SEARCH SITE

VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL

SEARCHABLE DATABASES

ACROSS SESSIONS

Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.

2005 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 988
Celebrating the life of Jay Evans Sears.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 25, 2005
Agreed to by the Senate, February 26, 2005

 

WHEREAS, Jay Evans Sears of Chesterfield, who was instrumental in making video coverage of the General Assembly more widely available to Virginia's citizens, died on February 17, 2005; and

WHEREAS, a native of West Virginia, Jay Sears was a pilot during World War II and owned and operated several coal companies in West Virginia after the war; and

WHEREAS, in 1961 Jay Sears began a career in video production in the Richmond area, served as news director for WXEX, Channel 8, in Petersburg for seven years, and produced that station's first color newscast; and

WHEREAS, in 1968 Jay Sears established a private video production company, Jay Sears News Service, a firm that to this day is responsible for documenting the proceedings of the House of Delegates for archival and historical reference; and

WHEREAS, Jay Sears, instrumental in establishing the innovation of filming the proceedings of the General Assembly and providing footage to out-of-town stations, helped eliminate the necessity of these stations having a reporter in Richmond to cover the legislature; and

WHEREAS, this procedure was a significant innovation at the time, and the practice continues to the present day; and

WHEREAS, Jay Sears also installed the first camera system for the House of Delegates and established the practice of televising the deliberations of the House over a closed-circuit network available for viewing in the State Capitol and General Assembly Building; and

WHEREAS, Jay Sears was highly regarded by his professional colleagues and by the members and staff of the General Assembly, and his contributions to greater public understanding of the actions of the General Assembly form a valuable legacy; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of an exceptionally creative and innovative professional, Jay Evans Sears; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Jay Evans Sears as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly.