CHAPTER 546

ACT to amend and reenact §§ 8, 4, 5, as amended, and §§ 9,
18, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 88, 50, 51, 65, 67, 68, 71, 78, 75,
and 79-A of Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908,
approved March 10, 1908, as amended, which provided a
charter for the city of Portsmouth, relating to administra-
tion, and government, composition of council, terms of
elective officers, the mayor, procedure for removal of a
mayor, vacancies in the council, election and appointment
of officers and boards by the council, officers of the council,
restrictions on legislative powers of the council, powers of
council and boards, use of streets, public ways and grounds,
sale of city rights, assessment of property, taxation of
abutting land owners, liens upon abutting land, the fire de-
partment, investigation of fires, destruction of buildings
to prevent the spread of fires, city officers, officers of the
council, justices of the peace, and deputy high constables;
to amend such chapter by adding a section numbered 35-A
and chapters numbered IX, consisting of sections numbered
1 through 26, and XIV, consisting of sections numbered
1 and 2, for the regulation of taxicabs, for the election,
qualification, powers, duties, jurisdiction, and procedure of,
and clerk to, the civil and police court, and to prescribe the
duties and powers of a city manager, respectively; and to
repeal §§ 6, 8, 21, 22, 54, 55 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 68, 64,
66, 70 and 72, and Chapter IX, consisting of sections num-
bered 1 through 17, of such Chapter.

{ H 709 ]
Approved April 7, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

That §§ 3, 4, and 5, as amended, and §§ 9, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18,
26, 33, 50, 51, 65, 67, 68, 71, 73, 75, and 79-A of Chapter
of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, approved March 10, 1908,
mended, be amended and reenacted, and that such chapter
amended by adding a section numbered 35-A and chapters
ibered IX, consisting of sections numbered 1 through 26, and
, consisting of sections numbered 1 and 2, as follows:

CHAPTER I

§ 3. * Vesting of Legislative Powers; Composition of
nel.

* The legislative powers of the City shall be vested in a
neil, including the Mayor, consisting of eleven members.

§ 4, * Election and Terms of Councilmen.
* All members of the Council, including the Mayor in office
on the effective date of this amendment, * shall continue in
office for their present terms.

At the regular election to be held on the second Tuesday in
June, nineteen hundred and fifty, there shall be elected by the
qualified voters of the wards known as Madison Ward, Marshall
Ward, Monroe Ward, Washington Ward and Wilson Ward, one
councilman for their respective Ward; * and at the regular elec-
tion to be held on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred
and * fifty-two, there shall be elected by the qualified voters of
the Wards known as Jeffereson Ward, Jackson Ward, Lee Ward,
Harrison Ward and Tyler Ward, one Councilman for their re-
spective ward.

* The Councilmen so elected shall hold office for a term of
four years beginning on the first day of September next follow-
ing the date of their election and until their successors are duly
elected and qualified. *

CHAPTER II

§ 5. * Election and Term: President of Council; Powers
of Councilmen.

* At the regular election to be held on the second Tuesday
in June, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, and every four years
thereafter, there shall be elected at large by all the qualified
voters of the City, one Councilman who shall be known as the
Mayor, and shall act as President of the Council, with * the same
powers and duties of other members of the Council, with a vote,
but no * veto, and shall be the official head of the City. The
Mayor shall be elected for a term of four years beginning on
the first day of September next following the date of his election
and until his successor shall have been duly elected and qualified.

§ 9.* Removal by Hustings Court.

The Court of Hustings for the City may remove the Mayor
of the City from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, or gross
neglect of official duty, and such removal shall be deemed a vaca-
tion of the office. All proceedings against the Mayor for the pur-
pose of removing him from office shall be by order of or motion
before said Court, upon reasonable notice to the party affected
thereby, and with a right to the said party of an appeal to the
Supreme Court of Appeals. Such motion for removal from
office may be instituted and prosecuted by the City Council in
the name of the City on a resolution passed by a majority of all
the members * thereof, and for the prosecution of such motion,
the said Council shall have power to employ counsel and take
such other steps as may be proper.
§ 13. Election to fill vacancy.

When any vacancy shall occur in the Council * by death,
resignation, removal from the Ward, failure to qualify, or from
any other cause, the Council * shall elect a qualified person to
supply the vacancy for the unexpired term.

