15.1 Structure of Local Government in Virginia

• Library: Virginia Law and Practice: A Handbook for Attorneys (Virginia CLE) (2020 Ed.)

15.1 STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN VIRGINIA

15.101 Background. Virginia is only one of four states that refer to themselves as "commonwealths" (the other three commonwealths are Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania). The term historically was designed to separately identify those new states in the United States that were created directly from the consent of the governed (namely, "commonwealths" ) in contrast to "states" that came into existence as a vestige of a prior, more colonial English delineation of boundaries and common interests.

Being a "commonwealth" may also explain why Virginia cities are organizationally separate from counties reflecting in part the old English "shire" system. The common law of England before 1607 (the date of establishment of settlement at Jamestown) remains in effect in 2019 in Virginia unless supplanted by subsequent statutes or case law. ¹ Virginia is also commonly referred to as the "State of Virginia." ² Approximately 8.5 million people currently live in Virginia.

15.102 Sub-Units of Government in Virginia. All governmental powers reside in the state itself unless by Constitution or statute those powers have been delegated to sub-units of the state government. Virginia has delegated substantial governmental powers to sub-units of government, beginning when the Virginia General Assembly split up the eight original English shires encompassing Virginia into separately constituted counties. There are now ninety-five counties in Virginia.

A. Counties. Counties were created as geographical subdivisions of the state to carry out state authority by locally elected officials within defined political boundaries. Such delegated responsibilities included conducting elections, collecting taxes, investing revenue, assessment of the value of property, management of schools, law enforcement, prosecution of the accused, and the housing of prisoners. Initially, counties were agrarian communities

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offering limited governmental services. Counties in Virginia are variously referred to as "political subdivisions" and, more recently, lumped with cities and towns using the term "localities."

B. Cities. Cities are created from counties by the granting of a charter ³ by the General Assembly giving unique or special governmental powers to densely populated areas where the citizens desire more extensive governmental services not available in counties. Certain of these expanded governmental services more closely mimic private corporate activities and are referred to as "proprietary functions." Proprietary functions include such services as water and sewer utilities, natural gas, electric power, libraries, street lights, drainage, and street maintenance. The first charter was granted to Williamsburg in 1722 by the House of Burgesses. There are now thirty-eight cities in Virginia. Cities are also occasionally referred to in the Virginia Code as a municipality or municipal corporation. ⁴

Municipal and county charters are not affected by contradictory state law except where expressly provided by a statute. Va. Code § 15.2-1100 confers uniform powers to any city with a charter. Similarly, powers conferred on optional county forms are not affected by contrary provisions of law except when specifically provided otherwise. ⁵

Unique in the United...