Civil Government of Virginia

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SEC. 65, The General Assembly may by general laws, confer upon the
boards of supervisors of counties, and the councils of cities and
towns, such powers of local and special legislation, as it may
from time to time deem expedient, not inconsistent with the
limitations contained in this Constitution.

SEC. 66. The Clerk of the House of Delegates shall be Keeper of
the Rolls of the State but shall receive no compensation from the
State for his services as such.

The General Assembly by general law shall prescribe the number of
employees of the Senate and House of Delegates, including the
clerks thereof, and fix their compensation at a per diem for the
time actually employed in the discharge of their duties.

SEC. 67. The General Assembly shall not make any appropriation of
public funds, of personal property, or of any real estate, to any
church, or sectarian society, association, or institution of any
kind whatever, which is entirely or partly, directly or
indirectly, controlled by any church or sectarian society; nor
shall the General Assembly make any like appropriation to any
charitable institution, which is not owned or controlled by the
State; except that it may, in its discretion, make appropriations
to non-sectarian institutions for the reform of youthful
criminals; but nothing herein contained shall prohibit the General
Assembly from authorizing counties, cities, or towns to make such
appropriations to any charitable institution or association.

SEC. 68. The General Assembly shall, at each regular session,
appoint a standing committee, consisting of two members of the
Senate and three members of the House of Delegates, which shall be
known as the Auditing Committee. Such committee shall annually, or
oftener in its discretion, examine the books and accounts of the
First Auditor, the State Treasurer, the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, and other executive officers at the seat of
government whose duties pertain to auditing or accounting for the
state revenue, report the result of its investigations to the
Governor, and cause the same to be published in two newspapers of
general circulation in the State. The Governor shall, at the
beginning of each session, submit said reports to the General
Assembly for appropriate action. The committee may sit during the
recess of the General Assembly, receive such compensation as may
be prescribed by law, and employ one or more accountants to assist
in its investigations.

ARTICLE V.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 69. The chief executive power of the State shall be vested in
a Governor. He shall hold office for a term of four years, to
commence on the first day of February next succeeding his
election, and be ineligible to the same office for the term next
succeeding that for which he was elected, and to any other office
during his term of service.

SEC. 70. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified voters of
the State at the time and place of choosing members of the General
Assembly. Returns of the election shall be transmitted, under
seal, by the proper officers, to the Secretary of the
Commonwealth, who shall deliver them to the Speaker of the House
of Delegates on the first day of the next session of the General
Assembly. The Speaker of the House of Delegates shall, within one
week thereafter, in the presence of a majority of the Senate and
of the House of Delegates, open the returns, and the votes shall
then be counted. The person having the highest number of votes
shall be declared elected; but if two or more shall have the
highest and an equal number of votes, one of them shall lie chosen
Governor by the joint vote of the two houses of the General
Assembly. Contested elections for Governor shall be decided by a
like vote, and the mode of proceeding in such cases shall be
prescribed by law.

SEC. 71. No person except a citizen of the United States shall be
eligible to the office of Governor; and if such person be of
foreign birth, he must have been a citizen of the United States
for ten years next preceding his election; nor shall any person be
eligible to that office unless he shall have attained the age of
thirty years, and have been a resident of the State for five years
next preceding his election.

SEC. 72. The Governor shall reside at the seat of government;
shall receive five thousand dollars for each year of his service,
and while in office shall receive no other emolument from this or
any other government.

SEC. 73. The Governor shall take care that the laws be faithfully
executed; communicate to the General Assembly, at every session,
the condition of the State; recommend to its consideration such
measures as he may deem expedient, and convene the General
Assembly on application of two-thirds of the members of both
houses thereof, or when, in his opinion, the interest of the State
may require. He shall be commander-in-chief of the land and naval
forces of the State; have power to embody the militia to repel
invasion, suppress insurrection and enforce the execution of the
laws; conduct, either in person or in such manner as shall be
prescribed by law, all intercourse with other and foreign states;
and, during the recess of the General Assembly, shall have power
to suspend from office for misbehavior, incapacity, neglect of
official duty, or acts performed without due authority of law, all
executive officers at the seat of government except the
Lieutenant-Governor; but, in any case in which this power is so
exercised, the Governor shall report to the General Assembly, at
the beginning of the next session thereof, the fact of such
suspension and the cause therefor, whereupon the General Assembly
shall determine whether such officer shall be restored or finally
removed; and the Governor shall have power, during the recess of
the General Assembly, to appoint, pro tempore, successors to all
officers so suspended, and to fill, pro tempore, vacancies in all
offices of the State for the filling of which the Constitution and
laws make no other provision; but his appointments to such
vacancies shall be by commissions to expire at the end of thirty
days after the commencement of the next session of the General
Assembly. He shall have power to remit fines and penalties in such
cases, and under such rules and regulations, as may be prescribed
by law, and except when the prosecution has been carried on by the
House of Delegates, to grant reprieves and pardons after
conviction; to remove political disabilities consequent upon
conviction for offences committed prior or subsequent to the
adoption of this Constitution, and to commute capital punishment;
but he shall communicate to the General Assembly, at each session,
particulars of every case of fine or penalty remitted, of reprieve
or pardon granted, and of punishment commuted, with his reasons
for remitting, granting, or commuting the same.

