Can the Quantico Town Council strip the mayor of authority to supervise town employees by appointing a chief administrative officer?

Plain-English summary

The Town of Quantico, Virginia, operates under a special-law town charter granted by the General Assembly. The charter says the mayor is "chief executive officer of the town." The Town Council was considering appointing a chief administrative officer (CAO) to supervise town employees, which would have effectively transferred the mayor's executive functions to a hired professional manager.

Town Attorney William Boyce asked the Attorney General whether the Council could legally do that. Attorney General Herring's answer was no.

The reasoning came in three steps:

1. The Quantico Charter is a special law that controls how the town's government is structured. Under Va. Const. art. IV, § 2, the General Assembly can pass special laws establishing the organization, government, and powers of any city or town.

2. The charter explicitly designates the mayor as "chief executive officer." That term, not defined in the charter, gets its plain dictionary meaning: "A corporation's highest-ranking administrator or manager" (Black's Law Dictionary). So the mayor holds ultimate administrative control over the supervision of town employees.

3. Although Va. Code § 15.2-1540 generally allows a local governing body to appoint a CAO to supervise employees, Va. Code § 15.2-1541 says the charter can limit a CAO's duties. The Quantico Charter does exactly that by making the mayor chief executive. The Council can still create a CAO position if it wants, but the CAO would serve as the mayor's subordinate, not as an alternative or replacement for the mayor's executive role.

The opinion also noted the well-settled rule that when a special law (like a charter) conflicts with general state law, the special law controls. So even if there were a conflict between the charter and the general municipal-government statutes, the charter would prevail.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2015. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. The Quantico Town Charter and the general municipal government statutes may have been amended. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

Common questions

Can Quantico have a town manager?

It can have a CAO or town manager, but that person would have to operate as a subordinate of the mayor, not as an independent executive authority. The mayor remains the chief executive officer under the charter.

What if Quantico's voters want a council-manager form of government?

That would require an amendment to the Quantico Town Charter, which only the General Assembly can grant. The Council cannot bypass the charter by ordinance or resolution.

Does this analysis apply to every Virginia town with a "weak mayor" tradition?

No. Each town's charter is unique. This opinion applies only to Quantico's specific charter language designating the mayor as chief executive. Other towns with different charter language might have different allocations of executive authority.

What happens if the Town Council passes an ordinance trying to limit the mayor's executive powers?

Under this opinion, the ordinance would be unenforceable to the extent it conflicts with the mayor's charter-granted authority as chief executive officer. Charter trumps ordinance.

Background and statutory framework

The Virginia Constitution divides local government authority among general laws and special acts. Article IV, § 2 lets the General Assembly pass special laws establishing the organization, government, and powers of any city, town, or regional government. A special law applies to only one local government and may differ from the general law.

Quantico's Town Charter is one such special law. It says the government is "vested in a town council, which shall be composed of a mayor and five councilmen" and designates the mayor as "chief executive officer of the town."

The general municipal-government statutes that would otherwise apply are in Title 15.2 of the Code:

• § 15.2-1540 lets a local governing body appoint a chief administrative officer to supervise and direct employees.
• § 15.2-1541 says that a CAO's enumerated duties apply "unless it is otherwise prescribed by general law, charter, or by ordinance or resolution."
• § 15.2-1501 says that a locality may designate officers or employees to exercise certain powers, but only "[w]henever it is not designated by . . . special act."

Read together, these provisions create an order of priority. Charter language about who does what controls. General law fills in the gaps. The Quantico Charter's designation of the mayor as chief executive officer occupies the space for executive authority in Quantico, leaving general law inapplicable to that question.

The principle that a special act controls over a general law when the two conflict is well established (Powers v. Cnty. Sch. Bd., 148 Va. 661 (1927); Hammer v. Commonwealth, 169 Va. 355 (1937)).

Citations

• Va. Const. art. IV, § 1 (special laws)
• Va. Const. art. IV, § 2 (special acts on local government)
• Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-505 (AG advisory opinions)
• Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-1501 (designation of officers)
• Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-1540 (chief administrative officer)
• Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-1541 (CAO duties subject to charter or ordinance)
• Quantico Town Charter
• Black's Law Dictionary (definition of "chief executive officer")
• Hammer v. Commonwealth, 169 Va. 355 (1937)
• Powers v. Cnty. Sch. Bd., 148 Va. 661 (1927)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2015/15-025_Boyce.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
Mark R. Herring
Attorney General

900 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
804-786-2071

July 10, 2015

William C. Boyce, Jr., Esquire
Attorney for the Town of Quantico
C/o Boyce & Leahy
9300 Grant Avenue, Suite 200
Manassas, Virginia 20110

Dear Mr. Boyce:

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 ask whether the Mayor of Quantico has complete management authority over the executive functions of the town and whether the town council may appoint a chief administrative officer to restrict or divest him of his authority to supervise employees.

Applicable Law and Discussion

The Constitution of Virginia explicitly authorizes the General Assembly to prescribe local forms of government. It provides that the General Assembly shall pass general laws establishing the "organization, government, and powers" of localities in the Commonwealth, and that the General Assembly may pass special laws establishing the "organization, government, and powers" of any city, town, or regional government. A special law applies to only one local government and may provide forms of organization and powers that differ from those established for localities under general law.

The Quantico Town Charter (the "Charter") is a special law that establishes the organization and powers of the town's government. It provides that the government shall be "vested in a town council, which shall be composed of a mayor and five councilmen." The Charter also states that the Mayor shall be "chief executive officer of the town." The term "chief executive officer" is not defined in the Charter and therefore must be given its plain meaning. Black's Law Dictionary defines the term as "[a] corporation's highest-ranking administrator or manager." By definition, then, a chief executive officer is an organization's highest-ranking administrator or manager. Therefore, because the Charter states that the Mayor of Quantico shall be "chief executive officer," I conclude that he has ultimate administrative control over the supervision of town employees.

The Town Council is not authorized to divest the Mayor of this power. Although § 15.2-1540 provides that a local governing body may appoint a chief administrative officer to supervise and direct employees, § 15.2-1541 provides that a charter may function to limit the scope of his duties. That is exactly what has been done here: the Quantico Town Charter makes the Mayor the town's chief executive officer, and it thus gives him administrative control over town employees, thereby limiting the powers of a chief administrative officer, if one is appointed. There is no statutory basis in this context for ascribing supervisory powers over employees to a chief administrative officer in lieu of the Mayor. Thus, if the Town Council were to create the position of chief administrative officer, that individual, if hired, would have to serve as a subordinate of the Mayor. The Mayor alone would remain ultimately responsible for administration, including the supervision of town employees.

I note that even if general law conflicted with the Charter's designation of the Mayor as chief executive officer, and it does not, the Charter would control. The Charter is a special act with provisions that may differ from general law. Therefore, its provisions control where they conflict with general law. To the same effect, any ordinance that is inconsistent with the Mayor's power under the Charter as chief executive officer would be unenforceable to the extent of the inconsistency.

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that the Mayor of Quantico has complete management authority over the executive functions of the town, and the Town Council may not divest him of his authority to supervise employees by appointing a chief administrative officer to do so.

With kindest regards, I am

Very truly yours,

Mark R. Herring
Attorney General