CHAPTER 466

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
8-289.2, to provide a privilege for communications between ministers
of religion and certain persons whom they counsel or advise.

[H 354]
Approved March 31, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding a section numbered
8-289.2, as follows:

§ 8-289.2. No regular minister of religion, over the age of twenty-one
years, of any religious organization or denomination usually referred to as
a church, shall be required in giving testimony as a witness in any civil
action to disclose any information communicated to him in a confidential
manner, properly entrusted to him in his professional capacity and neces-
sary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the
usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein such person so com-
municating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual
counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the information so
imparted.
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2.8, 4.4, 4.9, 4.10, 5.2, 6.15, 6.16, 6.17,
10.8, 10.6, 18.2, 18.38 and 18.5 of Chapter 213 of the Acts of Assembly,
1960, approved March 9, 1960, which provided a charter for the city
of Colonial Heights and to amend said chapter by adding sections
numbered 20.27, 20.28, 20.29 and 20.30, the amended and new sections
relating, respectively, to powers, city clerk, form of ordinances, pro-
cedure for passing ordinances, city manager’s power of appointment
and removal, transfer of appropriations, school budget, additional
appropriations, powers and duties of city attorney, salary of city
attorney, eminent domain, alternative procedures in condemnation,
disposition of certain matters in condemnation proceedings, valida-
tion of transition procedures and certain acts, administration of jus-
tice, closing of circuit court clerk’s office, and the city sergeant; and
to repeal § 10.7 of said chapter, relating to the appointment of the
city attorney as acting Commonwealth’s Attorney.

[H 358]
Approved March 31, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 2.3, 4.4, 4.9, 4.10, 5.2, 6.15, 6.16, 6.17, 10.3, 10.6, 18.2, 18.8
and 18.5 of Chapter two hundred thirteen of the Acts of Assembly, nine-
teen hundred sixty, approved March nine, nineteen hundred sixty, be
amended and reenacted, and that said chapter be amended by adding
sections numbered 20.27, 20.28, 20.29 and 20.30, as follows:

§ 2.3. Other Powers.

In addition to the powers granted by other sections of this charter,
the city shall have the power:

(a) To impose special or local assessments for local improvement and
force payment thereof, subject, however, to such limitations prescribed by
the Constitution and Laws of Virginia, as may be in force at the time of
the imposition of such special or local assessments.

(b) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in the city such sums
of money as the council shall deem necessary to pay the debts and defray
the expenses of the city, in such manner as the council shall deem expe-
dient, provided, that such taxes and assessments are not prohibited by the
laws of the Commonwealth. In addition to, but not as a limitation upon,
this general grant of power the city shall when not prohibited by the laws
of the Commonwealth, have power to levy and collect ad valorem taxes on
real estate and tangible personal property and machinery and tools and a
capitation tax not exceeding one dollar per annum on each resident of the
Commonwealth within the limits of the city; to levy and collect taxes for
admission to or other charge for any public amusement, entertainment,
performance, exhibition, sport or athletic event in the city, which taxes
may be added to and collected with the price of such admission or other
charge; unless prohibited by general law to require licenses, prohibit the
conduct of any business, profession, vocation or calling without such a
license, require taxes to be paid on such licenses in respect of all busi-
nesses, professions, vocations and callings which cannot, in the opinion of
the council, be reached by the ad valorem system; and to require licenses
of owners of vehicles of all kinds for the privilege of using the streets,
alleys and other public places in the city, require taxes to be paid on such
licenses and prohibit the use of streets, alleys and other public places in
the city without such license; provided, however, that nothing herein con-
tained shall be construed as permitting the city to levy and collect directly
or indirectly a tax on payrolls.
(c) To appropriate, without being bound by other provisions of this
charter, in an amount of not more than five per cent of the receipts of the
preceding fiscal year for the purpose of meeting a public emergency threat-
ening the lives, health or property of the inhabitants of the city, provided
that any such appropriation shall require the affirmative votes of a major-
ity of the entire council and that the ordinance making such appropriation
shall contain a clear statement of the nature and extent of the emergency.

(d) To control and regulate the use and management of all property
of the city, real and personal, and specifically to rent or lease under such
regulations as the school board shall deem expedient, school buildings,
lands, grounds and equipment to persons or organizations for such health,
educational, civic or recreational purposes as the school board shall deem
prudent and beneficial to the community.

