CHAPTER 531

An Act to amend and reenact § 15.1-628, as amended, of the Code of Vir-
ginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding thereto a section
numbered 15.1-628.1, relating to the board of supervisors of a county
adopting the county manager form of government, their election and
term of office, the filling of vacancies on said board and to provide for
the approval of this act by the qualified voters of certain counties.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 15.1-623, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended
and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia be amended by adding thereto
a new section numbered 15.1-623.1, as follows:

§ 15.1-628. Powers vested in board of supervisors; election and
erms of members; vacancies.—The powers of the county as a body politic
and corporate shall be vested in a board of county supervisors, to consist
»f not less than three nor more than seven members to be elected by the
qualified voters of the county at large, or solely by the qualified voters of
the respective magisterial district of which each member is a qualified
voter, plus one additional member elected at large, depending upon the
result of the election held upon the questions submitted to the voters pur-
suant to § 15.1-623.1 of the Code. There shall be on the board for each
nagisterial district one member, and no more, who shall be a qualified
voter of such district ; except as hereinabove provided.

If any county having more than seven or less than three magisterial
listricts adopts this form of government, the board shall consist of five
members elected from the county at large. But if at least sixty days
prior to any election of such board the number of such districts in any
county having more than seven or less than three districts be reduced or
increased, as the case may be, to not more than’ seven nor less than
three, the members of such board shall be elected as prescribed in the
foregoing paragraph.

The supervisors first elected shall hold office until the first day of
January following the next regular election provided by general law for
the election of supervisors. At such election their successors shall be
alected for terms of four years each.

*

Any vacancy on the board of county supervisors shall be filled by the
judge of the circuit court of the county; his appointee shall hold office
during the remainder of the term of his predecessor in office.

§ 15.1-623.1. The governing body of any county which has adopted
the county manager form of government, as provided in Chapter 368 of
the Acts of 1932, at an election held for that purpose pursuant to the pro-
visions of said chapter, may by resolution petition the circuit court of the
county requesting that a referendum be held on the following questions:
(1) Shall the county board of supervisors be elected solely by the qualified
voters of each magisterial district, or by the qualified voters of the county
at large? (2) Shall the Board have in addition to the members for each
magisterial district, one member from any district elected from and repre-
senting the county at large? The court or the judge thereof in vacation
shall by order entered of record, require the regular election officials on a
Jay fixed in such order to open a poll and take the sense of the qualified
voters of the county on the questions submitted as herein provided. The
referendum election shall be held not more than ninety days nor less than
sixty days from the filing of the resolution, but not within thirty days
of any general election, but it may be held on a day fixed for the holding
of a “general election,” as defined in § 24-346 of the Code, provided such
day falls within the time limit prescribed herein. The clerk of the county
shall cause a notice of such referendum election to be published in some
newspaper published in or having a general circulation in the county once
a week for four consecutive weeks and shall post a copy of such notice at
the door of the courthouse of the county. The ballot used shall be printed
to read as follows:

Shall the county board of supervisors be elected by the qualified
oe oF each magisterial district, or by the qualified voters of the county
at large
[]) By the qualified voters of each magisterial district.

[] By the qualified voters of the county at large.

Shall the board have in addition to the members for each magisterial
district, one member from any district elected from and representing the
county at large?

Yes

[] No

The ballots shall be marked in accordance with the provisions of
§ 24-141 of the Code.

The ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in other
elections, and the result certified by the commissioners of election to the
circuit court of the county or judge thereof in vacation. The circuit
court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall enter of record the fact of
which method of election of supervisors has been chosen by a majority of
the qualified voters participating in such referendum election, and an elec-
tion for members of the board by such method in that county shall be held
at the next regular November election of such officers, and every four years
thereafter, as provided in § 24-157 of the Code.

In any election pursuant to §§ 15.1-582 to 15.1-585, the questions
provided for in this section shall be submitted to the voters, in addition
to the question or questions required by § 15.1-584.

2. This act shall not become effective in any county which, prior to
January 1, 1966, has adopted the county manager form of government,
as provided in Chapter 368 of the Acts of 1932, until it has been submitted
to the qualified voters thereof in an election held for such purpose, and
approved by a majority of those voting thereon. Such election shall be
called and held and the results thereof certified, in accordance with the
procedure set forth in § 15.1-623.1. The ballots used shall be printed to
include, in addition to the question set out in § 15.1-623.1, the following:

Shall § 15.1-623.1 of the Code of Virginia, providing for an election to
determine in what manner members of the board of supervisors shall be
elected, become effective in this county?

[] For

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