Andrew R. McRoberts *
With this article, for the first time, the University of Richmond Law Review includes a survey of Virginia local government law in its esteemed Annual Survey of Virginia Law, now celebrating its twenty-sixth anniversary of publication. This article is intended to be an ?annual? survey and accordingly discusses decisions by the Supreme Court of Virginia from June 2010 through June 2011 and bills passed by the 2011 Virginia General Assembly, which affect local government law. Not every Supreme Court of Virginia case involving local government is discussed. Some cases which have local governments or their officials as parties do not involve ?Virginia local government law? in its purest sense but rather real property, contracts, employment, civil procedure, or some other area of the law in which the governmental nature of the party is incidental or at best secondary. Those cases are omitted. Instead, this article includes cases in which the underlying substance of the law dealt with topics essential to the operation of government—e.g., taxation, legislative immunity, adoption of ordinances, and zoning.
*Sands Anderson, P.C., Richmond, Virginia; J.D., 1990, University of Richmond School of Law; B.A., 1987, College of William & Mary. The author gratefully acknowledges the significant research and writing assistance of Ian Lambeets, J.D. Candidate, 2012, University of Richmond School of Law. The author would also like to thank the editors and staff of the University of Richmond Law Review for the honor of writing an annual survey of Virginia local government law.