Can a Virginia county board of supervisors install and operate security cameras in the county treasurer's office, even if the treasurer objects?

Subject

The Treasurer's office may decline to allow security cameras in its offices even though the county governing body has authority to install the cameras in county buildings.

Plain-English summary

Mathews County Treasurer Wendy Stewart asked whether the county board of supervisors could force her to allow security cameras inside her treasurer's office. The AG said no.

Treasurers are constitutional officers under Va. Const. art. VII, § 4. The county owns the building and ordinarily controls what equipment goes in county buildings. But the treasurer has exclusive control over how she operates her office, including the equipment used inside her office space. Settled Virginia law treats constitutional officers as independent of the local governing body; the board cannot direct day-to-day operations or compel use of specific equipment.

The treasurer also has a statutory confidentiality duty at Va. Code § 58.1-3, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to disclose taxpayer income or business information acquired in the performance of duties. Security cameras inside the treasurer's office could capture confidential taxpayer interactions, documents, screens, and conversations. The treasurer must assess whether installing such cameras is compatible with her statutory confidentiality obligations. That assessment is hers, not the board's.

The opinion is narrow. It does not address: courthouse security generally (which is under the circuit court and sheriff per Epps v. Commonwealth), security cameras in common areas of county buildings outside the treasurer's office, or what happens if the county is the legal "owner" of treasurer office equipment. The board can install cameras outside the treasurer's office space; it just cannot force them inside.

What this means for you

For Virginia treasurers

You have authority to decline a board of supervisors' request or directive to install security cameras inside your office space. Document your refusal in writing, citing § 58.1-3 confidentiality concerns and your constitutional officer status. If you want cameras for your own security purposes, you can install them on your own terms. The decision belongs to you.

For boards of supervisors and county administrators

You cannot compel the treasurer (or other constitutional officers) to accept cameras in their office space. You can install cameras in common areas, lobbies, parking lots, hallways, and at building entrances; you can require them at the courthouse generally. But once you cross the threshold into a constitutional officer's office space, that office's officer controls the equipment.

For other constitutional officers (sheriff, Commonwealth's attorney, commissioner of revenue, court clerk)

The same logic applies. Your office space is yours to manage operationally, subject to applicable confidentiality statutes that apply to your office. The board may install cameras in common areas of buildings you occupy, but not inside your specific office space without your consent.

For taxpayers

The opinion strengthens the legal underpinning of taxpayer confidentiality at the treasurer's office. Any disclosure of your income or business information to the treasurer is protected by § 58.1-3 from being routed to the broader county government, including through video surveillance.

For courthouse security

Note that the opinion does not affect the circuit court's and sheriff's authority over courthouse security. Those officers retain their statutory and constitutional roles in that domain (Epps v. Commonwealth).

Common questions

What is § 58.1-3 confidentiality?

Va. Code § 58.1-3 prohibits the treasurer (and other tax officials, including their employees) from divulging "any information acquired by him in the performance of his duties with respect to the transactions, property, including personal property, income or business of any person, firm or corporation." Violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

How does this apply to security cameras?

The risk is that cameras could capture (a) taxpayers presenting confidential documents, (b) treasurer staff handling confidential records, or (c) computer screens showing taxpayer data. Even if the board "owns" the cameras, the act of capturing that footage could expose confidential information to unauthorized viewers (whoever has access to the camera system). The treasurer must protect against that risk; allowing cameras she does not control conflicts with her duty.

Doesn't the county own the building?

Yes. § 15.2-1639 directs localities to provide office space to constitutional officers, and § 15.2-1800(E) lets localities operate and maintain real property. But that ownership does not extend to directing how the constitutional officer operates within their assigned space. See Bd. of Supvrs. v. Bazile (Va. 1954): the locality's property authority "do[es] not include the power to direct the manner and method to be followed by the treasurer in performing the duties of his office."

What if the treasurer wants her own cameras?

She can install them on her terms. The opinion turns on the treasurer's discretion; she can choose to use cameras she controls, just as she can choose other equipment.

Does this apply to body-worn cameras for treasurer security?

Not addressed. The opinion is about fixed surveillance cameras installed by the locality. Treasurer-controlled body cams or personal security devices would be a different question.

What about access by treasurer staff to the camera feed?

Even if the treasurer agreed to cameras, § 58.1-3 obligations would attach. The 2005 AG opinion on commissioner-of-revenue data systems is instructive: the constitutional officer must balance system access against confidentiality, including unauthorized personnel access.

