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

Short answer: a Florida attorney general opinion is a written answer to a question about what Florida law means. Only a public official can ask for one. The office says it does not routinely update old opinions, and I found no list of withdrawn ones. Much of what it writes is an unnumbered informal letter. Courts give an opinion weight but need not follow it. Checking that it still holds is your job.

TL;DR

• Who can ask: the Governor, the Cabinet, department heads and the legislative leaders must be answered. Legislators and local officers may be. A private person cannot ask, even through an official.
• Two kinds: a formal opinion has a number such as AGO 2026-01 (AGO stands for Attorney General Opinion). An informal opinion is a shorter letter with no number. The office decides which one you get.
• Weight: the office calls both kinds "persuasive authority and not binding," meaning a court may weigh them but need not follow them. The Florida Supreme Court has called them "highly persuasive."
• Staleness: the office says it "does not routinely update" opinions. You check the statute and later cases yourself.

What makes Florida different

Three facts stand out, all from the statute and the office's own pages.

First, the law makes the office keep every opinion but not publish them. Section 16.01 of the Florida Statutes (the state's laws) says the office "shall" keep "copies of all official opinions." It says the office "may periodically publish a report." Read the full section on the Legislature's site.

Second, the public list is short. In October 2026, the office's list of opinions ran from AGO 2026-01 to AGO 2026-07, the latest dated June 9, 2026. It showed nothing numbered 2024 and one from 2022. Informal ones sit on the same list marked INFORMAL. The last is dated June 23, 2021. The office says it issues "a large body of informal opinions," so the list is only part of the record.

Third, the office will not do your checking. It "does not routinely update previously issued opinions," its page says. For how other states compare, see our guide to attorney general opinions by state.

Who may ask and what a request needs

Section 16.01(3) splits askers into two groups.

• The Attorney General "shall" answer the Governor, a Cabinet member (one of the state's top elected officers), the head of an executive department (a state agency, such as Transportation), the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate, or either minority leader.
• The Attorney General "may" answer a legislator or any "other state officer" who asks in writing.
• The Attorney General also "may" answer an "officer of a county, municipality, other unit of local government, or political subdivision" (a body such as a school district).

The question must relate to the asker's own official duties.

The office will not answer a private person, whether the request comes "directly or through governmental officials," its page says.

The office's page "Requesting an Attorney General Opinion" sets out the rules. A request must be in writing, on official letterhead or from the agency's attorney. It goes to the Attorney General at the Capitol in Tallahassee. The office asks for these things:

• A short, clear question of law.
• All material facts, including any lawsuit or threat of one.
• A memorandum of law (a written legal argument with citations) from the agency's attorney, plus any written opinion its own counsel gave.
• For a board, proof that a majority voted to ask: a resolution, minutes or a transcript.
• For a legislator, a note that the member first tried the chamber's general counsel.

Everyone except the top-tier officials also signs a certification (a signed statement) that they followed the statute and the office's rules. Other interested people may send their own memorandum for the file.

The office may decline questions that are guesses, turn on facts, are in court, or only involve a local ordinance.

How long it takes. That page gives no deadline in English. Its Spanish version still says the office tries to answer within 30 days. Two recent opinions give a rough guide. AGO 2026-01 answered a letter dated December 17, 2025 on January 14, 2026, which is 28 days. AGO 2023-04 took 42 days, from September 18 to October 30, 2023.

Formal and informal opinions

An official may ask for either kind. The office decides: "the determination of the type of opinion issued rests with this office," it says.

Formal numbers give the year, then the order. AGO 2026-01 is the first of 2026. Through 1999 the year has two digits (AGO 97-52). From 2000 it has four (AGO 2001-17). Some old ones have a zero in front, as in AGO 076-225. The office is not always consistent. AGO 2026-07 calls AGO 2026-06 "26-06." Search both forms.

Does a Florida opinion bind anyone?

Opinions "are not law. They are advisory only and are not binding in a court of law," the office says. Persuasive means a court may weigh it and need not follow it.

Florida courts say the same, with a nudge. The Florida Supreme Court said so in State v. Family Bank of Hallandale, 623 So. 2d 474, 478 (Fla. 1993). An opinion of the Attorney General "is not binding on a court," the court wrote. Yet it "is entitled to careful consideration and generally should be regarded as highly persuasive," it added. It also called official opinions "guides for state executive and administrative officers in performing their official duties until superseded by judicial decision." So an official may follow one until a court says otherwise.

A lower court did the same in 2018. In Matheson v. Miami-Dade County (No. 3D17-2649, decided October 10, 2018), Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, a state appeals court, wrote that "While attorney general opinions are not binding, they are persuasive," and then relied on a 1974 opinion, covered below.

What Florida opinions are used for

Public records. AGO 2015-10 (August 4, 2015) asked whether a transit authority could keep two sealed job applications closed. The answer: applications are public records once received, and an agency "may not 'seal' job applications" to block public access.

The Sunshine Law. This is Florida's open-meetings law, section 286.011. In AGO 2023-04 (October 30, 2023), a state university system lawyer asked about a presidential search committee. The answer: it may not use a search firm to rank candidates in secret.

