15.2-1637 - Sharing of offices; transfer of jurisdiction.
§ 15.2-1637. Sharing of offices; transfer of jurisdiction.
A. Any attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of a circuit court, or sheriffwho performed his duties and had jurisdiction in both a city and a countyprior to July 1, 1971, as provided for in Article VII, Section 4 of theConstitution of Virginia, shall continue to serve both political subdivisionsuntil the city is transferred in accordance with the provisions of §§16.1-69.6 and 17.1-506 to a judicial circuit and district which is comprisedof 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 beentitled to vote for these officers at the general election for countyofficers.
B. Upon the effective date of the transfer referred to in subsection A ofthis section, the city shall have appointed for it by the judges of thecircuit court for the county in the judicial circuit to which the city wastransferred an attorney for the Commonwealth, clerk of the circuit court andsheriff, which constitutional officers shall be those of the adjoiningcounty. In cases where the city has an elected sheriff, such sheriff shall bethe only sheriff for the city. The city may contract with the county to whichit was transferred for jail facilities.
In any case where the effective date of the transfer is to take place within120 days after an election for any of these officers in the county to whichthe city is transferred, the voters of the city shall be entitled to vote inthat election for each officer. The voting wards or precincts of the cityshall be treated as precincts of the adjoining county, and no candidate forthese offices shall be required to qualify separately in the city. The votersof the city shall thereafter be entitled to vote for these officers.
C. In order to complete the transfer of the jurisdiction of the respectivecircuit courts when the situation in subsection A occurs, the following shallcontrol:
1. As to any crime occurring or civil cause of action arising in the citybefore the effective date of the transfer, the circuit court of the formerjudicial circuit shall have jurisdiction.
2. As to any crime occurring or civil cause of action arising in the city onor after the effective date of the transfer involving a matter required bygeneral law to be located in a circuit court, the circuit court of thejudicial circuit to which the city was transferred shall have jurisdiction.
D. All writings authorized by law to be recorded in the circuit court for thecity transferred pursuant to subsection A of this section shall be recordedin the circuit court to which the city was transferred beginning on theeffective date of the transfer.
(1980, c. 592, § 15.1-994.1; 1987, c. 624; 1997, c. 587.)