REPORT OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT, I. There shall be a supreme court of appeals, circuit courts and county courts. The jurisdiction of these tribunals, and the judges thereof, except so far as the same is conferred by this Constitution, shall be regulated by law. COURT OF APPEALS. II. The supreme court of appeals shall consist of five judges, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have appellate jurisdiction, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition. It shall not have jurisdiction in civil cases where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is less in value or amount than five hundred dollars, exccpt in controversies concerning the title or boundaries of land, 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 a corporation or of a county to levy tolls or taxes, and except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition, or the constitutionality of a law. III. Special courts of appeals, to consist of not less than three nor more than five judges, may be formed of the judges of the supreme court of appeals and of the circuit courts, or any of them, to try any cases on the dockets of said court, in respect to which a majority of the judges thereof may be so situated as to make it improper for them to sit on the hearing of the same; and also to try any cases on the said docket which cannot be otherwise disposed of with convenient dispatch. IV. 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. V. The judges shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, and shall hold their office for a term of twelve years. They shall, when chosen, be at least thirty years of age, and shall have held a judicial station in the United States, or shall have practiced law in this State for five years next before their election. VI. The officers of the supreme court of appeals shall be appointed by the said court, or by the judges thereof in vacation. Their duties, compensation and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law. VII. The supreme court of appeals shall hold its sessions at two places in the State, to be fixed by law. VIII. The Attorney-General of the State shall be appointed by the supreme court of appeals, and shall hold his office for a term of four years. He shall be commissioned by the Governor, shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by law, and be removed from office in the manner prescribed for the removal of judges. CIRCUIT COURTS. IX. The State shall be divided into sixteen judicial circuits as follows: 1. The counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry and the city of Norfolk shall constitute the first circuit. 2. The counties of Sussex, Greenesville, Brunswick, Prince George, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Chesterfield and the city of Petersburg shall constitute the second circuit. 3. The counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Amelia, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Buckingham and Cumberland shall constitute the third circuit. 4. The counties of Halifax, Pittsylvania, Henry, Patrick, Franklin and the town of Danville shall constitute the fourth circuit. 5. The counties of Bedford, Campbell, Appomattox, Amherst, Nelson and the city of Lynchburg shall constitute the fifth circuit. 6. The counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Culpeper, Goochland, Madison, Greene and Orange shall constitute the sixth circuit. 7. The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond shall constitute the seventh circuit. 8. The counties of Accomac, Northampton, York, Elizabeth City, Warwick, James City, New Kent, Charles City and the city of Williamsburg shall constitute the eighth circuit. 9. The counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Mathews, Middlesex, Gloucester, King William, Essex and King & Queen shall constitute the ninth circuit. 10. The counties of Westmoreland, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, Stafford, King George, Richmond and Louisa shall constitute the tenth circuit. 11. The counties of Loudoun, Fauquier, Fairfax, Prince William, Rappahannock and the city of Alexandria shall constitute the eleventh circuit. 12. The counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Page, Shenandoah and Rockingham shall constitute the twelfth circuit. 13. The counties of Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath, Highland and Alleghany shall constitute the thirteenth circuit. 14. The counties of Botetourt, Roanoke, Montgomery, Floyd, Giles and Craig shall constitue the fourteenth circuit. 15. The counties of Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, Pulaski, Bland and Tazewell shall constitute the fifteenth circuit. 16. The counties of Smyth, Washington, Lee, Scott, Wise, Russell and Buchanan county shall constitute the sixteenth circuit. X. The General Assembly may re-arrange said circuits, or any of them, and increase the number thereof, when the public interests shall require it. XI. For each circuit a judge shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly, who shall hold his office for a term of eight years, unless sooner removed in the manner prescribed by this Constitution. He shall, when chosen, be at least thirty years of age, and possess the same qualifications of judges of the supreme court of appeals; and at the time of his election and during his continuance in office, shall reside in the circuit of which he is judge. XII. A circuit court shall be held, at least twice a year, by the judges of each circuit, in every county and corporation thereof, wherein a circuit court is now or may hereafter be established. But the judges may be required or authorized to hold the courts of their respective circuits alternately, and a