Part 29 (1/2)

SEC. 89. The General a.s.sembly may, from time to time, provide for a Special Court of Appeals to try any cases on the docket of the Supreme Court of Appeals in respect to which a majority of the judges are so situated as to make it improper for them to sit; and also to try any cases on said docket which cannot be disposed of with convenient dispatch. The said special court shall be composed of not less than three nor more than five of the judges of the circuit courts and city courts of record in cities of the first cla.s.s, or of the judges of either of said courts, or of any of the judges of said courts together with one or more of the judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

SEC. 90. 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.

SEC. 91. The judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be chosen by the joint vote of the two houses of the General a.s.sembly. They shall, when chosen, have held a judicial station in the United States, or shall have practiced law in this or some other state for five years. At the first election under this Const.i.tution, the General a.s.sembly shall elect the judges for terms of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve years respectively; and thereafter they shall be elected for terms of twelve years.

SEC. 92. The officers of the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the court or by the judges in vacation. Their duties, compensation, and tenure of office shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 93. The Supreme Court of Appeals shall hold its sessions at two or more places in the State, to be fixed by law.

SEC. 94. The State shall be divided into twenty-four judicial circuits, as follows:

The counties of Norfolk, Princess Anne, and the city of Portsmouth, shall const.i.tute the first circuit.

The counties of Nansemond, Southampton, Isle of Wight, and the city of Norfolk, shall const.i.tute the second circuit.

The counties of Prince George, Surry, Suss.e.x, Greenesville, and Brunswick, shall const.i.tute the third circuit.

The counties of Chesterfield, Powhatan, Dinwiddie, Nottoway, and Amelia, and the city of Petersburg, shall const.i.tute the fourth circuit.

The counties of Prince Edward, c.u.mberland, Buckingham, Appomattox, and Charlotte, shall const.i.tute the fifth circuit.

The counties of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Halifax, Campbell, and the city of Lynchburg, shall const.i.tute the sixth circuit.

The counties of Pittsylvania, Franklin, Henry, and Patrick, and the city of Danville, shall const.i.tute the seventh circuit.

The counties of Amherst, Nelson, Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Coochland, shall const.i.tute the eighth circuit.

The counties of Rappahannock, Culpeper, Madison, Greene, Orange, and Louisa, shall const.i.tute the ninth circuit.

The county of Henrico and the city of Richmond, shall const.i.tute the tenth circuit.

The counties of Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, and the city of Newport News, shall const.i.tute the eleventh circuit.

The counties of Richmond, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Lancaster, and Ess.e.x, shall const.i.tute the twelfth circuit.

The counties of Gloucester, Mathews, King and Queen, King William, and Middles.e.x, shall const.i.tute the thirteenth circuit.

The counties of New Kent, Charles City, York, Warwick, James City, and the city of Williamsburg, shall const.i.tute the fourteenth circuit.

The counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, and Hanover, shall const.i.tute the fifteenth circuit.

The counties of Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and Alexandria, and the city of Alexandria, shall const.i.tute the sixteenth circuit.

The counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Shenandoah, and Page, shall const.i.tute the seventeenth circuit.

The counties of Rockingham, Augusta, and Rockbridge, shall const.i.tute the eighteenth circuit.

The counties of Highland, Bath, Alleghany, Craig, and Botecourt, shall const.i.tute the nineteenth circuit.

The counties of Bedford, Roanoke, Montgomery, and Floyd, and the city of Roanoke, shall const.i.tute the twentieth circuit.