Chap. 179.—An ACT Prescribing the Duties and Compensation of County
Officers.

Approved July 11, 1870.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the duties,
compensation, and liabilities of sheriffs, attorneys for the com-
monwealth, and clerks of the county and circuit courts, shall
be the same as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law;
except that the sheriff, after the year eighteen hundred and
seventy, shall not collect the state revenue or the county levy,
and except that the attorney for the commonwealth shall not
be allowed a fee in any case of felony or misdemeanor unless
the same be prosecuted to conviction or a judgment for the
commonwealth; and said officers, except attorneys for the
commonwealth, shall reside in the county for which they are
elected: provided, however, that in the case of every such ofli-
cer, attorneys for the commonwealth included, the removal of
the officer from the county in which he resided when elected,
shall vacate his office in that county, and be in all respects sub-
ject to existing laws relating to their respective offices, so far
as the same are applicable; but no person shall be attorney for
the commonwealth for more than one county, except in cases
where the district of a county judge includes more than one
county; then one person may be attorney for the common-
wealth for each of said counties.

2. Each officer mentioned in the preceding section, and every
other county ofticer elected in November, shall, on or before
the first day of January next after his election, qualify by taking
the oaths of office prescribed by law, before the judge for the
circuit or county court of his county, either in term time or
in vacation: provided, if said qualification is in vacation, the
certificate thereof and the oath shall be returned to the clerk
of the county court, who shall record said certificate and the
fact of the taking of the oath in the minutes of the next term.

3. Each officer mentioned in the first section shall, at the
time of his qualification, enter into such bond, with such con-
dition and in such penalty, as may be required by law, with
sureties to be approved by the court or judge before whom he
qualifies: provided, that the penalty of the sheriff's bond in
any county shall not be less than twenty thousand dollars nor
more than fifty thousand dollars, to be determined by said
court or judge.

The county treasurer.

4, The county treasurer shall, at the time of his qualifica-
tion, enter into bond, with surety, to be approved by the
court or judge before whom he qualifies, in a penalty to be de-
termined by said court or judge; but not less in any case than
double the amount to be received annually by such treasurer,
which bond shall conform to the requirements and be subject
to the provisions of section eight, chapter thirteen of the Code
of Virginia of eighteen hundred and sixty, a copy of which
said bond shall be certified by the clerk to the auditor of pub-
lic accounts.

d. No person holding the office of attorney for the common-
wealth, judge of the county court, clerk of the county or cir-
cuit court, or sheriff, shall hold the office of county treasurer. |

6. In case of a vacancy in the office by death, resignation,
or removal, or otherwise, it:shall be the duty of the judge of
the proper county, in term time or in vacation, to fill such
vacancy by appointment, and the person so appointed, upon
qualifying and giving bond as required by sections two and
four of this act, shall hold his office until the next general
election in said county, and until his successor is elected and
qualified: provided, that whenever the judge shall make such
appointment in vacation, he shall certify the same to the clerk
of the county court, to be entered on the minutes or order
book as a vacation order.

7. The county treasurer may appoint one or more deputies
to assist him in the duties of his office, who shall quality in
the manner now prescribed for the qualification of deputy she-
riffs, who may perform all the duties of treasurer, and shall be
subject to removal by his principal or by the court of his
county. The treasurer may take from the person so appointed,
such bond and security as he shall deem necessary for his in-
demnity.

8. The treasurer shall reside in the county of which he is
treasurer, and shall keep his office at the county seat, and shall
receive all moneys payable into the treasury thereof, and dis-
burse the same on orders of the county or circuit court, or
warrants drawn by the board of supervisors for the county;
but it shall be competent for the judge of the county court,
by order entered of record, to certify that in his opinion some
other point in said county would be more convenient to a
majority of the citizens of said county; and upon the entry
of such order, the treasurer for such county shall remove his
office to the place named in said order; but either he or his
deputy shall attend all regular terms of the county court.

