2025 SESSION
INTRODUCED
24104837D
HOUSE BILL NO. 1225
Offered January 10, 2024
Prefiled January 10, 2024
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 15.2-702 and 15.2-705 of the Code of Virginia, relating to county manager plan of government; powers.
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Patron—Hope
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Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 15.2-702 and 15.2-705 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 15.2-702. County board; membership, terms, chairman, etc.
A. Under the county manager plan all of the legislative powers of the county, however conferred or possessed by it, shall be vested in a board of five members to be known as the county board (""The Unless the chairman is elected at large pursuant to subsection B, the board shall elect one of its members as chairman, who shall preside over its meetings. The chairman shall be elected by the board annually and any vacancy in the office shall be filled by the board for the unexpired term. The chairman has the same powers and duties as other members of the board with a vote but no veto and is the official head of the county. With the exception of those officers whose election is provided for by popular vote in Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution of Virginia, board members shall be the only elective county officials. The board shall be a body corporate and as such has the right to sue and be sued in the same manner as is now provided by law for boards of supervisors.
B. The board may by resolution petition the circuit court of the county for a referendum on the question of whether there should be a board chairman elected at large. Alternatively, a like referendum may be requested by a petition to the circuit court signed by registered voters equal in number to at least 10 percent of the registered voters of the county as of January 1 of the year in which the petition is filed. Upon the filing of either petition, which shall be filed not less than 90 days before a November general election, the circuit court shall order the election officials at the next November general election held in the county to open the polls and take the sense of the voters on the question set forth in this subsection. The clerk of the court shall publish notice of the referendum to be published once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to the referendum in a newspaper having general circulation in the county and shall post a copy of such notice during the same time at the door of the courthouse of the county. The ballot shall be printed as follows:
"Shall the chairman of the county board, to be known as the board chairman, be elected by the voters of the county at large?
[ ] Yes
[ ] No"
The election shall be held and the results certified as provided in § 24.2-684.
If a majority of the qualified voters voting in such referendum vote in favor of the election of a board chairman from the county at large, beginning at the next general election for the board, the board chairman shall be elected for a term of the same length as that of other members of the board. The board thereafter shall consist of four members elected at large and a board chairman elected by voters of the county at large. No person may be a candidate for board chairman at the same time he is a candidate for board member.
§ 15.2-705. Election of members of board; filling vacancies.
A. In any county operating as of December 1, 1993, under the county manager plan provided for in this chapter, the members of the board shall be elected and vacancies on the board shall be filled as provided in this section. The members of the board shall be elected from the county at large; however, the board may alter the method of electing board members, including the use of single-member districts, in accordance with Title 24.2.
B. Two board members shall be elected at the November 1995 election to succeed the members whose terms are expiring, and one member each shall be elected at the 1994, 1996, and 1997 November elections to succeed the members whose terms respectively are expiring. Thereafter at each regular November election one or more board members shall be elected to succeed the members whose terms expire on or before January 1 next succeeding such election. The members so elected shall be elected for terms of four years each, shall take office on January 1 next succeeding their election, and shall hold office until their successors are elected and qualify. The board may provide, by ordinance, for the nomination or election of candidates by instant runoff voting pursuant to § 15.2-705.1.
C. Notwithstanding the provisions of § 24.2-226, when any vacancy occurs in the membership of the board, the judge of the circuit court of the county shall call a special election for the remainder of the unexpired term to be held not less than 60 days and not more than 80 days thereafter, and the local electoral board shall determine and announce within three business days after such call the candidate filing deadline for that special election. However, if any vacancy occurs within 180 days before the expiration of a term of office, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the remaining members of the board within 30 days of the occurrence of the vacancy after holding a public hearing on the appointment. The appointment shall be for the duration of the unexpired term.