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2021 Official Opinions

Official opinions will be posted as they are issued, generally within 24 to 48 hours. Please check this page at regular intervals to determine whether additional opinions have been issued.

April

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
20-012	Hon. Kim Matthews, Pulaski County Commissioner of Revenue	A commissioner of the revenue may consider recorded legal documents other than the deed, including circuit court decrees, when determining whether an individual owns land. The effect of any particular decree, however, is a fact-specific inquiry for the commissioner of the revenue to determine.

March

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
20-058	Honorable Chan R. Bryant, Albemarle County Sheriff	A circuit court clerk is not required under Va. Code § 8.01-511 to ensure that a garnishee is served before a judgment debtor when the two parties are located in different jurisdictions. This conclusion would also apply equally to general district court clerks. A sheriff is not required under Va. Code § 8.01-511 to ensure that a garnishee is served before the debtor when the parties are located in different jurisdictions. Accordingly, a judgment creditor who is concerned that the debtor may be served before the garnishee, should ensure the proper order of service by arranging for a private process server to serve the garnishee first.

February

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
21-032	Honorable Emmett W. Hanger, Jr., Member, Senate of Virginia	Dissemination of data related to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Virginia Department of Health is permitted—and in some cases required—by recently-enacted legislation, provided the release of such information preserves patient and practitioner anonymity pursuant to § 32.1-41.

21-009	Honorable Charniele Herring, Majority Leader, House of Delegates	By authorizing local government collective bargaining, by expressly authorizing local governments to include arbitration provisions in agreements, and in light of existing policy favoring the use of arbitration by local governments, local governments may include in collective bargaining agreements entered into under § 40.1-57.2 grievance and dispute resolution procedures culminating in final and binding arbitration.

January

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
21-002	Honorable Richard L. Saslaw, Member, Senate of Virginia	Item 4-0.01 in the current Appropriation Act (House Bill 5005) permits the Senate of Virginia to meet during an emergency with some members physically present and other members participating electronically, provided the conditions set forth in the Item are met. This includes the authority to meet in this fashion during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

21-003	Honorable Lee J. Carter, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment disqualifies from public office individuals who “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the Constitution of the United States. Regardless of whether Congress must pass additional enabling legislation to make Section 3 operative, the Constitution of Virginia unequivocally grants plenary authority to each chamber of the General Assembly to discipline or expel its members. The terms of Section 3 and related historical precedent confirm that expulsion may be an appropriate sanction if a member “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against” the United States Constitution or has “given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

20-041/ 20-042	Honorable Daniel R. Lahne, Chief Judge, Virginia Beach General District Court; and Honorable Colin D. Stolle, Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney	A general district court may enter into a new payment plan agreement with a defendant (and therefore take the case out of collections) at the request of the defendant and without issuing process such as a show cause or capias. In addition, a Commonwealth’s Attorney’s collection agent may extend its own payment plans to a defendant, so long as the court retains its authority to grant payment plans upon petition of the defendant.