CHAP. 410.—An ACT providing the form and mode of procedure, and furnishing
a system of procedure for the condemnation of lands and buildings and other
improvements thereon, or of any estate or interest therein, for use as a
public park or for public park purposes, which shall be applied in any con-
demnation proceedings wherein the petitioner is vested with the power of
eminent domain for the condemnation of such lands for such purposes, any-
thing in any existing statute, law, or rule of procedure to the contrary not-
withstanding. [S B 106]

Approved March 23, 1928

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, as follows:

Section 1. The short title of this act shall be the “public park
condemnation act.”

Section 2. Unless otherwise clearly indicated herein or required
by the context, the words “State” or “Commonwealth,” as used in
this act, shall be construed to mean the State of Virginia; the word
“petitioner” shall be construed to mean “any person or entity vested
by law with power to exercise the right of eminent domain and to
condemn land for use as a public park or for public park purposes,
who 1s seeking to exercise such power under the provisions of this
act”; the word “land” shall be construed to mean and to include
“land,” “lands,” “real estate, together with the buildings and other
limprovements thereon,” and “any right, title, interest, estate, or
claim in or to land or lands’; the words “owner” or “owners” shall
be construed to mean and to include “owner,” “claimant,” “claim-
99 66

ants, tenant,” “tenants,” “possessor,” “possessors,” “unknown
owner or owners and claimant or claimants,” “supposed owner or
owners and claimant or claimants,” “unknown supposed owner or
owners and claimant or claimants,” “class and classes of owners
and claimants,” “‘class and classes of unknown owners and claim-
ants,” and “class and classes of unknown supposed owners and
claimants”; “person” or “persons” shall be construed to mean and
to include “person,” “corporation,” “association,” “municipality,”
‘entity capable of owning or holding land or any right, title, inter-
jest, or estate in land,” or agency of the government of the State
iof Virginia capable of owning title to or holding land or any right,
title, interest, or estate in land.”

Section 3. In any cases wherein any person heretofore has been,
or hereafter shall be authorized by the laws of the State of Virginia
to acquire land or lands within the State of Virginia for use as a
public park, or for public park purposes, and has been vested with
power to condemn such land or lands in the exercise of the right of
eminent domain, and wherein such person seeks to exercise such
power, the condemnation proceedings shall be instituted, conducted,
and maintained under the provisions of this act, anything contained
in any existing statute, law, or rule of procedure to the contrary
notwithstanding.

Section 4. Any such person may, by and through his duly
authorized officers, agents, or servants, enter upon any land in the
State of Virginia for the purpose of making an examination and
survey thereof, with a view to the ascertainment of its suitability
and value for park purposes, provided that no injury be done the
land; and no such officer, agent or servant, shall, under the author-
ity of this provision, leave open any gates, fences, or inclosutes
of any land, or in any way injure the property of the owner without
his consent. .

Section 5, Jurisdiction in condemnation proceedings had under
the provisions of this act shall be in the circuit court of the county,
or the corporation court of the city wherein the land proposed to
be condemned its situated, except in the city of Richmond wherein
jurisdiction shall be in the chancery court of the city of Richmond,
and except also in the city of Roanoke wherein jurisdiction shall
be in the court of law and chancery of the city of Roanoke; and the
condemnation proceedings shall be commenced by petition filed in
the office of the clerk of the court having jurisdiction thereof, and
addressed to such court or the judge thereof. The petition shall be
verified by affidavit of the petitioner or his duly appointed repre-
sentative, agent, or attorney expressly appointed in writing for that
purpose.

Section 6, The petition shall contain the following, namely (a)
a description, by metes and bounds or by established legal sub-
divisions, of the land to be condemned; such description either to
be incorporated in the body of the petition or to be made part or
parts thereof by means of an exhibit or exhibits attached to the
petition; (b) the uses and purposes for which the land is imme-
diately desired by the petitioner, and the extent of the estate or
interest to be condemned, whether a fee simple estate or a less
estate or interest; (c) the names of the persons and of the classes
of persons, where the names are unknown, owning the land or pos-
sibly owning or having some right, title, estate, claim or interest
in or to the land or any part thereof, or in or to the land or any
part thereof, or in or to the proceeds arising upon a condemnation
of the land, so far as the petitioner has knowledge of such names
and classes of persons; and the facts, so far as the petitioner has
knowledge of such facts, as to whether the persons named are resi-
dents or non-residents, of the State of Virginia, or whether their
places of residence are unknown to the petitioner; and the States,
cities, towns or counties of such residence, so far as known to the
petitioner; the names and the classes of persons and the facts as to
residence may be either incorporated in the body of the petition
or made part or parts thereof by means of an exhibit or exhibits
attached to the petition.

In addition to the foregoing requirements, the petition may.
state, briefly, the condition of the title to the land, as such condi-
tion appears to the petitioner, from an examination of the public
records or from other sources of information; and a description in
general terms of the various tracts of different ownership included
within the boundaries of the land sought to be condemned, or of
any of them which the petitioner deems advisable or material to be
presented in the petition.

In the petition the petitioner may state or charge the person or
persons or classes of persons who, in the opinion of the petitioner,
are invested with the superior or the better right or claim of title in
and to the land or any part or parcel thereof or in or to the proceeds
arising upon a condemnation of the land or any part or parcel
thereof, and the extent or the relative proportions, as among such
persons, of such ownership or claim; and such statement or charge,
unless denied or disputed by some person owning an interest in the
land or having a material claim to the proceeds arising from a con-
demnation of the land, shall be final and conclusive as to all parties
to the condemnation proceedings and as to all other persons whom-
soever, upon notice being given as hereinafter provided, except as
to persons appearing to be infants, or insane, or under other legal
disability.

The value of the land or of any part or parcel thereof specifi-
cally described and set out in the petition may be stated or charged,
according to the petitioner’s knowledge, information and belief, as
a fact, in the petition; and unless denied or disputed by some per-
son Owning an interest in the land or having a material claim to the
proceeds arising from a condemnation of the land, such statement
or charge as to value shall be final and conclusive as to all parties
to the condemnation proceeding and as to all other persons whom-
soever, upon notice being given as hereinafter provided, except as
to the persons appearing to be infants, or insane, or under other
legal disability.

But nothing herein contained is intended nor shall be held or
construed to make it obligatory upon the petitioner, in any case, to
state or charge the person or persons or classes of persons invested
with said superior or better right or claim, or to state or charge the
value of the land, or any matter except such matters as are pre-
scribed in the first paragraph hereof, if the petitioner is unable
to make such statements or charges, or any of them, or deems it
inadvisable to do so.

Section 7. After the filing of the petition, the same may be pre-
sented to the court having jurisdiction of the condemnation sought,
on any day of a regular or special term, or to the judge of such
court, on any day in vacation.

Upon the presentation of the petition, the court or judge shall
make and direct an order of notice, fixing a day certain thereafter, in
term or in vacation, in the discretion of the court or judge, on or
before which any and all persons owning or claiming any right,
title, estate or interest in or to the land, or in or to the proceeds
arising upon a condemnation of the land shall appear, and, by ap-
propriate pleading, assert their several or respective demands or
claims, and designating some newspaper published within the
county wherein the lands sought to be condemned are located, or,
in his discretion, and in lieu thereof, in two newspapers published in
some county or counties adjoining the county wherein the lands
sought to be condemned are located, in which the notice shall be
published.

The several courts shall at all times have power to make rules
fixing such dates, in term or in vacation, for the presentation of
petitions for condemnation, and for the appearance of and the filing
of pleadings by parties to the condemnation proceedings, as may
be necessary or convenient for the purposes of this act.

But the courts shall not require any formal or technical plea,
pleading, or procedure, to enable any person, owning or claiming
any right, title, estate, or interest in or to the land or to the pro-
ceeds or to damages arising upon the proposed condemnation of
the land, or the estate or interest in land, sought to be condemned,
to appear and set up his claim of such ownership, so as to entitle
him to be heard at the hearing of the case upon the value of the
land, or estate or interest proposed to be condemned, or the amount
of the proceeds arising upon a condemnation of the land or of dam-
ages which will result to land from the proposed condemnation.
lor this purpose it will be sufficient if such person file, with the
clerk of the court, a written answer or statement, under the title
and number of the case as set out in the order or notice, over his
signature or his name and his mark thereto attached, and verified by
such person or his attorney at law or in fact, setting forth in
plain terms and language, which need not be formal or technical,
that he owns or claims land or a right, title, estate or interest in
land, within the boundary lines set out in the petition, or in the
proceeds thereof upon its condemnation or other land which will
be damaged by the proposed condemnation, described as follows:
(Here is to be inserted as full and complete a description of the
land or the right, title, estate or interest in land claimed by him as
may be reasonably practicable, by metes and bounds or natural
boundary lines, where practicable, and setting forth any and all 1m-
provements thereon, its location, and, where practicable, approxi-
mately the number of acres contained therein) ; and that his post-
office address is as follows: (Here is to be inserted his full name
and postoffice address).

The clerk of the court or his deputy shall, if requested so to do,
administer the verification oath, and if he does so, shall make no
charge for his services against such owner or claimant, but his fee
for such services may be taxed as a part of the costs of the case. But
no such answer or statement, nor any such plea, pleading or ap-
pearance entered or filed by such person shall be sufficient to entitle
him to be heard at the hearing of the case, upon the value of the land
or estate or interest proposed to be condemned, unless it plainly
sets forth his name and postoffice address, and contains a descrip-
tion of the land, or the right, title, interest or estate in the land
claimed by him, made in good faith for the purpose of aiding the
court to identify such land; and the court or judge thereof may
at any time during the course of the proceedings require such per-
son to make such reasonable amplification of the description of the
land, or the right, title, interest or estate in land claimed by him,
as may be useful or necessary to enable the court to identify such
land, and on his failure so to do, or to offer a reasonable explana-
tion therefor, the court or judge may enter an order directing that
the case will thenceforth be proceeded in ex parte as to such person.
And until and unless such person files with the record of the case
in the clerk’s office a written memorandum, setting forth any
change in his postoffice address during the pendency of the proceed-
ings, to which he requests that all notices and papers shall there-
after be mailed in so far as such mailing may be authorized or
required under the provisions of this:act, the postoffice address first
furnished by him shall, for the purposes of this act, be deemed and
held to be his correct postoffice address. But where such written
memorandum is filed as above set out, the new address thus fur-
nished shall, thereafter and for the purposes of this act, be deemed
and held to be his correct postoffice address.

