officer tow a car off a private restaurant's parking lot just because the restaurant owner asks, and does the city police department have any duty to arrest people loitering on that private lot?
No on both counts. The AG concluded that the police should not tow a vehicle from private property unless the owner first puts the request in writing and assumes responsibility for damages. And police…
A meat truck operator brings fresh meat to Mitchell one day a week, every week, for six months. He has paid the transient merchant license fee throughout. Now he wants to claim his business is permanent (and therefore not subject to the transient merchant statute). Does one day a week, repeated, qualify as 'permanent' under SDCL ch. 37-12?
Yes, if he followed the right paperwork. SDCL 37-12-1 says a business operated more than six months in one place by the same person is deemed permanent. SDCL 37-12-3 sets up the filing procedure for t…
If a retired North Carolina district or superior court judge bought back his military service time within the Uniform Judicial Retirement System, does that purchased military service count toward the 15 years of creditable service required to be commissioned as an emergency judge?
Yes. The AG concluded that purchased military service in the Uniform Judicial Retirement System is creditable service for purposes of the 15-year requirement to serve as an emergency judge under G.S. …
Once a North Carolina felon is fully released from probation, parole, and the Department of Correction, can he legally possess a handgun outside his home or business right away, and does a Governor's Pardon of Forgiveness give him his full firearms rights back?
No on both counts. The AG concluded that, after the 1975 repeal of the restoration-of-citizenship exception, a NC felon cannot possess a handgun or weapon of mass destruction outside his home or busin…
If a North Carolina district court judge was serving as a non-attorney judge on January 1, 1981, when a new constitutional amendment required judges to be licensed attorneys, can that judge later sit out a term and then run again, or does taking a break end the grandfather protection?
The judge can run again. AG Rufus L. Edmisten concluded that Article IV, Section 22 of the NC Constitution creates a permanent grandfather clause for any person who was elected or serving as a judge o…
When a child gets a dental exam or dental treatment under North Carolina's Medicaid EPSDT program (Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment), do the regular Medicaid prior-approval rules and copayment rules apply, or are EPSDT dental services treated separately?
EPSDT dental services are separate and are not subject to prior approval or copayment. The AG concluded that the 1979-81 Appropriations Act's prior-approval requirement for 'dental services' applied o…
If someone in North Carolina got welfare benefits by lying on the application and then files for bankruptcy, does the bankruptcy wipe out the county's claim to be paid back, or does the county still have a route to recover the money?
The county can still recover, if the county DSS properly presents its claim in the bankruptcy. A debt for public assistance obtained by fraud, false representation, or a materially false written finan…
Can a North Carolina city deny a special use permit for a bingo establishment to a for-profit corporation whose prizes exceed ten dollars per game?
Yes. The AG concluded a Goldsboro city ordinance conditioned on compliance with the Bingo and Raffles law could be enforced to deny a permit. G.S. 14-292.1 limits regular bingo to tax-exempt organizat…
Do the administrative and investigative assistants a district attorney can hire under G.S. 7A-68 and 7A-69 have to take an oath of office, or are they just employees?
No oath required by default. The 1981 AG concluded that these positions, as defined by the statutes, do not involve the exercise of sovereign State power, so they are employees and not public officers…
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