Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General of Virginia

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2007 Official Opinions

Official opinions will be posted as they are issued, generally within 24 to 48 hours. Please check this page at regular intervals to determine whether additional opinions have been issued.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Official opinions represent the attorney general's analysis of current law based on his thorough research of existing statutes, the Virginia and United States constitutions, and relevant court decisions.  They are not "rulings" and do not create new law, nor do they change existing law.  Creating and amending laws are the responsibility of the General Assembly, not the attorney general. 

Official opinions are legal advice, not personal opinions, and do not reflect the attorney general's personal views about what the law should be.  Such advice is provided to ensure clients/the requester are in compliance with the law.  While the opinions may be given deference by the courts, they are not binding on the courts.

The official opinions issued by the attorney general are part of the duties of the office (see Code § 2.2-505). A person authorized by statute, such as the governor, a member of the General Assembly, a constitutional officer, or the head of a state agency, can ask the attorney general for an official opinion on the law. Members of the general public are not authorized to ask for opinions.

December

Opinion #

Requestor

Summary

07‑099 The Honorable Anna L. Fox 
Alleghany County Treasurer

Subsurface mineral lands constitute real estate, and treasurer may initiate judicial sale of such mineral lands charged with delinquent taxes. Procedure for judicial sale of subsurface mineral lands is not affected by separate ownership and payment of taxes for surface lands overlying minerals or where mineral owners are not Virginia residents.