CHAPTER 143

An Act to amend and reenact § 2, as amended, of Chapter IX, § 1 of Chap-
ter X and § 1 of Chapter XXVII of Chapter 481 of the Acts of Assem-
bly of 1950, approved April 6, 1950, which provided a charter for the
city of Hopewell, and to further amend such Chapter by adding in
Chapter XXVII thereof sections numbered 2 through 15, the amended
and new sections relating to the substitute civil and police justice,
bailing justices and the pension fund.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 2, as amended, of Chapter IX, § 1 of Chapter X and § 1 of
Chapter XXVII of Chapter 431 of the Acts of Assembly of 1950, ap-
proved April 6, 1950, be amended and reenacted and that such Chapter
be amended by adding in Chapter XXVII thereof sections numbered
2 through 15 as follows:

Chap IX

_ _§ 2. There shall be appointed for a term of two years a substitute
civil and police justice appointed as hereinbefore provided, who shall act
for said civil and police justice when he is unable to perfrom the duties
of his office, who shall have such qualifications as the council may by
ordinance or resolution provide. When acting for the civil and police
justice, he shall receive such salary as is provided for the civil and police
justice, and such compensation, in excess of sixty days, shall be deducted
from the compensation of the civil and police justice, and shall have
such jurisdiction and authority as is provided for civil and police justices
by the general laws of the State of Virginia, with a minimum of one
month’s salary. He shall have authority to issue warrants, search war-
rants and summonses in criminal and civil cases and to bail persons
charged with felonies and misdemeanors or violations of city ordinances
whether acting as substitute civil and police justice at the time or not.

Chap X

§ 1. The city council may appoint one or more persons, from time
to time, as it may deem necessary, for terms * to expire on the first
Tuesday in September next following each regular municipal election,
as bailing justices for said city, who shall have authority to issue war-
rants and summonses in criminal cases, and to bail persons charged with
misdemeanors or violation of city ordinances, and whose qualifications,
terms of office and compensation shall be such as the council may by
ordinance or resolution provide.

Chap XXVII

§ 1. The council of said city shall have authority to establish a fund
or funds for the relief or pensions of persons in the service of the city;
to receive gifts, devises and bequests of money or property for the benefit
of such fund or funds; to make contributions of public moneys thereto on
such terms and conditions as it may see fit: and, subject to the provisions
of this chapter, to make rules and regulations for the management and
administration of such fund or funds.

§ 2. As used in this chapter, the terms:

(1) “Regular annual salary” shall mean the amount paid annually
to any employee of the city from public funds plus the value of any per-
quisites of such employee. In the case of an employee who is paid on an
hourly basis, his regular annual salary shall be computed by multiplying
his hourly rate of pay by the number of hours regularly worked per week
and by multiplying the product thereof by fifty-two.

(2) “Employee” shall mean any person regularly employed by the
city on a full-time basis whose tenure is not restricted as to temporary
or provisional appointment, except any employee of the city school board,
the mayor or any member of the council, but including the city treasurer,
the commissioner of the revenue, the city sergeant, the Commonwealth’s
attorney, the city attorney, the judge of the municipal court, the judge
of the juvenile and domestic relutions court, the clerks, deputies and em-
ployees of such courts, the city manager and the city clerk.

(8) “Service” means service as an employee.

(4) “Prior service’ means service rendered as an employee prior
to July one, nineteen hundred fifty-eight for which credit is allowed unde?
the provisions of this chapter.

(5) “Creditable service” means prior service plus service for which
credit 1s allowable under this chapter.

(6) “Committee” means the pension committee created by § 8 of
this chapter.

(7) “Average final salary” means the average annual creditable
salary of an employee during his last three years of creditable service.

§ 3. There is hereby created a Pension Committee to administer the
provisions of this chapter. The committee shall consist of five members
as follows: The mayor and the city manager shall be members ex officio
and three members shall be residents of the city appointed by the coun-
cil, two of whom shall be appointed for terms to expire on September
one, nineteen hundred sixty and one of whom shall be appointed for a
term to expire September one, nineteen hundred sixty-two. Thereafter
appointments shall be for terms of four years except appointments to
All vacancies which shall be for the unexpired term.