Section 8. At any time after the filing of the petition, and its
presentation to the court or the judge having jurisdiction thereof,
the court or the judge thereof, may, and upon the application of
the petitioner, shall appoint not more than five special investiga-
tors, who shall hold office during the pleasure of the court, and
whose duty it shall be under the direction and counsel of the court
or the judge thereof: (a) to make diligent inquiry as to the exist-
ence of any land, or parcels or tracts of land, or right, or title, or
interest, or estate therein, within the boundary line set forth in the
petition, or of any real claim in or to the proceeds of any such
land, or right, or title, or estate, or interest in the event of its con-
demnation, owned by any infant, insane person, or person under
other legal disability, or which is owned by any person who fails to
appear and answer or file the necessary pleadings to entitle him to
be heard at the hearing by the court provided in section twelve (12)
hereof, upon the value of the land, or estate, or interest sought
to be condemned; or, any property or properties owned by such
person or persons which will be damaged by the taking of the land
within the boundary line set forth in the petition, beyond the pecu-
liar benefits that will accrue to such property or properties of such
persons from the acquisition of the land, or estate, or interest
therein, sought to be condemned, and the use of the same for a
public park or for public park purposes; and, when directed so to
do by the court or judge, to make report, for file with the record of
the proceedings, to the court of the judge thereof, setting forth such
information as they may be able to secure, as to the nature, extent,
and location of such lands, or parcels or tracts of lands, or rights,
or titles, or estates, or interests therein, or claims to proceeds
thereof, or incidental damages which will arise or result from the
proposed condemnation, if any there be, and making findings of
fact with reference thereto, in manner and form and to the extent
which the court or the judge thereof may direct. (b) To ascertain
and determine, and to make a special report or special reports, with
findings of fact as to the value of any such land, or parcels or tracts
of land, and of the estate or interest therein sought to be con-
demned, and the amount of any real claim or claims by such per-
sons to the proceeds of the condemnation thereof, and the amount
of such incidental damages which will result from the proposed con-
demnation, in all cases wherein they find that any claim of owner-
ship in such property which might be set up in behalf of such per-
son or persons is real and well founded, and in all other cases when
specifically directed by the court or judge so to do; and upon the
fact of value of the right, title, estate or interest of any such per-
sons in or to any such property, and in or to such claims to pro-
ceeds or incidental damages arising out of the proposed condemna-
tion, provided that no such special report shall be filed without first
giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard by counsel or its
duly authorized representative, and to submit such evidence as it
may deem proper as to the fact of such value or values or amount
or amounts. (c) To examine the boundary line set forth in the
petition and the land contained therein, and to make a report with
appropriate findings of fact for file with the record of the proceed-
ings, On any matter connected therewith, as to which the court or
the judge thereof may direct that special inquiry be made. (d)
Upon the request of any person owning or claiming any right, or
title, or estate, or interest in the land, or the estate or interest
therein, or any part thereof, sought to be condemned, or having any
claim in or to the proceeds thereof or for incidental damages aris-
ing out of the proposed condemnation, to furnish such person with
blank forms upon which such person may conveniently file the
statement of his claim in the form and manner authorized in section
seven (7) hereof, and to render him such reasonable amount of as-
sistance in the preparation of his statement of his claim, including
the verification thereof under oath, as the circumstances and the
other duties of the special investigators will permit. No charge or
fee will be made, or allowed, or received, for such services.

In the performance of these duties the special investigators thus
appointed may act separately or together, provided that at least
three shall join in any report submitted for file with the record of
the court, and provided that no such report will be filed prior to
the day set for the hearing provided in section twelve (12) hereof,
and no special report authorized under section (b) hereof, will be
filed earlier than six months after the day certain fixed in the order
or notice provided in section seven (7) hereof on or before which
claimants or owners were warned to appear and plead. Except as
hereinafter provided any finding of fact set out in any such report
shall be deemed and held to be an ascertainment and determina-
tion of such fact at the hearing provided in section twelve (12)
hereof, provided that for good cause shown, and at any time during
the pendency of the proceedings, the court may disapprove or de-
cline to accept any such finding of fact, and no such finding of fact
shall be held to be an ascertainment and determination thereof over
the objection of the petitioner or of any person having an interest
in such finding who has entered his appearance and filed his answer
or other pleadings in the case as provided in section seven (7)
hereof, unless the petitioner or any such person has waived its or
his right to offer such objection, in writing, filed with the record
of the case.

The special investigators thus appointed shall be citizens of Vir-
ginia, residents of the judicial circuit wherein the proceedings have
been instituted or of any judicial circuit adjoining such circuit but
shall not be residents of any county wherein proceedings are pend-
ing under the provisions of this act for the condemnation of any
land for use as a public park, and before entering upon the per-
formance of their duties they shall take such oath of office as the
court or the judge thereof may prescribe.

Any oath or affidavit required by law, which is not of such a
nature that it must be made in court, may be administered by,
or made before any such special investigator and certified by him,
when acting in the performance of his duties as such special investi-
gator; and any such special investigator is hereby authorized and
empowered to administer and certify an oath to any person making
a statement or statements to or before him concerning any fact, the
truth or accuracy of which is or might be drawn in question in the
course of the condemnation proceedings; but no fee or charge of
any kind shall be made, or allowed, or received for the administer-
ing of any such oath.

In the performance of their duties such special investigators
shall not be restricted, limited, or bound by any rule or precedent
established for commissioners or appraisers appointed under au-
thority of paragraph forty-three hundred and sixty-six of the Vir-
ginia Code or of any law heretofore enacted authorizing the con-
demnation of lands. And in determining or ascertaining any fact
or facts to be reported to the court or the judge thereof, they may,
subject to the terms of their oath of office, take such lawful meas-
ures and do any lawful act which a prudent man might or would
take or do in an effort to ascertain and determine such a fact or such
facts in a matter of material importance affecting his own interest;
and, inter alia, they may, together or separately, visit the land
proposed to be condemned, and neighboring lands and = areas
whether in the same or another county, examine any map, record,
book, or other written paper or instrument, and hear any statement
or expression of opinion made under oath or not under oath, by
any person, whether such person is or is not interested in the fact
or facts they are seeking to ascertain and determine, which they
or any of them have reason to believe will or may shed light upon
such fact or facts; and they may decline to believe or to accept as
true, in whole or in part, any such statements, maps, records, books,
and other written papers or instruments, and use their own best
judgment and experience in ascertaining and determining such fact
or facts from their own inspection of the land sought to be con-
demned, or where no such inspection of the land has been made,
from the best information they have been able to procure after
diligent inquiry and investigation. Provided, nevertheelss, that in
ascertaining or determining the value of any land or estate or in-
terest therein proposed to be condemned, or of any right, or title
or estate or interest therein proposed to be condemned, or of any
right, or title, or estate or interest therein owned or claimed by any
person, they shall not include any prospective or speculative value
or values arising out of, resulting trom, or anticipated because of
the proposed condemnation of the land, or estate, or interest in land,
sought to be condemned.

Each such special investigator shall be entitled to receive as
compensation for his services twelve dollars per diem, for each
day in which he is actually engaged in the performance of his duties,
and such reimbursement for actual expenditures for travel, lodging,
subsistence, or other expenses incurred in the performance of his
duties, as may be allowed and approved by the court or the judge
thereof. Such special investigators may employ such technical and
clerical assistance, including stenographers, surveyors, guides, and
the like, as the court or judge thereof may deem necessary or expe-
dient, and approve and allow.

Vacancies in the authorized number of such special investiga-
tors may be filled at any time by the court, or the judge thereof,
and the court or the judge thereof, may suspend or discharge any
or all such special investigators if, and when, the court or the judge
thereof, is of opinion that their employment is no longer useful,
necessary or advantageous in or for the proper disposition of the
case.

Section 9. As early as practicable and not exceeding five days
unless otherwise ordered by the court or judge after the making and
directing of the order for notice, the clerk of the court shall pre-
pare and deliver to the newspaper or newspapers designated in the
order a notice for publication; which notice shall be published in
such newspaper, or in each of such newspapers, if more than one
are designated, once a week for at least four consecutive weeks,
the last publication to be made at least three days prior to the day
certain as fixed in the order for notice; and if for any reason the
last publication shall not be made at-least three days prior to such
day certain, all persons owning or having an interest in the land or
a claim to the proceeds arising therefrom shall have until a day
three days after the last publication on which to appear and to
assert and present their interests, claims or demands.

The notice for publication shall set out or contain the following,
viz: (a) The court in which the condemnation proceeding is pend-
ing; (b) the style and the number of the case; and in capital letters
the words “To whom it may concern”; (c) a brief statement of
the purpose and object for which the land is sought to be acquired;
(d) the description by metes and bounds or by established legal
sub-divisions of the land which is sought to be condemned as set
forth in the petition; (e) a brief reference to any fuller description
or descriptions of the land or of the several tracts thereof on file in
the clerk’s office as a part or parts of the petition; (f) the extent
of the estate or interest to be condemned, whether a fee simple
estate or a less estate or interest; (g) if stated or charged in the
petition, but not otherwise, the value of the land or of the estate or
interest therein; (h) the names of the persons or classes of persons
(omitting their residence and addresses and whether residents or
non-residents of Virginia, unless otherwise directed by the court
or the judge), owning or claiming or possibly owning or claiming
some right, title, estate or interest in or to the land or any part
thereof, or the proceeds arising from a condemnation thereof, as ap-
pears from the petition and the exhibit or exhibits thereto; and (1)
a warning to all whom it may concern and to all of the persons
named and to the heirs or devisees of such of said persons as are
dead, and to the classes of persons designated, and to all other per-
sons whomsoever owning or claiming any right, title, estate or in-
terest in or tu the land or any part or parts of same, or in or to the
proceeds arising upon a condemnation of the land or any part
thereof, to appear before the court or before the clerk of the court,
on or before the day certain fixed in the order for notice, and assert
and present, by appropriate pleadings, their several or respective
claims of right, title, estate or interest, and that upon the failure of
any of the persons so named or described or designated to so ap-
pear and assert and present their claims, the statements and charges
in the petition will be considered by the court or judge, upon the
hearing of the petition and the notice or notices in the case, as ad-
mitted by such persons, and the case will thenceforth be proceeded
In ex parte as to them.

The form of the notice for publication, to which shall be attached
the signature of the clerk and the seal of the court, shall be sub-
stantially as follows:

In the circuit (or corporation or other) court Of.........2..--2..-e

COUNTY, At ooo. eee cece cereessneeeseeees , Virginia.
NOTICE OF CONDEMNATION
NO. oi eeeecececsecesceecececcecceseeeeeeececeeeeeee , At Law.
(Name of the petitioner)
VS.
(Name of one or more defendants) et al., and (
acres more or less of land, in... eeeeeeeeeeee county, Virginia.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Pursuant to an order of the court (or of the judge of the court)
in this case, this notice is hereby given:
In this suit, the “petitioner” seeks to acquire, by condemnation
for its uses, and for use as a public park and for public park pur-

poses, a fee simple title to a tract Of..............ccceeececeeeeseeeees acres of land
(or the following estate or interest in a tract Of... eee acres
Of land, viz: ole ), Situated in... ee county,

Virginia, and described as follows: (here insert descriptions by
metes and bounds or established legal sub-divisions of the lands
sought to be condemned), a complete description (or.descriptions)
of said land, by metes and bounds (or by established legal sub-
divisions), is on file in my office as a part (or parts) of the petition
for condemnation in this case, and the same is (or are) hereby and
herein referred to for fuller or more accurate description (or de-
scriptions).

The value of said land (or the estate or interest therein), or, the
values of certain parts or parcels thereof (or of the estates or in-
terests therein) as stated or charged (if so stated or charged, and,
if not so stated or charged, this paragraph of the notice to be
omitted), in said petition is (or are) as follows, viz:

And it appearing that the following persons and classes of per-
sons, own or claim or possibly own or have or claim some right,
title, estate or interest in or to the land (or the estate or interest in
the land) or some part or parts of the land sought to be condemned
or in or to the proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereof, viz:
(set out names, omitting residence and addresses unless otherwise
ordered, by the court or the judge, of all the persons and classes of
persons appearing in the petition or in the exhibit or exhibits
thereto).

