Research


New York State Attorney General's Office Formal and Informal Opinions of the Attorney General


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Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:
The series consists of opinions and advisories rendered by the attorney general to state officers (including the governor and state comptroller) and to heads of various state departments, boards, and commissions. The bulk of later opinions interpret sections from parts of the corpus of state law (e.g. Civil Service Law, Public Officers Law), provide interpretations of issues (e.g. compensation over eminent domain), or suggest rules for compliance with enacted legislation (e.g. auto registration under the Highway Law).
Creator:
Title:
Formal and informal opinions of the attorney general
Quantity:

24.5 cubic feet

47 volumes

Inclusive Dates:
1800-1917
Series Number:
11076

Scope and Content Note

The series consists of manuscript and typescript copies of opinions and advisories rendered by the attorney general to state officers (including the governor and state comptroller) and to heads of various state departments, boards, and commissions. To a lesser extent there are responses to private citizens, or lawyers representing them, who may have been parties to actions by the state.

The opinions are in the form of letters in answer to specific inquiries, or as general directives to groups or classes of persons (e.g. commissioners of prisons, street commissioners). The bulk of later opinions interpret sections from parts of the corpus of state law (e.g. Civil Service Law, Public Officers Law), provide interpretations of issues (e.g. compensation over eminent domain), or suggest rules for compliance with enacted legislation (e.g. auto registration under the Highway Law). As such the opinions often directly pertain to the powers of officials and legislative intent. A statement of facts and a formal presentation of the inquiry are typically included with each opinion.

The copies are unsigned. Opinions dating from the second half of 1893 (after July 15) are missing from the series.

11076-97: The accretion is a loose assortment of opinion letters, most of which were sent as responses to the comptroller's office. Many are signed by the attorney general. The bulk of the opinions date 1800-1894. Arrangement is roughly chronological; a small group of opinions post-date 1893, somewhat filling a gap in the original series accretion.

Related Material

B1203 Attorney General's opinions furnished to the Secretary of State extends and may fill gaps found in this series.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

11076-94: Alphabetical subject index at the fore of each volume.

Acquisition Information

11076-94: Volume 15 (1893 Part); and Volumes 34 and 35 (1909) were never received by the Archives are considered to be no longer extant.

Processing Information

11076-97: These documents were originally part of old accession -15, series 1173-1174, but were accessioned as an accretion to Series 11076 in 1997. This accession resulted from a project by Archives staff to accession or integrate estrayed or unidentified records.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Access Terms

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Detailed Description

Dates Contents Box

Accretion: 11076-94
1816-1828 Volume 1: Inclusive 1
1913 Volume 2: Opinions 1-474 2
1854 February 17-1867 November 27 Volume 3: Opinions 1-291 3
1845 February 26 -1857 February 25 Volume 4: Opinions 1-121 4
1868 January 22-1871 April 21 Volume 5: Opinions 1-343 5
1878 January 5-1881 January 26 Volume 6: Opinions 1-482 6
1881 February 17-1884 June 11 Volume 7: Opinions 1-493 7
1884 June 13-1886 January 25 Volume 8: Opinions 1-487 8
1886 January 26-1887 August 16 Volume 9: Opinions 1-497 9
1888 January 4-1888 December 31 Volume 10: Opinions 1-424 10
1889 January 3-1889 December 10 Volume 11: Opinions 1-466 11
1890 January 1-1890 October 10 Volume 12: Opinions 1-499 12
1890 October 11-1891 August 23 Volume 13: Opinions 1-426 13
1892 January 1-1893 July 15 Volume 14: Opinions 1-474 14
1894 January-1894 April Volume 16: Opinions 1-221 16
1894 May-1894 August Volume 17: Opinions 1-509 17
1894 September-1894 December Volume 18: Opinions 1-764 18
1895 January-1895 June Volume 19: Opinion 1-229 19
1895 July-1895 December Volume 20: Opinions 1-289 20
1896 Volume 21: Opinions 1-333 21
1897 Volume 22: Opinions 1-400 22
1898 Volume 23: Opinions 1-336 23
1899 Volume 24: Opinions 1-356 24
1900 Volume 25: Opinions 1-329 25
1901 Volume 26: Opinions 1-192 26
1902 Volume 27: Opinions 1-103 27
1903 Volume 28: Opinions 1-376 28
1904 Volume 29: Opinions 1-115 29
1905 Volume 30: Opinions 1-146 30
1906 Volume 31: Opinions 1-170 31
1907 Volume 32: Opinions 1-101 32
1908 Volume 33: Opinions 1-192 33
1910 January 1-1910-May 25 Volume 36: Opinions 1-131 36
1910 June 22-1910 December 31 Volume 37: Opinions 1-329 37
1911 January-1911 March Volume 38: Opinions 1-183 38
1911 April-1911 December Volume 39: Opinions 1-328 39
1912 January-1912 April Volume 40: Opinions 1-103 40
1912 May-1912 December Volume 41: Opinions 1-244A 41
1913 January 2-1913 May 23 Volume 42: Opinions 1-115 42
1913 May 23-1913 December 26 Volume 43: Opinions 116-221 43
1914 January 1-1914 June 1 Volume 44: Opinions 1-59 44
1914 June 1 -1914 December 29 Volume 45: Opinions 60-115 45
1915 January-1915 December Volume 46: Opinions 1-112 46
1916 January-1916 December Volume 47: Opinions 1-36 47
1917 January-1917 December Volume 48: Opinions 1-55 48

Accretion: 11076-97
1801 October 27 - 1884 November 28 Volume 1: Opinions 1-228 1