Chap. 556.—An ACT to authorize the qualified voters of Alexandria county to
vote on the question of the removal of the court-house from Alexandria city
to some point within Alexandria county.

Approved February 29, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall
be the duty of the board of supervisors of Alexandria county, at its
first regular meeting occurring ten days after the passage of this act,
to give public notice of a special meeting of said board, to be held
not Jess than ten days nor more than fifteen days thereafter, at
which meeting the said board shall hear arguments and suggestions
in favor of any site or sites for the location of a county-seat, and
the said board shall at its next regular meeting proceed to nominate
the three locations which in its judgment are best suited for the loca-
tion of the county-seat.

2 That it shall be the duty of officers charged with conducting
elections in the county of Alexandria to hold an election on the
fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, for the
purpose of taking the sense of the qualified voters of the said county
upon the question of removing the location of the county court-bouse
of said county from Alexandria city to some one of the sites in the
county, so as aforesaid selected by the board of supervisors.

A separate ballot-box shall be provided at each voting precinct, in
which shall be deposited the ballots of the then qualified voters who
shall desire to vote on the question of the said change of location.
The said ballots shall be for Alexandria or for one of the places so as
aforesaid selected by the board of supervisors; and that location
receiving a plurality of votes shall be selected as the future location
of the county court-house: provided that should the city of Alexan-
dria receive a plurality of votes, then no further action shall be taken
under this act, but the same shall be null and void and of no effect.

3. The manner of receiving and canvassing the ballots cast at the
said election, and of making return thereof, shall conform to the
general election law of the state so far as applicable thereto. The
certificate of the judges of election shall be in the following form,
or equivalent thereto:

We hereby certify that at the election held this twenty-eighth day
of May, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, for the precinct of :
on the question of the change of location of the court-house of Alex-
andria county,

votes were cast for
votes were cast for
votes were cast for
votes were cast for
° K Clerks.
A. B.,
C. D., > Judges.
>” 9

The commissioners of election shall canvass the returns according
to law, and shall make an abstract showing the number of votes for
each of the several locations, and that location securing a plurality
of the votes cast shall be the place of holding the courts of the said
county and for conducting all the other business of said county,
usually conducted at a court-house, as soon as suitable county build-
ings are erected thereon and the same are accepted by the commis-
sioners hereinafter named.

The said commissioners shall have plans and specifications pre-
pared for a court-house, clerks’ offices and jail, and shall receive
sealed proposals to donate suitable building sites and money for
said buildings.

4. The following persons shall constitute a commission to carry
out the provisions of this bill, to-wit: Each of the supervisors of the
said county, also Alonzo G. Hayes, A. W. Cathcart, George O. Wun-
der, Robert Walker, W. II. Hatch, and Frank Hume, or such of them
as may then be living, and shall accept the trusts and duties imposed
by this bill. They shall meet on the tenth day of June, eighteen
hundred and ninety-six, and after being duly sworn to perform their
said duties solely with reference to the best interests of the county,
shall organize by choosing a chairman and eecretary, and shall then
examine the various building sites offered in that location which
may have been previously selected by vote, as hereinbefore provided
for, and select from them the site, in their judgment, most suitable
for county buildings; which site aforesaid shall be conveyed to the
county by conveyance to be approved by the commonwealth’s
attorney. Should, in the judgment of the commission, no suitable
building site be granted free to the said commission, they shall pro-
ceed to acquire, by purchase or condemnation, such land as may be
needed for the erection of said buildings and necessary land adjacent
thereto, and the board of supervisors shall cause the same to be paid
for out of the county funds.

5. That upon the selection of the building site, as hereinbefore
provided for, the board of supervisors shall, without delay, proceed
to have determined the county’s interest in the court-house and jail
properties in Alexandria city, and have the same sold, reserving,
however, to the county the right to use and occupy the same for the
period of one year from the date of the ratification of sale and con-
veyance thereof.

6. That upon the sale of the county’s interest in said buildings
and grounds, as hereinbefore provided for, the said commission shall
as speedily as possible decide on plans and specifications, which
specifications shall embrace walls of brick or stone and fire-proof
clerks’ offices. .

After agreeing upon the plans and specifications they shall let out
to the lowest responsible bidder the building of the said court-
house, clerk’s offices, and jail, the cost thereof, however, not to exceed
the sum of twenty thousand dollars, including any sums that may
be received as a bonus.

The erection of said buildings shall be completed within nine
months from the letting of said contract.

When the said buildings are completed the commission aforesaid
shall assemble, and so soon as they determine that the buildings
aforesaid have been erected in substantial accordance with the plans
and specification agreed on, they shall receive the same on behalf of
the county, and the record of their action shal! be filed in the office
of the county clerk of the county.

7. To further carry out the provisions of this act, it shall be the
duty of the board of supervisors of the said county of Alexandria
to levy a special tax, not to exceed in any one year ten cents on the
one hundred dollars of real and personal property in said county,
the first levy hereunder to be made at the first meeting of said board
after the result shall be announced in favor of removal, but not
otherwise; and the said board is authorized to issue bonds of the
said county in a sum not to exceed twelve thousand dollars, which
said bonds shall be in denominations of one hundred dollars, and
shall be redeemable in ten years from date, with interest at the rate
of six per centum per annum, and shall be sold after due notice to
the highest bidders, but shall not be sold for less than their par
value. The moneys derived from the sale of said bonds and the
court-house and jail properties shall be delivered to the custody of
the county treasurer and disbursed by him only upon the order of
the commission herein provided for; and he shall receive for his
services in holding and disbursing said moneys one per centum of
the principal thereof, and no more or other charge shal] be made by
him against the same; and all moneys so derived but not used in
the manner herein indicated shall be covered into the county fund.
The board of supervisors of said county are hereby empowered to
carry into full effect all provisions of this act which are not other-
wise specially provided for.

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