Part 26

Judges are commissioned by the Governor of the State. Their salaries and allowances are prescribed by law and cannot be diminished during their term of office. Their term of office begins on the first day of February succeeding their election by the General Assembly. Whenever there is a judgeship vacancy, the successor is elected for the unexpired term. The General Assembly also has the authority to retire judges and to provide their compensation. The General Assembly has the power to pass laws giving duties to retired judges such as substitute judge work. The salaries of judges are paid out of the State treasury but the State is reimbursed for one-half of the salaries of each of the circuit judges by the counties and cities composing the circuit, based upon their population and of each of the judges of a city of the first class by the city in which each judge presides. The one exception is the judge of the Circuit Court of the city of Richmond whose entire salary is paid by the State. A city may increase the salary of its circuit or city judges if the city assumes the entire increase and guarantees that such salary will not be diminished during the entire term of office. A city which has less than ten thousand inhabitants pays the salary of its city judge.

Judges may be removed from office in Virginia for cause by a concurrent vote of both houses of the General Assembly. A majority of all the members elected to each house must concur in such vote, and the cause of removal must be entered on the journal of each house. The judge against whom the General Assembly is about to proceed for removal must have notice of same accompanied by a copy of the alleged causes at least twenty days before the actual voting takes place. Typically, no judge can practice law within or without the State of Virginia nor hold any other office of public trust while he is in office.

Writs (court orders) must be issued in the name of the "Commonwealth of Virginia" and must be certified by the clerks of the various courts. The Constitution requires that indictments (a formal charge of crime presented by a grand jury) conclude "against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth."

The General Assembly provides for the appointment or the election of justices of the peace and establishes their jurisdiction. Authority of justices of the peace includes civil suits which involve limited amounts. In addition, Virginia also has police justices, trial justices, civil justices, civil and police justices, juvenile and domestic relations courts and mayor's courts. Their jurisdiction is usually limited, however, and appeals from them are heard by city and circuit courts.

All cities and counties and many towns have local courts called Magistrate Courts or Justice of the Peace Courts. Their jurisdiction includes misdemeanors and civil cases involving small amounts of money.

The Commonwealth also has two Law and Chancery Courts, one located in Roanoke and one in Norfolk. Their jurisdiction includes the probating of wills and the settling of estates. There is a special Chancery Court located in Richmond which has complete charge of wills to be probated and the settling of estates in that part of "Richmond north of the south bank of the James River." There is also a special Law and Equity Court located in Richmond.

The Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, located in Norfolk, is a special state court which has jurisdiction over cases involving dependent, neglected and delinquent children and in cases involving crimes--except manslaughter--against a family member.

[Illustration: _Virginia_]

The State Attorney-General is elected by the qualified voters of the State at the same time and for the same term as the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the State (a four-year term of office). He must have the same qualifications as the Governor but he is eligible for re-election. His chief duty is to serve as the attorney-at-law for the State; he renders opinions concerning the interpretation and application of laws upon the request of the Governor or of various Department heads, he presents cases to the Supreme Court of Appeals if the State's interest is involved and he represents the State of Virginia before the Supreme Court of the United States. The numerous problems arising in the carrying out of these responsibilities make it desirable and necessary for him to have legal assistants who may aid him in furnishing aid to local Commonwealth attorneys. The State Attorney-General is subject to removal from office in the same manner as judges. His present salary is $17,000 annually.

_Local Governmental Units_

The State Constitution not only establishes state government organization, but it also includes rules concerning local governmental units which are found in Article VII. Local charters are granted by the General Assembly. The political level immediately below the state government level is the county. Virginia is divided into ninety-eight counties at the present time. The last original county to be created is Dickenson County, formed in 1880. The largest county in the state in area is Pittsylvania with 1,022 square miles and the smallest county in area is Arlington with 24 square miles. Fairfax County is currently the most populated county in Virginia, surpassed in population only by the city of Norfolk.

Legally, a county is a corporation. Its main functions, in general, are the preservation of order, the protection of life and property, the establishment of public schools, the administration of justice, the registration of legal documents, the maintenance of highways and bridges outside the cities and the care of the poor and the criminal.