Background and statutory framework

The framework:

• Va. Const. art. VII, § 4: constitutional officer status of the treasurer (and commissioner of revenue, sheriff, Commonwealth's Attorney, circuit court clerk).
• § 15.2-1600, § 15.2-1608: constitutional officer powers preserved.
• § 15.2-1639: locality must provide office space.
• § 15.2-1800: locality power over its real property.
• § 58.1-3: tax-officer confidentiality.
• §§ 58.1-3127, 58.1-3910: treasurer's tax-collection duties.

Virginia case law and AG opinions consistently hold constitutional officers independent of the local governing body for operational matters: Roop v. Whitt (2015), Bd. of Supvrs. v. Bazile (1954), 1977-78, 1984-85, 1987-88, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2016 AG opinions. "Exclusive control over the operation of their offices, including use of the equipment therein" is the standard formulation.

Citations

• Va. Const. art. VII, § 4 (constitutional officers)
• Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-505 (advisory opinion authority)
• Va. Code Ann. §§ 15.2-1600, 15.2-1608 (constitutional officer powers)
• Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-1639 (locality office space duty)
• Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-1800 (locality real property authority)
• Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3 (tax officer confidentiality)
• Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3124 (treasurer office location)
• Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3127 (treasurer duties)
• Va. Code Ann. § 58.1-3910 (treasurer collection duties)
• Roop v. Whitt, 289 Va. 274 (2015)
• Bd. of Supvrs. v. Bazile, 195 Va. 739 (1954)
• Bd. of Supvrs. v. Countryside Inv. Co., 258 Va. 497 (1999)
• Bd. of Supvrs. v. Weems, 194 Va. 10 (1952)
• Arlington Cnty. v. White, 259 Va. 708 (2000)
• Epps v. Commonwealth, 46 Va. App. 161 (2005)
• Prior AG opinions: 1977-78, 1984-85, 1987-88, 1989, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2016

Source

• Landing page: https://www.oag.state.va.us/annual-reports-opinions/official-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/Opinions/2025/25-033-Stewart-issued.pdf

Original opinion text

COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Office of the Attorney General
Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General
December 31, 2025

The Honorable Wendy H. Stewart
Treasurer, Mathews County
Post Office Box 305
Mathews, Virginia 23109-0305

Dear Ms. Stewart:

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 county board of supervisors can require the treasurer to agree to install security cameras for operation within the offices of the treasurer.

Applicable Law and Discussion

In Virginia, the treasurer elected to serve the citizens of a county is a constitutional officer whose "duties are prescribed by law[,]"[1] and "the powers of [county] boards of supervisors are fixed by statute and are limited to those conferred expressly or by necessary implication."[2]

Although constitutional officers are distinct and generally independent from the governing bodies of the localities they serve,[3] the General Assembly has directed each local governing body to provide office space, as available, to the elected treasurer and other officials.[4] Treasurers' offices, therefore, ordinarily are housed in buildings owned by the local government. Because a county board of supervisors is empowered to exercise control over its buildings,[5] it follows that the county, absent law to the contrary, may install security cameras in county buildings as it deems appropriate.[6]

It is well established, however, that "[a]s a constitutional officer, the treasurer is not subject to the control and jurisdiction of the governing body[,]"[7] and "except as abrogated by statute, retains complete discretion in the day-to-day operations of the office, personnel matters, and the manner in which the duties of the office are performed."[8] Local governments therefore are not entitled to "supervise or intervene in the management or control of a constitutional officer's duties."[9]

"In general, the duties of . . . a treasurer concern the collection of taxes."[10] In executing his duties, the treasurer has a further duty to maintain the confidentiality of certain information: "[e]xcept in accordance with a proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, the . . . treasurer . . . shall not divulge any information acquired by him in the performance of his duties with respect to the transactions, property, including personal property, income or business of any person, firm or corporation."[11] I find no statute that exempts these duties from "the traditional view and the practice in Virginia that: '. . . an officer elected by the people pursuant to the Constitution is charged with the obligation to perform certain duties connected with that office and should not have his control over the office impaired by . . . [the] local governing body.'"[12]

Providing the treasurer office space confers the local government "no authority to control how he shall perform [his] duties within that area" assigned to him.[13] Rather, in affirming the authority of a board of supervisors to designate where the treasurer keeps his offices, the Supreme Court of Virginia has stated that "[t]he powers of the [board] . . . do not include the power to direct the manner and method to be followed by the treasurer in performing the duties of his office . . . ."[14] Treasurers "are vested with the authority and power to administer the operations of their offices in a manner and to the extent they, in their discretion, see fit."[15] That discretion extends to decisions regarding equipment,[16] and the treasurer must determine how any security camera system installed in his offices will affect his duties, including the duties to collect taxes and to maintain the confidentiality of taxpayer financial information.[17]