(e) To acquire, construct and maintain or authorize the construction
and maintenance of bridges, viaducts or underpasses over or under any
stream, creek or ravine when any portion of such bridge, viaduct or under-
pass is within the city limits, and to require compensation for their use
by public utility, transmission or transportation companies, except as the
right to require such compensation is affected by any contract heretofore
or hereafter made with the company concerned.

(f{) To provide for the prevention of vice, immorality, vagrancy,
street begging and drunkenness; prevention and quelling of riots, dis-
turbances and disorderly assemblages; suppression of houses of ill-fame
and gambling places; prevention of lewd and disorderly conduct or exhi-
bitions; and prevention of conduct in the streets dangerous to the public;
and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have not
resided therein as much as one year.

(g) To regulate the construction, maintenance and repair of build-
ings and other structures and the plumbing, electrical, heating, elevator,
escalator, boiler, unfired pressure vessel, and air conditioning installations
therein, for the purpose of preventing fire and other dangers to life and

ealth.

(h) To establish, construct, maintain, regulate, and operate public
employment bureaus, public markets, public improvements of all kinds,
including municipal and other buildings, armories, jails, comfort stations,
and all buildings and structures necessary or appropriate for the use in
proper operation of the various departments of the city and to acquire by
condemnation or otherwise, all lands, riparian or other rights and ease-
ments necessary for such improvements or any of them; and to make and
enforce such regulations as shall be necessary to prevent huckstering,
forestalling or regrating.

(i) To establish, open, widen, extend, improve, construct, maintain,
light, sprinkle and clean, public highways, streets, alleys, boulevards and
parkways, and to alter or close the same; to establish and maintain parks,
playgrounds and such public grounds; to construct, maintain and operate
bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers and drains, and to regulate the
use of all such highways, parks, public grounds and works; to plant and
maintain shade trees along the streets and upon such public grounds; to
prevent the obstruction of such streets and highways, abolish and prevent
grade crossings over the same by railroads in the manner prescribed by
general law for elimination of grade crossings; to require any railroad
company operating a railroad at the place where any highway or street
is crossed within the city limits to erect and maintain at such crossing
any style of gate deemed proper and keep a man in charge thereof or keer
a flagman at such crossing during such hours as the council may require.
in accordance with the provisions of §§ 56-406.1 and 56-406.2 and other
sections of the Code of Virginia and to regulate the length of time such
crossings may be closed due to any operations of the railroads in accord:
ance with §§ 56-412.1 and 56-412.2 of the Code of Virginia; to regulate
the operations,. weight of load, and speed of all cars and vehicles using
the same, as well as the operation and speed of all engines, cars and trains,
or railroads within the city; to regulate the service to be rendered, includ-
ing route traversed, and rates charged by buses, motor cars, cabs and other
vehicles for carrying passengers for hire and by vehicles for the transfer
of baggage; to permit railroads and bus lines to be built in the streets and
alleys; and to determine and designate the route and grade thereof; and
to specify and require the proper construction and maintenance of the
streets between the rails and on either side thereof for such distance as
such streets may be affected by the construction, operation, repair or main-
tenance of such railroads, bus lines, and to require the construction of so
much of said street as may be damaged by the removal of such railroad or
bus line; to permit or prohibit poles and wires for electric, telephone and
telegraph purposes, to be erected and gas pipes to be laid in streets and
alleys, and to prescribe and collect an annual charge for such privileges,
heretofore or hereafter granted; to require the owner or lessee of any
electric light, telephone or telegraph pole, or poles or wires now in use or
hereafter erected, to change the location or move the same; to open, lay
out, and improve new streets across the track or tracks, yard or yards, of
any railroad in the city and any such new or existing street or streets
may cross any such track or tracks, of any railroads in the city, in the
discretion of the council, either at grade, or pass above or below any such
existing structure or structures; provided, that after due notice to such
railroad company and full opportunity to be heard, and after the council
shall have decided whether such crossing shall be made at grade, or pass
above or below any such existing structure or structures, the plans and
specifications for such crossing, as the council shall have determined upon,
shall be submitted to the principal agent of such railroad company in the
city, and in the event the city and railroad company cannot, within sixty
days thereafter, agree upon such plans and specifications, or cannot agree
in regard to the division of the cost of constructing such crossing, then
the city shall submit such plans and specifications to the State Corpora-
tion Commission, and the State Corporation Commission, after reasonable
notice to such railroad company and after hearing such evidence as either
party may adduce, shall approve, or revise and approve, the plans for
such crossing as the council shall have determined shall be made, or sub-
stitute such other plans or character of crossing, whether at grade, over-
head or underpass, as the State Corporation Commission may deem
proper under all the facts, circumstances and conditions in the case; the
said improvements shall be made by the company whose track is to be
crossed and the expense thereof shall be borne as provided by the general
law, and after such crossing shall have been constructed, it shall be main-
tained by such railroad company or by the lessee thereof; and to do all
other things whatsoever adapted to make said streets and highways safe,
convenient and attractive.

