Chap. 442.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 328 and 374 of chapter 21
of the Code of Virginia of 1887 as heretofore amended, which said sections
were continued in force by section 2673 of the Code of 1919, and to amend
the said Code of 1887 by adding thereto three new sections, to be numbered
sections 355-a, 374-a and 374-b, all of which sections relate to the military.

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Approved Miarch 24, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions three hundred and twenty-eight and three hundred and seventy-
four of chapter twenty-one of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred
and eighty-seven, as heretofore amended, which said sections were
continued in force by section twenty-six hundred and seventy-three
of the Code of nineteen hundred and nineteen, be amended and re-
enacted, and that the said Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven
be further amended by adding thereto three new sections to be num-
bered sections three hundred and fifty-five-a, three hundred and sev-
enty-four-a and three hundred and seventy-four-b, all of which
amended and added sections shall read as follows:
Section 328. No action allowed against officers and enlisted men,
et cetera.—No action or proceeding shall be prosecuted or maintained
against a member of a military court, or officer or person acting under
its authority or reviewing its proceedings on account of the approval
or imposition or execution of any sentence or the imposition or collec-
tion of fine or penalty, or the execution of any warrant, writ, execution,
process, or mandate of a military court, nor shall any officer or en-
listed man be liable to civil or criminal prosecution for any act done
while in the discharge of his military duty as a member of the Virginia
National Guard.

Section 355-a. Interference with employment of officers and en-
listed men of Virginia National Guard.—A person, who either by
himself or with another, wilfully deprives a member of the Virgina
National Guard of his employment or prevents, by himself or another
such member being employed, or obstructs or annoys said member of
the Virginia National Guard or his employer in his trade, business or
employment, because said member of said Virginia National Guard
is such member, dissuades any person from enlistment in said Virginia
National Guard or dissuades any person from attending field training
with Virginia National Guard by threat or injury to him in his em-
ployment, trade or business, in case he shall so enlist or so attend field
training, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof
shall be fined in a sum not exceeding one hundred dollars, or impris-
oned in jail not more than thirty days.or shall suffer both fine and
imprisonment.

Section 374. How courts martial and courts of inquiry appointed,
organized and conducted.—(1) In time of war or service in the field,
at the call of the State or the United States, in encampment or in aid
of the civil authorities, courts martial and courts of inquiry shall be
appointed, organized and conducted as like courts are appointed,
organized and conducted in the United States army and their form
of procedure and record shall conform to that of such courts.

(2) In time of peace and when not in service of the State or the
United States, as aforesaid, the line officer second in rank in each
regiment or separate battalion when concentrated, or in any part of a
regiment or separate battalion when then the companies or battalions
thereof are stationed together or are acting as a unit or in a company
or battery when stationed or acting alone, or when but one com-
missioned officer is present with a command, then that officer (the
ranking sergeant present for duty in such cases making the complaint),
shall constitute a summary court for the trial of all enlisted men of
their respective commands charged with offenses punishable by fines
as provided in this chapter or by sentence to confinement in lieu of
fines as hereinafter provided; provided, however, that the adjutant
general may when the good of the service demands it, designate by a
special detail the officer to constitute any summary court for which
provision is made in this chapter. Such courts shall have power to
have the alleged offender and witnesses brought before it by a war-
rant issued by such court and delivered to any sheriff, sergeant or
constable, of a city, county, or town; and it shall be the duty of said
sheriff, sergeant or constable to execute said warrant as other criminal
warrants are executed and he shall be entitled to the same fee for such
services which shall be paid to him in the same manner as are allowed
and paid him for executing other criminal warrants. Such court shall
summon alleged offenders and witnesses before it at a reasonable time
and place, which summons shall be served by an orderly of the court
or the said civil officers as other summons are served, and should the
alleged offender abscond, or neglect or refuse to appear, the court may
proceed to trial in his absence as though he were present and had
entered a plea of not guilty.. The president of the court martial or
summary court officers to whom the charges have been referred for
trial shall have the power in the event that the accused fails, neglects
or refuses to appear after having been properly summoned to issue a
warrant directed to the city sergeant or county or city sheriff providing
for the arrest and commitment of such person to jail pending trial.
In all such cases the accused shall be admitted to bail, the amount of
bail fixed and the surety or sureties thereon approved by the president
of the court martial or summary court officer issuing the warrant. In
default of bail such person shall be confined pending trial; provided
that no person shall be kept in jail pending trial for more than five
ays.

Said court shall have power to administer oaths and to hear and
determine the cases, and when satished of the guilt of the accused
party, may impose the appropriate fine as provided in this chapter,
and shall have the power to sentence to confinement in lieu of fines
authorized to be imposed; provided, that such sentences of confine-
ment shall not exceed one day for each dollar of fine authorized.