Counties of Virginia are divided into magisterial districts, the number of districts varying from three to ten. Provision is made in the state constitution that additional districts may be made by law only if the new district contains at least 30 square miles. Each district has one supervisor elected by the qualified voters. Thus, the Board of Supervisors of the county consists of one representative elected from each magisterial district in the county with the exception of Arlington County where the Board of Supervisors is elected at-large from the county. Therefore, the number of members of each Board of Supervisors varies among the counties. A chairman for this group is selected by the members themselves. Their meetings are usually held once a month at the Court House located at the County Seat. The Board of Supervisors carries out various duties such as: (1) supervises county affairs, (2) establishes and levies county taxes, (3) prepares the county budget, (4) audits claims against the county, (5) erects and maintains county buildings, (6) acts as a legislative and executive body by issuing and carrying out ordinances on such subjects as sanitation, health and police, (7) approves saluary scales for county workers, (8) controls county property, (9) furnishes care for the mentally and physically handicapped, and (10) borrows money.

There are five county officials of importance who are elected to office by the qualified voters on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and take office on January 1 following their election. These officials are:

(1) Attorney for the Commonwealth--a lawyer who acts as a legal adviser to the Board of Supervisors and to the county officials and who acts as legal representative of the people of the county; he also acts as prosecutor for all civil and criminal cases in which the county is interested; he is elected by the qualified voters for a four-year term.

(2) County Clerk--an officer who serves as a clerk to the County Board of Supervisors and to the County Circuit Court; as the main county recording official, he records all types of county documents (such as deeds, wills, judgments, mortgages, births, divorces, deaths, elections, court trials and marriages); attends meetings of the Board of Supervisors and has custody of property records; he is elected by the qualified voters for an eight-year term.

(3) Commissioner of the Revenue--an official who assesses property values for taxation purposes, assesses State personal income taxes, prepares personal property tax books and land books and assesses and collects all professional and business licenses; he is elected by the qualified voters for a four-year term.

(4) County Treasurer--an officer who collects the county taxes assessed by the Commissioner of Revenue, collects the state taxes, keeps the county funds and disburses money upon order of the Board of Supervisors; he is elected by the qualified voters for a term of four years.

(5) Sheriff--an officer who is the chief executive officer of the county; he and his assistants, called deputies, form the county police force; the Sheriff serves warrants of arrests, summons witnesses and jurors whenever necessary, preserves peace in the county, has charge of prisoners, cooperates with the State Police and acts as a Bailiff at meetings of the Board of Supervisors and at Trial Justice and Circuit Court sessions; he is elected for a four-year term.

Other significant county positions include County School Board members, County Superintendent of Schools, County Health Board members, County Surveyor, Welfare Board members, Planning Commission and Highway Commission members, Game Wardens and Election Board members. A state official who exerts strong influence upon the county is the State Circuit Judge. Since he tries cases in various counties within his own circuit, he comes in contact with many county officials and has the authority to appoint certain county officials within his own circuit such as (1) a Trial Justice who tries the less important civil and criminal cases in the county and holds hearings of cases to be tried by the circuit judge and (2) the Coroner who makes investigations and reports concerning sudden, violent or suspicious deaths in the county. The Circuit Judge also appoints the School Trustee Electoral Board which in turn appoints the County School Board.

There are three types or forms of County Government in existence in Virginia: the County Executive Form, the County Manager Form and the County Board (often called the "Traditional") Form. Two counties, Albemarle and Fairfax, have adopted the County Executive Form and two counties, Arlington and Henrico, have adopted the County Manager Form. Arlington County was the first county in the United States to adopt the County Manager form of government by popular vote (1932). The major difference between the County Executive and the County Manager Forms of government is found in the fact that, in the former type, the Board of Supervisors makes all key appointments upon the recommendations of a county executive who is employed to act as the administrative head of the county whereas, in the latter form, the Board of Supervisors employs a manager for the county and gives him authority to name and appoint his own department heads. The remaining 94 counties are operated under a County Board: under this form, the Board of Supervisors exercises not only legislative but full executive authority as well.

The county form of government, therefore, acts not only as a local government unit but also as an administrative agent of the state.

Cities and towns make up the next political level of government organization in Virginia as described in Article VIII of the constitution. A city is defined in the constitution as an incorporated community which has within defined boundaries a population of five thousand or more; a town is an incorporated community which has within defined boundaries a population of less than five thousand. In determining such population, the last census of the United States or an enumeration made by authority of the General Assembly must be used as the basis. Any incorporated community which had a city charter when this section of the State Constitution was adopted in 1902, regardless of its numerical population at the time, was allowed to keep its city charter. The General Assembly has the authority to enact general laws for the organization and government of cities and towns in Virginia. In special instances, the Circuit Court may issue such charters. Whenever an area has a population of at least five thousand, it may apply, but is not required to apply, for city status. Unlike many of the other states in the United States, Virginia does not have any village type of government.

