Chap. 323.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 64, as heretofore amended,
of an act entitled “An act to incorporate the city of Newport News, in the
county of Warwick, and to provide a charter therefor, approved January 16,
1896”, in relation to the civil justice and substitute civil justice said

city. [H B 548]
Approved March 29, 1938

1. Beit enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That section
sixty-four of an act entitled an act to incorporate the city of Newport
News, in the county of Warwick, and to provide a charter therefor,
approved January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as here-
tofore amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 64. There shall be one civil justice, who at the time of his
election shall be an attorney at law licensed to practice law in this State
for at least five years, and shall, during his term of office, reside in
said city, and shall not during said term of office hold any office of
public trust except those of notary public and judge of the juvenile
and domestic relations court of the city of Newport News, and sub-
stitute police justice of said city. Such civil justice shall receive such
salary as the council may fix, to be paid in monthly installments out
of the city treasury, and he shall receive no other compensation for
his services as such justice; provided, however, that no installment
of his salary shall be paid except upon his certificate in writing that
he has disposed of all cases which have been submitted to him for
disposition more than thirty days previous to the date upon which
said installments fall due.

The civil justice court shall be presided over by the civil justice
and held in such places as shall be designated by the council and open
for the transaction of business every day in the year except Sundays
and legal holidays, unless otherwise provided by ordinance of the city;
but such justice shall be allowed a vacation period of not more than
one month in each year.

The police justice of the city of Newport News shall act as sub-
stitute civil justice. In the event of the inability of the civil justice to
perform the duties of his office by reason of sickness, absence, vaca-
tion, interest in the claim or parties, or otherwise, such substitute civil
justice shall perform the duties of the office during such absence or
disability and shall receive for his services such compensation as may
be fixed by the city council. While acting as such civil justice either
the civil justice or the substitute civil justice may issue executions upon,
grant new trials, hear motions and perform other acts in reference to
the judgments and proceedings of the other in the same manner as if
they were his own.

In the event of the absence or inability of both the civil justice and
the substitute civil justice to preside over said court, then in that event,
the judge of the corporation court of the city of Newport News, Vir-
ginia, on application of the said civil justice, substitute civil justice, or
any party in interest, shall designate as civil justice pro tem some
attorney of like qualification to preside during such absence or dis-
ability. He shall receive for his services a per diem equal to one-thir-
tieth of the monthly pay of the said civil justice, to be paid by the
city treasurer of the city of Newport News, Virginia, upon approval
of the judge of the corporation court. While acting as such justice
pro tem, he shall have the same power and authority as herein con-
ferred upon the substitute civil justice.

The said civil justice shall not appear as counsel in any case, civil
or criminal, pending in the civil court, police court or juvenile and
domestic relations court of said city, or on appeal or removal from any
of said courts.

The said civil justice shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of
any claim to specific personal property or to any debt, fine or other
money or to damages for breach of contract or for any injury done
to property real and personal, or for any injury to the person which
would be recoverable by action at law or suit in equity when the amount
of such claim does not exceed twenty dollars, and concurrent juris-
diction with the circuit and corporation courts of said city of any such
claim when the amount thereof exceeds twenty dollars but does not
exceed one thousand dollars.

The said civil justice shall also have jurisdiction in actions of
unlawful entry and detainer in cases provided for in section fifty-
four hundred and forty-five, Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and
nineteen as now or hereafter amended.

The said civil justice shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine
cases under section fifty-one hundred and ninety of the Code of Vir-
ginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen, as now or hereafter amended
where the amount of value does not exceed one thousand dollars, and
the proceedings before the said civil justice to be the same as pre-
scribed by said section before justice of the peace.
The said civil justice shall have also jurisdiction to try and decide
attachment cases where the amount of the plaintiff’s claim does not
exceed one thousand dollars, and the proceedings on any such attach-
ment shall conform to the provisions of chapter two hundred and sixty-
nine of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen, as now
or hereafter amended, save when an attachment other than under section
sixty-four hundred and sixteen of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hun-
dred and nineteen as now or hereafter amended, is returned executed,
and the defendant has not been served with a copy thereof, the said
civil justice, upon affidavit in conformity with section sixty hundred
and sixty-nine of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nine-
teen, as now or hereafter amended, shall forthwith cause to be posted
at the front door of the courthouse of said city a copy of the said
attachment, and shall file a certificate of the fact with the papers in
the case, and in addition to the said posting, the plaintiff in said at-
tachment or his attorney, shall give to the clerk of the said civil justice
the last known address or abode of the said defendant, verified by
affidavit, and the said clerk shall forthwith mail a copy of the said
attachment to the said defendant at his or her last known address or
place of abode; or, if said defendant be a corporation, at its last
known address, and the mailing of the said copy aforesaid shall be
certified by the said clerk in writing and such certificate shall be filed
with the papers in the case, and after the said copy of the attachment
has been so posted and mailed, as aforesaid, for fifteen days, the said
civil justice may proceed to try and decide the said attachment.

