Chap. 321.—An ACT to authorize the board of supervisors of Alexandria county,
Virginia, to build court-house, clerk’s office and jail at Fort Myer heights, Alex-
andria county, Virginia, and to issue bonds to pay for the same, and to levy a
special tax to pay the principal and interest on said bonds.

Approved February 12, 1898.

Whereas in pursuance of the act approved February twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled an act to authorize the quali-
fied voters of Alexandria county to vote on the question of the removal
of the courthouse from Alexandria city to some point within Alexandria
county, an election was held on May twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred
and ninety-six, at which election a majority of the votes cast was in
favor of the removal of the courthouse from the city of Alexandria,
ang a plurality in favor of locating the courthouse at Fort Myer heights;
an

Whereas a suitable site at Fort Myer heights has been conveyed to the
board of supervisors of said county upon which to erect a courthouse,
jail and clerk’s office: now, therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the board
of supervisors of Alexandria county be, and they are hereby, author-
ized to build a courthouse, clerk’s office and jail for said county at Fort
Myer heights, in said county, and it shall be the duty of the said board
of supervisors to as speedily as possible decide upon the plans and spe-
cifications for the said courthouse, clerk’s office and jail, which plans
and specifications shall embrace walls of brick or stone and fire-proof
clerk’s office, and after agreeing upon the plans and specifications afore-
said they shall let out to the lowest responsible bidder, after at least
thirty days’ advertisement for bids, the building of the said courthouse,
clerk’s office and jail. The cost of said courthouse, clerk’s office and
jail shall not exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars, and said
buildings shall be completed within one year from the time the contract
for their erection is awarded. Upon their completion the said board of
supervisors shall, after due examination of the same, accept the same
on behalf of the county, and a record of their action shall be entered
upon the minutes of said board, and a copy thereof filed in the office
of the clerk of the county court of said county, to be by him recorded
in the current deed-book of said county; and thereafter the said Fort
Myer heights shall be the place for holding the courts of the county of
Alexandria, and for conducting of all the other business of said county.
No contract shall be awarded for the building of the courthouse, clerk’s
office and jail until a responsible bid for the bonds hereinafter provided
for shall have been received and accepted.

2. That the said board is authorized to issue coupon bonds of the said
county in a sum not to exceed twenty thousand dollars, which said
bonds shal] be in the denomination of one hundred dollars, and bear
interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually.
The principal of said bonds shall be payable thirty years from their
date, or upon the call of the said board of supervisors at any time after
five years from their date. The said board of supervisors shall advertise
for at least thirty days in some newspaper for bids for said bonds, and
shall award to the highest bidder such an amount of the bonds as it
may be deemed necessary to issue for the erection of said courthouse,
clerk’s office and jail and the proper equipping and furnishing of the
same, but said bonds shall not be sold at less than par. Said bonds
shall be signed by the chairman of the board of supervisors and counter-
signed by the clerk, and the official seal of the board affixed. The said
clerk shall keep a record of all bonds issued and the amount received
from their sale. The money derived from the sale of said bonds shall
be delivered to the county treasurer and disbursed by him upon the
order of the board of supervisors, but no part of the money derived
from the sale of said bonds shall be used for any other purpose than for
the construction of said courthouse, clerk’s office and jail and the proper
equipping and furnishing the same. The treasurer shall receive for his
services in receiving and disbursing said moneys one per centum of the
principal thereof, and no more or other charge shall be made by him
against the same.

3. The board of supervisors shall annually include in the levy upon
the property and lawful subjects of taxation in said county, as a part of
the annual county levy, a sum and tax sufficient to pay the interest on
said bonds, and in such manner as they may deem best create a sinking
fund suflicient to pay the said bonds at or before maturity.

4. The removal of the courthouse, clerk’s office and jail from Alex-
andria city shall not in any way lesson the rights or ownership of the
county of Alexandria in the half square of ground in the city of Alex-
andria, bounded by Columbus, Queen and Princess streets, on which
stands the courthouse, or in the half square of ground in said city
bounded by Saint Asaph, Princess and Pitt streets, upon which stands
the jail; and whenever said properties are sold the county of Alexandria
shall receive the same share of the proceeds of sale as if a new court-
house and jail for said county had not been built, and the county shall
have the right to use and occupy the said courthouse and jail in the city
of Alexandria until the first day of January, nineteen hundred.

5. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed.

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