County of Bedford v. City of Bedford

This appeal raises the issue whether a challenge to the initiation of an annexation suit must be resolved by the trial court before the Commission on Local Government (the Commission) reviews the merits of the annexation request. We conclude that where, as here, the challenge addresses the jurisdiction of the court, the issue must be resolved prior to the Commission’s proceedings.

*332Since the passage of Code § 15.1-1032.2 in 1987, cities and counties have been barred from instituting involuntary annexation proceedings.1 On January 8, 1990, Carriage Hill of Virginia, a corporation owning land in…