Chap. 678.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 2134, code of Virginia, as
amended and re-enacted by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact
sections 2131, 2138, 2134, 2135, 2137, 2148, 2151, 2158, and to repeal sections
2141, 2142, 21438, 2144, 2145 and 2147 of chapter 97 of the code of Virginia, in
relation to oysters, and to add independent sections thereto, approved Feb-
ruary 25, 1892, and to amend and re-enact sections 6 and 7 of the said act
approved February 25, 1892.

Approved March 5, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion twenty-one hundred and thirty-four of the code of Virginia of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, as amended and re-enacted by
an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact sections twenty-one
hundred and thirty-one, twenty-one hundred and thirty-three,
twenty-one hundred and thirty-four, twenty-one hundred and thirty
five, twenty-one hundred and thirty-seven, twenty-one hundred and
forty-eight, twenty-one hundred and fifty-one, twenty-one hundred
and fifty-three, and to repeal sections twenty-one hundred and forty-
one, twenty-one hundred and forty-two, twenty-one hundred and
forty-three, twenty-one hundred and forty-four, twenty-one hundred
and forty-five and twenty-one hundred and forty-seven of chapter
ninety-seven of the code of Virginia, in relation to oysters, and to
add independent sections thereto, approved February twenty-fifth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and sections six and seven of the
said act approved February twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 2134. He shall collect all fines, taxes and all sums due as rent
upon oyster-planting ground imposed by this chapter within the
limits to which.he is assigned, also the tax on planted oysters, and
to enable him to collect the same, together with his fees, according
to the preceding section, he shall have the same powers which a
county treasurer or other collector of the state revenue has for the
collection of taxes, and when the lessee remains in default in the
payment of his annual rent for such planting ground, or any part
thereof, for the period of sixty days after the same becomes due and
payable, the inspector shall‘ also have the power to remove (at the
lessee’s expense) a sufficient quantity of oysters from the leased
ground to satisfy the fines, taxes and rents upon the planting ground,
and shall proceed to sell the same, either at public auction or private
sale, as he may deem best, and if there be any surplus arising from
such sale after the payment of all necessary expenses incurred in
the taking up and selling said oysters, and including a fee of one
dollar to the inspector, and the said taxes and rents, he shall pay
the same to the lessee; and in case any person is in possession and
use of planting ground not so leased according to law, the same
remedy is hereby given said inspector for the collection at once of
said fines, taxes and all sums due or would be due had the said
ground so occupied been rented.

§ 6. Any resident of the state who is now occupying oyster-plant-
ing ground, or desires to occupy any oyster-planting ground, shall
notify the inspector of his desire to continue to occupy, or his desire
to occupy certain oyster-planting ground; and the inspector shall
notify the county surveyor, or his deputy, who shall survey said
ground and make a plat of the same; the surveyor to receive for sur-
veying and making plat fifty cents per acre, or fraction thereof, for five
acres or less, twenty-five cents per acre for each acre more than five, and
up to thirty acres, fifteen cents for each acre more than thirty acres
and up to fifty acres, and ten cents per acre for all over fifty acres,
the cost of survey and plat to be paid by the renter; and the sur-
veyor shall have the same privileges as to the collection of his fees
that the inspector has as to his fees; this survey and plat to remain
good so long as the rent is annually paid, and the ground occupied
by the party paying for survey and plat. The said survey and plat
shall indicate the metes and bounds, courses and distances, having
their beginning and ending marked by fixed and permanent objects
on the shore, as accurately as may be; and the same, as soon as pos-
sible after completion, shall be filed by the inspector in the clerk’s
office of his county, there to be forthwith recorded in a well-bound
and substantial book, and indexed in the name of the assignee; and
thereupon at once a written memorandum thereof, to be posted by
the clerk at the front door of the court-house, stating the name of
the assignee, the date of the record, the number of acres assigned,
and the general location of the grounds. Theclerk shall receive the
said survey and plat and record the same, and shall be paid by the
assignee for his services the same fees he now receives for recording
deeds or plats. After the same is recorded, the assignee is entitled
to withdraw the original from the clerk’s office. Each county or city
shall furnish the clerk with necessary books for recording the same.
The fees due the clerk for the recordation and filing of said surveys
and plats shall be collected as other fees due said clerk.

§ 7. Any person holding oyster-planting ground who has not had
it assigned, or paid any rent for the same, shall forthwith apply to
the inspector of his district to have said ground surveyed, assigned,
and pay the rent; and if he fails to do so the inspector shall serve
notice on said occupant, giving him thirty days to comply with the
law; and then if he fails, or refuse to rent, as the law directs, he shall
be fined one dollar per month per acre (collectible by the inspector, as other
oyster revenues are collected), for each month he continues to hold or occupy
the same, or refuses to remove the stakes, after being notified by the inspec-
tor so to do; and the inspector shall rent out the ground to the first
applicant.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.