Chap. 362.—An ACT to amend Section 19 of an Act designated as Chapter 33 of
the Acts of the General Assembly of 1927, as amended by Chapter 390 of the
Acts of 1942, so as to clarify the respective powers of the Commission of Game
and Inland Fisheries and the Executive Director of said Commission. [S 16]]

; Approved March 31, 1944

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section nineteen of chapter thirty-three of the Acts of the
General Assembly of nineteen hundred and twenty-seven, as heretofore
amended by chapter three hundred and ninety of the Acts of nineteen
hundred and forty-two, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as
follows:

Section 19. Department of Conservation and Development.—The
Virginia Conservation Commission, the Commission of Game and In-
land Fisheries, the Commission of Fisheries and the Commissioner of
Fisheries shall be within the Department of Conservation and Develop-
ment.

The Virginia Conservation Commission and the Commission of Fish-
eries shall each consist of a chairman and four additional members. They
shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Gen-
eral Assembly, if in session when such appointments are made, and if not
in session, then at its next succeeding session. The chairman shall be
appointed as such by the Governor in each case. The chairman of the
Commission of Fisheries shall continue to be Commissioner of Fisheries,
and shall devote full time to the duties of the office. The chairman and
two members of the Virginia Conservation Commission, and the chair-
man and two members of the Commission of Fisheries shall hold office
at the pleasure of the Governor for terms coincident with the term of
each Governor making the appointments, or until their successors shall
be appointed and qualified, respectively. The remaining two members
of each such commission shall be appointed to hold office at the pleasure
of the Governor for a term of four years each, or until their successors
shall be appointed and qualified, respectively; provided, however, that
the first appointments of such two members in each case shall be made
to expire on the thirtieth day of June, nineteen hundred and forty-four
and subsequent appointment of such two members shall be made to ex-
pire on the thirtieth day of June of every fourth year thereafter. Vacan-
cies shall be filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as original
appointments are made.

The Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries shall consist of nine
members, of whom no two shall be residents of the same congressional
district. Each member of the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries
shall be appointed by the Governor, for a term of one to six years, the
term of not more than two members to expire during the same year, sub-
ject to confirmation by the General Assembly, if in session when such
appointments are made, and if not in session, then at its next succeed-
ing session. An appointment to fill a vacancy shall be made in like man-
ner, but only for the unexpired term. The chairman and other mein-
hers of the Commission shall receive no salaries, but shall be reim-
bursed for the actual and necessary traveling expenses incurred by them
in attendance upon meetings of the Commission and while otherwise en-
gaged in the performance of their duties, and in addition thereto each
member shall be paid the sum of ten dollars a day for each day spent in
attendance upon the meetings of the Commission, the aggregate of such
per diem compensation to any member not to exceed, however, two
hundred and forty dollars, in any one fiscal vear. The chairman shall
also be paid, however, the sum of ten dollars a day for each day spent
in attendance upon meetings of the departmental committee hereinafter
provided for. The Commission shall continue to exercise all powers,
authority, and duties now conferred upon it by law, and except as in
this section provided is also vested with all powers and authority, and
charged with all duties heretofore by this section or elsewhere conferred
or imposed by law upon the chairman of the Commission of Game and
Inland Fisheries, and upon the secretary, executive director, and every
other officer of said Commission. The Commission is hereby expressly
authorized and empowered by resolutions or regulations duly adopted to
confer and impose from time to time upon the executive director here-
inafter provided for all such powers, authorities, and duties as the Com-
mission may deem necessary or proper to carry out the purposes of this
and other acts related to said Commission, its powers, authority, and
duties. All rules, resolutions, regulations and policies adopted by the
Commission shall be reduced to writing for the executive director, and
such rules, resolutions, regulations and policies shall be public docu-
ments and available to the public on request. The said Commission
shall elect one of its members as its chairman, who shall preside at all
regular and called meetings of the Commission, and it shall appoint
some other person, not a member of the Commission, as executive di-
rector. The executive director shall be the principal administrative officer
of the Commission and, as such, it shall be his duty to carry out, or cause
to be carried out, all orders, rules and regulations of the Commission, and
to perform such other functions and duties, and exercise such powers,
as are or from time to time may be conferred or imposed upon him by
the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. The executive director
shall devote his full time to the performance of his duties and shall re-
ceive as compensation therefor a salary, to be fixed by the Commission
with the approval of the Governor, not in excess of six thousand dollars
a year.