Regarding the Dillon rule and the authorizations to take such and such actions in a Virginia county, what would be the…

Here's a report that maps the most efficient path through Virginia's Dillon Rule for any county action — using restorative justice as the frame throughout.

The core answer: start specific, search in layers, and verify the actor. The Dillon Rule doesn't care what a good idea sounds like — it only cares who got explicit permission. The five-step method in the report (precision → Title 15.2 → specialized titles → AG opinions → implied power test) is the shortest reliable route to a clear "authorized / not authorized / go to Richmond" verdict on any proposed action.

On the restorative justice map specifically:

• Authorized today: Victim-offender reconciliation through Crime Victim \& Witness Assistance Programs (§ 19.2-11.4), youth peer courts (§ 16.1-309.11), Community-Based Probation, pretrial services, specialty dockets, and DCJS-funded diversion programming — all already live in Virginia law and accessible to Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, and Fredericksburg without any new legislation.
• Not authorized: Independent county-created diversion courts, county ordinances decriminalizing offenses, mandatory restorative processes outside court authority, and new county taxes to fund restorative justice — those require a General Assembly trip.
• The underused lever: The Community Criminal Justice Board — which every jurisdiction with pretrial services is already required by law to seat — is a statutory platform sitting idle that can formally push the entire restorative justice agenda from inside the authorized structure.

The report covers the full audit checklist, the gray zones worth testing, and the 2026 legislative context (HB 489 on restorative justice confidentiality, which died in conference).[1]