                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CRITERIA FOR TOTAL IMMUNITY; JUDICIAL DETERMINATION (§ 15.2-3302)

A. If, after receipt of a petition for immunity, the circuit court determines
that the county or tier-city has a population at the time of the filing of the
petition of at least 20,000 persons and a population density of at least 300
persons per square mile, or a minimum population of at least 50,000 persons and
a population density of at least 140 persons per square mile, based either on
the latest United States census, on the latest population estimates of the
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service of the University of Virginia, or on a
special census conducted under court supervision, it shall enter an order
declaring the total county or tier-city immune from city-initiated annexation
and incorporation of new cities.

B. If the court determines that the county or tier-city has not met the criteria
for immunity as set forth in this section, it shall deny the county&#8217;s or
tier-city&#8217;s petition.

C. In the determination of its population density, a county or tier-city may
elect to have excluded from consideration the area of property within its
boundaries which is owned by the federal and state governments and the area
covered by bodies of water of forty acres or more in size. If a county or
tier-city elects to exclude such areas from consideration, any county or
tier-city residents residing in such areas must also be excluded in determining
the county&#8217;s or tier-city&#8217;s population and population density.

HISTORY: 1979, c. 85, § 15.1-977.21; 1984, c. 695; 1997, c. 587.