Judges of the district courts shall be designated as follows:
a. In each district there shall be one chief general district judge and one chief juvenile and domestic relations district judge who shall serve as such for a term of two years commencing July 1 of the even-numbered years. The chief district judges shall be designated by judges of the district court having jurisdiction in the district. If the designation is to be made by more than one judge and there is a tie vote, then the chief circuit judge having jurisdiction in the district shall make the designation. The incumbent chief judge shall call for an election at the conclusion of the term as chief judge and shall report the results of such election forthwith to the office of the Executive Secretary. The incumbent chief judge may succeed himself;
b. Each judge, except substitute judges, shall be designated either general district court judge or juvenile and domestic relations district court judge depending on the court he is so designated to serve; the terms “associate judge” and “assistant judge” shall no longer be applicable and wherever such terms appear in the Code of Virginia they shall be deemed to refer to either general district court judges or juvenile and domestic relations court judges as appropriate;
c. Substitute judges shall continue to be designated as such.