State AG Opinions
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Can an Arkansas city refuse to allow golf carts on its streets, and if it does allow them, can it require insurance and a minimum driver age?
Arkansas cities have full discretion under A.C.A. § 14-54-1410 to decide whether to allow golf carts on city streets, and Act 170 of 2013 did not change that discretion. A city that does allow golf ca…
Can the Texas State Fire Marshal reinvestigate old, closed arson cases?
Yes, as the AG read the law. A district attorney worried that the State Fire Marshal's Office and its Science Advisory Workgroup were bound by the same limits as the Texas Forensic Science Commission,…
Can one person serve as both the village clerk/treasurer and the village court clerk in a New York village?
No. The AG concluded the two positions are incompatible because the village court clerk transmits court fines and fees to the treasurer, who in turn distributes them to the State and county. Having on…
Can an Arkansas county use excess law library funds to finish out courthouse space for the juvenile court?
Excess Cleburne County Law Library funds may be spent under A.C.A. § 16-23-102(c)(2) to finish unused courthouse space for juvenile court staff. The phrase 'improvement in the administration of justic…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the first 2014 ballot title for the statewide alcohol amendment proposed by David Couch?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected the sponsor's first version of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Amendment because the text used the disjunctive 'or' in places where it had to mean 'and,' omitted 'distribut…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the Regnat Populus 2014 campaign finance and lobbying initiated act?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected the Campaign Finance and Lobbying Act of 2014 because Section 4(A) (calling on Congress and the states to amend the U.S. Constitution to permit 'content-neutral limitations…
Can a Tennessee city kick another city's natural gas utility out of its limits and become the sole gas provider?
Yes. A Tennessee city may choose to be the sole natural gas provider within its limits and, upon reasonable notice, exclude another city whose franchise has expired. The displaced city's in-lieu-of-ta…
Can Tennessee force private colleges to recognize religious student groups that limit their leaders to coreligionists?
Probably not as applied to private institutions. The AG concluded SB2294 was constitutionally suspect under the First Amendment because it would force private colleges to abandon all-comers policies a…
Can Tennessee litigants stipulate around the rule that a court reporter cannot be employed by a party or have a financial interest in the case?
Yes. The deposition stipulation under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 29 is not limited to scheduling. Parties may stipulate that a deposition be taken before any person, in any manner, and the stipulation can waive…
Does a Tennessee correspondence-school diploma satisfy the high-school diploma requirement for becoming a constable?
No. A correspondence-school diploma is not a high-school diploma for purposes of the constable qualifications in Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-10-102(a)(1)(C)(ii). The legislature has shown that when it wants t…
When Tennessee voters approve a private act expanding a county school board, do the new seats become vacancies the county commission can fill until the next election?
Yes. New school-board positions are vacancies the moment they are created, so the county legislative body may fill them by appointment until the next general election. The 2016 election for those seat…
After Washington voters passed Initiative 1185 requiring legislative approval for fee increases, did the Transportation Commission lose its power to set tolls and ferry fares?
No. The AG concluded that I-1185, like its predecessors I-960 and I-1053, simply requires that a fee increase have legislative approval at some point, but did not repeal the hundreds of pre-existing s…
Can a registered sex offender go to their own child's school football game in Tennessee?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-39-211(d) bars sex offenders from being on school premises or public athletic fields when children under 18 are present. The only relevant exception is for parents attending a…
Can a Tennessee municipality cancel its school-board election when only one person filed for each open seat?
No. Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-2-201(a)(1) requires that local boards of education be elected by the people, and a Tennessee Special Supreme Court recently confirmed that an uncontested race is still an ele…
Can a Texas county school district hold a petition election to raise the county equalization tax under the old chapter 18?
Likely not. Former chapter 18 of the Education Code let counties create a countywide school district and adopt a countywide equalization tax. Chapter 18 was repealed in 1995, but a savings provision, …
Why did the Arkansas AG reject the March 2014 Arkansas Cannabis Amendment for using 'legal residents' and leaving the legislature's role unclear?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected the proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment because the term 'legal residents' was undefined and the measure was silent on whether the General Assembly retained any regulatory…
Can an Arkansas school district custodian withhold a settlement agreement and complaint records about a public employee as personnel records under FOIA?
