matter in controversy, exclusive of costs and of interest accrued
since the judgment in the court below, is less in value or amount
than three hundred dollars, except in controversies concerning the
title to, or boundaries of land, the condemnation of property, the
probate of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal
representative, guardian, committee, or curator, or concerning a
mill, roadway, ferry, or landing, or the right of the State,
county, or municipal corporation, to levy tolls or taxes, or
involving the construction of any statute, ordinance or county
proceeding imposing taxes; and, except in cases of habeas corpus,
mandamus, and prohibition, the constitutionality of a law, or some
other matter not merely pecuniary. After the year nineteen hundred
and ten the General Assembly may change the jurisdiction of the
court in matters merely pecuniary. The assent of at least three of
the judges shall be required for the court to determine that any
law is, or is not, repugnant to the Constitution of this State or
of the United States; and if, in a case involving the
constitutionality of any such law, not more than two of the judges
sitting agree in opinion on the constitutional question involved,
and the case cannot be determined, without passing on such
question, no decision shall be rendered therein, but the case
shall be reheard by a full court; and in no case where the
jurisdiction of the court depends solely upon the fact that the
constitutionality of a law is involved, shall the court decide the
ease upon its merits, unless the contention of the appellant upon
the constitutional question be sustained. Whenever the requisite
majority of the judges sitting are unable to agree upon a
decision, the case shall be reheard by a full bench, and any
vacancy caused by any one or more of the judges being unable,
unwilling, or disqualified to sit, shall be temporarily filled in
a manner to be prescribed by law.
SEC. 89. The General Assembly may, from time to time, provide for
a Special Court of Appeals to try any cases on the docket of the
Supreme Court of Appeals in respect to which a majority of the
judges are so situated as to make it improper for them to sit; and
also to try any cases on said docket which cannot be disposed of
with convenient dispatch. The said special court shall be composed
of not less than three nor more than five of the judges of the
circuit courts and city courts of record in cities of the first
class, or of the judges of either of said courts, or of any of the
judges of said courts together with one or more of the judges of
the Supreme Court of Appeals.
SEC. 90. When a judgment or decree is reversed or affirmed by the
Supreme Court of Appeals the reasons therefor shall be stated in
writing and preserved with the record of the case.
SEC. 91. The judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be
chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General
Assembly. They shall, when chosen, have held a judicial station in
the United States, or shall have practiced law in this or some
other state for five years. At the first election under this
Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect the judges for
terms of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve years respectively; and
thereafter they shall be elected for terms of twelve years.
SEC. 92. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be
appointed by the court or by the judges in vacation. Their duties,
compensation, and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 93. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall hold its sessions at
two or more places in the State, to be fixed by law.
SEC. 94. The State shall be divided into twenty-four judicial
circuits, as follows:
The counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, and the city of
Portsmouth, shall constitute the first circuit.
The counties of Nansemond, Southampton, Isle of Wight, and the
city of Norfolk, shall constitute the second circuit.
The counties of Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Greenesville, and
Brunswick, shall constitute the third circuit.
The counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, and
Amelia, and the city of Petersburg, shall constitute the fourth
circuit.
The counties of Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox,
and Charlotte, shall constitute the fifth circuit.
The counties of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Campbell, and the
city of Lynchburg, shall constitute the sixth circuit.
The counties of Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, and
the city of Danville, shall constitute the seventh circuit.
The counties of Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and
Coochland, shall constitute the eighth circuit.
The counties of Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange,
and Louisa, shall constitute the ninth circuit.
The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond, shall constitute
the tenth circuit.
The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, and the city
of Newport News, shall constitute the eleventh circuit.
The counties of Richmond, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster,
and Essex, shall constitute the twelfth circuit.
The counties of Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William,
and Middlesex, shall constitute the thirteenth circuit.
The counties of New Kent, Charles City, York, Warwick, James City,
and the city of Williamsburg, shall constitute the fourteenth
circuit.
The counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and
Hanover, shall constitute the fifteenth circuit.
The counties of Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and
Alexandria, and the city of Alexandria, shall constitute the
sixteenth circuit.
The counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page,
shall constitute the seventeenth circuit.
The counties of Rockingham, Augusta, and Rockbridge, shall
constitute the eighteenth circuit.
The counties of Highland, Bath, Alleghany, Craig, and Botecourt,
shall constitute the nineteenth circuit.
