Watching a TV ad about Bristol Virginia and Bristol Tennessee. Street shown is divided by border between the states. How does that affect the legal situation of something in the middle, center of the street, or something that occurs on both sides of the street?

For a vehicle accident, one will have to cross the line into the other jurisdiction, which will then have the priority on it.

That doesn't, however, cover the idea if someone shoots across the street. Since the crime would affect the "recipient" of the one state, I'd guess that state would have priority. It is possible that Federal agencies would be involved due to the interstate nature of the crime.

IANAL.

Are you envisioning some type of fight that starts on one side of the street and then continues on the other side? In that scenario both states would have their own separate ability to charge.

If you are thinking of some hypothetical where a guy is carefully walking the exact boundary line while possessing something illegal, like a controlled substance then I would say become a law school professor and use that in class cause it's​ not going to happen in real life.

Re: sigsac's response, many states have statutes allowing​ for criminal charges if any element of the crime is committed in the state or if persons within the state are harmed.

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How does that affect the legal situation of something in the middle,

Growing up nearby (in the early 60's), the main concern to most was on one side of the street it was legal to have a VA package store, but it was illegal to carry it to the TN side.

Most states in that situation have agreements to cover such things. People have been running across state borders in the US for hundreds of years, now.

Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

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Originally posted by ibanda:
Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

Isn't it in Louisiana, also?

Kansas City is another one.

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Originally posted by 12131:

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Originally posted by ibanda:
Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

Isn't it in Louisiana, also?

Not even close. Maybe a bit closer to Louisiana than Oklahoma.

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Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
Kansas City is another one.

Yeah, but there's a river in the middle, not a street.

I visited Bristol back in the early 90's when I was looking for a place in eastern Tennessee to transfer to.

The folks I talked to up there said it was unique in the fact that you could live in Tn. (no state income tax) and shop in Va. (a lot lower sales tax)

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Originally posted by zoom6zoom:

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Originally posted by SIG4EVA:
Kansas City is another one.

Yeah, but there's a river in the middle, not a street.

Pretty sure they're also separate cites, though part of the same metro area.

There is a town on the Ohio-Indiana boarder, Union City with the state line running down about it's center.

What made it particularly odd was for many years the eastern half of Indiana (which is in the Eastern Time Zone) did not go on daylight savings time in the summer while Ohio did. So for about 7 months of the year, when you crossed the street, you were not only in a different state, the time was different too.

Mutual aid.

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Originally posted by Opus Dei:

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Originally posted by 12131:

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Originally posted by ibanda:
Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

Isn't it in Louisiana, also?

Not even close. Maybe a bit closer to Louisiana than Oklahoma.

With the name (Tex)(ark)(ana), it would be a logical assumption.

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Originally posted by 12131:

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Originally posted by Opus Dei:

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Originally posted by 12131:

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Originally posted by ibanda:
Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

Isn't it in Louisiana, also?

Not even close. Maybe a bit closer to Louisiana than Oklahoma.

With the name (Tex)(ark)(ana), it would be a logical assumption.

True; especially with the lyrics to "Cotton Fields". Looks like it's ~35 miles to Ida, LA.

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It was down in Louisiana
Just a mile from Texarkana
In them old cotton fields back home

The labor contract in Hells Canyon circa 1965-68 during the heavy construction phase of 'Hells Canyon Dam' had a peculiar additional issue to settle:

The Idaho/Oregon boundary went down the very center of the Snake River in that stretch of the canyon.

Oregon Local 501 had higher wages than Idaho Local 370. At times you had one man working on opposite ends of a board. The 501 contract at that time payed about $2.50/hr more than the 370 contract.

2 men, one board, one State Line, 2 different wages for the same job classification.

There's a casino/hotel at stateline Nevada on the north Tahoe shore that the building splits the state. There's a gold stripe and silver stripe of paint in the middle of the ballroom and pool indicating what state your in. The casino is obviously on the NV side. At south shore there's a streetlight and the casinos are literally 3 feet Inside the state line, to allow for the sidewalk.

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Originally posted by ibanda:
Texarkana is like this. Stateline Avenue runs right down the middle of town. About 30,000 people live on the Texas side and about 30,000 on the Arkansas side.

In the case of a serious car crash, which state do they bury the survivors?

They don't bury survivors. Just live primates.