CHAPTER 644

An Act to amend Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of
1948 approved March 5, 1948, providing a charter for the City of
Richmond, by adding sections numbered 17.87:1 and 17.87:2 grant-
mg the Council authority to create a Department of Planning and
Community Development and prescribing the functions of the said
department and the qualifications of the director thereof, and to
amend and reenact §§ 2.04, 4.01, 5.08, 5.1.1, 7.02, 9.08, 9.07, 9.08, 17.02,
17.08, 17.11, 18.08, 19.02 and 19.04, as severally amended, of said
Chapter concerning the removal of inoperative or unlicensed motor
vehicles or parts thereof from public or private property; salaries
and allowances for members of the Council; the title of the head
of the Budget Bureau and the classification of such person; the
classification and qualifications of the Director of General Services;
the purposes for which bonds or notes may be issued; the employ-
ment of trainees; the classification of the Budget Officer; notice to
be given by persons desiring a hearing before the Personnel Board
and the time within which such hearing shall be held; the composi-
tion of the Planning Commission; the employment of the Director
of Planning and employees by the Planning Commission; special
permits for the use of land, buildings and structures; eminent
domain proceedings; the appointment of judges of the "municipal
courts, and the filling of vacancies in the offices of judges of the
municipal courts.

[S 190]

Approved April 5, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1948, ap-
proved March 5, 1948, be amended by adding sections numbered 17. 37:1
and 17.37:2 and to amend §§ 2.04, 4.01, 5.08, 5.1.1, 7.02, 9.08, 9.07, 9.08,
17.02, 17.03, 17.11, 18.03, 19.02 and 19. 04, as severally amended, as follows:

2.04. Power to make regulations for the preservation of the
safety, health, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, morals and wel-
fare of the city and its inhabitants.—In addition to the powers granted
by other sections of this Charter, the city shall have power to adopt
ordinances, not in conflict with this Charter or prohibited by the general
laws of the Commonwealth, for the preservation of the safety, health,
peace, good order, comfort, convenience, morals and welfare of its in-
habitants, and among such powers, but not in limitation thereof, the
city shall have power:

(a) To provide for the prevention of vice, immorality, vagrancy
and drunkenness; prevention and quelling of riots, disturbances and
disorderly assemblages; suppression of houses of ill fame and gambling
places; prevention of lewd and disorderly conduct or exhibitions; and pre-
vention of conduct in the streets dangerous to the public.

(b) 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.

(c) To provide for the protection of the city’s property, real and
personal, the prevention of the pollution of the city’s water supply, and
the regulation of use of parks, playgrounds, playfields, recreational facil-
ities, landings, docks, wharves, canals, airports and other public property,.
whether located within or without the city. For the purpose of enforcing
such regulations all city property wherever located shall be under the
police jurisdiction of the city. Any member of the police force of the
city or employee thereof appointed as a special policeman shall have power
to make arrests for violation of any ordinance, rule or regulation adopted
pursuant to this section and the police court shall have jurisdiction in
all cases arising thereunder within the city and the trial justice court
of the county wherein the offense occurs shall have jurisdiction of all
cases arising thereunder without the city.
(d) To grant or authorize the issuance of permits under such terms
and conditions as the council may impose for the use of streets, alleys
and other public places of the city by railroads, street railways, buses,
taxicabs and other vehicles for hire; prescribe the location in, under or
over, and grant permits for the use of, streets, alleys and other public
places for the maintenance and operation of tracks, poles, wires, cables,
pipes, conduits, bridges, subways, vaults, areas and cellars; require
tracks, poles, wires, cables, pipes, conduits and bridges to be altered, re-
moved or relocated either permanently or temporarily; charge and collect
compensation for the privileges so granted; and prohibit such use of the
streets, alleys and other public places of the city, and no such use shall
be made of the streets, alleys or other public places of the city without
the consent of the council.

(e) To prevent any obstruction of or encroachment over, under or
in any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place; provide penalties for
maintaining any such obstruction or encroachment; remove the same
and charge the cost thereof to the owner or owners, occupant or occupants
of the property so obstructing or encroaching, and collect the sum charged
in any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes; require the
owner or owners or the occupant or occupants of the property so obstruct-
ing or encroaching to remove the same; pending such removal charge the
owner or owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching compensa-
tion for the use of such portion of the street, alley, sidewalk or other
public place obstructed or encroached upon the equivalent of what would
be the tax upon the land so occupied if it were owned by the owner or
owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching, and if, such re-
moval shall not be made within the time ordered, impose penalties for
each and every day that such obstruction or encroachment is allowed
to continue thereafter; authorize encroachments upon streets, alleys,
sidewalks or other public places, subject to such terms and conditions
as the council may prescribe, but such authorization shall not relieve
the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the property encroaching,
of any liability for negligence on account of such encroachment; and
recover possession of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place or
any other property of the city by suit or action in ejectment.

