Chap. 11.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to provide for
the appointment of trial justices in counties adjoining cities in the State of
Virginia having a population of one hundred and seventy thousand or more,
to provide for the appointment of clerks for such trial justices; and to
prescribe the terms of office, jurisdiction, duties and compensation of such
trial justices and clerks: and to prohibit and provide penalties for alteration
or failure to serve process issued by such trial justices and clerks, approved

March 15, 1924. [S B 21]
Approved February 8, 1926.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act en-
titled an act to provide for the appointment of trial justices in coun-
ties adjoining cities in the State of Virginia having a population of one
hundred and seventy thousand or more, to provide for the appoint-
ment of clerks for such trial justices; and to prescribe the terms of
office, jurisdiction, duties and compensation of such trial justices and
clerks; and to prohibit and provide penalties for alteration or failure
to serve process issued by such trial justices and clerks, approved
March fifteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

1. In every county of this Commonwealth adjoining a city lying
wholly within the State of Virginia, such city having a population of
one hundred and seventy thousand or more, as shown by the past
preceding United States census, there shall be appointed in the man-
ner and for the term hereinafter prescribed, a trial justice for each of
such counties.

2. In counties where a trial justice and substitute trial justice
shall have been heretofore appointed under and in pursuance of chap-
ter three hundred and eighty-eight of the acts of the general assembly
of nineteen hundred and twenty-two, approved March twenty-fourth,
nineteen hundred and twenty-two, such trial justice shall serve with-
out further appointment or qualifications as trial justice for such
county under the provisions of this act until the expiration of his
present term of office on the thirty-first day of December, nineteen
hundred and twenty-four, inclusive, and such substitute trial justice
shall serve as substitute trial justice for such county under the pro-
visions of this act until the revocation of his appointment as herein-
after provided.

3. During the month of July, nineteen hundred and twenty-four,
and every fourth year thereafter, and whenever the qualified voters
of any county affected by this act shall have voted in favor of the
adoption of this act, or the act which it amends, the board of super-
visors of such county shall nominate for the position of trial justice
under the provisions of this act one or more suitable and qualified
persons and shall certify the name or names of such nominee or nom-
inees to the judge of the circuit court of such county, who shall, within
ten days and either in term time or vacation, appoint such nominee
or one of such nominees as trial justice or notify the board of super-
visors, in writing, of his disapproval of its nomination or nominations,
in which event the said board of supervisors shall, within thirty days,
furnish additional nomination or nominations to the judge of said
court, who, within ten days, shall appoint or disapprove as before,
and so on until an appointment be made.

4. The terms of office of trial justices appointed under section
three of this act shall be for four years, commencing on the first day
of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-five, and on the first day of
January of every fourth year thereafter, provided that if an appoint-
ment is made during either of said four year periods, the first appoint-
ment shall be for a term expiring at the end of that four year period.
Any vacancy occurring in the office of trial justice, after appointment,
shall be filled for the unexpired term by the judge of the circuit court
of such county upon such nomination as is required by section three
of this act for the appointment of a trial justice for a regular term of
office, and such nomination may be made immediately upon the oc-
currence of such vacancy or at any time during its continuance.

5. The jurisdiction of such trial justice shall be as follows:

(a) The-said trial justice shall have exclusive original jurisdiction
for the trial of all offenses against the by-laws or ordinances of said
county for which he is appointed.

(b) In criminal cases the jurisdiction of such trial justice shall be
the same, within the limits of his county, as that now provided by
chapter one hundred and twenty-three of the Code of Virginia, or
which may be hereafter provided for police justices of cities.

(c) In civil cases the jurisdiction of such trial justice shall be
the same, within the limits of his county, as that provided by chapter
one hundred and twenty-four of the Code of Virginia or which may
be hereafter provided for civil and police justices and civil justices of
cities.

(d) Immediately upon the qualification of such trial justice, the
term of office of the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court
of such county shall terminate. Such trial justice shall thereupon
become and continue ex-officio judge of such juvenile and domestic
relations court, and no separate judge of the juvenile and domestic
relations court of such county shall be thereafter appointed. ;

6. All the provisions of law now in force, or which may be here-
after enacted, governing preliminary examinations, granting of bail
procedure and appeals in both civil and criminal cases cognizable by
justices of the peace of counties not affected by this act shall apply in
like manner to cases tried before the trial justices appointed hereunder,
unless otherwise provided herein, except that in civil cases triable
before such trial justice no removal to any other court shall be allowed.

