Can a Virginia school board ban its employees from keeping guns in their locked cars on school property?

Plain-English summary

Va. Code § 15.2-915 says: "no locality shall adopt any workplace rule ... that prevents an employee of that locality from storing at that locality's workplace a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle." That's a state-level limit on local government workplace firearm rules.

Delegate Wilt asked whether this limit reached Virginia school boards. If yes, school boards couldn't ban employees from keeping firearms in their cars on school property. If no, school boards retained discretion.

The AG said no, the limit doesn't reach school boards.

Locality definition. Section 15.2-102 defines "locality" for Title 15.2 purposes to mean "a county, city, or town as the context requires." School boards aren't on that list. So when § 15.2-915 says "locality" and "employee of that locality," it means counties, cities, and towns and their employees, not school divisions and school employees.

School boards as separate entities. Va. Code § 22.1-71(3) gives school boards corporate-body status with corporate powers including holding, leasing, owning, and conveying property. Section 22.1-79 gives the school board the duty to "[c]are for, manage and control the property of the school division." The Virginia Supreme Court has repeatedly held that school boards have constitutional autonomy. Russell County School Board v. Anderson (1989) recognized that "a school board's power to discharge employees [is] a power which is rooted in the Constitution of Virginia." Howard (1961) and Harrison v. Day (1959) struck down statutes that tried to divest school boards of their core authority.

School employees aren't locality employees. Prior AG opinions (2008, 1985-86) had reached the same conclusion in other contexts: school bus drivers are not county employees; school board employees generally are not local government employees because they are not under city supervision or control. The General Assembly is presumed to know prior AG interpretations. When it wrote § 15.2-915, it used the locality terminology consistent with those prior interpretations.

So school boards have authority to adopt employee policies that prohibit storing firearms or ammunition in locked vehicles on school property, even though § 15.2-915 prohibits localities from doing the same.

The opinion does not address whether such a school-board policy might run into other legal limits (e.g., constitutional, statutory beyond § 15.2-915). It only addresses the § 15.2-915 question.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

In particular, Virginia's school firearm statutes have been amended substantively since 2013 (including additions to Va. Code § 18.2-308.1, the criminal possession-on-school-grounds statute). The general principle of school board autonomy from local government has remained intact, but specific employee firearm rights may have been altered.

Common questions

What is § 15.2-915?
Virginia's "guns in cars at work" statute. It prohibits a locality (county, city, or town) from adopting workplace rules that bar employees from keeping a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle at the locality's workplace. It does not address other contexts (private employers, school boards, state agencies).

Why are school boards separate from local government?
The Virginia Constitution gives school boards autonomy over public education in their division. They are political subdivisions of the Commonwealth, not departments of the county or city. School boards levy their own budgets (subject to local government appropriation), have their own employees, and operate their own facilities.

Are school employees county or city employees?
No. They're school board employees. The school board hires them, manages them, and discharges them. The county or city is essentially a funder, not an employer.

Can a school board ban employees from carrying guns at all?
This opinion only addresses the "locked vehicle" rule. Other Virginia statutes (like § 18.2-308.1) generally prohibit firearms in K-12 school buildings except for school resource officers, security personnel, and a few other specific exceptions. Whether and how school boards can craft additional employment-related firearm rules is fact-specific.

Why would a school board want such a rule?
Safety policy choices. A school board may decide that excluding firearms entirely from school property, including from employees' vehicles, reduces risk of incidents on school grounds. Different boards may reach different policy conclusions.

Are private school employees covered by § 15.2-915?
No. Private employers are not localities. Section 15.2-915 doesn't reach private workplaces at all. Private employers can generally set their own workplace firearm policies (subject to other state laws and federal labor law).

What about state employees?
Section 15.2-915 also doesn't reach state agency employers. State agency workplace firearm rules are governed by other authorities, including the state agency itself.

Are there other states with similar rules?
Many states have "guns in cars" statutes that bar workplace bans on firearms in locked vehicles. The specifics vary; some cover only private employers, some cover only public employers, some cover both. Virginia's is on the narrower side.

Background and statutory framework

• Va. Code § 15.2-915: locality workplace firearm rule limit.
• Va. Code § 15.2-102: defines "locality" as county, city, or town.
• Va. Code § 22.1-71(3): school board corporate body status.
• Va. Code § 22.1-79: school board property authority.

The interpretive moves:

• Plain language of § 15.2-915 ("locality" and "employee of that locality") combined with statutory definition in § 15.2-102.
• Constitutional autonomy of school boards as a longstanding principle (Russell County, Howard, Harrison v. Day).
• Prior AG opinions consistently distinguishing school employees from locality employees (2008, 1985-86).
• Presumption that General Assembly knew the prior AG interpretations when it enacted § 15.2-915.