To prescribe the route and grade of any railroad laid in the
city, regulate the operation of locomotives and cars, and exclude such
locomotives and cars from the city; provided, no contract between the
city and the corporation operating such locomotives or cars is violated by
such action.

(g) To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exercise con-
trol over traffic in the streets of the city and provide penalties for the
violation of such regulations; provided, that ordinances or administrative
regulations adopted by virtue of this subsection shall not be inconsistent
with the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code of Virginia. All fines im-
posed for the violation of such ordinances and regulations shall be paid
into the citv treasury.

(h) To regulate, in the interest of public health, the production,
preparation, distribution, sale and possession of milk, other beverages and
foods for human consumption, and the places in which they are produced,
prepared, distributed, sold, served or stored; regulate the construction,
installation, maintenance and condition of all water and sewer pipes, con-
nections, toilets, water closets and plumbing fixtures of all kinds; regu-
late the construction and use of septic tanks and dry closets, where sewers
are not available, and the sanitation of swimming pools and lakes; pro-
vide for the removal of night soil, and charge and collect compensation
for the removal thereof; compel the use of sewers, the connection of
abutting premises therewith, and the installation in such premises of
suitable sanitary facilities; regulate or prohibit connections to and uss
of sewers; provide for the quarantine of any person afflicted with a con.
tagious or infectious disease, and for the removal of such person to 3
hospital or ward specially designated for contagious or infectious dis-
eases; inspect and prescribe reasonable rules and regulations, in the
interest of public health, with respect to private hospitals, sanatoria, con-
valescent homes, clinics and other private institutions, homes and facil-
ities for the care of the sick, of children, the aged and the destitute; and
make and enforce all regulations necessary to preserve and promote
public health and sanitation and protect the inhabitants of the city from
contagious, infectious or other diseases.

(i) To regulate cemeteries and burials therein, prescribe the rec-
ords to be kept by the owners of such cemeteries, and prohibit all burials
except in a public burying ground.

(j) To regulate or prohibit the exercise of any dangerous, offensive
or unhealthful business, trade or employment, and the transportation of
any offensive or dangerous substance.

(k) To regulate the light, ventilation, sanitation and use and oc-
cupancy of buildings heretofore or hereafter constructed, altered, re-
modeled or improved, and the sanitation of the premises surrounding
the same.

(1) To regulate the emission of smoke, the construction, installa-
tion and maintenance of fuel burning equipment, and the methods of fir-
ing and stoking furnaces and boilers.

(m) To compel the removal of weeds from private and public prop-
erty and snow from sidewalks; the covering or removal of offensive, un-
wholesome, unsanitary or unhealthy substances allowed to accumulate in
or on any place or premises; the filling in to the street level of the
portion of any lot adjacent to a street where the difference in level be-
tween the lot and the street constitutes a danger to life and limb; the
raising or draining of grounds subject to be covered by stagnant water;
the razing or repair of all unsafe, dangerous or unsanitary public or priv-
ate buildings, walls or structures which constitute a menace to the health
and safety of the occupants thereof or the public; and to compel the abate-
ment or removal of any and all other nuisances whatsoever including
the removal of inoperative or unlicensed motor vehicles or parts thereof
from public or private property. If after such reasonable notice as the
council may prescribe by ordinance the owner or owners, Occupant or
occupants of the property or premises affected by the provisions of this
subsection shall fail to abate or obviate the condition or nuisance, the
city may do so and charge and collect the cost thereof from the owner or
owners, Occupant or occupants of the property affected in any manner
provided by law for the collection of taxes.

(n) To regulate or prohibit the manufacture, storage, transporta-
tion, possession and use of explosive or inflammable substances and the
use and exhibition of fireworks and discharge of firearms.

(o) To regulate or prohibit the making of fires in the streets
alleys and other public places in the city and to regulate the making 0!
fires on private property. ;

(p) _ To regulate or prohibit the running at large and the keeping
of animals and fowl and provide for the impounding and confiscation 0
any such animal or fowl found at large or kept in violation of sucl
regulations.

