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 county use its zoning power to ban oil and gas drilling, including fracking, within its borders?
No. A Virginia local governing body may adopt reasonable zoning rules about where oil and gas wells can be sited, but it cannot use zoning to ban exploration and drilling entirely within the locality.…
Can a Virginia locality require stricter rules for alternative septic systems than the Virginia Department of Health does, where public sewer isn't available?
No. Where (i) no sewer is available and (ii) VDH has approved the alternative system for those conditions, § 15.2-2157(C) bars a locality from imposing additional or stricter standards that would effe…
Can Virginia cities, counties, and school boards pool together to run a single self-funded employee health insurance trust?
Yes. Under the Joint Powers Act, any power a political subdivision can exercise alone, it can exercise jointly with another. Localities can set up health insurance under § 15.2-1517 and school boards …
Can Virginia cities and counties spend tax dollars on dues or contributions to VACo and VML?
Yes. The Virginia Constitution's prohibition on appropriating to charities applies only to the General Assembly, not localities. Several Virginia statutes authorize localities to fund intergovernmenta…
Can a Virginia local or regional housing authority operate statewide without going through § 36-23's locality-by-locality approval process?
No. Local, regional, and consolidated housing authorities are creatures of state law confined to their 'area of operation.' To act outside that area, they must follow § 36-23, which requires the appro…
Can a Virginia locality impose stricter rules than the state Board of Health on alternative onsite septic systems?
Yes, but with a carve-out. The AG concluded that a Virginia locality could adopt design, siting, and other onsite sewage system requirements stricter than the Board of Health's regulations, except tha…
Can a Virginia locality limit a design-build construction selection to five qualified offerors?
Yes. The AG concluded that a Virginia locality (the request came from Virginia Beach) could adopt design-build construction procurement procedures that limit selection to no more than five offerors de…
Can Virginia jail inmates work outside the sheriff's county or on private nonprofit land?
Yes, conditionally. The AG concluded that inmate work crews could leave the sheriff's jurisdiction if a court ordered it, or, if authorized by the local governing body, only when the property was owne…
Can a Virginia locality enact an ordinance letting a volunteer fire department bill an individual's home or auto insurance for responding to a fire?
No. The AG concluded that § 27-14 (general locality power to make ordinances about fire/EMS departments) does not authorize a locality to permit volunteer fire departments to bill insurance policies f…
Can a Virginia county board of supervisors give a 5% salary supplement to constitutional officers and their staff out of county funds?
Yes. Section 15.2-1605.1 expressly authorizes a county or city governing body to supplement the compensation of constitutional officers and their deputies or employees above the Compensation Board-app…
Can a Virginia county board of supervisors put a mixed-beverage-sales referendum on the ballot, or does the petition have to come from voters?
The board cannot. Section 4.1-124(A) requires a petition signed by qualified voters (10 percent of the locality's voters, or 100, whichever is greater). The AG concluded that neither individual superv…
Who controls school payroll in a Virginia city, the school board or the city treasurer?
Both, with different roles. The school board picks the pay dates on a regular monthly, semi-monthly, or biweekly schedule. The city treasurer handles the mechanics of cutting the checks. School funds …
Can a Virginia coastal locality apply its local zoning rules to an offshore wind farm built in state waters?
No. Virginia localities cannot extend their land use ordinances to state-owned submerged lands. There are no 'applicable land use ordinances' for offshore wind projects in state waters, so DEQ can tre…
Must a Virginia county enforce the Property Maintenance Code (Part III of the USBC) in a small town that adopted Part III but did not designate anyone to enforce it?
No. A county is required to enforce Parts I and II of the USBC in a small town that has not elected to enforce them, but is not required to enforce Part III (Property Maintenance) when the town has ad…
If there's no public sewer available, can a Virginia locality still require a developer to get a special exception under the zoning ordinance to install a VDH-approved alternative onsite septic system?
No. Section 15.2-2157(C) bars localities from prohibiting alternative onsite sewage systems where no sewer is available and the system has VDH approval. A special exception is effectively a power to p…
Can a Virginia town give a nonprofit free water, sewer, and trash service as a charitable donation?