The counties of Bedford, Roanoke, Montgomery, and Floyd, and the
city of Roanoke, shall constitute the twentieth circuit.
The counties of Pulaski, Carroll, Wythe, and Grayson, shall
constitute the twenty-first circuit.
The counties of Bland, Tazewell, Giles, and Buchanan, shall
constitute the twenty-second circuit.
The counties of Washington, Russell, and Smyth, shall constitute
the twenty-third circuit.
The counties of Scott, Lee, Wise, and Dickenson, shall constitute
the twenty-fourth circuit.
SEC. 95. After the first day of January, nineteen hundred and six,
as the public interest requires, the General Assembly may
rearrange the said circuits and increase or diminish the number
thereof. But no new circuit shall be created containing, by the
last United States census or other census provided by law, less
than forty thousand inhabitants, nor when the effect of creating
it will be to reduce the number of inhabitants in any existing
circuit below forty thousand according to such census.
SEC. 96. For each circuit a judge shall be chosen by the joint
vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He shall when
chosen, possess the same qualifications as judges of the Supreme
Court of Appeals, and during his continuance in office shall
reside in the circuit of which he is judge. At the first election
under this Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect, as
nearly as practicable, one fourth of the entire number of judges
for terms of two years, one fourth for four years, one fourth for
six years, and the remaining fourth for eight years, respectively,
and thereafter they shall be elected for terms of eight years.
SEC 97 The number of terms of the circuit courts to be held for
each county and city, shall be prescribed by law. But no separate
circuit court shall be held for any city of the second class,
until the city shall abolish its existing city court. The judge of
one circuit may be required or authorized to hold court in any
other circuit or city.
SEC 98 For the purposes of a judicial system, the cities of the
State shall be divided into two classes. All cities shall belong
to the first class which contain, as shown by the last United
States census or other census provided by law, ten thousand
inhabitants or more, and all cities shall belong to the second
class which contain, as thus shown, less than ten thousand
inhabitants. In each city of the first class, there shall be, in
addition to the circuit court, a corporation court. In any city
containing thirty thousand inhabitants or more, the General
Assembly may provide for such additional courts as the public
interest may require, and in every such city the city courts, as
they now exist, shall continue until otherwise provided by law. In
every city of the second class, the corporation or hustings court
existing, at the time this Constitution goes into effect, shall
continue hereafter under the name of the corporation court of such
city, but it may be abolished by a vote of a majority of the
qualified electors of such city, at an election held for the
purpose, and whenever the office of judge of a corporation or
hustings court of a city of the second class, whose salary is less
than eight hundred dollars, shall become and remain vacant for
ninety days consecutively, such court shall thereby cease to
exist. In case of the abolition of the corporation or hustings
court of any city of the second class, such city shall thereupon
come in every respect within the jurisdiction of the circuit court
of the county wherein it is situated, until otherwise provided by
law, and the records of such corporation or hustings court shall
thereupon become a part of the records of such circuit court, and
be transferred thereto, and remain therein until otherwise
provided by law, and during the existence of the corporation or
hustings court, the circuit court of the county in which such city
is situated, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with said
corporation or hustings court in all actions at law and suits in
equity.
SEC 99 For each city court of record a judge shall be chosen by
the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He
shall, when chosen, possess the same qualifications as judges of
the Supreme Court of Appeals, and during his continuance in office
shall reside within the jurisdiction of the court over which he
presides, but the judge of the corporation court of any
corporation having a city charter, and less than five thousand
inhabitants, may reside outside its corporate limits; and the same
person may be judge of such corporation court and judge of the
corporation court of some other city having less than ten thousand
inhabitants. At the first election of said judges under this
Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect, as nearly as
practicable, one-fourth of the entire number for terms of two
years, one-fourth for four years, one-fourth for six years, and
the remaining fourth for eight years; and thereafter they shall be
elected for terms of eight years. The judges of city courts in
cities of the first class may be required or authorized to hold
the circuit courts of any county and the circuit courts of any
city.
SEC. 100. The General Assembly shall have power to establish such
court or courts of land registration as it may deem proper for the
administration of any law it may adopt for the purpose of the
settlement, registration, transfer, or assurance of titles to land
in the State, or any part thereof.
SEC. 101. The General Assembly shall have power to confer upon the
clerks of the several circuit courts jurisdiction, to be exercised
in the manner and under the regulations to be prescribed by law,
in the matter of the admission of wills to probate, and of the
appointment and qualification of guardians, personal
representatives, curators, appraisers, and committees of the
estates of persons who have been adjudged insane or convicted of
felony, and in the matter of the substitution of trustees.