§ 15. Election or Appointment by Council of City officers
or boards generally.

All officers and * employees in the financial, legal and judi-
cial departments of the City, * and clerical and other attendants
of the City Council, and all officers and boards of the City, whose
election or appointment is not otherwise provided for in the
Charter of the City or under the general statutes of the State,
shall be elected or appointed and may be removed by the
Council.

§ 16. Election and Duties of Vice President; President
pro Lempore ; signing minutes of previous meeting; how meeting
called.

* The Council shall * elect one of its members to be Vice
President, who shall preside at * meetings of the Council in the
absence of the Mayor, * and who, when the * mayor shall be ab-
sent from the City or unable to perform the duties of the office
by reason of sickness or other cause, shall perform any and
all duties required of or entrusted to the Mayor * under any pro-
vision of the City Charter.

When * from any cause both the * Mayor and the Vice Pres-
ident shall be absent from a meeting, a president pro tempore
shall be elected by the * Council, * who shall preside during the
absence of the * Mayor and Vice President.

The * Mayor, Vice President of the Council or President
pro tempore who shall preside when the proceedings of a previ-
ous meeting are read, shall sign the same. The Mayor, * or the
Vice President of the Council, when authorized as above stated
to act for the Mayor, * shall have power at any time to call a
meeting of * the Council. * In case of absence, sickness, disa-
bility or refusal to act of both the * Mayor and Vice President,
* the Council may be convened by an order in writing of any
three members * thereof. ,

§ 17. Quorum; Reconsideration of Vote of special meet-
ings; Requirements for passage of certain ordinances.

A majority of the * Council shall constitute a quorum for
che transaction of business. No vote shall be reconsidered or
rescinded at any special meeting, unless at such special meeting
there be present.as large a number of members as were present
when such vote was taken. No ordinance or resolution appro-
priating money exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars, im-
posing taxes or authorizing the borrowing of money, shall be
passed, except by a recorded affirmative vote of a majority of
all the members elected to * the Council. * No ordinance or reso-
lution appropriating money exceeding the sum of one thousand
dollars, imposing taxes or authorizing the borrowing of money,
shall be passed * on the * day of its introduction, nor shall any
such ordinance or resolution be valid unless at least three days
intervene between its introduction and passage. *

§ 18. Adoption of rules, appointment of clerks, etc.; at-
tendance of members; disorderly members; expulsion of mem-
bers; investigations generally.

* The Council shall have authority to adopt such rules and
to appoint such officers and clerks as it may deem proper for the
regulation of its proceedings and for the convenient transaction
of business, to compel the attendance of absent members, to
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, by a vote of
two-thirds of its members to expel a member for malfeasance
or misfeasance in office. * The council shall keep a journal of
its proceedings, and its meetings shall be open, except when,
by a recorded vote of two-thirds of those present, the Council
shall declare that the public welfare requires secrecy. The Coun-
cil, * any of its committees when authorized by the Council, *
and any other board created by this Charter or ordinance under
this Charter, may, * in any investigation held by them, * within
their respective powers and duties, order the attendance of any
person as a witness and the production of any person or all
proper books and papers. Any person refusing or failing to at-
tend or to testify or to produce such books and papers may be
summoned by such investigating body before the Civil and Police
Justice * and upon failure to give a satisfactory excuse, may be
fined by him not exceeding the sum of One Hundred Dollars or
imprisoned not exceeding thirty days. Such person shall have
the right of appeal, as in case of misdemeanor, to the Court of
Hustings for the City. Such witness may be sworn by the offi-
cer presiding at such investigation, and shall be liable to prose-
cution for a perjury for any false testimony given at such in-
vestigation.

§ 25. Consent of Council Required for Use of Streets, etc.,
by Public Utility.

No street railway, motor bus transportation, gas, water,
steam or electric heating, electric light or power, cold storage,
compressed air, viaduct, conduit, telephone, or bridge company,
nor any corporation, association, person, or partnership engaged
in these or like enterprises, shall be permitted to use the streets,
alleys, or public grounds of the City, without previous consent
of the Council thereto.
§ 26. Sale of City Rights in Water Front, Streets, Utiutty
Works, etc.

