SEARCH SITE
VIRGINIA LAW PORTAL
- Code of Virginia
- Virginia Administrative Code
- Constitution of Virginia
- Charters
- Authorities
- Compacts
- Uncodified Acts
- RIS Users (account required)
SEARCHABLE DATABASES
- Bills & Resolutions
session legislation - Bill Summaries
session summaries - Reports to the General Assembly
House and Senate documents - Legislative Liaisons
State agency contacts
ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
- Bills & Resolutions: Since 1994
- Summaries: Since 1994
Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2024 SESSION
24100565DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 5.5, 6.19, as amended, 8.12, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, as amended, and 12.7 of Chapter 213 of the Acts of Assembly of 1960 are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 5.5. Duties.
It shall be the duty of the city manager to: (a) attend all meetings of
the council with the right to speak but not to vote; (b) keep the council
advised of the financial condition and the future needs of the city and of all
matters pertaining to its proper administration, and make such recommendations
as may seem to him desirable; (c) prepare and submit the annual budget to the
council as provided in Chapter 6 of this charter and be responsible for its
administration after its adoption; (d) prepare or have
prepared in suitable form for publication and submit to the
council not later than sixty days after the end of each
fiscal year of the city a concise, comprehensive report of the financial
transactions and administrative activities of the city government during the
preceding fiscal year a report of
the city's annual financial audit in the format and by the due date the Commonwealth
of Virginia requires, and cause to be printed such number
of copies thereof as the council shall direct; (e) present adequate financial
and activity reports at each regular meeting of the council; and (f) perform
such other duties as may be prescribed by this charter or required of him in
accordance therewith by the council or which may be required of the chief
executive officer of a city by the general laws of the Commonwealth other than
the duties conferred on the mayor by this charter.
§ 6.19. Certification of funds.
No payment shall be made and no obligation incurred by or on
behalf of the city except in accordance with an appropriation duly made;,
provided that the council shall have the power to authorize and direct and the
making of expenditures and contracts for the expenditure of funds not
appropriated in any budget for the then
current fiscal year. No payment shall be made from or obligation incurred
against any allotment or appropriation, except those of the
School Board school board,
unless the director of finance shall first certify determine that there is a
sufficient unexpended and unencumbered balance in such allotment or
appropriation to meet the same; provided that nothing herein
shall be taken to prevent the advance authorization of expenditures for small
purchases as provided in this charter. Every payment made in violation of the
provisions of this charter shall be deemed illegal and every
official who shall knowingly authorize or make such payment or knowingly take
part therein and every person who shall knowingly receive such payment or any
part thereof shall be jointly and severally liable to the city for the full
amount so paid or received. If any officer, member of a board or commission, or
employee of the city shall knowingly incur any obligation or shall authorize or
make any expenditure in violation of the provisions of this charter or
knowingly take part therein, such action shall be cause for his removal.
§ 8.12. Accounting control of purchasing.
All purchases made and contracts executed by the purchasing
agent shall be pursuant to a written requisition, in such form as may be
prescribed by the director of finance, from the head of the using agency whose
appropriation is to be charged, or from the head of a bureau or other operating
unit to whom such authority has been delegated in writing, filed with the
purchasing agent, except as provided in subsection (f) of § 8.3 of
this charter, by the head of the using agency. No purchase
order made or contract entered into by the purchasing agent shall be valid
unless there be endorsed thereon the certificate of
the director of finance determines
that there is an unexpended and unencumbered balance in the appropriation and
allotment applicable thereto. Nothing herein, however, shall be taken to
prevent the purchasing agent from making purchases from a store's revolving
fund which the council is hereby authorized to establish, or from making sales
from the stores to the several using agencies based on their requisitions,
provided the director of finance certified determined that there is an
unexpended and unencumbered balance in the appropriation to be charged.
§ 10.1. Department of law Office of the City
Attorney.
There shall be a
department of law which shall consist of the city attorney and such assistant
city attorneys and other employees as may be provided by ordinance an Office of the City Attorney, which shall
consist of the City Attorney and such Deputy and Assistant City Attorneys and
other employees as the City
Council authorizes.
§ 10.2. Qualifications and, appointment, and compensation of the City Attorney.