The said civil justice shall have original exclusive jurisdiction in
the trial of all distress warrants where the amount in controversy does
not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars and all officers who may
execute such warrants of distress in the said city shall make return
of the same together with any bond, bonds, or affidavit taken in connec-
tion therewith to the said civil justice court within sixty days after
the same may have come to his hands and thereafter proceedings shall
be had in said civil court as now provided by law in courts of record
under chapter two hundred and seventy-three, Code of Virginia, nine-
teen hundred and nineteen, as now or hereafter amended.

The said civil justice shall have the power and jurisdiction in any
action or suit pending in said civil justice court wherein an infant,
idiot, or lunatic is a party, to approve and confirm a compromise of the
matters in controversy on behalf of such infant, idiot, or lunatic, if
said compromise shall be deemed to be to the interest of the infant,
idiot or lunatic; and any order or decree approving and confirming
any such compromise shall be binding upon such infant, idiot or lunatic,
except that the same may be set aside for fraud; and any such infant
shall not be allowed to attack and set aside any such order or decree,
unless he shall proceed to do so within six months after coming of age.

The said civil justice may issue the summons provided by section
sixty-five hundred and three, Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and
nineteen, as now or hereafter amended, when the fieri facias upon any
final judgment heretofore or hereafter rendered was issued by him.
Neither the police justice nor any other justice of the peace in
said city shall hereafter exercise such jurisdiction as herein con-
ferred upon the civil justice. Any warrant within the jurisdiction above
conferred may be issued by any justice of the peace of said city except
the civil justice and police justice, but when so issued all civil warrants
shall be returnable only before such civil justice for trial and determina-
tion.

All procedure before the civil justice, except so far as herein other-
wise provided, shall conform to the chapter of the Code of Virginia,
nineteen hundred and njneteen, as now or hereafter amended, con-
cerning warrants for small claims, except that either party may require
the. adverse party to file the particulars of his claims or the grounds
of defense, as provided by general laws, and except that the proceedings
in a case wherein an infant or insane person is a party shall not be
stayed because of such infancy or insanity, but the civil justice before
whom such suit is pending, shall appoint some discreet and competent
attorney at law as guardian ad litem to such infant or insane defendant,
whether such defendant shall have been served with process or not;
or, 1f no such attorney be found willing to act, the civil justice shall
appoint some other discreet and proper person as guardian ad litem,
who shall faithfully represent the interest or estate of the infant or
insane person for whom he is appointed; but the said guardian ad
litem so appointed shall not be liable for costs.

Any person entitled to maintain an action at law or proceed by
civil warrant as above set out before said civil justice, may, in lieu
of such action at law or civil warrant, proceed by motion before said
civil justice after not less than five days’ notice, which notice shall be
in writing, signed by the plaintiff, or his attorney, and shall be returned
to the said civil justice on the return day of same, and when so returned
shall be forthwith filed and the date noted thereon, and upon payment
of the trial fees as herein provided, shall be duly docketed and pro-
ceedings thereafter shall be the same as upon warrants for small claims.
The said notice shall contain a brief informal statement of the plain-
tiff’s claim. All such motions shall be served only by the high con-
stable or sergeant of said city.