Cities having at least ten thousand persons are eligible to be classified as cities of the first class; cities having less than ten thousand persons are eligible to be classified as the second class. Cities in Virginia have generally followed a three-fold plan or pattern of development: first, an area is established, then incorporated as a town and finally elevated to city status as an independent municipality. During the colonial period, there were only two towns actually incorporated: Williamsburg and Norfolk. By 1800, only six additional towns were incorporated: Alexandria, Winchester, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Petersburg and York (Yorktown). Yorktown is the only town incorporated before 1800 which has not become a city.

A unique characteristic about cities in Virginia is the fact that an incorporated city is politically separate from the county in which it is geographically located. There are thirty-two independent cities: Alexandria, Bristol, Buena Vista, Charlottesville, Clifton Forge, Colonial Heights, Covington, Danville, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Galax, Hampton (formerly, a second class city; now combined with the town of Phoebus and Elizabeth City County into a first class city since 1952), Harrisonburg, Hopewell, Lynchburg, Martinsville, Newport News, Norfolk, Norton, Petersburg, Portsmouth, Radford, Richmond, Roanoke, South Boston, South Norfolk, Staunton, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Waynesboro, Williamsburg and Winchester. When Newport News and Warwick became the city of Newport News on July 1, 1958, this was the first city to be consolidated in the Commonwealth since Richmond and Manchester combined in 1910.

There are three types or forms of City Government in existence in Virginia: Mayor-Council form, Commission form and City Manager form. The city charter bears a similar relation to the city that the Virginia Constitution bears to the state. The citizens within the city area may decide for themselves the type of city government they prefer when they apply for their city charter.

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Although there are three forms of local government available, there are certain characteristics common to all three types:

(1) A bicameral City Council (unless authorized by the General Assembly to have only one branch) is elected by the qualified voters of the city on the second Tuesday in June. The term of office of the councilmen begins on the following September 1. The council acts as the legislative body by passing city or municipal laws called ordinances. Cities are usually divided into various sections called wards. Since representation from each ward is primarily based upon population of the ward, the city council has the power to change ward boundaries. Since 1933, after every ten-year period, the city council is required by the Virginia Constitution to re-apportion such representation accordingly. Usually, there is one councilman from each ward.

(2) The following officials are required by the Constitution to be elected to office by the qualified voters: City Court Clerk, City Commonwealth's Attorney, City Commissioner of Revenue, City Treasurer and City Sergeant (Sheriff). All these officials (with the exception of the City Court Clerk whose eight-year term of office begins at the same time as the city judges' term) are elected on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and their term of office begins on the following January 1. Under a constitutional amendment proposed in November 1960, certain elected officials of a city (or county) could serve as such officials in two or more cities (or counties, or city and counties) if a majority of the voters of the local units affected so decided; however, the amendment was defeated.

(3) Every city has a mayor who is the chief executive and who is elected by the people for a four-year term. Depending upon the form of city government adopted, the mayor may be essentially a figurehead or a key official. The chief duties of a mayor usually include the following:

a. enforcing ordinances, by-laws and orders,

b. ascertaining that duties of various city officials are carried out properly,

c. suspending city officials upon the authorization of the General Assembly for misconduct in office or for neglect of duty,

d. considering ordinances, resolutions, and other measures and approving or disapproving them,

e. presiding at city council meetings (unless a special provision already has provided for a council president) and voting only in case of a tie

f. appointing key officials with the approval of the city council (for example, the Chief of Police, the Fire Chief, the City Attorney) and members of certain boards (Planning, Health, Zoning Boards).

Every resolution or ordinance must be presented to the Mayor of a city after it has been passed by the City Council. The Mayor has three choices:

(1) He may approve the ordinance by signing it; it then becomes operative.

(2) He may disapprove the ordinance by vetoing it; he then returns the ordinance to the clerk of the council with his written objections. The council then enters the detailed objections in its journal and reconsiders the original resolution or ordinance in view of such objections. If, after due consideration, two-thirds of the membership of the council still wishes the original ordinance to pass, it is passed over the Mayor's veto.

(3) He may do nothing about the ordinance; after five days have passed, Sundays excepted, if the Mayor is still in office and the term of office of the members of the city council has not expired, it automatically is passed. If, however, during these five days, either the term of office of the Mayor or the term of office of the members of the city council ends, the ordinance is not passed but is considered "killed."

