CHAPTER 442

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 3 as amended of Chapter 161 of
the Acts of Assembly of 1926, approved March 17, 1926, which
were continued in force by § 21-120 of the Code of 1950, re-
lating to sanitary districts so as to provide that certain
charges shall be a lien on the property served to provide for
collection thereof; and to provide for other matters in relation
thereto, in certain counties.

[S 355]

Approved April 6, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 3 as amended of Chapter 161 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1926, approved March 17, 1926, which will continue in force by
§ 21-120 of the Code of 1950 be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3. After the entry of such order creating a sanitary district
of such county, the board of supervisors thereof shall have the
following powers and duties, subject to the conditions and limita-
tions hereinafter prescribed :

(a) To construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add
to and to operate water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbage dis-
posal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalks and fire fighting systems,
for the use and benefit of the public in such sanitary district.

(a-1) To acquire, maintain and operate, within such sanitary
district, such community buildings and other recreational facili-
ties as the board may deem expedient or advisable, and to make
such charges for the use of such facilities as may be prescribed by
the board.

(b) To acquire by gift, condemnation, purchase, lease, or other-
wise, and to maintain and operate any such water supply, drain-
age, sewerage, garbage disposal, heat, light and power and gas and
sidewalks and fire fighting systems in such district.

(c) To contract with any person, firm, corporation, municipa-
lity or the federal government or any agency thereof to acquire,
construct, reconstruct, maintain, alter, improve, add to and operate
any such water supply, drainage, sewerage, garbage removal and
disposal, heat, light, power, gas, sidewalk and fire fighting systems
in such district, and to accept the funds of, or to reimburse from
any available source, such person, firm, corporation, municipality
or the Federal government or any agency thereof for either the
whole or any part of the costs, expenses and charges incident to
the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, maintenace, altera-
tion, improvement, addition to and operation of any such system
or systems.

(d) To require owners or tenants of any property in the dis-
trict to connect with any such system or systems, and to contract
with the owners or tenants for such connections. In order to re-
quire owners or tenants of any property in the district to connnect
with any such system or systems, the board of supervisors shall
have power and authority to adopt ordinances so requiring owners
or tenants to connect with such systems, and to use the same, and
the board of supervisors shall have power to provide for a punish-
ment in the ordinance of not exceeding a fifty dollars fine for each
failure and refusal to so connect with such systems, or to use the
same. Before adopting any such ordinance the board of super-
visors shall give public notice of the intention to propose the same
for passage by posting hand bill notices of such proposal in three
or more public places in the sanitary district at least ten days
prior to the time the ordinance shall be proposed for passage. The
ordinance shall not become effective after its passage until ten
days like notice has been given by posting copies of such ordinance
in three or more public places in the district. Violations of such
ordinances shall be tried before the trial justice court of the county
as is provided for trial of misdemeanors, and with the like right of
appeal.

(e) To fix and prescribe the rates of charge for the use of
any such system or systems and to provide for the collection of
such charges. And to enable the board to enforce the collection of
charges for the use of any such systems against the person or
persons, firm or corporation using the same, the charges when
made for the use of any such system shall be collectible by distress,
levy, garnishment, attachment or otherwise without recourse to
court procedure, except so far as the selected procedure may re-
quire the same. And the board shall have power to designate as
its agent for the purpose of collection such officer or officers, per-
son or persons as it may determine, and the officer or officers, per-
son or persons shall be vested with the same power and authority
as a sheriff or constable may have in like procedure.

Any upaid charge shall become a lien superior to the interest
of any owner, lessee or tenant, and nert in succession to county
taxes, on the real property on which the use of any such system
was made and for which the charge was imposed; provided, hov-
ever, such lien shall not bind or affect a subsequent bona fide pur-
chaser of such real estate for valuable consideration without actual
notice of such lien, except and until from the time that the amount
of such charge is entered in the Judgment Lien Docket kept in the
office where deeds may be recorded in the political subdivision
wherein the real estate or a part thereof is located. It shall be the
duty of the clerk in whose office deeds may be recorded to keep and
preserve and hold available for public inspection such judgment
lien docket and to cause entries to be made and indered therein
from time to time upon certification by the board for which he
shall be entitled to a fee of fifty cents per entry to be paid by the
board and added to the amount of the lien.

Such lien on any real estate may be discharged by the pay-
ment to the board of the total amount of such lien, and interest
at the rate of siz per centum per annum from the date such charge
was due and payable which may accrue to the date of such pay-
ment, and the entry fee of fifty cents, and it shall be the duty of
the board to deliver a certificate thereof to the person paying the
same, and upon presentation thereof and the payment of the further
fee of twenty-five cents by such person, the clerk having the record
of such lien shall mark the entry of such lien satisfied.

Jurisdiction to enforce any such lien shall be in equity, and
the court may decree the real estate subject to the lien, or any
part thereof, to be sold and the proceeds applied to the payment
of such lien and the interest which may accrue to the date of such
payment.

Nothing contained herein shall be construed to prejudice the
right of the board to recover the amount of such lien, or of the
charge, and the interest which may accrue, by action at law or
otherwise.

(f) To employ and fix the compensation of any technical,
clerical, or other force and help which from time to time, in their
judgment, may be deemed necessary for the construction, operation
or maintenance of any such system or systems.

(g) To negotiate and contract with any person, firm, corpora-
tion, or municipality with regard to the connection of any system
or systems with any other system or systems, now in operation
or hereafter to be established, and with regard to any other matter
necessary and proper for the construction or operation and mainte-
nance of any such system within the sanitary district.

(h) To contract for the extension of any such system into
territory outside of the district, and for the use thereof, upon such
terms and conditions as the board may from time to time determine
upon.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.