Chap. 371.—An ACT to preserve racial integrity. [S B 219]
Approved March 20, 1924. |

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
State registrar of vital statistics may, as soon as practicable after the
taking effect of this act, prepare a form whereon the racial composition
of any individual, as Caucasian, Negro, Mongolian, American Indian,
Asiatic Indian, Malay, or any mixture thereof, or any other non-Caucasic
strains, and if there be any mixture, then, the racial composition of the
parents and other ancestors, in so far as ascertainable, so as to show in
what generation such mixture occurred, may be certified by such in-
dividual, which form shall be known as a registration certificate. The
State registrar may supply to each local registrar a sufficient number of
such forms for the purpose of this act; each local registrar may, person-
ally or by deputy, as soon as possible after receiving said forms, have
made thereon in duplicate a certificate of the racial composition, as
aforesaid, of each person resident in his district, who so desires, born
before June 14, 1912, which certificate shall be made over the signature
of said person, or in the case of children under fourteen years of age,
over the signature of a parent, guardian, or other person standing in
loco parentis. One of said certificates for each person thus registering
in every district shall be forwarded to the State registrar for his files;
the other shall be kept on file by the local registrar.

Every local registrar may, as soon as practicable, have suth Tregis-
tration certificate made by or for each person in his district who so de-
sires, born before June 14, 1912, for whom he has not on file a registra-
tion certificate, or a birth certificate.

2. It shall be a felony for any person wilfully or knowingly to make
a registration certificate false as to color or race. The wilful making of
a false registration or birth certificate shall be punished by confine-
ment in the penitentiary for one year.

3. For each registration certificate properly made and returned to
the State registrar, the local registrar returning the same shall be en-
titled to a fee of twenty-five cents, to be paid by the registrant. Applica-
tion for registration and for transcript may be made direct to the State
registrar, who may retain the fee for expenses of his office.

4. No marriage license shall be granted until the clerk or deputy
clerk has reasonable assurance that the statements as to color of both
man and woman are correct.

If there is reasonable cause to disbelieve that applicants are of pure
white race, when that fact is stated, the clerk or deputy clerk shall with-
hold the granting of the license until satisfactory proof is produced that
both applicants are “‘white persons” as provided for in this act.

The clerk or deputy clerk shall use the same care to assure himself
that both applicants are colored, when that fact 1s claimed.

5. It shall hereafter be unlawful for any white person in this State
tO marry any save a white person, or a person with no other admixture
of blood than white and American Indian. For the purpose of this act,
the term ‘‘white person’’ shall apply only to the person who has no trace
whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian; but persons who have
one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no
other non-Caucasic blood shall be deemed to be white persons. All
laws heretofore passed and now in effect regarding the intermarriage
of white and colored persons shall apply to marriages prohibited by this
act. |

6. For carrying out the purposes of this act and to provide the
necessary clerical assistance, postage and other expenses of the State
registrar of vital statistics, twenty per cent of the fees received by
local registrars under this act shall be paid to the State bureau of vital
statistics, which may be expended by the said bureau for the purposes
of this act.

7. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are, to the
extent of such inconsistency, hereby repealed.