7. Any trial justice, acting hereunder may appoint a clerk who
shall be designated in process issued by him as clerk of the trial justice
court and who shall hold his office at the pleasure of said trial justice.
Such clerk shall keep the docket and accounts of such trial justice and
shall discharge such other duties as may be prescribed by said trial
justice.

8. When such clerk so appointed shall have qualified as herein-
after provided, he shall be a justice of the peace of the county for which
he is appointed and vested with all the powers and authority and sub-
ject to all the duties and liabilities of a justice of the peace, except
where inconsistent herewith.

Such clerk shall issue all warrants and other civil process return-
able before such trial justice under chapter two hundred and twenty-
three and chapter two hundred and fifty of the Code of Virginia, and
all warrants for violation of the ordinances or by- laws of such county
and all subpoenas for witnesses or other process in connection with the
violation of such ordinances or by-laws, and no such warrants, sub-
poenas or other process above mentioned shall be hereafter issued by
any other officer; except that where the plaintiff in a civil warrant is
a resident of such county but neither resides nor has an office or reg-
ular place of business within ten miles of the county seat, such civil
warrant and subpoenas for witnesses thereunder may be issued by one
of the other justices of the peace of such county. The said clerk shall
have concurrent jurisdiction with the other justices of the peace of
his county to issue warrants in criminal cases and subpoenas for wit-
nesses in such cases, and to admit to bail persons charged with crim-
inal offenses or. violations of such ordinances or by-laws.

9. The circuit court of such county or the judge thereof in vaca-
tion, shall appoint a substitute trial justice, and may at any time re-
voke such appointment of any substitute trial justice acting hereunder,
and shall make a new appointment in the event of such revocation,
or of the death, absence or disability of such substitute trial justice.
In the event of the inability of the trial justice to. perform the duties
of his office by reason of sickness, absence, vacation, interest in the
claim, proceedings or parties before his court, or otherwise, such trial
justice shall perform the duties of the office during such inability, and
shall receive for his services a per diem compensation equivalent to
one twenty-fifth of a monthly installment of the salary of the trial
justice payable out of the treasury of the county; and the board of
supervisors may, from time to time, determine whether or not such
compensation shall be deducted from the salary of the trial justice,
except that no such deduction shall be made on account of absence
during one-half of the vacation period of not more than one month
herein provided. While acting as such, the trial justice or the sub-
stitute trial justice may perform all acts with reference to the proceed-
ings and judgments of the other in any warrant, claim or proceedings
before the court of the trial justice in the same manner and with the
same force and effect as if they were his own. .

10. The said clerk on every day in the year except Saturdays,
Sundays and legal holidays, shall remain at the quarters assigned him
from nine o’clock ante meridian, until five o’clock, post meridian, for
the transaction of business, with the exception of one hour to be de-
signated by the trial justice. On such Saturdays as are not legal
holidays, the clerk shall remain at such quarters from nine o'clock,
ante meridian, until two o’clock, post meridian. The trial justice
may at any time require longer hours of service or such additional
services of the clerk as he may deem necessary for the convenient dis-
patch of business. The clerk shall be allowed annually a vacation
period of two weeks. In the event of the disability of the clerk to
perform the duties of his office by reason of sickness, absence, vaca-
tion or otherwise, the trial justice may appoint a substitute clerk who
shall perform all the duties of the office during such inability and shall
receive for his service a per diem compensation equivalent to one
twenty-fifth of a monthly installment of the salary of the clerk, pay-
able out of the treasury of the county; and the board of supervisors
may from time to time determine whether or not such compensation
shall be deducted from the salary of the clerk; except that no such re-
duction shall be made on account of absence during the vacation period
of two weeks herein provided. While acting as such the clerk or sub-
stitute clerk may perform all acts with reference to the proceedings
or duties of the other in the same manner and with the same effect as
if they were his own.

11. Before entering upon the performance of his duties the trial
justice, substitute trial justice, clerk and substitute clerk shall take
the oaths prescribed by law and shall each enter into bond in the
penalty of five hundred dollars before the circuit court, or the clerk
thereof, with surety to be approved by said court or clerk, and condi-
tioned. for the faithful performance of his duties.