Any civil action, within the jurisdiction conferred upon the said civil
justice, may be brought in said civil justice court when the cause of
action, or any part thereof, arose in said city of Newport News, al-
though neither the defendant nor any one of the defendants reside
therein, by warrant or notice of motion returnable before the civil
justice thereof; any such warrant or notice of motion may be directed
to a constable, sheriff or sergeant of any county or city wherein the
defendant resides or may be found; but no such warrant or notice of
motion shall be served or executed in any county or in any other city
than the city of Newport News, unless it be (a) an action against a
corporation, (b) an action upon a bond taken by an officer under
authority of some statute, (c) an action to recover damages for a
wrong, or (d) an action against two or more defendants on one of
whom such warrarit or noticé of ‘motion has been exectited in the
said city of Newport News, or (e) unless it be otherwise specially
provided. — , oe ac
The said civil justice shall have power to recognize witnesses to
appear at a subsequent date to give testimony in any case; and to
issue subpoenas duces tecum, and to punish for contempt any failure
to appear or produce the papers required. In order to procure a
subpoena duces tecum the party applying therefor mtst present an
affidavit of himself or some other person describing the desired papers
with reasonable certainty and naming the person who is desired to
produce the same, and stating that to the best of affiant’s belief, the
papers are relevant to the trial of the case. | |
The civil justice rendering any judgment may issue a writ of fieri
facias thereon immediately, if there be not a new trial granted, nor an
appeal allowed, nor a stay of execution; and the said civil justice
may from time to time renew such writ either before or after the
expiration of one year from the date of judgment. The said civil
justice may grant a stay of execution in any case for sixty days upon
the defendant giving bond with sufficient surety approved by said
justice, during which time the said defendant, or his surety, may dis-
charge their liability by paying the total amount due on account of
said judgment including principal, interest and costs to the date of
payment. If such liability be not discharged within sixty days, then,
after the expiration of the said period of sixty days, upon motion
of the judgment creditor after five days’ notice in writing to said
judgment debtor and surety, the civil justice shall enter judgment
thereon against the surety and such judgment shall be endorsed “no
security to be taken’ and shall have the same effect as a judgment
rendered against a surety on an appeal bond as herein set out.
Whenever the amount involved in any case within the jurisdiction
of said civil justice court as herein provided exceeds the sum of three
hundred dollars, the said civil justice shall, at any time within ten days
after the return date of the process, provided judgment has not been
rendered but not thereafter, upon the application of the defendant and
upon the payment by him of the costs accrued to the time of removal,
writ tax and clerk’s cost of four dollars, remove the case and all the
papers thereof to the circuit or corporation court of said city as
directed by the defendant, or in the event of his failure so to direct
to either of said courts as the justice may elect; and the clerk of said
court shall forthwith docket said case. On the trial of ‘the case on
removal the proceeding shall conform to section sixty hundred’ and
forty-six of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen, as
iow of hereafter amended. -For the purpose of this section the amount
‘of the claim shall include any attorney’s fees contracted for in any
instrument sued on, but shall exclude interest and costs in all’ cases.
From every judgment ‘of said justice in claims exceeding twenty
dollars, exclusive of interest, there shall be an appeal as of right: by
any party, including the city of Newport News, ‘within ten days after
the rendition of such judgment to either the circuit or corporation
courts of the said city, and all such appeals shall be tried and judgment
rendered as provided by section sixty hundred and thirty-eight, Code
of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen, as now or hereafter
amended. No appeal shall be granted unless and until the party apply-
ing for the same, or some one in his behalf, except as otherwise pro-
vided by general law, has given bond, with sufficient surety to be ap-
proved by the justice, to abide the judgment of the court upon the
appeal, if such appeal be perfected, or if not so perfected, then to
satisfy the judgment of the said civil justice; judgment against such
surety when the appeal is not perfected to be entered under section
sixty hundred and twenty-eight of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hun-
dred and nineteen, as now or hereafter amended. No surety in such
appeal bond shall be released by the appellant being adjudicated a bank-
rupt at any time subsequent to the judgment rendered by the said civil
justice, but such surety shall be entitled to make any defense on the
trial of the appeal that the appellant could have made, except the
defense of bankruptcy of the principal. The party taking such an
appeal may direct to which of said courts said appeal shall be sent
for trial where there are more than one of such courts, and in the
absence of such direction, the said civil justice may send the same
to any court having jurisdiction and the clerk of said court, upon
receipt of the papers in any such appeal, shall, upon payment of the
writ tax, forthwith docket such case in its regular order; but if said
writ tax be not paid within thirty days from the date of the judgment,
the said appeal shall thereupon stand dismissed, and the said judgment
shall become final, and the said papers, upon application of any party
in interest, shall be returned to the said civil justice by the clerk
of the appellate court whereupon judgment shall be forthwith rendered
against the surety thereon, such judgment to be endorsed “no security
to be taken’. Appeal cases shall not have preference over other cases
pending in such appellate courts as regards the time of trial.