SEC. 102. All the judges shall be commissioned by the Governor.
They shall receive such salaries and allowances as may be
determined by law within the limitations fixed by this
Constitution, the amount of which shall not be increased or
diminished during their terms of office. Their terms of office
shall commence on the first day of February next following their
election, and whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of judge,
his successor shall be elected for the unexpired term.
SEC. 103. The salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court of
Appeals shall be not less than four thousand dollars per annum,
and shall be paid by the State.
The salary of the judge of each circuit court shall be not less
than two thousand dollars per annum, one-half of which shall be
paid by the State, the other half by the counties and cities
composing the circuit, according to their respective population;
except that of the salary of the judge of the circuit court of the
city of Richmond, the State shall pay the proportion which would
otherwise fall to the city of Richmond. The salary of a judge of a
city court in a city of the first class shall be not less than two
thousand dollars per annum, one-half of which shall be paid by the
State, the other half by the city. The whole of the aforesaid
salaries of said judges shall be paid out of the state treasury,
the State to be reimbursed by the respective counties and cities.
Any city may, by an ordinance, increase the salaries of its city
or circuit judges, or any one or more of them as it may deem
proper, and the increase shall be paid wholly by the city, but
shall not be enlarged or diminished during the term of office of
the judge. Each city containing less than ten thousand inhabitants
shall pay the salary of the judge of its corporation or hustings
court.
SEC. 104. Judges may be removed from office for cause, by a
concurrent vote of both houses of the General Assembly; but a
majority of all the members elected to each house must concur in
such vote, and the cause of removal shall be entered on the
journal of each house. The judge against whom the General Assembly
may be about to proceed shall have notice thereof, accompanied by
a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at least twenty days
before the day on which either house of the General Assembly shall
act thereon.
SEC. 105. No judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals, of the circuit
court, or of any city court of record shall practice law, within
or without this State, nor shall he hold any other office of
public-trust during his continuance in office; except that the
judge of a corporation or hustings court in a city of the second
class, may hold the office of commissioner in chancery of the
circuit court for the county in which the city is located.
SEC. 106. Writs shall run in the name of the "Commonwealth of
Virginia," and be attested by the clerks of the several courts.
Indictments shall conclude "against the peace and dignity of the
Commonwealth."
SEC. 107. An Attorney-General shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the State at the same time and for the same term as the
Governor; and the fact of his election shall be ascertained in the
same manner. He shall be commissioned by the Governor, perform
such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by
law, and shall be removable in the manner prescribed for the
removal of judges.
SEC 108. The General Assembly shall provide for the appointment or
election and for the jurisdiction of such justices of the peace as
the public interest may require.
SEC. 109. The General Assembly shall provide by whom, and in what
manner, applications for bail shall be heard and determined.
ARTICLE VII.
ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES.
SEC. 110. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each
county, one county treasurer,--who shall not be elected or serve
for more than two consecutive terms, nor act as deputy of his
immediate successor; one sheriff, one attorney for the
Commonwealth, and one county clerk, who shall be the clerk of the
circuit court. There shall be elected or appointed, for four
years, as the General Assembly may provide commissioners of the
revenue, for each county, the number, duties and compensation of
whom shall be prescribed by law; but should such commissioners of
the revenue be chosen by election by the people then they shall be
ineligibile for re-election to the office for the next succeeding
term.
There shall be appointed for each county, in such manner as may be
provided by law, one superintendent of the poor, and one county
surveyor.
SEC. 111. The magisterial districts shall, until changed by law,
remain as now constituted: provided, that hereafter no additional
districts shall be made containing less than thirty square miles.
In each district there shall be elected by the qualified voters
thereof, one supervisor. The supervisors of the districts shall
constitute the board of supervisors of the county, which shall
meet at stated periods and at other times as often as may be
necessary, lay the county and district levies, pass upon all
claims against the county, subject to such appeal as may be
provided by law, and perform such duties as may be required by
law.
SEC. 112. All regular elections for county and district officers
shall be held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and
all of said officers shall enter upon the duties of their offices
on the first day of January next succeeding their election, and
shall hold their respective offices for the term of four years,
except that the county clerk shall hold office for eight years;
provided that the term of the clerks first elected under this
Constitution shall begin on the first of February, nineteen
hundred and four, and end on the first of January, nineteen
hundred and twelve.