The rights of the City of Portsmouth in and to its water
front, wharf property, public landings, wharves, docks, streets,
avenues, parks, bridges and other public places, and its gas,
water and electric works, shall not be sold, except by an ordi-
nance or resolution passed by a recorded affirmative vote of
three-fourths of all the members elected to * the Council, and
under such other restrictions as may be imposed by law. *

CHAPTER IV

§ 33. Property Assessments.

All * real estate and personal property within the City of
Portsmouth * shall be assessed for taxation in accordance with
the provisions of the general laws of the State.

CHAPTER IV

§ 85-A. Regulation of Taxicabs.

The Council shall have power to license and regulate all
taxicabs in the City. The Council may establish rates which
may be charged by the operators of taxicabs and may grant cer-
tificates of public convenience and necessity to operators on
terms that may be deemed advisable. The Council may requtre
drivers to make application for and receive permits before driv-
ing any taxicab and may refuse and revoke the permit of any
driver for cause.

§ 50. Assessments for Local Improvements.

The City of Portsmouth shall not impose any tax or assess-
ment upon abutting land owners for street or other public local
improvements, except for making and improving the walkways
upon then existing streets, and for improving and paving then
existing alleys, and for either the construction or for the use
of sewers; and the same, when imposed, shall not be in excess
of the peculiar benefits resulting therefrom to such abutting
land owners. Such improvements may be ordered by the Council,
and the cost thereof apportioned in pursuance of an agreement
between the City and the abutting land owners, but in the
absence of such agreement, no improvements, the cost of which
is to be defrayed in part by such local tax or assessment, shall
be ordered, except on a petition from not less than three-fourths
of the land owners to be affected thereby, or by a two-thirds vote
of all the members elected to the Council. But * notice shall first
be given * as provided by the general laws of the State relating
to assessments for local improvements, notifying them when
and where they may appear before the Council or * some com-
mittee thereof, or the administrative board or officer of the City,
to whom the matter may be referred, to be heard in favor of or
against such improvements. * The cost of any such improve-
ments, when the same shall have been ascertained, shall be
assessed or apportioned by the Council or * by some committee
thereof, or by any officer or board authorized by the Council to
make such assessment or apportionment, between the City and
the abutting land owners.

Any abutting land owner aggrieved by such assessment or
apportionment shall have the right of appeal to the Court of
Hustings or Circuit Court of the City and the proceedings upon
such appeal shall be in conformity with the general statutes of
the State relating to assessments for local improvements.

§ 51. Same—lLien.

The amount assessed against or apporttoned each land
owner, or fixed by agreement with him, as above provided, shall
be a lien on his abutting land, from the time when the work of
tmprovement shall have been completed; * subject, however, to
his right of appeal and objections as * above provided, and may
be enforced by suit in equity. Provided, however, that as against
a purchaser for value and without notice, such assessment or tax
shall not be a lien except and until * an abstract of such resolu-
tion or ordinance is recorded in the judgment docket of the
Clerk’s office of the Court of Hustings for the City of Ports-
mouth, showing the ownership and location of the property to
be affected by the proposed improvements, and the same indexed
in the name of the City and of the owner of the property.

CHAPTER VI

§ 65. General Powers of Council as to Fire Prevention
and Fire Department.

The City Council shall have power to ordain and enforce *
rules and regulations as shall be necessary to prevent accidents
by fire within the City and to secure the inhabitants thereof
and their property from injury * and to provide for the organ-
ization and equipment * of * a Fire Department.

§ 67. Fire Chief to Investigate and Report Concerning
Origin and Cause of Fires.

The * Chief of the Fire Department is hereby authorized
to make an investigation into the origin and cause of every fire
occurring in the City, and for that purpose * he is hereby in-
vested with full power to summon before * him any person or
persons * he may deem proper * and compel their attendance
and * administer oaths, * and to examine them concerning the
fire, and immediately after such inquisitions, * he shall report
the facts ascertained to the * City Manager.
§ 68. Destruction of Buildings to Prevent Spread of Fires.

Whenever any building in the City shall be on fire, it shall
be the duty of, and be lawful for, the * Chief of the Fire Depart-
ment, or his assistants, to order and direct such building, or any
other building which he may deem hazardous and likely to com-
municate fire to other buildings, or any part of such buildings,
to be pulled down and destroyed, and no action shall be main-
tained against any person or against the City therefor. But any
person interested in any such building so pulled down and de-
stroyed may, within three months thereafter, apply to the City
Council to assess and pay the damages he has sustained. At the
expiration of three months, if any such application shall have
been made in writing, the City Council shall either pay the
claimant such sum as shall be agreed upon by it and the said
claimant for such damages, or if no such agreement shall be
effected, shall proceed to ascertain the amount of such damages
in the same manner as is now or may hereafter be provided for
the taking of lands for public purposes.

