CHAP. 2.—An ACT to add a new section to the charter of the city of Suf-
folk, to be known as section 34, in relation to a civil and police justice,
providing for his election or appointment and qualifications, describ-
ing his powers, duties, jurisdiction, term of office, and compensation,
and repealing all acts and parts of acts and all charter provisions in
conflict herewith. {H B 20]

Approved September 2, 1919.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of the State of Vir-
ginia, That a new section be added to the charter of the city of
Suffolk, to be known as section thirty-four, in relation to a civil
and police justice, providing for his election or appointment and
qualifications, and describing his powers, duties, jurisdiction,
term of office, and compensation, said section to read as follows:

Section 34. 1. Civil and police justice; election and term.—
The city council shall, in the month of September, nineteen hun-
dred and nineteen, and biennially thereafter, elect a special jus-
tice of the peace, to be known as the civil and police justice, who
shall hold office for the term of two years from the first day of
October ensuing his election and until his successor is duly elected
and qualified, unless sooner removed from office.

2. Qualifications.—Such civil and police justice, at the time
of his election and during his term of office, shall reside in the
city, and shall not, during the said term, hold any other office of
public trust.

3. Oath and bond.—Such civil and police justice, before en-
tering upon the performance of his duties, shall take the official
oath required by State law, before the circuit court of the city,
or the judge thereof in vacation. He shall also enter into bond
in the penalty of two thousand dollars before said circuit court,
or the judge thereof in vacation, with surety to be approved by
said court or judge, and conditioned for the faithful perform-
ance of his duties as civil and police justice.
4. Compensation.—Such civil and police justice shall re-
ceive such salary as the city council may determine, to be paid
in monthly or semi-monthly instalments out of the treasury of
the city, and he shall receive no other compensation for his ser-
vices as such civil and police justice. His salary shall not be in-
creased or diminished during his term of office.

5. Daily. sessions; substitute—The court of such civil and
police justice shall be ‘kept open for the transaction of business
every day in the year, except Sundays and legal] holidays, but
the justice shall be allowed annually a vacation period of not
more than one month between July first and October first. The
city council may appoint as substitute civil and police justice a
person, residing in the city, and may at any time revoke such
appointment, and may make a new appointment in the event of
such revocation, or of the death, absence, or disability of such
substitute civil and police justice. In the event of the inability
of the civil and police justice to perform the duties of his office
by reason of sickness, absence, vacation, interest: in the claim,
proceeding, or parties before his court or otherwise, such sub-
stitute civil and police justice shall perform the duties of the
office during such absence or disability, and shall receive for his
services a per diem compensation equivalent to one-twentieth of
a monthly instalment of the salary of the civil and police justice,
payable out of the treasury of the city; and the city council may,
from time to time, determine whether or not such compensation
shall be deducted from the salary of the civil and police justice.
While acting as such, either the civil and police justice or the sub-
stitute civil and police justice may perform all acts with reference
to the proceedings and judgments of the other in any warrant,
claim or proceeding before the court of the civil and police jus-
tice in the same manner and with the same force and effect as
if they were his own.

6. Jurisdiction.—The jurisdiction of the civil and police
justice shall be as follows:

(a) The said civil and police justice shall be a conservator
of the peace within the corporate limits of the city, and for one
mile beyond said corporate limits, and within such limits shall
have exclusive original jurisdiction for the trial of all offenses
against the ordinances of the city, and shall have concurrent
jurisdiction with the circuit court of the city in all cases of vio-
lations of the revenue and election laws of the State, except the
law with reference to intoxicating liquors and of all offenses aris-
ing under the provisions of chapter one hundred and eighty-
seven and of sections thirty-eight hundred and one, thirty-eight
hundred and two and thirty-eight hundred and three of the Code
of Virginia, and, except when it is otherwise specially provided,
shall have exclusive original jurisdiction for the trial of all other
misdemeanor cases occurring within his jurisdiction; in all of
which cases the punishment may be the same as the mayor of
said city or the circuit court of said city is authorized to impose.

(b) In civil matters the jurisdiction of the civil and police
justice shall be that of justices of the peace for counties.

No other justice of the peace in the city shall, after Septem-
ber thirtieth, nineteen hundred and nineteen, exercise such crim-
inal or civil jurisdiction as is herein conferred on said civil and
police justice, except as provided in this act.

7. Issue of warrants.—A warrant within the jurisdiction
conferred by this act upon the civil and police justice shall be
issued by him and returnable only before him.

8. Costs and fees.—The civil and police justice shall col-
lect all costs and other fees required by law to be paid, and,
at or before the time of hearing had before him on any claim
of which he is given jurisdiction by sub-section (b) of section
six of this act, the plaintiff in such claim shall pay to the civil
and police justice a trial fee of fifty cents for each hundred
dollars of value, or fraction thereof, claimed in the warrant.
The trial fee shall be taxed as part of the costs. The civil and
police justice shall pay monthly into the treasury of the city
all costs, trial fees and other fees collected by him. All fines
paid to the said civil and police justice for violations of State
law shall be accounted for by him as required by law.