9, He shall keep a just account of all moneys received and
disbursed by him for the county, and shall, on the first day of
April, and thereafter at intervals of two months, until his set-
tlement with the board of supervisors at the end of the year,
as hereinafter provided for, return to the clerk of the county
court of his county a sworn statement of the amount received
by him up to the expiration of said two months, and shall
charge himself upon his books with the amount of such. re-
cepts but he shall have ten days from the first day of April,
and the expiration of the said two months, to make said re-
port; and the clerk of the county shall file said report and
preserve the same for the inspection of any citizen of the
county, or other person having an interest therein. He shall
keep the books, papers, and money pertaining to his office at
all times ready for the inspection of the county judge or board
of supervisors for the county, and shall, when required, ex-
hibit his account and the book containing a list of the warrants
and orders drawn upon the county treasurer provided for in
the following section. .

10. He shall provide and keep a well bound book, in which
he shall make an entry of all warrants or orders legally drawn
upon him by the county or circuit court, or the board of su-
pervisors for the county, and presented for payment, stating
correctly the date, amount, number, in whose favor drawn,
and the date the same was presented; and all warrants or or-
ders so presented shall be paid, in the order presented, out of
the fund drawn upon.

11. No county treasurer shall refuse the payment of any
warrant or order legally drawn upon him and presented for
payment, for the reason that warrants or orders of prior pre-
sentation have not been paid, when there shall be money in
the treasury belonging to the fund drawn upon, sufficient to
pay such prior warrants or orders, and also such warrants or
orders so presented; but such treasurer shall, as he shall re-
ceive money into the treasury belonging to the fund so drawn
upon, set the same apart for the payment of warrants or orders
previously presented, and in the order presented: provided,

owever, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the trea-
surer from receiving warrants of the county in payment of
the county levy.

12. He shall, under the direction of the board of supervi-
sors, provide suitable books and stationery tor his office, and
preserve the same; and as often, and in such manner as may

e required by the county court or board of supervisors, he
shall furnish an account of the receipts and expenditures of
the county, and a statement of his account as treasurerywith
the county.

13. He shall receive the county levy in the manner herein-
after prescribed for the receipt of the state revenue, and shall,
at the December meeting of the board of supervisors,settle
with said supervisors his. account for that year; and if he die,
resign, or be removed trom office, and when his term of' office
expires, he (or if he be dead, his personal representative,) shall
immediately make such settlement; which settlement shall
show the amount in his hands to be accounted for, and the
fund to which the same belongs, and shall deliver to his suc-
cessor in office all books and papers belonging to his office and
money belonging to the county.

14. In the annual settlement of the treasurer with the board
of supervisors, he shall not have credit for any portion of the
county levy placed in the hands of any township collector and
not paid over or accounted for by him by the first of October,
unless it appear to said board, by competent proof, that he in-
stituted proceedings against said collector, in the manner here-
inafter provided for, as soon after the first day of October as
the length of notice required would permit, and that said pro-
ceedings have not been delayed by any default or negligence
of said treasurer.

15. If it appear that such proceedings as are referred to in
‘the preceding section, were instituted within the time required
by said section, and have not been delayed by any default or
negligence of the treasurer, then he shall have credit upon that
settlement for so much of said levy embraced in the receipt
of said collector as he may, upon oath, declare has not been
paid to him; but the same shall be carried to his account for
the next year, and shall be accounted for by him as soon as
collected; and if the treasurer go out of office, he and his sure-
ties shall nevertheless be liable for the amount until paid, or
until the board of supervisors shall certity that the same has
been lost without, any default or negligence of said treasurer.

16. If the treasurer fail, by any default or negligence of his
own, to recover against such collector, as is mentioned in the
two preceding sections, as much as he has received credit for
in his annual settlement, he shall, as soon as the judgment in
said case is pronounced, become immediately liable for the
difference, with damages, after the rate of five per centum per
month, from the time such money ought to have been accounted
for.