Yes. Va. Code Ann. § 15.2-953(A) authorizes Virginia localities to make appropriations or donations to charitable institutions or associations that serve their residents, and a 2007 amendment expanded…
Can a Virginia town council start negotiating an employment contract with a town manager without first voting as a body, and can the contract have a multi-year term?
Yes to negotiations: council members can negotiate preliminarily, as long as the appointment and contract are ultimately approved by a council vote. No to a fixed multi-year term: under § 15.2-1503, t…
Can a Virginia sanitary district build and run community buildings or recreational facilities outside its own boundaries to serve district residents?
Generally no. A sanitary district can only operate community buildings and recreational facilities within its boundaries, unless it reaches an agreement with another jurisdiction under § 15.2-1300 to …
Can a Virginia locality use a federal income threshold (or any extra criterion) to decide whether a homeowner is 'permanently and totally disabled' for property tax relief, and must its rules be in the published ordinance?
A locality cannot add to the statutory disability tests, including by using a federal disability income threshold to decide who is permanently and totally disabled. It can use a federal threshold as a…
Is a Virginia locality's stormwater charge a tax or a fee, can it be enforced like a tax lien, and can landowners be 'grandfathered' or charged for runoff that originated on someone else's property?
The § 15.2-2114 stormwater charge is a fee, not a tax. The locality can enforce it with liens. Senate Bill 395 didn't delay enforcement. There is no statutory grandfathering, no waiver for impossible-…
Can a Virginia town pass an ordinance preventing two spouses from holding interrelated elected offices at the same time?
No. The Virginia Constitution sets the qualifications to hold elective office, and the General Assembly has not authorized localities to add a 'no two spouses' restriction. Such a local ordinance woul…
Can a Virginia public service authority charge a fee to residents who refuse to use its trash collection service?
No. Section 15.2-5137 authorizes nonuser service charges only for water and sewer service. A Virginia public service authority lacks the statutory power to assess a nonuser fee for refuse collection.
Can a Virginia city reassess a homeowner's property mid-cycle and raise the tax bill before the next annual reassessment?
No general reassessment more than once a year. Virginia law (§ 58.1-3254) allows 'a' single general reassessment per year, no more. But individual taxpayers can still see higher assessments through bo…
Can a private group hosting a festival on land it leases from a Virginia city ban people from carrying firearms at the event?
Yes. A private entity that leases public property to host an event may generally prohibit firearms at that event. The lease alone does not turn the private group into a state actor bound by the Second…
Can a Virginia city or county impose adoption requirements stricter than the state's minimum rules at an animal pound?
Yes. Section 3.2-6543(A) lets Virginia localities adopt animal-control ordinances 'more stringent' than the state minimum, including pound policies that add restrictions or requirements on adoption be…
Can a Virginia local treasurer charge a delinquent state taxpayer an extra 20% commission for collecting unpaid state taxes?
No. A Virginia local treasurer who collected delinquent state taxes for the Department of Taxation could not add a flat 20% commission onto the taxpayer's bill. The Department could compensate the loc…
How much can a Virginia locality require a subdivision developer to bond for administrative costs?
No more than 10%. Under § 15.2-2241(5) as amended in 2009, a Virginia locality could not require a subdivision developer to post a bond with an administrative allowance exceeding 10% of estimated cons…
If a Virginia county treasurer used the wrong school census numbers to split local sales tax revenue between towns, can the county recover the overpayments through the state's error-correction process, or does the county have another way to claw it back?
No to the first remedy, yes to a different one. Section 58.1-605(F)'s error-correction process applies to the Comptroller's monthly payments to counties, not to a county treasurer's downstream distrib…
Can a Virginia locality like York County, worried about Chesapeake Bay pollution, pass an ordinance restricting or banning fertilizer use on lawns?
Yes. Under §§ 10.1-603.7(A) and 15.2-924.1(A), Virginia localities can adopt ordinances that regulate or even prohibit the use or application of fertilizers. The locality must base the ordinance on th…
When Northampton County pulls out of a joint planning commission with three Eastern Shore towns that aren't next to each other, do the towns have to set up their own planning commissions?
Yes. Once Northampton County withdraws from the Northampton County Joint Planning Commission, the joint commission cannot continue because the three remaining towns (Eastville, Cheriton, and Nassawado…
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…
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…
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 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 …
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…
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 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 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.