California Attorney General Opinions: How to Find, Read and Cite Them

Short answer: a California attorney general (AG) opinion is a written answer to a question of law. Only a short list of public officials can ask for one. The office posts them online from 1980 on and cites each by volume and page, as in 109 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 67. Courts give opinions "great weight" but do not have to follow them. California also makes each question public before it answers, and it files permission rulings about public offices in the same series.

TL;DR

• Only the officials named in Government Code section 12519 can ask for advice. Private people, city councils and most city attorneys cannot.
• Pending questions go into a Monthly Opinion Report. Anyone may send written views before the opinion is final.
• A number such as 25-902 starts with the year the question was assigned. The answer can come a year or more later.
• Some opinions are quo warranto decisions, meaning permission rulings on whether someone may sue to remove a public officeholder.
• Courts give opinions weight without being bound. The California Supreme Court once set one aside.

This guide covers California only. For other states, see our guide to attorney general opinions by state. For the wider picture, see how to find and cite California law.

What makes California different

Four things set California apart from the other state guides in this series.

The public sees the question first. The Opinion Unit is the group of lawyers who research and draft opinions. Its Monthly Opinion Report lists every question under study. It invites "all interested persons" to send written views to the deputy (the office lawyer assigned to the question). Those views are public records.

The number hints at a date. It shows when the question was assigned, so the answer may come later.

Some opinions are permission slips. Quo warranto decisions sit in the same series.

The office lists what it refuses. Its guidelines say which questions it declines.

Who can ask, and who cannot

A statute is a law passed by a legislature. Government Code section 12519 says the attorney general "shall give the Attorney General's opinion in writing" to listed officials. The question must relate to the asker's own office. The list covers any Member of the Legislature, the Governor and the other statewide officers, and any state agency. It also covers any county counsel (the county's lawyer), district attorney (the county's chief prosecutor) or sheriff. A city prosecuting attorney may ask about criminal matters.

The office's guidelines and its FAQ page add the fine print. Anyone not listed is out: the office "generally declines" to answer them.

• Legislators may ask one by one. A committee or a staff member may not.
• City councils and county boards may not ask. Neither may a city attorney with a civil question.
• State boards must vote to approve the request. One board member alone is turned down.
• Offices with their own lawyers must attach those lawyers' legal analysis. A sheriff must attach one from the district attorney or county counsel.

What the office will not answer

The office's guidelines on section 12519 opinions (dated August 2022, read October 5, 2026) list what it usually declines.

• Local laws. A city charter (its founding document) or an ordinance (a law passed by a city or county) is for local lawyers.
• Bills. A bill that is not yet law goes to the Legislative Counsel, the lawyers who advise California lawmakers.
• Active cases. It declines a question in a case where the AG is a party.
• Conflicts of interest. Questions under the Political Reform Act (the state ethics law) go to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces it.

How California attorney general opinions are numbered and cited

An opinion has two names. One is the number. The other is the official citation. It gives the volume and first page in the bound series Opinions of the Attorney General of California, shortened to Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. The office's search page takes either form.

The three digits after the dash seem to start with the month of assignment. I observed this pattern. The office does not state it as a rule. Its October 2023 report lists the one question assigned in September 2023 as number 23-902. The examples below fit that pattern.

The first two rows come from the office's opinions page as read on October 5, 2026. The third citation comes from a court decision discussed below. The year in the number may be earlier than the year of issue, and the volume page may not exist yet. Use the volume-and-page citation when one exists, and update yours when it appears. A new opinion has no volume page until the bound volume catches up. Until then, cite it by number and date, in the style the office itself uses for 81-1004: "Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. Opn. No. 26-202, Sept. 29, 2026."

Does a California court have to follow one?

No. The office says only that its opinions "have been accorded great respect and great weight by the courts." That is a claim about courts, so read what a court said.

In Moore v. Panish (1982) 32 Cal.3d 535, 544, a candidate wanted to run for two offices at one primary. The county registrar of voters relied on AG opinions that said he could not. The California Supreme Court wrote: "While Attorney General opinions are generally accorded great weight, we do not find their interpretation of the statutory provision at issue persuasive." The court did not follow them. Weight is a starting point.

