Title 15.2, Title 15.2. Counties, Cities and Towns

Any county may regulate the emission of smoke and the methods of firing and stoking furnaces and boilers and may charge such reasonable fees for the issuance of permits and the performing of inspections as the governing body may from time to time fix. However, counties shall not …

Any county may prevent trespassing by persons and animals and prevent animals from running at large upon the public highways, whether such highways are enclosed by a fence or not.

Any county may prohibit the sale or the offering for sale of any plants, shrubs or trees or any part or parts thereof upon any public highway or right-of-way of any public highway located within such county. However, nothing in this section shall apply to any business in which re…

The Counties of Franklin, Pulaski, and York may by ordinance impose reasonable regulations to provide for the comfort, safety and health of the general public and persons assembled, or traveling to assemble, for any outdoor occasion. Such regulations may cover the following: (i) …

Any county may, by ordinance, regulate the screening of motion pictures, classified by the motion picture industry as being suitable for display to adult audiences only, in drive-in theaters where such motion pictures are visible to the traveling public from a highway, street or …

Any county may by ordinance provide for the licensing, inspection and regulation of horse riding schools for the purpose of preventing any violation of § 3.2-6570 or any local ordinance of similar import. For the purposes of this section, "horse riding school" means any establish…

A. Any county may equip and maintain television transmission and relay facilities in areas which are so remote from regular transmission points of large television stations that television reception is impossible without special equipment and in which adequate, economical and pro…

The governing body of any county may establish and operate hospitals in such county.

A. The governing bodies of Bedford, Franklin, and Pittsylvania Counties may by ordinance regulate the land of their respective counties in and around Smith Mountain Lake below the 800-foot contour concerning the location, size, and length of wharves, piers, boathouses, docks, bul…

Caroline County may by ordinance provide that owners of property keep covers on water wells and may after reasonable notice cover uncovered water wells by its own agents or employees, in which event the cost or expense thereof shall be chargeable to and paid by the owners of such…

Chesterfield County may by ordinance provide that the county may use public funds to repair existing residential dwellings damaged by foundation failures caused by high clay content soil subject to moisture-related shrinking and swelling. Such ordinance may place conditions on th…

Whenever the governing body of any county determines that more efficient administration would be promoted thereby, it may by resolution establish one or more petty cash funds not exceeding $5,000 each for the payment of claims arising from commitments made pursuant to law. Any pe…

The governing body of any county may require monthly financial reports from any officer or office of the county or of any district thereof and may investigate bills and receipts of any county or district officer, and for these purposes may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and…

A. The governing body of any county having a chief administrative officer may provide for the centralized competitive purchasing of all supplies, equipment, materials and commodities for all departments, officers and employees of the county, and for the county school board and th…

Whenever the law requires the posting of a bond, with or without surety, as a condition precedent to the exercise of any right, a county, without giving such bond, may exercise such right, provided all other conditions precedent are complied with, and no action shall be delayed o…

A county may regulate the sale of property at auction; may regulate the conduct of and prescribe the number of pawnshops and dealers in secondhand goods, wares and merchandise; may regulate or prohibit peddling; may prevent fraud or deceit in the sale of property; may require wei…

A. Any county may establish by ordinance one or more economic revitalization zones for the purpose of providing incentives to private entities to purchase real property and interests in real property to assemble parcels suitable for economic development. Each county establishing …

The provisions of this article shall not apply to any county until the governing body employs a county purchasing agent or designates someone to perform such duties, as provided in § 15.2-1543.

As used in this article, "supplies" means any articles or things, including equipment, which are used by or furnished to any department, institution, office, board or other agency of county government. "Contractual services" means any telephone, telegraph, postal, electric light …

A. Except as otherwise provided in this article, any supplies or contractual services needed by one or more departments or agencies of the county government shall be directly purchased or contracted for by the county purchasing agent, in accordance with rules and regulations adop…

A. All purchases of, and contracts for, supplies and contractual services shall be in accordance with Chapter 43 (§ 2.2-4300 et seq.) of Title 2.2. B. All sales of any personal property which has become obsolete and unusable shall be based wherever feasible on competitive bids. I…

All contracts shall be approved as to form by the county attorney or other qualified attorney and a copy of each long-term contract shall be filed with the treasurer or other chief financial officer of the county.

