Bill Text: VA HJR917 | 2019 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Sterling Edwards Rives III.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-22 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ917ER) [HJR917 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2019-HJR917-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Sterling Edwards Rives III will retire on February 28, 2019, as Hanover County Attorney, a position that he has held since September 1, 1987; and
WHEREAS, a native of Wakefield and a lifelong resident of the Commonwealth, Sterling Rives taught Latin, government, history, and economics at Huguenot Academy in Powhatan County, and Latin at Virginia Commonwealth University before receiving his law degree from the University of Richmond in 1983; and
WHEREAS, after law school, Sterling Rives joined the firm of Roeder, Durrette and Davenport in Fairfax, where his clients included the City of Fairfax and the Prince William-Manassas Regional Detention Center; and
WHEREAS, Sterling Rives originally accepted the position of Hanover County Attorney intending to return to private practice after a few years, but eventually found that he was unwilling to leave the variety, challenge, and sense of purpose he found in local government law practice in a growing locality like Hanover County; and
WHEREAS, Sterling Rives has been a member of the team of elected and appointed officials and employees in Hanover County government who have successfully developed, implemented, and defended a Comprehensive Land Use Plan designed to ensure orderly growth, preservation of rural areas, adequate public facilities, and stable tax rates; and
WHEREAS, Sterling Rives was appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court to serve on the faculty of the Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course required of all first year lawyers; he was a member and chair of the Virginia State Bar's Bench-Bar Relations Committee; he was a member of the Board of Directors and president of the Local Government Lawyers of Virginia; and he was a member and chair of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board; and
WHEREAS, Sterling Rives has earned numerous awards and accolades for his achievements, including the Finnegan Award for Distinguished Service from the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia; and
WHEREAS, as Hanover County prepares to celebrate the 300th Anniversary of its founding in 2020, it is notable that Sterling Rives has been the County Attorney for more than one tenth of Hanover County's history; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Sterling Edwards Rives III for his diligent public service as Hanover County Attorney on the occasion of his retirement; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Sterling Edwards Rives III as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his long career in service to the people of the Commonwealth and best wishes for a long and happy retirement.
