Chap. 662.—An ACT to facilitate the giving of bonds required by law.

Approved March 5, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That any
company with a paid-up cash capital of not less than two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, incorporated and organized under the
laws of any state of the United States or foreign country, for the
purpose of transacting business as surety on obligations of persons
or corporations and which has complied with all the requirements of
law regulating the admission of such companies to transact business
in this state, maf, upon production of evidence of solvency and
credit satisfactory to the court or judge or other officer authorized to
approve such bond, be accepted as surety upon the bond of any per-
son or corporation required by the laws of this state to execute a
bond, and if such surety company shall furnish satisfactory evidence
of its ability to provide all the security required by law, no addi-
tional surety may be exacted, but other surety may, in the discretion
of the court or officer authorized to approve such bond, be required,
and such surety may be released from its liability on the same terms
and conditions as are by law prescribed for the release of individ-
uals, it being the true intent and meaning of this act to enable cor-
porations created for that purpose to become the surety on bondg re-
quired by law, subject to all the rights and liabilities of private
parties.

2. Any court or officer, whose duty it is to pass upon the account
of any person or corporation required by law to give a bond, may,
whenever such person or corporation has given any such surety
company or surety upon said bond, allow in the settlement of such
account a reasonable sum for the expense of securing such surety.
3. Any company which shall execute any bond as surety under the
provisions of this act shal] be estopped in any proceedings to enforce
the liability which it shall have assumed to incur its corporate
power to execute such instrument or assume such liability.

4. This act shall be force from its passage.