Chap. 107.—An ACT to regulate the assessment and collection of
Taxes in the hands of Notaries Public and Clerks of Courts.

Approved February 12, 1886.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
it shall be the duty of the several commissioners of the reve-
nue for each city or county, or such district thereof in which
any clerk’s office of any court is located, in addition to the du-
ties now imposed upon such commissioner, in each year, be-
tween the first day of September and the fifteenth day of Octo-
ber, to examine the books and papers of every such clerk’s
office located within his district, and ascertain what taxes, fines,
and other public moneys have been, or should have been, re-
ceived by or should be chargeable to the clerk of said court,
during the twelve months preceding said first day of Sep-
tember.

2. It shall be the duty of each notary public, between the
first day of September and the first day of October of each
year, to furnish to the commissioner of the revenue in whose
district such notary public may reside, a detailed “statement,
under oath, of all taxes which have been, or should have been,
collected by such notary in the twelve months preceding said
first day of September; and each clerk of any court, whose
office is located in such district, shall each year within the dates
aforesaid, in like manner furnish to such commissioner a simi-
lar statement, showing in detail all taxes, fines, and other pub-
lic moneys with which any such clerk is chargeable during the
twelve months preceding said first day of September of each
year. Within the time limited in the first section, said com-
missioner of the revenue shall assess and make out in duplicate
a statement of all taxes due by such notaries public, and all
taxes, fines, and other public moneys with which every such
clerk is chargeable, and shall state the same upon blanks fur-
nished him for the purpose, and shall, on or before the fifteenth
day of October of each year, send one copy of every such as-
sessment to the auditor of public accounts; and in case of a
notary public, shall file one copy of said report in the treasu-
rer’s office of the county or corporation, and in case of a clerk
of the court, he shall file one copy in the office of said clerk,

3 Every commissioner of the revenue failing to make the
assessment required by this act, shall be liable to a fine of fifty
dollars, and to an additional fine of fifty dollars for each month
during which he shall continue delinqnent in making said as-
sessment, or returning same to the auditor. And every notary
failing to return the sworn statement required by this act, shall
be fined one hundred dollars, and for every month during which
he shall continue delinquent in returning such statement, he
shall be fined the further sum of fifty dollars per month. But
no such commissioner shall be liable to a fine for failing to as-
sess any notary public who has not furnished the sworn state-
ment required by this act. Every such clerk shall forfeit to the
commonwealth three hundred dollars for failure to make to such
commissioner the sworn statement aforesaid within the time pre-
scribed, and the further sum of fifty dollars per month for each
month during which such failure shall continue. Such forfeit-
ures may be recovered by motion and judgment against such
clerk individually, or against him and his sureties on his official
bond, in the circuit or corporation court of the county or cor-
poration in which such clerk’s office is located, in the manner
provided by law for the recovery of other moneys due the state;
and the same shall be in addition to any recovery which may
be had against him or his sureties for the moneys which he
may fail to report to such commissioner as due. And for the
failure to pay into the treasury, within the time prescribed in
each year, damages shall be recoverable against every such
clerk and his sureties after the rate of ten per centum per an-
num upon every amount which he shall fail to pay as aforesaid,
the same to be included in any judgment rendered for any such
amount, and to be in addition to the interest allowed by law.
Motions may be repeated from time to time for the forfeitures
hereinbefore prescribed, for so long a time as the failure to re-
port to the commissioner may continue. It shall be the duty
of each attorney for the commonwealth to prosecute within his
county or corporation all such notaries and commissioners as
may be delinquent under this act.

4. The auditor of public accounts shall, immediately upon
the receipt of every such assessment and report from the com-
missioner of the revenue, charge on some book to be kept in
his office for the purpose, the amount which shall be due against
every such clerk of a court, and shall charge against the treasu-
rer of the county or corporation all amounts shown to be due
by any notary public within’the same.

5. Every such treasurer of such county or corporation, im-
mediately upon the receipt of every such assessment against a
notary public, shall make out a ticket against him for the
amount thereof, and shall proceed to collect the same in the
manner provided for by law for the collection of other tax
tickets in his hands, within ninety days from the receipt of every
such assessment, and he shall forthwith pay over all such mo-
neys collected from all such notaries public into the treasury;
the same shall be credited, when so paid on his account, by the
auditor. Any tax which he may be unable to collect from any
such notary public, he shall return a sworn statement of to the
court of his county or corporation for its approval, and upon
the certificate of said court that it is satisfied he could not by
the use of due diligence collect such tax, and the return of such
certificate to the auditor, provided the same be so made out and
returned within two months next after the expiration of the
time limited for the collection of such taxes, he shall take credit
by the amount of taxes so returned delinquent.

6. Every such notary shall, nevertheless, be liable to a civil
suit, or motion upon his official bond, in the circuit court of
Richmond city, or in any court of the county or corporation
wherein he resides, for all such taxes as to which he is delin-
quent; and shall, in addition, be liable to prosecution, as pro-
vided. by law, for the wrongful and fraudulent use or embezzle-
ment of any such taxes. All clerks of courts failing to pay
over moneys with which they are chargeable, shall in like man-
ner be liable to such prosecution for any fraudulent or wrongful
use or embezzlement of such money, in’ addition to the other
penalties imposed upon them by this act.

7. Any erroneous assessment made against a clerk of the
court or notary public, may be corrected by the county or cor-
poration court of the county or corporation 1n which such offices
are situated, or the judge thereof in vacation; or in case of a
clerk of the court of appeals, by any judge thereof in term-
time or vacation: provided, written application is made to said
judge within three months after the time the.commissioner of
the revenue has filed the assessment complained of in the office
of such clerk: and provided further, that such commissioner of
the revenue, or his successors in office, and the attorney for the
commonwealth for the county or city in which the clerk’s office
is located, are present at the hearing of the application. Upon
the certificate of the judge that the application was made in
due time, and that the commissioner of the revenue and the
attorney for the commonwealth were present, and protected
the interests of the state, and that the assessmcnt was erroneous
in any particular, the auditor of public accounts shall properly
credit such clerk upon his book, so that his account may con-
form to the corrected assessment; and if any such clerk has
paid more than the correct amount, the auditor may issue to

im his warrant upon the treasurer for the amount erroneously
paid. |
8. The commissioner of the revenue shall be entitled toa
commission of two and one-half per cent. upon the amount of
any assessment made by him under this act.

g. Sections fourteen, fifteen and sixteen of chapter thirty-six
of the Code of eighteen hundred and seventy-three, shall not
be construed as applying to clerks of courts or notaries public,
and all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed. |

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