Workplace complaint records and a public-entity settlement agreement qualify as personnel records under the Arkansas FOIA, but the public's interest in disclosure (heightened by A.C.A. § 25-18-401's b…
Is Tennessee's proposed gang-injunction law constitutional, and can it bar suspected gang members from public spaces?
Mostly defensible, but with some pressure points. The AG concluded SB 1634 was facially constitutional, but flagged that due process may require an unnamed person to have a chance to contest gang memb…
Should Jonesboro and Monette get a 60/40 or 50/50 share of Craighead County road tax, and are the underlying 1921 and 1925 acts still constitutional?
Acts 8 of 1925 (Jonesboro) and 431 of 1921 (Monette) are not unconstitutional local or special legislation. Both predate Amendment 14, which restricts but does not repeal pre-existing special acts. As…
Did the Arkansas AG approve the renewal of the Crowley Ridge Regional Library interlocal cooperation agreement between Craighead and Poinsett counties?
AG Dustin McDaniel approved the renewed interlocal cooperation agreement between Craighead and Poinsett counties for the Crowley Ridge Regional Library. The agreement met the requirements of the Inter…
Can an Arkansas county stop providing health insurance to the dependents of quorum court members mid-term?
An Arkansas county cannot provide health insurance to dependents of quorum court members; A.C.A. § 14-14-1205 only authorizes coverage 'for members of the quorum court.' So the county must stop the fa…
Can Arkansas Office of Personnel Management apply a 30-day break-in-service limit to teacher sick leave transfers?
Probably not. The teacher sick leave transfer statute (A.C.A. § 6-17-1206) does not impose a break-in-service limit, unlike the parallel statute for state employees (A.C.A. § 21-4-207(e)(3)) that requ…
Would a Tennessee bill limiting when insurers can change open-ended payment contracts with doctors violate the Contract Clause?
Not as drafted. The AG concluded that SB 2427, which would limit when third-party payers can make material changes to health care payment contracts, does not violate Article I, Section 20 of the Tenne…
Can a Tennessee electric cooperative offer broadband Internet to its members on its own, and could HB 2364 change that?
Not on its own. Tennessee electric cooperatives generally have no authority to provide Internet service. They can only do so through a cable joint venture with a current cable franchise holder, or thr…
Is Tennessee's law requiring toll-free calling within a county an unconstitutional taking of telephone-company property?
Mostly no. The AG concluded that Tenn. Code Ann. § 65-21-114, which requires toll-free intra-county calling, is constitutional in most applications. It is only an unconstitutional taking when applied …
Can a sheriff's office keep tools found on private property and turned over by the property owner for the office's own use?
The AG declined to answer on the merits. Classifying found property as 'lost,' 'mislaid,' 'abandoned,' or 'contraband' under Terry v. Lock and Franks v. Pritchett requires fact-finding the AG cannot d…
Can Tennessee make it a separate crime to engage in mass picketing during a labor strike or lockout?
Probably not. The AG concluded that HB 1688, which would have singled out mass picketing in labor disputes for criminal sanction and easier injunctive relief, was a content-based speech restriction un…
If a Virginia county board of supervisors bypasses purchasing rules, can the board members themselves be charged with a misdemeanor under § 15.2-1239?
No. The opinion concluded that a county board of supervisors is the county's governing body, qualitatively distinct from a 'department' or 'agency' of the county government. Because the misdemeanor pe…
When Habitat for Humanity sells a house to a low-income family, does the buyer have to pay Virginia's recordation tax?
Neither party pays. Va. Code § 58.1-811(A)(14) exempts from the recordation tax any deed or lease where the grantor is a 501(c)(3) charity organized and operated primarily to acquire land and purchase…
Does Tennessee's 10% weight-margin rule for farm trucks apply when a contract poultry farmer hauls birds belonging to an integrator to market?
