CHAPTER 307

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 8, 4, 5, 12, and 18, as amended, of
Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, approved March 10,
1908, being the charter of the city of Portsmouth, the sections relat-
ing to the vesting of legislative powers and composition of council;
to the qualifications, elections, terms of office and the filling of
vacancies in the offices of Councilmen of the city; to provide for
appointment of a mayor; to provide when such amended sections
become effective; to provide for a referendum thereon under certain
conditions and to provide for the effect of such referendum and to
repeal § 11 of such Chapter, relating to the election of mau

272

Approved March 17, 1954

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3, 4, 5, 12, and 13, as amended, of Chapter 157 of the Acts
of Assembly of 1908, approved March 10, 1908, be amended and reenacted
as follows:

§ 3. The legislative powers of the city shall be vested in a council,
including the mayor, consisting of * seven members. This section as
amended shall not be in force except as hereinafter provided in this
Chapter of the Acts of Assembly, nineteen hundred fifty-four.
§ 4. All members of the Council, including the mayor in office on
the effective date of this amendment, shall continue in office * unézl
September one of the year in which the first regular election of such
officers is held under this section as amended, or until their successors
in office are duly qualified.

At the next regular election to be held * after the effective date of
this amendment there shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city
seven Councilmen who shall be elected at large. The four Councilmen
who receive the highest vote shall hold office for terms of four years
each commencing on the September one following their election; and
the other three Councilmen shall hold office for terms of two years each
commencing on the September one following their election.

The Councilmen * thereafter elected, who shall be elected at large,
shall hold office for terms of four years each beginning on the first day
of September next following the date of their election and until their
successors are duly elected and qualified. This section as amended shall
not be in force except as hereinafter provided in this chapter of the Acts
of Assembly of nineteen hundred fifty-four.

§ 5. * Every two years the council shall choose by majority vote
of all the members thereof one of their number to be mayor who shall
serve as mayor for two years. The mayor shall preside over the meet-
ings of the council and shall have the same right to vote and speak
therein as other members. He shall be recognized as the head of the
city government for all ceremonial purposes, the purposes of military
law and the service of civil process. If a vacancy shall occur in the office
of mayor, the council shall by majority vote of those present choose one
of their number to perform the duties of mayor. This section as amended
shall not be in force except as hereinafter provided in this chapter of the
Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred fifty-four.

§ 12. Any person qualified to vote in said city shall be eligible to
the office of councilman. *

Any councilman * who shall remove from * the city shall thereby
vacate his office. *

This section as amended shall not be in force except as hereinafter
provided in this chapter of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred
fifty-four.

§ 138. When any vacancy shall occur in the council by death, resig-
nation, * failure to qualify, or from any other cause, the council shall
elect a qualified person to supply the vacancy for the unexpired term.
This section as amended shall not be in force except as hereinafter pro-
ee in this chapter of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred fifty-

our. |

2. § 11 of Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, approved
March 10, 1908, is repealed. The repeal of this section shall not be effec-
tive except as hereinafter provided in this chapter of the Acts of Assem-
bly of nineteen hundred fifty-four.

38. The Hustings Court of the city of Portsmouth or the judge thereof
in vacation shall, not less than sixty days nor more than ninety days
after the effective date of annexation decreed by the special court consti-
tuted for the purpose of determining whether there shall be annexation by
the city of Portsmouth of a portion of the county of Norfolk in a
proceeding pending in such special court on January one, nineteen
hundred fifty-four, enter an order requiring the judges of election of
the city of Portsmouth, on a date stated in the order, to open a poll
and take the sense of the qualified voters of the city on the question
of whether §§ 3, 4, 5, 12 and 18 of the charter of the city of Ports-
mouth shall be amended and § 11 of the charter be repealed so that
councilmen of the city of Portsmouth will be elected at large, be seven
in number, and the mayor be selected from the council by majority
vote of such council. The poll shall be taken at the next regular election
in the city if there shall be such a regular election held in the city not
less than thirty days nor more than ninety days from the date of the
order to the judges of election but otherwise shall be taken at a special
election, called for that purpose, to be held not less than thirty days nor
more than ninety days from the date of the order but in no event within
thirty days prior to or following a regular election in the city.

Notice of the holding of the election shall be given by the posting
by the sergeant of the city of Portsmouth of one or more copies of a
notice in such form as may be prescribed by the judge of the Hustings
Court of the city at each polling place in the city not less than fifteen
days prior to the date stated in the order of the circuit court, or the Judge
thereof in vacation, directing the election to be held.

The ballots for use at such election shall be provided and distributed
by the electoral board of the city, within the time-and in the manner
prescribed by law, and, on the day fixed by the order so made by the
court, or judge, for the holding of the election, the regular election
officers of the city shall open a poll and take the sense of the qualified
voters of the city on the question hereinafter mentioned. Such election
shall be held and conducted in the same manner prescribed by law for
other elections, provided, however, that the ballots for use at the election
shall be printed to read as follows:

Question: Shall §§ 3, 4, 5, 12, and 13 of the charter of the city of
Portsmouth be amended and § 11 of the charter be repealed so that
councilmen of the city of Portsmouth will be elected at large, be seven
in number, and the mayor will be selected from the council by majority
vote of such council?

[] YES
CC] NO

Votes shall be cast, ballots shall be counted and the returns shall
be made and canvassed as in other elections, and the results certified by
the commissioners of election to the clerk of the court, or the court or
judge calling such election.

If it shall appear by the report of the commissioners of election that
a majority of the voters of the city voting on the question are in favor
of the councilmen of the city being elected at large, being seven in
number and the mayor being selected from the council by majority vote
of such council, the clerk of court shall certify that fact to the Hustings
Court or the judge thereof in vacation, whereupon the Hustings Court,
or the judge thereof in vacation, shall enter that fact of record.

Upon the entry of such court or judge that the result of such elec-
tion be for the election of councilmen at large, the establishment of the
number of councilmen at seven, and the selection of the mayor from the
council by majority vote of such council, §§ 3, 4, 5, 12, and 13, as
amended, of Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, approved
March 10, 1908, shall be in force in form as set forth above and § 11
of Chapter 157 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, approved March 10,
1908, shall be repealed. But if the result of such election be against the
election of councilmen at large, the estahlishment of the number of
councilmen at seven and the selection of the mayor from the council by
majority vote of such council, then such sections as amended shall not
become effective, nor shall the repeal of § 11 of Chapter 157 of the Acts
of Assembly of 1908, approved March 10, 1908, be effective under the
provisions of this Act.

4. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.
An Act to amend and reenact § 6 of Chapter 38 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1952, approved February 14, 1952, which incorporated the city of
Virginia Beach, the section relating to the school board. 'H 296]

Approved March 17, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 6 of Chapter 33 of the Acts of Assembly of 1952, approved
February 14, 1952, be amended and reenacted as follows:

_._§ 6. The city of Virginia Beach shall constitute a separate school
division. It shall have a school board consisting of * five members *
appointed by the council of the city. The persons who are members of
the board for the * city at the time * this amendment takes effect shall
continue in office * until the expiration of their terms, provided, that
prior to September one, nineteen hundred fifty-four, three members shall
be appointed, one for one year, one for two years and one for three years,
beginning September one, nineteen hundred fifty-four, and thereafter
all appointments shall be for three years; the eligibility and compensation
of the members of the school board shall be the same as prescribed by
aw.

The school board shall be a body corporate under the name of the
school board of the city of Virginia Beach, by which name it may sue and
be sued, contract and be contracted with, purchase, take, hold, lease and
convey school property, both real and personal.
¢ An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.