12. The trial justice shall receive a salary to be fixed by the
board of supervisors at not less than twenty-five hundred dollars per
annum, nor more than thirty-six hundred dollars per annum, and the
clerk shall receive a salary to be fixed in like manner at not less than
eighteen hundred dollars per annum nor more than twenty-four hun-
dred dollars per annum. Such salaries shall be paid in monthly in-
stallments out of the treasury of the county, and neither the trial jus-
tice nor clerk shall receive any other compensation, either directly or
indirectly, for his services as such. The trial justice and clerk shall
charge and collect from litigants and defendants all the fees which
justices of the peace for counties not affected by this act are authorized
to charge and collect, and the fees now paid out of the State treasury
to the justices of the peace for issuing criminal warrants, and in civil
cases the trial justice shall charge and collect for every second or sub-
sequent continuance of the case a fee of fifty cents, to be paid at the
time such continuance is granted, by the party on whose motion or
at whose request such continuance is granted, but such continuance
fee shall not be taxed as a part of the costs of such case.

Out of all such fees collected, the officer’s fees shall first be paid,
and the balance, including fees for admitting to bail persons accused
of criminal offenses or of violation of ordinances or by-laws, and all
other fees and charges of every character, shall be paid monthly into
the county treasury. The trial justice and clerk may make a joint
report in detail of the fees collected by them, respectively.

13. The board of supervisors shall provide suitable quarters for
the court of such trial justice and for said clerk at the county seat,
and shall. provide all necessary books, stationery and supplies for each
of such officers. Such books and supplies shall be under the control
of the trial justice and shall remain the property of the county. The
judge of the circuit court of such county, in his discretion, may from
time to time direct that said trial justice shall hold his court at such
other places in said county, and at such times, as said judge may direct,
and said judge may amend and revoke his directions in that behalf in
his discretion. If other places than the courthouse are so designated,
a schedule of the times and places of holding the court of said trial
justice shall be kept posted by said trial justice at the courthouse of
his county in at least one public place in each magisterial district
thereof.

14.. The court of such trial justice shall be opened for the: trans-
action of business every day in the year except Sundays and legal
holidays. If any claim shall have been pending before such trial jus-
tice thirty days, he shall notify the parties or their attorneys that the
same will be dismissed in ten days thereafter unless good cause be
shown to the contrary, and unless such cause be shown, the trial jus-
tice shall forthwith dismiss such warrant. The trial justice shall keep
a docket in which shall be entered all causes tried and prosecuted before
him and the final disposition of the same, together with an account of
the costs and fines and such docket shall at all times be open to public
inspection. All papers connected with any of the proceedings in the
trial of cases before the trial justice, except such as may relate to
cases appealed or such warrants in criminal cases as may be by gen-
eral law required to be sooner returned to the clerk’s office of the
circuit court, shall remain in the office of the trial justice of the clerk
appointed by him hereunder for three years after final judgment by the
trial justice, and executions and additional executions in such proceed-
ings may be issued by the trial justice at any time during such per-
iod of three years. At the end of such period, such papers shall be
returned to the clerk’s office of the circuit court of the county, and
shaH be properly filed, indexed and preserved by the clerk, who shall
receive the same fees as are allowed for receiving, filing and indexing
papers returned by justices of the peace. Any warrant, subpoena,
summons or other process issued either by the trial justice or the clerk
appointed by him, may be directed to any constable of the county
or the sheriff thereof, as the trial justice may direct.

No process or warrant issued by such trial justice or clerk or any
part thereof or any date therein shall be altered after the same is
issued by the officer to whom directed or any other person, except
such trial justice or clerk. Any person, other than such trial justice
or clerk, who shall alter any such process or warrant after the same
has been issued or any officer who shall fail or refuse to execute within
a reasonable time any warrant or process issued under the provisions
of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less
than five nor more than five hundred dollars.

15. In counties affected by this act where a trial justice shall have
been heretofore appointed under and in pursuance of chapter three
hundred and eighty-eight of the acts of the general assembly of nine-
teen hundred and twenty-two, approved March twenty-fourth, nine-
teen hundred and twenty-two, this act shall become immediately
effective; in other counties affected by this act the same shall not be
effective unless and ‘until the board of supervisors of such county
shall have approved and adopted the same by a resolution agreed to
by a recorded majority vote of all the members of such board, a copy
of which resolution shall forthwith be certified to the electoral board
»9f such county, and the same shall have been submitted to and ap-
oroved by the qualified voters of such county at the general election
1ext following the adoption of such resolutions by such board of
supervisors, the question of the adoption of this act shall be submitted
-o the qualified voters of such county upon the ballot used at such
lection, in such form as the electoral board shall prescribe. If a
majority of the qualified voters, voting at such election, shall vote in
‘vor of such adoption, then this act shall immediately become effec-
tive in such county.

16. All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby re-
pealed.

17. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its pas-
sage.