{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/22.1-45.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/22.1-45.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/22.1-45.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/22.1-45.html"}],"law_id":83995,"edition_id":1,"section_id":83995,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-45","catch_line":"Referendum to revert to appointment by school board selection commission","history":"1980, c. 559.","full_text":"A\n\nUpon a petition (i) filed with the circuit court of any county which has changed the method of appointment of the members of the school board to appointment by the governing body as a result of a referendum as provided in this article or former §§ 22-79.1 through 22-79.6, (ii) signed by a number of registered voters of the county equal to fifteen per centum of the number of votes cast in the county in the preceding presidential election, and (iii) asking that a referendum be held on the question of changing the method of selection of members of the county school board, the court shall, by order entered of record, require the regular election officials on the day fixed in such order to open the polls and take the sense of the qualified voters of the county on the question printed on the ballot as herein provided. The clerk of the county shall cause a notice of such referendum to be published in some newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county once a week for three successive weeks prior to such referendum and shall post a copy of such notice during the same time at the front door of the courthouse of the county. The ballots used in such referendum shall be printed as follows:\n\t\t\t“Shall the present method of selecting the members of the county school board be changed from appointment by the governing body of the county to appointment by a school board selection commission?\n\t\t\tYes [ ]\n\t\t\tNo [ ]”\n\t\t\tThe ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in other elections, and the results certified by the electoral board to the State Board of Elections, the clerk of the county and the circuit court; and the court shall enter of record the results of such referendum.B\n\nIf the majority of the votes cast in such referendum shall be for the proposition, a school board selection commission shall be appointed as provided in § 22.1-35 and the commission shall appoint the members of the county school board and the tie breaker as provided in Article 2 (§ 22.1-34 et seq.) of this chapter as the terms of the incumbents expire or as vacancies otherwise occur.\n\t\t\tIf a majority of the votes cast in such referendum are against the proposition, the members of the school board and the tie breaker shall continue to be appointed by the governing body as provided in this article.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":301026,"text":"Upon a petition (i) filed with the circuit court of any county which has changed the method of appointment of the members of the school board to appointment by the governing body as a result of a referendum as provided in this article or former §§ 22-79.1 through 22-79.6, (ii) signed by a number of registered voters of the county equal to fifteen per centum of the number of votes cast in the county in the preceding presidential election, and (iii) asking that a referendum be held on the question of changing the method of selection of members of the county school board, the court shall, by order entered of record, require the regular election officials on the day fixed in such order to open the polls and take the sense of the qualified voters of the county on the question printed on the ballot as herein provided. The clerk of the county shall cause a notice of such referendum to be published in some newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county once a week for three successive weeks prior to such referendum and shall post a copy of such notice during the same time at the front door of the courthouse of the county. The ballots used in such referendum shall be printed as follows:\n\t\t\t“Shall the present method of selecting the members of the county school board be changed from appointment by the governing body of the county to appointment by a school board selection commission?\n\t\t\tYes [ ]\n\t\t\tNo [ ]”\n\t\t\tThe ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in other elections, and the results certified by the electoral board to the State Board of Elections, the clerk of the county and the circuit court; and the court shall enter of record the results of such referendum.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":301027,"text":"If the majority of the votes cast in such referendum shall be for the proposition, a school board selection commission shall be appointed as provided in § 22.1-35 and the commission shall appoint the members of the county school board and the tie breaker as provided in Article 2 (§ 22.1-34 et seq.) of this chapter as the terms of the incumbents expire or as vacancies otherwise occur.\n\t\t\tIf a majority of the votes cast in such referendum are against the proposition, the members of the school board and the tie breaker shall continue to be appointed by the governing body as provided in this article.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A"}},"ancestry":[{"id":15624,"edition_id":1,"name":"Alternate Method of Selecting School Boards in School Divisions Comprised of a Single County","identifier":"3","label":"article","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":13937,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:57:01","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:57:01","permalink":{"id":183881,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":15624,"identifier":"3","token":"22.1\/5\/3","url":"\/22.1\/5\/3\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":13937,"edition_id":1,"name":"School Boards; Selection, Qualification and Salaries of Members","identifier":"5","label":"chapter","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12823,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:46:21","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:46:21","permalink":{"id":183811,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":13937,"identifier":"5","token":"22.1\/5","url":"\/22.1\/5\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12823,"edition_id":1,"name":"Education","identifier":"22.1","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:55","permalink":{"id":180949,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12823,"identifier":"22.1","token":"22.1","url":"\/22.