News Release

The Hon. Robert S. O’Neal, Chief Administrative Law Judge at Virginia ABC

RICHMOND – A Goochland man has been elected to the Board of Governors of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary (NAALJ). The Honorable Robert S. O’Neal, a resident of Maidens, will serve a 2-year term.

O’Neal serves as the chief administrative law judge at the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a position he has held since 2001. His current job involves responsibility for overseeing administrative hearings for all administrative infractions and violations committed by ABC licensees, processing applications for ABC licenses opposed by citizens or government entities, and providing a neutral forum for resolution of franchise disputes between manufactures and distributors of alcohol products in Virginia. He also oversees the appeals processes and provision of legal support services to the Virginia ABC Board.

NAALJ is the largest professional organization devoted exclusively to administrative adjudication within the executive branch of government. Its voting members exercise a broad subject matter jurisdiction and include state, federal and local administrative law judges, administrative judges, hearing officers, referees, trial examiners, agency chairs, commissioners and appellate authorities. Associate members include law professors and attorneys involved in administrative law.

The Maidens resident also serves as a charter mentor for administrative law judges throughout the United States and Canada by providing training, coaching and management advice to state, local, federal and tribal administrative law judges and hearing officers. He is president of the Virginia Association of Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers (VAALJHO).

A graduate of the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada/Reno, O’Neal is currently pursuing additional certifications there in mediation and dispute resolutions skills. He holds a Master’s Degree in administration of justice from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in criminal justice from Western Carolina University, and a certificate in regulatory law from the Clearinghouse on Law Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) from the University of Missouri School of Law.

O’Neal has 29 years of progressively responsible government service experience in state, local and county government agencies. Before coming to ABC, he served in various positions including Assistant Director of Investigations, Senior Policy Analyst and Court Services Program Manager for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles; Drug Enforcement Coordinator for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services; and Investigations Administrator for the Virginia Department of Health Professions. He began his government career as a local, county and campus police officer in the early 1980s.

An avid outdoorsman, O’Neal spends his free time traveling throughout the United States and the Caribbean with his wife, Tess, in search of a perfect fishing spot.