Except in emergency, no order for delivery on a contract or open market order for supplies or contractual services for any county department or agency shall be awarded until the chief financial officer has certified that the unencumbered balance in the appropriation concerned, in…

If any department or agency of the county government purchases or contracts for any supplies or contractual services contrary to the provisions of this article or the rules and regulations made thereunder, such order or contract shall be void and the head of such department or ag…

Any violation of § 15.2-1238 or § 15.2-1239 shall be a misdemeanor and shall be punishable as provided by § 18.2-12.

When the chairman of any county governing body who should have signed the records of the proceedings of any meeting of the governing body has died, moved from the county, completed his term of office or for any other reason become incapacitated to perform the duties of his office…

The governing body of every county shall cause to be recorded, in well bound books or by a microphotographic process which complies with standards adopted pursuant to regulations issued under § 42.1-82 for microfilm, microfiche, or such other similar microphotographic process, co…

A. The governing body of every county shall receive and audit all claims against the county, except those required to be received and audited by the county school board, and shall, by resolution or recorded vote, approve and order warrants issued in settlement of those claims tha…

No county governing body shall order any warrant issued for any purpose other than the payment of a claim received, audited and approved as required by § 15.2-1243. No clerk, deputy clerk, chairman or acting chairman of any county governing body shall sign or countersign any warr…

A. No account shall be allowed by the governing body of the county unless made out in separate items with the nature of each item specifically stated. When no specific fees are allowed by law, the time actually and necessarily devoted to the performance of any service charged in …

When a claim of any person against a county is disallowed in whole or in part by the governing body, if such person is present, he may appeal from the decision of the governing body within 30 days from the date of the decision. If the claimant is not present, the clerk of the gov…

The determination of the governing body of any county disallowing a claim, in whole or in part, shall be a bar to any action in any court founded on such claim, unless (i) the decision of the governing body disallowing the claim is appealed; (ii) the governing body consents to th…

No action shall be maintained by any person against a county upon any claim or demand until such person has presented his claim to the governing body of the county, unless the governing body has entered into a binding arbitration agreement or there is a provision in a written con…

The clerk shall endorse upon every account on which any sum shall be audited and allowed by the governing body the amount so audited and allowed and the charges for which the same was allowed; every such endorsement, if found to be in order, shall be subscribed by the chairman or…

A. Any power, privilege or authority exercised or capable of exercise by any political subdivision of this Commonwealth may be exercised and enjoyed jointly with any other political subdivision of this Commonwealth having a similar power, privilege or authority except where an ex…

A locality may, by ordinance or resolution, authorize its chief administrative officer to arrange for provision of aid to other localities or receipt of aid from other localities in situations where a locality does not declare a local emergency, including approval by the chief ad…

A. Any county, city or town, or combination thereof, may enter voluntarily into an agreement with any other county, city or town, or combination thereof, whereby the locality may agree for any purpose otherwise permitted, including the provision on a multi-jurisdictional basis of…

Any state funds that were distributed to a locality, including a local school board, in support of a governmental program or function prior to a consolidation of such program or function or the governmental consolidation of the entities providing such programs or functions, shall…

The governing bodies of two or more of the political subdivisions of the Commonwealth may, in their discretion, and in addition to powers prescribed in § 15.2-940, form and maintain associations for the purpose of promoting, through investigation, discussion and cooperative effor…

A. The governing body of any locality which is a member, or hereafter becomes a member, of any organization or association including an organization or association having members outside of the Commonwealth which has as its principal objective one or more of the purposes set fort…

The governing body of any locality may from time to time require of any board, commission or authority, hereinafter referred to as recipient agency, to which it has power to appropriate public funds and has appropriated such funds in the past or has received a request for appropr…

It shall be the policy of the General Assembly to encourage Virginia's counties, cities and towns to exercise the options provided by law to work together for their mutual benefit and the benefit of the Commonwealth.

As used in this article, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context: "Joint activity" means a governmental function which is carried out by, performed on behalf of, or contracted for two or more localities within a region and includes present and future activitie…

A. The General Assembly may establish a fund to be used to encourage regional strategic planning and cooperation. Specifically, the incentive fund shall be used to encourage and reward regional strategic economic development planning and joint activities as described in § 15.2-13…

The Department of Housing and Community Development, in setting the criteria for eligibility for incentive payments under § 15.2-1308, shall require that: 1. A regional partnership shall exist and effectively function in the applicant region, and membership shall include as broad…

In determining the eligibility of the region, the Department of Housing and Community Development may assign weights for each joint activity up to the number in parentheses below: 1. Job Creation or Economic Development (10) 2. Regional Revenue Sharing or Growth Sharing Agreement…