This, therefore, is to notify and to warn all whom it may con-
cern and all of said persons, and the heirs or devisees and the per-
sonal representatives of such of said persons as are dead, and all
of the persons constituting membership in said classes of persons
and each and every of them, and all persons whomsoever owning
or claiming any right, title, estate or interest in or to said land or
any part of same (or in or to said estate or interest in or to said
land), or in or to the proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereot,

to appear before the said circuit court of ....0.....00..0.0ee eee county,
Virginia, or before the clerk of said court, at the courthouse, in
saceesseceectececeeseeeeeees , Virginia, on or before the....................day of..........-.---
nnneneneeeceeecececeeeseeees , nineteen hundred and .........0000000.0..eceeeee ey ANd

assert and present, by appropriate pleadings, their several or re-
spective claims or demands; and upon the failure of any of such
persons to so appear and assert and present their claims or de-
mands, the statements and charges in the petition will be consid-
ered by the court or judge upon the hearing of the petition and the
notice or notices in this case, as admitted by such persons, and this
case will thenceforth be proceeded in ex parte as to them, with the
result, of which the aforesaid persons and classes of persons are
hereby specially warned that, through a failure to appear and
assert and present their claims or demands, as aforesaid, it is pus-
sible that said persons or some of them will be defeated in entorc-
ing their claims or demands, and they may lose the same.

But such of said persons and classes of persons, who do not own
or have or claim said land (or said estate or interest) or any part
of same, or a right to, or interest in the proceeds arising from
said condemnation, or to damages arising theretrom, need give no
further heed to this notice and warning.

It is ordered that a copy of this notice be published in the
sesascccececceeseceeseeseeeceresees Of oooeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeeeeeee COUNTY (OF COUNTIES),
Virginia, once a week for four consecutive weeks, and that a copy
be posted at the front door of (or at the usual posting place in or

about) the courthouse Of........0.....ceeeceeeeeeeeeees county, Virginia.
Witness my hand, at office, in... eee eeeeeee eee eeeee eens , Virginia, and
the seal of our said court, this ...........0...0..0..... , nineteen hundred and

OPO OOS Be HO OHSS POSH DS CRESS TOEAMOS SSSR OD SEB SOTETCBASeF Bees E Den eH eteere + Fenewoe

(Seal) Clerk of the circuit (or corporation or other) court of
saccceneaceceacceeesceeeceeceeeeessceess county, Virginia, ..........2.....:e:::ceeeeeees

The above notice may be signed by the deputy clerk, for and on
behalf of the clerk, and, for preparing this notice the clerk shall be
entitled to a fee of three dollars and a fee of one dollar for each
extra copy of same required to be made, the same to be taxed as a
part of the costs of the case.

The notice shall also contain any additional matter which the
court or the judge in the order for notice may specially direct to be
stated therein, including such of the residences or the addresses,
as shown in the petition, of the owners as the court or the judge’
may direct; and in the discretion of the court or the judge the num-
ber of the publications of the notice, in any of the newspapers
designated, may be increased not to exceed eight.

Sufficient proof of the due publication of the notice, in any desig-
nated newspaper, and of the cost or fees therefor, shall consist of
an affidavit of the publisher or a proprietor or the editor or the busi-
ness manager of the newspaper making the publication, attached to
a copy of the notice as published, with a statement of the cost or
fees therefor, to the following effect:

PUBLISHER’S AFFIDAVIT

State of Virginia, county Of-........ cee eececeteeeeeeteeee , Ss.

Before me, the undersigned, a ..........0.....::2::ecceeeeeeeees , this day per-
SOMally CAME oui... eceeceeeeeceeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee econ , who being first duly
sworn according to law, says that he is the -....0.........eeee eects O
sececesceececeeseceeceneeecssneecsaneeesenscceseeesseese BW ceccsceccssseseeesscteeesccceeseeeeeee MEWSPaper,
published at 2... eee ee eeeeceeeee eee , in the said county and State,
and that the publication, of which the annexed is a true copy, was
published in said paper on the ...............0........ day Of uu. eee ,
nineteen hundred and oo... lee eeceececeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeees , and once a week
thereafter for 2.0.0.0... consecutive weeks, and that the rate

charged therefor is not in excess of the commercial rates charged
private individuals with the usual discounts.
(Signature of affant.)

Subscribed and sworn to before me this ..........00.000000....... day of
nanececeeecenceeeseneceeeecceceeseeees , nineteen hundred and .0..00..........ceceec cece cece cece

(Official title.)

The clerk of the court shall, as early as practicable, and not ex-
ceeding five days, unless otherwise ordered, after the date of the
order for notice, make and deliver to the sheriff of the county in the
circuit court of which the condemnation proceedings is pending, a
sufficient number of copies of the notice, for the purpose of post-
ing and return, as herein provided. The sheriff, either in person or
by deputy, shall as early as practicable and not exceeding five days,
unless otherwise ordered, after receipt of such copies, post or cause
to be posted one copy of the notice at the front door of the court-
house (or at the usual posting place for legal notices in or about
the courthouse) of the county wherein the land is situated, and he
shall make due return, upon one of the copies of the notice, to the
court; which return, when made to the following effect, shall be
sufficient proof of such posting:

I certify that I posted (or caused to be posted) a true copy of
the within notice at the front door of the courthouse (or at the
usual posting place for legal notices in or about the courthouse)

0) county, Virginia, on the .................... day of
be ceceececeeeceececeeeceeeececseesensecese , nineteen hundred and .......0...0.....eeeee eee eeeeeee eens
Witness my hand this ......0000 ee day Of 00.0... eee ;

nineteen hundred and 2000000... ecceeccceeeceeeeeceeececeeeee
Sheriff Of occ. COUNty, Virginia.

The sheriff may execute his return by and through his duly
authorized deputy; and he shall be allowed a fee of seventy-five
(75c) cents for a posting in his county, the same to be taxed as a
part of the cost of the case.

The clerk of the court, or his deputy, shall, as early as practi-
cable and not exceeding twenty days, unless otherwise ordered,
after the first publication of the notice, mail to each person whose
address is stated in the petition, to such person’s address as stated
in the petition a copy of the newspaper, or one of the newspapers,
icontaining the notice; and for this purpose the newspaper or news-
papers making such publication shall furnish to the clerk a suff-
cient number of such copies, the cost of which is to be included as
a part of the aforesaid cost or fees for publishing the notice; and the
clerk shall make and file as a part of the record in the case a cer-
tificate showing that he or his deputy has mailed the copies as
herein provided, which certificate shall be substantially to the fol-
lowing effect:

ee At Law
(Name of the petitioner)
VS.
(A. B.) et als. and oe. acres of land im... eee.
county (or counties), Virginia.
T certify that on... eee teen eeeee , nineteen hundred and

vesseceeeseeesseeecencceeeeseeeeeeeese , | mailed, in the postoffice at.......00...0...0...e
Virginia, one copy of the (name of newspaper) containing a pub-
lication of the notice .............c.ccccceeceeeeeeeeececeeeee , hineteen hundred and
seceesceeeecceeeecessnecensnseeesscceneceeees , in this case, to each of the persons whose
address is stated in the petition, to the address of such person as
stated in the petition.

Witness my hand this ..00..00... eee day Of... eeeeeeeees eects ,
nineteen hundred and 0... cece cece ceeeenseeeeeeeeees

Clerk of the circuit (or corporation or other court) of ..................
se ceeessectececessteensneeeeeesenees county, Virginia.

The above certificate may be signed by the deputy clerk for
and on behalf of the clerk; and the clerk shall be entitled to a fee of
twenty-five (25c) cents for each copy of such newspaper mailed as
aforesaid, together with reimbursement for the expense of postage,
the same to be taxed as a part of the costs of the case.

Inasmuch as the notice by publication and by posting, as herein
provided, except when otherwise specially ordered and directed by
the court or the judge, is intended to be entirely sufficient for all
purposes in fully accomplishing any condemnation sought under
the provisions of this act, and in making a complete and final dis-
tribution among those entitled thereto, of the .proceeds arising
from such condemnation; and inasmuch as the only purpose in
requiring the mailing of newspapers containing the published no-
tice is to bring about a possible wider distribution or circulation
of the notice, a failure of any newspaper so mailed to reach or to
be delivered to or received by any person, to whom the same has
been mailed, or a failure of the clerk to mail a copy of such news-
paper to any person whose address is stated in the petition shall, in
either or in any of said events be deemed and held to be imma-
terial and as in no way nor to any extent affecting or modifying
the effect of the notice by publication and posting in respect of the
sufficiency of such publication and posting as notice to such per-
sons and every of them so far as any right, title, estate or interest in
the land, or the estate or interest therein sought to be condemned,
which they or any of them own or claim, is concerned.

Section 10. The aforesaid notice, when published and posted,
as herein provided, shall be deemed and held sufficient process for
all purposes in any condemnation proceedings under the provisions
of this act, without the issuance of summons or of other original
or nesne process; and in the event that any person named or desig-
nated or referred to in the petition is dead, having died either be-
fore or after the filing of the petition, it shall not be necessary to
add the names of the heirs or devisees or personal representatives
of such deceased person to the petition nor to incorporate the names
of such heirs or devisees or personal representative in the notice
by publication and posting; but such notice containing the warn-
ing provided in clause (1) of the second paragraph of section num-
ber nine of this act, when published and posted as required, shall
be as sufficient and as effect in respect of such heirs or devisees
or personal representative and of any right, title, estate, claim or
interest which they or any of them own or have in or to the land,
or the proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereof, as though
each of such heirs or devisees and such personal representative
were specifically named in the petition and in the notice.

Section 11. It shall not be necessary to serve notice of the
petition nor of the condemnation sought upon any of the persons,
personally, who are named or designated or referred to in the
petition; except that, at any time prior to the judgment fixing the
award for the land condemned, the court or the judge, in its or his
discretion, may specially direct, by an order to this effect, that notice
be served, personally, upon any of the persons named or de-
signated or referred to in the petition or upon any other person or
persons, appearing to own or to have a material interest in the
land or its proceeds; but at all times after the making of any order
directing such personal service and for any reason appearing as
satisfactory to the court or the judge, the court or the judge may
vacate or set aside, either in whole or in part, such order, and if
it shall appear from the return or returns of the sheriff or sheriffs
to whom such ndtice or notices are delivered for personal service,
that any of the persons appearing in such notice or notices are dead
or are not found after diligent search in the county of their resi-
dence, as stated in the notice or are nonresidents of Virginia, such
return or returns shall, without the entry of any further order, have
the effect of vacating and setting aside the order directing personal
service of notice in respect of each and every person as to whom
any return of the character stated is made; and in the event that
the order directing such personal service is vacated or set aside,
either by order of the court or the judge, or by the effect of a
sheriff’s return upon a notice, the aforesaid notice, by publication
and posting, shall be in all things sufficient and effective, as to the
persons in respect to whom such order is vacated and set aside, and
any right, title, estate, or interest in the land or its proceeds, owned
or claimed by them or any of them, for any and all objects or pur-
poses authorized under the provisions of this act.

If the petitioner shall so desire, notice or notices of the petition
and of the condemnation sought may be issued to be served per-
sonally upon any of the persons named or designated or referred
to in the petition; but nothing contained in this act shall be.con-
strued or held to require an issuance of notice for and a personal
service of such notice upon any person or persons, except only
such as are specially designated for personal service, as aforesaid,
by the court or the judge.

In the event or events of notice or notices for personal service
being ordered and directed by the court or the judge, or being de-
sired by the petitioner, the clerk of the court shall prepare and de-
liver such notice or notices to the sheriff or sheriffs of the county
or counties, or the sergeant of the city or cities, of the residence of
the persons to be served, with sufficient copies of such notice or
notices to enable such sheriff or sheriffs to deliver to or to leave
for each person to be served one copy of such notice. The form
of such notice, to which shall be attached the signature of the clerk
and the seal of the court, shall be substantially as follows, but the
seal shall not be subject to tax:

In the circuit (or corporation or other) court Of............eeee een
COUNLY, At... ee eeeeeeceeeeneeeeteees , Virginia.

