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COLUMBIA -- The president of the Piedmont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on Monday urged the state attorney general to issue guidelines on councils' use of prayers, asserting that three Upstate governing boards are violating the law by mentioning Jesus Christ.

Mike Cubelo of the ACLU sent a letter to state Attorney General Henry McMaster naming the city councils of Anderson and Seneca and the Oconee County Council.

McMaster hasn't received the letter and wouldn't comment on it Monday, said spokesman Mark Plowden.

Cubelo also sent letters Monday to the councils, asking them to stop violating the law, according to copies of the letters released Monday.

He said the organization was prepared to pursue the matter in court if the councils refuse to change their prayers.

The warnings are in response to a federal judge's ruling that the meeting prayers by the town council of Great Falls were unconstitutional because they mentioned Jesus.

A federal appeals court upheld the judge, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined in June to hear the town's appeal.

Anderson Mayor Richard Shirley said Monday the town council rotates prayer responsibilities among the council's nine members. He said there is no requirement that the prayer be Christian.

"We don't view this as establishment of religion," he said. "It's totally free. I feel pretty strongly about that."

Shirley, who has been on the town's council for 28 years, has previously said he would resign if the council's method of handling invocations was changed. He said the council probably would ask the town's attorney to review the issue at its meeting this coming Monday.

Seneca Mayor Daniel Alexander said he wanted to review the letter before saying anything about the matter. He said he had asked the town's attorney to look into the matter.

The chairman of the Oconee County Council couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Darla Kaye Wynne, a Great Falls resident and Wiccan high priestess, sued Great Falls in 2001 to stop the council from referring to Christ in its prayers. She argued the prayers violated the First Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the establishment of a state religion. This summer she asked the town to pay her $65,000 in legal bills.

McMaster represented the town in its appeals.

In his letter to McMaster, Cubelo repeated a request by the ACLU in July that McMaster's office issue guidelines to help local governing bodies know what is allowed in prayers.

"Obviously, there is a problem that needs to be dealt with by your office," Cubelo wrote.

McMaster replied in July that the ACLU's request should be presented to the towns and that he couldn't get involved with guidelines because the issue could again land in the courts.

Plowden said Monday that McMaster hadn't changed his mind about issuing any guidelines on the matter.