Virginia Code 15.2-1535: Members of governing body not to be elected or appointed by governing body to certain offices.
A. Pursuant to Article VII, § 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, no member of a governing body of a locality shall be eligible, during the term of office for which he was elected or appointed, to hold any office filled by the governing body by election or appointment, except that a member of a governing body may be named a member of such other boards, commissions, and bodies as may be permitted by general law and except that a member of a governing body may be named to fill a vacancy in the office of mayor or board chairman if permitted by general or special law.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 15.2-1535
- Council: means the governing body of a city or town. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- farm: means any person that obtains at least 51 percent of its annual gross income from agricultural operations and produces the agricultural waste used as feedstock for the waste-to-energy technology, (ii) "agricultural waste" means biomass waste materials capable of decomposition that are produced from the raising of plants and animals during agricultural operations, including animal manures, bedding, plant stalks, hulls, and vegetable matter, and (iii) "waste-to-energy technology" means any technology, including but not limited to a methane digester, that converts agricultural waste into gas, steam, or heat that is used to generate electricity on-site. See Virginia Code 1-222.1
- Governing body: means the board of supervisors of a county, council of a city, or council of a town, as the context may require. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
- Locality: means a county, city, or town as the context may require. See Virginia Code 1-221
- Town: means any existing town or an incorporated community within one or more counties which became a town before noon, July one, nineteen hundred seventy-one, as provided by law or which has within defined boundaries a population of 1,000 or more and which has become a town as provided by law. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
B. Pursuant to Article VII, § 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, and without limiting any other provision of general law, a governing body member may be named by the governing body to one or more of the following positions:
1. Director of emergency management pursuant to § 44-146.19;
2. Member of a planning district commission pursuant to § 15.2-4203;
3. Member of a transportation district commission pursuant to § 33.2-1907;
4. Member of a behavioral health authority board pursuant to Chapter 6 of Title 37.2;
5. Member of a hospital or health center commission pursuant to Chapter 52 of Title 15.2;
6. Member of a community services board pursuant to Chapter 5 of Title 37.2;
7. Member of a park authority pursuant to Chapter 57 of Title 15.2;
8. Member of a detention or other residential care facilities commission pursuant to Article 13 (§ 16.1-315 et seq.) of Chapter 11 of Title 16.1;
9. Member of a board of directors, governing board or advisory council of an area agency on aging pursuant to § 51.5-135;
10. Member of a regional jail or jail farm board, pursuant to § 53.1-106 or of a regional jail authority or jail authority pursuant to Article 3.1 (§ 53.1-95.2 et seq.) of Chapter 3 of Title 53.1;
11. With respect to members of the governing body of a town under 3,500 population, member of an industrial development authority’s board of directors pursuant to Chapter 49 of Title 15.2;
12. Member of the board of directors, governing board, or advisory council or committee of an airport commission or authority;
13. Member of a Board of Directors of a Regional Industrial Facility Authority pursuant to Chapter 64 of Title 15.2;
14. Member of a local parks and recreation commission;
15. Member of the Board of the Richmond Ambulance Authority;
16. Member of a local convention, visitors, or tourism board, authority, or agency; and
17. Member of the Board of Directors of the Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority pursuant to § 33.2-2901.
C. If any governing body member is appointed or elected by the governing body to any office, his qualification in that office shall be void except as provided in subsection B or by other general law.
D. Except as specifically provided in general or special law, no appointed body listed in subsection B shall be comprised of a majority of elected officials as members, nor shall any locality be represented on such appointed body by more than one elected official.
E. For the purposes of this section, “governing body” includes the mayor of a municipality and the county board chairman.
1993, cc. 621, 781, § 15.1-50.5; 1995, cc. 696, 699; 1997, c. 587; 1998, c. 488; 1999, c. 811; 2001, c. 8; 2009, cc. 400, 649; 2011, cc. 41, 51; 2012, cc. 803, 835; 2014, c. 469; 2018, c. 659.