Virginia Code 15.2-3301: Initiation of proceeding for declaration of immunity
The governing body of any county or tier-city may, by ordinance passed by a recorded affirmative vote of a majority of the members thereof, petition the circuit court for the county for an order declaring the county or tier-city totally or partially immune, as the case may be, from city-initiated annexation and from the incorporation of new cities within its boundaries.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 15.2-3301
- City: means an independent incorporated community which became a city as provided by law before noon on July 1, 1971, or which has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more and which has become a city as provided by law. See Virginia Code 1-208
- County: means any existing county or such unit hereafter created. See Virginia Code 15.2-102
- 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
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Tier-city: means an incorporated community within a consolidated county that (i) has within defined boundaries a population of 5,000 or more, (ii) has been designated as a tier-city by the General Assembly, and (iii) has both the powers of a town and such additional powers as may be granted tier-cities by the General Assembly. See Virginia Code 1-252
If the petition for total or partial county immunity is filed after the institution of a proceeding for city-initiated annexation of county or tier-city territory or for the incorporation of a new city within the county’s or tier-city’s boundaries under the provisions of Chapters 32 (§ 15.2-3200 et seq.) or 38 (§ 15.2-3800 et seq.) and before the time limit for pleadings established by the court pursuant to § 15.2-3204 or § 15.2-3805, the proceeding for annexation or incorporation shall be stayed until the court determines the question of total or partial county immunity. The clerk of the circuit court shall give notice of its receipt of a county’s or tier-city’s petition for immunity to each court in which the county or tier-city may be a party to a city-initiated annexation proceeding or to a proceeding for the incorporation of a new city.
1979, c. 85, § 15.1-977.20; 1984, c. 695; 1985, c. 478; 1997, c. 587.