John Dillon, former chief justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and pre-eminent 19th century legal scholar, has been dead for more than 90 years.
On the other hand, his landmark doctrine on the primacy of state governments over their local counterparts is alive and well, to the dismay of some of Fairfax County’s elected leaders. They argue the Dillon Rule — also called Dillon’s Rule — should be scrapped.
Virginia courts have long upheld the legal concept to narrowly construe the powers of local governments, allowing a board of supervisors or city council almost no authority except that explicitly granted by the General Assembly.
“We’re a mother-may-I state in Virginia,” Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth said.
For years, the Dillon Rule has been blamed for a laundry list of local government woes, such as blocking attempts to raise new revenue, preventing counties from turning down development projects without adequate infrastructure to support them, or keeping new protections against sexual-orientation discrimination from being put in place.
“We would like the authority to toughen our ordinances on certain patterns of discrimination; the state has refused to let us do that,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly said.
The rule also ensures that real power stays in the hands of the GOP-controlled legislature, with which the primarily Democratic board is so frequently at odds.
By contrast, “home rule,” as is seen in Maryland, vests far more power in localities. The Virginia General Assembly rejected a 1969 proposal to add such provisions to its constitution.
Dillon Rule proponents say it preserves legal consistency across local borders and has allowed the commonwealth to hold down taxes uniformly across the state, attracting new business.
“When a business moves here, they understand that no matter where they locate in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the kinds of taxes they pay are going to be the same,” said Del. Clifford “Clay” Athey, R-Front Royal, who does favor loosening the Dillon Rule to give local governments more say in land use.
