Dear Council Rabon, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: When the Council on Judicial Complaints finds that a complaint should be made the subject of a proceeding before the Court on the Judiciary, acting under the provisions of 20 Ohio St. 1659 (1999), and Article VIIA, Section 4 the Council is authorized to forward its complaint, finding, and records to various officers and bodies, including the...
Dear Representative Larry Rice, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: May non-licensed individuals perform work upon the fittings of process piping installed in gas plants or gas fired electrical generating powerhouses and used for the treatment, synthesis, or modification of any liquid, substance or material ¶ 1 Your question relates to the Oklahoma Mechanical Licensing Act ( 59 Ohio St....
Dear Chief Executive Officer Mike Fogarty, ¶ 0 The Attorney General has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following questions: 1. May the Oklahoma Health Care Authority ("OHCA"), an agency that receives both State and federal funds to operate the Medicaid program, pay claims from medical providers when it exhausts its monthly allocation of State-appropriated dollars 2. If OHCA's State appropriation is insufficient to pay the State's...
Dear Administrator, Fite ¶ 0 This office has received your letter requesting an official Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following question: Is the one dollar ($1.00) per trip user fee charged pursuant to 82 O.S. Supp. 1999, § 1470 (B)1 a part of the "gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property and services" as defined in 68 O.S. Supp. 1999, § 1352 (7) and, therefore, subject to the assessment of sales tax ¶ 1 The Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Act, ( 82 O.S. Supp....
Dear John Nance, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Pursuant to 13 Ohio St. 1991 , § 176.8 (E) is a law enforcement officer, who is executing a wiretap order under the Oklahoma Security of Communications Act and intercepts evidence of a planned or completed crime, other than those enumerated in 13 O.S. 1991, § 176.7[ 13-176.7 ], prohibited from using or disclosing that information of the other...
Dear Department Statton, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion asking, in effect, the following question: Is the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services authorized to publicly disclose or otherwise assist in the public disclosure of the identity of a patient buried at a Department hospital cemetery, in the absence of consent by a relative or descendent of the deceased patient, consent of the patient prior to his or her...
Dear Representative Seikel, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Can a practitioner of the healing arts legally delegate, supervise or train someone else (licensed or unlicensed) to perform permanent cosmetics or tattooing under his/her control, supervision or monitoring ¶ 1 Permanent cosmetics, or tattooing, is defined by statute as "insert[ing] pigment under the surface of the skin of a human...
Dear County Macy, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Attorney General Opinion addressing the following question: May the members of the County Board of Equalization and County Excise Board receive the salary increases adopted during the 1999 Legislative session which became effective November 1, 1999 ¶ 1 County Boards of Equalization are created at 68 Ohio St. 2861 (1999). ¶ 2 The Boards' authority is found at 68 Ohio St. 2863 (B) (1999), which provides: "B. It...
Dear Speaker, Benson ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Is a rural electric cooperative created pursuant to 18 O.S. 1991, §§ 437 - 437.29, subject to ad valorem taxes on pipelines constructed, manufactured, owned and operated by the cooperative for generating electricity ¶ 1 Rural electric cooperatives are "[c]ooperative, nonprofit, membership corporations" organized under the Oklahoma Rural...
Dear Leist, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: May the Legislature transfer money from a statutorily earmarked indemnity fund, such as the Driller and Installers Indemnity Fund of the Water Resources Board, to a fund for general operating purposes of state government, as provided in House Bill 2272 (2000 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 402 ) The Legislature's Authority to Transfer Funds ¶ 1 A legislative...
Dear Senate Williams, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: To what extent may a public trust, created pursuant to the Trusts for Furtherance of Public Functions Act ( 60 O.S. 176 - 60 Ohio St. 180 .4 (1991-1999)) having more than one county as its beneficiary, issue revenue bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to finance the acquisition of residential properties not within the boundaries of...
Dear Commissioner Wynn: ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: As a matter of law, does a State employee's work-related governmental tort claim against the State employer fall within the exemption of 2000 Okla. Sess. Laws. ch. 371, § 174 (to be codified at 51 O.S. Supp. 2000, § 155 (14)) that exempts a State or political subdivision from a loss to any person covered by any "employer's liability act"...
Dear Senator Monson: ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following questions: 1. May the Governor unilaterally alter the executive Cabinet after its creation 2. May a nominee who has been rejected previously for a Cabinet post be renominated for appointment to the same or a slightly altered post 3. Is a person entitled to serve as a Cabinet secretary on an acting or interim basis if the letter nominating him to the...
Dear Secretary Hunter, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following questions: 1. Does an employer have the right to keep a notary's seal at the end of the notary's employment if the employer paid for the commission, bond, and seal 2. Is ownership of the seal vested in the purchaser or the individual appointed and commissioned as a notary public by the Secretary of State 3. Can an employer limit a notary's...
Dear House of Representatives Plunk, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following questions: 1. Title 37 Ohio St. 1991 , § 511 (C) prohibits a member of the Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement ("ABLE") Commission (a "Commissioner") from "actively participat[ing], as a candidate or otherwise, in any political campaign held in this state." What are the limits of a Commissioner's participation with respect to...
Dear Morgan ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: May a restrictive covenant be amended, pursuant to 11 O.S. Supp. 1999, § 42-106.1[ 11-42-106.1 ], to provide for mandatory participation in a homeowner association ¶ 1 Since 1995, Oklahoma has expressly permitted a restrictive covenant to be amended upon an affirmative vote of a certain percentage of property owners: A. Any restrictive covenant on...
Dear Ferguson ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Does Article II , § 12 of the Oklahoma Constitution prohibit an individual from simultaneous membership on a school district's board of education and the governing body of an Indian tribe of Oklahoma ¶ 1 You ask whether the Constitution 1 prohibits an individual from serving simultaneously as a member of the governing body of a tribe and as a...
Dear Representative Lindley ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following questions: 1. Must those responsible for deciding whether to adopt a proposed agency rule be present when a rulemaking hearing is held 2. May an agency summarize statements made by interested parties regarding a proposed rule prior to their submission to the agency's decision makers 3. May rulemaking hearings be held in the evening 4....
Dear Senate Robinson, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Title 14A, Section 3-512(1) of the Oklahoma Statutes prohibits licensed supervised lenders from selling goods, with limited exceptions, in the same location where loans are made. Does providing origination of telephone use in the same location where loans are made constitute a sale of goods under 14A O.S. Supp. 1999, § 3-512 (1) ¶ 1 Your...
Dear Senate Laughlin, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Attorney General Opinion addressing the following question: May a county levy a sales tax to be transferred to and used by a municipal trust authority for the purpose of sustaining and operating a medical facility ¶ 1 A county's power to levy a sales tax is found at 68 O.S. 1370 (1999), which states in part: "A. Any county of this state may levy a sales tax of not to exceed two percent (2%) upon the gross...