17. No county treasurer shall, either directly or indirectly,
contract for or purchase any warrdnt or order drawn upon the
county treasury, or payable out of the same, at any discount
whatever upon the sum due upon such warrant or order; and
if any county treasurer shall so contract for or purchase any
such warrant or order, he shall not be allowed in his annual
settlement, the amount of said warrant or order, or any part
thereof; and this shall be in addition to the penalties herein-
after prescribed for the violation of this act. If the treasurer
fail to pay, upon presentation, any legal warrant or order, hav-
ing in his hands, at the time, funds out of which the same
ought to be paid, or fail to set apart necessary funds when the
same shall come into his hands, for the payment thereof, in
their order, if listed under section eleven, and to pay over the
amount due upon such warrant or order, as soon thereafter as
the same may again be presented, the holder thereof may re-
cover the amount of any such warrant or order from the
treasurer and his sureties, upon motion, in the county or
circuit court of his county, after ten days’ notice thereof, in
writing, together with damages, after the rate of ten per cen-
tum per month, on the amount of such warrant, from the time
such treasurer should have paid the same, and the costs of
such motion, including an attorney’s fee of five dollars.

18. He shall be allowed for his services in receiving and
disbursing the county levy, three per centum on the amount
of money so received and disbursed.

19. Any county treasurer violating any of the provisions of
this act relating to the county levy shall, if said violation do
not amount to a felony under existing laws relating to public
officers, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con-
viction thereof shall be removed from office, and pay a fine of
not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dol-
lars, and be imprisoned not exceeding three months; and in
addition thereto, whether such violation bea felony or mis-
demeanor, shall be liable to the party aggrieved thereby for
double damages for the injury sustained, which may be re-
covered against said treasurer and his sureties upon his official
bond, by action in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Duty of county treasurer as to revenue.

20. The county treasurer shall, in the manner hereinafter
provided, receive the state revenue and account for and pay
over the same in the manner provided by law for the pay-
ment of money into the treasury of the state.

21. Each county treasurer shall commence to receive the
state taxes yearly, on the first day of February, or so soon
thereafter as he may receive copies of the assessor’s books;
and for this purpose shall advertise, for at least ten days, at
the courthouse, and at the voting place or places in each town-
ship, and in such other manner as may be necessary to give
publicity thereto, upon what days he will be at some conve-
nient point in each township to receive taxes, and shall, at the
time specified, go to said places so designated in each town-
ship, and remain there not less than five days, for the purpose
of receiving as well the state taxes as the county levy, and
shall receive the same whenever tendered in the county up to
the first day of September. But he shall have the same power,
by distress or otherwise, for the collection of taxes against
any tax-payer leaving his county or absconding before the said
first day of September, as now given to sheriffs under existing
laws.

22. All taxes and county levies not paid to the treasurer by
the first day of September, shall be by him placed in the hands
of the collector for the township in which said taxes were as-
sessed, with five per centum on the amount thereof added,
and said treasurer shall take from each collector separate re-
ceipts for said taxes and said levies.
23. If said taxes and levies are not paid and the insolvent
lists returned, certified by the judge of the county to the trea-
surer, by the first day of December, it shall be the duty of
the treasurer to proceed against the collector, and his sureties
upon his bond, by motion, if it be for taxes, in the name of
the commonwealth of Virginia; and if it be for the county
levy, in the name of the commonwealth of Virginia, for the
benefit of the county, for the recovery of such taxes or levy
so placed in his hands, which motion shall be heard by the
county or circuit court of the county upon ten days’ notice, In
writing, and shall be prosecuted by the attorney for the com-
monwealth; but in any judgment rendered against such col-
lector for taxes or levies, the five per centum added under the
twenty-second section shall not be included.

24. Writs of fieri facias shall be issued upon all judgments
recovered under the preceding section, and shall have the same
torce and effect, and in all respects be governed by the provi-
sions of chapter forty-two, Code of Virginia (edition eighteen
hundred and sixty), relating to executions and proceedings
theren on against sheriffs.

he county treasurer shall, on the first day of June and
the “fret day of August and the first day of October of each
year, make up a statement of all moneys collected by him on
account of taxes, which statement shall be verified by affida-
vit; and he shall, within fifteen days thereafter, render to the
auditor of public accounts said statement, and pay into the
treasury the amount shown to be due by such statement; and
if any treasurer fail to pay over the same within said time, he
shall forfeit his commissions on so much of said balance as he
may fail so to pay over.

26. The county treasurer shall receive from the sheriff of
his county, all fines collected by him, and account for the same
in his annual settlement.

27. The annual list of fines required to be returned to the
auditor of public accounts, by the clerk of every court, under
the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth sections of chapter
forty-three of the Code of Virginia (edition of eighteen hun-
dred and sixty), shall be made on or before the fifteenth day
of December, and shall include all fines mentioned in the said
fifteenth section, imposed by his court prior to the first day of
December, subject to the exceptions named i in said last-men-
tioned section.

