                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

ELECTION TO FILL VACANCY (§ 24.2-226)

A. A vacancy in any elected local office, whether occurring when for any reason
an officer-elect does not take office or occurring after an officer begins his
term, shall be filled as provided by &#xA7; 24.2-228 or for constitutional
officers as provided in &#xA7; 24.2-228.1, or unless provided otherwise by
statute or charter requiring special elections within the time limits provided
in this title. The governing body or, in the case of an elected school board,
the school board of the county, city, or town in which the vacancy occurs shall,
within 15 days of the occurrence of the vacancy, petition the circuit court to
issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy as set forth in Article 5 (&#xA7;
24.2-681 et seq.) of Chapter 6. Either upon receipt of the petition or on its
own motion, the court shall issue the writ ordering the election promptly and
shall order the special election to be held on the date of the next general
election in November or in May if the vacant office is regularly scheduled by
law to be filled in May. However, if the governing body or the school board
requests in its petition a different date for the election, the court shall
order the special election be held on that date, so long as the date requested
precedes the date of such next general election and complies with the provisions
of &#xA7; 24.2-682. If the vacancy occurs within 90 days of the next such
general election and the governing body or the school board has not requested in
its petition a different date for the election, the special election shall be
held on the date of the second such general election. Upon receipt of written
notification by an officer or officer-elect of his resignation as of a stated
date, the governing body or school board, as the case may be, may immediately
petition the circuit court to issue a writ of election, and the court may
immediately issue the writ to call the election. The officer&#8217;s or
officer-elect&#8217;s resignation shall not be revocable after the date stated
by him for his resignation or after the forty-fifth day before the date set for
the special election. The person so elected shall hold the office for the
remaining portion of the regular term of the office for which the vacancy is
being filled.

B. Notwithstanding any provision of law or charter to the contrary, no election
to fill a vacancy shall be ordered or held if the general election at which it
is to be called is scheduled within 60 days of the end of the term of the office
to be filled.

C. Notwithstanding any provision of law or charter to the contrary, when an
interim appointment to a vacancy in any governing body or elected school board
has been made by the remaining members thereof, no election to fill the vacancy
shall be ordered or held if the general election at which it is to be called is
scheduled in the year in which the term expires.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 24-145, 24-147.1; 1958, c. 621; 1970, c. 462, §§
24.1-76, 24.1-79; 1975, c. 515; 1976, c. 616; 1977, c. 490; 1984, c. 480; 1993,
c. 641; 1996, c. 873; 2000, cc. 787, 1045, 1070; 2003, c. 1015; 2010, cc. 431,
449, 645; 2011, c. 206; 2014, c. 476.