CHAPTER 208

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 21-6 and 21-29, as amended, 21-87, 21-88,
and 21-41 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the State Soil Conserva-
tion Committee, formation of soil conservation districts, and election
of supervisors.

fH 308]

Approved March 8, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 21-6 and 21-29, as amended, 21-37, 21-38 and 21-41 of the
Code of Virginia, be amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 21-6. There is established, to serve as an agency of the State anc
to perform the functions conferred upon it in this chapter, the State Soil
Conservation Committee. The Committee shall consist of not less than *
eleven and not more than * twelve members. The following shall serve, ex
officio, as members of the Committee: the Director of Conservation and
Development, the director of the State agricultural extension service, the
director of the State agricultural experiment station located at Blacksburg,
and the State Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration. One member
of the Committee shall be appointed by the Governor to serve at the
pleasure of the Governor, for a term coincident with that of the Governor
making the appointment; vacancies in the office of such appointed member
shall be filled by the Governor. * Siz members of the Committee shall be
farmers, appointed by the Governor from a list of * twelve qualified nomi-
nees submitted by the Executive Committee of the Association of Soil
Conservation Districts and the State Soil Conservation Committee in
joint session, each for a term of three years. * Members in office when this
section as hereby amended becomes effective shall continue in office for
the terms for which appointed. Members appointed initially to fill the
vacancies created by this section as hereby amended shall serve for one,
two and three years respectively. * Other appointments to fill * vacancies
shall be made in the same manner as described above, except that such
appointments shall be for the unexpired terms only. The Committee may
invite the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America to
appoint one person to serve with the above-mentioned members as a mem-
ber of the Committee; the term of any member so appointed shall be for
one year, except that an appointment to fill a vacancy shall be for the
unexpired term. The Committee shall keep a record of its official actions,
shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform
such acts, hold such public hearings, and promulgate such rules and regu-
Ghats as may be necessary for the execution of its functions under this
chapter.

§ 21-29. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall examine the
application and statement and, if he finds that the name proposed for the
district is not identical with that of any other soil conservation district
of this State or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion or uncertainty,
he shall receive and file them and shall record the application in an appro-
priate book of record in his office. If the Secretary of the Commonwealth
shall find that the name proposed for the district is identical with that of
any other soil conservation district of this State, or so nearly similar as
to lead to confusion and uncertainty, he shall certify such fact to the
State Soil Conservation Committee, which shall thereupon submit to the
Secretary of the Commonwealth a new name for the district, which shall
not be subject to such defects. Upon receipt of such new name, free of
such defects, the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall record the appli-
cation, with the name so modified, in an appropriate book of record in his
office. When the application and statement have been made, filed and
recorded, as herein provided, the district shall constitute a governmental
subdivision of this State and a public body corporate and politic. The Sec-
retary of the Commonwealth shall make and issue to the supervisors a
certificate, under the lesser seal of the Commonwealth, of the due organi-
zation of the district and shall record such certificate with the application
and statement. The boundaries of such district shall include the territory
as determined by the Committee as aforesaid, but shall not include any
area included within the boundaries of another soil conservation district
organized under the provisions of this chapter, except in the case of the
division of an existing district as provided in this article. Whenever any
area included within the boundaries of a district is situated within the
corporate limits of a city or town, such area shall cease to be a part of or
included within such district. The name of any soil conservation distric’
may be changed if a petition for such change is subscribed by twenty-five
or more landowners from each county comprising the district and adoptec
by resolution of the supervisors at any regular meeting. The supervisor:
shall submit a copy of such resolution to the Committee and, if the Com.
mittee concurs, it shall present the resolution, together with a statement
certifying its concurrence, to the Secretary of the Commonwealth who
if it be free from such defects as outlined herein, shall file the resolutior
and issue a new (or amended) certificate of organization.

§ 21-37. The names of all nominees, on behalf of whom such nomi.
nating petitions have been filed within the time herein designated, shal
be furnished the secretary of the electoral board of each county * whick
constitutes the district, or a part of the district. The names of such nomi-
nees shall be printed upon ballots, which ballots shall be printed, voted
counted and canvassed in conformity with the provisions of general law
relating to elections, except as herein otherwise provided.

§ 21-38. If the district embrace more than one county *, either in
whole or in part, the result of the election shall be canvassed by the Board
of State Canvassers; if the election be held at any other time than that
fixed for the general election in November, the canvass shall be made as
in the case of a special election to fill a vacancy.

§ 21-41. The * expenses of such elections * shall be paid by the
counties concerned; provided that if the election be held at any other tume
than that fixed for the general election in November, such expenses shall
be paid by the Committee. The State Board of Elections shall publish, or
cause to be published within the district, the results of the election.