(q) Toprevent cruelty to and abuse of animals. ;

(r) To regulate the sale of goods, wares or merchandise at auction
‘egulate the conduct of and prescribe the number of pawnshops an
lealers in secondhand goods, wares and merchandise; regulate or prt
1ibit the peddling or hawking of any article for sale on the streets of th
city ; prevent fraud or deceit in the sale of goods, wares and merchandise ;
require the weighing, measuring, gauging and inspection of goods, wares
and merchandise offered for sale, require weights and measures to be sealed
and subject to inspection; and provide for the appointment of a sealer and
one or more weighmasters who shall perform such duties and functions
as may be prescribed by ordinance.

§ 4.01. Composition of council. The council shall consist of nine
members elected as provided in Chapter 3. Effective July one, nineteen
hundred and sixty- * eight, the salary of the mayor shall be * five hundred
* dollars per month, and the salary of each of the other members shall be
* four hundred dollars per month. The members of the council, subject to
the approval of the council, may be allowed their actual expenses incurred
in representing the city. No member of the council shall during the term
for which he was elected and one year thereafter be appointed to any
office of profit under the government of the city.

§ 5.08. Budget bureau.—There shall be a budget bureau the head
of which shall be the * director of the budget who shall be appointed
for an indefinite term by the city manager *. He shall be a person
skilled in public administration and the accepted practices of municipal
budgetary procedure. He shall compile, in cooperation with the depart-
ment of finance, the departmental estimates and other data necessary or
useful to the city manager in the preparation of the budget. He shall
examine from time to time the departments, bureaus, boards, commis-
sions, offices and agencies of the city, in relation to their organization,
personnel and other requirements; ascertain the manner in which their
respective budgets are carried out and their functions performed; call
the attention of the heads thereof and the city manager to any improve-
ments or economies which might be made in their administrative prac-
tices; and cooperate with the heads thereof in the preparation of their
budget estimates for the ensuing year.

§ 5.1.1. Department of general services.—There shall be a depart-
ment of general services which shall consist of the director of general
services and such other officers and employees organized into such
bureaus, divisions and other units as may be provided by ordinance or
by the director consistent therewith. The director shall be appointed
for an indefinite term by the city manager * . He shall be a person *
trained and experienced in business or public administration. The di-
rector shall have the general management and control of the department
and of such bureaus, divisions and units. He shall appoint and remove,
subject to the provisions of chapter 9 of this Charter, all officers and
employees of the department and shall have the power to make rules and
regulations consistent with this Charter and ordinances of the city for
the conduct of the functions of the department.

§ 7.02. Purposes for which bonds or notes may be issued.

(a) To finance capital projects—Bonds, and notes in anticipation
of bonds when the issue of bonds has been authorized as hereinafter pro-
vided, may be issued for the purpose of financing the whole or any part
of the cost of any capital improvement project which is hereby defined
to include: (1) Any public improvement or utility which the city is au-
thorized to undertake, including the acquisition of any property, real or
personal, incident thereto, the construction or reconstruction in whole or
in part of any building, plant, structure or facility necessary or useful
in carrying out the powers of the city, and the equipment or re-equipment
of the same; (2) the provision of a revolving fund of not more than
five hundred thousand dollars for the establishment of a pool of auto-
mobiles, trucks and other automotive and movable equipment, provided,
that the council shall first establish by ordinance such conditions under
which the respective departments, courts, bureaus, boards, commissions,
offices and agencies of the city, shall have the use of such equipment as
will recoup the said fund within the estimated life of each class and
type of such equipment.

(b) To anticipate the collection of revenue.—Notes may be issued,
when authorized by the council, at any time during the fiscal year in
anticipation of the collection of revenue of such year.

(c) To provide for emergency expenditures.—Notes may be issued
to finance an appropriation for the purpose of meeting a public emergency
as provided in subsection (d) of section 2.02 of this Charter, when au-
thorized by the ordinance making such appropriation. Notes so issued
shall be authenticated by the signature of the director of finance and
shall mature not later than twelve months after the date of issue. Bonds
may be issued, when authorized as hereinafter provided, for the purpose
of funding such notes or other obligations incurred in accordance with
such appropriation.

To refund outstanding bonds.—Bonds may be issued, when
authorized as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of refunding exist-
ing bonds, provided, that the director of finance shall certify in writing
that such refunding is necessary to prevent default on the interest or
principal of the city’s outstanding bonds or in the case of callable bonds
to secure a lower rate of interest.

