Mathews supervisors are seeking help from Gov. Abigail Spanberger and the Virginia General Assembly ahead of what chairman Tom Bowen sees as a significant problem for Mathews County in the upcoming November general election.
With the passing of Commonwealth’s Attorney Marie Walls last month, Bowen is concerned that there is no one who resides in the county who would meet the qualifications to run for that office.

Bowen, who served as Commonwealth’s Attorney himself for a dozen years before retiring as a practicing attorney at the end of 2023, said that he knows of only two lawyers who reside in the county, and neither one, he believes, is interested in running for that office.

State code requires that those seeking the office be a licensed attorney and reside within the county where they serve. At present, judges have appointed an assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for York County (who resides in Gloucester) to fill the position on an interim basis following the Feb. 10 death of Walls.

After reaching out to other board members to get a consensus, as well as talking with the county sheriff, Bowen approached the county’s legislators in the General Assembly—Sen. Ryan McDougle (R-Mechanicville) and Del. M. Keith Hodges (R-Urbanna)—about introducing special legislation that would allow Mathews to change the residency qualifications to allow candidates from the entire 9th Judicial Circuit (which includes Gloucester, Middlesex, York/Poquoson, James City County/Williamsburg, Charles City, King William, King and Queen and New Kent, as well as Mathews) in order to draw from a larger pool of possible candidates.

During last Thursday afternoon’s special board meeting, Bowen said his biggest fear is if the legislation doesn’t change, Mathews would become a “magnet” for an inexperienced attorney, perhaps one just out of law school, to come to Mathews to take the position merely to be guaranteed a job that pays $150,000 to $170,000 with good benefits; someone who would have no experience as a prosecutor.

“To us, as citizens, that’s a terrible situation,” he said. “We have to have experienced prosecutors. And if we don’t, then we’ll all suffer.”

Both lawmakers worked on this issue for a while, Bowen said, but indicated to Bowen that they wouldn’t be able to get this legislation introduced in the current session. The General Assembly’s “crossover day”—the date when bills pass from one chamber to the other—was Feb. 17.

At this point, Bowen said, the only option is to go to Gov. Spanberger’s office “It’s my understanding that the governor can introduce legislation any time during the General Assembly,” he said.

The board unanimously approved authorizing Bowen to contact the governor’s office to make this request.