NOTICE OF CONDEMNATION
(Name of the petitioner)

VS.
(Name of one or more defendants), et al., and
To (name or names and address or addresses of the person or per-
sons to be notified):

You and each of you are hereby notified that, in this suit, the
petitioner seeks to acquire, by condemnation for its uses, for use as
a public park and for park purposes, a fee simple title to (or the
following estate, or interest, namely.................2:::e:eeeeeeeeeees in), a tract
0) acres of land, situated im... eee county,
Virginia; a complete description (or descriptions) of said land (or
tracts), by metes and bounds (or by established legal subdivi-
sions), is (or are) on file in my office, as a part (or parts) of the
petition for condemnation in this case; and you are hereby referred
to the same for a fuller or more accurate description (or descrip-
tions).

The value of said land (or the estate or interest therein), or the
value of certain parts of parcels thereof (or of the estates or in-
terests therein), as stated or charged (if so stated or charged, and
if not so stated or charged, this paragraph of the notice to be
omitted), in said petition is (or are) as follows, namedly:

This, therefore, is to notify you and each of you that, if you
claim any right, title, or estate or interest in and to said land, or
any part or parts of same (or said estate or interest in said land),
or in or to the proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereof, to

appear before our said circuit court fore... eee eee eeeees county,
Virginia, or before the clerk of said court, at the courthouse, in
venececcecececceccceneseccceeeee , Virginia, on or before the................day of............
eseeceecsssteee , nineteen hundred and.........00..0000......... (stating the day

as fixed in the order for personal service, and if no day is fixed in
such order, the day certain designated in the order for notice by
publication), or on or before three days after the service of this
notice upon you (in the event the day as above stated shall have
passed at the time of the service of this notice upon you), and as-
sert and present by appropriate pleadings the several or respective
claims of right, title, estate or interest which you and every one
of you own or have in or to the land (or the estate or interest in
the land), sought to be condemned in this suit or in or to the pro-
ceeds arising from a condemnation of the same, or the damages
arising therefrom, and that you then and there do what is neces-
sary to protect your interest, if any; and upon your failure so to do,
you are hereby notified and warned that the statements and charges
in the petition for condemnation will be considered as admitted by
you, and this case will thenceforth be proceeded in ex parte as to
you.

Met etm em we ears eer reer w ee teres eESSBSsee eraser eeeceresrerecreranee eneanesesn

(Seal) Clerk of the circuit (or corporation or other) court of
neceecceccceeeetercestssteeecesserneteeetees county, Virginia.
The notice for personal service may be signed by the deputy
clerk, acting for and on behalf of the clerk, and for preparing and
issuing each original of said notice, the clerk shall be entitled to a
fee of two dollars ($2) and for each copy of such notice required
to be made a fee of fifty (50c) cents, to be taxed as a part of the
costs of the case, but the seal shall not be subject to tax.

The notice for personal service shall be executed upon each per-
son named therein by the sheriff or his deputy, at least three days
prior to the day for appearance, as fixed in such notice; but no
notice having issued shall expire or become void while in the
sheriff’s hands unexecuted, because of a failure to serve the same
at least three days prior to the day for appearance. In such cir-
cumstances the sheriff may, unless the notice be recalled by order
of the court or the judge, serve the same at any time subsequent to
the day for appearance or the three days prior thereto; provided,
that any person served with such notice shall have at least three
days after such service to make his appearance and to otherwise
comply with the conditions or requirements contained in the notice.
The sheriff shall make due return to the court of his action in
respect of executing any notice delivered to him; and the method
of personally serving any notice issued under the provisions of this
act and the evidence of such service shall be the same as provided
by sections six thousand and forty-one of the Virginia Code, pre-
scribing mode of serving notice and evidence of service.

If in any case all of the persons named or designated in the
petition, are personally served with a notice, of the form and charac-
ter as herein provided for personal service, and the petitioner shall
not desire to notify and to warn generally “all persons whomso-
ever,” as provided for in the notice by publication, the notice by
publication and posting shall not be necessary and the same may
be dispensed with; but in such event, the judgment of condemna-
tion, hereinafter provided for, shall affect only the persons who are
so served and shall divest only the rights, titles, estates and inter-
ests of such persons in and to the land or the estate or interest
therein and vest the same in the petitioner.

In cases where publication and posting of notices are dispensed
with, the court or the judge, at any time after the filing of the
petition, may and upon application of the petitioner shall fix a day
certain, in term or in vacation, for the appearance of the persons to
be notified.

Section 12. On the day next succeeding the day certain fixed
by the court or the judge in the order for notice, or where publica-
tion and posting are dispensed with, the day certain for the ap-
pearance of persons notified, except where such succeeding day is
Sunday or a legal holiday (in which event, on the day next suc-
ceeding such Sunday or legal holiday), or on a subsequent day to
which the proceedings may be adjourned, or at a subsequent reg-
ular or special term, the court or the judge shall consider the
petition, the notice or notices which have been published and posted
or which have been personally served, the answers or other plead-
ings filed in the case by any of the parties, and the objections, if
any, of the person having a material interest, to the proposed con-
demnation, and if satisfied upon such consideration that the peti-
tioner is entitled to the relief demanded or sought in the petition,
and that notice has been given as herein provided, shall make and
direct an order setting the case for hearing at the same term, if a
term is then being held, or at the next succeeding general or special
term, if said consideration occur in vacation; and at the term at
which the case is so set for hearing, or at any succeeding term to
which the case may be adjourned, or at any later term whether the
case has been formally adjourned or continued thereto or not, the
court shall determine the value of the land or of the estate or in-
terest therein which petitioner seeks to have condemned and the
damages, if any, sustained by or through the proposed condemna-
tion, regardless of any and all conflicting claims of right, or title, or
estate, or interest in or to the premises; provided that, if the value
of the land or any part thereof, or the estate or interest or any part
thereof, sought to be condemned, is stated or charged in the petition
and such value has been set out or stated in the notice or notices,
the value, of such land, estate, or interest, as stated and charged in
the petition shall, upon the hearing of the case, be accepted as final
and conclusive as to the right, title, estate and interest of all per-
sons and classes of persons whomsoever affected by the notice or
the notices which have been published and posted or served per-
sonally, except as to the right, title, estate and interest of any per-
son or party who has appeared in said case and who denied or dis-
puted such value; provided that if upon such hearing it shall ap-
pear that any of the parties are infants, or insane, or under other
legal disability, the court shall inquire into the right of such parties,
and if the court find that they or any of them are invested with any
actual claim of right, title, estate or interest in or to the land or
estate or interest to be condemned, or any part thereof, the court
shall ascertain and determine the value of such claim or claims, in-
dependent of any statement or charge in the petition upon the sub-
ject, and shall appoint a guardian ad litem for such person or per-
sons.

The court may, and upon the: demand or application of the
petitioner, or of any person owning or claiming any right, title,
estate or interest in or to the land, or in or to any part or parcel
thereof, or in or to any estate or interest in any part thereof, which
petitioner seeks to condemn, or having a claim for damages which
would result from the proposed condemnation, or having any claim
in or to the proceeds thereof, and who is entitled to be heard at such
hearing by the court upon the value of the land or any part there-
of, or of the estate or interest therein, proposed to be condemned,
or of any part thereof, or the amount of such damages, the court
shall in like manner ascertain and determine further.

(a) The value of any land, or of any tract or parcel of land, or of
any right or title or estate or interest in any land or tract or parcel
of land included within the boundary line set forth in the petition
to or in which any person who may be entitled to be heard at such
hearing by the court, asserts or claims any right, or title, or estate,
or interest, or claim of ownership, regardless of any and all con-
flicting claims of right, or title, or estate or interest in or to the
premises; or to or in which the special investigators appointed
under authority of this act, report for file with the record of the
case, that any other person has any real and well founded claim of
right, title, estate, interest, or ownership, regardless of any and all
conflicting claims of right, or title, or estate or interest in or to the
premises.

(b) The amount of the damages, if any, which would be sus-
tained by the adjacent or other property or properties of any per-
son who is entitled to be heard at such hearing of the court upon
the amount of such damages, by reason of the proposed con-
demnation and the taking of the land or any part thereof, or by the
use of the same for a public park or for public park purposes be-
yond the peculiar benefits that will accrue to such property or
properties from the acquisition of the land sought to be condemned,
and the use of the same for a public park or for public park pur-
poses.

(c) The value of any land or tract or parcel of land, or of any
right or title or estate or interest therein, included within the
boundary line set forth in the petition, the claim to which by any
person 1s disputed or denied by the petitioner or by any other per-
son who is entitled to be heard as to such value at such hearing:
and, where any such claim of title is disputed or denied as to a part
only of such land, or right or title or estate or interest in land, the
court shall determine the value of both the disputed and the un-
disputed parts thereof separately.

(d) The value of any land, or of any tract or parcel of land, or of
any right, or title, or estate or interest in any land or tract or parcel
of land, included within the boundary line set forth in the petition,
and the amount of incidental damages thereto which will result
from the proposed condemnation, in or to which it appears, or
there is reasonable ground to believe any infant, insane person or
person under legal disability has or may have a real and well
founded claim of right, title, estate or interest; also the amount of
incidental damages which will be suffered by any other property
or any such person as a result of the proposed condemnation.

(e) The value of any tract or parcel of land or of any estate or
interest therein within the boundary line set forth in the petition,
which the court may be of opinion it will be useful or necessary to
have ascertained and determined in the event that the amount of
the value thereof should be paid into the court for distribution
among claimants entitled thereto.

Upon the demand of the petitioner or of any person owning or
claiming any right, title, estate, or interest in the land or the estate
or interest to be condemned or having any claim in or to the pro-
ceeds thereof or who is entitled to any claim for damages which
might be sustained by such person as a result of the proposed
condemnation, and who is entitled to be heard at such hearing by
the court, upon the value of the land or estate or interest proposed
to be condemned, or of any part thereof, or upon the amount of
damages resulting from the proposed condemnation, the fact of
such value or amount of damages shall be submitted to and ascer-
tained by a jury under the instructions of the court upon the law
and upon the relevancy and the legal effects of evidence, in the
Same manner as is usual and customary in jury trials in cases at
law, without the necessity of a view of the premises by the jury.
And in no event shall it be required nor shall it be proper or per-
mitted, except as herein provided, for the court or judge to appoint
commissioners to go upon or to view the land to be condemned for
the purpose of making a report thereon as to value or compensation,
to the court, except that in all cases in which there is a substantial
and material controversy or dispute as to the value of the land or
the estate or interest proposed to be condemned, and upon the hear-
ing of which the evidence offered upon the subject of value is so
vague or uncertain or generally unsatisfactory as, in the opinion of
the court, to not justify or warrant a judgment of award being
based thereon, the court may appoint five disinterested freeholders,
resident in the county wherein the land in question is situated, anv
three or more of whom may act, for the purpose of going upon and
viewing said land and of ascertaining and of reporting to the court
a just compensation for said land or the estate or interest therein
proposed to be taken; and in appointing such commissioners the
court shall make any order defining their duties and fixing the time
or times for them to go upon and view the land and prescribing
such oath as they shall take before entering upon a performance
of their duties; but in no case shall commissioners be appointed to
go upon or view any land where, on account of the nature or loca-
tion of the land, if it is impossible or impracticable for the com-
missioners either to actually go upon the land, or having gone upon
it, to make a thorough examination of the land within a reasonable
time. Where such commissioners are appointed during the hearing
of a case, the further hearing of the case shall be adjourned or
continued until the coming in of the report of the commissioners;
and such report when made shall not be conclusive upon any party
to the case, but the same shall be received in the case and treated
as evidence, to be considered with any other evidence in the case
in arriving at the fact of value.

