CHAPTER 302

An Act to amend and reenact § 25 of Chapter 150 of the Acts of
Assembly of 1980, approved March 20, 1980, as amended, which pro-
vided a charter for the town of Bluefield, which section relates gener-
ally to trial justices, substitute trial justices, so as to provide for a
committing justice; to provide for the issuance of process by the
substitute trial justice, and to grant such trial justice the power to
try certain civil cases.

[S 241]

Approved March 11, 1952

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 25 of Chapter 150 of the Acts of Assembly of 1930, approved
March 20, 1930, as amended, be amended and reenacted as follows:

8 25. The council shall appoint for a period of two years, and every
two years thereafter a trial justice for the town. The council shall also
appoint a substitute trial justice, and a committing justice, who may be
the same person as the substitute trial justice, and it may at any time
revoke such appointment. In the event of the inability of the trial justice
on account of sickness, absence, vacation, interests, or if he is otherwise
disqualified to sit in judgment, the substitute trial justice shall perform
all of the duties of the office of trial justice. * All shall take oath before
entering upon the performance of the duties of office and enter into bond
payable to the town in the penalty of one thousand dollars each, with
surety conditioned for the faithful performance of their duties. The trial
justice shall receive such compensation as may be fixed by the council,
and the trial justice shall charge and collect all fees prescribed for justices
of the peace, which have not been paid in advance, and all such fees shall
be turned into the treasury of the town.

The committing justices shall have the powers of a justice of the
peace as provided by general law in the commitment of persons charged
with violations of town ordinances.

The jurisdiction of such trial justice shall be as follows:

(a) The trial justice herein provided for shall be a conservator of
the peace within the corporate limits of the town, * and shall have exclu-
sive original jurisdiction to try all offenses against the ordinances of the
town, and the trial justice and the substitute trial justice shall both have
power to issue civil and criminal process.

(b) The said trial justice shall have jurisdiction in the town in all
civil matters now cognizable by justice of the peace, and shall in addition
thereto have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court and trial justice
court of Tazewell County in all civil matters, where the claim including
damages for personal injury, does not exceed the sum of * one thousand
dollars (exclusive of interest), and shall have jurisdiction of all matters
and things mentioned in § 16-162 of the Code of Virginia. After the
appointment of such trial justice, no other justices of the peace, nor the
mayor of the town, nor the juvenile judge of Tazewell County, shall exer-
cise such jurisdiction as is herein conferred on the said trial justice.

(c) The said trial justice shall also have jurisdiction to try and
decide attachment cases, where the amount of the plaintiff’s claim does
not exceed the general jurisdiction of the said trial Justice, and the proceed-
ings on any such attachment shall conform to the provisions of Chapter
24 of Title 8 of the Code of Virginia and any amendments thereof, save
when an attachment other than under § 8-566 is returned executed, and
the defendant has not been served with a copy thereof, the said trial
justice upon affidavit in conformity with § 8-531 of the Code of Virginia,
shall forthwith cause to be posted at the front door where he holds his
court, 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 the said attachment, or his attorney, shall give the trial justice
the last known address or abode of the said defendant, verified by affi-
davit, and the said trial justice shall forthwith mail a copy of the said
attachment to the said defendant at his or her last-known address, or place
of abode, if said defendant be a corporation at its last-known address, and
the mailing of the said copy as aforesaid shall be certified by the said
trial justice in writing, and such certificate shall be filed with the papers
in the case, and after the said copy of the said attachment has been su
posted and mailed as aforesaid for fifteen days, the said trial justice may
proceed to try and decide the said attachment.

(d) The trial justice shall have in criminal cases the same jurisdiction
for the town of Bluefield as is now or may hereafter be vested by general
law in the police justices of cities.