CHAPTER 157

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 54-60 and 54-61, as amended, of the
Code of Virginia, relating to admission to the Bar. 8 6]

Approved March 15, 1966

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 54-60 and 54-61, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be
amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 54-60. No one shall take any examination under this article until
he shall file with the Board a certificate from the circuit court of the
county, or the corporation court of the city, wherein he resides, or the
judge of either of such courts, that he is a person of honest demeanor,
of good moral character, is over the age of twenty-one years, ts a citizen
of the United States, and has resided in this State the preceding six
months; or if he is a regularly enrolled student in one of the approved
law schools of this State, a certificate signed by the dean and any profes-
sor of the law school that he is a person of honest demeanor, of good
moral character, is over the age of twenty-one years, is a citizen of the
United States, and that he has successfully completed two years of study
in such school and is then regularly engaged in his third year of study
at the school, and a statement of intention, signed by the applicant, that
he will complete said third year of study at such school.

No such certificate shall be made by any such court or judge, unless

and until the name of the person applying therefor has been submitted
by the court, or judge, to three attorneys, practicing before such court,
who shall make a thorough investigation of the moral character and
fitness of the applicant and make a report of their findings to the court,
or Judge, and the certificate shall show compliance with the above require-
ments; but such report shall not be binding on the court or judge.
_ In any case in which an applicant for a certificate under this section
is refused the same by the judge of any court or professor from whom
such certificate is sought, the court or judge thereof or professor, as the
case may be, shall notify the secretary of the Board.

§ 54-61. Any person who is over the age of nineteen and under
twenty-one years of age may take any examination under this article
upon filing with the Board a certificate from the circuit court of the
county, or the corporation court of the city, in which he resides, or the
judge of either of such courts, that he is a person of honest demeanor,
of good moral character, that he is over the age of nineteen years, that
he 1s a citizen of the United States, that he has studied law for the pre-
ceding four years in the office of a practicing attorney in this State
pursuant to the rules specified by the Board and that he will attain the
age of twenty-one years on the............ day of............ (giving the date).
No such certificates shall be made by any such court, or judge, unless
and until the name of the person applying therefor has been submitted
by the court, or judge, to three attorneys, practicing before such court,
who shall make a thorough investigation of the moral character and
fitness of the applicant and make a report of their findings to the court,
and the certificate shall show compliance with the above requirement;
but such report shall not be binding on the court or judge.

If such person is a regularly enrolled student in one of the approved
law schools of this State, in lieu of the above-mentioned certificate of a
court, or judge, he may file with the Board a certificate of the dean
and any professor in the school, that he is a person of honest demeanor,
of good moral character, that he is over the age of nineteen years, that
he is a citizen of the United States, that he has successfully completed
two years of study in such school and is then regularly engaged in his
third year of study at the school, a statement of intention, that he will
complete the third year of study in such school, and that he will attain
the age of twenty-one years on the ........ day of ............ (giving the date).

In any case in which an applicant for a certificate under this section
is refused the same by the judge of any court or professor from whom
such certificate is sought, the court or judge thereof or professor, as the
case may be, shall notify the secretary of the Board.

No license to an applicant under this section shall be issued until
he attains the age of twenty-one years.