BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS.

14. There shall be a Board of Public Works, to consist of three Commissioners. The State shall be divided into three districts, containing as nearly as may be equal numbers of voters, and the voters of each district shall elect one Commissioner, whose term of office shall be six years; but of those first elected, one, to be designated by lot, shall remain in office for two years only, and one other, to be designated in like manner, shall remain in office for four years only.

15. The General Assembly, at its first session after the adoption of this Constitution, shall provide for the election and compensation of the Commissioners, and the organization of the Board. The Commissioners first elected shall assemble on a day to be appointed by law, and decide by lot the order in which their terms of service shall expire.

16. The Board of Public Works shall appoint all officers employed on the public works, and all persons representing the interest of the Commonwealth in works of internal improvement, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.

17. The members of the Board of Public Works may be removed by the concurrent vote of a majority of all the members elected to each house of the General Assembly; but the cause of removal shall be entered on the journal of each house.

18. The General Assembly shall have power, by a vote of threefifths of the members elected to each house, to abolish said board whenever in their opinion a board of public works shall no longer be necessary.

MILITIA.

19. The manner of appointing militia officers shall be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE VI.-Judiciary Department.

1. There shall be a Supreme Court of Appeals, District Courts and Circuit Courts. The jurisdiction of these tribunals, and of the Judges thereof, except so far as the same is conferred by this Constitution, shall be regulated by law.

JUDICIAL DIVISIONS.

2. The State shall be divided into twenty-one judicial circuits, ten districts and five sections.

1. The counties of Princess Anne, Norfolk, Nansemond, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Greenesville, Surry and Sussex and the city of Norfolk shall constitute the first circuit.

II. The counties of Prince George, Dinwiddie, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Nottoway, Amelia, Chesterfield and Powhatan and the City of Petersburg shall constitute the second circuit.

III. The counties of Cumberland, Buckingham, Appomattox,

Campbell, Prince Edward, Charlotte and Halifax and the town of Lynchburg shall constitute the third circuit.

IV. The counties of Pittsylvania, Bedford, Franklin, Patrick and Henry shall constitute the fourth circuit.

v. The counties of Accomac and Northampton shall constitute the fifth circuit.

VI. The counties of Elizabeth City, Warwick, York, Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, Henrico, New Kent, Charles City and James City, and the City of Williamsburg shall constitute the sixth circuit. VII. The City of Richmond shall be the seventh circuit.

VIII. The counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland, King George, Spottsylvania, Caroline, Hanover, King William, King and Queen and Essex shall constitute the eighth circuit.

IX. The counties of Stafford, Prince William, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock shall constitute the ninth circuit.

x. The counties of Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange, Albemarle, Louisa, Fluvanna and Goochland shall constitute the tenth circuit.

XI. The counties of Nelson, Amherst, Rockbridge, Augusta and Bath shall constitute the eleventh circuit:

XII. The counties of Pendleton, Highland, Rockingham, Page, Shenandoah, Warren and Hardy shall constitute the twelfth circuit: XIII. The counties of Clarke, Frederick, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson shall constitute the thirteenth circuit:

XIV. The counties of Monroe, Greenbrier, Pocahontas, Alleghany, Botetourt, Roanoke and Craig shall constitute the fourteenth circuit:

xv. The counties of Giles, Mercer, Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan, Boone, Fayette and Nicholas shall constitute the fifteenth circuit: XVI. The counties of Grayson, Carroll, Wythe, Floyd, Pulaski and Montgomery shall constitute the sixteenth circuit:

XVII. The counties of Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Russell, Scott and Lee shall constitute the seventeenth circuit:

XVIII. The counties of Wayne, Cabell, Mason, Jackson, Putnam and Kanawha shall constitute the eighteenth circuit.

XIX. The counties of Wood, Wirt, Gilmer, Braxton, Lewis, Ritchie, Doddridge and Pleasants shall constitute the nineteenth circuit:

xx. The counties of Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler and Monongalia shall constitute the twentieth circuit:

XXI. And the counties of Harrison, Marion, Taylor, Preston, Barbour, Randolph and Upshur shall constitute the twenty-first circuit.

1. The first and second circuits shall constitute the first district; the third and fourth circuits, the second district; the fifth, sixth and seventh circuits, the third district; the eighth and ninth circuits, the

fourth district; the tenth and eleventh circuits, the fifth district; the twelfth and thirteenth circuits, the sixth district; the fourteenth and fifteenth circuits, the seventh district; the sixteenth and seventeenth circuits, the eighth district; the eighteenth and nineteenth circuits, the ninth district; and the twentieth and twenty-first circuits, the tenth district.

2. The first and second districts shall constitute the first section the third and fourth districts, the second section; the fifth and sixth ; districts, the third section; the seventh and eighth districts, the fourth section; and the nine and tenth districts, the fifth section.

3. The General Assembly may, at the end of eight years after the adoption of this Constitution, and thereafter at intervals of eight years, re-arrange the said circuits, districts and sections, and place any number of circuits in a district, and of districts, in a section; but each circuit shall be altogether in one district, and each district in one section; and there shall not be less than two districts and four circuits in a section, and the number of sections shall not be increased or diminished.