(j) To acquire by gift, purchase, exchange, or by the exercise of the
power of eminent domain within this State, lands, and any interest or
estate in lands, rock quarries, gravel pits, sand pits, water and water
rights, and the necessary roadways thereto, either within or without the
city and acquire and install machinery and equipment, and to build the
necessary roads or tramroads thereto: and operate the same for the
purpose of producing materials required for the construction, repair and
maintenance of streets, highways, sidewalks, waterworks, reservoirs,
sewer, electric lights and public buildings in the city; and to acquire by
gift, purchase, exchange, or by the exercise of the power of eminent
domain within this State, lands and machinery and equipment, and build
and operate a plant or plants for the preparation and fixing of materials
for the construction of improved streets and other public improvements,
and the maintenance and repair thereof; and to build and operate coal
tipples and yards in connection therewith.

‘(k) To collect and dispose of sewerage, offal, ashes, garbage, car-
casses of dead animals, and other refuse, and to make reasonable charges
therefor; and to acquire and operate reduction or other plants for the
utilization or destruction of such materials, or any of them; to contract
for and regulate the collection and disposal thereof, and to require and
regulate the collection and disposal thereof and to regulate the disposal
of commercial and industrial garbage and refuse and to make such addi-
tional reasonable charges as are necessary and commensurate with the
volume of commercial and industrial garbage and refuse collected or dis-
posed of at such additional charges as are reasonable to dispose of com-
mercial or industrial garbage or refuse in a sanitary and healthful manner.

(1) To regulate or prevent slaughter houses or other noisome or
offensive business within said city, the keeping of hogs, dogs, cats, cattle
or other animals, poultry or other fowls therein, or the exercise of any
dangerous or unwholesome business, trade or employment therein; to
regulate the transportation of all articles through the streets of the city;
to compel the abatement of smoke and dust, and prevent unnecessary
noise; to regulate the location of stables and the manner in which they
shall be kept and constructed; to regulate the location, construction, opera-
tion, and maintenance of billboards, and generally to define, prohibit,
abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals,
aesthetics, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the city;
and to require all owners or occupants of property having sidewalks in
front thereof to keep the same clean and sanitary, and free from all weeds,
filth, snow and unsightly deposits.

(m) To provide by ordinance for a system of meat and milk inspec-
tion, and appoint meat and milk inspectors, agents, or officers to carry
the same into effect, within the corporate limits of the said city; to
license, regulate, control and locate slaughter houses within the corporate
limits of the city; and for such services of inspection to make reasonable
charges; and to provide such reasonable penalties for the violation of such
ordinances.

(n) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise,
lands, within, or acquire by purchase, gift, devise or otherwise lands with-
out the city, to be used, kept and improved as a place for the interment of
the dead, and to make and enforce all necessary rules and regulations for
the protection and use thereof; and generally to regulate the burial and
disposition of the dead, including the establishment and maintenance of a
crematory. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Constitution and the
Laws of Virginia, the city may remove at its own expense, abandoned
graves or abandoned grave yards to public city-maintained cemeteries.

(o) To license and regulate the holding and location of shows, cir-
cuses, public exhibitions, carnivals and similar shows or fairs, or prohibit
the holding of the same or any of them within the city.

(p) To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient for promot-
ing or maintaining the general welfare, comfort, education, morals, peace,
government, health, trade, commerce or industries, of the city, or its
inhabitants.

(q) To contract with the County of Chesterfield or the City of Peters-
burg regarding the health and welfare of the citizens residing in said
city, pending the setting up of a Board of Health and Welfare Department
in said city; and also regarding any water, sewer, sewer disposal, garbage
disposal or other municipal functions which may be for the best interest
of the citizens of said city and said county or the City of Petersburg.

(r) To regulate the speed of vehicles and parking in private parking
and general shopping areas, upon the request of and with the consent of
the owners thereof.