SEC. 74. The Governor may require information in writing, under
oath, from the officers of the executive department and
superintendents of state institutions upon any subject relating to
the duties of their respective offices and institutions; and he
may inspect at any time their official books, accounts and
vouchers, and ascertain the condition of the public funds in their
charge, and in that connection may employ accountants. He may
require the opinion in writing of the Attorney-General upon any
question of law affecting the official duties of the Governor.

SEC. 75. Commissions and grants shall run in the name of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, and be attested by the Governor, with
the seal of the Commonwealth annexed.

SEC. 76. Every bill which shall have passed the Senate and House
of Delegates, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the
Governor. If he approve, he shall sign it; but, if not, he may
return it with his objections to the house in which it originated,
which shall enter the objections at large on its journal and
proceed to reconsider the same. If, after such consideration, two-
thirds of the members present, which two-thirds shall include a
majority of the members elected to that house, shall agree to pass
the bill it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the
other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if
approved by two-thirds of all the members present, which two-
thirds shall include a majority of the members elected to that
house, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the objections. The
Governor shall have the power to veto any particular item or items
of an appropriation bill, but the veto shall not affect the item
or items to which he does not object. The item or items objected
to shall not take effect except in the manner heretofore provided
in this section as to bills returned to the General Assembly
without his approval. If he approve the general purpose of any
bill, but disapprove any part or parts thereof, he may return it,
with recommendations for its amendment, to the house in which it
originated, whereupon the same proceedings shall be had in both
houses upon the bill and his recommendations in relation to its
amendment, as is above provided in relation to a bill which he
shall have returned without his approval, and with his objections
thereto: provided, that if after such reconsideration, both
houses, by a vote of a majority of the members present in each,
shall agree to amend the bill in accordance with his
recommendations in relation thereto, or either house by such vote
shall fail or refuse to so amend it, then, and in either case the
bill shall be again sent to him, and he may act upon it as if it
were then before him for the first time. But in all the cases
above set forth the votes of both houses shall be determined by
ayes and noes, and the names of the members voting for and against
the bill, or item or items of an appropriation bill, shall be
entered on the journal of each house. If any bill shall not be
returned by the Governor within five days (Sunday excepted) after
it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in
like manner as if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly
shall, by final adjournment, prevent such return; in which case it
shall be a law if approved by the Governor in the manner and to
the extent above provided, within ten days after such adjournment,
but not otherwise.

SEC. 77. A Lieutenant-Governor shall be elected at the same time
and for the same term as the Governor, and his qualifications and
the manner and ascertainment of his election, in all respects,
shall be the same.

SEC. 78. In case of the removal of the Governor from office, or of
his death, failure to qualify, resignation, removal from State, or
inability to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the
said office, with its compensation, shall devolve upon the
Lieutenant-Governor; and the General Assembly shall provide by law
for the discharge of the executive functions in other necessary
cases.

SEC. 79. The Lieutenant-Governor shall be president of the Senate,
but shall have no vote except in case of an equal division; and
while acting as such, shall receive a compensation equal to that
allowed to the Speaker of the House of Delegates.

SEC. 80. A Secretary of the Commonwealth shall be elected by the
qualified voters of the State at the same time and for the same
term as the Governor; and the fact of his election shall be
ascertained as in the case of the Governor. He shall keep a daily
record of the official acts of the Governor, which shall be signed
by the Governor and attested by the Secretary, and, when required,
he shall lay the same, and any papers, minutes and vouchers
pertaining to his office, before either house of the General
Assembly. He shall discharge such other duties as may be
prescribed By law. All fees received by the Secretary of the
Commonwealth shall be paid into the treasury monthly.

SEC. 81. A State Treasurer shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the State at the same time and for the same term as the
Governor; and the fact of his election shall be ascertained in the
same manner. His powers and duties shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 82. An Auditor of Public Accounts shall be elected by the
joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly for the term
of four years. His powers and duties shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 83. The salary of each officer of the Executive Department,
except in those cases where the salary is determined by this
Constitution, shall be fixed by law; and the salary of no such
officer shall be increased or diminished during the term for which
he shall have been elected or appointed.