If any claim shall have been pending before such justice sixty
days, he shall notify the parties the same will be dismissed in ten
days thereafter unless a cause can be shown to the contrary; and unless
such cause be shown, such justice shall forthwith dismiss such claim.
All papers connected with any of the proceedings in the trial of the
cases before such civil justice, except such as may be removed, or
appealed, shall remain in the office of the civil justice, and shall be
properly indexed, filed and preserved.

At or before the time of hearing before such civil justice on any
claim, the plaintiff shall pay said civil justice a trial fee of seventy-five
cents for each hundred dollars value or fraction thereof claimed in the
warrant to the amount of three hundred dollars. In all cases where the
amount involved, exclusive of interest is over three hundred dollars,
the trial fee shall be three dollars. The trial fee shall be taxed as a
part of the costs. For other services rendered by the said civil justice
by virtue of his office he shall charge the following fees:
(1) For each execution issued, the sum of twenty cents.
(2) For each summons in garnishment, the sum of fifty cents.
(3) For the first and second continuances no fee may be charged
for each continuance after the second, twenty-five cents shall be pai
by the party asking for the same, except where the continuance is b
agreement of the parties, in which event the fee for continuance sha’
be taxed as a part of the costs in the final judgment.

(4) For each abstract of judgment, twenty-five cents.
(5) For each writ of possession in actions in detinue, fifty cents

(6) For each writ of possession in actions of unlawful entry o
detainer, fifty cents.

(7) For each summons and order for interrogatories, fifty cents
_ (8) For each order of sale upon judgment in attachment proceed
ings, fifty cents.

(9) For each order under section fifty-one hundred and ninety 0:
the Code of Virginia, fifty cents.

(10) For each appeal bond taken, one dollar.

_ (11) For each bond suspending judgment for sixty days, one
dollar.

(12) For extra copies of any writ or process, one-half of the
above fees.

(13) For laboring man’s exemption, twenty cents.
(14) For each summons for a witness, twenty-five cents.

(15) For attesting release of judgment in judgment docket,
twenty-five cents.

(16) For certificate of release of judgment, twenty-five cents.

The said civil justice shall have the same power in matters of
contempt as are conferred on courts and judges by the general law,
put in no case shall the fine exceed fifty dollars and imprisonment
exceed ten days for the same contempt. From any such fine or sen-
ence an appeal shall be allowed as of right to the corporation court of
the city of Newport News, Virginia, and the proceedings on such appeal
shall conform to the provisions of section forty-five hundred and
wenty-three of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen
is now or hereafter amended.

The council shall provide a suitable courtroom and office for the
‘ivil justice and shall furnish all necessary furniture, books and station-
ry. Such books shall be under the control of the civil justice, but
hall remain the property of the city.

The said civil justice, whenever authorized so to do by the city
ouncil, may appoint a clerk who shall hold office at the pleasure of
he said civil justice and shall receive such salary as may be fixed by
he council of said city. Such clerk shall be a conservator of the
eace within said city, and shall, as such clerk, issue executions, gar-
ishments, writs of possession, summons for witnesses, summons on
iterrogatories, copies of orders in attachment Cases anc Miter
ion fifty-one hundred and ninety of the Code of Virginia, nineteen
undred and nineteen, as now or hereafter amended, abstracts of
udgments and all other processes and orders which might or could
e issued by the said justice himself. Said papers shall be signed in
he name of the civil justice court by the:said clerk as such clerk. The
aid clerk shall receive no compensation for his services except the
alary paid by the said city. Such clerk shall keep the docket and
ccounts for the civil justice court, shall collect all fees and regularly
leposit all moneys collected by him, and shall give bond in the sum
§ twenty-five hundred dollars for the faithful performance of his
luties as such clerk. Such clerk shall make a monthly report to the
ity manager showing all fees collected by him as such clerk and
hall pay monthly into the treasury of the city of Newport News all
‘ees collected by him. Such clerk shall perform such further duties
1s may be prescribed by the said civil justice. He shall be allowed
innually a vacation period of two weeks with pay.