Dear Senator Herbert, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter requesting an official Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following question: May surplus machinery, equipment or vehicles of a county be given, pursuant to the provisions of 19 O.S. Supp. 1997, § 421.2[ 19-421.2 ], to a political subdivision located entirely outside the county ¶ 1 You have asked this office to determine whether a county, acting through its board of county commissioners, has the authority to...
Dear Representative Claunch, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter requesting an official Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following questions: 1. Under what circumstances and by what procedures may a county sell or transfer tools, apparatus, machinery or equipment belonging to the county to a State agency or political subdivision of the State located outside the county 2. When a sale of tools, apparatus, machinery or equipment is made pursuant to 19 Ohio St. 1991 , § 421....
Dear Chair Bullard ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion asking the following question: When an appointment to a public office, such as a board member, requires both gubernatorial nomination and Senate confirmation, under what circumstances may the gubernatorial nominees serve prior to Senate confirmation I. ¶ 1 The question you ask deals with an area of law in which, over the years, there has been some confusion, partially because there are two...
Dear Superintendent Garrett, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion addressing the following question: Given the limitations on the use of public funds and public property found in Article X , §§ 14 , 15 and 17 of the Oklahoma Constitution, under what circumstances may a school district enter into a contract with a local school foundation ¶ 1 An expenditure of public funds or a use of public property must comply with Article X , §§ 14 , 15 and 17 of...
Dear Representative Voskuhl, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Opinion in which you asked, in effect, the following question: May a public body keep confidential the purpose of an executive session authorized pursuant to 25 O.S. Supp. 1997, § 307[ 25-307 ](B)(1), in which it discusses the employment, hiring, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining or resignation of an individual salaried public employee ¶ 1 The Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, 25 Ohio St. 1991 and Supp....
Dear Executive Director Kelsey, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following questions: 1. Does the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision have the power to grant full, unrestricted licensure, by endorsement or otherwise, to physicians holding a special license who have not passed a licensing examination recognized by the Board 2. May the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision lawfully issue...
Dear District Attorney Loring, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion. You have asked, in effect, the following question: Which entity is legally responsible for paying the medical bills of a State's witness brought into a county from an out-of-state prison ¶ 1 Pursuant to the Uniform Act to Secure the Attendance of Witnesses From Without a State in Criminal Procedures, 22 O.S. 1991 and Supp. 1998, §§ 721 -727 (hereinafter "Uniform Act"), a prisoner was...
Dear Senator Price, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter seeking an official Opinion addressing the following questions: 1. May a county-beneficiary public trust, which is leasing a hospital from a county, become (1) a stockholder of a for-profit corporation; (2) a member of a limited liability company organized for profit; (3) a partner in a general or limited partnership organized for profit; or (4) a shareholder, owner or member of a non-profit entity 2. May a county-beneficiary public...
Dear Secretary Griffin ¶ 0 This office has received your separate requests for an Attorney General's Opinion. Because your requests involve similar subject matter, we are answering your questions in a single Opinion. You asked, in effect, the following question: Do the Oklahoma Board of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture have jurisdiction over, the power to promulgate rules governing, and the authority to enforce rules concerning the management and disposal of animal waste and the...
Dear Executive Coordinator Atwood, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion addressing the following question: Does the District Attorneys Council have the authority, pursuant to 19 Ohio St. 1991 , § 215.35B[ 19-215.35B ] and Supp. 1997, § 215.30, to require a district attorney to have sufficient funds to satisfy the district attorney's payroll request before the Council will submit the request to the Office of State Finance ¶ 1 Article X , § 23 of the Oklahoma...
Dear Chairman Apple ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion addressing the following question: May the Oklahoma Employee Benefits Council reopen the State Fiscal Year 1999 employee benefits option period so State employees can change their health insurance coverage since the Legislature increased financial support for health coverage after the election period closed ¶ 1 The State offers health insurance for its employees and their families through a cafeteria...
Dear Executive Director Kelsey, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following question: Is a health care practitioner denominated as an "advanced unlicensed assistive person" under 59 Ohio St. 1991 and Supp. 1997, §§ 567.1-567.17, "licensed" for purposes of invoking the exclusion found at 59 O.S. Supp. 1997, § 2042[ 59-2042 ] in the Respiratory Care Practice Act ¶ 1 The "practice of respiratory care" is defined in the Respiratory...
Dear Representive Begley, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General's Opinion. You have asked, in effect, the following question: May a county enter into an agreement which purports to contract away its right to zone or otherwise regulate the use of particular parcels of property ¶ 1 Counties enjoy a number of statutory powers. They have the power to enter into all contracts "necessary to the exercise of corporate or administrative power." 19 Ohio St. 1991 , § 1[ 19-1 ]...
Dear Representative Sullivan, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter requesting an Official Attorney General Opinion addressing, in effect, the following questions: 1. Is corporate farming constitutional under the Oklahoma Constitution 2. How should managed timberland be classified for assessment of ad valorem taxes 3. Is the practice of not allowing a tax recipient ( i.e., a public institution such as a school, public library, EMS, vo-tech, city, county trash disposal, etc.) to protest an...
Dear Representative Kinnamon, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion. You have asked, in effect, the following question: Can an annexed school district convey, without consideration, real property to a municipality in which the property is located ¶ 1 The Perkins Public School District annexed the Tryon Public School District, resulting in the Perkins-Tryon Public School District. The real property in question lies in the former Tryon district. The Perkins-...
Dear Representative Askins ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General's Opinion in which you posed the following two questions regarding the Oklahoma Truth in Sentencing Act, 1997 Okla. Sess. Laws ch. 133: 1. Is the "clear and convincing evidence" standard constitutional in regards to use of offense enhancers pursuant to Sections 8 and 19 2. Is the "clear and convincing evidence" standard an appropriate constitutional standard for proof of the aggravating circumstances...
Dear Chairman Massad, ¶ 0 This office has received your request asking for an Attorney General Opinion addressing the following questions: 1. Is the Council on Judicial Complaints an Executive Branch agency 2. Does the Council on Judicial Complaints have the authority to hire a full-time Secretary of the Council and set the salary and duties of the same I. COUNCIL ON JUDICIAL COMPLAINTS IS AN EXECUTIVE BRANCH ENTITY ¶ 1 The Oklahoma Separation of Powers Clause is set forth at Article IV, § 1,...
Dear Representative Sadler, ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion in which you have asked the following question: Can the City of Ardmore enforce its zoning ordinance, building code and flood plain regulations in Lake Murray State Park, on State-owned land, which is leased to a private concessionaire, and is within the city limits of Ardmore ¶ 1 Lake Murray State Park is controlled by the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Commission (hereinafter "Tourism"). 74...
Dear Senator Hobson, ¶ 0 This office has received your letter asking for an official Opinion addressing, in effect, the following question: If a county-beneficiary public trust, which is leasing a hospital from a county pursuant to 19 Ohio St. 1991 , § 789[ 19-789 ], enters into an agreement with an Oklahoma nonprofit entity to allow that entity to manage the operation of the hospital, would the arrangement be considered a lease of the hospital or its equipment that would trigger the public...
Dear Representative Stanley ¶ 0 This office has received your request for an official Attorney General Opinion, in which you ask, in effect, the following question: Do the provisions of 3A O.S. 1991, § 209[ 3A-209 ], which limit the Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission's authority to issue racetrack licenses to racetrack facilities located in counties in which the voters have approved pari-mutuel horse racing, prohibit the Commission from approving an Oklahoma licensed racetrack's simulcasting its...