SEC. 84. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the
establishment and maintenance of an efficient system of checks and
balances between the officers at the seat of government entrusted
with the collection, receipt, custody, or disbursement of the
revenues of the State.

SEC. 85. All State officers, and their deputies, assistants or
employees, charged with the collection, custody, handling or
disbursement of public funds, shall be required to give bond for
the faithful performance of such duties; the amount of such bond
in each case, and the manner in which security shall be furnished,
to be specified and regulated by law.

SEC. 86. The General Assembly shall have power to establish and
maintain a Bureau of Labor and Statistics, under such regulations
as may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE VI.

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT.

SEC. 87. The Judiciary Department shall consist of a Supreme Court
of Appeals, circuit courts, city courts, and such other courts as
are hereinafter authorized. The jurisdiction of these tribunals
and the judges thereof, except so far as conferred by this
Constitution, shall be regulated by law.

SEC. 88. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of five
judges, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have original
jurisdiction in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus, and prohibition;
but in all other cases, in which it shall have jurisdiction, it
shall have appellate jurisdiction only.

Subject to such reasonable rules, as may be prescribed by law, as
to the course of appeal, the limitation as to time, the security
required, if any, the granting or refusing of appeals, and the
procedure therein, it shall, by virtue of this Constitution, have
appellate jurisdiction in all cases involving the
constitutionality of a law as being repugnant to the Constitution
of this State or of the United States, or involving the life or
liberty of any person; and it shall also have appellate
jurisdiction in such other cases, within the limits hereinafter
denned, as may be prescribed by law; but no appeal shall be
allowed to the Commonwealth in any case involving the life or
liberty of a person, except that an appeal by the Commonwealth may
be allowed by law in any case involving the violation of a law
relating to the state revenue. No bond shall be required of any
accused person as a condition of appeal, but a supersedeas bond
may be required where the only punishment imposed in the court
below is a fine.

The court shall not have jurisdiction in civil cases where the
matter in controversy, exclusive of costs and of interest accrued
since the judgment in the court below, is less in value or amount
than three hundred dollars, except in controversies concerning the
title to, or boundaries of land, the condemnation of property, the
probate of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal
representative, guardian, committee, or curator, or concerning a
mill, roadway, ferry, or landing, or the right of the State,
county, or municipal corporation, to levy tolls or taxes, or
involving the construction of any statute, ordinance or county
proceeding imposing taxes; and, except in cases of habeas corpus,
mandamus, and prohibition, the constitutionality of a law, or some
other matter not merely pecuniary. After the year nineteen hundred
and ten the General Assembly may change the jurisdiction of the
court in matters merely pecuniary. The assent of at least three of
the judges shall be required for the court to determine that any
law is, or is not, repugnant to the Constitution of this State or
of the United States; and if, in a case involving the
constitutionality of any such law, not more than two of the judges
sitting agree in opinion on the constitutional question involved,
and the case cannot be determined, without passing on such
question, no decision shall be rendered therein, but the case
shall be reheard by a full court; and in no case where the
jurisdiction of the court depends solely upon the fact that the
constitutionality of a law is involved, shall the court decide the
ease upon its merits, unless the contention of the appellant upon
the constitutional question be sustained. Whenever the requisite
majority of the judges sitting are unable to agree upon a
decision, the case shall be reheard by a full bench, and any
vacancy caused by any one or more of the judges being unable,
unwilling, or disqualified to sit, shall be temporarily filled in
a manner to be prescribed by law.

SEC. 89. The General Assembly may, from time to time, provide for
a Special Court of Appeals to try any cases on the docket of the
Supreme Court of Appeals in respect to which a majority of the
judges are so situated as to make it improper for them to sit; and
also to try any cases on said docket which cannot be disposed of
with convenient dispatch. The said special court shall be composed
of not less than three nor more than five of the judges of the
circuit courts and city courts of record in cities of the first
class, or of the judges of either of said courts, or of any of the
judges of said courts together with one or more of the judges of
the Supreme Court of Appeals.

SEC. 90. When a judgment or decree is reversed or affirmed by the
Supreme Court of Appeals the reasons therefor shall be stated in
writing and preserved with the record of the case.

SEC. 91. The judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be
chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General
Assembly. They shall, when chosen, have held a judicial station in
the United States, or shall have practiced law in this or some
other state for five years. At the first election under this
Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect the judges for
terms of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve years respectively; and
thereafter they shall be elected for terms of twelve years.

SEC. 92. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be
appointed by the court or by the judges in vacation. Their duties,
compensation, and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 93. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall hold its sessions at
two or more places in the State, to be fixed by law.

SEC. 94. The State shall be divided into twenty-four judicial
circuits, as follows:

The counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, and the city of
Portsmouth, shall constitute the first circuit.

The counties of Nansemond, Southampton, Isle of Wight, and the
city of Norfolk, shall constitute the second circuit.

The counties of Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Greenesville, and
Brunswick, shall constitute the third circuit.

The counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, and
Amelia, and the city of Petersburg, shall constitute the fourth
circuit.

The counties of Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox,
and Charlotte, shall constitute the fifth circuit.

The counties of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Campbell, and the
city of Lynchburg, shall constitute the sixth circuit.

The counties of Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, and
the city of Danville, shall constitute the seventh circuit.

The counties of Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and
Coochland, shall constitute the eighth circuit.

The counties of Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange,
and Louisa, shall constitute the ninth circuit.

The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond, shall constitute
the tenth circuit.

The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, and the city
of Newport News, shall constitute the eleventh circuit.

The counties of Richmond, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster,
and Essex, shall constitute the twelfth circuit.

The counties of Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William,
and Middlesex, shall constitute the thirteenth circuit.

The counties of New Kent, Charles City, York, Warwick, James City,
and the city of Williamsburg, shall constitute the fourteenth
circuit.

The counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and
Hanover, shall constitute the fifteenth circuit.

The counties of Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and
Alexandria, and the city of Alexandria, shall constitute the
sixteenth circuit.

The counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page,
shall constitute the seventeenth circuit.

The counties of Rockingham, Augusta, and Rockbridge, shall
constitute the eighteenth circuit.

The counties of Highland, Bath, Alleghany, Craig, and Botecourt,
shall constitute the nineteenth circuit.

The counties of Bedford, Roanoke, Montgomery, and Floyd, and the
city of Roanoke, shall constitute the twentieth circuit.

The counties of Pulaski, Carroll, Wythe, and Grayson, shall
constitute the twenty-first circuit.

The counties of Bland, Tazewell, Giles, and Buchanan, shall
constitute the twenty-second circuit.

The counties of Washington, Russell, and Smyth, shall constitute
the twenty-third circuit.

The counties of Scott, Lee, Wise, and Dickenson, shall constitute
the twenty-fourth circuit.

SEC. 95. After the first day of January, nineteen hundred and six,
as the public interest requires, the General Assembly may
rearrange the said circuits and increase or diminish the number
thereof. But no new circuit shall be created containing, by the
last United States census or other census provided by law, less
than forty thousand inhabitants, nor when the effect of creating
it will be to reduce the number of inhabitants in any existing
circuit below forty thousand according to such census.

SEC. 96. For each circuit a judge shall be chosen by the joint
vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He shall when
chosen, possess the same qualifications as judges of the Supreme
Court of Appeals, and during his continuance in office shall
reside in the circuit of which he is judge. At the first election
under this Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect, as
nearly as practicable, one fourth of the entire number of judges
for terms of two years, one fourth for four years, one fourth for
six years, and the remaining fourth for eight years, respectively,
and thereafter they shall be elected for terms of eight years.

SEC 97 The number of terms of the circuit courts to be held for
each county and city, shall be prescribed by law. But no separate
circuit court shall be held for any city of the second class,
until the city shall abolish its existing city court. The judge of
one circuit may be required or authorized to hold court in any
other circuit or city.

SEC 98 For the purposes of a judicial system, the cities of the
State shall be divided into two classes. All cities shall belong
to the first class which contain, as shown by the last United
States census or other census provided by law, ten thousand
inhabitants or more, and all cities shall belong to the second
class which contain, as thus shown, less than ten thousand
inhabitants. In each city of the first class, there shall be, in
addition to the circuit court, a corporation court. In any city
containing thirty thousand inhabitants or more, the General
Assembly may provide for such additional courts as the public
interest may require, and in every such city the city courts, as
they now exist, shall continue until otherwise provided by law. In
every city of the second class, the corporation or hustings court
existing, at the time this Constitution goes into effect, shall
continue hereafter under the name of the corporation court of such
city, but it may be abolished by a vote of a majority of the
qualified electors of such city, at an election held for the
purpose, and whenever the office of judge of a corporation or
hustings court of a city of the second class, whose salary is less
than eight hundred dollars, shall become and remain vacant for
ninety days consecutively, such court shall thereby cease to
exist. In case of the abolition of the corporation or hustings
court of any city of the second class, such city shall thereupon
come in every respect within the jurisdiction of the circuit court
of the county wherein it is situated, until otherwise provided by
law, and the records of such corporation or hustings court shall
thereupon become a part of the records of such circuit court, and
be transferred thereto, and remain therein until otherwise
provided by law, and during the existence of the corporation or
hustings court, the circuit court of the county in which such city
is situated, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with said
corporation or hustings court in all actions at law and suits in
equity.

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