Virginia Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Virginia, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Can a Virginia city like Manassas Park charge every house and every business a flat fee to fund maintenance of city parks and open-space land?
Yes. Senator Charles Colgan asked on behalf of the City of Manassas Park, and the AG concluded that the Open-Space Land Act authorizes Virginia municipalities to impose a flat fee on each residential …
Can Fairfax County or another Virginia county pass an ordinance making it illegal to leave a vehicle parked unattended on a residential street, when the resident keeps registration and inspection current?
Not under § 46.2-1209 alone, which only authorizes police to remove vehicles, not localities to ban parking. But Virginia counties have other tools: § 46.2-1213 lets them adopt removal ordinances for …
Can a county board of supervisors stop a general reassessment from being finalized just because the board doesn't like the values the assessor came back with?
No. Once a county appoints an independent professional assessor to conduct a general reassessment, the board of supervisors has no authority to block the assessor from completing the statutory process…
How do Virginia public schools handle a school-bus conflict between a student who needs a service dog and another student with a severe dog allergy?
The school board is the appropriate body to resolve the conflict, and the decision to let the two students ride separate regular buses, one with the service dog, one without, is not unreasonable or un…
Does a Virginia circuit court clerk have to prepare sketch orders for civil cases and personally attend every docket call, or are those tasks discretionary?
No statutory duty to do either. Circuit court clerks' duties are set by statute and the Code does not require them to prepare sketch orders in civil cases or to personally attend civil or criminal doc…
When a Virginia business buys used equipment from another business and a local tax assessor wants to apply the 'original cost' valuation method, do they use the secondhand price the new owner paid or the original price the first buyer paid?
It means the price paid by the first buyer from the manufacturer or dealer, not the price paid by any subsequent secondhand purchaser. The plain meaning of 'original cost' is acquisition cost from the…
If a Virginia defendant gets a real prison sentence and a sentence to the Detention Center or Diversion Center on the same day, how does the Department of Corrections actually carry out both?
The General Assembly intended Detention Center and Diversion Center sentences as alternatives to active prison time, not as add-ons or 'bridges' before release. A single court should not combine an ac…
If a Virginia land surveyor brings a boundary or physical survey plat to the courthouse to record (one that doesn't change property lines or create new parcels), can the clerk refuse it because the locality's planners haven't reviewed it first?
No. Virginia's subdivision enabling statutes only authorize local pre-approval for plats that subdivide land, change property lines, or create new parcels. Boundary surveys and physical surveys that d…
In a Virginia debt collection case, can the creditor's lawyer sign and file the affidavit stating the amount owed, or does the creditor have to sign it personally?
Yes. Section 8.01-28 lets the plaintiff's affidavit on the amount owed be made by the plaintiff or his agent. The plain meanings of 'agent' (one authorized to act for another) and 'attorney' (a legal …
Are the psychological reports filed in a Virginia criminal case to determine if a defendant is competent to stand trial open to the public, or are they protected as confidential health records?
Open. Once a court orders a competency evaluation and the evaluator's report is filed with the court, that report becomes part of the court's record and is open to public inspection under § 17.1-208. …
Can Fairfax County regulate parking on state secondary roads inside its boundaries under its specific authority, or is it stuck with the narrower statutes that apply to large or urban-executive counties?
Yes. Section 46.2-1222 specifically names Fairfax County and gives it broad authority to regulate parking on state secondary roads inside the county, including the power to classify vehicles and presc…
Can a Virginia county's Coal and Gas Road Improvement Advisory Committee dedicate fund money to pay the salary of a Commissioner of Revenue employee who audits coal and gas producers' tax records?
No. Section 58.1-3713(A) says coal and gas road improvement tax revenue 'shall be spent for improvements to public roads.' The statute does not implicitly authorize spending the money on a Commissione…
If a Virginia business owner renovates their own commercial building under the contractor-licensing self-help exemption, do they still need a certificate of occupancy before reopening?
Yes. The Code § 54.1-1101(A)(9) exemption only relieves business owners from contractor licensing requirements; it does not waive the certificate of occupancy required by the Virginia Uniform Statewid…
Can a Virginia city help form an airport authority across the state line in Tennessee and transfer its share of a regional airport to that authority without going back to the General Assembly?
Yes. The City of Bristol's Charter expressly authorizes joining with other political subdivisions both within and outside Virginia to jointly own and operate property for airport purposes. That langua…
If a Virginia notary signed and stamped electronic documents before the July 2008 e-notary statute kicked in, are those notarizations still legally valid?