(s) To extinguish and prevent fires and to compel citizens to render
assistance to the fire department in case of need, and to establish, regu-
late, and control a paid or voluntary fire department or division; to regu-
late the size, height, materials and constructions of buildings, fences,
walls, retaining walls and other structures hereafter erected in such
manner as the public safety and convenience may require; to remove or
require to be removed or reconstructed any building, structure or addition
thereto which by reason of dilapidation, defect of structure, damage by
fire, or other causes, may have become dangerous to life or property, or
which may be erected contrary to law; to establish and designate, from
time to time, fire limits, within which limits wooden buildings shall not
be constructed, removed, added to, enlarged or repaired, and to direct any
or all future buildings within such limits shall be constructed of stone,
natural or artificial, concrete, brick, iron, or other fireproof materials; and
may enact stringent and efficient laws for securing the safety of persons
from fires in halls and buildings used for public assemblies, entertain-
ments or amusements.

(t) To charge and to collect fees for permits to use public facilities
and for public service and privileges.

(u) To prevent any person having no visible means of support,
paupers, and persons who may be dangerous to the peace or safety of the
city, from coming to said city from without the same; and for this purpose
to require the owner of any conveyance other than a common carrier
bringing such person to the city to take such person back to the place
when he was brought, or enter into bond with satisfactory security that
such person shall not become a charge upon said city within one year from
the date of his arrival; also to expel from the city all persons found therein
dangerous to the peace, safety, and welfare of the city.

(v) If any ground in the said city shall be subject to be covered by
stagnant water or if the owner or occupant thereof shall permit any
offensive or unwholesome substance to remain or accumulate thereon, the
said council may cause such ground to be filled up, raised, or drained, or
may cause such substance to be covered or removed therefrom, provided,
that reasonable notice shall be first given to said owner or occupant or his
agent. In case of nonresident owners who have no agent in said city, such
notice may be given by publication for not less than ten days in any news-
paper having general circulation in said city, and in addition notice shall
be sent by registered mail to his last known address.

(w) To direct or prevent the location of all buildings for storing
gunpowder or other explosive or combustible substances, to regulate or
prohibit the sale and use of dynamite, gunpowder, firecrackers, kerosene
oil, gasoline, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, and all explosives
or combustible materials, the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of fire-
arms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables and other buildings,
the making of bonfires and the carrying of concealed weapons.

(x) To levy on and collect taxes from purchasers of any public utility
service, which taxes may be added to and collected with the bills rendered
purchasers of such service.

(y) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in the city such
sums of money as the council shall deem necessary for the purposes of
the city, and in such manner as the council of the city shall deem expe-
dient, in accordance with the Constitution of this State and the United
States; provided, however, that it shall impose no tax on the bonds of
the city; and the council of the city may make said taxes and assessments
payable at such times and in such installments as it may deem proper, and
may add thereto a percentage not exceeding five per centum thereon, if
such taxes and assessments, or any installment thereof, be not promptly
paid, and may also charge interest on each installment of said taxes and
assessments at the rate of six per centum per annum until paid.

§ 4.4. City Clerk. On the first day of September, nineteen hundred
sixty-three, and on the first day of September of every second year there-
after, or if such day shall fall on Sunday or a holiday then on the follow-
ing day, the city council shall appoint a city clerk for * a term of two
years. He shall be the clerk of the council, shall keep the journal of its
proceedings and shall record all ordinances, * resolutions, and minutes, in
separate books provided by council for the purpose. He shall be the cus-
todian of the corporate seal of the city and shall be the officer authorized
to use and authenticate it. All records in his office shall be public records
and open to inspection at any time during regular business hours. He shall
receive compensation to be fixed by the council. He shall appoint and
remove, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, an assistant
city clerk who shall be authorized to act as city clerk in the absence or
disability of the city clerk, and all deputies and other employees in his
office, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed
by this charter or by ordinance. He shall upon final passage, transmit to
the proper departments or officials, copies of all ordinances or resolutions
that may affect or relate to them or their respective departments.

§ 4.9. Form of Ordinances. Every ordinance except the annual
appropriation ordinance and any ordinance codifying ordinances shall be
confined to * one subject *. All ordinances shall be introduced in type-
written or printed form or a combination of both. * The enacting clause
of all ordinances passed by the council shall substantially be “BE IT
ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLONIAL
HEIGHTS” * or “THE CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS HEREBY
ORDAINS”.

