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2022 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.

November

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
21-075	The Honorable Anthony G. Spencer, Commonwealth's Attorney, Lancaster County	The forgery or uttering of an accountholder's signature on a stolen, blank personal check constitutes a violation of § 18.2-172 of the Code of Virginia and should be prosecuted accordingly.

October

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-033	The Honorable Todd A. Pillion, Member, Senate of Virginia	The Commonwealth Transportation Board currently lacks the authority to amend its land use permit regulations to authorize the issuance of a permit for the installation of license plate readers within rights-of-way of the Commonwealth.

22-058	The Honorable Glenn Youngkin, Governor of Virginia	Should the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) modify its recommended childhood immunization schedule to include vaccination against COVID-19, children enrolled in schools and childcare facilities in Virginia will not be required to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of attendance.

September

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-029	The Honorable Mark D. Obenshin, Member, Senate of Virginia	The clerk of a circuit court is a "court officer” as that term is used in § 18.2-283.1 and therefore is exempt from that statute's prohibition against possessing a weapon in or transporting a weapon into a courthouse of the Commonwealth.

22-032	The Honorable Todd E. Pillion, Member, Senate of Virginia	Based on the facts provided, baseball players employed by certain Major League Baseball minor league clubs are exempt from overtime pay and minimum wage requirements in Virginia.

22-037	The Honorable Karl S. Leonard, Sheriff, Chesterfield County	The limit on deputy salaries in Code § 15.2-1609.2(F), which provides that the salary of any deputy sheriff shall not exceed ninety percent of the salary of the sheriff by whom he is employed, does not apply to a deputy's total pay when a county or city elects to provide its sheriff's deputies supplemental pay.

22-038	The Honorable William M. Stanley, Member, Senate of Virginia	Election officials in Virginia may not solicit, accept, use, or dispose of any money, grants, property, or services – including new equipment, training, coaching, or website modernization services – provided by or through the Center for Technology and Civic Life or the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence for the purpose of funding voter education and outreach programs, voter registration programs, or any other expense incurred in the conduct of elections.

22-047	The Honorable Jeremy D. Fleming, Sheriff, Dickenson County	If a law enforcement officer maintaining custody of a person under a temporary detention order (TDO) believes that custody and transportation of the person can be accomplished safely by an alternative transportation provider and such an alternative provider has been identified, the officer may contact the magistrate and request that the transportation provider specified in the TDO be changed. In considering the request, the magistrate should change the transportation provider to the identified alternative transportation provider upon finding that the alternative provider is available, willing, and able to provide transportation in a safe manner.

August

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-014	The Honorable Charles W. Foster, Wythe County Sheriff	Answer to certain inquiries regarding the placement of a photo speed monitoring sign.

22-027	Honorable Todd E. Pillion, Member, Senate of Virginia and Honorable Zack A. Stoots, Russell County Commonwealth's Attorney	Answers to inquiries regarding the authority of the Town of Lebanon to regulate through zoning the establishment of office-based opioid treatment clinics within the Town.

July

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-018	Honorable William D. Wiley, Member, House of Delegates	Concluding that unit owners in a condominium unit owners' association may petition for the creation of a community development authority in a particular scenario.

22-028	Bradley C. Ratliff, Esquire, Attorney for the Town of Cedar Bluff	Clause (ii) of § 46.2-915.1(A)(1) is independent of the other two clauses of that provision, such that an individual operating an ATV is permitted to cross a public highway by the most direct route, even if the circumstances present in clauses (i) and (iii) are not present.

June

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-017	Honorable William D. Wiley, Member, House of Delegates	A community development authority may finance, fund, plan, establish, acquire, construct or reconstruct, enlarge, extend, equip, operate, or maintain retaining walls.

21-091	Honorable W.Q. Overton Jr., Franklin County Sheriff	Except where civil process is statutorily required to be served by a sheriff or one of his deputies, a sheriff may engage non-sworn, civilian personnel or private process servers to execute such process. Although a sheriff's potential exposure to liability would depend on the particular facts and circumstances, in general a sheriff would not be liable for the discretionary acts of his civilian employees, and a sheriff would generally be exposed to minimal risk of liability for the actions of private process servers engaged as independent contractors.

22-013	Honorable Anne Ferrell Tata, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	(1) A local Board of Zoning Appeals is not authorized to deviate from procedural rules found in local ordinances. (2) A local Board of Zoning Appeals cannot discreetly disclose the existence of reconsideration options to only a limited and subjective group of denied applicants because the existence of any reconsideration options would be considered open to the public under FOIA.

