State AG Opinions
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When a Tennessee local government hires a land surveyor, does it have to follow the same procurement process used for architects, engineers, and construction services?
No. The AG concluded that land surveying is not a 'construction service' under Tenn. Code Ann. § 12-4-107(a). Surveying involves measuring and platting land, not building structures, so the constructi…
Could Arkansas legislators violate federal law by voting to implement the state's medical marijuana amendment?
AG Rutledge attached and incorporated her earlier Opinion 2016-119, which said the General Assembly was mandated by the AMMA's plain terms to fund and appropriate. She declined to opine on potential f…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Larry Morris's recreational marijuana ballot title?
AG Rutledge rejected the popular name and ballot title for Larry Morris's proposed recreational marijuana and industrial hemp amendment due to ambiguities in the underlying text. Where a proposal is i…
What happens in Arkansas if a school board member misses the 10-day oath-of-office deadline?
AG Rutledge concluded that a newly-elected school board member who failed to take the oath of office within the 10-day window in Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-617(a)(1) was likely disqualified, with the prior…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Mary Berry's first cannabis amendment ballot title?
AG Rutledge rejected the popular name and ballot title for Mary Berry's first proposed Arkansas cannabis hemp and recreational marijuana amendment due to ambiguities in the underlying text. Berry subm…
How can an Arkansas county get an easement on land owned by a defunct church or unincorporated association?
It depends. AG Rutledge said an unincorporated nonprofit association continues to exist until it is wound up, so its managers or members can grant an easement during winding up. Where the association …
Are county library board employees in Arkansas considered 'county employees' for retirement and insurance benefits?
Yes, generally. AG Rutledge said Poinsett County Library Board employees were 'county employees' for APERS purposes because they were paid through county-collected millage and the county treasurer iss…
Can Tennessee enter into a private concession contract to redevelop and operate Fall Creek Falls State Park without violating a statute that limits when the parks department can contract for state-employee work?
Yes. The AG concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. § 11-3-112's limit on TDEC contracting did not apply because the deal was being run through the Department of General Services with State Building Commission…
Can a former Arkansas city employee block release of disciplinary documents from his personnel file?
AG Rutledge said the City of Jonesboro could release the disciplinary records of former employee Erick Woodruff. The four-prong evaluation-records test was satisfied. Three records that appeared to co…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block FOIA release of his job application and contract?
AG Rutledge confirmed that the LRSD custodian's plan to release John Kuykendall's job application and current contract was consistent with the FOIA, with personal contact information and college trans…
In 2017, was a Tennessee bill banning abortion after a detectable fetal heartbeat constitutional?
Mostly no. The AG concluded the heartbeat ban itself was constitutionally suspect under then-controlling Roe/Casey precedent because it prohibited pre-viability abortions, but the bill's ultrasound an…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block release of her job application and contract under FOIA?
AG Rutledge said job applications and employment contracts of public school employees are personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure. The custodian's plan to release them with personal contact infor…
Can a Little Rock School District employee block release of her job application and contract under FOIA?
AG Rutledge said job applications and employment contracts of public school employees are personnel records subject to FOIA disclosure. The custodian's plan to release them with personal contact infor…
Does Florida have a parental-rights termination law that lets the state qualify for the federal Rape Survivor Child Custody Act funding boost to its sexual violence prevention grants?
The opinion was a certification letter to DOJ confirming that § 39.806(1)(m), Florida Statutes, enacted in 2013 to allow termination of a rapist's parental rights to a child conceived through rape, re…
Who can see criminal records under a Texas nondisclosure order in the clerk's system?
A county attorney was concerned that his county's court records system let the public and all clerk employees view criminal history information that was subject to nondisclosure orders. The AG conclud…
Why did the AG reject Barry Emigh's earlier 3000-word casino ballot title?
AG Rutledge rejected the proposed ballot title for Barry Emigh's casino amendment, which ran roughly 3000 words. No Arkansas Supreme Court ballot-title decision has ever approved one that long for a c…
If a government employee is subpoenaed to testify in a civil trial about work matters, can the employee or the government employer charge an hourly rate for the time spent in court?
