7 Virginia Laws Still on the Books That Sound Made Up

Virginia hasn’t done a full rewrite of its legal code since 1950.

That’s a 76-year gap, and a lot of old language hasn’t gotten a second look in the meantime.

These are Virginia laws still sitting in the Code of Virginia today, verified straight from the state’s own text.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Laws and how they’re enforced are subject to change.

1. Smithfield Ham

Virginia doesn’t let just any smokehouse call its pork a Smithfield ham.

Under Code of Virginia § 3.2-5419, a “genuine Smithfield ham” has to be cured with dry salt and aged for at least six months, and every bit of that processing has to happen inside the town of Smithfield’s own corporate limits.

Smithfield sits along the James River in Isle of Wight County, a short drive from Hampton Roads, and the whole town’s food identity rides on that legal definition.

Try aging it a county over instead.

The label’s gone.

A companion section makes it illegal for anyone else to advertise or sell a ham under that name, the same kind of protection France gives Champagne.

Virginia’s own legal code has protected that name since at least the 1950 Code of Virginia, and the rule has outlasted many companies that tried to borrow it.

2. Insults You Can Sue Over

Insulting someone badly enough is still a lawsuit waiting to happen in Virginia.

Code of Virginia § 8.01-45 says any words that are insulting by their ordinary meaning, and that tend to violence, are legally actionable on their own.

You don’t need lost wages.

A damaged reputation doesn’t need proving, either.

The rule traces back to Virginia’s 1810 Anti-Dueling Act, when a sharp enough insult could end in pistols at dawn instead of a summons.

Virginia swapped the pistols for a courtroom, and the statute never got a repeal.

3. Supporting Your Broke Parents

Adult children in Virginia are legally expected to open their wallets for a struggling parent.

Code of Virginia § 20-88 makes it the legal duty of any adult with sufficient income, after covering their own household, to help support a mother or father who can’t support themselves.

The law dates to 1920.

It’s never been struck.

A judge can split the duty between multiple children based on what each child can afford.

Grown kids who assume their own household is the only one they owe anything to are working off an outdated assumption.

Why Virginia’s Parent-Support Law Rarely Reaches Court

Virginia’s parent-support law almost never lands in front of a judge on its own.

No state agency goes looking for violators.

The statute mostly surfaces when a nursing home or care facility sues an adult child directly to collect on a parent’s unpaid bill.

Break a court order tied to the law, and the penalty is a misdemeanor worth up to a $500 fine or 12 months in jail.

Virginia’s legislature passed a repeal of the whole rule in 2022, and the governor vetoed it, so the duty stayed exactly where it was.

4. Cursing Over a CB Radio

Swearing at someone over a citizens band (CB) radio can still land a driver in criminal court in Virginia.

Code of Virginia § 18.2-427 makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to use obscene, profane, or threatening language over a telephone or CB radio with intent to coerce, intimidate, or harass someone.

Intent is what matters.

Idle cursing at a dropped signal doesn’t trigger it, but aiming threats or filth at another person does.

Virginia wrote this rule into its code in 1950, decades before cell phones existed, and lawmakers have since stretched the same wording to cover texts and other wireless messages.

Almost nobody uses a CB radio anymore, but the law naming it word for word has never come off the books.

5. Breaking a Cave Icicle

Virginia’s caves get the same legal protection other states give a historic building.

Under the Cave Protection Act, it’s a Class 1 misdemeanor to break, mark, burn, or remove a stalactite, stalagmite, or other formation inside a cave without the owner’s permission.

Virginia’s Department of Conservation and Recreation oversees the rule through the state’s own Cave Board.

Snap a souvenir off the ceiling at one of Virginia’s show caves.

That’s a criminal charge.

The same law protects burial grounds and historic remains found underground, too.

Formations at sites like Luray Caverns can take centuries to grow a single inch, so Virginia treats a snapped stalactite the same as vandalizing a monument.

6. Smoke Machines on Cars

Cars rigged to blast smoke or fire at whoever’s behind them can trigger a felony charge in Virginia.

Code of Virginia § 46.2-1086 makes it a Class 6 felony to install, or help install, a device on a vehicle that’s built to emit smoke or flame and obstruct traffic.

Driving a rigged car counts.

A conviction carries a felony record on top of a six-month license suspension.

The one carve-out is a vehicle legitimately spraying herbicide or pesticide, so a farm truck stays legal while a smoke-bomb rig doesn’t.

7. Hunting Near a Church

Sunday hunting opened up across Virginia’s public land on July 1, 2022, but one piece of the old ban is still standing.

Under current Department of Wildlife Resources rules, a hunter still has to stay at least 200 yards from a house of worship, or its accessory buildings, when hunting on a Sunday.

Hunting deer or bear with dogs stays banned on Sundays entirely.

No exceptions there.

Everywhere else, a Sunday morning in the woods is finally fair game with landowner permission.

Get too close to a country chapel with a rifle, though, and Virginia still treats it as sacred ground.

Psst! How much do you know about Virginia’s legal history? Two of the claims below are true, and one is a lie.