Yes. A truck used by a contract poultry farmer to transport poultry from the farm to market on a Tennessee state highway (other than an interstate) qualifies as a 'farm truck' under Tenn. Code Ann. § …
Can Tennessee constitutionally fall back on the electric chair when lethal injection drugs are unavailable?
Probably yes, on current authority. The AG concluded that SB 2580, which would have authorized electrocution when lethal injection drugs were unavailable or held unconstitutional, would be constitutio…
Can a Florida community redevelopment agency spend its trust-fund money on tourism promotion and nonprofit programs?
The AG declined formal comment, saying such a request should come from the agency itself, but reaffirmed its 2010 opinion (AGO 2010-40) as still good law. Community redevelopment focuses on eliminatin…
In Arkansas, who has the authority to release 911 recordings: the county emergency director or each individual public safety answering point?
Each Arkansas 911 public safety communications center's operating agency head (or designee) is the FOIA custodian of that center's 911 recordings. The Washington County Director of Emergency and 911 S…
In Tennessee, can a county mayor fire employees the county commission hired, or shut down a department the commission created?
No to both. When a Tennessee county commission has hired an employee under proper authority, only the commission can fire that employee. A county mayor cannot defund or abolish a county department wit…
Why did Arkansas reject a cannabis-legalization ballot title in 2014?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected the proposed Arkansas Cannabis Amendment because the text contained ambiguities he could not resolve in a ballot title: the opening verb was in the imperative mood, the mea…
Can a Tennessee LLC use the corporate exemption to sell its own real estate without a broker's license, and what happens if the person doing the selling is paid through profit distributions?
No. The Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act exemption in Tenn. Code Ann. § 62-13-104(a)(1)(F) is limited to corporations and does not extend to LLCs. An officer who handles real estate sales as a…
Can a journalist get a former public employee's annual performance evaluations under the Arkansas FOIA?
Generally no. Under A.C.A. § 25-19-105(c)(1), employee evaluation records stay confidential unless the evaluation formed the basis for the employee's suspension or termination, the disciplinary proces…
Does Tennessee treat an electric bicycle as a motor vehicle, and can a rider be charged with DUI for riding one drunk?
A self-propelled electric bicycle (one whose motor moves it without pedaling) is a motor vehicle in Tennessee. Operating one on a highway requires a driver's license. The rider may be charged with DUI…
Does a former Connecticut Superior Court judge who resigned have to reapply to the Judicial Selection Commission to be considered for a new judicial appointment?
It depended on the court. The AG concluded that a former Superior Court judge applying again for the Superior Court had to submit a new application, but a former Superior Court judge who had previousl…
When did Texas district courts have to start collecting the new $20 electronic-filing fee?
September 1, 2013. House Bill 2302 added Government Code section 51.851, which set new electronic-filing fees, including a $20 fee, after the Texas Supreme Court ordered e-filing for most civil courts…
Can a Florida county spend tourist development tax money to promote events held outside the subcounty district that levied the tax?
The AG concluded that section 125.0104(5)(a)3., Florida Statutes, does not confine a county to spending tourist development tax funds only inside the subcounty special taxing district that levied them…
If someone is involuntarily committed to a mental health facility in another Idaho county, can they register to vote in that new county?
No. Idaho's constitution and statutes treat the place of involuntary mental health commitment as the same as an asylum, so time spent there does not count toward establishing voting residency in the f…
When could Texas's historic building rehabilitation tax credit first be claimed, and could a nonprofit or homeowner use it?
The AG laid out a timeline. The franchise-tax credit for rehabilitating certified historic structures, created by House Bill 500 as subchapter S of Tax Code chapter 171, did not become operative until…
Can a Texas justice court charge a fee to file a petition for an occupational driver's license?
Yes. After House Bill 438 let justice courts receive these petitions and deleted the word 'civil' from Transportation Code section 521.242(e), Senator-turned-Representative Harold Dutton asked whether…
Can a Texas city use its city attorney to sue and stop a recall election against its own council members?
The AG gave a layered answer. An individual officeholder who is the target of a recall petition generally does have standing to file a declaratory-judgment action to test whether the petition meets th…
If I own my real estate through one LLC and manage it through a separate LLC I also own, do I need a real estate broker's license for the management LLC?