CHAPTER VII

§ 71. * Election and Term of Officers Elected by Voters.

There shall be one attorney for the Commonwealth, one
Commissioner of the Revenue, one City Treasurer and one City
Sergeant, * elected by the qualified voters of the City of Ports-
mouth, on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nine-
teen hundred and * fifty-three, for the term of four years, * and
every four years thereafter. Those elected officers shall enter
upon the discharge of their duties on the first day of January
immediately following their election.

§ 73. Officers and Employees Generally.

There shall be * such * officers and employees as the Council
may deem proper, * whose election or appointment, terms of
office, duties and compensation may be as prescribed by the
Council. The Council may take from any * and all of them
bond with such surety as it may see fit.

§ 75. Justices of the Peace.

There shall be elected by the * City Council one Justice of
the Peace for each ward of the City * who shall hold office for
a term of four years and until their successors * are elected and
qualified. Their terms of office shall begin on the first day of
January immediately succeeding their election. Removal from
the ward for which they are elected shall vacate their office.

CHAPTER VII

§ 79-A. * High Constables and Deputies.
The City Council may elect for such term as it may see fit
an officer to be known as the High Constable, who shall have
such powers and duties in relation to the Civil and Police Court
of the City as are now or may hereafter be granted by the gen-
eral laws of this State to City Sergeants, and such other powers
and duties as the Council by ordinance may prescribe. He shall
qualify before the Court of Hustings of the City and give bond
with surety approved by the Court in an amount to be deter-
mined by the City Council by ordinance, payable to the Com-
monwealth of Virginia, and conditioned for the faithful per-
formance of his duties. He shall receive such fees as are now
or may hereafter be prescribed by law for City Sergeants. He
may appoint one or more deputies who may discharge any of
his official duties, and who shall take such oath as required of
other City officers, and who shall give such bond as the Council
by ordinance may require. The City Council may by ordinance
provide that the fees collected by the High Constable shall be
paid into the treasury of the City and in lieu thereof pay to the
officer and his deputies salaries.

CHAPTER IX
Civil and Police Justice

§ 1. Election; term.

The civil and police justice in office on the effective date
of this act shall continue in office for his present term. The
Council of the City of Portsmouth during the month of July,
Nineteen Hundred and Fifty, and every four years thereafter
shall elect a special justice of the peace to be known as the Civil
and Police Justice, who shall hold office for a term of four
years, and whose term of office shall begin on the first day of
September succeeding his election.

The civil and police justice shall perform all duties required
of the civil justice and police justice and the offices of the civil
justice and police justice as set forth in Chapters 4 and 5 of
Title 16 of the Code of Virginia, are hereby abolished.

The Council of the city may designate the civil and police
justice to act as judge of the juvenile and domestic relations
court of the city.

§ 2. Qualifications; not to hold other office of public trust.

Such civil and police justice at the tume of his election shall
be a practicing attorney in this State, and shall during his term
of office reside in the city of Portsmouth, and shall not during
said term hold any other office of public trust.

§ 3. Oath; bond. |

Such civil and police justice before entering upon the per-
formance of the duties of his office shall take the official oath
required by law before the Court of Hustings for the City of
Portsmouth, or before the judge thereof in vacation. He shall
enter into a bond in the penalty of two thousand dollars before
said court, or the judge thereof in vacation, with surety to be
approved by said court or judge and conditioned for the fatth-
ful performance of his duties as such civil and police justice.

§ 4. Compensation.

Such civil and police justice shall receive such salary as the
City Council shall determine and he shall receive no other com-
pensation, bail fees, or other emoluments whatsoever.

§ 5. When and where court to be held; substitute civil and
police justice.