Section 13. Upon the value of the land or the estate or interest
therein, or of any part thereof, which is sought to be condemned,
being ascertained or determined, in accordance with the provisions
or any of the provisions of this act, judgment as in rem shall be
entered by the court, condemning the land, or estate or interest
therein, sought to be condemned, to the use of the petitioner upon
such petitioner paying into the custody of the court, for the use
and benefit of the person or persons entitled thereto, the sum or
sums ascertained or determined, as aforesaid; and such sum or
sums shall be stated or set out in said judgment as constituting the
award for the land or estate or interest condemned. Such judg-
ment, upon a compliance by the petitioner with the conditions
therein, shall be effective and sufficient to divest any and all right,
title, estate, claim and interest of the persons named or designated
or referred to in the petition, and of all other persons whomsoever
in and to the land, or the estate or interest therein, condemned, out
of them and each and every of them and to vest the same in the
petitioner, anything contained in any existing statute, law, or rule
of procedure in the State of Virginia, to the contrary notwithstand-
ing; except that in cases where publication and posting of notices
are dispensed with, the effect of said judgment shall be limited to
the rights, titles, estates, claims and interests of the person or per-
sons who have been personally served with notice. -

The foregoing judgment shall be final as to the condemnation
sought in the petition and as to the value of the land, or the estate
or interest therein, condemned, and the petitioner, or any party to
the suit who thinks himself aggrieved by said judgment may apply
for, and if granted, prosecute a writ of error or supersedeas thereto,
in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Virginia, relating
to appeals, writs of error and supersedeas; provided, that no
petition for such writ of error or supersedeas shall be presented
after thirty (30) days shall have elapsed from the date of said judg-
ment; and, provided further, that any writ of error or supersedeas,
in any case under the provisions of this act, shall be dismissed
unless the record with the petition, as required by the Code of Vir-
ginia is delivered to the clerk of the appellate court within sixty
(60) days from the date of said judgment.

Unless a writ of error or supersedeas shall have been granted
and record with the petition delivered to the clerk of the appellate
court, as above provided, or at any time after a dismissal of a writ
of error or supersedeas, in respect of any judgment allowing the
condemnation sought and making an award therefor, the usec
may pay the amount of the award, as stated or set out in tne
judgment of condemnation, into the custody of the court, and upon
such payment, the said petitioner shall not thereafter be in any % et
responsible for the disposition or distribution of the fund: so pee
into the custody of the court; and after such payment no ae
shall be brought by any person, whether such pefson appeare sie
not, to recover compensation for the taking of the land, oe :
estate or interest therein, condemned; except that in cases Ae ae
notice by publication and posting has been dispensed with, t ot oe
to the bringing of any action shall apply only to the person
parties who have been personally served with notice.
Section 14. The clerk of the court wherein condemnation is had,
shall, upon application of the petitioner, or of any interested person,
make and certify a copy of so much of the orders, judgments and
proceedings in the case as shall show such condemnation, including
therein a description of the land, or the estate or interest in the land,
condemned, and shall record the same in his deed book and index
it in the name and style of the case and also in the name of the
petitioner acquiring such land or estate or interest. The fees of
the clerk for recording shall be the same as for recording a deed,
and said fees, as well as the fees of the clerk for making the certified
copy, shall be paid by the petitioner or by the person applying for
said certified copy and at whose instance said recordation is made.

Section 15. Upon the award for the condemnation being paid
into the custody of the court or at any time thereafter, either in
term or in vacation, any party to the suit or any person having a
material interest in such fund may apply to the court or to the
judge for an order or judgment for the distribution of said fund or
any part thereof; and if upon such application it shall appear that
the petition for condemnation states or charges the person or per-
sons or classes of persons, who, in the opinion of the petitioner, are
invested with the superior or the better right or claim of title in
and to the land, or the estate or interest therein condemned in or
to the proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereof, and the ex-
tent or the relative proportions, as among such persons, of such
ownership or claim, and that the record in the suit does not dis-
close any denial or dispute, by any party or person in interest, of
such statement or charge in the petition, the court, if such applica-
tion is made in term, or the judge, if such application is made in
vacation, shall make an order, which shall be entered in the case
and which shall be forthwith carried out, directing that the fund,
after the payment therefrom of any taxes, as hereinafter provided,
be disbursed and distributed in accordance with said statement or
charge in the petition, among the parties or persons entitled there-
to; except that in respect of any parties appearing to be infants,
insane or under other legal disability, the court or the judge shall
inquire into their rights or claims, upon the evidence, independent
of any statement or charge in the petition; and any order for dis-
tribution shall conserve and protect the rights of such parties in and
to the fund; and to this end the court or the judge shall have power
to direct that a sufficient part of the fund be reserved in the custody
of the court for conserving and protecting the rights or claims of
such parties; and in the event the whole fund is distributed, to
require such indemnity from the person or persons receiving the
fund as in the discretion of the court or judge will fully conserve
and protect the rights and claims thereto of all parties or persons
who are under legal disability.

If at any time after the payment of said award into the custody
of the court it shall appear to the court or to the judge that there
is controversy among the claimants to the fund, as to the ownership
of same, or that any of the parties to the suit are infants or insane
or under other legal disability, the court or the judge shall make
and direct an order setting a time, which may be at a present term,
if the court be then in session, or at any succeeding regular or spe-
cial term for hearing the case and determining the rights and claims
of all persons entitled to the fund or to any interest or share there-
in; and such hearing may be adjourned from time to time or from
term to term, as the necessities of the case or of a full, complete
and just determination of the rights and claims of all persons in
interest may require; and in order to enable or to assist the court
in determining a proper disposition or distribution of the fund, the
court may have inquiries by a commissioner to ascertain what per-
sons are entitled thereto and in what proportions, and may make an
order of publication requiring all persons interested to appear be-
fore the commissioner and present their respective claims in order
that the same may be passed upon.

In order properly to determine conflicting rights or claims of
claimants to the fund, the court shall have power to direct issues
to be made between such claimants and to require them or any of
them to enter into such bond or security for the costs incident to or
arising upon a prosecution of their claims, as shall seem to the court
meet and proper; but no cost incident to or arising out of a trial or
a determination of such issues or out of a determination of the
ownership of the fund or the distribution or disbursement thereof
after the same has been paid into the custody of the court by the
petitioner shall be adjudged against the petitioner, except only, and
in the discretion of the court, in any such matter as to which the
petitioner shall have exercised his right to intervene under the pro-
visions of section number thirty-nine of this act.

On application to the court by any party in interest, the material
facts, if disputed or if in controversy, affecting the right or claim
of such party to the fund or to a part or share therein shall be
submitted to and ascertained by a jury under the instructions of
the court upon the evidence.

Upon a determination by the court or by the court and jury of
the rights and claims of the persons entitled to the fund, or any part
thereof, a judgment in accordance with such determination shall
be entered directing a disbursement of the fund and a distribution
of the same among the persons entitled. Such judgment shall be
final, and any party who thinks himself aggrieved thereby may ap-
ply for and prosecute a writ of error or supersedeas thereto accord-
ing to the provisions of section number thirteen of this act. Pro-
vided, nevertheless, that if it shall be brought to the attention of
the court that any person interested in the land so condemned, or
the fund arising therefrom, or a part or share thereof, is an infant,
insane person, or person under other legal disability, and such
situation is brought to the attention of the court before an order
distributing the fund or the part thereof in which such person
appears to be interested, is entered, a guardian ad litem shall be
appointed by the court for such person under such disability, and
the court shall hear and determine the rights of any such person,
regardless of any charges made, in the petition or admissions made
by other parties in interest ; and, provided, further, that in any case
wherein any such person is not represented in the proceedings had
prior to the final disbursement of the fund or any part thereof in
which he owns or is entitled to an interest, by a guardian or other
legal representative duly qualified to appear in such proceedings
and assert and maintain such interest, a right of action is hereby
expressly reserved to such person or his proper legal representa-
tives, to assert, maintain and recover the amount of such interest
in the fund from any person or persons to whom it may have been
paid, other than the petitioner, to the full extent of such payment,
at any time and for such period within which, under the laws of the
State of Virginia, he or his proper legal representative might have
asserted his right in and to the fund had it remained undistributed.
in the custody of the court.

Section 16. If any person having or claiming any right, title.
estate or interest in the land, or estate or interest therein, to be
condemned be an infant, or insane person, or person under other
legal disability, and such fact be made to appear, the court-or the
judge shall have power to appoint a guardian ad litem to appear
for and to represent such person.

Section 17. Any one or more tracts or parcels of land, and any
kind of estate or interest in one or several tracts or parcels of lands,
whether or not such estate or interest is of like kind and degree in
the several tracts or parcels of land, the acquisition of which 1s
desired by the petitioner for the same uses and purposes, whether
owned or claimed by the same or by different persons and whether
adjacent to and joining each other or entirely separated and wholly
removed each from the other, may be condemned in one proceeding.

Section 18. All taxes due or exigible upon the land or the
estate or interest therein, condemned, at the time that title thereto
shall be vested in the petitioner under the judgment of condemna-
tion as aforesaid, shall be paid out of the sum or sums paid into the
custody of the court, in virtue of such judgment; and to this end
the proper tax collectors of the State and of the county, city or
town wherein the land is situated, may appear in court or before
the clerk of the court to fix the amount thereof.

Section 19. At all times during the pendency of any condemna-
tion proceedings under the provision of this act, the court or the
judge shall have power to make and direct any order in the case, not
inconsistent with the provisions of this act, which in the opinion
of the court or the judge is necessary or proper to correct any error
or omission in the course of the proceeding, or which will advance
to an early consummation any condemnation authorized hereunder
or accomplish an early distribution, among the persons entitled, of
any fund paid into the custody of the court; and the court or the
judge shall at all times have power to make and direct any order
allowing any amendment or amendments to the petition or to any
pleading, or extending the time or times for appearances and plead-
ings, and any order directing or permitting an additional publica-
tion or posting or a republication or reposting of notice or the re-
issuance of any notice which, in the circumstances of any case, shall
seem meet to the court or to the judge; and the court or the judge
shall in every case have discretionary power to enlarge or to restrict
the time or the times, as herein provided, for the performance of
any duty, or duties imposed upon the clerk of the court or the
sheriff or sheriffs, and to make any order in respect thereof, either
before or after the time or times as herein provided shall have
passed, as may seem to the court or the judge necessary or proper
in any circumstances which may arise in order to bring about the
periormance of such duty or duties with the least delay or con-
usion.

Section 20. The judgment of condemnation and the award there-
under shall in any case conducted under the provisions of this act,
be conclusive as to any and all damage or damages resulting from
any condemnation accomplished hereunder to the adjacent or other
property of the owner or owners of the land or the estate or interest
therein taken, or to the property of any other person or persons;
provided there has been incorporated in the notice provided in sec-
tion number nine of this act, and published and posted as herein
required the following notice and warning, which may be inserted
in said notice between the word “thereof” (in the phrase ending
“proceeds arising upon a condemnation thereof”) and the word “to”
(in the phrase beginning “to appear before the said circuit court”),
namely, and all other persons whomsoever, whose property or
properties will be damaged by the taking of the herein referred to
land (or estate or interest) or by the use of the same, for the pur-
pose and object herein stated, by the petitioner, beyond the peculiar
benefits that will accrue to such property or properties of such
persons from the acquisition of the land (or estate or interest)
sought to be condemned and the use of same for the purpose and
object shown.