9. Procedure.—All procedure in claims and proceedings of
which the civil and police justice is given jurisdiction by sub-
section (b) of section six of this act, except so far as herein
otherwise provided, shall conform to the chapter of the State
law concerning warrants for small claims; except that on mo-
tion of either party the adverse party may be required to file
the particulars of the claim or the grounds of the defense, as
provided in section thirty-two hundred and forty-nine of the
Code of Virginia, and except that the proceedings in a cause
wherein an infant or insane person is a party shall not be stayed
because of such infancy or insanity, but the civil and police
justice shall appoint some discreet and competent attorney at
law as guardian ad litem to such infant or insane defendant,
whether such defendant shall have been served with process
or not; or, if no such attorney be found willing to act, the civil
and police justice shall appoint some other discreet and proper
person as guardian ad litem, who shall faithfully represent the
interest or estate of the infant or insane person for whom he
is appointed; but the said guardian ad litem so appointed shall
not be liable for costs. The civil and police justice rendering
any judgment may issue a writ of fieri facias thereon immedi-
ately, if there be not a new trial granted, nor an appeal allowed,
nor a stay of execution; and the civil and police justice may,
from time to time, renew such writ either before or after the
expiration of one year from the date of the judgment.
1919. ] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. 7

_ 10. Appeals and removals.—lIn all misdemeanors triable be-
fore such civil and police justice under the provisions of this
act, there shall be an appeal from his judgment to the circuit
court of the city, as now or hereafter provided by law for ap-
peals from the judgments of justices of the peace of counties.
An appeal may be taken to said circuit court of the city from
the judgment of said civil and police judgment imposing a pen-
alty for any infraction of a city ordinance, except in cases where
the penalty imposed is a fine not exceeding ten dollars, in which
cases it shall be final. In no civil cases triable before such civil
and police justice shall a removal to any other court be allowed,
but in all cases, over twenty dollars, exclusive of interest, there
shall be an appeal of right to the circuit court of the city, and
all such appeals shall be tried and judgment rendered as pro-
vided by section twenty-nine hundred and fifty-seven of the
Code of Virginia, but no appeal shall be granted unless and
until the party applying for the same has given bond, with suf-
ficient surety, to be approved by the said civil and police jus-
tice, to abide the judgment of the court upon the appeal. The
clerk of said circuit court of the city, upon receipt of the papers
in any such appeal case, shall, upon payment of the writ tax,
forthwith docket such case in its regular order; but, if said writ
tax be not so paid within thirty days from the date of the judg-
ment, the said appeal shall thereupon stand dismissed and said
judgment shall become final, and the said papers, upon applica-
tion of any party in interest, shall be returned to the said civil
and police justice by the clerk of the said circuit court of the city.
Appeal cases shall not have preference over other cases pend-
ing in such circuit court of the city, as regards the time of trial.

11. Dismissal of claims; docket.—If any claim of which
the civil and police justice is given, jurisdiction by sub-section
(b) of section six of this act shall have been pending before
such civil and police justice sixty days, he shall notify the par-
ties that the same will be dismissed in ten days thereafter un-
less good cause be shown to the contrary, and, unless such cause
be shown, such civil and police justice shall forthwith dismiss
such claim.

The said civil and police justice shall keep a docket in which
shall be entered all causes tried and prosecuted before him and
the final disposition of the same.

All papers connected with any of the proceedings in the trial
of cases before such civil and police justice, except such as may
be removed on appeal, and except also such papers in criminal
matters as are required by law to be returned to and lodged in
the clerk’s office of the circuit court of the city, shall be properly
indexed, and filed and preserved.

12. Rules of practice.——The said civil and police justice
shall have the power to make and enforce such reasonable rules
of practice as are not in conflict with law.
3 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. [VA.

18. Court-room, books and stationery.—The city council
shall provide a suitable court-room for such civil and police
justice, and shall furnish all necessary furniture, books and sta-
tionery. Such books shall be under the control of the civil and
police justice, and shall remain the property: of the city.

14. Removal from office.—The said civil and police justice
may be removed or suspended from office by the circuit court of
the city for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetency, gross ne-
glect of official duty, or corruption in office. All proceedings
for such removal or suspension shall be by order of and on mo-
tion before the proper court, upon reasonable notice to the said
civil and police justice to be affected thereby. Any such officer
shall have the right to demand a trial by jury.

15. Vacancy.—Any vacancy occurring in the office of civil
and police justice shall be filled by the city council by election
or a person with the qualifications prescribed in section two of
this act.

16. Acts in conflict repealed.—All acts and parts of acts,
oe all charter provisions, in conflict herewith are hereby re-
pealed.

An emergency is declared to exist under section fifty-three
of the Constitution, and this act shall go into effect from its
passage.