§ 4.10. Procedure for Passing Ordinances. An ordinance may be
introduced by any member or committee of the council or by the city
manager at any regular meeting of the council or at any special meeting
when the subject thereof has been included in the notice for such special
meeting or been approved by a majority vote of all elected members of
the council. * No ordinance, or resolution having the effect of an ordi-
nance, or resolution suspending an ordinance, unless it be an emergency
measure, shall be passed until it has been read at two meetings not less
than seven days apart counting the day of introduction and the date of
adoption as a part thereof, one of which shall be a regular meeting and
the other of which may be either an adjourned or called meeting, pro-
vided, the requirements of a second reading by the affirmative vote of
four members of the council may be confined to the reading of the title
only. Any ordinance or resolution read at one such meeting may be
amended and passed as amended at the next such meeting, provided that
the amendment does not materially change the ordinance. No ordinance
shall be amended unless such section or sections as are intended to be
amended shall be reenacted. The ayes and noes shall be taken and recorded
upon the passage of all ordinances or resolutions and entered upon the
journal of the proceedings of the council. Except as otherwise provided
in this charter an affirmative vote of a majority of the members elected
to the council shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance or resolution.
Unless another date is specified therein and except as otherwise provided
by this charter, an ordinance shall take effect on the tenth day following
its passage. All ordinances and resolutions having the effect of an ordi-
mance shall be authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer and
the city clerk. Every ordinance of a general * or permanent nature shall
be published in full once within ten days after its final passage by posting
a copy thereof at the front door of the municipal building and at * one
other public place in the city or when ordered by the council by publication
in a newspaper published or circulated in the city for such time as the
council may direct; provided, that the foregoing requirements as to publi-
cation shall not apply to ordinances reordained in or by a general compila-
tion or codification of ordinances printed by * authority of the council. A
record or entry made by the city clerk, or a copy of such record or entry
when certified by him shall be prima facie evidence of the terms of the
ordinance and its due publication. All ordinances and resolutions of the
council may be read as evidence in all courts and in all other proceedings
in which tt may be necessary to refer thereto, either from the original rec-
ord thereof, from a copy thereof certified by the city clerk, or from any
volume of ordinances printed by authority of the council.

§ 5.2. Power of Appointment and Removal. The city manager shall
appoint for an indefinite term and remove, subject to the provisions of
Chapter 9 of this charter and except as otherwise provided in this charter,
the heads of all departments and all other officers and employees of the
city, except the school board and constitutional officers, provided that
where the council is given power by this charter to establish a board or
commission for any purpose, the council may provide for the appointment
of the members of such board or commission by the city manager or by
the council, and for the appointment by such board or commission of its
employees, and may specify which, if any, of such * employees shall not
be included in the classified service. The city manager shall have power
to remove any officer or employee appointed by him or his subordinates,
provided that the officer or employee shall have been served with a written
notice of the intention of the city manager to remove him, containing a
clear statement of the grounds for such removal and of the time and place,
not less than ten days after the service of such notice, at which he shall
be given an opportunity to be heard. After such hearing, which shall be
public at the option of such officer or employee, the action of the city
manager shall be final. Pending final action, the city manager may sus-
pend from duty for not more than sixty days any such officer or employee.

§ 6.15. Transfer of Appropriations. At the request of the city
manager, * the council may during the fiscal year, by resolution, order the
transfer of any unencumbered balance, or portion thereof, in any general
fund appropriation from one department, board, commission, office or
agency to another.

§ 6.16. School Budget. It shall be the duty of the school board to
file its budget estimates with the city manager at the same time as other
departments and in the form prescribed by the city manager. The action
of the city manager and council on the school budget shall relate to its
total only and the school board shall have authority to expend in its dis-
cretion the sum appropriated for its use, provided that if it receives an
appropriation greater or less than its original request, it shall forthwith
revise its estimates of expenditure and adopt appropriations in accord-
ance therewith. The school board shall before the beginning of the fiscal
year file with the city manager its budget as finally revised and its appro-
priations based on said revised budget, which need not be itemized fur-
ther than by operating units and principal objects of expenditure. They
shall have power to order during the course of the fiscal year transfers
from one item of appropriation to another, notice of which shall be imme-
diately transmitted to the city manager.

§ 6.17. Additional Appropriations. An appropriation in addition
to those contained in the general appropriation ordinance, except for the
purpose of meeting a public emergency as provided for elsewhere in
this charter, may be made by the council, by * a majority affirmative vote
of the * entire council, only if there is available in the general fund a
sum unencumbered and unappropriated sufficient to meet such appro-
priation.

