Can Virginia police or sheriffs ticket cyclists who blow through stop signs on the W&OD Trail?

Plain-English summary

The Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD Trail) is a 45-mile former rail corridor running from Arlington to Purcellville. The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority owns and operates it. The paved trail is a heavily used recreational corridor for walkers, runners, cyclists, and skaters, with a parallel gravel trail for horseback riding. It passes through eight jurisdictions and has 70 grade crossings where trail users meet motor traffic.

Cyclists blowing through the crossings, especially without stopping, had become a safety problem. The NVRPA wanted uniform enforcement of stop signs across all eight jurisdictions. Delegate May asked the AG whether local police could ticket trail users who ignored the signs.

The AG said yes, if the signs reflect a properly adopted NVRPA rule.

The path runs through three pieces of the law:

Authority to make rules. The Virginia Park Authorities Act gives each park authority (including NVRPA) the power to adopt rules and regulations "concerning the use of properties under its control as will tend to the protection of such property and the public thereon." The rules must be adopted with published notice (using the procedures for county ordinances under § 15.2-1427) and the full text made available for public inspection.

Criminal enforcement. The Act deems violation of any properly adopted park-authority rule to be a Class 4 misdemeanor. So a duly-adopted stop sign rule is, by statutory operation, a state-law misdemeanor when violated.

Police duty to enforce state law. Sheriffs and local police have the duty to enforce state laws. Once the park rule is a state misdemeanor, enforcing it is just enforcing state law.

So no separate authorization is needed. Stop sign + properly adopted NVRPA rule = state misdemeanor = standard enforcement by police, sheriffs, and deputies.

The AG declined to address two related questions. First, NVRPA had argued that the W&OD Trail might itself be a "highway" under the general statutory definition, which would let standard Title 46.2 traffic rules apply. The AG didn't need to reach that argument because the park-authority-rule path already worked. Second, the AG declined to determine whether the current signage on the trail was actually proper or whether NVRPA had actually adopted a rule supporting it; that was a factual question outside the scope of the opinion.

The AG also noted in a footnote that the 2013 General Assembly had enacted Va. Acts chs. 507 and 681, allowing localities to adopt ordinances requiring shared-use-path users to stop at marked crosswalks before crossing highways (with a fine up to $100). That gave localities an additional, parallel path to enforcement.

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, the Virginia Park Authorities Act and its enforcement structure are now codified in their post-2013 forms; the shared-use-path legislation (now part of Title 46.2) has been expanded multiple times. Local ordinances on shared-use-path stop control vary widely. Check current statutes and your specific locality's code.

Common questions

Who owns the W&OD Trail?
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, an independent political body created under the Virginia Park Authorities Act.

Can a park authority make criminal rules?
Not directly. The General Assembly has given the park authority a procedural rulemaking power and has separately criminalized violations of properly adopted rules as Class 4 misdemeanors. The authority adopts the rule; the General Assembly supplies the criminal sanction.

What is a Class 4 misdemeanor in Virginia?
The least serious misdemeanor classification. Punishable by a fine of not more than $250, with no jail time available.

What's required for the park-authority rule to be valid?
Published descriptive notice under the procedures for county ordinances (§ 15.2-1427), with the full text of the proposed rule available for public inspection and copying during regular office hours at a designated place.

What if NVRPA hasn't actually adopted a rule?
Then the stop signs are advisory only and not enforceable as Class 4 misdemeanors. The AG specifically declined to determine whether NVRPA had already adopted a supporting rule.

Can a locality enforce trail stop signs through its own ordinance instead?
After 2013, yes. 2013 Va. Acts chs. 507 and 681 authorized localities to adopt ordinances requiring shared-use-path users to stop before crossing highways at marked crosswalks, with a fine up to $100. This is an alternative path that does not require the park authority to adopt a rule.

Does this apply only to NVRPA, or to other park authorities too?
The AG opinion specifically addressed NVRPA, but the underlying rulemaking and misdemeanor provisions apply to all park authorities under the Virginia Park Authorities Act. So a properly adopted rule by any covered park authority would be enforceable in the same way.

Background and statutory framework

The statutory chain:

• The Virginia Park Authorities Act: creates authorities like NVRPA and gives each the power to adopt rules and regulations after published notice using the county-ordinance procedure.
• Va. Code § 15.2-1427: the procedural template for adopting county ordinances (incorporated by reference for park-authority rules).
• The Act's misdemeanor provision: deems violation of properly adopted park-authority rules to be a Class 4 misdemeanor.
• 2013 Va. Acts chs. 507, 681: separate locality authority for shared-use-path stop ordinances.