Like the Governor of the state, the Mayor can veto a particular item or more than one item in an appropriation ordinance or resolution without affecting the rest of the resolution or ordinance. Any ordinance or resolution which concerns the appropriation of money for an amount over one hundred dollars, the levying of taxes or the authorizing of the borrowing of money can be passed only by a recorded affirmative vote of a majority of all council members.

The oldest form of city government in Virginia is the Mayor-Council Form. Under this form, the Council and the Mayor are elected by the qualified voters. The Mayor, therefore, is the chief executive officer of the city and he either appoints solely, or with the consent of the city council in some instances, the city officers not constitutionally required to be elected. He also has the authority to supervise all city departments and to suspend any officer or employee for cause. Under this system, the council is the legislative body only.

Another form is the Commission form of local government. Of the three different types mentioned previously, this form is used in Virginia the least. According to this plan, the city council itself, elected at large, assumes the legislative and administrative or executive powers. A mayor is elected from council membership but he has very limited powers. He is chairman at the council meetings and may suggest recommendations as possible legislative measures as he sees fit. The city itself is divided into various administrative departments by the council and each department is assigned to a different council member who becomes the head executive or administrative official of that department. Thus, each council member acts as an administrator individually and as a legislator collectively. The city council according to this plan carries out the usual functions of the legislative body and of the executive department, including such functions as determining the powers of each department and the rules and regulations of each office holder and employee.

The City Manager form of government was first adopted in the United States by the city of Staunton in 1908. This is the most widely-used plan found in Virginia cities at the present time and in many other large cities throughout the United States. Under this plan, the Council members are elected at large by the voters. The Council is the legislative body which makes the local laws. The City Council selects the City Manager who may or may not be an inhabitant of the town, city or state involved. He not only acts as the chief adviser to the City Council but also becomes the chief executive in this plan. His term of office is at the discretion of the City Council members and he is responsible directly to them. Charles E. Ashburner was the first City Manager in the United States.

The City Council usually elects its own chairman from among its own membership; this chairman automatically becomes the Mayor of the city. He is the official titular head of the city and represents the city upon various public occasions. He presides at Council meetings, has regular Council powers and can vote but cannot veto a proposed law. In contrast, the City Manager has the power to appoint the chief officials of the various city government departments, the responsibility for enforcing city ordinances and resolutions, the obligation of attending City Council meetings and of making suggestions and recommendations to the Council, the duty of keeping the City Council informed of general and specific activities of the city including its financial status, the task of preparing and submitting a proposed budget to the City Council and the duty of carrying out miscellaneous functions assigned to him by the City Council.

These three forms--Mayor-Council, Commission and City Manager--exemplify the variety of local government organization available to cities and towns located in Virginia.

Towns in Virginia in order to be incorporated must have at least 300 inhabitants and must receive approval of the local circuit judge. Towns still remain part of the county after their incorporation. At present, there are approximately two hundred incorporated towns whose functions are carried out and services furnished by the County and the Town governments. Every town has a Council and a Mayor and in the large towns, usually a Town Manager. Three other town officials are a Treasurer, a Clerk (called a Secretary or Recorder) and a Town Attorney.

Residents of Virginia, consequently, are governed daily by either Town, City or County levels of government in addition to State and National levels.

_Education and Public Instruction_

Article IX concerns education. The Constitution specifically states that "The General Assembly shall establish and maintain an efficient system of public free schools throughout the State." Therefore, as in all states in United States, the management of the schools is basically the responsibility of the state. There is a State Board of Education consisting of seven members appointed for four-year terms by the Governor with the approval of the General Assembly. The Governor with the approval of the General Assembly also appoints an experienced educator to the chief educational position known as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. His term of office parallels that of the Governor who appoints him. The duties and powers of the State Board of Education are constitutionally described as follows:

(1) to divide the State into school divisions or districts; to certify to the local school boards within each division a list of persons who have reasonable academic and business qualifications for division superintendent of schools (the local school board has the authority to select from this list the individual whom they wish to hold the position of superintendent of their division for a four-year term),

(2) to manage and invest the school fund, according to legal regulations,

(3) to make rules and regulations for the management and conduct of the schools, upon the authority of the General Assembly,

(4) to select textbooks and educational appliances for school use with the General Assembly itself prescribing the time when textbooks are to be changed by the State Board of Education.