In sum, a local governing body has no control over how a constitutional officer "uses the office space made available to him . . . once it is allocated."[18] I therefore conclude that the treasurer may refuse a request by the board of supervisors to install or operate security cameras in the treasurer's offices.[19]

Conclusion

Accordingly, it is my opinion that, although a county board of supervisors generally is permitted to install security cameras in the buildings it owns, leases or over which it has statutory authority, the authority to do so does not override the treasurer's independence to control the operations of his office, including the decision whether to implement the use of security cameras.

With kindest regards, I am,
Very truly yours,

Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General

1. VA. CONST. art. VII, § 4. See also VA. CODE ANN. §§ 15.2-1600 (2018); 15.2-1608 (2018).
2. 2013 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 192, 193 (alteration in original) (quoting Bd. of Supvrs. v. Countryside Inv. Co., 258 Va. 497, 503 (1999)). See also Arlington Cnty. v. White, 259 Va. 708, 710 n.1 (2000) (noting that the scope of power possessed by a county board of supervisors is governed by a corollary to the Dillon Rule).
3. Roop v. Whitt, 289 Va. 274, 280 (2015).
4. VA. CODE ANN. § 15.2-1639 (2018). "The office of the county treasurer shall be maintained at the county seat or at such other point in the county as the board of supervisors . . . may deem to be more convenient to a majority of the citizens of the county." VA. CODE ANN. § 58.1-3124 (2022). The General Assembly "has delegated to the board of supervisors, and to no other, the authority to determine whether some place other than the county seat is more convenient to a majority of the citizens for the office of the treasurer of the county." Bd. of Supvrs. v. Weems, 194 Va. 10, 15 (1952).
5. Section 15.2-1800(E) (2018) (expressly providing that a locality may "operate, maintain, and regulate the use of its real property").
6. See § 15.2-1800(D) (authorizing localities to "construct . . . and equip buildings, structures and other improvements on real property owned or leased by it").
7. 1977-78 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 466, 467. See Roop, 289 Va. at 280 (explaining that constitutional officers "are neither agents of nor subordinate to local government").
8. 2002 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 58, 60-61, accord 1987-88 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 161, 162; 2008 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 44, 46. See also 1989 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 71, 72. ("A constitutional officer . . . generally has exclusive control over the day-to-day operations of his office."). 2016 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 302, 303 (A constitutional officer "possesses complete discretion in the manner in which he administers his office and carries out his prescribed duties, unless limited by constitutional provision or statute.")
9. 1995 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 47, 48.
10. 2001 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 176, 178. See, e.g., §§ 58.1-3127 (2022); 58.1-3910 (2022).
11. Section 58.1-3 (Supp. 2025). Employees of the treasurer also are subject to this prohibition, the violation of which constitutes a Class 1 misdemeanor. Id.
12. 1977-78 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. at 467 (first ellipsis in original).
13. Bd. of Supvrs. v. Bazile, 195 Va. 739, 751 (1954).
14. Id. at 750-51.
15. 2005 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 147, 148.
16. See 1984-85 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 285, 285 (stating that constitutional officers "have exclusive control over the operation of their offices, including use of the equipment therein"). See also 1989 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 71, 73 ("A constitutional officer has the exclusive authority to determine the equipment needs and specifications of his office within available resources."); 1987-88 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. at 164 (concluding that the county has no right unilaterally to remove office equipment or other materials from the treasurer's office).
17. A previous opinion of this Office addresses the duty of confidentiality imposed on tax officials under Code § 58.1-3 as it relates to the data processing system to be used by the commissioner of the revenue. 2005 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. at 147. Deeming "the design and maintenance of a data system" to be "a factual determination for the commissioner[,]" id. at 149, this Office advised that in deciding whether to use the county-wide system or establish his own, "[t]he commissioner should balance his administrative discretion with the prohibitions and restrictions contained in § 58.1-3" and cautioned against access by unauthorized personnel. Id. at 150.
18. 1984-85 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 16, 17. See also § 15.2-1600(B).
19. This Opinion is limited to the power of the local governing body to require the use of security cameras in treasurers' offices and does not bear on the role the circuit court or a sheriff has over courthouse security. See Epps v. Commonwealth, 46 Va. App. 161, 175-76 (2005).