Locality’s Guide to Free Speech Regulation

This guide provides an overview on the power of localities to regulate speech, including an explanation of how the public forum doctrine operates and case examples to guide future regulation attempts. Download (PDF)

Locality’s Guide to Adopting a Budget and Setting Taxes

 A guide to the steps to adopt a budget for a city, town or county for local officials.  It includes the timelines that a locality must follow when going through the budget and tax rate process each year. Download (PDF)

Redistricting Virginia

With the collection of the 2010 census numbers finished, the General Assembly is turning its attention to redrawing Virginia’s legislative boundaries before the 2011 election cycle.  The legislature is tasked with a number of legal and political considerations that must be weighed as legislative boundaries are redrawn.  In an effort to alert local governments to these important concerns, this article discusses the redistricting process and the legal thicket that the General Assembly must navigate when redrawing boundaries. Download (PDF)

Special elections to fill vacancies: What does the new legislation mean for you?

In the 2010 session of the General Assembly, two bills were passed that altered the procedure for filling vacancies within a city or town council or county board of supervisors.  This paper summarizes what the new legislations means for local governments. Download (PDF)

Train Noise Abatement Guide

This memo describes the somewhat limited authority local governments have to regulate the sounding of train horns throughout the day, especially at night.  The memo shows that the power of local governments is regulated by federal law and regulation. Download (PDF)

Virginia’s Gun Laws and the United States Supreme Court

A description of the impact of the two recent US Supreme Court cases on the 2d Amendment on local governments and on Virginia law.  The memo also describes the gun laws in Virginia and discusses the likely impact of the court decisions on the state’s laws. Download (PDF)