There shall be a summary court record book, or docket kept at
each company, troop or battery, post or armory, and in the field at the
headquarters of the command, in which shall be entered a record of
all the cases heard and determined, and the action thereon, and no
sentence adjudged by said summary court shall be executed until it
shall have been approved by the company, troop, or battery com-
mander, and if the company, troop, or battery be attached to a regi-
ment, separate battalion or battalion of a regiment, concentrated and
acting as a unit, by the commanding officer of such regiment or bat-
talion; provided, that the governor be, and he is hereby, authorized
to prescribe specific penalties and fines for such minor offenses as he
may deem properly cognizable by such courts; provided, further, that
any enlisted man convicted of any office by such court when the fine
imposed is in excess of ten dollars may appeal in writing for a new
trial before a general court martial, giving in all cases his reasons
therefor. In case of any such appeal the said writing shall be de-
livered to the officer constituting said court who shall forward the
same together with a statement in writing of the reasons for the find-
ing of the court which is complained of through the said commanding
officer, and the said commanding ofhcer shall approve or disapprove
the appeal and state his reasons for the action taken in an endorsement
before forwarding same; provided, further, that the sentence and
judgment of said court shall have the same force and effect as that of
any-justice of the peace, and when countersigned by said commanding
officer and in case of appeal for new trial by general court by the
adjutant-general of Virginia (the fact of an appeal for such trial and
its refusal being noted on the face of the warrant or the fact that no
such appeal was made), the warrant of such court shall be in all re-
spects proceeded upon, and shall have the same force and effect, as is
prescribed in section three hundred and twenty-nine and the follow-
ing sections of this chapter. For the trial of commissioned officers or
for the infliction of a sentence of dishonorable discharge from the
military service of Virginia, whether of an officer, or an enlisted man,
or for the purpose of a court of inquiry, there shall be a general court
martial, which shall be composed of not less than three commissioned
officers (if practicable in the case of officers of equal rank of the ac-
cused), who shall hear and determine the case in accordance with the
military laws of this State and of the United States, and forward its
findings and the record of its proceedings to the governor, by whom
its sentence shall be approved before the same is executed. Said
court shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges hereinbefore
vested in the summary court, especially in regard to administering
oaths, compelling the attendance of witnesses and alleged offenders,
and in regard to enforcing its sentence and the collection of fines, save
that the senior member of the court who shall be the president thereof,
shall give all warrants and summons under his hand, which shall have
the same force and effect and be proceeded upon in the same manner
as is provided for like cases of a summary court, its warrants for the
collection of fines, being endorsed with the approval of the governor;
provided, however, that whenever said court shall ascertain the punish-
ment of an offender to be a dishonorable discharge from the military
service of this:'State, it may sentence such offender to confinement in
the city or county jail, as the case may be, for a period of not exceeding
ten days; provided, further, that no such sentence shall be executed,
unless and until it has been approved by the governor and commander-
in-chief, to whom the record and proceedings shall be forwarded.

If such sentence is so approved, the president of said court shall
deliver his warrant with the approval of the governor, as aforesaid,
endorsed thereon, and the said sentence contained therein to the
sheriff, sergeant, or constable of any city, town or county, whose duty
it shall be to arrest said offender and deliver him at said jail, where
he shall be received and confined for the time specified in said warrant.

Said courts shall have attached to them a judge advocate whose
duties shall be such as are prescribed for such officer by the laws of
this State and of the United States, and when expressly authorized
by the governor, an official stenographer may be employed by the
president of the court.

The officers and members of said courts, summary and general,
shall have and enjoy all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by any
other court, as is provided in section three hundred and twenty-eight
of the Code.

They shall receive for their service each, including the judge ad-
vocate, the prescribed pay of their respective grades prescribed in this
chapter, and transportation when actually employed in the trial of
cases or traveling to and from their home stations in the performance
of this duty, which shall be all the compensation for such services,
and no other expenses shall be allowed to officers of said court in any
case, and shall sit not less than six hours each day while the court is
in session, unless completing the business before them within that
time; provided, however, that the general court shall be assembled
only by order of the governor and commander-in-chief; and provided,
that the summary court shall sit not oftener than twice each month,
and not less than four hours, and shall receive only the regular per
diem, and no other compensation or expenses shall be allowed the said
court.

Both the summary and general court may have an orderly in
attendance, who shall act as court crier, serve summons, and perform
such other duties as may be required of him by the court and in dis-
charge of his duties he shall be clothed with the powers and authority
of a constable, and shall receive the sum of one dollar per day, for
attending upon the court, and in addition for serving a summons, the
same compensation now allowed sheriffs, sergeants and constables for
like service.

All fines imposed by summary courts or other military courts,
whether collected by the said courts or by the civil authorities, shall
be turned over by said courts or by the civil officer collecting same to
the adjutant-general of the State, who shall keep an accurate account
of the same. The adjutant-general, after deducting the costs of
holding said courts and the collection of said fines, shall annually turn
the balance in to the treasury of the State, to be placed to the credit
of the literary fund.

Section 374-a. Commission not to vacate civil office.—Any citizen
of this State may accept and hold a commission in the Virginia Nation-
al Guard and receive pay therefrom or a commission in the officers’
reserve corps of the United States, without thereby vacating any civil
office or position or commission held by him; and the acceptance or
holding of any such commission, and receiving pay therefrom shall not
constitute such holding of an office of trust and profit under the gov-
ernment of this State and of the United States as shall be incompatible
with the holding of any civil office, legislative or judicial, or position
or commission under the government of this State.

Section 374-b. National defense act.—All provisions of national
defense act, as amended, insofar as they relate to the enforcement of
military fines and punishments in the National Guard of Virginia and
are not inconsistent with the Constitution of this State, are hereby
declared to be a part of the military laws of the State of Virginia.