(e) To defray the costs in the extension of the boundaries of the
city. Bonds may be issued for the purposes of financing the whole or any
part of the cost incurred in any extension of city boundaries.

§ 9.03. Director of Personnel.—Powers and duties. The director
of personnel shall have general management and control of the depart-
ment. He shall appoint and remove, subject to the provisions of this
Charter, all employees of the department. In addition, the director of per-
sonnel shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To conduct open competitive examinations for all original ap-
pointments in the classified service and, whenever he shall determine in
accordance with the rules of the personnel board that the same is practi-
cable, for promotions in the classified service; to give wide publicity through
channels appropriate to each case to all announcements of competitive
examinations; and to organize plans for the recruitment of trained per-
sonnel for the city’s service; provided, that in formulating examinations
he shall consult with all officers having the power of appointment con-
cerning their personnel requirements.

(b) To maintain eligible lists based on such examinations for
each class of position in the classified service to which original appoint-
ments are to be made and whenever a vacancy in such position is to be
filled to certify to the appointing officer the names of the six persons
standing highest on the eligible list applicable to the position to be filled
in the order of their standing on such list; provided, that if there are
fewer than six names on any such list he shall before certifying any
names conduct an examination for such position of which at least ten
days’ notice shall be given by publication in a daily newspaper of general
circulation published in the city and if after such notice and examination
there remain fewer than six names on such eligible list he shall certify
all such names in the order of their standing.

(c) To enter into, with the approval of the personnel board, agree-
ments with other public personnel departments or agencies for the joint
administration of examinations and the joint use of eligible lists.

(d) To authorize in writing temporary appointments to vacancies
in positions for which there is no eligible list, provided, that no such
temporary appointment shall be for a period longer than three months
and that no such temporary appointment shall be renewed; provided, that
during the first six months following the effective date of this Charter
such temporary appointments may be authorized for a longer period but no
such appointment shall terminate later than nine months after such
effective date.

(e) To prepare and recommend to the presonnel board a classifica-
tion plan for all positions in the classified service and such rules as may
- necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this
chapter.

(f) To prepare and recommend to the city manager and council
a pay plan covering all employees in the classified service.

(g) To direct and enforce the maintenance by all departments,
boards, commissions, Offices and agencies of the city, including the munic-
ipal courts and the schoo] board, of such personnel records and service
ratings of members of the classified service as he shall prescribe.

(h) To maintain a roster of all persons in the classified service
which shall specify as to each such person (1) the class title of the posi-
tion held, (2) the salary or pay, (3) any changes in class title, salary or
pay, and (4) such other data as may be deemed useful or significant.

(1) To certify all pay rolls, except those of the school board, and
to make no payment for personal services to any person in the classified
service, except employees of the school board, unless the pay roll voucher
bears the certificate of the director of personnel that the persons named
therein have been appointed and employed in accordance with the provi-
sions of this chapter.

(j) To provide a systematic program of in-service training for
members of the classified service qualifying them for advancement in
the service of the city.

(k) To investigate the operation and effect of the personnel pro-
visions of this Charter and the rules adopted thereunder and report an-
nually his findings and recommendations to the city manager.

(1) Such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by
ordinance.

(m) To authorize, with the approval of the city manager, the em-
ployment of trainees by contract; such trainees shall not be considered
employees of the city as defined herein nor be entitled to benefits of the
Richmond Supplemental Retirement System. The term of such contract
shall not exceed twenty-four consecutive months.

§ 9.07. Unclassified service.—The service of the city shall be di-
vided into the unclassified and classified services. The unclassified serv-
ice shall consist of: (a) Officers elected by the people and persons ap-
pointed to fill vacancies in elective offices; (b) the members of boards
and commissions, and all officers appointed by the council, and persons
appointed by the judges of the courts of records and by officers elected
by the people; (c) judges, substitute judges and clerks of the municipal
courts and the referees of the juvenile and domestic relations courts; (d)
the high constable and his deputies and the justices of the peace provided
for in this Charter; (e) the heads of departments appointed by the city
manager, director of the budget, and the assistant city manager if there
be one; (f) the director of planning if there be one; (g) not more than
one confidential secretary to the city manager and to the head of each
department; (h) employees of the school board performing administra-
tive and educational functions as determined by the school board; pro-
vided, that any class of such employees may be transferred to the clas-
sified service on the request of the school board; (i) assistant city at-
torneys, special counsel and technical advisors employed by the city at-
torney; (j) licensed physicians and dentists employed by the city in their
professional capacities; (k) patient or inmate help in all hospitals and
institutions operated by the city; (1) persons temporarily employed in
a professional or scientific capacity or to conduct a special inquiry in-
vestigation, examination or installation, if the council or the manager
certifies that such employment is temporary and that the work should
not be performed by employees in the classified service.

