Chap. 198.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 3516 of the Code of Vir-
ginia, in relation to the compensation of clerks of courts, treasurers, com-
missioners of the revenue, sheriffs, high constables, city sergeants, attorneys

_ for the Commonwealth, examiners of records, civil justices, justice of a
juvenile court, justices of the peace and clerk of a civil justice court; and
to repeal an act entitled an act to create a commission to consider the com-
pensation of court clerks, examiners of records, treasurers, commissioners
of the revenue, sheriffs, high constables, and city sergeants, and until action
upon the report of said commission to fix the maximum amount of the com-
pensation of said officers, approved March 27, 1914, as heretofore ae

Approved March 18, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion thirty-five hundred and sixteen of the Code of Virginia be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 3516. (1) Every court clerk, county and city treasurer,
commissioner of the revenue, sheriff, city sergeant, high constable,
examiner of records and attorney for the Commonwealth shall an-
nually, within fifteen days after the close of each anniversary of the
beginning of the terms of their respective offices, file with the auditor
of public accounts a full and accurate statement showing all such
fees, allowances, commissions, salaries or other emolument of office,
derived from the State or any political subdivision thereof, or from any
other source whatever, collected or received by him or her, and a like
statement of all such fees, allowances, commissions and salaries,
chargeable under the law, but not collected by him or her, during the
year ending December thirty-first next preceding, which statements
shall be verified by affidavit. :

(2) Every justice of the peace, civil justice, justice of a juvenile
court and clerk of a civil justice court shall annually, within fifteen
days after the close of each anniversary of the beginning of the terms
of their respective offices, make a report under oath to the clerk of
the circuit court of the county, and in cities to the clerk of the corpo-
ration or hustings court, and if the city has no corporation or hustings
court then to the circuit court of the city, on forms provided by the
auditor of public accounts, all fees, allowances, commissions, salary
or other compensation or emolument of office derived from the State
or any political subdivision thereof, or from any other source whatever,
collected by him, also charged and not collected by him during the
year ending December thirty-first next preceding; but the attorney
for the Commonwealth shall not include in the report required of
him fees or compensation of any kind received for legal services not
required of him as such by law.

(3) The reports required by the preceding sections of this act
shall show in detail all sums actually paid for necessary office ex-
penses, premiums on official bond of the principal and deputies, name
and amount of compensation to each deputy or assistant, and a de-
tailed statement of every other expense in connection with the ad-
ministration of the office actually paid out.

(4) Every officer mentioned in the preceding sections of this act
shall keep in a book a true and accurate record of all fees, allowances,
commissions, salary or other compensation or emolument of office to
which he or she is entitled under the law, amount of same actually
collected by him and the date of collection and sources from which
the collections were made, which book shall at all times be open to
public inspection.

(5) In determining excess, if any, to be paid into the State treas-
ury by the officers mentioned in section one and to be paid into the
treasury of the locality by the officers mentioned in section two of
this act, all fees, allowances, commissions, salary or other compensa-
tion or emolument of office derived from the State or any political
subdivision thereof, or from any source whatever, shall be included
and enter into the determination of the excess to be paid, and in the
event the same individual is clerk of one or more courts, such clerk
shall make one report for all the courts, and include therein all the
fees, allowances, commissions, salaries or other compensation or
emolument of office derived from the State or any political subdivision
therein and from any other source whatever; and in like manner the
expenses with respect to all of the courts of which he is clerk; and such
clerk shall be entitled to the annual allowance prescribed by this act
as if he were clerk of only one court and each of the officers mentioned
in section one of this act, at the time of filing the annual report re-
quired by this act, shall pay into the State treasury the amount in
excess of the annual allowance to which he or she is entitled by this
act and the expenses incurred authorized by the State fee commis-
sion; and the officers mentioned in section two of this act, shall at
the same time of filing the annual report required by this act, pay into
the treasury of the locality the amount in excess of annual allowance
to which he or she is entitled by this act and the expense incurred,
authorized by the board of supervisors of the county or common
council or other governing body of the city, and two-thirds of all ex-
cess paid into the State treasury by the officers named in sub-section
one of this section, respectively, shall, by warrant of the auditor of
public accounts on the State treasurer, be paid into the treasuries of
the counties and cities of such officers, respectively, except that all
of the excess paid into the State treasury by an examiner of records
or a clerk of the supreme court of appeals of Virginia, shall be retained
therein.