The court of such civil and police justice shall be kept at
such place or places as may be designated by the council of the
City of Portsmouth and shall be open for the transaction of
business every day in the year, except Sundays and such legal
holidays as the council of the City of Portsmouth may author-
ize it to close; provided, however, nothing herein contained shall
be construed to take away the jurisdiction of the court on legal
holidays. The Judge of the Court of Hustings for said city shall,
by proper order of record, appoint as substitute civil and police
justice a suitable person with like qualifications as the civil and
police justice, and may at any time revoke such appointment, and
may make a new appointment in like manner in the event of
such revocation, or of the death, absence or disability of such
substitute civil and police justice. In the event of the inability
of the civil and police justice to perform the duties of his of fice
by reason of sickness, absence, vacation, interest in the claim,
proceeding, or parties before his court, or otherwise, such sub-
stitute civil and police justice shall perform the duties of his
office during such absence or disability, and shall receive for
his services a per diem compensation at the rate received by the
civil and police justice and the Council shall determine whether
such compensation shall be deducted from the salary of the
civil and police justice.

§ 6. Clerk.

The Council of the City of Portsmouth may provide for the
civil and police justice a clerk and such deputy clerks as they
may deem necessary, whose appointment shall be made by the
City Manager of the City of Portsmouth, and he or they shall
receive such compensation as the Council may fiz, to be paid
out of the Treasury of the City, and shall give such bond as the
said Council shall direct.

The clerk and the deputy clerk may each issue any of the
criminal or civil processes of the civil and police justice, whether
original, mesne, or final and may also issue warrants of arrest
and search warrants in criminal cases as well as in criminal or
civil writ or process, which a justice of the peace may issue, and
such clerk and deputy clerk shall likewise have the same power,
authority and jurisdiction conferred by law upon a justice of
the peace in the City in which the civil and police justice pre-
side; provided that the deputy clerk shall exercise such power
and ‘authority only when directed or allowed so to do by the rules
of the court as the same may be promulgated by the civil and
police justice. The clerk shall in addition thereto have charge
of the civil and police justice courtroom and office and the
furniture and other property contained therein and be held
responsible for the safekeeping and protection of the same.
The clerk or deputy clerk shall attend all courts held by the civil
and police justice and shall perform such other services as may
be required of them.

§ 7. Jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the civil and police justice shall be as
follows:

(a) The civil and police justice shall be a conservator of
the peace within the corporate limits of the City of Portsmouth,
and for one mile beyond the corporate limits of said city, and
within such limits shall have exclusive original jurisdiction for
the trial of all offenses against the ordinances of said city, and
shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the Court of Hustings
of said City in all cases of violations of the revenue and election
laws of the State and all offenses arising under the provisions
of Chapter 9 of Title 18 of the Code of Virginia, and, except
when it is otherwise specially provided, shall have exclusive
original jurisdiction for the trial of all other misdemeanor cases
occurring within his jurisdiction.

(b) The civil and police justice shall have exclusive juris-
diction in all civil matters cognizable by trial justices under the
provisions of § 16-12, Code of Virginia. No other justice of the
peace in the city shall hereafter exercise such jurisdiction as is
herein conferred on the civil and police justice.

(c) The civil and police justice shall also have jurisdiction
to try and decide attachment cases when the amount of the
plaintiffs claim does not exceed the general jurisdiction of the
civil and police justice.

d) The civil and police justice shall have concurrent juris-
diction with the Circuit and City Courts of general jurisdiction
in actions at law, except for the recovery of a fine, when the
amount in controversy does not exceed one thousand dollars,
exclusive of interest and costs.

(e) And such other jurisdiction as may from time to time
be conferred on civil and police justices by the laws of this State.

§ 8. Removal of case involving more than three hundred
dollars.

When the amount in controversy in any action at law
before the civil and police justice exceeds the sum of three hun-
dred dollars, exclusive of interest and costs, the justice shall, at
any time within ten days after the return ‘date of the process,
provided that judgment has not been rendered, but not there-
after, upon the application of the defendant, the filing by him
of an affidavit of himself, his agent or attorney that he has a
substantial defense to the plaintiff's claim and the payment by
him of the costs accrued to the time of removal, remove the
case and all the papers thereof, to a court of record of the city.

The plaintiff shall, within thirty days from the date of such
removal, pay to the clerk of the court to which the case has
been removed, the amount of the writ tax as fixed by law and
four dollars on account of costs in such court and in the event
of his failure so to do the case shall stand dismissed. On the
trial of the case the proceedings shall conform to proceedings
under §§ 8-717 to 8-728, Code of Virginia.

