HB494: City reversion to town status; increases required vote of a city council.
HOUSE BILL NO. 494
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 15.2-4101 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 15.2-4101. Ordinance petitioning court for town status; notice of motion.
A. Any city in this Commonwealth with a population at the time
of the latest United States decennial census of less than 50,000 people, after
fulfilling the requirements of Chapter 29 (§ 15.2-2900 et seq.), may by
ordinance passed by a recorded majority three-fourths vote of all the
members thereof, petition the circuit court for the city, alleging that the
city meets the criteria set out in § 15.2-4106 for an order granting town
status to the city. The circuit court with which the petition is filed shall
notify the Supreme Court, which shall appoint a special court to hear the case
as prescribed by Chapter 30 (§ 15.2-3000 et seq.) of this title.
B. Before instituting a proceeding under this chapter for a grant of town status, a city shall serve notice on the county attorney, or if there is none, on the attorney for the Commonwealth, and on the chairman of the board of supervisors of the adjoining county that it will, on a given day, petition the circuit court for a grant of town status. The notice served on each official shall include a certified copy of the ordinance. A copy of the notice and ordinance, or a descriptive summary of the notice and ordinance and a reference to the place within the city or adjoining county where copies of the notice and ordinance may be examined, shall be published at least once a week for four successive weeks in some newspaper having general circulation in the city and adjoining county. The notice and ordinance shall be returned after service to the clerk of the circuit court. Certification by the owner, editor or manager of the newspaper publishing the notice and ordinance shall be proof of publication.