§ 9.08. Classified service.—The classified service shall comprise all
positions, including those in the police and fire departments and those
under the school board and municipal courts, not specifically included
by the preceding section in the unclassified service. All original appoint-
ments in the classified service shall be made from an eligible list certified
by the director of personnel, except as provided in subsection (d) of
section 9.08, and appointments to higher positions in the classified serv-
ice shall be made as hereinafter provided. All original appointments
shall be for a probationary period the conditions of which shall be gov-
erned by the rules established by the personnel board. Members of the
classified service shall be subject to such disciplinary action, including
removal as may be ordered or approved by the officer having the power
of appointment to the position held by the person to be disciplined.
Prior to the conclusion of the probationary period of any employee his
service may be terminated by such officer if in the opinion of such officer
the employee does not possess the qualifications required by the position
to which he was appointed. Upon the conclusion of the probationary
period no member of the classified service shall be suspended for more
than sixty days, reduced in rank or pay or removed except after notice
in writing of the grounds of the proposed disciplinary action and an
opportunity to be heard thereon by the personnel board. If within five
days following the service of such notice an employee * shall deliver to
the office of the chairman of the personnel board a written request for a
hearing, then the board shall fix a time and place for such hearing, which
may be public at the option of the employee, to be held * within a reasonable
teme after the receipt of such request, and notify the employee thereof ;
provided, that in the case of employees of the school board the request
for such hearing shall be addressed to the school board and the hearing
held by that board. The decision of the personnel board or school board,
as the case may be, either sustaining, reversing or modifying the dis-
ciplinary action appealed from, shall be final.

§ 17.02. The city planning commission.—There shall be a city
planning commission which shall consist of * nine members. One mem-
ber shall be a member of the council who shall be appointed by the
council for a term coincident with his term in the council; one member
shall be a member of the board of zoning appeals appointed by the board
of zoning appeals for a term coincident with his term on such board;
one member shall be the city manager or an officer or employee of the
city designated from time to time by him; * siz citizen members shall be
qualified voters of the city who hold no office of profit under the city
government, appointed by the council for terms of four years * . Va-
cancies shall be filled by the authority making the appointment, for the
unexpired portion of the term. Members of the city planning commis-
sion shall serve as such without compensation.

§ 17.03. Organization and expenditures.——The commission shall
elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among the citizen members ap-
pointed by the council, for a term of one year, who shall be eligible for
re-election, and appoint a secretary. The commission shall hold at least
one regular meeting in each month, shall adopt rules for the transaction
of its business, and shall keep a record of its resolutions, transactions,
findings and determinations, which record shall be a public record. The
commission may with the approval of the council appoint a director of
planning who shall be a person trained and skilled in city planning,
shall be the administrative officer of the commission and shall perform
such duties as the commission shall prescribe. The commission shall with
the approval of the council also appoint such employees as it may deem
necessary for its work and may with the approval of the council contract
with city planners, engineers, architects and other consultants for services
it may require. All expenditures, exclusive of gifts to the commission,
shall not exceed the sums appropriated by the council therefor.

§ 17.11. Uniformity of regulations within a district; special use
permits.—(a) The regulations and restrictions shall be uniform and shall
apply equally to all land, buildings, and structures and to the use and to
each class or kind thereof throughout each district, * provided, however, the
regulations and restrictions applicable in one district may differ from those
provided for other districts.