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":74429,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-41","catch_line":"Application of article","url":"\/22.1-41\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-41","metadata":false},{"id":85334,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-42","catch_line":"Referendum on changing method of selection of members of school board","url":"\/22.1-42\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-42","metadata":false},{"id":78677,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-43","catch_line":"Abolition of school board selection commission","url":"\/22.1-43\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-43","metadata":false},{"id":60116,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-44","catch_line":"Appointment of school board members and tie breaker by county governing body; terms; vacancies","url":"\/22.1-44\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-44","metadata":false},{"id":83995,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-45","catch_line":"Referendum to revert to appointment by school board selection commission","url":"\/22.1-45\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-45","metadata":false},{"id":59663,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-46","catch_line":"Limitation on time of holding subsequent referendum","url":"\/22.1-46\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-46","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":60116,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-44","catch_line":"Appointment of school board members and tie breaker by county governing body; terms; vacancies","url":"\/22.1-44\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-44","metadata":false},"next_section":{"id":59663,"structure_id":15624,"section_number":"22.1-46","catch_line":"Limitation on time of holding subsequent referendum","url":"\/22.1-46\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-46","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/22.1-45\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 1980. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 559 of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year. Unfortunately, the 1980 \u201cActs\u201d aren\u2019t available online.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":[{"id":74377,"section_number":"22.1-34","catch_line":"Application of article","order_by":null,"url":"\/22.1-34\/"},{"id":60157,"section_number":"22.1-35","catch_line":"School board selection commission","order_by":null,"url":"\/22.1-35\/"}],"permalink":{"id":183899,"object_type":"law","relational_id":83995,"identifier":"22.1-45","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-45","url":"\/22.1-45\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/22.1-45\/","token":"22.1\/5\/3\/22.1-45","dublin_core":{"Title":"Referendum to revert to appointment by school board selection commission","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 22.1-45","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> Upon a petition<\/span> (i) filed with the circuit<\/span> court<\/span> of any county which has changed the method of appointment of the members of the school board<\/span> to appointment by the governing body<\/span> as a result of a referendum<\/span> as provided in this article or former §§ 22-79.1 through 22-79.6, (ii) signed by a number of registered voters of the county equal to fifteen per centum of the number of votes cast in the county in the preceding presidential election, and (iii) asking that a referendum<\/span> be held on the question of changing the method of selection of members of the county school board<\/span>, the court<\/span> shall, by order<\/span> entered of record, require the regular election officials on the day fixed in such order<\/span> to open the polls and take the sense of the qualified voters of the county on the question printed on the ballot as herein provided. The clerk of the county shall cause a notice of such referendum<\/span> to be published in some newspaper published or having a general circulation in the county once a week for three successive weeks prior to such referendum<\/span> and shall post a copy of such notice during the same time at the front door of the courthouse of the county. The ballots used in such referendum<\/span> shall be printed as follows:\n\t\t\t“Shall the present method of selecting the members of the county school board<\/span> be changed from appointment by the governing body<\/span> of the county to appointment by a school board<\/span> selection commission?\n\t\t\tYes [ ]\n\t\t\tNo [ ]”\n\t\t\tThe ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in other elections, and the results certified by the electoral board to the State Board<\/span> of Elections, the clerk of the county and the circuit<\/span> court<\/span>; and the court<\/span> shall enter of record the results of such referendum<\/span>. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> If the majority of the votes cast in such referendum<\/span> shall be for the proposition, a school board<\/span> selection commission shall be appointed as provided in § 22.1-35<\/a> and the commission shall appoint the members of the county school board<\/span> and the tie breaker as provided in Article 2 (§ 22.1-34<\/a> et seq.) of this chapter as the terms of the incumbents expire or as vacancies otherwise occur.\n\t\t\tIf a majority of the votes cast in such referendum<\/span> are against the proposition, the members of the school board<\/span> and the tie breaker shall continue to be appointed by the governing body<\/span> as provided in this article. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nREFERENDUM TO REVERT TO APPOINTMENT BY SCHOOL BOARD SELECTION COMMISSION (\u00a7\n22.1-45)\n\nA. Upon a petition (i) filed with the circuit court of any county which has\nchanged the method of appointment of the members of the school board to\nappointment by the governing body as a result of a referendum as provided in\nthis article or former §§ 22-79.1 through 22-79.6, (ii) signed by a\nnumber of registered voters of the county equal to fifteen per centum of the\nnumber of votes cast in the county in the preceding presidential election, and\n(iii) asking that a referendum be held on the question of changing the method of\nselection of members of the county school board, the court shall, by order\nentered of record, require the regular election officials on the day fixed in\nsuch order to open the polls and take the sense of the qualified voters of the\ncounty on the question printed on the ballot as herein provided. The clerk of\nthe county shall cause a notice of such referendum to be published in some\nnewspaper published or having a general circulation in the county once a week\nfor three successive weeks prior to such referendum and shall post a copy of\nsuch notice during the same time at the front door of the courthouse of the\ncounty. The ballots used in such referendum shall be printed as follows:\n\t\t\t“Shall the present method of selecting the members of the county school\nboard be changed from appointment by the governing body of the county to\nappointment by a school board selection commission?\n\t\t\tYes [ ]\n\t\t\tNo [ ]”\n\t\t\tThe ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in other\nelections, and the results certified by the electoral board to the State Board\nof Elections, the clerk of the county and the circuit court; and the court shall\nenter of record the results of such referendum.\n\nB. If the majority of the votes cast in such referendum shall be for the\nproposition, a school board selection commission shall be appointed as provided\nin § 22.1-35 and the commission shall appoint the members of the county\nschool board and the tie breaker as provided in Article 2 (§ 22.1-34 et\nseq.) of this chapter as the terms of the incumbents expire or as vacancies\notherwise occur.\n\t\t\tIf a majority of the votes cast in such referendum are against the\nproposition, the members of the school board and the tie breaker shall continue\nto be appointed by the governing body as provided in this article.\n\nHISTORY: 1980, c. 559.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}