CIRCUIT COURTS.

6. For each circuit, a Judge shall be elected by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of eight years, unless sooner removed in the manner prescribed by this Constitution. He shall at the time of his election be at least thirty years of age, and during his continuance in office, shall reside in the circuit of which he is judge.

7. A Circuit Court shall be held at least twice a year by the Judge of each circuit, in every county and corporation thereof, wherein a Circuit Court is now or may hereafter be established. But the Judges in the same district may be required or authorized to hold the courts of their respective circuits alternately, and a Judge of one circuit to hold a court in any other circuit.

DISTRICT COURTS.

8. A District Court shall be held, at least once a year, in every district, by the Judges of the circuits constituting the section and the Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals for the section of which the district forms a part, any three of whom may hold a court; but no Judge shall sit or decide upon any appeal taken from his own decision. The Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals of one section, may sit in the District Courts of another section, when required or authorized by law to do so.

9. The district courts shall not have original jurisdiction, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition.

COURTS OF APPEALS.

10. For each section, a Judge shall be elected by the voters thereof, who shall hold his office for the term of twelve years, unless

sooner removed in the manner prescribed by this Constitution. He shall at the time of his election be at least thirty-five years of age, and during his continuance in office, reside in the section for which he is elected.

11. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall consist of the five Judges so elected, any three of whom may hold a court. It shall have appellate jurisdiction only, except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition. It shall not have jurisdiction in civil causes where the matter in controversy, exclusive of costs, is less in value or amount than five hundred dollars, except in controversies concerning the title or boundaries of land, the probat of a will, the appointment or qualification of a personal representative, guardian, committee or curator; or concerning a mill, road, way, ferry or landing, or the right of a corporation or of a county to levy tolls or taxes; and except in cases of habeas corpus, mandamus and prohibition, and cases involving freedom, or the constitutionality of a law.

12. Special Courts of Appeals, to consist of not less than three nor more than five Judges, may be formed of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, and of the Circuit Courts, or any of them, to try any cases remaining on the dockets of the present Court of Appeals when the Judges thereof cease to hold their offices; or to try any cases which may be on the dockets of the Supreme Court of Appeals established by this Constitution, in respect to which a majority of the Judges of said court may be so situated as to make it improper for them to sit on the hearing thereof.

13. 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.

GENERAL PROVISIONS.

14. Judges shall be commissioned by the Governor, and shall receive fixed and adequate salaries, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. The salary of a Judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall not be less than three thousand dollars and that of a Judge of a Circuit Court not less than two thousand dollars per annum, except that of the Judge of the fifth circuit, which shall not be less than fifteen hundred dollars per annum ; and each shall receive a reasonable allowance for necessary travel.

15. No Judge during his term of service shall hold any other office, appointment or public trust, and the acceptance thereof shall vacate his judicial office; nor shall he during such term, or within one year thereafter, be eligible to any political office.

16. No Election of Judge shall be held within thirty days of the time of holding any election of Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, of Members of Congress or of the General Assembly.

17. Judges may be removed from office by a concurrent vote of both houses of the General Assembly, but a majority of all the

members elected to each house must concur in such vote; and the cause of removal shall be entered on the journal of each house. The judge, against whom the General Assembly may be about to proceed, shall receive notice thereof, accompanied by a copy of the causes alleged for his removal, at least twenty days before the day on which either house of the General Assembly shall act thereupon. 18. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals and of the District Courts shall be appointed by the said Courts respectively, or by the Judges thereof in vacation. Their duties, compensation, and tenure of office, shall be prescribed by law.

19. The voters of each county or corporation in which a Circuit Court is held shall elect a clerk of such court, whose term of office shall be six years. The Attorney for the Commonwealth elected for a county or corporation wherein a Circuit Court is directed to be held, shall be attorney for the Commonwealth for that court. But in case a Circuit Court is held for a City, or for a County and City, there shall be an Attorney for the Commonwealth for such Court, to be elected by the voters of such City, or County and City, and to continue in office for the term of four years. The duties and compensation of these officers, and the mode of removing them from office, shall be prescribed by law.

20. When a vacancy shall occur in the office of clerk of any court, such court may appoint a clerk pro tempore, who shall discharge the duties of the office until the vacancy is filled.

21. The General Assembly shall provide for the compensation of jurors, but appropriations for that purpose, shall not be made from the State treasury, except in prosecutions for felony and misde

meanor.

22. At every election of a Governor, an attorney general shall be elected by the voters of the Commonwealth, for the term of four years. He shall be commissioned by the Governor, shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as may be prescribed by law, and be removable in the manner prescribed for the removal of Judges.

23. Judges and all other officers, whether elected or appointed, shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices after their terms of service have expired, until their successors are qualified.

24. Writs shall run in the name of the Commonwealth of Virginia and be attested by the clerks of the several courts. Indictments shall conclude, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth.

COUNTY COURTS.

25. There shall be in each county of the Commonwealth, a County Court, which shall be held monthly, by not less than three, nor more than five Justices, except when the law shall require the presence of a greater number.