Legislators, District Attorneys, and any State officer, board, commission, or department. The Attorney General is not authorized to issue opinions to cities, towns, or other political subdivisions, school districts, or private citizens or organizations.
One function of the Attorney General is to issue opinions to legislators and other state officers regarding questions of law in which the officer is officially interested.
Generally, public officials are required to act in accordance with an Attorney General opinion unless or until the opinion is set aside by a court. However, opinions that conclude a statute is unconstitutional are advisory only.
Access the most recent Opionins below. Access previous years decisions on the Oklahoma Public Legal Research System
Opinion FAQ
Submit a signed written request containing, at a minimum, a complete statement of the relevant issues and a concise question of law, to:
Opinion Coordinator
Office of the Attorney General
313 NE 21st Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
opinion.coordinator@oag.ok.gov
Requests from a State board or commission must be made by official action or vote the members. In addition, boards, commissions, or other agencies that have legal counsel must include in their request a legal memorandum citing basic research, points of law, and the requestor’s own conclusion of the question(s) asked.
Once a request is received, it is assigned to an attorney to conduct legal research and prepare an initial draft. Once a draft is completed, it is presented to the Attorney General’s Opinion Conference, a group of experienced attorneys in the office, who discuss the draft, ask questions, and propose revisions. The Opinion Conference members then either approve the draft, with or without revision, or ask for draft to be revised and return for a subsequent Opinion Conference. Once approved, the draft is signed and issued by the Attorney General.
Because opinions may be issued only as to questions of law, requests that turn on questions of fact or require factual determinations are not proper for Attorney General opinions.
While questions involving conflict between state law and municipal ordinances are an appropriate subject for an Attorney General opinion, the Attorney General does not interpret or construe the meaning of individual ordinances.
The Attorney General typically will not issue formal opinions on questions relating to pending legislation or questions that involve pending litigation.
2023-2024 Opinions
Disclaimer
74 O.S. § 18b (A(5)) provides the following language: The duties of the Attorney General as the chief law officer of the state shall be ... To give an opinion in writing upon all questions of law submitted to the Attorney General by the Legislature or either branch thereof, or by any state officer, board, commission or department, provided, that the Attorney General shall not furnish opinions to any but district attorneys, the Legislature or either branch thereof, or any other state official, board, commission or department, and to them only upon matters in which they are officially interested.
Last Modified on
Jun 19, 2024
