CHAPTER 10

An Act to amend and reenact § 57-26, as amended, of the Code of Vir-
ginia, relating to restrictions on location of cemeteries and exceptions
there

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 57-26, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and
reenacted as follows: _

§ 57-26. (1) Restrictions as to location—No cemetery shall be
hereafter established within the corporate limits of any city or town,
unless authorized by appropriate ordinance subject to any zoning ordt-
nance duly adopted by the governing body of such county, city or town;
nor shall any cemetery be established within two hundred fifty yards of
any residence without the consent of the owner of the legal and equitable
title of the residence; provided that, if the location for the proposed
cemetery is separated from any residence by a State highway, it may
be established upon such location without the consent of the owner
of such residence if it be not less than two hundred fifty feet from
the residence at its nearest point thereto; provided such prohibition
and restrictions shall not apply where the tract of land intended for use
as a cemetery is separated from any residence by a State highway and
now contains a public or private burial ground and is not within the
corporate limits of any city or town; and no cemetery shall be hereafter
established, and no burial made in any part of any cemetery, other than
a municipal or city cemetery, located within three hundred yards of any
property owned by any city, town or water company, upon which or a
portion of which are now located driven wells from which water is pumped
or drawn from the ground in connection with the public water supply.

(2) Quantity of land.—Nothing contained in §§ 57-22 to 57-25 shall
be so construed as to authorize a conveyance of more than three hundred
acres or the condemnation of more than two acres of land for the use
of a cemetery. :

(3) Action for damages.—When damage is done to adjacent land
by the establishment of such cemetery, whether established by purchase
or condemnation, the owners whose lands have been damaged shall have
a right to action for such damage against any person, firm, corporation,
or municipality, establishing the cemetery; provided such action be insti-
tuted within one year from such establishment.

(4) Exceptions.—The prohibitions and restrictions as to the location
or establishment of cemeteries shall not apply to the town of Stuart, in
Patrick County, to the town of Gretna, in Pittsylvania County, to the town
of Shenandoah in Page County, or to the Woodbine Cemetery in the city
of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County. And if the location for the pro-
posed cemetery be in Norfolk County it may be established on such loca-
tion if consent thereto be given by the owners of every residence within
two hundred fifty feet thereof at its nearest point to any such residence,
or if the location for the proposed cemetery is separated from any such
residence by a State highway it may be established upon such location
without the consent of the owner of such residence if it be not less than
one hundred fifty feet from the residence at its nearest point thereto.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.

CHAPTER 10
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

§ 10.01. Department of Public Health.—There may be a department
of public health which shall consist of the director of public health, to be
appointed by the council and such other officers and employees organized
into such bureaus, divisions, and other units as may be provided by ordi-
nance or by the orders of the director consistent therewith.

§ 10.02. Functions.—The department of public health shall be re-
sponsible for the exercise of all health functions imposed on municipal-
ities by general law and such other functions as may be assigned to the
department.

§ 10.08. Director of Public Health.—The head of the department of
public health shall be the director of public health. He shall have general
management and control of the several bureaus, divisions, and other units
of the department. He shall have all the powers and duties with respect
to the preservation of the public health which now are or may hereafter
be conferred or imposed on municipal boards of health and health officers
by the laws of the Commonwealth, as well as the powers and duties con-
ferred or imposed on him by this charter and the ordinance of the city.

§ 10.04. Board of Health_—The council may select two qualified
citizens of the city, who together with the director of public health shall
constitute the board of health. The board of health shall advise and
cooperate with the department of health and shall have power to adopt
necessary rules and regulations, not in conflict with law, concerning the
department. The provisions of general law relating to the establishment
of local boards of health shall not apply to the city of Covington. _

§ 10.05. Contractual Services.—The council may, in its discretion,
effectuate the powers, duties, and functions assigned to the department
of public health in this chapter through contractual agreements with the
State Department of Health and neighboring cities and counties.

CHAPTER 10
Removals and Appeals

10.01.—Jurisdiction.

The circuit court of Carroll county and the circuit court of Grayson
county shall have concurrent jurisdiction to hear and try all removals and
appeals in civil cases triable before the civil and police justice and all mis-
demeanors triable before said civil and police justice. The party taking such
appeal may direct to which of the said courts the appeal or removal shall
be sent for trial, and in the absence of such directions, the civil and police
justice may send the same to either of said courts for trial and disposition.