Sec. 84. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the establishment and maintenance of an efficient system of checks and balances between the officers at the seat of government entrusted with the collection, receipt, custody, or disbursement of the revenues of the State.

Sec. 85. All state officers, and their deputies, assistants or employees, charged with the collection, custody, handling or disbursement of public funds, shall be required to give bond for the faithful performance of such duties; the amount of such bond in each case, and the manner in which security shall be furnished, to be specified and regulated by law.

Sec. 86. The General Assembly shall have power to establish and maintain a Bureau of Labor and Statistics, under such regulations as may be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE VI.

JUDICIARY DEPARTMENT.

Sec. 87. The Judiciary Department shall consist of a Supreme Court of Appeals, circuit courts, city courts, and such other courts as are hereinafter authorized. The jurisdiction of these tribunals and the judges thereof, except so far as conferred by this Constitution, shall be regulated by law.

Sec. 88. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of five judges, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have original jurisdiction in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus, and prohibition; but in all other cases, in which it shall have jurisdiction, it shall have appellate jurisdiction only.

Subject to such reasonable rules, as may be prescribed by law, as to the course of appeal, the limitation as to time, the security required, if any, the granting or refusing of appeals, and the procedure therein, it shall, by virtue of this Constitution, have appellate jurisdiction in all cases involving the constitutionality of a law as being repugnant to the Constitution of this State or of the United States, or involving the life or liberty of any person; and it shall also have appellate jurisdiction in such other cases, within the limits hereinafter defined, as may be prescribed by law; but no appeal shall be allowed to the Commonwealth in any case involving the life or liberty of a person, except that an appeal by the Commonwealth may be allowed by law in any case involving the violation of a law relating to the state revenue. No bond shall be required of any accused person as a condition of appeal, but a supersedeas bond may be required where the only punishment imposed in the court below is a fine.

The court shall not have jurisdiction in civil cases where the matter in

controversy, exclusive of costs and of interest accrued since the judgment in the court below, is less in value or amount than three hundred dollars, (2) except in controversies concerning the title to, or boundaries of land, the condemnation of property, the probate of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal representative, guardian, committee, or curator, or concerning a mill, roadway, ferry, or landing, or the right of the State, county, or municipal corporation, to levy tolls or taxes, or involving the construction of any statute, ordinance or county proceeding imposing taxes; and, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus, and prohibition, the constitutionality of a law, or some other matter not merely pecuniary. After the year nineteen hundred and ten the General Assembly may change the jurisdiction of the court in matters merely pecuniary. The assent of at least three of the judges shall be required for the court to determine that any law is, or is not, repugnant to the Constitution of this State or of the United States; and if, in a case involving the constitutionality of any such law, not more than two of the judges sitting agree in opinion on the constitutional question involved, and the case cannot be determined, without passing on such question, no decision shall be rendered therein, but the case shall be reheard by a full court; and in no case where the jurisdiction of the court depends solely upon the fact that the constitutionality of a law is involved, shall the court decide the case upon its merits, unless the contention of the appellant upon the constitutional question be sustained. Whenever the requisite majority of the judges sitting are unable to agree upon a decision, the case shall be reheard by a full bench, and any vacancy caused by any one or more of the judges being unable, unwilling, or disqualified to sit, shall be temporarily filled in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Sec. 89. The General Assembly may, from time to time, provide for a Special Court of Appeals to try any cases on the docket of the Supreme Court of Appeals in respect to which a majority of the judges are so situated as to make it improper for them to sit; and also to try any cases on said docket which cannot be disposed of with convenient dispatch. The said special court shall be composed of not less than three nor more than five of the judges of the circuit courts and city courts of record in cities of the first class, or of the judges of either of said courts, or of any of the judges of said courts together with one or more of the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Sec. 90. When a judgment or decree is reversed or affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeals the reasons therefor shall be stated in writing and preserved with the record of the case.

Sec. 91. The judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be chosen

by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. They shall, when chosen, have held a judicial station in the United States, or shall have practiced law in this or some other state for five years. At the first election under this Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect the judges for terms of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve years respectively; and thereafter they shall be elected for terms of twelve years.

Sec. 92. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the court or by the judges in vacation. Their duties, compensation, and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law.

Sec. 93. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall hold its sessions at two or more places in the State, to be fixed by law.

Sec. 94. The State shall be divided into twenty-four judicial circuits, as follows:

The counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, and the city of Portsmouth, shall constitute the first circuit.

The counties of Nansemond, Southampton, Isle of Wight, and the city of Norfolk, shall constitute the second circuit.

The counties of Prince George, Surry, Sussex, Greenesville, and Brunswick, shall constitute the third circuit.

The counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, and Amelia, and the city of Petersburg, shall constitute the fourth circuit. The counties of Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox, and Charlotte, shall constitute the fifth circuit.

The counties of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Campbell, and the city of Lynchburg, shall constitute the sixth circuit.

The counties of Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, and the city of Danville, shall constitute the seventh circuit.

The counties of Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Goochland, shall constitute the eighth circuit.

The counties of Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange, and Louisa, shall constitute the ninth circuit.

The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond, shall constitute the tenth circuit.

The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, and the city of Newport News, shall constitute the eleventh circuit.

The counties of Richmond, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster, and Essex, shall constitute the twelfth circuit.

The counties of Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William, and Middlesex, shall constitute the thirteenth circuit.

The counties of New Kent, Charles City, York, Warwick, James City, and the city of Williamsburg, shall constitute the fourteenth circuit.

The counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and Hanover, shall constitute the fifteenth circuit.

The counties of Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and Alexandria, and the city of Alexandria, shall constitute the sixteenth circuit.

The counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page, shall constitute the seventeenth circuit.

The counties of Rockingham, Augusta, and Rockbridge, shall constitute the eighteenth circuit.

The counties of Highland, Bath, Alleghany, Craig, and Botetourt, shall constitute the nineteenth circuit.

The counties of Bedford, Roanoke, Montgomery, and Floyd, and the city of Roanoke, shall constitute the twentieth circuit.

The counties of Pulaski, Carroll, Wythe, and Grayson, shall constitute the twenty-first circuit.

The counties of Bland, Tazewell, Giles, and Buchanan, shall constitute the twenty-second circuit.

The counties of Washington, Russell, and Smyth, shall constitute the twenty-third circuit.

The counties of Scott, Lee, Wise, and Dickenson, shall constitute the twenty-fourth circuit.

Sec. 95. After the first day of January, nineteen hundred and six, as the public interest requires, the General Assembly may rearrange the said circuits and increase or diminish the number thereof. But no new circuit shall be created containing, by the last United States census or other census provided by law, less than forty thousand inhabitants, nor when the effect of creating it will be to reduce the number of inhabitants in any existing circuit below forty thousand according to such census.

Sec. 96. For each circuit a judge shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He shall, when chosen, possess the same qualifications as judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and during his continuance in office shall reside in the circuit of which he is judge. At the first election under this Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect, as nearly as practicable, one-fourth of the entire number of judges for terms of two years, one-fourth for four years, one-fourth for six years, and the remaining fourth for eight years, respectively; and thereafter they shall be elected for terms of eight years,

Sec. 97. The number of terms of the circuit courts to be held for each county and city, shall be prescribed by law. But no separate circuit court shall be held for any city of the second class, until the city shall abolish

its existing city court. The judge of one circuit may be required or authorized to hold court in any other circuit or city.

Sec. 98. For the purposes of a judicial system, the cities of the State shall be divided into two classes. All cities shall belong to the first class which contain, as shown by the last United States census or other census provided by law, ten thousand inhabitants or more, and all cities shall belong to the second class which contain, as thus shown, less than ten thousand inhabitants. In each city of the first class, there shall be, in addition to the circuit court, a corporation court. In any city containing thirty thousand inhabitants or more, the General Assembly may provide for such additional courts as the public interest may require, and in every such city the city courts, as they now exist, shall continue until otherwise provided by law. In every city of the second class, the corporation or hustings court existing, at the time this Constitution goes into effect, shall continue hereafter under the name of the corporation court of such city; but it may be abolished by a vote of a majority of the qualified electors of such city, at an election held for the purpose, and whenever the office of judge of a corporation or hustings court of a city of the second class, whose salary is less than eight hundred dollars, shall become and remain vacant for ninety days consecutively, such court shall thereby cease to exist. In case of the abolition of the corporation or hustings court of any city of the second class, such city shall thereupon come in every respect within the jurisdiction of the circuit court of the county wherein it is situated, until otherwise provided by law, and the records of such corporation or hustings court shall thereupon become a part of the records of such circuit court, and be transferred thereto, and remain therein until otherwise provided by law; and during the existence of the corporation or hustings court, the circuit court of the county in which such city is situated, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with said corporation or hustings court in all actions at law and suits in equity.

Sec. 99. For each city court of record a judge shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General Assembly. He shall, when chosen, possess the same qualifications as judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and during his continuance in office shall reside within the jurisdiction of the court over which he presides; but the judge of the corporation court of any corporation having a city charter, and less than five thousand inhabitants, may reside outside its corporate limits; and the same person may be judge of such corporation court and judge of the corporation court of some other city having less than ten thousand inhabitants. At the first election of said judges under this Constitution, the General Assembly shall elect, as nearly as practicable, one-fourth of the