Gov. Youngkin Vetoes Bill To Create Independent Police Auditor In Arlington

ARLINGTON, VA — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill Tuesday that would create a new independent policing auditor, hired by the Arlington County Board, who would oversee the county's new police oversight board.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), applies only to Arlington, where state law currently prevents the County Board from direct employment of any staff beyond the county manager, county attorney, clerk and auditor.

Youngkin, who campaigned against police reform efforts during his 2021 run for governor, said in a statement Tuesday that “the best way to ensure that any bad actors within law enforcement are held accountable is to stand up for law enforcement, not tear them down or subject them to politically-motivated inquiries.”

"The politically-appointed auditor could be given the full powers of Arlington’s law enforcement civilian oversight body to make binding disciplinary determinations, including termination and involuntary restitution," Youngkin said.

However, the Community Oversight Board created by the Arlington County Board and the independent auditor who would lead the board would not be permitted to make binding any disciplinary determinations, Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol told ARLnow.

The veto was Youngkin's first as governor.

The state Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority, voted 21-19 vote on Feb. 23 to approve Hope’s bill, HB 670. The bill had passed the GOP-controlled House with support from both Democrats and Republicans.

Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church) said in a tweet Tuesday that "the hyper partisan @GovernorVA is so anxious to own the libs he vetoed a perfectly innocuous local control bill to bring transparency and accountability to policing and couldn’t be bothered to proofread it before putting it out."

In the news release announcing the veto, Youngkin's office incorrectly referred to the county's elected body as the Arlington County "Board of Supervisors." The governor also referred to the bill as HB 670 in the news release, but then incorrectly referred to it as HB 690 in his veto statement.

Hope's bill stated that in a county manager type of government, like in Arlington, the elected board may appoint an independent policing auditor to support any law-enforcement civilian oversight body created by the board. The independent policing auditor would have all the powers of the law-enforcement civilian oversight body "to the extent such powers are delegated to the independent policing auditor by the oversight body."

In a statement accompanying his veto, Youngkin said "investing in a single politically-appointed individual the power of judge, jury, and executioner without any input from law-enforcement officers or delineated qualifications for such individual constitutes an undue burden for those who protect and serve the community."

Brad Haywood, chief public defender for Arlington and Falls Church, said Youngkin's veto of the bill is "as disturbing an indication of what to expect from Youngkin as anything."

"The point of the bill was to REDUCE political influence and conflicts of interest by ensuring the civilian oversight body & police dep’t aren’t directly managed by the same person)," Haywood said in a tweet Tuesday. "A politically neutral procedural fix, only affecting counties that WANT oversight & merely reducing the risk of conflicts. Youngkin somehow even made THAT a partisan issue. Unbelievable."

Arlington’s Community Oversight Board was established last summer to receive complaints of police misconduct. State legislation passed in 2021 allowed jurisdictions to establish police oversight boards. The county is currently selecting members from a list of more than 100 people who applied to sit on the board.