(6) To administer this act a commission is hereby created which
will consist of the governor, who shall be ex-officio chairman of the
commission, the State accountant, who shall be ex-officio secretary
of the commission and the auditor of public accounts, all of whom shall
serve on the commission without compensation. All reports filed with
the auditor of public accounts under this act shall be referred by him
to the State fee commission, and the said commission shall determine
how many deputies and assistants, if any, are necessary to the efh-
cient performance of the duties of the said office, and what should be
the compensation of such deputies and assistants; what allowance, if
any, should be made for office expenses and premiums on official bonds
and the manner in which said compensation should be paid or such
allowance made. Each of such officers shall, on or before the first
day of November in each year, report to the said commission, on
official estimate blanks, furnished for such purpose, an estimate in
itemized form showing the amount of expenses expected to be in-
curred in the operation and maintenance of his office for the ensuing
year, and all such expenses must be approved in advance by the said
commission in order to be deductible under subsection five hereof;
provided, however, that nothing in this section shall be construed as
prohibiting the State fee commission from increasing at any time in
the year allowances for such expenses as provided in subsection seven.
The State fee commission shall study the reports and compare the
same and may require further information, under oath, from the
officers and their deputies and other persons, and shall report at each
session of the general assembly whether such offices are being eco-
nomically administered, what compensation is being paid to such
officers, how many deputies, if any, each officer is employing and com-
pensation of such deputies, what amounts are being paid for office
expenses, premiums on official bonds and all other matters deemed
pertinent by the State fee commission.

(7) The said commission is hereby authorized and empowered to
adjust equitably all questions of the division of compensation, allow-
ances for deputies and assistants, office expenses and premiums on
bonds which may arise under this act by reason of the change of in-
cumbents in any such offices or from any other cause; provided, how-
ever, that all adjustments shall be made as nearly as possible in ac-
cordance with the intent of this act. And the said commission 1s
hereby further authorized and empowered, on written application
from any of the said officers, and on good cause shown, to increase
the allowance made to said officers for deputies and assistants, office
expenses and premiums on bonds; and in case the said commission
grants any increase of allowance hereunder, it shall set out in its report
its reasons therefor. The board of supervisors of a county or com-
mon council or other governing body of a city may by resolution
adopted and certified lay before the State fee commission any recom-
mendation it may desire to make with respect to the expense account
of any officer mentioned in section one of this act as to increase or
decrease of expense.

(8) Each clerk of the supreme court of appeals may receive as
his total compensation exclusive of expenses authorized by the State
fee commission, an amount not exceeding the amount allowed to the
clerk of the chancery court of the city of Richmond. No examiner
of records shall receive as his total compensation from fees and com-
missions an amount in excess of an amount to be fixed by the State
tax commission in each case, but the same shall in no case be more
than seven thousand dollars per annum, and the sums actually paid
out by him for necessary office expenses and the amounts actually
paid out by him as premiums on the official bond of himself, or clerks,
and as compensation to his deputies and assistants.

The total annual compensation, exclusive of expenses authorized
by the State fee commission, of an officer mentioned in section one
of this act, except examiner of records, shall not exceed the sums here-
inafter named, to-wit: |

