                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SHARING OF OFFICES; TRANSFER OF JURISDICTION (§ 15.2-1637)

A. Any attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, or sheriff who
performed his duties and had jurisdiction in both a city and a county prior to
July 1, 1971, as provided for in Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution of
Virginia, shall continue to serve both political subdivisions until the city is
transferred in accordance with the provisions of &#xA7;&#xA7; 16.1-69.6 and
17.1-506 to a judicial circuit and district which is comprised of a county other
than the circuit and district where the city was situated. Until such transfer
is made, the voters residing in the city shall be entitled to vote for these
officers at the general election for county officers.

B. Upon the effective date of the transfer referred to in subsection A of this
section, the city shall have appointed for it by the judges of the circuit court
for the county in the judicial circuit to which the city was transferred an
attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of the circuit court and sheriff, which
constitutional officers shall be those of the adjoining county. In cases where
the city has an elected sheriff, such sheriff shall be the only sheriff for the
city. The city may contract with the county to which it was transferred for jail
facilities.
			In any case where the effective date of the transfer is to take place within
120 days after an election for any of these officers in the county to which the
city is transferred, the voters of the city shall be entitled to vote in that
election for each officer. The voting wards or precincts of the city shall be
treated as precincts of the adjoining county, and no candidate for these offices
shall be required to qualify separately in the city. The voters of the city
shall thereafter be entitled to vote for these officers.

C. In order to complete the transfer of the jurisdiction of the respective
circuit courts when the situation in subsection A occurs, the following shall
control:

   1. As to any crime occurring or civil cause of action arising in the city
   before the effective date of the transfer, the circuit court of the former
   judicial circuit shall have jurisdiction.

   2. As to any crime occurring or civil cause of action arising in the city on
   or after the effective date of the transfer involving a matter required by
   general law to be located in a circuit court, the circuit court of the
   judicial circuit to which the city was transferred shall have jurisdiction.

D. All writings authorized by law to be recorded in the circuit court for the
city transferred pursuant to subsection A of this section shall be recorded in
the circuit court to which the city was transferred beginning on the effective
date of the transfer.

HISTORY: 1980, c. 592, § 15.1-994.1; 1987, c. 624; 1997, c. 587.