Local government. AGO 2026-01, the recent example below, covers a county's impact fees.

Ethics. AGO 2006-50 (December 11, 2006) asked whether a school board could buy supplies from a company owned by one of its members. The state ethics code excepts a company that wins a sealed competitive bid (bids submitted sealed, with the lowest or best bidder winning). A separate school-board statute barred the deal anyway, and the more specific law won. The opinion is almost twenty years old, so read the current statute first.

Two real opinions

A recent one: AGO 2026-01, "Impact Fees Increase," January 14, 2026. Representative Richard Gentry of the Florida House asked, by letter dated December 17, 2025. Impact fees are charges a local government puts on new building to pay for roads and services. Section 163.31801 caps a fee increase at 50 percent, with an exception for "extraordinary circumstances." Nassau County wanted to pass the cap because its population grew 17 percent in five years.

Attorney General James Uthmeier said no. In plain words: steady growth is why impact fees exist, so it cannot also be the extraordinary reason to break the cap. The opinion says "Impact fees are not taxes." It warns that a near-100 percent increase "appears to be a tax disguised as an impact fee." A county may raise fees up to 50 percent every four years without special reasons. Read it on the office's site.

An older one still cited: AGO 74-219, July 31, 1974. The Seminole County Attorney asked it. The county had taken land for a park and wanted to lease part of it for ten years to a nonprofit little league. Which statute governs, section 125.35 or section 125.38? The office said 125.38, and that the lease was allowed. Its reasoning: "Section 125.35 covers county leases in general; s. 125.38 is much more specific, amounting, in effect, to an exception to the general statute." The full text is on the office's site.

Forty-four years later, a challenger argued that Miami-Dade County had to sell land for a soccer stadium by competitive bid. The Third District Court of Appeal noted that the attorney general "rejected" that reading "more than forty years ago." The court wrote: "we are persuaded by this one." The county won.

Where to find Florida attorney general opinions and how far back they go

The office's list pages back to March 1971, where it ends with AGO 71-32. For 1895 to 1981 the office also posts opinion indexes, and it links a historical collection. For informal opinions, call the Opinions Section at 850-245-0140. Our Florida law guide covers the rest of the state's primary law.

Vaquill AI's US primary-law API (a way for software to fetch official legal text, such as statutes and opinions) lets you search Florida attorney general opinions by topic, with a link to the office's page on each result.

How to cite one

The Florida Supreme Court's citation rule, Rule 9.800, gives this form: Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 73-178 (1973). The 2026 opinion above becomes Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 2026-01 (2026). The office uses the same form in its footnotes and writes "AGO 2026-01" in running text. An informal letter has no number. Give its date, who it went to and its subject, and say it is informal. For citations in general, see how to cite a statute or regulation in plain English.

How to check an opinion still stands

The office says older opinions "may not reflect current statutes or case law." Texas keeps a public list of overruled opinions, as our Texas guide shows. I found no such list for Florida. Three checks fill the gap.

1. The statute. Read today's version of each section the opinion discusses. AGO 2003-60 said a 2003 amendment "would invalidate the conclusion" of AGO 2001-17.
2. Later opinions. The office says so when it changes its mind. AGO 77-112 says AGO 77-4 "is hereby receded from and withdrawn." An appeals court had ruled on the same question.
3. Court decisions. Search the opinion number in a case-law database (a collection of court rulings). A court ruling outranks the opinion.

Florida mistakes to avoid

Asking through a friendly official. The office refuses a private request even when an official sends it.

Citing an informal letter as a numbered opinion. Say which kind you have.

Reading only the formal list. The last informal letter on the online list is from 2021. Ask the Opinions Section about newer ones.

Trusting an ethics clearance. In AGO 2006-50, the ethics code allowed the deal. Another statute did not.

FAQ

Are Florida attorney general opinions binding? They are persuasive. The office calls them advisory, and the Florida Supreme Court says they deserve careful thought. A court can disagree.

Who can request a Florida attorney general opinion? The officials named in section 16.01(3). The Governor and other top-tier officers must be answered. Legislators, state officers and local officers may be. The question must concern the asker's own duties. Private people cannot ask.

What is the difference between a formal and an informal opinion? A formal opinion is numbered and covers statewide questions. An informal one has no number and usually covers narrower ones. The office picks the type.

How do I search Florida attorney general opinions? Start with the office's list, which runs back to 1971. For 1895 to 1981, use its indexes. For informal opinions, call 850-245-0140.

How do I cite a Florida attorney general opinion? Use the Rule 9.800 form: Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 2026-01 (2026). In running text, "AGO 2026-01" is common.

How long does a Florida attorney general opinion take? The English page gives no deadline, although the Spanish version says 30 days. Two recent ones took 28 and 42 days.

How do I know if an opinion is still good? Check the current statute, look for later opinions on the question, and search court decisions. The office does not update old ones for you.

Where can I read about the Sunshine Law without reading opinions? The Attorney General prepares the Government in the Sunshine Manual. It explains Florida's public meetings and public records laws. It is on the office's website.

This guide is part of US Law Data: The Complete Guide, a map of where US law comes from and how to use it. To search these opinions and the statutes they interpret from your own software, use 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.