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County attorney: Board lacks authority over Cullen Volunteer Fire Department absent ordinance
Summary
County Attorney Russell Slade told the board the county has not adopted ordinances to govern volunteer fire departments and therefore the Board of Supervisors has no authority to oversee the Cullen Volunteer Fire Department; the memo cited a statute and a court case as legal bases.
Charlotte County’s county attorney, Russell Slade, advised the Board of Supervisors that, under current law and absent a locally adopted ordinance, the board does not have authority to regulate the powers, duties or personnel policies of the Cullen Volunteer Fire Department.
The memo, distributed to the board during the April meeting, summarized a complaint the board received about a social-media post by the department’s chief and the question of which entity oversees the department. Slade cited the relevant Virginia statute that authorizes—but does not require—a locality to adopt ordinances governing volunteer fire departments, and he referenced the court case Williams v. Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, which the memo says held that a county board lacked authority to remove a fire department’s officers.
Based on that analysis, Slade concluded that the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors has not exercised the discretionary authority to adopt ordinances governing fire departments, and therefore it has no oversight power over operations or personnel of the Cullen Volunteer Fire Department.
The board opened the citizen comment period immediately after the memo and heard public remarks expressing concern about local governance and, separately, allegations and counterclaims tied to recent local controversies. The board did not take further action on the matter during the meeting; it recorded the county attorney's legal opinion in the meeting materials.