No. The AG concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 24-4-101 through 107 set the only compensation a witness in a civil case can receive, and the statute does not distinguish between government employees and…
Can a Tennessee court clerk pay a sheriff or constable more or less than the statutory fee for serving process?
No. The AG concluded that the fee schedule in Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-901 is mandatory: court clerks cannot pay less than the statutory fee for services actually rendered, nor pay more. The fees are no…
Can a Tennessee city or county add its own fee on top of the state's fee for a state-issued permit or license?
Only if state law authorizes it. The AG concluded that local governments have no inherent power to surcharge or supplement state license and permit fees; the legislature must expressly or impliedly de…
When a Florida city commission also serves as the CRA board, can the mayor veto CRA actions or pick the CRA's executive director under city-charter veto and appointment powers?
The opinion concluded the mayor's veto over city legislation did not reach CRA actions because the CRA is a separate legal entity, and the CRA executive director is selected under CRA bylaws and § 163…
Can a concealed-carry licensee leave a handgun in their car parked at an Arkansas county or city parking lot?
Yes. AG Rutledge concluded the so-called 'parking lot exception' under Act 1078 of 2015 covers parking lots owned and maintained by Arkansas counties and cities. A concealed-carry licensee may leave a…
Two persistent worries about SD legislative practice: (1) Can SD legislators trade votes ('I'll vote for your bill if you vote for mine')? (2) Can SD legislators use 'vehicle bills' (introducing a bill on one subject and then gutting and replacing the content with something completely different)? Are either of these practices illegal under the SD Constitution, SD statutes, or legislative rules?
Neither is prohibited. (1) Vote trading that does not involve physical violence, coercion, or the exchange of a thing of value is not prohibited by the SD Constitution, SD statutes, or SD legislative …
Can Texas hand a private board power to curtail water use, and is that a taking?
A state representative asked whether a proposed Upper San Saba River management plan, which would create a board empowered to order water-use cutbacks during drought, unconstitutionally delegates legi…
Can an Arkansas community college employee block release of his Employee Disclosure and Certification form and his employment contract under FOIA when someone asks whether he is related to a board trustee?
AG Rutledge concluded that the Employee Disclosure and Certification form was a personnel record subject to release under the Arkansas FOIA, with the employee's Social Security number redacted. The AG…
Can an Arkansas county elected official keep serving while facing criminal charges, and how does the county fill the seat if a court removes them?
Generally yes, an Arkansas county elected official could keep serving even with criminal charges pending. If a circuit court later removed them, the county quorum court (not a special election) filled…
Can the same person serve as both an Arkansas district court clerk and a city council member at the same time?
AG Rutledge concluded that an Arkansas district court clerk likely could also serve on the city council. None of the constitutional, statutory, or common-law incompatibility doctrines clearly barred t…
Can a city council in Arkansas pass an ordinance that limits the mayor's authority to make purchases for the city?
AG Rutledge concluded that a city council in Mount Ida (a second-class city) could not pass an ordinance restricting the mayor's exclusive statutory power under Ark. Code Ann. § 14-58-303(a) to make p…
Was Arkansas's constitutional ban on corporate political contributions still constitutional under the First Amendment after Citizens United and McCutcheon?
AG Rutledge concluded that Arkansas's prohibition on direct corporate contributions to candidates (Ark. Const. art. 19, § 28) was constitutional under federal precedent as it stood in 2017, principall…
Under Tennessee's custom-slaughter and on-farm meat exemptions, is there a limit on how many co-owners can share an animal that is custom slaughtered or processed on the farmer's farm?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 53-7-202(6) restricts a custom slaughterer only by saying the slaughtered meat cannot be sold or offered for sale through a commercial outlet; the statute does not cap the number…
Can Tennessee Lottery proceeds pay Advanced Placement (AP) exam fees for high school students?
No. The AG read article XI, § 5 of the Tennessee Constitution to allow lottery proceeds only for financial assistance helping citizens *attend* a Tennessee post-secondary institution. AP exams are tak…
Can a Delaware public agency charge FOIA requesters for a senior IT specialist's time to search emails, or must it use its cheapest employee's rate?