Yes. Electronic notarizations done by Virginia notaries before July 1, 2008, are valid if the notary was properly commissioned and complied with applicable law. After July 1, 2008, electronic notarial…
Can a Virginia city or county's police department set its own rules for picking which tow companies handle accident scenes, without going through the local advisory-board and ordinance process?
A local police department may adopt procedures for selecting towing companies at accident scenes if those procedures are tied to public safety (response time, equipment safety, scene cleanup). Anythin…
Are campaign yard signs in a Virginia state highway right-of-way illegal everywhere, and can a county other than Fairfax help VDOT remove them?
Political campaign signs may not be placed within the limits of any state highway right-of-way under Va. Code § 33.1-373. But only Fairfax County is statutorily authorized to enter into an enforcement…
Could a Virginia police officer write someone a seat belt ticket at a checking detail or roadblock, when the only reason they were stopped was the checkpoint itself?
No. A roadblock or checking detail by itself is not 'cause to stop or arrest' the driver for some other offense, so officers may not issue a seat belt summons based on the stop alone. If, during the s…
Can a small business owner choose to pay personal property tax on a company car in the county where the employee parks it overnight, instead of the county where the business is based?
Mandatory. Va. Code § 58.1-3511(A)(ii) requires the alternative situs for a business vehicle weighing 10,000 pounds or less. The vehicle is taxed in the locality where the business is directed and con…
If a Virginia city council holds a meeting without posting the required public notice and uses that meeting to appoint a school board member, is the appointment valid?
The appointment is void from the beginning. Section 2.2-3707(C) of Virginia's FOIA requires public bodies to post notice of every meeting in a prominent public location, and § 2.2-3710(A) prohibits an…
Can a Virginia county create a service district to help build and run a combined library, recreation center, and meeting place facility?
Yes. Section 15.2-2403(1) authorizes counties to create service districts and construct, maintain, and operate facilities providing additional or more complete governmental services, including library…
If a Virginia city council holds a meeting without giving the FOIA-required public notice and then votes on something, is the vote still good?
No. When the Franklin City Council voted to appoint a new school board member at an April 1, 2008 meeting that had not been publicly noticed as required by Virginia FOIA § 2.2-3707(C), the appointment…
If a Virginia county's old subdivision ordinance went beyond what current state law authorizes, does the 1997 recodification of local-government law (Title 15.1 to Title 15.2) save the ordinance?
No. Section 15.2-101(A) does not grandfather Botetourt County's subdivision 'suitability of land' provisions in §§ 21-64 and 21-122 of the County Code. The 1997 recodification preserved past locality …
When a town council member is elected mayor and takes the oath of office for the mayor's job, do they automatically lose their council seat, or do they get to keep both?
He lost the council seat the moment he took the mayor's oath. The Front Royal Charter makes the mayor a presiding officer, not a council member, with no vote except as tiebreaker. The two offices are …
Can the Virginia DEQ Director skip the 30-day public review and comment period when handing out nutrient-reduction technical assistance grants from the Water Quality Improvement Fund?
No. Section 10.1-2131(C) does not authorize the Director of Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality to issue a technical assistance grant for nutrient reduction without the public notice and 30…
Can a Virginia animal control officer break into a parked car to rescue a dog left in extreme heat or cold, and is the officer liable if it turns out the animal wasn't actually in distress?
Yes on rescue, mostly yes on immunity. A Virginia animal control officer may act to prevent an act of cruelty observed in his presence (including rescuing a companion animal from a hot or cold vehicle…
Can a Virginia town council member or sitting member of a town historic review board or building code appeals board also serve on the town's wetlands board?
Yes. Va. Code § 28.2-1303(A) prohibits wetlands board members from holding other public office in a 'county or city,' but the statute omits towns from that prohibition. The omission is significant: a …
When a Virginia town council member is elected mayor and resigns the council seat, can the council appoint a replacement, and does that appointee count as an 'elected' member when laws require votes by elected members?
Yes, the Town Council can appoint a replacement under the Charter, but only within 45 days of the vacancy. After 45 days, the circuit court takes over. The appointee is not an 'elected' member for pur…
Does a Virginia city need a three-fourths City Council vote to swap a perpetual easement on city land for a bigger one on an adjacent parcel?
Yes. A property exchange that releases and relocates a perpetual easement held by the City of Lexington is a 'sale' for purposes of Article VII, § 9 of the Virginia Constitution and Va. Code § 15.2-21…
If an elderly Virginia homeowner rolls a retirement distribution into another retirement account, does that money count as income for their property tax relief?
No. If money is distributed from one retirement account and rolled into another retirement account, or into an investment account the taxpayer treats as a retirement account, the rollover is not count…
Can a Virginia city or county pass a local ordinance that overrides state or federal law, for example one that bans uranium mining or strips corporations of their state-law rights?