§ 9. Procedure.

All procedure under this chapter in claims and proceedings
of which the civil and police justice is given jurisdiction
paragraph (b) of § 7 of this chapter, except so far as herein
otherwise provided, shall conform to the provisions of Chap 1
of Title 16, of the Code of Virginia, except that:

(1) Warrants for small claims may also be made return-
able before the civil and police justice if the defendant, or one
of them if there be more than one defendant, 1s regularly em-
ployed or has his regular place of business in the city or if the
cause of action arose therein;

(2) On motion of either party the adverse party may be
required to file particulars of the claims or the grounds of the
defense as provided in § 8-111, Code of Virginia; and

(3) The proceedings in a cause wherein an infant or an
insane person is a party shall not be stayed because of such
infancy or insanity, but the civil and police justice shall appotnt
some discreet and competent attorney at law as guardian ad
litem to such infant or insane defendant, whether such defendant
shall have been served with process or not; or if no such attorney
be found willing to act, the civil and police justice shall
appoint some other discreet and proper person as guardian ad
litem who shall faithfully represent the interest or estate of the
infant or insane person for whom he is appointed; but the guar-
dian at litem so appointed shall not be liable for costs.

The civil and police justice rendering any judgment may
immediately issue a writ of fiert facias thereon and shall as a
matter of course issue a writ of fiert facias thereon after ten
days from the rendition thereof, if there be not a new trial
granted, nor an appeal allowed, nor a stay of execution; and the
civil and police justice may from time to time renew such writ
either before or after the expiration of one year from the date
of judgment.

§ 10. Proceedings in attachment cases.

The proceedings on any attachment brought before the civil
and police justice shall conform to the provisions of Chap 24
of Title 8 of the Code of Virginia. But when an attachment
other than under § 8-566, Code of Virginia, is returned executed
and the defendant has not been served with a copy thereof, the
civil and police justice, upon affidavit in conformity with §§ 8-71
and 8-72, Code of Virginia, shall forthwith cause to be posted at
the front door of his courtroom a copy of the attachment and
shall file a certificate of the fact with the papers in the case and,
in addition to such posting, the plaintiff in the attachment or his
attorney shall give to the clerk of the civil and police justice the
last known address or abode of the defendant, verified by afft-
davit, and the clerk shall forthwith mail a copy of the attach-
ment to the defendant at his last known address or place of
abode or if the defendant be a corporation at its last known
address. The mailing of the copy, as aforesaid, shall be certi-
fied by the clerk in writing and such certificate shall be filed
with the papers in the case and after the copy of the attach-
ment has been so posted and mailed, as aforesaid, for fifteen
days the civil and police justice may ‘proceed to try and decide
the attachment.

§ 11. Proceedings upon interrogatories.

The civil and police justice may issue the summons pro-
vided for by § 8-485, Code of Virginia, 1950, when the fieri facias
upon any final judgment was issued by him. In such case the
justice shall have all the powers and authority respecting inter-
rogatories conferred by §§ 8-485 to 8-440, Code of Virginia,
upon any court or judge mentioned therein. The commissioner
before whom any person is required to appear by such sum-
mons, issued by any such justice, shall have the same powers
and authority as if the summons had been issued by the clerk
under § 8-485, Code of Virginia. All interrogatories, answers,
reports and other proceedings under such summons and also all
money, evidence of debt and other security in the hands of an
officer, which are directed by any section of Chapter 19, Title 8,
of the Code of Virginia, to be returned or delivered to such
court or judge, or to the clerk’s office of such court, shall when
the summons was issued by such justice be returned or delivered
in like manner to the justice. From any order made pursuant
to this section by the justice which shall involve the disposition
of any money or property exceeding in value fifty dollars, exclu-
sive of interest, there shall be an appeal in the same manner and
upon the same "condition as in the case of appeals allowed from
judgments upon claims rendered by the justice.
$ 12. Contempt.

The civil and police justice shall have the same powers in
matters of contempt as are conferred on courts and judges by
the general law, but in no case shall the fine exceed fifty dollars
and imprisonment exceed ten days for the same contempt. From
any such fine or sentence an appeal shall be allowed as appeals
are allowed from such justices in civil cases and the proceedings
im such appeals shall conform in all respects to the provisions of
§ 18-257, Code of Virginia.

§ 13. Issue of warrants.