judge of one circuit to hold a court in any other circuit. COUNTY AND CORPORATION COURTS. County Courts. XIII. In each county of this Commonwealth there shall be a court, called the county court, which shall be held monthly by a judge learned in the law of the State, and to be known as the county court judge: Provided, that counties containing less than thousand inhabitants shall be attached to adjoining counties for the formation of districts for county judges. County court judges shall be appointed in the same manner as judges of the circuit courts; shall hold their office for a term of eight years; and, at the time of election and during continuance in office, shall reside in their respective counties or districts. The jurisdiction of said courts shall be the same as that of the existing county courts, except so far as it is modified by this Constitution, or may be changed by law. Corporatiom Courts. XIV. The General Assembly may vest such jurisdiction as may be deemed necessary in corporation courts, which shall be held by a judge chosen in the same manner, with like qualifications and for same terms as judges of county courts. And all officers appertaining to cities and other municipal corporations, shall be elected or appointed by the constituted authorities thereof in the manner prescribed by law. XV. All the judges shall be commissioned by the Governor, and shall receive fixed and adequate salaries, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. The salary of a judge of the supreme court of appeals shall not be less than four thousand dollars per annum, that of a circuit judge not less than three thousand dollars per annum, and that of a judge of a county, district or corporation court shall not be less than thousand dollars per an num, and each shall receive a reasonable allowance for necessary travel. XVI. Judges may be removed from office by a concurrent vote of both houses of the General Assembly, but a majority of all the members elected to each house must concur in such vote, and the cause of removal shall be entered on the journal of each house. The judge against whom the General Assembly may be about to proceed, shall have notice thereof, accompanied by a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at least twenty days before the day on which either house of the General Assembly shall act thereon. XVII. The judge of each court shall appoint the clerk and commonwealth's attorney thereof, whose term of office shall be six years. XVIII. Judges and all other officers, elected or appointed, shall continue to discharge the duties of their offices after their terms of service have expired, until their successors have qualified. XIX. Writs shall run in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and be attested by the clerks of the several courts. Indictments shall conclude against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth. Should the Convention determine to adhere to the present county court sys tem, and decline to require that that court shall be held by a county judge, as provided for in this report, as well as in the two reports of the Committee on County Courts and County Organizations, then, and in that event, this committee recommend that the number of judicial circuits be increased to twenty-nine, and that the judges thereof hold four terms per annum in each county and corporation embraced in their respective circuits; and for that purpose that the State be laid off into twenty-nine judicial circuits as follows: CIRCUIT COURTS. 1. The counties of Princess Anne, Nansemond, Norfolk county and Norfolk city shall constitute the first circuit. 2. The counties of Southampton, Isle of Wight, Surry, Sussex and Greenesville shall constitute the second circuit. 3. The counties of Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Nottoway and Lunenburg shall constitute the third circuit. 4. The counties of Halifax, Charlotte, Pittsylvania and the town of Danville shall constitute the fourth circuit. 5. The counties of Henry, Franklin and Patrick shall constitute the fifth circuit. 6. The counties of Bedford, Campbell and the city of Lynchburg shall constitute the sixth circuit. 7. The counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan, Cumberland and Amelia shall constitute the seventh circuit. 8. The counties of Buckingham, Prince Edward, Appomattox and Amherst shall constitute the eighth circuit. 9. The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City and Warwick shall constitute the ninth circuit. 10. The counties of Dinwiddie, Prince George and the city of Petersburg shall constitute the tenth circuit. 11. The counties of Gloucester, Charles City, New Kent, James City, York and Williamsburg shall constitute the eleventh circuit. 12. The counties of Mathews, Middlesex, Lancaster, Northumberland and Richmond shall constitute the twelvth circuit. 13. The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond shall constitute the thirteenth circuit. 14. The counties of Hanover, Louisa and Goochland shall constitute the fourteenth circuit. 15. The counties of King William, King and Queen, Essex and Westmoreland shall constitute the fifteenth circuit. 16. The counties of Spotsylvania, Caroline, Stafford and King George shall constitute the sixteenth circuit. 17. The counties of Alexandria, Fairfax and Prince William shall constitute the seventeenth circuit. 18. The counties of Fauquier and Loudoun shall constitute the eighteenth circuit. 19. The counties of Orange, Madison, Rappahannock and Culpeper shall constitute the nineteenth circuit. 20. The counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna and Greene shall constitute the twentieth circuit, 21. The counties of Frederick, Clarke and Warren shall constitute the twenty-first circuit. |