CHAPTER XV

THE GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES

WHY COUNTY GOVERNMENT WAS ESTABLISHED IN VIRGINIA. The entire state of Virginia is divided into one hundred districts known as counties. In each of these counties a local government is established. It is the duty of the county government to attend to certain matters that are of interest primarily to the locality. Its officers also enforce many of the laws that are enacted by the state legislature in Richmond.

County government dates back to a very early period in the history of England. When the settlers came over to America and established the colony of Virginia, they simply transplanted to Virginia the county form of government to which they had been accustomed in England. As we have already had occasion to note the people of Virginia, as in the rest of the South, settled upon large farms or plantations. They thus lived considerable distances from one another. Now this fact had an important influence upon the kind of government that developed in Virginia. It would have been impossible, for example, for the people of Virginia to establish the kind of local government that developed in New England. The people who settled in New England came over to this country largely that they might enjoy religious freedom. They came, therefore, in congregations or groups. They did not separate and settle on large estates. They built their homes close around the church and the schoolhouse. Living as they did quite close together, it was natural for them to adopt a direct, or, as we say, popular or democratic form of government. All the inhabitants of each community met together and decided what their local laws should be and who should be their

officers. This form of local government still prevails in New England and in a somewhat different form it has been adopted in other parts of the United States. It is known as township government and the assembly of the voters is called the town meeting.

Instead of township government the people of Virginia adopted the county form of government. All the people of a county do not come together for the purpose of making laws and choosing officers. They merely go to the several polls and elect representatives to make the county laws for them and in the same way they choose the officers who are to enforce these laws.

THE POWERS OF THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT. The county, which is only a subordinate district of the state, is permitted to exercise only those powers that are granted by the state constitution and the state legislature. The county does not, in fact, enact many local laws. For the most part its officers are engaged simply in enforcing the laws passed by the state legislature. For example, it is the officers of the county who preserve the peace by arresting those who violate the laws of the state. The county also provides the courthouse in which such persons are tried and the jail in which they are imprisoned. In this courthouse, too, are heard those controversies which arise between individuals in the county. The state laws require also that the county shall make provision for the care of the poor. It is the county, moreover, which, under the laws of the state, makes provision for the building and maintenance of schoolhouses and for the construction of roads and bridges.

THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. Every county is divided into three or more districts that are known as magisterial districts. Once in every four years, in November, the voters of each district elect a supervisor of the district; and the supervisors of the several districts form what is known as the county board of supervisors. The law confers upon this

board the power to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the government of the county. It is this board also which decides upon the building and repairing of roads and bridges and which provides for the erection of schoolhouses, the courthouse, the jail, and the poorhouse. It is this board which levies the taxes that are necessary for these various purposes and which borrows money in the name of

the county when that is necessary. Indeed the board of supervisors has general control and direction of the affairs of the county. The law requires that it must meet at least twice in every year and the board may come together oftener if

need be.

THE OTHER COUNTY OFFICERS. In addition to the board of supervisors there are a number of other county officers

who are elected by the voters for a term of four years and one, the county clerk, who is elected for an eight-year term.

The sheriff is the officer who has charge of the county jail and whose duty it is to assist in preserving the peace by arresting persons suspected of violating the laws. He attends the circuit court when it meets in his county, and he carries out the orders of the court. The sheriff is the most important executive officer of the county, for many other duties in addition to those mentioned here are laid upon him by law.

The commonwealth's attorney is the law officer of the county. It is his duty to prosecute criminals who are tried before the circuit court. He also assists the board of supervisors and the other county officers in the performance of their duties by giving them his opinion on questions of law.

The county clerk is the officer whose duty it is to keep the records of the county. It is by means of these records that the owners of land in the county are assisted in establishing their claims to their property. Whenever land is transferred from one person to another a record of this transfer must be made in the county clerk's office. It is the county clerk also who issues marriage licenses and who keeps a record of marriages, births, and deaths in the county.

The justices of the peace are the officers who hold the lowest courts in the state. Before these officers all petty offences and disputes are tried. It is their duty also to assist in the preservation of the peace. Three justices are elected in each magisterial district. There is also elected in each district at least one constable whose duty it is to arrest persons accused of violating the laws and otherwise to assist in preserving order within the community.

The superintendent of the poor is the officer who has charge of the poorhouse or poor farm that is maintained in every county.

The principal financial officers of the county are the land assessors, the commissioners of revenue, and the county treas

urer. For each magisterial district one land assessor is appointed by the circuit judge. It is the duty of the land assessor to make lists of all the land and buildings in his district and to determine the value at which such property shall be held for taxation. The people of each district also elect a commissioner of revenue, whose duty it is to list and value new buildings and all other kinds of property that are owned

by the people of the district. The taxes that are levied are collected and cared for by the county treasurer. He pays out such sums as he may be authorized to pay; and he forwards to the State Auditor at Richmond such part of the taxes as belongs to the state government.

There are also in every county a surveyor, a superintendent of roads, coroners, and certain minor officers required