Subcommittee backs bill allowing local/state officers to enforce traffic on George Washington Parkway
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Summary
HB77 would authorize Virginia state or local officers to enforce traffic laws on the George Washington Parkway to address speeding and a perceived federal enforcement gap; the subcommittee, after a technical amendment, reported the bill 7–0.
Delegate Krizak introduced House Bill 77, which seeks to authorize state and local law enforcement to enforce traffic laws on the federally created George Washington Parkway. Krizak said the parkway, an eight-mile federal roadway in his district, has become a commuter route with speeding and fatalities and currently falls primarily under U.S. Park Police jurisdiction, which he described as creating an enforcement gap.
The sponsor said the amended bill — which included a technical line amendment requested by the Supreme Court of Virginia — provides a mechanism for state and local officers to work alongside federal police and for violations to be brought in the appropriate local general district court rather than federal court.
Committee members asked how jurisdiction and prosecution would work; Krizak pointed to the bill language specifying that violations brought by state officers would be handled in the general district court where the violation occurred. The substitute passed on a voice vote, and the subcommittee reported the measure 7–0 to the full Transportation Committee.
The transcript does not record federal agency reactions or written intergovernmental agreements; a sponsor comment said a Senate cognate had passed the Senate floor the same day.