22-016	The Honorable Thomas K. Norment Jr., Member, Senate of Virginia	Certain approved and recorded final subdivision plats in Northampton County became invalid under § 15.2-2209.1 as of July 1, 2020. However, even though those plats are no longer valid under that statute, they are not automatically vacated of record. Beginning July 1, 2022, by local ordinance, resolution, or regulation, the locality may resurrect and extend the period of validity of the plats. The opinion further notes that it does not consider whether vested rights attached to any of the subject properties pursuant to § 15.2-2307 during the plats' period of validity under § 15.2-2209.1.

May

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-012	Randall C. Eads, Esquire, Bristol City Attorney	The City of Bristol may authorize the construction of residential units within The Falls, a development of regional impact pursuant to Va. Code § 58.1-608.3(B), and continue to receive sales tax revenues generated by transactions occurring within The Falls.

April

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-008	Honorable Harold W. Clarke, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections	Answers to various questions regarding the interpretation of House Bill 5148 with respect to eligibility for enhanced earned sentence credits.

March

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-007	Honorable Michael R. Doucette, Judge, Nelson County Circuit Court	A court may not grant an inmate community service credits towards fines and costs for work performed inside a state correctional center, when such work is not performed pursuant to any of the six programs specified in Virginia Code § 19.2-354(C)(ii).

22-009	Honorable Wendy S. Hughes, Clerk, Circuit Court of Chesterfield County	In localities where the electronic summons fee authorized under Virginia Code § 17.1-279.1 has been implemented, the fee should be imposed on a qualifying appealed case at both the district court level and the circuit court level.

February

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
22-003	Honorable A.C. Cordoza, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	While the Constitution of Virginia, as a general matter, prohibits state appropriations to private colleges and universities in Virginia, it provides certain exceptions that permit the General Assembly to provide particular forms of support to such institutions. Under the terms of these exceptions, the General Assembly is authorized under the State Constitution to appropriate funds for the benefit of students in furtherance of collegiate or graduate education at qualifying private HBCUs. The General Assembly also is authorized to appropriate funds for the support of qualifying private HBCUs through properly procured public contracts. Moreover, the Constitution provides authority for the Virginia College Building Authority to assist qualifying private HBCUs in borrowing to construct educational facilities. The General Assembly also has nearly unfettered authority to provide state financial assistance to public HBCUs in the Commonwealth.

January

Opinion #	Requestor	Summary
21-099	Honorable Mamie E. Locke, Member, Senate of Virginia	Virginia may not rescind its ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

21-101	Honorable Delores L. McQuinn, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) applies to Virginia cases involving, or that could culminate in, foster care placement, termination of parental rights, or preadoptive or adoptive placements for children who meet the ICWA's definition of "Indian child.” During applicable proceedings, state and federal law require that Virginia courts protect the interests of Indian children and promote the security and stability of federally recognized tribes.

21-102	Honorable Charniele L. Herring, Member, Virginia House of Delegates; and the Honorable Richard "Rip” Sullivan, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	The Governor may not, solely through an executive order or other executive action, repeal or eliminate the regulatory requirement that electric utilities and other electricity producers hold carbon dioxide allowances that equal the amount of their carbon dioxide emissions.

21-103	Honorable Mamie E. Locke, Member, Senate of Virginia and The Honorable Lamont Bagby, Member, Virginia House of Delegates	Previous Attorney General opinions that relied upon—or promoted—racially discriminatory laws are overruled.

21-104	Honorable Leo P. Rogers, Loudoun County Attorney	A locality that regulates "solar power panels” as a permitted residential accessory use in its zoning ordinance does not regulate "ground-mounted solar energy generation facilities” situated on property in an agricultural zoning district and used for agricultural purposes as a permitted principal or accessory use, or expressly as a solar facility. Further, a ground-mounted solar energy generation facility existing prior to January 1, 2018, situated on such a property in such a locality, would be covered by the grandfather provision in Chapters 495 and 496 of the 2018 Acts of the General Assembly and would be deemed a legally existing non-conforming use under § 15.2-2307 and not be subject to removal.

22-004	Honorable Glenn E. Youngkin, Governor of Virginia	Absent specific authority conferred by the General Assembly, public institutions of higher education in Virginia may not require vaccination against COVID-19 as a general condition of students' enrollment or in-person attendance.