User:Chuckhoffmann/County government in Virginia

County government in Virginia is organized on one of several forms.

• Traditional form - Used by 83 of Virginia's 95 counties.
• County Board - Used by Carroll, Grayson, Russell and Scott Counties.
• County Executive - Used by Albemarle and Prince William Counties.
• County Manager Form - Used by Henrico County.
• County Manager Plan - Used by Arlington County.
• Urban County Executive Form - Used by Fairfax County.

Additionally, three counties, Chesterfield, James City and Roanoke have county charters that describe their forms of government.

History

Following the Civil War, Article VII of the Virginia Constitution of 1870 governed the organization of county government.

Section 1 provided for the election of five constitutional officers: sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, county clerk, county treasurer and superintendent of the poor. In counties that had more than 15,000 inhabitants, a separate clerk of the circuit court could also be elected.

Section 2 divided each county into at least three townships and provided that each township would elect a supervisor. The supervisors of all of a county's townships would constitute that county's board of supervisors. Following a constitutional amendment, in 1875 the township form was abandoned, and supervisors were instead elected from each county's magisterial districts.

Article 110 of the 1902 Constitution of Virginia retained the elective offices of sheriff, commonwealth's attorney and county clerk. The newly-created office of commissioner of the revenue could be either elected or appointed. The office of superintendent of the poor was made an appointed office, and a new office of county surveyor was created.

In 1928, Article 110 was amended to allow the General Assembly to pass laws allowing for other forms of government other than those listed in the constitution. The first of these was the County Manager Plan, which allowed members of the county board to be elected at large rather than from magisterial districts. Arlington County adopted the form in 1930.

Following a voter referendum in 1933, Henrico County adopted the County Manager Form in 1934.

Fairfax County adopted the Urban County Executive Form in 1966.

Carroll County adopted the County Board Form in 1971.

Organization

All counties in Virginia are governed by a board of supervisors, which serves as the policy making body for the county and provides legislative functions for the county.

In all forms of government except the Urban County Executive Form, the chairman is then elected by the other members of the board.

However, by a special act of the General Assembly the chairman may also be directly elected at-large following the approval of a referendum by county voters. Frederick County approved this change in 1974, Loudoun County in 1990, and Page County in 2004.

County Manager Plan

Legislative authority § 15.2-700. et seq. The county manager plan provides for the appointment of a county manager, in whom all the administrative and executive functions of county government are vested.

County Manager Form

Legislative authority § 15.2-600 et seq. County manager is administrative head.

County Board Form

Legislative authority § 15.2-400 et seq.

County Executive Form

Legislative authority § 15.2-500 et seq.

Urban County Executive Form

Legislative authority § 15.2-800 et seq.

Obsolete forms

Several forms of county government have been authorized by the General Assembly in the past, but were later legislated out of existence.

Created by the General Assembly in 1930, the Modified Commission Plan called for the election of a board of five commissioners, who were to be elected either at large or by district. These commissioners would then create five adminstrative departments, for which each would be the executive head. This plan was offered as an alternative to the County Manager Plan in the voter referendum of 1930 in Arlington county, but was defeated by a vote of more than four to one.

Executive Secretary Form