Yes, according to this opinion. Delaware Technical and Community College could bill a FOIA email search at a senior systems specialist's hourly rate, because a sworn affidavit showed that position was…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Jason D. Berry's 2017 ballot title for the Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected Jason D. Berry's proposed Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment ballot title. Three drafting defects controlled: Section 3(i)'s THC-content definition was ambiguous a…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Larry B. Morris's 2017 ballot title for the proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected Larry B. Morris's proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment ballot title. Five drafting defects controlled: Section 3(f)'s sheriff-issued transport-pass language was internally ambiguo…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Avalon Romane's 2017 ballot title for the proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected Avalon Romane's proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment ballot title. Three drafting defects controlled: Sections 5 and 6 used 'person 18 years of age or older' without making clear …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Mary L. Berry's 2017 ballot title for the Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected Mary L. Berry's proposed Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment ballot title. Two defects controlled: Section 3(i)'s definition of 'products produced from marijuana' c…
Does South Dakota's Marsy's Law (Article VI, § 29) reach civil lawsuits, ordinance violations, minor traffic tickets, and Sexual Assault Response Team meetings, or is it limited to traditional criminal and juvenile cases?
Marsy's Law applies only to criminal cases and juvenile delinquency cases as defined by the SD Legislature, and only when an identifiable primary or ancillary victim has affirmatively invoked the righ…
Do Tennessee public-charter-school teachers' children get the same state-college tuition discount as other public-school teachers' children?
Yes. Children of full-time licensed teachers in Tennessee public charter schools qualify for the § 49-7-119(a) tuition discount at state-operated institutions of higher learning. Tennessee public char…
Can Tennessee's General Assembly strip a city court's criminal jurisdiction in the middle of an elected city judge's term?
Yes. Tennessee's General Assembly has constitutional authority under article VI, sections 1 and 8 of the Tennessee Constitution to alter, increase, or reduce the jurisdiction of inferior courts it has…
Does a school district get off the hook for responding late to a public records request if it eventually hands over the records?
No, according to this opinion. The AG found Red Clay Consolidated School District violated FOIA's fifteen-business-day response deadline in four of five petitions, rejecting the district's argument th…
Can a Delaware city refuse to release a lawsuit settlement agreement because its insurer's lawyer, not the city, holds the only copy?
No, according to this opinion. The AG ordered the City of Dover to produce a police-lawsuit settlement agreement even though the city never signed it and its insurer's outside counsel held the only co…
Can a city in Arkansas raise its sanitation fee to pay for animal control, code enforcement, and nuisance abatement without a public vote?
AG Rutledge concluded that Pine Bluff's planned sanitation-fee increase, used to cover Animal Control and Quality of Life division operating expenses, probably did not qualify as a true 'fee' under Ar…
Can a Texas reserve deputy sheriff be a surety on a bail bond in his own county?
An Andrews County attorney asked whether a reserve deputy sheriff may sign as a surety on a bail bond in the county where he serves, whether the sheriff may accept such a bond, and whether any other l…
Can a Florida city council pass a non-regulatory resolution supporting or opposing pending state or federal firearm legislation without violating Florida's firearm preemption statute?
The opinion concluded a city council resolution that simply expressed support for or opposition to pending state or federal firearm legislation, with no regulatory effect, would not violate § 790.33 o…
Is a long-distance mortal-remains transport plan, paid for in advance and triggered only by death more than 75 miles from home, regulated as a Tennessee pre-need funeral contract?
Yes. A plan that takes a prepaid, nonrefundable fee in exchange for arranging professional transport of a dead human body from any site of death to a licensed funeral provider, with services triggered…
Could the Florida Legislature give Palm Beach County alone the authority to make texting while driving in a school zone a primary traffic offense?
The opinion concluded that special legislation authorizing only Palm Beach County to make texting in a school zone a primary offense would conflict with Chapter 316's uniform statewide traffic regime …
When the Connecticut General Assembly considers rejecting a state-paid settlement agreement under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 3-125a, is the required 'three-fifths vote of each house' calculated on members present and voting or on the entire membership?