No. Under the Dillon Rule and Va. Code § 1-248, a Virginia locality may not enact an ordinance that preempts, nullifies, or conflicts with state or federal law. Where the state has 'occupied the field…
Are juvenile probation and parole officers in Virginia treated as law-enforcement officers for the enhanced VaLORS retirement plan?
No. Juvenile probation and parole officers described in Va. Code § 16.1-237 are not 'law-enforcement officers' for purposes of the Virginia Law Officers' Retirement System (VaLORS). The Retirement Sys…
Can a Virginia public college deny student organizations access to facilities or activity-fee funding because of their viewpoint?
No on viewpoint grounds. Public colleges in Virginia may set reasonable conduct standards and time, place, and manner rules for student organizations, but recognition, facility access, and activity-fe…
Did Virginia require overseas military voters to include a witness's printed name and address on a Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot in 2008?
The opinion concluded that Virginia law did not require an overseas military voter submitting a standard Virginia absentee ballot to include the printed name and address of the witness who signed the …
Did a Virginia Commonwealth's attorney have to ask a circuit court's permission to stop handling an appealed misdemeanor case?
The opinion concluded that once a Commonwealth's attorney became 'counsel of record' by appearing in a particular court, Rules 1:5 and 1:13 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia applied to him…
Could a Virginia county let landowners pull their land back out of a community development authority after it was created?
The opinion concluded that a Virginia county could not enact an ordinance creating a community development authority that permitted landowners to later release or withdraw their land from the authorit…
Could the Virginia State Bar or private attorneys in 2008 pass credit card processing fees on to lawyers or clients?
The opinion concluded that neither Virginia nor federal law prohibited the Virginia State Bar or private attorneys from passing merchant credit card transaction fees through to attorney-licensees or c…
Could county real-estate assessment employees placed under a Virginia commissioner of revenue be sworn in as deputy commissioners?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that real-estate assessment employees placed under the commissioner of revenue's supervision by board resolution effectively operated as the commissioner's employee…
Could Charlotte Court House appoint a town sergeant and contract with Drakes Branch for that officer's police services?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that Charlotte Court House could appoint a town sergeant and other necessary officers under its charter. It could also enter a reciprocal police-services agreement …
Could Drakes Branch appoint a town sergeant under its amended charter and share that officer with Charlotte Court House?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Drakes Branch charter let its council appoint a town sergeant when it considered the office proper and necessary. The two towns could also contract recipro…
Could Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation ban the open carrying of firearms in state parks under its general park-management authority?
No broader ban. The Attorney General concluded that the Department of Conservation and Recreation could restrict open carry in state parks only to the extent authorized by law and found no authority f…
In a Virginia DWI prosecution, can the breath-test number written on the arrest warrant prove the defendant's blood alcohol level?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the certificate of analysis was the proper evidence of a defendant's blood alcohol level; the number written on an arrest warrant was not a substitute.
Could a Virginia health regulatory board require a licensee on probation to tell out-of-state employers about restrictions on the Virginia license?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a Virginia health regulatory board's power to restrict a license included placing the licensee on probation and requiring disclosure of the Virginia restrictio…
Who had to receive and hold state and federal asset-forfeiture money for a Virginia sheriff, the sheriff or the county treasurer?
The county treasurer. The Attorney General concluded that state and federal asset-forfeiture proceeds had to be received, distributed, and accounted for through the county treasury. The sheriff could …
Must a Virginia preliminary subdivision plat show every phase when it is approved to receive the extended five-year validity period?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that all sections or phases had to appear on the preliminary plat when the planning commission approved it. A later construction plan showing phases did not convert…
Could a Virginia board of supervisors give its members the same family health insurance benefit provided to the county administrator and attorney?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that § 15.2-1414.3(4) allowed a board of supervisors, by resolution, to give its members the same family health insurance benefit provided to the county administrat…
What happened to Virginia land-use tax status when an owner requested more intensive zoning, and could intensively zoned farmland qualify later?
Owner-requested rezoning to a more intensive use required removal from the land-use program and assessment of roll-back taxes, even if the owner failed to report the change. Property removed on that b…
Could the Virginia Department of Health require a surveyed plat with an application for a private well construction permit?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that the Department of Health could require a survey plat with a private-well permit application. The required site plan had to show property boundaries, sewage sys…
Could a Virginia town with a police department provide police services to a town with no police force and receive that town's fines to pay the officer?
No. The Attorney General concluded that § 15.2-1726 did not authorize the proposed agreement because the second municipality had no police force or authority to establish one. Without a valid reciproc…
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Attorney general opinions in Virginia are written by the Virginia Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.