Citations

• Va. Code § 15.2-102
• Va. Code § 15.2-915
• Va. Code § 22.1-71(3)
• Va. Code § 22.1-79
• Russell Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Anderson, 238 Va. 372, 384 S.E.2d 598 (1989)
• Howard v. Cnty. Sch. Bd., 203 Va. 55, 122 S.E.2d 891 (1961)
• Harrison v. Day, 200 Va. 439, 106 S.E.2d 636 (1959)
• City of Winchester v. Am. Woodmark Corp., 250 Va. 451, 464 S.E.2d 148 (1995)
• City of Martinsville v. Tultex Corp., 238 Va. 59, 381 S.E.2d 6 (1989)
• 1985-86 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 159
• 2008 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 43
• 2011 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 118

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2013/13-052_Wilt.pdf

Original opinion text

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Attorney General
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General

August 2, 2013

The Honorable Tony O. Wilt
Member, House of Delegates
Post Office Box 1425
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22803

Dear Delegate Wilt:

I am responding to your request for an official advisory opinion in accordance with § 2.2-505 of the Code of Virginia.

Issues Presented

You ask whether employees of local school boards are local government employees for purposes of § 15.2-915 of the Code of Virginia and whether local school boards may restrict an employee from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle.

Response

It is my opinion that local public school boards have authority over the care, management, and control of the property of the school division and as such are separate and apart from the local government and that the employees of the school board are not local government employees for purposes of § 15.2-915. Therefore, local school districts may prohibit an employee from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle on school district property.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 15.2-915 provides that "no locality shall adopt any workplace rule ... that prevents an employee of that locality from storing at that locality's workplace a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked private motor vehicle." At issue is the relationship between the local governments and local school boards and whether employees of the school boards are considered "local government employees."

School boards constitute a corporate body with corporate powers that include holding, leasing, owning, and conveying property.[1] "A school board shall ... [c]are for, manage and control the property of the school division ...."[2] The supervisory authority of local school boards has been confirmed by the judiciary in several cases. "[A] school board's power to discharge employees [is] a power which is rooted in the Constitution of Virginia."[3] A prior opinion of this Office states that "[a] school board cannot forfeit its independence to another entity and must retain the ability to fulfill its responsibilities."[4]

More specifically, prior opinions of this Office have concluded that school employees are not local government employees.[5] The General Assembly is presumed to have knowledge of the Attorney General's statutory interpretation.[6] While the Attorney General has not previously opined on this particular statute, it is clear that opinions of the Office of the Attorney General distinguish local governments from local school boards and local government employees from school board employees.

Additionally, § 15.2-915 references "locality" and "employee of that locality" with no reference to local school boards or school board employees. Section 15.2-102 defines locality "to mean a county, city, or town as the context requires." The Supreme Court of Virginia has noted that "when the General Assembly 'has spoken plainly' on a subject, we must not 'change or amend its enactments under the guise of construing them.'"[7] In enacting § 15.2-915, the legislature dealt only with localities as defined in § 15.2-102 and not school boards or the employees of school boards. Thus, a local school board may adopt an employee policy that forbids storing of an otherwise lawfully-possessed firearm or ammunition in a locked vehicle.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that local public school boards have authority over the care, management, and control of the property of the school division and as such are separate and apart from the local government and that the employees of the school board are not local government employees for purposes of § 15.2-915. Therefore, local school districts may prohibit an employee from storing a lawfully possessed firearm and ammunition in a locked motor vehicle on school district property.

With kindest regards, I am

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General

[1] Va. Code Ann. § 22.1-71(3) (2011).

[2] Section 22.1-79 (Supp. 2013).

[3] Russell Cnty. Sch. Bd. v. Anderson, 238 Va. 372, 383, 384 S.E.2d 598, 604 (1989). Cf. Howard v. Cnty. Sch. Bd., 203 Va. 55, 58-59, 122 S.E.2d 891, 894 (1961) (finding it unconstitutional to divest school board of authority to decide when school property could be put up for sale); Harrison v. Day, 200 Va. 439, 452, 106 S.E.2d 636, 646-47 (1959) (finding it unconstitutional to attempt, by statute, to divest local school authority to run schools).

[4] 2011 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 118, 118 (finding that a school board and local government could combine certain functions, but that school board could not abrogate or transfer its duty or responsibilities to the local government).

[5] 2008 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 43, 44 (finding that an individual employed as a school bus driver by a school board is not an employee of the county); 1985-86 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 159 (finding that local school board employees are not local government employees because not under city supervision or control).

[6] City of Winchester v. Am. Woodmark Corp., 250 Va. 451, 458, 464 S.E.2d 148, 153 (1995).

[7] Id. (quoting City of Martinsville v. Tultex Corp., 238 Va. 59, 63, 381 S.E.2d 6, 8 (1989) (internal citations omitted)).