Members present and voting. The AG concluded that under § 3-125a, the three-fifths supermajority needed to reject a settlement agreement requiring more than $2.5 million in General Fund expenditures i…
Can a state agency release a public employee's driving record in response to an Arkansas FOIA request for the personnel file?
AG Rutledge concluded that the State Treasurer custodian's decision to release a former employee's driving record (with redactions) was consistent with the Arkansas FOIA. Although release implicates s…
Can a Tennessee city like Lakeland charge mandatory monthly fees to fund fire protection, and could the legislature single one city out to do so?
No. Lakeland, organized under a city manager-commission charter, has no statutory authority to impose mandatory fees on its residents to fund fire protection. Tennessee follows the Dillon-rule princip…
Can a Texas city use hotel occupancy tax money to build and run a performing arts center?
A state representative asked, on behalf of the City of Lakeway, whether a city could use its hotel occupancy tax to pay for a feasibility study and then the construction, operation, and maintenance of…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject Mary L. Berry's January 2017 ballot title for the Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment?
AG Rutledge rejected Mary L. Berry's January 2017 proposed Cannabis Hemp and Recreational Marijuana Amendment ballot title. Eight specific drafting defects controlled, including unclear treatment of b…
After Arkansas voters approved the Medical Marijuana Amendment, was the legislature obligated to fund and implement it even though marijuana remains illegal under federal law?
AG Rutledge concluded that the General Assembly lacked discretion under the plain text of the AMMA (Amendment 98 of 2016) to decide whether to establish the Medical Marijuana Commission Fund or approp…
Could DHHS build a new secure forensic 'step-down' psychiatric facility on state property without first getting legislative approval, just because the agency had funds in hand?
No. AG Mills explained that having funds is not enough. The Maine Constitution gives executive agencies only the authority the Legislature gives them, and Maine's appropriations statutes (5 M.R.S. §§ …
Would Virginia's proposed 20-week abortion ban (the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act) survive constitutional review under Roe and Casey?
The AG concluded that HB 1473 (the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act) would not withstand constitutional scrutiny. The bill imposed a flat 20-week abortion prohibition that operated before feta…
Can a Virginia county treasurer invest public funds in asset-backed securities that are also guaranteed by a federal agency?
Yes for the federally guaranteed kind. The AG concluded that political subdivisions like Arlington County may invest under § 2.2-4501(A)(2) in securities unconditionally guaranteed by the United State…
Why did the Arkansas AG keep rejecting Barry Emigh's proposed gambling-and-alcohol constitutional amendments?
AG Rutledge rejected Barry Emigh's fourth submission of a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing local gambling with alcohol service. The same fundamental defect from earlier submissions remain…
Does Tennessee's pretrial-diversion ineligibility for an 'elected or appointed person' bar all public employees, or only those actually elected or appointed?
No. The phrase 'elected or appointed person' in Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-15-105(a)(1)(B)(iii)(h) reaches only public employees who were elected or appointed to a position in the executive, legislative, or…
Does Tennessee's $75 court-cost charge for parenting-plan and child-support actions also apply to motions filed in a still-pending divorce?
No. The $75 court-cost charge in Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-21-401(b)(1)(E) is a 'standard court cost' charged at the institution of specified civil actions, like child support enforcement, child support mod…
Can a Texas county attorney get paid extra for acting as a special prosecutor for the district attorney?
A Gaines County auditor asked whether a county attorney appointed by the district attorney to serve as a 'special prosecutor' could be paid an additional $500 for representing the State in district co…
Who handles vehicle registration in Texas, the DMV or the county, and can the DMV hire a vendor to print and mail stickers?
The chair of the House Transportation Committee asked the AG to sort out the relative authority of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and county tax assessor-collectors over vehicle registration. …
Can a Virginia homeowners association enforce a covenant that limits homes to residential use only, with a narrow exception for home offices?
Yes. The AG concluded that a restrictive covenant in a Virginia POA declaration limiting use of lots in a residential area to residential purposes is enforceable, subject to the covenant's own excepti…
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