(b) The council shall have the power to authorize by ordinance
adopted by not less than * six affirmative votes the use of land, buildings,
and structures in a district that does not conform to the regulations and
restrictions prescribed for that district and to authorize the issuance
of special use permits therefor, whenever it is made to appear that such
special use will not be detrimental to the safety, health, morals and general
welfare of the community involved, will not tend to create congestion
in streets, roads, alleys and other public ways and places in the area in-
volved, will not create hazards from fire, panic or other dangers, will not
tend to overcrowding of land and cause an undue concentration of pop-
ulation, will not adversely affect or interfere with public or private schools,
parks, playgrounds, water supplies, sewage disposal, transportation or
other public requirements, conveniences and improvements, and will not
interfere with adequate light and air. No such ordinance shall be adopted
until (1) the ordinance has been referred to the city planning commis-
sion for investigation of the circumstances and conditions upon which the
council is empowered to authorize such use and until the commission has
reported to the council the results of such investigation and its recom-
mendations with respect thereto, and (2) until after a public hearing
in relation to such ordinance is held by the council at which the person
in interest and all other persons shall have an opportunity to be heard.
At least fifteen days’ notice of the time and place of such hearing shall
be given by publication thereof in a daily newspaper of general circulation
published in the city. The council shall have the power to require such
other notice as it may deem expedient. The city planning commission
may recommend and the council may impose such conditions upon the
use of the land, buildings and structures as will, in its opinion, protect
the community and area involved and the public from adverse effects and
detriments that may result therefrom.

§ 17.87:1. Department of planning and community development.—
The council may by ordinance create the department of planning and
community development which shall consist of the director of planning
and community development and such other officers and employees as
may be authorized by the council. The director of planning and com-
munity development shall be trained and skilled in city planning.

§ 17.87:2. Functions.—The department of planning and commun-
ity development shall have such duties and functions as may be assigned
by the council and shall provide such services as may be required by the
planning commission to aid it in the performance of its functions as
required by the Charter.

§ 18.08. 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 modi-
fied 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 owners thereof
for such property to be acquired or damaged. Upon the adoption of such
resolution 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 subject, which shall be signed by the city manager and set forth
the interest or estate to be taken in the property and the uses and pur-
poses 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 showing cuts and fills, trestles
and bridges, if any, and a description of the property which, or an interest
or estate in which, is sought to be taken or likely to be damaged and a
memorandum showing names and residences of the owners of the prop-
erty, 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 of the property, if known, copies of which shall
be served on such owners or tenants of the freehold of such property,
if known. If the owner or tenant of the freehold be unknown or a non-
resident 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 sections * 8-71, 8-72 and 8-76 of
the Code of Virginia.

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.

If the city and the owner of property so taken or damaged agree
upon compensation therefor, upon filing such agreement in writing in
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 direct
inquiries 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 to the making of such inquiries by such special
commissioner.

If the city and the 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
sections * 25-46.19 and 25-46.20 of the Code of Virginia or as provided
for in section 18.02, and all proceedings thereafter shall be had as pro-
vided in * Chapter 1.1 of Title 25 of the Code of Virginia insofar as they
are then applicable and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this
and the preceding section, and the court shall order the deposit in 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 re-
turn to the city of such funds deposited that are not necessary to com-
pensate such owners for property taken or damaged. The commissioners
so appointed shall not consider improvements placed upon the property
by the city subsequent to its taking nor the value thereof nor the enhance-
ment of the value of said property by said improvements in making their
award.

§ 19.02. Appointment and qualifications of judges.—Each court
shall be held by a judge, who shall be appointed by judges of the * hust-
ings court; hustings court, part two; law and equity court and chancery
court of the city of Richmond. The judge of the traffic court shall be the
same person as the judge of police court, part II. In the event that a
majority of the judges of the * hustings court; hustings court, part
two; law and equity court and chancery court of the city of Richmond
are unable to agree upon the appointment of any judge, he shall be
appointed by the judge of the chancery court of the city of Richmond.
The judges of the municipal courts shall not engage in the practice of
law during the time they hold office. There shall be similarly appointed
a substitute judge for each judge of the municipal courts, who shall
serve at the pleasure of a majority of the judges of the * hustings court;
hustings court, part two; law and equity court and chancery court of
the city of Richmond, and shall sit in the absence of such judge. Orders
appointing or removing the judges and substitute judges shall be entered
in the current order book of the chancery court of the city of Richmond.
The judges and the substitute judges shall receive such compensation as
the council shall fix which shall be paid by the city. An attorney appointed
as substitute judge may continue to practice law.

. Vacancies.—A vacancy occurring in the office of judge
shall be filled by the judges of the * hustings court; hustings court, part
two; law and equity court and chancery court of the city for the un-
expired term and, in the event that a majority of the judges of the *
hustings court; hustings court, part two; law and equity court and chancery
court of the city of Richmond are unable to agree upon the appoint-
ment, it shall be filled by the judge of the chancery court of the city of
Richmond. Until a vacancy is filled, the substitute judge shall hold the
court.

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