A warrant within the jurisdiction conferred by this chapter
upon the civil and police justice may be issued by any justice
of the peace of his city, except the civil and police justice, but
when so issued it shall be returnable only before such civil and
police justice for trial and determination.

§ 14. Venue; service.

Any warrant or other process issued upon any claim or
cause of action of which the civil and police justice is given
jurisdiction by paragraphs (b) and (d) of § 7 of this chapter,
may be made returnable before the civil and police justice if the
defendant, or one of them if there be more than one defendant,
resides or is regularly employed or has his regular place of
business in the city, or if the cause of action or any part thereof
arose therein; and any such warrant or other process may be
directed to a sheriff, sergeant or high constable of any county
or city wherein the defendant resides or may be found; but no
such warrant shall be served or executed in any other county
or city than that wherein the action is brought, unless it be:

(1) An action against a corporation,

(2) An action upon a bond taken by an officer under
authority of some statute,

(8) An action to recover damages fora wrong,

(4) An action against two or more defendants on one of
whom such warrant has been executed in the county or city in
which the action is brought, or

(5) Unless it be otherwise specially provided.

15. Dismissal of claims.

If any claim of which the civil and police justice is given
jurisdiction by paragraph (b) of § 7 of this chapter shall have
been pending before such civil and police justice sixty days, he
shall notify the parties that the same will be dismissed in ten
days thereafter unless good cause be shown to the contrary and
unless such cause be shown such civil and police justice shall
forthwith dismiss such claim.

§ 16. Disposition of papers.

All papers connected with any of the proceeding in the
trial of cases before the civil and police justice, except such as
may be removed on appeal and such papers in criminal matters
as are required by law to be returned to and lodged in the clerk’s
office of a court of record of the city, shall be properly indexed
and filed and preserved.

§ 17. Filing and Indexing Fee Charged in Certain Cases.

In claims of which the civil and police justice is given
jurisdiction by paragraph (b) of § 7 of this chapter, the civil
and police justice, at or before the time of hearing or trial on
any such claim shall require the plaintiff in such claim to pay
to the civil and police justice the sum of twenty-five cents for
the filing and indexing of the papers in such case. Such filing
and indexing shall be taxed as a part of the costs. The civil and
police justice shall weekly pay into the treasury of his city all
filing and indexing fees so paid to him.

§ 18. Cost, etc.

At or before the time of hearing had before the civil and
police justice on any claim of which the civil and police justice
is given jurisdiction by paragraph (b) of § 7 of this chapter
the plaintiff in such claim shall pay to the civil and police justice
a trial fee of fifty cents for each hundred dollars of value, or
fraction thereof, claimed in such warrant. The trial fee shall
be taxed as part of the cost. The civil and police justice shall
pay weekly into the treasury of his city all trial fees collected

y him.

§ 19. Appeals in Misdemeanor Cases.

In all misdemeanors triable before the civil and police jus-
tice there shall be the right of appeal to the Court of Hustings
of the city. The City of Portsmouth shall have the right of
appeal from any decision of the police justice affecting the public
revenue of the city or the legality or validity of any ordinance
passed by the City Council.

§ 20. Appeals in Civil Cases.

In all civil cases triable before the civil and police justice
where the amount in controversy exceeds the sum of twenty
lollars, exclusive of interest, there shall be an appeal of right
to any of the courts, exercising generally original common law
urisdiction in such civil cases in his city, and all such appeals
shall be tried and judgment rendered as provided by § 16-82,
7ode of Virginia.

§ 21. Bond on Appeal.

No appeal shall be granted unless within ten days from the
late of the judgment from which the appeal is sought the party
ypplying for the same shall have given bond, with sufficient
urety, to be approved by the civil and police justice, to abide
he judgment of the court upon the appeal, if such appeal be per-
ected, or, if not so perfected, then to satisfy the judgment of
he civil and police justice, judgment against such surety, when
the appeal is not perfected, to be entered under § 16-29, Code
of Virginia. But when such appeal is proper to protect the
estate of a decedent, infant, convict or insane person or the
City of Portsmouth in which instances no bond shall be required.
No surety in any such appeal bond shall be released by the
appellant’s being adjudicated a bankrupt at any time subsequent
to the judgment rendered by the civil and police justice, but
such surety shall be entitled to make any defense on the trial
of the appeal that the appellant could have made except the
defense of bankruptcy.

