Chap. 122.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 2925 of the Code of Virginia.
so as to provide the manner in which certain cities may request the General
Assembly to grant to them a special form of government. [H B 113)

Approved March 7, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section twenty-nine hundred twenty-five of the Code ol
Virginia be amended and re-enacted, as follows:

Section 2925. (a) The council of any city having a population o!
fifty thousand inhabitants or more, when requested by petition or pett-
tions, in duplicate, filed in the office of the mayor, signed by a numbe1
of voters equal to twenty-five per centum of the voters qualified to vote
at the last preceding general election, shall provide by ordinance for the
holding of an election not less than thirty days nor more than fifty day:
thereafter, to determine the question: “Shall this city take the necessary
steps to frame and request the General Assembly of Virginia to grant 1
a special form of charter?” At the election there shall’be elected a charte:
commission at large, consisting of seven citizens who shall be qualifiec
voters of such city. If a majority of the qualified voters voting at the
election, vote in favor of the proposition submitted, then the election of
the charter commission shall be valid; otherwise, the election of the
charter commission shall be invalid. The commission elected shall pro-
ceed in open session to prepare and propose a special charter or form of
government for said city within one hundred and fifty days from the
date of the election which shall be signed in duplicate by the members
of the commission, or a majority of them, and the commission shall with-
in one hundred and fifty days from the date of the election forward one
copy thereof to the corporation court of such city and one copy thereof
to the city clerk of such city. Upon receipt of such copy by the corpora-
tion court, it shall be the duty of the court, or the judge thereof in va-
cation, to order a special election for submitting the special charter or
form of government to the qualified voters of such city on a day to be
determined by the court or judge. The election shall be held, conducted
and the result canvassed, ascertained and returned in the manner pre-
scribed by law for holding regular elections and by the regular election
officials of such city, and the result thereof shall be reported to such
court, or to the judge thereof in vacation, by the proper election officials.
If a majority of qualified voters, voting in such election vote in favor of
such special charter or form of government, the court, or judge thereof in
vacation, shall transmit two copies of the special charter or form of gov-
ernment adopted to the Keeper of the Rolls of the General Assembly,
whose duty it shall be at the then or next regular session of the General
Assembly to transmit one of the copies to the presiding officer of the
House of Delegates and one of the copies to the presiding officer of the
Senate. Thereupon, such presiding officers shall present the special
charter or form of government to the body over which they respectively
preside, which shall constitute a request to the General Assembly to grant
the special charter or form of government specified therein, as provided by
section one hundred and seventeen of the Constitution of Virginia.

(b) Upon the filing of a petition or petitions in the clerk’s office
of the hustings or corporation court of any city containing one hundred
and ninety thousand or more population, signed by a number of qualli-
fied voters of such city equal to fifteen per centum of the number of votes
cast in the general or primary election held during the five years preced-
ing the filing of the petition or petitions in which the greatest number of
votes were cast, praying that the necessary steps be taken to frame and
request the General Assembly of Virginia to grant to such city a special
form of government, the clerk of such court shall certify that fact to the
court, or to the judge thereof in vacation.

The petition or petitions shall have attached thereto a certificate or
certificates of an officer or officers authorized by law to administer oaths
to the effect that the persons whose names are signed thereto made oath
before such officer or officers that they are qualified voters of such city.

Upon the filing of the petition or petitions with such certificate or
certificates attached, and certification thereof by the clerk, the court, or
the judge thereof in vacation shall order an election to be held in such
city in which the following proposition shall be submitted to the qualified
voters thereof for approval or disapproval:
“Shall this city take steps to frame and request the General Assem-
bly of Virginia to grant to it a special form of government ?”

At such election there shall also be elected a charter commission at
large, consisting of seven persons who shall be qualified voters of such
city. Ifa majority of the persons voting in such election vote in favor of
or approve the proposition submitted, then the election of the charter
commission shall be valid; otherwise the election of the charter commis-
sion shall be invalid.

Any person who intends to be a candidate for membership on the
charter commission shall at least sixty days before such election notify
the clerk of such court in writing, attested by two witnesses, of such in-
tention. Such written notice shall be signed by such person and ac-
knowledged before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments
to deeds, and in the same manner. No person not announcing his can-
didacy as above, or who is not qualified to vote in such election in which
he offers as a candidate shall have his name printed on the ballots pro-
vided for such election. On receipt of such notice it shall be the duty
of the clerk of such court to notify the electoral board of such city of such
fact immediately after the time has expired in which candidates may give
notice of their candidacy. The seven persons receiving the greatest
number of votes cast in such election shall constitute the charter commis-
sion.

The commission elected shall proceed in open session to prepare and
propose a charter containing a special form of government for such city
within one hundred and eighty days from the date of the election, which
shall be signed in duplicate by the members of the commission, or a ma-
jority of them. The commission shall within such period of time file
one copy thereof in the clerk’s office of such court and one copy thereof
in the office of the city clerk of such city.

Upon the filing of such copy in the clerk’s office of such court, the
court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall order an election to be held
in such city in which the following proposition shall be submitted to the
qualified voters thereof for approval or disapproval :

“Shall the General Assembly be requested to grant to this city the
special form of government contained in the charter proposed by the
charter commission ?”

If a majority of the persons voting in such election vote in favor of
the proposition submitted, the court, or the judge thereof in vacation
shall certify that fact to the Secretary of the Commonwealth and shall
transmit therewith the copy of the charter containing the special form
of government filed in the clerk’s office of such court.

The elections held hereunder shall be held at the next general elec-
tion following the filing of the petition or petitions, or the filing of the
copy of the charter containing the special form of government in the
clerk’s office of such court, or at such other times as the court, or the
judge thereof in vacation may order, not less than sixty days nor more
than six months from the date of filing such petition or petitions or such
charter. Such elections shall be conducted and the results thereof can-
vassed, ascertained and determined in the manner prescribed by law for
the holding of regular elections and by the regular election officials of
the city. When ascertained, the results thereof shall be reported by the
proper election officials to the court, or to the judge thereof in vacation.

The council of any such city may, in its discretion, by ordinance or
resolution duly adopted, propose that an election shall be held at which
the proposition to be submitted upon the filing of the petition or peti-
tions under this subsection shall be submitted to the qualified voters in
such cities for approval or disapproval. Upon the adoption of such ordi-
nance or resolution, a certified copy thereof shall be filed by the city
clerk of such city in the office of the clerk of such court, who shall certify
that fact to the court, or to the judge thereof in vacation, and the same
proceedings shall thereafter be conducted as are provided in this subsec-
tion upon the filing of the petition or petitions and with like force and
effect.

The council of any such city may at any time, in its discretion by
ordinance or resolution duly adopted, directly request the General As-
sembly to provide a charter containing a special form of government for
such city or to change the then existing form of its government or the
then existing form of its council or to otherwise amend and re-enact or
repeal any provision of its charter.