28. The county court of any county shall require the county
treasurer to give a new bond, or additional sureties, when-
ever, in the opinion of said court, it is necessary for the pro-
tection of the public interest; but before such order is made,
at least ten days’ notice shall be given to the treasurer. And
if any county treasurer shall fail or refuse to give such new
bond or additional security, within ten days after an order
shall have been made requiring such new bond or additional
security, his office shall be considered vacant, and a new trea-
surer shall be appointed according to the provisions of section
six of this act.
29. If any county treasurer shall loan any money belonging
to the State or county, with or without interest, or shall use
the same for his own individual purposes, he shall forfeit and
pay for every such offence a sum not less than one hundred
nor more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by action
upon said treasurer’s bond to the use of the commonwealth of

irginia, or of the particular county whose money was so used,
as the case may be.

30. The treasurer shall make his annual settlement with the
auditor upon the fifteenth day of December of each year, and
upon such settlement shall be credited with such taxes as he
may, upon oath, declare has not been paid to him or accounted
for, as insolvent by any collector of his county into whose
hands the same were placed for collection, upon the certificate
of the clerk of the court having jurisdiction of the case, that
proceedings were duly instituted in said court againat such
collector and his sureties upon his bond, under section twenty-
three of this act, as soon after the first of December as the
lengt th of notice required would permit, and that said pro-
ceedings have not been delayed by any default or negligence
of said treasurer; but such sum shall remain charged against
such treasurer and be paid over by him within t irty” days
after he shall have received the same, or might have received
it; but the auditor may at any time strike from his books,
against such treasurer, so much of said sum as the court which
tried the case shall certify has been lost by reason of the in-
solvency of such collector and his sureties; but said treasurer
shall, on the fifteenth day of December of each year, until the
same be disposed of, whether he go out of office or not, file
with the auditor of public accounts the certificate of the court
which tried the case, that he could not have collected said
sum during said year, and upon failure to file such certificate,
shall be liable for the costs of proceedings against him to col-
lect such money, but such treasurer shall not be forced to pay
such money before he collect the same, or might have collected
it. If the treasurer fails to recover against the collector, as is
mentioned in the preceding sections, a8 much as he has re-
ceived credit for in his annual settlement, he shall, as soon as
the judgment in said case is pronounced, become immediately
liable for the difference, with damages after the rate of five per
centum per month from the time such money ought to have
been accounted for. °

31. If the treasurer shall fail to make payment of the reve-
nue, or any part thereof, as required by law, the auditor of
public accounts shall proceed against him in Jike manner as is
now provided for the collection of debts due the common-
wealth, under the provisions of chapter forty-two of the Code
of. Virginia of eighteen hundred and sixty.

2 he county treasurer shall be entitled to a copy of the
zeneral acts and resolutions of each session of the general as-
sembly, which shall be furnished him by the secretary of the
commonwealth. He shall receive for his services, in receiving
and paying over the revenue, on amounts of five thousand dol-
lars and less, five per centum; on the amount in excess of five
thousand dollars, and under thirty thousand dollars, two per
centum; on the amount in excess of thirty thousand dollars,
and under fifty thousand dollars, one and one-half per centum;
and on the amount in excess of fifty thousand dollars, one per
centum.

33. For every breach of the condition of the bond of the
county treasurer, either in failing to account for and pay into
the treasury all state taxes, or to pay, when due, over to his
successor, all moneys of the county in his hands when he goes
out of office, or in any other way, suit may be brought in the
circuit or county court of the county, or in the circuit court
of the city of Richmond, against such treasurer, and his sure-
ties upon his official bond, for the use of the state or county,
as the case may be, or the same may be recovered, by motion,
in the said courts, after twenty days’ notice, and upon any
judgment rendered in such suit or motion, a writ of fieri facias
may issue, which shall conform in all respects to writs of fieri
facias issued under chapter forty-two of the Code of Virginia,
and be proceeded with in the same manner.

The superintendent of the poor.