§ 10.38. City Attorney. Powers and Duties. The city attorney shall
(a) be the legal advisor of (1) the council, (2) the city manager, (3) the
city school board, and (4) of all departments, boards, commissions, and
agencies of the city, in all matters affecting the interests of the city, and
shall, upon written request, furnish a written opinion of any question of
law involving their respective official powers and duties; (b) at the re-
quest of the city manager or any member of the council, prepare ordi-
nances for introduction and at the request of the council or any member
thereof shall examine any ordinance after introduction and * render his
opinion as to the form and legality thereof; ‘((c) draw or approve all
bonds, deeds, leases, contracts or other instruments to which the city or
city school board is a part or in which it has an interest; (d) have the
management and control of all the law business of the city and of the
city school board and the departments, boards, commissions and agencies
thereof, or in which the city has an interest, and represent the city and
the city school board as counsel in any civil case in which it is interested
and in criminal cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any
ordinance is brought in issue; (e) with the approval of the council or of
the city school board, as the case may be, institute and prosecute all legal
proceedings he shall deem necessary or proper to protect the interests of
the city or the city school board; (f) attend in person or assign one of
his assistants to attend all meetings of the council and any regular meet-
ing of the city school board * when requested by the Superintendent of
Schools; (g) appoint and remove such assistant city attorneys and other
employees as shall be authorized by the council, subject to the provisions
of Chapter 9 of this charter as to employees in the classified service, and
authorize the assistant city attorneys or any of them or special counsel
to perform any of the duties imposed upon him in this charter; and (h)
have such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by ordi-
nance. The approval or withholding of approval by the city attorney
in the matters provided for in §§ 8.7 (c) and 8.7 (d) shall relate only to
the legality of the proposed action.

§ Salary of City Attorney. The salary or compensation of the
city attorney shall be as determined by resolution or ordinance adopted by
the council *.

§ 18.2. Eminent Domain. The city is hereby authorized to acquire
by condemnation proceedings lands, buildings, structures and personal
property or any interest, right, easement or estate therein, of any person
or corporation, whenever in the opinion of the council a public necessity
exists therefor, which shall be expressed in the resolution or ordinance
directing such acquisition, or whether or not such lands, buildings, struc-
tures or personal property or interest, right, easement or estate has
already been devoted to a public use, and whenever the city cannot agree
on terms of purchase or settlement with the owners of the subject of such
acquisition because of * incapacity of such owner, or because of the in-
ability to agree on the compensation to be paid or other terms of settle-
ment or purchase, or because the owner or some one of the owners is a
nonresident of the State * and cannot with reasonable diligence be found
in the State or is unknown. Provided, however, when any such property is
owned by a corporation authorized to exercise the power of eminent
domain, such proceedings will be governed by § 25-233 of the Code of
Virginia.

Such proceedings may be instituted in the circuit court of the city of
Colonial Heights if the subject to be acquired 1s located within the city,
or, if it is not located within the city, in the circuit court of the county
in which it 1s located. If the subject is situated partly within the city and
partly within any county the circuit court of such county shall have con-
current jurisdiction in such condemnation proceedings with the circuit
court of the city of Colonial Heights. The judge or the court exercising
such concurrent jurisdiction shall appoint five disinterested freeholders
any or all of whom reside either in the county or city, any three of whom
may act as commissioners, as provided by law.

§ 18.3. Alternative Procedures in Condemnation. The city may, in
exercising the right of eminent domain conferred by the preceding section,
make use of the procedure prescribed by the general law as modified by
said section or may elect to proceed as hereinafter provided. In the latter
event the resolution or ordinance directing acquisition of any property,
as set forth in the preceding section, shall provide therein in a lump sum
the total funds necessary to compensate the owner or owners thereof for
such property to be acquired or damaged. Upon the adoption of such reso-
lution or ordinance the city may file a petition in the clerk’s office of a
court enumerated in the preceding section, having jurisdiction of the sub-
ject, which shall be signed by the city manager or the city attorney and
set forth the interest or estate or estate to be taken in the property and
the uses and purposes for which the property or the interest or estate
therein is wanted, or when property is not to be taken but is likely to be
damaged, the necessity for the work or improvement which will cause or
is likely to cause such damage. There shall also be filed with the petition
a plat of a survey of the property with a profile, if pertinent to the ques-
tion of damage to remaining property of the owner or owners, showing
cuts and fills, trestles and bridges, if any, and a description of the prop-
erty which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought to be taken or lhkely
to be damaged and a memorandum showing names and residences of the
owners and tenants of the property, if known, and showing also the
quantity of property which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought
to be taken or which will be or is likely to be damaged. There shall
be filed also with said petition a notice directed to the owners and tenants
of the property, if known, copies of which shall be served on such owners
and tenants of the freehold of such property, if known. If the owner or
tenant of the freehold be unknown or a nonresident of the State or cannot
with reasonable diligence be found in the State, or if the residence of the
owner or tenant be unknown, he may be proceeded against by order of
publication which order, however, need not be published more than once
a week for two successive weeks and shall be posted at a main entrance
to the courthouse. The publication shall in all other respects conform to
§§ 8-71, 8-72 and 8-76 of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred fifty, as
amended.

