A study surveyed secondary vocational and nonvocational public school principals to determine whether there was a significant difference in their legal knowledge. The questionnaire, Legal Knowledge Index, was developed with the assistance of expert review and then piloted to establish its validity and reliability. A random sample of 136 principals was drawn from those listed in the 1995-96 West Virginia Public School Directory and questionnaires were mailed to them. Usable responses were received from 120. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies, central tendencies, and measures of association were used to describe the data. Results of a t-test revealed no significant difference in the legal knowledge held by secondary vocational and non-vocational public school principals. Findings suggested vocational principals were less likely to have completed a course in school law, had completed more years of teaching experience, and were employed mostly in "small town" school districts. Nonvocational principals were more likely to have more years of administrative experience and scored higher on the Legal Knowledge Index. The recommendation was for vocational principals to become more familiar with and competent in ethical and legal aspects of education in the public school system. (YLB)