And provided, further, that in the event of any of such persons
appearing and making claim on account of such incidental damage
or damages, their claims shall be considered and heard and deter-
mined in the same manner and under the same conditions as herein
provided for the consideration and hearing and determination of the
rights and claims of the owners of the land, or the estate or in-
terests therein, sought to be condemned; and upon any of such
persons establishing a legal claim to such incidental damage or
damages, the court, in the judgment of condemnation, shall include
in such judgment an award therefor to the extent of the amount
of such damage or damages.
Section 21. At any time before, but not after entry of an order
or judgment of distribution of the fund or award paid into the
custody of court as aforesaid, or any part thereof, any person may
appear before the court or the judge and make application to have
himself made a party to the case; and upon good and sufficient
cause shown and upon complying with such order as the court or
judge shall make in respect of such persons prosecuting his claim
to the fund or to a part thereof, such person shall become a party
and upon establishing his claim, shall be entitled to share in the
distribution of the fund or of the part of the fund then remaining
in the custody of the court.

Section 22. In any case the petitioner shall have the right at any
time, either before or after a judgment of condemnation has been
entered, to dismiss the proceeding in respect of all or any part of
the land or any estate or interest in the land sought to be con-
demned, which for any reason the petitioner decides not to acquire,
and upon the petitioner’s application an order of dismissal as to any
land or estate or interest which is not desired, shall be entered; but
such order shall in no wise nor to any extent affect the remaining
land or estate or interest involved in the suit or interfere in any way
with the condemnation of the same.

Section 23, In any case wherein condemnation proceedings are
instituted and maintained under the provisions of this act, the court
or judge thereof, by the entry of an appropriate order in the pro-
ceedings, and upon such terms and conditions, and the taking of
such oath of office as may be prescribed therein, may clothe one
or more special investigators, duly appointed under the provisions
of section eight (8) of this act, or one or more members of any
board of appraisal commissioners, duly appointed under the pro-
visions of section twenty-eight (28) of this act, with like rights,
powers, duties, and obligations to those conferred by law upon the
sheriff or sergeant of the county or city wherein such proceedings
are pending, with relation to the execution, within the county
wherein such proceedings are pending, of any or all orders entered
by the court or the judge thereof, in the course of such proceedings,
including the service and return of process, and the service or post-
ing of any and all notices and the return thereof, authorized or
required under the provisions of this act. Any lawful act dane hw
any person thus clothed with such powers, duties, or obligations.
shall have like sanctions and shall be as effective and binding, upon
all persons whomsoever, as if such act had been done by the sheriff
or sergeant of the county or city, wherein such proceedings are
pending, in his own proper person. No fee or special compensation
will be allowed, or collected, or demanded, for, or on account of any
services rendered by any special investigator or member of a board
of appraisal commissioners under authority of the provisions of
this section.

Section 24. In condemnation proceedings instituted or main-
tained under the provisions of this act, the petitioner may act
through any duly designated and appointed representative, agent
or attorney expressly appointed in writing for that purpose; and
the act of any such agent or attorney in the institution and mainte-
nance of such proceedings and in all matters arising therein shall
be taken and held to be the act of the petitioner at all times during
which a properly certified copy of the designation and appointment
of such person is filed with the record of the condemnation pro-
ceedings, and does not affirmatively appear from the record thereof
to have been withdrawn.

Section 25. All lawful fees, costs, and allowances, all lawful dis-
bursements and expenditures of any officer, employee or appointee
of the court incurred in or arising out of any condemnation pro-
ceedings had, under the provisions of this act, and not otherwise
provided for, and all lawful compensation and allowances to any
person employed by or under the direction or the authority of the
court or judge for the furtherance of such proceedings which are
allowed and approved by the court or the judge thereof, up to and
including the entry of the judgment, as in rem, condemning the
land, or estate or interest therein, sought to be condemned, may be
taxed as a part of the costs of the case and shall be paid by the
petitioner upon the order or direction of the court or judge thereof.
and from time to time, in the discretion of the court or judge thereof,
without waiting the termination of the proceedings; provided. that
no allowance for the appearance of any owner or claimant, and no
fee or allowance for any witness or attorney shall be taxed against
the petitioner, save only in the event that a motion to disapprove
or decline to accept any finding of a board of appraisal commis-
sioners, as provided in section thirty-five hereof, is sustained, and
results in the final ascertainment and determination of a finding of
an amount or of value or values higher or greater than the finding
which the court disapproved or declined to accept, whereupon the
court shall make such provisions for taxation of witness fees and
allowances in such reasonable numbers as may be deemed Just.

Section 26. From time to time, after the filing of the petition, the
court or the judge thereof, may enter an order directing the petition-
er to make a special deposit with the clerk of the court, subject to
the order of the court or the judge thereof, sufficient to meet all
lawful fees, costs, disbursements and expenses arising from or in-
curred on account of the proceedings had upon the petition, which
are properly chargeable to the petitioner and which may have be-
come due or payable at the time when such order 1s entered, tinder
penalty for failure so to do of the suspension of the proceedings,
unless and until such deposit shall have been made. With the
approval of the court or the judge thereof the petitioner may trom
time to time make special deposits with the clerk of the court, sub-
ject to the order of the court or the judge thereof, to provide for
the payment of fees, costs, disbursements, and expenses arising
from or incurred on account of the proceedings had upon the peti-
tion, which are or may become properly chargeable to the petitioner,
as and when they become due and payable.

Section 27. Where condemnation proceedings under the provi-
sions of this act are pending in two or more counties in two or more
judicial districts wherein and whereby a single tract of land or
contiguous tracts of land are sought to be condemned for the estab-
lishment of the same public park, the judges of the several judicial
districts or of any of such districts, may, in their discretion, meet
and confer with each other for the purpose of securing greater
uniformity in the orders, forms, practice, and procedure in such
proceedings, provided that nothing which may be said or done at
such meetings or conferences will be held to have any binding ef-
fect upon the individual action of the several judges taking part in
such meetings or conferences. The actual and necessary disburse-
ment for travel, lodging, and subsistence of each judge taking part
in any such meeting or conference may be certified by him to the
clerk of any of his courts in which such condemnation proceedings
are pending, and taxed as a part of the cost thereof.

Section 28. At any time after the court has made and directed
the order setting the case for hearing as provided in section num-
ber twelve hereof, and before the “fact” of the value of the land
or estate or interest proposed to be condemned has been submitted
to a jury as provided in section number twelve hereof, the court or
the judge thereof may, and, upon the demand of the petitioner, or
of any person owning or claiming any right, title, estate, or interest
in the land sought to be condemned, or having any real claim in
or to the proceeds thereof or for compensation for incidental dam-
ages arising therefrom, who is entitled to be heard at the hearing
by the court provided in section number twelve hereof, upon the
value of the land or estate or interest proposed to be condemned,
the court or the judge thereof shall submit for ascertainment and
determination the fact of the value of the land, or any estate or
interest therein, sought to be condemned, and the fact of the values
and amounts of any claim to proceeds or incidental damages arising
from the proposed condemnation, and the facts or any of them
which the court is empowered to ascertain and determine in sub-
sections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (e) of section number twelve hereof,
to one or more boards of appraisal commissioners appointed and
constituted as hereinafter set forth; and in the event of such sub-
mission the court or the judge thereof shall enter an appropriate
order or orders continuing or adjourning all further proceedings
upon the demand or demands of any person or persons for the sub-
mission of the fact of such value or values or amounts to a jury,
under the provisions of the last paragraph of section (12) hereof,
until the fact of such value or values or amounts shall have been
ascertained and determined upon the report or reports of such
board or boards of appraisal commissioners, whereupon all such
proceedings shall be dismissed without day provided that 1f tor
any reason it should prove impracticable thus to ascertain and
determine such fact, or facts, and it appears that the question of
such fact or facts is still before the court for adjudication, the court
or the judge thereof shall upon motion of any of the persons above
mentioned set aside or vacate the.order or orders continuing or
adjourning such proceedings.

Section 29. The board or boards of appraisal commissioners
mentioned in section number twenty-eight hereof shall consist of
three members, any two of whom may act, each of whom shall have
the like qualifications, hold office upon like terms, and shall be
entitled to the like compensation and allowances for expenses, and
shall have like powers as to the administration and certification of
oaths, and the employment of technical and clerical assistants, as
are provided for special investigators in section number eight here-
of. The special investigators mentioned in section number eight
or any of them may be appointed as members of any board of ap-
praisal commissioners, and the same person or persons may be
appointed to two or more such boards, but no special investigator
or appraisal commissioner shall be entitled to demand or receive
for his services in either or both capacities or upon two or more
such boards more than twelve dollars per diem for each day in
which he has been engaged in the performance of such duties. In
ascertaining and determining any fact or facts of value or the
amount of any real claim against the proceeds or of incidental dam-
ages arising out of the proposed condemnation, which may be sub-
mitted to them, the appraisal commissioners, acting as a board, and
the several appraisal commissioners, individually, may, under the
direction and counsel of the court, and upon like conditions, take
like lawful measures and do like lawful acts, and have recourse
to like sources of information as are authorized and permitted in
the determination of facts by the special investigators mentioned
in section number eight hereof; provided, nevertheless, that no
report of such fact or facts of value or amount of proceeds or dam-
ages shall be submitted by any board of appraisal, until and unless
the petitioner and all and every person owning or claiming any
right, estate, or interest in the land or the estate or interest to be
condemned with reference to which the ascertainment and deter-
mination of such fact or facts has been submitted to such board, or
having any real claim or interest in or to the proceeds thereof, or
in or to incidental damages to property resulting from such con-
demnation, and who has entered his appearance and is entitled to
be heard at the hearing by the court provided in section number
twelve hereof, upon the value of such land, or estate, or interest to
be condemned, or the amount of such proceeds or incidental dam-
ages, shall have been given an opportunity to be heard by himself
or by counsel, and to submit such evidence, including the sworn
testimony of himself and his witnesses relative and pertinent to the
fact of such value or values or amount of damages as he may desire
to bring to the attention of the board, after due notice of the time
and place of such hearing. Unless otherwise expressly ordered by
the court or the judge thereof in a particular case, the testimony
thus taken need not be reduced to writing.

Due and sufficient notice of the time and place of such hearings
hy such boards shall consist of the entry of an order by the court
or the judge thereof fixing the time and place therefor, the posting
of a copy of such order at the front door of the courthouse or at
the usual place for posting legal notices in or about the courthouse,
and the mailing by the clerk or by any member of any board of
appraisal commissioners of a copy of the order to the address of
such owner or claimant set forth in his answer or pleading as
required in section number seven hereof, all not less than ten days
before the time set in the order for the hearing, or, by special order
of the court or judge thereof, due notice shall consist of publication
of the time and place of any such hearing or hearings once a week,
for two or more consecutive weeks, in some newspaper published
in the county in which the land proposed to be condemned is
situated, or in his discretion in two newspapers, published in ad-
joining counties, such publication and proof thereof to be made
substantially in the form and manner, mutatis mutandis, herein-
before prescribed for publication and proof of publication of notice
of the day fixed for the hearing of the petition. Any one or more
of the board of appraisal commissioners attending at the time and
place set for such hearing, may adjourn from time to time, to the
same place or to any other place within the county, until the busi-
ness Shall be finished. With the consent of the board of appraisal
commissioners, such hearings may be had at any time or place
within the State of Virginia which may be mutually agreed upon
by the petitioner and such owner or claimant.

