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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>65606</law_id><section_number>16.1-69.6</section_number><catch_line>Establishment of districts</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>15.2-1637</reference><reference>15.2-3822</reference><reference>16.1-69.16</reference><reference>16.1-69.18</reference><reference>16.1-69.31</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="16.1">Courts Not of Record</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="4.1">District Courts</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="2">Districts; District Courts and Judges</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>On and after July 1, 1973, the Commonwealth shall be divided into districts encompassing all counties and cities in the Commonwealth to provide a basis for the sound and efficient administration of the <span class="dictionary">courts</span> not of record, as follows:</p></section>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> The City of Chesapeake shall constitute the first district. <a id="paragraph-238456" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> The City of Virginia Beach shall constitute the second district.
			(2-A) The Counties of Accomack and Northampton shall constitute district two-A. <a id="paragraph-238457" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="3"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> The City of Portsmouth shall constitute the third district. <a id="paragraph-238458" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="4"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> The City of Norfolk shall constitute the fourth district. <a id="paragraph-238459" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="5"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> The Cities of Franklin and Suffolk and the Counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton shall constitute the fifth district. <a id="paragraph-238460" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="6"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> The Cities of Emporia and Hopewell and the Counties of Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Greensville and Brunswick shall constitute the sixth district. <a id="paragraph-238461" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="7"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> The City of Newport News shall constitute the seventh district. <a id="paragraph-238462" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="8"><p><span class="prefix-number">8.</span> The City of Hampton shall constitute the eighth district. <a id="paragraph-238463" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#8"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="9"><p><span class="prefix-number">9.</span> The Cities of Williamsburg and Poquoson and the Counties of York, James City, Charles City, New Kent, Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, King William and King and Queen shall constitute the ninth district. <a id="paragraph-238464" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#9"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="10"><p><span class="prefix-number">10.</span> The Counties of Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox, Prince Edward, Charlotte, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg and Halifax shall constitute the tenth district. <a id="paragraph-238465" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#10"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="11"><p><span class="prefix-number">11.</span> The City of Petersburg and the Counties of Dinwiddie, Nottoway, Amelia and Powhatan shall constitute the eleventh district. <a id="paragraph-238466" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#11"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="12"><p><span class="prefix-number">12.</span> The City of Colonial Heights and the County of Chesterfield shall constitute the twelfth district. <a id="paragraph-238467" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#12"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="13"><p><span class="prefix-number">13.</span> The City of Richmond shall constitute the thirteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238468" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#13"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="14"><p><span class="prefix-number">14.</span> The County of Henrico shall constitute the fourteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238469" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#14"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="15"><p><span class="prefix-number">15.</span> The City of Fredericksburg and the Counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Richmond and Essex shall constitute the fifteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238470" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#15"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="16"><p><span class="prefix-number">16.</span> The City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Madison, Greene, Albemarle, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, Orange and Culpeper shall constitute the sixteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238471" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#16"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="17"><p><span class="prefix-number">17.</span> The County of Arlington and the City of Falls Church shall constitute the seventeenth district. <a id="paragraph-238472" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#17"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="18"><p><span class="prefix-number">18.</span> The City of Alexandria shall constitute the eighteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238473" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#18"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="19"><p><span class="prefix-number">19.</span> The City of Fairfax and the County of Fairfax shall constitute the nineteenth district. <a id="paragraph-238474" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#19"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="20"><p><span class="prefix-number">20.</span> The Counties of Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock shall constitute the twentieth district. <a id="paragraph-238475" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#20"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="21"><p><span class="prefix-number">21.</span> The City of Martinsville and the Counties of Patrick and Henry shall constitute the twenty-first district. <a id="paragraph-238476" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#21"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="22"><p><span class="prefix-number">22.</span> The City of Danville and the Counties of Pittsylvania and Franklin shall constitute the twenty-second district. <a id="paragraph-238477" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#22"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="23"><p><span class="prefix-number">23.</span> The Cities of Roanoke and Salem and the County of Roanoke shall constitute the twenty-third district. <a id="paragraph-238478" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#23"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="24"><p><span class="prefix-number">24.</span> The City of Lynchburg and the Counties of Nelson, Amherst, Campbell and Bedford shall constitute the twenty-fourth district. <a id="paragraph-238479" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#24"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="25"><p><span class="prefix-number">25.</span> The Cities of Covington, Lexington, Staunton, Buena Vista, and Waynesboro and the Counties of Highland, Augusta, Rockbridge, Bath, Alleghany, Botetourt and Craig shall constitute the twenty-fifth district. <a id="paragraph-238480" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#25"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="26"><p><span class="prefix-number">26.</span> The Cities of Harrisonburg and Winchester and the Counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, Page and Rockingham shall constitute the twenty-sixth district. <a id="paragraph-238481" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#26"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="27"><p><span class="prefix-number">27.</span> The Cities of Galax and Radford and the Counties of Pulaski, Wythe, Carroll, Montgomery, Floyd, Giles, Bland and Grayson shall constitute the twenty-seventh district. <a id="paragraph-238482" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#27"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="28"><p><span class="prefix-number">28.</span> The City of Bristol and the Counties of Smyth and Washington shall constitute the twenty-eighth district. <a id="paragraph-238483" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#28"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="29"><p><span class="prefix-number">29.</span> The Counties of Tazewell, Buchanan, Russell and Dickenson shall constitute the twenty-ninth district. <a id="paragraph-238484" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#29"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="30"><p><span class="prefix-number">30.</span> The City of Norton and the Counties of Wise, Scott and Lee shall constitute the thirtieth district. <a id="paragraph-238485" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#30"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="31"><p><span class="prefix-number">31.</span> The Cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and the County of Prince William shall constitute the thirty-first district. <a id="paragraph-238486" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/16.1-69.6/#31"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1972, c. 708; 1973, c. 546; 1974, c. 297; 1976, c. 126; 1977, c. 5; 1983, c. 149; 1986, c. 405; 1987, c. 624; 1992, c. 744; 2006, c. 861; 2016, cc. 164, 312.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