Upon the filing of said petition and the deposit of the funds provided
by the council for the purpose in a bank to the credit of the court in such
proceedings and the filing of a certificate of deposit therefor the interest
or estate of the owner of such property shall terminate and the title to
such property or the interest or estate to be taken in such property shall
be vested absolutely in the city and such owner shall have such interest
or estate in the funds so deposited as he had in the property taken or
damaged and all liens by deed of trust, judgment or otherwise upon said
property or estate shall be transferred to such funds and the city shall
have the right to enter upon and take possession of such property for its
uses and purposes and to construct its works or improvements. The clerk
of the court in which such proceeding is instituted shall make and certify
a copy of the petition, exhibits filed therewith, and orders, and deliver or
transmit the same to the clerk of the court in which deeds are admitted
to record, who shall record the same in his deed book and index them in
the name of the person or persons who had the property before and in
the name of the city for which he shall receive the same fees prescribed
for recording a deed, which shall be paid by the city. From the funds so
paid into court or to the clerk thereof, the court shall, at the request of the
owner, pay any indebtedness of the owner which is a hen upon such
property and is evidenced by a deed of trust or other instrument duly
recorded; provided, that not in excess of ninety per centum of the money
paid into court or to the clerk may be so used, and provided further, that
if the award of the court in condemnation proceedings be less than the
amount so paid, the city may recover the excess from any person to whom
the same has been paid. The balance of such money shall be held by the
court for disposition in accordance with the order of the court in the
condemnation proceedings.

If the city and the owner of property so taken or damaged agree
upon compensation therefor, upon filing such agreement in writing im
the clerk’s office of such court the court or judge thereof in vacation shall
make such distribution of such funds as to it may seem right, having
due regard to the interest of all persons therein whether such interest be
vested, contingent or otherwise, and to enable the court or judge to make
a proper distribution of such money it may in its discretion dtrect
inquires to be taken by a special commissioner in order to ascertain what
persons are entitled to such funds and in what proportions and may
direct what notice shall be given of the making of such inquiries by such
special commissioner.

If the city and owner cannot agree upon the compensation for the
property taken or damaged, if any, upon the filing of a memorandum in
the clerk’s office of said court to that effect, signed by either the city or
the owner, the court shall appoint commissioners provided for in § 25-12
of the Code of Virginia or as provided for in § 18.2 of this chapter, and
all proceedings thereafter shall be had as provided in §§ 25-12 through
25-88 of the Code of Virginia insofar as they are then applicable and are
not inconsistent with the provisions of this and the preceding sections,
and the court shall order the deposit in the bank to the credit of the court
of such additional funds as appear to be necessary to cover the award of
the commissioners or shall order the return to the city of such funds
deposited that are not necessary to compensate such owners for property
taken or damaged. The commissioners so appointed shall not consider
amprovements placed upon the property by the city subsequent to the
bringing of any proceeding for the condemnation of such property,
whether the same shall have been dismissed or not nor the value thereof
nor the enhancement of the value of said property by said improvements in
making their award.