§ 4. The committee shall be the trustee of the fund created by this
chapter and shall have power and authority to invest and reinvest such
funds in such securities as are approved for investment of public sink-
ing funds, provided that the committee shall maintain liquid assets in
such fund sufficient to discharge current obligations of such fund in each
fiscal year.

§ 5. The council shall appropriate to the committee annually such
sum as the council shall determine to be necessary to carry out the pur-
poses of this chapter. The committee shall certify the sum so appro-
priated to the treasurer on or before the beginning of each fiscal year;
whereupon the treasurer shall transfer such sum from the general fund
of the city into the pension fund.

§ 6. The treasurer of the city shall be the custodian of the assets
of the pension fund. All payments from the accounts thereof shall be
made by him by check as directed by resolution of the committee.

§ 7. At least once in each two-year period, the council shall cause
an actuarial investigation to be made of all the experience under the
pension fund. Pursuant to such investigations the council shall, from
time to time, revise the actuarial bases of the appropriations required
under this chapter. The committee shall prepare and furnish annually
to the council a valuation of the assets and liabilities and a statement of
the receipts and disbursements of the pension fund.

§ 8. No contribution shall be required of any employee as a condi-
tion of receiving any benefits provided under this chapter.

§ 9. The benefits provided by this chapter shall not be reduced as
to any employee by reason of any income which such employee may re-
ceive from any other source, provided, however, that an employee who,
having retired, reenters the service of the city, shall not be entitled to
receive such benefits during the time he is in the service of the city.

§ 10. Each person employed by the city prior to July one, nineteen
hundred fifty-eight shall file with the committee, in such form as the com-
mittee may prescribe, a statement of the facts pertaining to his status
as an employee which shall contain a detailed description of all service
rendered the city and such other information as the committee may re-
quire. The committee, as soon as practicable after such statement 1s
filed, shall determine the amount of prior service of such employee and
shall issue prior service certificates covering all creditable service prior
to July one, nineteen hundred fifty-eight. Such certificate, when tssued,
shall be conclusive as to such prior service credit unless and until modi-
fied by the committee upon application made by the employee to whom
wt ts issued.

§ 11. (a) Creditable service of an employee whose continuity of
employment has been interrupted for any reason other than misconduct,
malfeasance, misfeasance or voluntary resignation and who subsequently
reenters the service of the city shall be computed as follows:

If such employee has at least five years of creditable service at the time
of such interruption and he reenters the service of the city within twenty-
four months from the date thereof, or if such employee has less than five
years of creditable service at the time of such interruption and he reenters
the service of the city within twelve months from the date thereof, he shall
be entitled to credit for service prior to the date of interruption.

(b) In all other cases such employee shall be entitled to credit only
from the date he reenters the service of the city.

§ 12. Any employee may retire at any time after having attained the
age of sixty-five years, and after not less than fifteen years of creditable
service as an employee of the city. Whenever the city deems it to be in the
public interest it may, with his consent, recall to active service, any retired
employee of the city, provided, however, that no employee shall be retained
after attaining the age of seventy years. No person, employed after July
one, nineteen hundred fifty-eight, having less than fifteen years creditable
service at the time he attains the age of sixty-five years shall be eligible
for the benefits provided by this chapter.

§ 18. Any employee who has fifteen or more years creditable service
may, at any time prior to attaining the age of sixty-five years, retire on
account of permanent physical disability upon written notification to the
committee accompanied by a certificate from a physician that such em-
ployee is physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty; that
such incapacity is likely to be permanent; and that such employee should
be retired. The committee may require such employee to submit to an
examination by a physician of its choosing. Such retirement shall, in each
case, be subject to the approval of the council. In the event of retirement of
an employee under the provisions of this section, no payment shall be made
to such employee until he attains the age of sixty-five years.

§ 14. Any employee retiring under the provisions of this chapter
shall, after retirement and so long as he may live, be paid monthly out of
the pension fund an amount equal to one per centum of his average final
compensation plus two dollars for each year of creditable service provided
that no benefits payable hereunder shall be less than twenty-five nor more
than one hundred dollars per month. Such payments shall commence in
the month following retirement.

§ 15. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to any employee who
retired prior to July one, nineteen hundred fifty-eight notwithstanding
that he may have had less than fifteen years of creditable service at the
time of such retirement.

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