SEC. 113. No person shall at the same time hold more than one of
the offices mentioned in this article. Any officer required by law
to give bond may be required to give additional security thereon,
or to execute a new bond, and in default of so doing his office
shall be declared vacant.
SEC. 114, Counties shall not be made responsible for the acts of
the sheriffs.
SEC. 115. The General Assembly shall provide for the examination
of the books, accounts and settlements of county and city officers
who are charged with the collection and disbursement of public
funds.
ARTICLE VIII.
ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF CITIES AND TOWNS.
SEC. 116. As used in this article the words "incorporated
communities" shall be construed to relate only to cities and
towns. All incorporated communities, having within defined
boundaries a population of five thousand or more, shall be known
as cities; and all incorporated communities having within defined
boundaries a population of less than five thousand, shall be known
as towns. In determining the population of such cities and towns
the General Assembly shall be governed by the last United States
census, or such other enumeration as may be made by authority of
the General Assembly; but nothing in this section shall be
construed to repeal the charter of any incorporated community of
less than five thousand inhabitants having a city charter at the
time of the adoption of this Constitution, or to prevent the
abolition by such incorporated communities of the corporation or
hustings court thereof.
SEC. 117. General laws for the organization and government of
cities and towns shall be enacted by the General Assembly, and no
special act shall be passed in relation thereto, except in the
manner provided in Article Four of this Constitution, and then
only by a recorded vote of two-thirds of the members elected to
each house. But each of the cities and towns of the State having
at the time of the adoption of this Constitution a municipal
charter may retain the same, except so far as it shall be repealed
or amended by the General Assembly: provided, that every such
charter is hereby amended so as to conform to all the provisions,
restrictions, limitations and powers set forth in this article, or
otherwise provided in this Constitution.
SEC. 118. In each city which has a court in whose office deeds are
admitted to record, there shall be elected for a term of eight
years by the qualified voters of such city a clerk of said court,
who shall perform such other duties as may be required by law.
There shall be elected in like manner and for a like term all such
additional clerks of courts for cities as the General Assembly may
prescribe, or as are now authorized by law, so long as such courts
shall continue in existence. But in no city of less than thirty
thousand inhabitants shall there be more than one clerk of the
court, who shall be clerk of all the courts of record in such
city.
SEC. 119. In every city, so long as it has a corporation court, or
a separate circuit court, there shall be elected for a term of
four years by the qualified voters of such city, one attorney for
the Commonwealth, who shall also, in those cities having a
separate circuit court, be the attorney for the Commonwealth, for
such circuit court.
In every city there shall be elected, or appointed, for a term of
four years, in a manner to be provided by law, one commissioner of
revenue, whose duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law;
but should he be elected by the people, he shall be ineligible for
reelection to the office for the next succeeding term.
SEC. 120. In every city there shall be elected by the qualified
voters thereof one city treasurer, for a term of four years, but
he shall not be eligible for more than two consecutive terms, nor
act as deputy for his immediate successor; one city sergeant, for
a term of four years, whose duties shall be prescribed by law;
and, a mayor, for a term of four years, who shall be the chief
executive officer of such city. All city and town officers, whose
election or appointment is not provided for by this Constitution,
shall be elected by the electors of such cities and towns, or of
some division thereof, or appointed by such authorities thereof as
the General Assembly shall designate.
The mayor shall see that the duties of the various city officers,
members of the police and fire departments, whether elected or
appointed, in and for such city, are faithfully performed. He
shall have power to investigate their acts, have access to all
books and documents in their offices, and may examine them and
their subordinates on oath. The evidence given by persons so
examined shall not be used against them in any criminal
proceedings. He shall also have power to suspend such officers and
the members of the police and fire departments, and to remove such
officers, and also such members of said departments when
authorized by the General Assembly, for misconduct in office or
neglect of duty, to be specified in the order of suspension or
removal; but no such removal shall be made without reasonable
notice to the officer complained of, and an opportunity afforded
him to be heard in person, or by counsel, and to present testimony
in his defense. From such order of suspension or removal, the city
officer so suspended or removed shall have an appeal of right to
the corporation court, or, if there be no such court, to the
circuit court of such city, in which court the case shall be heard
de novo by the judge thereof, whose decision shall be final. He
shall have all other powers and duties which may be conferred and
imposed upon him by general laws.