Section 30. Any person entitled to be heard at the hearing pro-
vided for in section number twelve hereof, upon the value of the
land, or estate or interest to be condemned, may file with the clerk
of the court, objection, if any he have, to the submission of any fact
or facts of value or amount of proceeds or damages, as to which he
is entitled to be heard, to the board of appraisal commissioners ap-
pointed by the court to ascertain and determine such fact or facts
or to any member thereof, at any time prior to the date set for the
hearing thereon by the board of appraisal commissioners; and where
any such objection has been thus filed the board of appraisal com-
missioners will, upon the request in writing of such person sub-
mitted at the time and place set for the hearing, suspend further
proceedings with relation to the ascertainment and determination of
such fact or facts until the further order of the court or judge there-
of, provided that if no such written request is submitted at the time
and place set for the hearing, the objection or objections filed in
the clerk’s office shall be deemed to have been abandoned or with-
drawn.
Section 31. Such board or boards of appraisal commissioners,
after giving the parties entitled to be heard an opportunity to he
heard, and after hearing and considering the pertinent and relevant
evidence which Stich parties may desire to bring to their attention.
as provided in section number twenty-nine hereof, and after they
have ascertained and determined the fact or facts of values or
amount of incidental damages submitted to them, as herein pro-
vided, shall prepare a report of their findings in form and manner
to be prescribed by the court, or the judge thereof, and shall submit
their report to the court or the judge thereof, by whom, neverthe-
less, it may be returned to the board, with such comment or criti-
cism as to its form, or as to any failure of responsiveness to the
order directing the submission of fact to the board, as he may deem
proper, and directing the filing of a new report; provided, however,
that he shall not give any instructions directing any change or
modification in the new report as to the findings of fact or facts of
value or the amount of real claims against the ,,roceeds or of dam-
ages arising out of the condemnation, in the original report.

If the report be thus returned to the board, it will, as soon
thereafter as practicable, and after such further deliberation and
examination of new evidence or reconsideration of the evidence al-
ready submitted, as it may deem proper or necessary, make and
submit a new report to the court or the judge thereof, and in such
new report, it may in its discretion and as a result of such delibera-
tion, wholly disregard the form, the substance, and the findings
in the original report. The court or the judge thereof may return
such new report or reports to the board as often as may be neces-
sary, until and unless a new report is submitted in proper form
and responsive to the order directing the submission of fact to the
board for ascertainment and determination.

section 32. The court or the judge thereof shall endorse upon
the original report, or the new report, if the original has been re-
turned to the board as hereinbefore authorized, an order directing
that it be held in the custody of one of the members of the hoard
designated in the order until a day fixed in the order, not earlier
than six months after the day certain fixed for the appearance and
pleading of owners and claimants in pursuance of section number
seven hereof, set out in the original order or notice made or di-
rected in the case under the provisions of that section, upon which
day or as soon thereafter as practicable, the report shall be filed
with the record of the case in the office of the clerk. In the dis-
cretion of the court or the judge thereof, and in furtherance of the
orderly and efficient conduct of the case, the period during which
the report is to be held by the members of the board designated tor
that purpose may be extended from time to time, until all or a
substantial part of the fact or facts of value or amounts of. in-
cidental damages or real claims in or to the proceeds of the pro-
posed condemnation, necessary to be ascertained and determined in
the case, have been ascertained and determined by the hoard or
boards of appraisal commissioners appointed for that purpose; and,
in the exercise of a like discretion, the court or the judge thereof,
may take such measures as may be deemed proper, to prevent the
contents of the report from becoming known to the owners or
claimants or to the public, prior to the date upon which it is ordered
to be filed with the records of the case in the clerk's office. But
the fact that the contents of the report should in any instance be-
come known to the owners or claimants or the public shall in no
wise affect or impair the validity of any of the proceedings.

Section 33. Upon the filing of a report submitted by a board of
appraisal commissioners, as hereinbefore provided, the findings of
fact or facts set out therein as to values, or as to the amoynt of
incidental damages or claims to proceeds arising out of the pro-
posed condemnation, shall be binding and conclusive in all matters
arising in the condemnation proceedings on the petitioner and on
all persons affected by notice, personally served upon them, and
upon all persons whomsoever in any case wherein the proceedings
are had upon the notice and newspaper publication, warning all per-
sons whomsoever, as provided in section number nine hereof, ex-
cept as hereinafter provided. At any time during the pendency of
the proceedings, and upon notice to the interested parties entitled
to be heard at the hearing provided in section number twelve
hereof, the court or the judge thereof, for good cause shown, and in
his discretion, if he is of opinion that by so doing he will be enabled
to correct any error or omission in the proceedings, or advance
to an early consummation any condemnation authorized hereunder,
or accomplish an earlier distribution, among the persons entitled,
of any fund paid into the custody of the court, may decline to
accept, or disapprove, or set aside any such finding or findings of
fact or facts, and in that event, he may, in his discretion, either
resubmit such fact or facts to the same board of appraisal commis-
sioners, by whom it was filed, or to another board of appraisal com-
missioners, if it appears that the ascertainment and determination
of such fact or facts still continues to be useful or necessary for the
full and final determination of the case.

Provided, nevertheless, anything set out above in this section,
or in any law, statute, or rule of procedure now in force in this
State to the contrary notwithstanding, that any finding or findings
of fact or facts as to the value or the values of the land sought to
be condemned, or of any estate or interest therein sought to be
condemned, or of any parcel or tract of land included therein, or of
the estate or interest therein sought to be condemned, and any
findings of fact or facts as to the amount of incidental damages to
any lands or any estate or interest therein wheresoever located,
which will result from the proposed condemnation, shall be and
become final and conclusive and not subject to review in or by any
court, in all matters arising in the condemnation proceedings, as to
the petitioner and all persons affected by the notice personally
served upon them in pursuance of the order made and directed as
prescribed in section number seven hereof, and as to all persons
whomsoever in any case wherein the proceedings are had upon a
newspaper publication of notice, as provided in section number
nine hereof, warning generally “all persons whomsoever,” as pro-
vided in the notice of publication, upon the filing of a report sub-
mitted by a board of appraisal commissioners in the clerk’s office,
as hereinbefore provided, setting forth such finding or findings of
fact or facts, unless the court or the judge thereof declines to accept,
or disapproves any such finding or findings of fact or facts, upon
the motion of the petitioner or some person interested in such
finding or findings of fact or facts, and entitled to be heard at the
hearing by the court, provided in section number twelve hereof,
upon the value of the land or estate or interest proposed to be con-
demned, or the incidental damages or proceeds arising from the
proposed condemnation thereof, which said motion shall pray the
court or the judge thereof to decline to accept or to disapprove any
such finding or findings of fact or facts, and, to serve its purpose,
must have been, filed with the records of the case in the clerk’s
office within ten days after notice of the filing of the report, in form
and manner prescribed by the court or judge, has been mailed to
the person filing such motion, and, whether such notice has or has
not been mailed, within sixty (60) days after the filing of the report
in the clerk’s office.

Section 34. The provisions of section number thirty-three, to the
contrary notwithstanding, if, through oversight or otherwise, con-
flicting findings as to the value of the same land or right, title,
estate or interest therein, or the amount of claims to proceeds or
damages of any owner or claimant, shall be filed by special in-
vestigators or a board or boards of appraisal commissioners as
hereinbefore provided, a finding by a board of appraisal commis-
sioners shall prevail over a conflicting finding by special investiga-
tors, to the extent of the conflict; and within either of such classes
of findings the findings first filed shall prevail over any subsequent
conflicting finding, to the extent of the conflict; and if it does not
affirmatively appear which findings was filed first, the highest of
such conflicting findings of values or amounts shall prevail; and to
the extent of such conflict the finding or findings which do not pre-
vail shall be deemed and held to be null and void: Provided, that
any such finding of fact, which becomes final and conclusive under
the provisions of the last paragraph of section number thirty-three
hereof, and not subject to review except on motion, as herein pre-
scribed, shall prevail over all other conflicting findings of fact ex-
cept findings of like class and dignity, as to which the rule set out
above shall apply. |

Section 35. Motions filed in contemplation or in pursuance of
the provisions of the last paragraph of section number thirty-three
hereof, shall set out clearly and specifically the grounds upon which
the court is moved to decline to accept or to disapprove any finding
or findings, and shall be accompanied by affidavits supporting any
fact or facts alleged in the motion, upon which the movant relies.
Any interested person entitled to be heard upon the motion may file
his answer thereto, together with supporting affidavits, within such
time as the court or judge thereof may prescribe, by rule or order,
and, upon timely application, the court or the judge thereof may
permit, on such terms as may be prescribed, any modification or
amplification of such motion, answer, or supporting affidavits. The
court or the judge thereof may dispose of any such motion, on the
motion, answer, and the accompanying affidavits; unless he is of
opinion that a hearing should be granted upon the motion. No
such motion shall be sustained or granted unless it affirmatively
appears:

(a) That the finding or findings in question are so manifestly
inadequate or excessive when considered together with the evidence
before the court or judge thereof, as to justify a finding that in mak-
ing such finding or findings the board of appraisal commissioners,
or some of them were affected or influenced by fraud, corruption,
partiality, or some error, mistake or misapprehension of facts as to
the identity of the land with reference to which such finding or
findings were made, or some mistake of law as to the nature and
effect of the evidence, with reference to which such finding or nnd
ings were made.

(b) That the finding or findings are not responsive to the ques-
tion of fact or facts of value of land or lands, or estate, or interest
therein, or of incidental damages which were submitted to the
board.

(c) That for any reason the finding or findings in question are
so uncertain, or indefinite, that the facts thus found cannot and
will not serve any useful purpose in the adjudication of any ques-
tion which it is or may be necessary to adjudicate and determine
for the full, complete and final disposition of the condemnation pro-
ceedings before the court, and all questions arising or which may
arise therein.

Section 36. If the court or judge sustains a motion made as
provided in section number thirty-three hereof, he shall, upon the
motion of the petitioner or of any interested party, and in his dis-
cretion, either resubmit such fact or facts, or any modification
thereof, which the circumstances of the case require, to the same
board of appraisal commissioners by which the report was filed, or
to another board of appraisal commissioners; or he may permit the
amendment of such report by order entered with the record of the
case setting forth the nature and extent of such amendments, with
the consent of the petitioner and the interested persons entitled to
be heard at the hearing provided in section number twelve hereof
as to such finding or findings, and, in like manner he may resubmit
the facts found by any such boards of appraisal commissioners, as
often as the necessities of the case require.