Yes. Under A.R.S. § 32-2101(48), an entity that manages property for another and for compensation must have an Arizona real estate broker's license. The owner-managed exemption in A.R.S. § 32-2121(A)(…
Can a city annex an unincorporated area surrounded on three sides if the fourth side borders Corps of Engineers lake property?
Probably not. Arkansas Act 1243 of 2013 lets a city annex a three-sided unincorporated pocket only when the fourth side is a state border, a 'military base,' a state park, or a national forest. Land m…
Could Tennessee declare all federal weapons regulations void in the state and create a private cause of action against any government that tried to enforce one?
No. The AG concluded that SB 1756, which would have voided all federal arms regulations within Tennessee and locked out any local firearms rules, would violate the Supremacy Clause to the extent it re…
Could Tennessee pass a law declaring federal firearms regulations void within the state?
No. The AG concluded that SB 1607, which would have amended the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act to declare federal firearms laws void as to any gun, accessory, or ammunition present in Tennessee, would…
Can a Florida city or county regulate outdoor firearm ranges or recreational shooting in residential neighborhoods?
The AG declined to comment directly because the office was then litigating the constitutionality of section 790.33, Florida Statutes. It pointed instead to its earlier opinions, which had concluded th…
If an Arkansas city council resolution to hold partisan primaries uses outdated language, is it still effective, and is it binding?
Yes on both counts. A.C.A. § 7-7-201(b)(1) impliedly repealed part of A.C.A. § 14-42-206(a), substituting the county board of election commissioners for political party committees as the entity that c…
Can the Arkansas Department of Information Systems provide IT services to the Arkansas Municipal League?
Probably yes. A.C.A. § 25-4-105 lets DIS provide IT services to state agencies, governmental entities, first responders, and 'quasi-governmental entities.' The term is undefined, but the AG predicted …
Can the Arkansas Department of Health force a water system to fluoridate by treating Delta Dental grant funds as 'available'?
Yes, in effect. The Department determined the Delta Dental Foundation grant funds were 'available' under the fluoridation Act, and the AG would defer to that interpretation. Once funds are available f…
Can an Arkansas county force employees to resign or take unpaid leave when they file to run for elected office?
No. Under A.C.A. § 21-1-207, no public employer may strip a state, county, municipal, or school employee of the right to run for elective office. The Ashley County 'resign-to-run' personnel policy is …
In Tennessee, can the same person be a county commissioner and the clerk and master of the chancery court, and can a clerk and master practice law on the side?
Yes to both, with limits. The Tennessee AG concluded that the two offices are local rather than state offices, so the constitutional ban on holding more than one lucrative office does not apply. A cle…
Can a Tennessee school board forgive a city that has spent years skipping its share of liquor-by-the-drink taxes owed to the county school fund?
No. A Tennessee county school board cannot waive its statutory right to receive liquor-by-the-drink tax revenue. The claim is not barred by any statute of limitations because collecting school taxes i…
Can a Florida municipality limit outdoor firearm ranges or shooting practice in residential neighborhoods?
The AG declined to opine, because the office was party to pending litigation over the constitutionality of section 790.33, Florida Statutes, and office policy bars opinions on questions before the cou…
Can a Tennessee principal search a student's locker, and do police have to wait for a parent before questioning a kid at school?
Tennessee public school students have a very low expectation of privacy in their lockers. A principal (not a delegated employee) may order a search on reasonable suspicion. Police generally need the p…
Can a Virginia hunter give his deer tags to another licensed hunter to harvest game for him?
No. Virginia law does not authorize transferring hunting tags between licensed hunters, even for the benefit of a disabled hunter unable to field-dress game. No statute, regulation, or DGIF policy cre…
Why did the Arkansas AG reject 'The Campaign Finance and Lobbying Act of 2014' ballot title?
AG Dustin McDaniel rejected Regnat Populus's combined campaign-finance, lobbyist cooling-off, and gift-ban initiative because Section 4's call for a U.S. constitutional amendment misstated federal law…
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