In cites or counties having a population of one hundred thousand
or more, said compensation of any such officer shall not exceed the
sum of seventy-five hundred dollars per annum; with a population
between fifty thousand and one hundred thousand and in counties
adjoining cites having a population of fifty thousand or more, such
compensation shall not exceed seven thousand dollars per annum;
with a population between twenty-five thousand and fifty thousand,
said compensation shall not exceed six thousand dollars per annum;
with a population between fifteen thousand and twenty-five thousand,
said compensation shall not exceed fifty-five hundred per annum;
ard provided, however, that in determining the compensation allowed
to such city or county officers hereunder any compensation allowed
to such city or county officers by their respective city councils or
county board of supervisors, other than commissions allowed by State
law for collecting, disbursing, or in any way handling taxes or levies
or for the discharge of any other duties imposed upon such officers by
the councils of such cities, board of supervisors of the county, or laws
of this State shall be disregarded only to the extent of twenty-five
hundred dollars in cities or counties having a population of fifty
thousand or more and in counties adjoining cities having a popula-
tion of fifty thousand or more; and fifteen hundred dollars in cities
and counties with a population between twenty-five thousand and fifty
thousand; and one thousand dollars in cities and counties with a popu-
lation between fifteen thousand and twenty-five thousand.

The total annual compensation, exclusive of expenses authorized
by the board of supervisors of the county or common council or other
governing body of the city, of an officer mentioned in section two of
this act, shall not exceed the sums hereinafter named, to-wit:

In cities or counties having a population of fifty thousand or more
said compensation of any such officer shall not exceed the sum of four
thousand dollars per annum, with a population between twenty-five
thousand and fifty thousand, such compensation shall not exceed three
thousand dollars per annum; vith a population between fifteen thou-
sand and twenty-five thousand, said compensation shall not exceed
wenty-four hundred dollars per annum; with a population below
nfteen thousand, said compensation shall not exceed eighteen hundred
dollars per annum.

For the purpose of this act, the population of each county and citv
shall be as shown from time to time by the last decennial United States
census report, but in any case in which it shall be shown to the satis-
faction of the State fee commission that the adoption of such census
report will result in an injustice to any officer, the State fee commis-
sion may accept an estimate of such population based upon evidence,
satisfactory to the State fee commission.

(9) The State fee commission shall as soon as practicable an-
nually furnish the board of supervisors of each county and the audi-
tor or comptroller of each city with a statement showing receipts and
expenses of office and of officers making report under this act, which
statement shall be published once a week for two weeks in a newspaper
having a general circulation, to be selected by the board of super-
visors, published in the county, and in like manner to the auditor or
comptroller of each city to be published in one or more daily news-
papers having a general circulation in the discretion of the auditor or
comptroller. Expenses of these publications to be borne by the
locality.

(10) The provisions of this act shall not apply to any officer men-
tioned in section one of this act whose total of all fees, allowances,
commissions, salary or other compensation or emolument of office from
the State or any political subdivision thereof, or from any other
source whatever did not amount to as much as two thousand five hun-
dred dollars for the calendar year for which the report is required, but
every such officer shall within fifteen days after the close of each anni-
versary of the beginning of the term of their respective offices, file
with the auditor of public accounts, a statement under oath, on forms
prescribed by the auditor, certifying that the total gross compensa-
tion of such officer did not equal or exceed the sum of twenty-five
hundred dollars.

(11) The provisions of this act shall not apply to any officer men-
tioned in section two of this act whose total of all fees, allowances,
commissions, salary or other compensation or emolument of office de-
rived from the State or any political subdivision thereof, or from any
person or corporation does not amount to as much as two thousand
five hundred dollars per calendar year for which the report is required,
but every such officer shall within fifteen days after the close of each
anniversary of the beginning of the terms of their respective ofhces,
tle with the clerk of the circuit court of a county or the clerk of the
corporation or hustings court of a city or the clerk of the circuit court of
acty having no other court of record and under oath state the total
amount of fees, allowances, commissions, salary or other compensation
or emolument of office derived from the State or any political sub-
division thereof, or from any person or corporation received by him
during the calendar vear ending December thirty-first next preceding,
which athdavit: shall remain on file in the clerk's office. Provided,
Provided, further, that any member of the board of supervisors
of Franklin county may act as road foreman or superintendent of
construction or maintenance within or upon the county road system,
and receive compensation therefor, not in excess of six dollars per diem.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be enforced-from its pas-
sage.