Section 37. If the court or judge thereof declines to sustain or
dismiss a motion filed as provided in the last paragraph of section
number thirty-three hereof, he shall direct the entry in the record
of an order of dismissal in which, in his discretion, he may set forth
the grounds upon which such order is based. Except as herein-
after provided, such order thus filed shall be final and conclusive, in

ll matters arising in the condemnation proceedings, anything in
ny law, statute, or rule of procedure now in force in this State to
he contrary notwithstanding; and such order shall not be subject
O review in or by any appellate court, except on the ground of the
repugnancy of this act or of some other Taw, or of the proceedings
upon which the order was based, to the Constitution of this State
or of the United States. The petitioner or any party to the suit or
person entitled t6 be heard, who thinks himself aggrieved by such
order may apply for, and if granted, prosecute a writ of error or
supersedeas thereto, in accordance with the provisions of the Code
of Virginia relating to appeals, writs of error and supersedeas, pro-
vided that no writ of error or supersedeas shall be issued except on
the ground of the repugnancy of this act or of some other statute,
or of the proceedings on which the order is based, to the Constitu-
tion of the State or the United States; and provided, further, that
no petition for such writ of error or supersedeas shall be presented
after thirty (30) days shall have elapsed from the date of the entry
of said order; and provided further, that any writ of error or super-
sedeas in any case under the provisions of this act, shall be dismiss-
ed unless the transcript of the record with the petition as required
by section sixty-three hundred and thirty-nine of the Code of Vir-
ginia, is delivered to the clerk of the appellate court within sixty
(60) days from the date of the entry of such order.

Section 38. In any case conducted under the provisions of this
act, in which there has been incorporated in the notice provided in
section number nine hereof, the notice and warning touching in-
cidental damages set out in section number twenty hereof; and in
which the proceedings are had upon newspaper publication of
notice, warning “all persons whomsoever,” as provided in section
number twelve hereof; and wherein the reports of a board or
boards of appraisal commissioner disclose a final and conclusive
ascertainment and determination of the value of the land described
in the petition or of any estate or interest therein sought to be
condemned, or the value of any parcel or tract contained therein.
or of any estate or interest therein sought to be condemned; and
of the amount of incidental damages which will result from the
proposed condemnation or use of land or estate or interest therein
proposed to be condemned, for a public park or for park purposes,
on account of which any person who has appeared and is entitled
to be heard has submitted claim, or on account of which it appears
from any report of special investigators filed as hereinbefore pro-
vided, any infant, insane person, or person under legal disability,
or any person not entitled to be heard at the hearing provided in
section number twelve, hereof, has a real and well founded claim,
or on account of which it may otherwise have been made to appear
to the satisfaction of the court that any infant, insane person, or
person under other legal disability has any real and well founded
claim; and wherein the record discloses an ascertainment and deter-
mination by a board or boards of appraisal commissioners of the
fact or facts of value of all, or substantially all claims of right. or
title, or estate, or interest, by such owners or claimants in or to the
land or estate or interest therein proposed to be condemned; or in
or to any parcel or tract contained therein, or the estate or interest
therein proposed to be condemned the value of which has been as-
certained or determined as above set out; and amount of any real
claim which any of such persons or any other person who has ap-
peared and ts entitled to be heard, may have in the proceeds of the
land, or estate, or interest therein sought to be condemned, or of
the said parcel or tract contained therein or the estate or interest
therein sought to be condemned; then, and in that event, but not
earlier than six months after the day certain on or before which all
interested persons were warned to appear and answer or plead as
fixed in the order of notice provided in section number nine hereof,
the court shall, upon the motion and praver of the petitioner, enter
judgment in rem, condemning the land, or the estate or interest
therein sought to be condemned, or the tract or parcel contained
therein, or the estate or interest therein sought to be condemned,
with reference to which the above set out findings are disclosed by
the record, to the use of the petitioner, in the manner, and form,
and with the effect prescribed for the entry of judgments in rem
in the first paragraph of section number thirteen hereof, upon the
petitioner paying into the custody of the court, for the use and
benefit of the person or persons entitled thereto the sum or sums
ascertained or determined as aforesaid as the value of the land or
estate or interest therein or of any such parcel or tract or estate
or interest therein, for which judgment as in rem is prayed to he
entered, together with the amount of the incidental damages result-
ing from the proposed condemnation ascertained and determined as
aforesaid, and such sum or sums shall be stated or set out in said
judgment as constituting the award for the land or estate or interest
condemned.

Section 39. In any case conducted under the provisions of this
act, in. which there has been incorporated in the notice provided in
section number nine hereof, the notice and warning touching in-
cidental damages set out in section number twenty hereof; and in
which the proceedings are had upon newspaper publication of
notice, warning “all persons whomsoever,” as provided in section
number twelve hereof; and in which the petitioner is seeking to
condemri the fee simple title to any land described by metes and
bounds or legal subdivisions set out in the petition; and, (a)
wherein the reports of a board or boards of appraisal commissioners
filed as hereinbefore provided, set forth final and conclusive findings,
of the fact or facts of value of the fee simple estate in each and
every separate parcel or tract of land within the boundary lines
set out.in the petition, regardless of any and all conflicting claims
of right, or title, or estate, or interest in or to the premises, to or
in which, any claim or right, or title, or estate, or interest, has been
set up in the course of the proceedings, by any person or persons
entitled to be heard at the hearing provided in section twelve
hereof, upon the value of the land, or estate, or interest therein,
proposed to be condemned; or to or in which it appears from any
report of special investigators filed as hereinbefore provided, any
infant, insane person, or person under legal disability, or any other
person not entitled to be heard at the hearing provided in section
twelve hereof, upon the value of the land, or estate, or interest
therein proposed to be condemned, has a real and well founded
title or claim of right, title, estate or interest; or to or in which it
may have otherwise been made to appear to the satisfaction of the
court that any infant, insane person, or person under other legal
disability has any title or claim of right, title, estate or interest;
(b) wherein the record discloses an ascertainment and determina-
tion by a board or boards of appraisal commissioners of the amount
of incidental damages which will result from the proposed con-
demnation or use of the land for a public park or park purposes,
to which any of such persons and any other person who may have
appeared and submitted claim therefor as provided in the notice
published in pursuance of section number nine hereof, are entitled
under any claim made by them or which may or might be lawfully
advanced in their behalf if they are infants, insane persons, or per-
sons under other legal disability; (c) wherein the record discloses
an ascertainment and determination by a board or boards of ap-
praisal commissioners of the fact or facts of value of all, or sub-
stantially all claims of right, or title, or estate, or interest, by such
owners or claimants in or to the land, or estate, or interest therein
proposed to be condemned; (d) wherein the record discloses an
ascertainment and determination by a board or boards of appraisal
commissioners of the amount of any real claim which any of such
persons or any other person who has appeared and is entitled to be
heard, may have in the proceeds of the land, or estate or interest
therein sought to be condemned; then, and in that event, but not
earlier than six months after the day certain set out in the news-
paper publication of notice on or before which all interested persons
were warned to appear and plead, fixed in the order of notice pro-
vided in section number nine hereof, the court shall, upon the
motion and prayer of the petitioner, enter judgment as in rem, con-
demning the land thus described and sought to be condemned to
the use of the petitioner in the manner and form and with the effect
prescribed for the entry of judgments in rem in the first paragraph
of section number thirteen hereof, but conditioned upon the peti-
tioner paying into the custody of the court, for the use and benefit
of the person or persons entitled thereto, the sum total of the
amounts so ascertained and determined to be the value of the fee
simple estate in the various parcels or tracts of land mentioned in
subdivision (a) of this section, and of the amounts of incidental
damages mentioned in subdivision (b) of this section, after deduct-
ing from such sum total, upon the application of the petitioner, the
values or amounts included therein which relate to any “tract or
any part of a tract or any estate or any interest in any tract” which
the petitioner decides not to acquire and as to which an order of
dismissal is or has been entered under the provisions of section
number twenty-two hereof; and deducting further, from such sum
total, the amount of any finding of value or incidental damages
which affirmatively appears from the record, or is shown to the
court upon such motion and prayer for judgment, to be a duplica-
tion or repetition of another finding of value or incidental damages
included in such total sum, which was ascertained and determined
with reference to the same tract or parcel of land or to some part
thereof. :

Such sum shall be stated or set out in said judgment as con-
stituting the award for the land or estate or interest condemned.
But in any case wherein the petitioner, files with the motion and
prayer for such judgment, a denial or a statement disputing the
right, or title, or estate, or interest, or any part of such right, or
title, or estate, or interest claimed by or for any person or persons
in, or to the land, or any estate, or interest therein sought to be
condemned, such person or persons shall not be entitled to an order
or judgment for the distribution of the fund thus paid into the
custody of the court until and unless he or they shall have estab-
lished his or their claim of right, or title, or estate, or interest in
or to the land, or any estate, or interest therein sought to be con-
demned in so far as his or their claim thereto is thus denied or dis-
puted by the petitioner; and the petitioner will be entitled to
intervene in any proceedings had for the distribution of the value
of such right, or title, or estate, or interest, or any part thereof
thus denied or disputed, and to recover any part of the fund paid
into the custody of the court which might be paid to such person
or persons, but for the failure of such person or persons to establish
his or their right thereto, and to which the court finds there was no
real and well founded claim before the court at the time when such
judgment in rem was entered.

Section 40. Payment by the petitioner to the treasurer of the
State of Virginia, of any sum or sums of money for deposit in a
special fund, to be held subject to the order of the court wherein
condemnation proceedings conducted under the provisions of this
act are pending, shall be deemed and held to be payment into the
custody of such court, as that phrase is used in this act; and, the
treasurer of the State of Virginia is hereby authorized and directed
to receive, to hold in a special fund, and to disburse such sum or
sums of money subject to the order of such court.

Section 41. In any case wherein a judgment in rem condemning
land, or an estate or interest therein, is entered as provided in sec-
tion number thirteen hereof, and wherein the petitioner has paid
into the custody of the court the sum or sums stated or set out in
said judgment as constituting the award for the land or the estate
or interest condemned, the court shall, upon the application of the
petitioner, enter an appropriate order setting forth such fact, and
expressly discharging the petitioner from any further obligation
or duty with regard thereto, and declaring that the petitioner shall
not thereafter be in any wavy responsible for the disposition or dis-
tribution of the fund so paid into the custody of the court, and the
clerk of the court wherein condemnation is had shall, upon the ap-
plication of the petitioner, or of any interested party, include said
order in the certified copy and the record in his deed book of the
orders, judgments and proceedings prescribed in section fourteen
of this act.

Section 42. If any part or provision of this act be held uncon-
stitutional, such ruling shall not be held to invalidate any other part
or provision hereof, unless such is a necessary and manifest effect
of such ruling.

Section 43. In any case wherein public or private cemeteries
are condemned under the provisions of this act, the petitioner shall
have the right and is hereby vested with power to acquire by con-
demnation proceedings, purchase or other lawful means for the
transfer of title, other lands or burial places to which the bodies and
monuments or other structures may be moved from such public or
private cemeteries. In the event of condemnation of such ceme-
teries, all the rights of the State in and to the lands shall pass to
and vest in the petitioner for its uses, as set forth in the petition.
It shall be the duty of the petitioner in such cases, upon the request
of any interested party, to remove the bodies and monuments or
other structures to the lands or burial places acquired for such pur-
pose, and to re-inter the bodies and re-set the monuments, under
the direction and to the satisfaction of the court in which the con-
demnation proceedings were brought, unless by mutual agreement
with the interested parties, some other arrangement is made for the
disposition of the bodies. If the parties in interest fail to agree
as to the location and area of the lands or burial places in which the
petitioner proposes to re-inter the bodies and on which to re-set the
monuments and other structures, the same and all questions which
may arise in relation thereto may and shall be determined by said
court.

Section 44. None of the provisions of this act shall be construed
as in any wise affecting or impairing the jurisdiction of any courts,
which, under existing laws, have jurisdiction of suits or actions for
the condemnation by cities and towns of lands for use as a public
park or for public park purposes, or as altering or affecting in any
way the procedure in or conduct of any such suit or action under
existing laws.

Section 45. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force
from its passage.