CODE OF TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA

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Published in 1991 by Order of the Board of Supervisors

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Adopted March 12, 1992

Effective March 12, 1992

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CURRENT OFFICIALS

of

TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA

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Mr. Travis Hackworth, Chairman

Mr. Charles A. Stacy, Vice-Chairman

Mr. Michael D. Hymes

Mr. Thomas A. Lester

Mrs. Margaret A. Asbury

Board of Supervisors

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Mr. C. Eric Young

County Administrator

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Mr. Chase D. Collins

Interim County Attorney

PREFACE

FORM OF GOVERNMENT

Tazewell County is governed by a board of supervisors, composed of five members. They are elected by the qualified voters from five single-member districts. The apportionment of the districts from which the board members are elected lies within the discretion of the board. Supervisors are elected for four-year terms. The election of supervisors is held as a part of the state's general election in November of odd-numbered years. At the first meeting of the year, the board organizes itself and selects one of its members to serve as chairman and another to serve as vice-chairman. The chairman and vice-chairman continue to be voting members of the governing body.

The board of supervisors has both administrative and legislative responsibilities, some of which are discharged in the role of the local governing body and some of which have derived from its function as an administrative subdivision of the state. The powers and duties of the board of supervisors include:

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adopting a county budget;

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levying county taxes;

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appropriating funds;

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preauditing claims against the county and issuing warrants for their settlement;

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constructing and maintaining county buildings;

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approving and enforcing the county's comprehensive land use plan and related ordinances;

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adopting ordinances for police, sanitation, health, and other regulations permitted by state laws; and

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providing for the care and treatment of indigent and handicapped citizens.

In performing these and other duties, the board of supervisors acts as an administrative committee directing the work of those county agencies for which the board has responsibility.

In 1950, The General Assembly enacted the County Executive Secretaries Act of 1950, permitting the board of supervisors of any county to hire a full-time administrative officer. The title of the act was later changed to County Administrators Act. The board of supervisors of Tazewell County established this position by resolution in 1965. The board exercises complete discretion in making this appointment.

Creating the office of county administrator modified the traditional form of county government. It did not change the county's form of government. The county administrator is required by law to serve as clerk to the governing body. The county administrator assumes the responsibilities formerly assigned to the clerk of the board.

Additional duties and responsibilities may be assigned to the county administrator by the board, and the extent of administration delegated depends upon the desires of the board of supervisors. These responsibilities can be as broad and flexible as necessary to meet the needs of county government. The board of supervisors has established in the office of the county administrator a central system of accounting, which provides the base for a centralized system of purchasing.

The county administrator, then, serves the governing body in the tradition of the master-servant relationship long recognized in English common law. The general duties of the county administrator are more particularly set out at Article 8 (§ 15.1-115 et seq.) of Chapter 2 of Title 15.1 of the Code of Virginia (1950), as amended.

Five constitutional officers, elected at large by the voters of each county, perform services for both state and county governments. All serve four-year terms of office except the clerk of the circuit court, who serves for a term of eight years. The salaries of constitutional officers are prescribed in the annual appropriations act, based on the population of the localities served, and in some cases on the duties of the office. Localities pay the salaries of their constitutional officers and are reimbursed on a periodic basis by the state compensation board of all or part of the salaries. Localities are permitted to supplement the salaries of the constitutional officers, with the exception of the circuit court clerks. The state compensation board sets the salaries and approves the job classification of all employees of the constitutional officers.

The duties of the clerk of the circuit court fall into two categories. There are, first of all, those associated with judicial proceedings in the circuit court. Second, the clerk serves as a general recordkeeper for the county, recording all documents relating to land transfers, deeds, deeds of trust, mortgages, births, deaths, wills, and divorces, as well as recording election results and issuing damage stamps and marriage licenses.

The treasurer is charged with the collection, custody, and disbursement of county funds. The governing body or the circuit court may require the treasurer to furnish a periodic account of receipts and expenditures and a statement of the treasurer's account. The treasurer also collects funds for the state, reporting on these accounts to the state comptroller.

The commissioner of the revenue deals with the preparation of the real estate and personal property tax books and tax bills. The commissioner may assess real property and improvements added to the land books between general reassessments. He or she may be the assessing officer in counties in which the governing body so designates, and in those which have annual reassessments. The commissioner also assesses the taxable value of machinery and tools and merchant's capital, and assesses all county licenses taxes on businesses and professions.

The Commonwealth's attorney is primarily responsible for matters involving enforcement of the criminal law within the county, that is, prosecuting attorney. In Tazewell County, that position is a fulltime position, and the attorney may not engage in the private practice of law.

The county attorney handles civil legal matters of the county government, and, upon agreement with the Commonwealth's attorney, may prosecute violations of certain county ordinances. The county attorney is retained at a rate, at the will and pleasure of the board of supervisors. The county attorney may engage in the private practice of law. The county attorney is not a constitutional officer.

The fifth constitutional officer, the sheriff, is the chief law enforcement officer of the county and serves as bailiff at sessions of the circuit and district courts, and upon request, at meetings of the board of supervisors. The sheriff's responsibilities include operation of the county jail.

CODE

This Code constitutes a complete codification of the general and permanent ordinances of Tazewell County, Virginia.

Source materials used in the preparation of the Code were the ordinances adopted by the board of supervisors. The source of each section is included in the history note appearing in parentheses at the end thereof. The absence of such a note indicates that the section is new and was adopted for the first time with the adoption of the Code. By use of the comparative tables appearing in the back of this Code, the reader can locate any ordinance included herein.

