Lawrence L. Koontz, Jr.

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Lawrence Larkins Koontz, Jr. (born January 25, 1940, Roanoke, Virginia) is a Virginia jurist currently completing his first 12-year term on the Supreme Court of Virginia. Prior to being made a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Koontz was an original member of the Virginia Court of Appeals, serving as its second Chief Judge for two four year terms following the untimely death of Chief Judge E. Ballard Baker a few months after the Court was created. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Justice Koontz served as a judge of the 23rd Judicial Circuit of Virginia and the Roanoke Juvenile Court. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he received a B.S. in Biology and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He received his law dregree from University of Richmond School of Law.

Among Justice Koontz's more controversial opinions was Arlington County v. White, in which the Court determined that a local government could not extend employee health benefits to no related persons living with the employee, including same-sex partners. Writing for the majority, Justice Koontz applied a the "Dillon Rule" that prohibits local governments in Virginia from going beyond the authority delegated to them by the state government. As expressed in a concurring opinion by Justice Cynthia D. Kinser, the majority declined to address whether the County's action was an attempted to recognize same-sex marriage, as was argued in a separate concurring opinion written by Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., who was joined by two other justices.

Justice Koontz also authored one of the two dissents in the Supreme Court of Virginia's opinion in Atkins v. Commonwealth. When the case was subsequently reversed by the United States Supreme Court, the majority opinion in that Court quoted from Justice Koontz's dissent, along with the dissent by Justice Hassell.

Opinion in Atkins w. Commonwealth including Justice Koontz's dissent (PDF format)

Opinion in Arlington County v. White (Microsoft Word format)