Chap. 462.—-An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 2546 and 2550 of the
Code of Virginia. [H B 414]

Approved March 27, 1922.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions twenty-five hundred and forty-six and twenty-five hundred and
fifty of the Code of Virginia, be amended and re-enacted so as to
read as follows:

Sec. 2546. Official receipts for fines —(a) Every officer collecting
a fine, fine and costs, or costs where no fine is imposed, shall give an
official receipt therefor to the person making the payment, and the
clerk of the court shall use the official receipt in receipting to a jus-
tice for payments made to the clerk; and when the fine, fine and
costs, or costs are collected by execution the clerk shall receipt to
the officer making payment to him upon the official receipt.

(b) The auditor of public accounts shall prepare forms of official
receipt for fines and distribute them to the clerks of the circuit
courts of the counties and cities having no corporation or hustings
court, also to the clerks of corporation or hustings courts of the cities,
for their use and for distribution to the justices of their respective
counties and cities.

The forms shall be in books of such size as may be convenient
and each book and form shall be numbered and properly authenti-
cated by the auditor of public accounts. Each receipt form shal
bear the date of issue, name of person to whom receipt is given
name of person making payment, and amount paid, to be writter
by the officer to whom the payment 1s made, and each receipt form
shall have a stub bearing the same number as receipt, on which shall
be entered, by the officer issuing the receipt, the date the detached
receipt is given, the name of the person to whom the detached receipt
is given, the name of the person making payment, and amount for
which given; delivery of receipt is to be attested on the stub by
signature of person to whom the receipt is given, and signature of
any such person who is unable to write shall be witnessed by some
person not an officer.

The receipt forms shall be accompanied by instructions from the
auditor of public accounts for their use, and be so prepared that they
may be detached from the book so as to indicate exact amount repre-
sented by the receipt and receipt in any other form shall not be
valid against the Commonwealth.

(c) It shall be the duty of the clerk on the fifteenth of March
and on the fifteenth of September, but if either of those dates
fall upon Sunday or a legal holiday, then on the date immediately
following, to make up a statement which will show each person
reported to him by each justice during the preceding six months,
ending respectively, February twenty-eighth and August thirty-first,
which report shall also show amount of fine, fine and costs, or costs
where no fine is imposed, imposed against each person, date imposed,
amount collected and date of collection, also offense; also the clerk
shall include in that statement statement showing each person making
payment of a fine, fine and costs, or costs where no fine is imposed,
to him, amount paid and date of payment during same period, the
correctness of which statement shall be examined into by the attor-
ney for the Commonwealth, who shall certify to the correctness
thereof, if the same be found to be correct, and if not found to be
correct it shall be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth to
cause the clerk to correct it wherein it is incorrect, and it ‘shall then
be the duty of the attorney for the Commonwealth to certify to the
correctness of the statement, and it shall further be the dnty of the
attorney for the Commonwealth at the term of court next ensuing
to present the statement to the court and the court shall order the
same to be spread upon the records of the court and copy thereof
certified to the auditor of public accounts.

(d) Any clerk or justice failing, without good cause to comply
with the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding twenty dollars, one-half
of which shall go to the informer, if there be an informer, recoverable
by motion of the Commonwealth’s attorney before the circuit court
of a county, or circuit court of a city having no corporation or hust-
ings court, or before the corporation or hustings court of a city,
wherein such failure occurred, or wherein such delinquent officer
resides. If any officer misuse or misappropriate a fine collected by
him, he shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be pun-
ished as for the embezzlement of public funds, and the failure to
produce or account for any receipt form received by him shall be
prima facie evidence of his embezzlement of the amount represented
thereby.

Sec. 2550. Justice to certify fines to clerk.—It shall be the duty
of every justice in a county or town between the first and fifth day
of each month to file with the clerk of the county, and the duty of
every justice in a city to file with the clerk of the corporation or
hustings court, and if the city have no such court, then with the
clerk of the circuit court of the city, a report for the next preceding
month, in which shall be shown the amount of every fine imposed by
him, together with the costs, or the costs where no fine is imposed,
the name of each person tried, for what offense and date of trial;
also 1f the fine and costs, or any part thereof, has been paid, date of
payment and amount of payment, and the justice shall at the time
of making the report pay to the clerk the fines and costs shown by
the report to be due for which the clerk shall issue a receipt on the
official form. When he acquits the accused he shall certify the costs of
the trial and to whom due; and if he rendered judgment against the
prosecutor for costs, he shall so state. Should any justice fail to
make report and payment at the time herein provided the clerk shall
immediately by written notice, to be served by the sheriff of the
county, or by the sergeant of the city, as the case may be, notify
the justice that unless the report and payment is made within five days
from date of service of the notice he will bring to the attention of
the judge of the court in vacation, or to the court if in session or
about to convene, his failure to comply with the law, and it shall
be the duty of the judge in vacation or in term time to issue a rule
against said justice to appear ‘on a date fixed to show cause why he
should not be removed from office.

The reports required by this section shall not be in lieu of the
report which the clerk is required by the provisions of section
twenty-five hundred and fifty-one of the Code of Virginia to make to
the court, nor in lieu of the report which the clerk is required to
make to the auditor of public accounts under provisions of section
twenty-five hundred and sixty-three of the Code of Virginia, but
shall be in addition to the reports required by those sections.

2. This act shall be in force on and after September first, nine-
teen hundred and twenty-two.