34. The superintendent of the poor for each county shall
have charge of the county poor-house, where a county poor-
house now exists, and where there is no county poor-house,
he shall, when so directed by the board of supervisors for the
county, provide suitable places for the keeping of the poor of
his county, by renting or leasing tenement houses suitable for
the purpose, with land attached thereto for a farm. He shall
receive at such poor-house such paupers as may be sent to him
by the overseers of the poor of the several townships of the
county, and provide and care for said paupers in the manner
provided for by law, and shall, when in his opinion it is un-
necessary for any pauper to remain longer at the poor-house,
discharge such pauper therefrom.

85. The superintendent of the poor of each county shall, at
the time of his qualification, enter into bond, with security, to
be approved by the court or judge before whom he qualifies,
in a penalty to be determined by such court or judge, but not
less in any case than five thousand dollars; which bond shall
conform to the requirements of section eight, chapter thirteen,
of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and sixty.

36. He shall keep such money as the board of supervisors
may authorize him to receive or have the care of, and dispose
of the same as it may direct. He-shall, in his own name, as
such superintendent, recover money or property for the use of
the poor of the county, and defend proceedings against him-
self as such superintendent, and shall be allowed the expense
of such prosecution or defence, and account for all money re-
covered by him.

37. He shall, at the annual meeting of the board of super-
visors for his county, and oftener if required, make to them a
report setting forth the number provided for in the preceding
year, showing how many were white and how many colored ;
for what length of time, and where each was provided for or
assisted ; the name of each; the amount received by the super-
intendent during the year, showing how much from the an-
nual levy, and how much otherwise; the amount expended
by him for the year, with the vouchers therefor, showing how
much was expended at the place of general reception, and how
much for those supported or assisted elsewhere; the balance
remaining in his hands or under his control; what amount, in
addition, he will require to pay arrearages for the past and
meet expenditures for the ensuing year; what amount was
expended in each township. He shall also state in said report
whether any, and if any, which were kept at work at the place
of general reception; for what length of time, and in what
manner, whether in the work-house, or in tilling the land or
otherwise; and may make such remarks upon the operation of
the poor laws as he may deem pertinent.

38. The auditor of public accounts may prescribe the form
of such report, and it shall be made in that form, if one be so
prescribed ; otherwise, in such form as the board of supervisors
may prescribe; and if no form is prescribed by said board,
then in such form as the superintendent may adopt, so that it
embrace all the information required by the preceding section;
and for a failure to make such report, the superintendent shall
forfeit not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five
hundred dollars, to be recovered to the use of the county, by
motion against him and bis sureties, after ten days’ notice in
writing. The clerk of the board of supervisors shall, within
sixty days after said report is made, transmit a copy thereof
to the auditor of public accounts; and if he fail to furnish said
report within said time, he shall forfeit twenty dollars, and the
auditor of public accounts shall immediately give notice of
such failure to the proper attorney for the commonwealth, who
shall at once proceed against the clerk or the superintendent,
whichever may be in default.

39. The duties of the auditor of public accounts as to said
report shall be the same as were provided by law as to reports
of the board of overseers of the poor for each county, in sec-
tion twenty-one, chapter fifty-one of the Code of eighteen
hundred and sixty.

40. The superintendent of the poor shall receive for his
services such compensation as the board of supervisors may
deem reasonable; in no case, however, shall such compensa-
tion exceed the sum of four hundred dollars.

41. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each
county of this commonwealth, on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November, eighteen hundred and seventy, and
every three years thereafter, a county surveyor, who shall be
the county surveyor for said county. He shall enter upon the
discharge of the duties of his office on the first day of Janu-
ary next after his election, and shali hold his office until his
successor is elected and qualified; and his duties, liabilities,
and compensation shall in all other respects be the same as
now provided for by existing laws, relating to the office of
county surveyor: provided, that the judge of the county
court is hereby authorized to appoint a surveyor for each
county in which he holds his court, who shall hold his office
until the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy-
one, and until his successor is elected and qualified; and pro-
vided further, that said judge shall in like manner have power
to fill a vacancy in the office of surveyor in each county in
which he holds his court, whenever such vacancy shall occur,
and the surveyor so appointed shall continue in office until his
successor is elected and qualified. 7

42. All acts or parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby
repealed.

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