The interpretive moves:

• A statute that says violation of any rule is a Class 4 misdemeanor is itself the state law making the violation a crime; the rule is the conduct rule, the statute is the criminal-classification rule.
• Sheriffs and police have a general duty to enforce state law, so once something is a state misdemeanor, no special grant of enforcement authority is needed.

Citations

• Va. Code § 2.2-505 (advisory-opinion authority)
• Va. Code § 15.2-1427 (county ordinance procedures, incorporated by reference)
• 2013 Va. Acts chs. 507, 681

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2013/13-024_May.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain. The linked PDF is authoritative.

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

June 14, 2013

The Honorable Joe T. May
Member, House of Delegates
Post Office Box 2146
Leesburg, Virginia 20177-7538

Dear Delegate May:

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

Issue Presented

You inquire whether law enforcement officers may enforce stop signs posted by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority ("NVRPA") on trails located within the Washington and Old Dominion Regional Park ("W&OD Trail").

Response

It is my opinion that law enforcement officers may enforce against trail users stop signs installed on the W&OD Trail if such signs represent a rule or regulation of the NVRPA.

Background

You relate that the NVRPA seeks to establish uniform guidelines for the control of cycling traffic through the eight jurisdictions along the W&OD Trail. The W&OD Trail consists of a 10 foot wide, 45 mile long paved trail for walking, running, cycling, and skating, and 30 miles of a parallel gravel trail for horseback riding. The W&OD Trail passes through four towns, three counties, and one city. Trail users encounter potential collision with automobiles or other vehicles at the 70 road grade crossings.

Applicable Law and Discussion

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority is established as an authority under the Virginia Park Authorities Act. Each authority established under the Virginia Park Authorities Act is

authorized and empowered ... [t]o adopt such rules and regulations from time to time, not in conflict with the laws of this Commonwealth, concerning the use of properties under its control as will tend to the protection of such property and the public thereon. No such rule or regulation shall be adopted until after descriptive notice of an intention to propose such rule or regulation for passage has been published in accordance with the procedures required for the adoption of general county ordinances and emergency county ordinances as set forth in § 15.2-1427, mutatis mutandis. The full text of any proposed rule or regulation shall be available for public inspection and copying during regular office hours of the authority at a place designated in the published notice.

Thus, the NVRPA clearly is authorized to adopt rules and regulations, including traffic provisions, in furtherance of protecting persons using any property within its control.

The violation of any such rule or regulation adopted by the NVRPA is deemed by law to be a Class 4 misdemeanor. Thus, "the General Assembly has declared the violation of a park authority's rules and regulations to be a misdemeanor, which is a crime, an offense against the state." It is the duty of sheriffs and local police officers to enforce state laws. Consequently, no further legal justification is required to allow local police, sheriffs, or sheriff's deputies to enforce park rules or regulations requiring trail users to stop prior to entering a highway.

The enforceability of stop signs along the trail was addressed in part with recently enacted legislation that enables localities to adopt ordinances requiring users of shared-use paths to stop before crossing highways at marked crosswalks subject to fine not to exceed $100. 2013 Va. Acts chs. 507, 681. In its correspondence with you, the NVRPA argues the W&OD Trail might be considered a "highway" and, as such, signs governing traffic on the trail posted by NVRPA would be eligible for traffic enforcement from local sheriff and police departments. Because of the conclusion reached herein, it is unnecessary to address this alternative argument. In addition, this opinion declines to determine the sufficiency of current signage.

I further note that "highway" is generally defined as

the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel in the Commonwealth, including the streets and alleys, and, for law-enforcement purposes, (i) the entire width between the boundary lines of all private roads or private streets that have been specifically designated "highways" by an ordinance adopted by the governing body of the county, city, or town in which such private roads or streets are located and (ii) the entire width between the boundary lines of every way or place used for purposes of vehicular travel on any property owned, leased, or controlled by the United States government and located in the Commonwealth.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that law enforcement officers may enforce against trail users stop signs installed on the W&OD Trail if such signs represent a rule or regulation adopted by NVRPA under the Virginia Park Authorities Act.

This Opinion makes no assumption as to whether such a properly adopted rule or regulation already exists. Rather, this Opinion makes note that NVRPA is vested with the authority to enact such a rule or regulation.

With kindest regards, I am

Very truly yours,

Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, II
Attorney General