§ 22. Cash Deposit Instead of Bond.

In lieu of giving bond as hereinbefore provided any such
appellant may deposit with the civil and police justice, who
shall issue his official receipt therefor, such sum of money as
the civil and police justice estimates to be sufficient to discharge
such judgment as may be rendered by the appellate court on the
trial of the appeal, in which event the civil and police justice
shall pay the money so deposited with him into the court to
which the appeal is taken, by paying the same to the clerk of
the court, who shall issue his of ficial receipt therefor.

§ 23. Court to Which Appeal Sent; Payment of Writ Taz.

The party taking such an appeal may direct to which of
the courts having jurisdiction the appeal shall be sent for trial,
and in the absence of such directions, the civil and police
justice may send the same to any court having jurisdiction, and
the clerk of such court, upon receipt of the papers in any such
appeal case, shall upon payment of the writ tax forthwith docket
such case in its regular order; but if the writ tax be not so patd
within thirty days from the date of the judgment, the appeal
shall thereupon stand dismissed and the judgment shall become
final, and the papers, upon application of any party in interest,
shall be returned to the civil and police justice by the clerk of
the appellate court.

~§ 24. Rules of Practice.

_ The civil and police justice shall have the power to make
and enforce such reasonable rules of practice as are not in con-
flict with law.

§ 25. Courtroom, Books and Stationery.

The City shall provide a suitable courtroom and office
for such civil and police justice and shall furnish all neces-
sary furniture, books and stationery. Such books shall be under
the control of the civil.and police justice and shall remain the
property of the City.

§ 26. Removal, Suspension, etc.

The civil and police justice may be removed, ousted or sus-
pended from office by the Court of Hustings of the City of Ports-
mouth for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetency or fatlure to
perform his official duty or corruption in office. All proceed-
ings for such removal or suspension shall be by order of or on
motion before the Court upon reasonable notice to the officer to
be affected thereby. Such officer shall have the right to demand
a trial by jury.

CHAPTER XIV
City Manager

§ 1. Vesting of Administrative and Executive Powers;
Appointment; Term; Reappointment; Removal; Compensation;
Bond.

The administrative and executive powers of the City, includ-
ing the power of appointment of officers and employees, are
vested in an official to be known as the City Manager, who shall
be appointed by the Council and who shall hold office during the
pleasure of the Council, or for a term of three years unless
sooner removed by the Council upon proven charges preferred
for malfeasance or misfeasance, neglect of duty or incompetency.
The Council may reappoint the City Manager for a term not
exceeding six years, but he shall be subject at all times to
removal by the Council on proven charges of malfeasance, mis-
feasance, neglect of duty or incompetency. He shall receive such
compensation as shall be fixed by the Council by ordinance. The
City Manager may be bonded as the Council may deem neces-
sary. In the event of the inability of the City Manager to per-
form the duties of his office by reason of sickness, absence,
vacation, or other disability the Council may designate someone
to perform the duties of his office during such absence or dis-
ability, and in the absence of such designation by the Council
the Mayor shall perform such duties or he may designate the
City Attorney to perform the duties of the City Manager.

§ 2. General Powers and Duties.

The City Manager shall:

(1) See that within the City the laws, ordinances, resolu-
tions and by-laws of the Council are faithfully executed;

(2) Attend all meetings of the Council and recommend for
udoption such measures as he shall deem expedient;

(3) Make iy th to the Council from time to time upon
the affairs of the City;

(4) Keep the Council fully advised of the City’s financial
condition and its future financial needs;

(5) Prepare and submit to the Council a tentative budget
‘or the next fiscal year;

(6) Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the
Founcil not in conflict with the foregoing; a
(7) Appoint such officers and employees as the Council of
the City shall determine necessary for the proper administra-
tion of the City, whether such officials be state or municipal,
with exception of those in the financial, legal and judicial de-
partments, and the clerical and other attendants of the Council.
Such officers and employees may be removed by the City Man-
ager, who shall report each appointment or removal to the
Council at its next meeting thereafter following any such ap-
pointment or removal.

2. That §§ 6, 8, 21, 22, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64,
66, 70, and 72, and Chapter IX, consisting of sections numbered
1 through 17, of Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908,
approved March 10, 1908, as amended, are repealed.

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