Chap. 248.—An ACT to aniend and re-enact an act entitled an act to facilitate
the giving of bonds required by law, approved March 5, 1894.

Approved February 6, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to facilitate the giving of bonds required by law, ap-
proved March fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-tour, be ameuded
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 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 pur-
pose 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, shall, 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, or by any court,
judge, or other public officer, or board, or organization, to execute a bond
with surety or sureties, and if such surety company shall furnish satis-
factory evidence of its ability to provide all the security required as
aforesaid, no additional surety shall be exacted. Such surety shall
be released from its liability on the same terms and conditions as
are by law prescribed for the release of individuals, and shall have all
the rights, remedies and reliefs of an individual guarantor, indemnitor or
surety, it being the true intent and meaning of this act to enable cor-
porations created for that purpose to become the surety on bonds re-
quired as aforesaid subject to all the rights and liabilities of private

arties.
° § 2. Any court, judge, or other officer whoge duty it is to pass upon
the account of any person or corporation required to execute a bond
with surety or sureties as hereinbefore provided, shall, whenever any such
person or corporation has given any such surety company as surety
upon said bond, allow in the settlement of such account a reasonable
sum for the expense of securing such surety; provided, however, that
this allowance shall not be made to any state, county or municipal
officer.

§ 3. Any such company which shall execute any bond as surety
under the provisions of this act shall be estopped, in any proceed-
ings to enforce the liability which it shall have assumed to incur,
to deny its corporate power to execute such instrument or assume
such liability.

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