§ 18.5. * Disposition of Remaining Money in Condemnation Pro-
ceedings. Whenever any money shall have remained for five years in
the custody or under the control of any of the courts enumerated in § 18.2
* in any condemnation proceeding instituted therein by the city, without
any claim having been asserted thereto such court shall, where the amount
is one hundred dollars or more, cause a publication to be made once a
week for two successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation
published in the city, setting forth the amount of such money, the source
from which it was derived and the proceeding in which it is held, and
requiring all persons having any claim to said money to appear before
said court within such time after the completion of the publication as
the court may prescribe, and establish their claim. If the sum be less than
one hundred dollars, the court shall direct the same to be paid into the
treasury of the city, and proper receipt for the payment taken and filed
among the records of the proceeding. If no person shall appear and show
title in himself the court shall order the money, after deducting therefrom
the costs of such publication if such publication is made, and any other
proper charges, to be paid into the treasury of the city and a proper
receipt for the payment to be taken and filed among the records of the
proceeding. The director of finance shall, in a_ book provided for the
purpose, keep an account of all money thus paid into the city treasury,
showing the amount thereof, when, by whom, and under what order it
was paid, and the name of the court and, as far as practicable, a
description of the suit or proceeding in which the order was made and,
as far as known, the names of the parties entitled to said funds. Money
thus paid into the treasury of the city shall be paid out on the order of the
court having jurisdiction of the proceeding, to any person entitled thereto
who had not asserted a claim therefor in the proceeding in which it was
held, upon satisfactory proof that he is entitled to such money. If such
claim be established the net amount thereof, after deducting costs and
other proper charges, shall be paid to the claimant out of the treasury
of the city on the warrant of the director of finance. No claim to such
money shall be asserted after ten years from the time when such court
obtained control thereof, provided, however, if the person having such
claim was an infant, insane, or imprisoned at the time the claim might
have been presented or asserted by such person, claim to such money
may be asserted within five years after the removal of such disability.

§ 20.27. Validation of Transition Procedure and Certain Acts. The
city of Colonial Heights, as shown by a legal census provided by law,
contains ten thousand inhabitants or more, and is hereby declared to bea
city of the first class as heretofore proclaimed. All acts, orders, and pro-
cedures heretofore done or entered pursuant to the applicable provisions
of § 21.7 of the Colonial Heights Charter of nineteen hundred and sixty
relating to the legal enumeration of the city as provided by law, con-
stituting the county of Chesterfield and the city of Colonial Heights as
the thirty-seventh judicial circuit, the establishment of a circuit court
ain said city, and the appointment and election of constitutional officers
are hereby ratified, affirmed, and validated.

§ 20.28. Administration of Justice. The county of Chesterfield and
the city of Colonial Heights shall constitute the thirty-seventh circuit.

There shall be for the city of Colonial Heights a circuit court as
presently established which shall continue to be called the circuit court
of the city of Colonial Heights. The regular terms of the circuit court
of the city of Colonial Heights shall be held on the third Monday in the
months of February, June, and October of each year at a time to be fixed
by the judge of said circuit court and for as many days as are necessary.

The circuit court of the city of Colonial Heights is hereby vested with
all the powers and duties and jurisdiction as provided for circuit courts
by general law.

The judge of the thirty-seventh judicial circuit shall be the judge
of the circuit court of the city of Colonial Heights and said court and the
judge thereof shall possess the same jurisdiction and powers and shall
perform the same duties which are vested, or may be conferred, or which
are wmposed upon other circuit courts and the judges thereof by any law
or statute of this State relating to circuit courts.

§ 20.29. Closing of Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of the City
on Certain Days. The clerk’s office of the circuit court of the city of
Colonial Heights, when authorized by the judge of the circuit court for
said city, may be closed on all days which are made legal holidays under
the provisions of § 2-19 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended;
may be closed on Saturday, when authorized by the judge of said court
and by resolution of the city council; and may be closed on any day which
ig established as a general holiday for the employees of the city, when
authorized by resolution duly adopted by the city council and approved
by the judge of the circuit court for said city and filed in the office of
such clerk. The powers and authority in this section contained shall not
be deemed or held to be exclusive, but shall be in addition to the powers
and authority now contained or set forth in the city charter.

§ 20.30. City Sergeant. There shall be one city sergeant who shall
attend the terms of the circuit court of the city of Colonial Heights and
shall act as an officer of the said court, and shall perform such other
duties as may be prescribed by general law for cities of the first class, and
shall receive such compensation allowed by general law to city sergeants.
He shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed and ordained by
the city council. The city sergeant, with approval of the judge of the
circuit court of said city, may appoint a part-time deputy.

The city sergeant’s bond shall be as determined by general law.

The city council may in its discretion allow additional compensation
or salary to the city sergeant.

2. That § 10.7 of Chapter 213 of the Acts of Assembly, nineteen hun-
dred sixty, approved March nine, nineteen hundred sixty, is hereby
repealed.

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