Delegation shies away from bill to raise eligibility bar for sheriff's offices

State Sens. John Bell, D-Broadlands, and Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, warned the supervisors that attempting to change the eligibility criteria for the Sheriff's Office would be a non-starter in the General Assembly, especially as the Virginia Sheriffs Association has taken a stand against it.  

Loudoun supervisors included a proposal in their legislative package that would raise the minimum bar for electing a sheriff in the county to an individual be at least 21 years old and have 10 years of military or law enforcement training. They were surprised to learn that a person can run for the Sheriff's Office in the commonwealth as long as that individual is 18 years of age, has a year of residency and not been declared mentally unsound. 

Board Chair Phyllis Randall, D-at large, said she was concerned about the morale of the Sheriff's deputies who have served for decades in their positions. To saddle them with an inexperienced 19-year old would be a travesty, she suggested. "They would walk out in droves," she added. Earlier in April, however, Randall decided not to pursue a board vote on plans to set up a county police department because of the expense and effort involved. 

However, Bell said that would be a "tough bar" to overcome because the Commonwealth's governor, who also is in charge of state police, only is required to be of 30 years of age, have proof of residency and of being a registered voter in the state for the past five years.

"While I completely hear what you are saying, it would be dangerous to go down this road," Bell said, with Favola adding that a study looking at the eligibility of sheriff's might be the better course to pursue. 

Deputy County Administrator Charles Yudd, who also oversees the county's legislative program said the law firm Troutman Sanders with whom they consulted had recommended that the county pursue a legislative study too. 

However, the state's delegation did back the county's proposal to stabilize year-over-year rents increases and requiring landlords to give a 90-day notice before increasing rent over a certain percentage. 

Boysko said she would take up this proposal, noting that she was already engaged with Del. Nadarius Clark, D-Portsmouth, on that very issue. 

Supervisor Juli Briskman, D-Algonkian, told the delegation that the board is not looking to leave landlords "holding the bag" for months on end. Boysko said the idea is to create some sort of a flexible progam that works for both renters and landlords. She also said she would push for legislative language to require George Mason University to study homeownership erosion and rental increases. The idea is to get at "predatory" issue, where corporations are buying single family homes and selling them back at ridiculously high prices, Boysko said. 

Briskman told the delegation to be on the lookout for any attempts by Gov. Youngkin's staff to back any legislation to reduce the zoning authority of local governments. She pointed to Youngkin's Nov. 18 "Make Virginia Home" plan that calls for setting deadlines for local governments to act on zoning and land use review applications and penalizing them if they fail to meet deadlines. The plan also requires an investigation of the Commonwealth's land use and zoning laws. 

Favola said she was aware of the governor's plan, adding that it was precipitated by builders' complaining to the governor about the time it takes to have land use applications reviewed.

Loudoun updated its comprehensive land use plan in 2019 and is now engaged in a section-by-section update of its zoning ordinance that would implement this plan.

"We don't want our governor messing with our zoning," Briskman said, adding "I think we are doing ok."