The chapters of the Code have been conveniently arranged in alphabetical order, and the various sections within each chapter have been catchlined to facilitate usage. Notes which tie related sections of the Code together and which refer to relevant state law have been included. A table listing the state law citations and setting forth their location within the Code is included at the back of this Code.

Numbering System

The numbering system used in this Code consists of two parts separated by a dash. The figure before the dash refers to the chapter number, and the figure after the dash refers to the position of the section within the chapter. Thus, the second section of Chapter 1 is numbered 1-2, and the first section of Chapter 4 is 4-1. Under this system, each section is identified with its chapter, and at the same time new sections or even whole chapters can be inserted in their proper place by using the decimal system for amendments. For example, if new material consisting of one section that would logically come between sections 3-1 and 3-2 is desired to be added, such new section would be numbered 3-1.5. New chapters may be included in the same manner. If the new material is to be included between Chapters 12 and 13, it will be designated as Chapter 12.5. Care should be taken that the alphabetical arrangement of chapters is maintained when including new chapters. New articles and new divisions may be included in the same way or, in the case of articles, may be placed at the end of the chapter embracing the subject, and, in the case of divisions, may be placed at the end of the article embracing the subject. The next successive number shall be assigned to the new article or division.

Index

The index has been prepared with the greatest of care. Each particular item has been placed under several headings, some of which are couched in lay phraseology, others in legal terminology, and still others in language generally used by local government officials and employees. There are numerous cross references within the index itself which stand as guideposts to direct the user to the particular item in which the user is interested.

Looseleaf Supplements

A special feature of this publication is the looseleaf system of binding and supplemental servicing of the publication. With this system, the publication will be kept up-to-date. Subsequent amendatory legislation will be properly edited, and the appropriate page or pages affected will be reprinted. These new pages will be distributed to holders of copies of the publication, with instructions for the manner of inserting the new pages and deleting the obsolete pages.

Keeping this publication up-to-date at all times will depend largely upon the holder of the publication. As revised sheets are received, it will then become the responsibility of the holder to have the amendments inserted according to the attached instructions. It is strongly recommended by the publisher that all such amendments be inserted immediately upon receipt to avoid misplacing them and, in addition, that all deleted pages be saved and filed for historical reference purposes.

Acknowledgments

This publication was under the direct supervision of Milton E. Lefkoff, Supervising Editor, and Connie Timmons, Editor, of the Municipal Code Corporation, Tallahassee, Florida. Credit is gratefully given to the other members of the publisher's staff for their sincere interest and able assistance throughout the project.

The publisher is most grateful to Mr. LaVern Bechtel, County Administrator, Mr. Robert Galumbeck, County Attorney, and Ms. Mary R. Groseclose, Administrative Secretary, II, for their cooperation and assistance during the progress of the work on this publication. It is hoped that their efforts and those of the publisher have resulted in a Code of Ordinances which will make the active law of the county readily accessible to all citizens and which will be a valuable tool in the day-to-day administration of the county's affairs.

MUNICIPAL CODE CORPORATION Tallahassee, Florida

 

ADOPTING ORDINANCE

AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING AND ENACTING A NEW CODE FOR TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA; PROVIDING FOR THE CODIFICATION OF THE ORDINANCES OF TAZEWELL COUNTY; PROVIDING FOR THE REPEAL OF CERTAIN ORDINANCES NOT INCLUDED THEREIN; PROVIDING A PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR THE MANNER OF AMENDING SUCH CODE; AND PROVIDING WHEN SUCH CODE AND THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF TAZEWELL COUNTY, VIRGINIA:

Section 1. The Code entitled "Code of Tazewell County Virginia" published by Municipal Code Corporation consisting of Chapters 1 through 18, each inclusive, is adopted.

Section 2. All ordinances of a general and permanent nature enacted on or before February 11, 1991, and not included in the Code or recognized and continued in force by reference therein, are repealed.

Section 3. The repeal provided for in section 2 hereof shall not be construed to revive any ordinance or part thereof that has been repealed by a subsequent ordinance that is repealed by this ordinance.

Section 4. Unless another penalty is expressly provided, every person convicted of a violation of any provision of the Code or any ordinance, rule or regulation adopted or issued in pursuance thereof, shall be punished as provided in Code of Virginia, Section 15.1-505. Each act of violation and each day upon which any such violation shall occur shall constitute a separate offense. The penalty provided by this section, unless another penalty is expressly provided shall apply to the amendment of any Code section whether or not such penalty is reenacted in the amendatory ordinance. In addition to the penalty prescribed above, the county may pursue other remedies such as abatement of nuisances, injunctive relief, and revocation of licenses or permits.

Section 5. Additions or amendments to the Code when passed in the form as to indicate the intention of the board to make the same a part of the Code shall be deemed to be incorporated in the Code, so that reference to the Code includes the additions and amendments.

Section 6. Ordinances adopted after February 11, 1991 that amend or refer to ordinances that have been codified in the Code, shall be construed as if they amend or refer to like provisions of the Code.

Section 7. This ordinance is adopted pursuant to the authority of Section 15.1-37.3 of the Code of Virginia, (1950), as amended.

Section 8. This ordinance shall become effective on the 12th day of March, 1992.

Passed and adopted by the board of supervisors this 12th day of March, 1992.

	/s/ James H. Jones       Chairman

/s/ LaVern Bechtel       County Administrator