Landes requests subcommittee to strike courthouse bill

Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, has requested that Subcommittee #2 of the House Committee on Counties, Cities, and Towns, strike House Bill 2192.

House Bill 2192 provides that in the case of a county courthouse located in a city, the relocation or expansion of the courthouse to any other location within such city is not such a removal as to require authorization by the electorate. The Code of Virginia does not allow the courts to be expanded to adjacent or nearby downtown properties and House Bill 2192 sought to remedy that with a code change. Subcommittee #2 of the House Committee on Counties, Cities, and Towns unanimously recommended to the full committee to strike the bill.

“Currently, the Code of Virginia does not allow the courts to be expanded to non-adjacent, nearby downtown property to improve or expand the county courts and my bill aimed to clarify that. After we were unable to craft language to accomplish the limited flexibility the county and city need, I requested that the Chairman strike the bill,” said Landes. “My intention was to keep courts downtown, allowing them to expand to non-adjacent nearby downtown property. Ultimately, we were unable to achieve language that would accomplish a downtown expansion for the courts, so I requested the bill be withdrawn, as I committed to do following the confusion resulting from the bill’s introduction. Additionally, in consultation with the local delegation I plan to work to see if we can come up with language that will accomplish the goal as I have set out and possibly introduce legislation during the 2018 session if needed.”

Landes represents the 25th House District, which includes parts of Albemarle, Augusta, and Rockingham Counties. Landes is currently serving his eleventh term in the Virginia House of Delegates. Visit SteveLandes.com for additional information.