Quo warranto opinions

Quo warranto is Latin for "by what authority." It is a court case asking whether someone has the legal right to hold a public office. The office's site says a private person or local agency generally needs the AG's approval to file one. The rules begin at Code of Civil Procedure section 803.

That approval comes as a published opinion. Opinion 26-601, dated June 17, 2026, lists "three criteria." Quo warranto must be the right kind of case for the problem. The application must raise a "substantial legal issue." And a ruling must serve the public interest. Opinion 24-1002 turned one down for lack of a substantial question.

A search returns advice and these rulings side by side. The rulings ask a different question: may this case go to court?

A recent opinion: 26-202

On September 29, 2026, the AG issued Opinion 26-202. Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez asked about pay for tree trimmers who work near power lines. Public Utilities Code section 8386.6(b) sets a wage floor for "all qualified line clearance tree trimmers." Does it cover trimmers hired by city-owned utilities and nonprofit electric co-ops?

No. The opinion says the rule "applies only to qualified line clearance tree trimmers employed by electrical corporations." Those are the investor-owned utilities. A utility manager or tree contractor can use this today.

An older opinion that courts still cite: 81-1004

Opinion 81-1004 is dated April 7, 1982. Senator Jim Ellis asked a question about work injuries. May a business corporation with no medical license hire doctors as contractors to treat the injured staff of other firms? The answer was no. The opinion gives this rule: "a corporation may neither engage in the practice of medicine directly, nor may it do so indirectly." Read the full opinion.

Courts still use it. In August 2023 the Court of Appeal described a 1982 opinion on this very question and cited it as 65 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 223. See the court's decision in People ex rel. Allstate Insurance Co. v. Discovery Radiology Physicians, No. B315264. A later opinion from the office cites 81-1004 as "65 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. Opn. No. 81-1004, Apr. 7, 1982." That ties the number to volume 65.

How to tell if an opinion is still good

The office's site does not appear to publish a list of withdrawn or overruled opinions. You have to check three things yourself.

1. Read the current statute. An opinion explains the law on the day it was written. The sections it discusses may have changed since.
2. Search the later opinions. Opinion 26-802 refers to 26-401 as "issued earlier this year." The yearly index helps you find follow-ups.
3. See who cited it. A court may have followed it, as in 2023. A court may have set it aside, as in Moore.

Vaquill AI's US primary-law API (a tool that lets software look up official legal text) holds California opinions as one collection that you can filter by state. You can run these checks next to the statutes themselves.

California mistakes to avoid

Reading the year in the number as the issue date. Opinion 25-902 was issued in 2026.

Asking as the wrong person. A council member or a business owner cannot ask. Ask a legislator or county counsel to send it.

Citing an old opinion with no check. Many from the 1980s explain laws that have since changed.

This guide is part of US Law Data: The Complete Guide. If a citation in an opinion looks unfamiliar, see how to cite a statute or regulation in plain English.

FAQ

Can a private citizen ask the California AG for an opinion? No. The office says it generally declines to give opinions to private people. A citizen can send views on a pending question, or ask a legislator or county counsel to send one.

What does Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. mean? It is the short name for the bound series of California AG opinions. A citation such as 109 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 67 means volume 109, page 67.

How far back do California opinions go online? The office's page says its compilation covers opinions issued since 1980. Earlier ones need another source.

Are California AG opinions the law? No. The office says courts give them great weight, but a court may disagree.

How long does an opinion take? The guidelines say the date is often hard to predict. Opinion 24-1101 was issued on May 20, 2026.

Can I comment on a pending question? Yes. Send written views to the assigned deputy named in the Monthly Opinion Report, as early as you can. Your letter becomes a public record.

To check an opinion against the current statute text from your own software, see the US primary-law API.

Priyansh Khodiyar

Co-Founder & CTO

Priyansh leads engineering and AI at Vaquill AI: the pipelines that pull statutes, regulations and court rules from every US jurisdiction's official publisher, and the REST API, MCP server and open dataset that serve them.