The head of the department of law shall be the city attorney. He
shall be an attorney at law licensed to practice under the laws of the
Commonwealth. He shall be chosen in the manner provided in § 10.5 Office of the City Attorney shall be the City
Attorney. The City Council shall appoint the City Attorney, who shall be an
attorney-at-law licensed
to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The City Attorney shall
not be required to reside in the City when he is appointed or during his tenure
as City Attorney. The City Council shall determine the City
Attorney's salary and other compensation.
§ 10.3. Powers and duties of the City attorney; powers and duties Attorney.
The city attorney shall (a) be
the legal advisor of (1) the council, (2) the city manager, (3) the city school
board, and (4) all departments, boards, commissions, and agencies of the city,
in all matters affecting the interests of the city, and shall, upon written
request, furnish a written opinion of any question of law involving their respective
official powers and duties; (b) at the request of the city manager or any
member of the council, prepare ordinances for introduction and at the request
of the council or any member thereof shall examine any ordinance after
introduction and render his opinion as to the form and legality thereof; (c)
draw or approve all bonds, deeds, leases, contracts or other instruments to
which the city or city school board is a part or in which it has an interest;
(d) have the management and control of all the law business of the city and of
the city school board and the departments, boards, commissions and agencies
thereof, or in which the city has an interest, and represent the city and the
city school board as counsel in any civil case in which it is interested and in
criminal cases in which the constitutionality or validity of any ordinance is
brought in issue; (e) with the approval of the council or of the city school
board, as the case may be, institute and prosecute all legal proceedings he
shall deem necessary or proper to protect the interests of the city or the city
school board; (f) attend in person or assign one of his assistants to attend
all meetings of the council and any regular meeting of the city school board
when requested by the Superintendent of Schools; (g) appoint and remove such
assistant city attorneys and other employees as shall be authorized by the
council, subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter as to employees
in the classified service, and authorize the assistant city attorneys or any of
them or special counsel to perform any of the duties imposed upon him in this
charter; and (h) have such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by
ordinance. The city attorney may, with the concurrence of the Commonwealth's
Attorney, prosecute misdemeanor violations of city ordinances not prosecuted by
the Commonwealth's Attorney pursuant to § 21.7 of this charter. The approval or
withholding of approval by the city attorney in the matters provided for in §§
8.7 (c) and 8.7 (d) shall relate only to the legality of the proposed action. The City Attorney shall (1) be the legal advisor of
the City Council, the City Manager, and all of
the City's departments, boards,
commissions, and agencies, and he
shall furnish to them written or oral opinions concerning any questions of law
involving their powers and duties; (2) upon request of the City Manager or any
City Council Member, prepare ordinances and resolutions for consideration; (3)
draft or approve all bonds, deeds, leases, contracts, or other documents to
which the City is a party, and review any other document in which the City has
an interest; (4) manage all of the City's legal
business and either represent the City as counsel in any civil case in which
the City is a party or arrange for other legal counsel to represent the City;
(5) with City Council approval, institute and litigate civil legal proceedings
he deems necessary or proper to protect the City's interests;
(6) whenever practicable, attend in person or have a Deputy or Assistant City
Attorney attend City Council meetings; (7) employ Deputy and Assistant City
Attorneys and other employees that the City Council approves, contract with
special counsel, and authorize the Deputy or Assistant City Attorneys, or
special counsel, to perform any duties the City Attorney delegates to them; and
(8) have any other power or duty that the City Council assigns to him in an
ordinance or resolution or which this Charter or general law imposes on him.
The City Attorney may, with the concurrence of the Attorney for the
Commonwealth, prosecute misdemeanor violations of the City Code
which the Attorney for the Commonwealth does not
prosecute.
§ 12.7. Contracts for capital improvement projects.
Whenever any capital
improvement project is to be undertaken by the city or any department, board,
commission or agency thereof, including the school board, the department of
public works shall cause plans, specifications and estimates of cost of such
capital improvement project to be made. The school board and department of
public utilities may utilize the services of the department of public works in
preparing plans, specifications and estimates of cost for capital improvement
projects relating to their respective functions but they may, in the discretion
of the school board or director of public utilities, as the case may be, cause
such plans and specifications to be prepared by their own employees or by
architects and engineers engaged for the purpose. In the case of any capital
improvement project, except one relating to school buildings and grounds, if
the estimate of cost is $10,000 or less it may, in the discretion of the city
manager, be constructed either by contract or by the employees of the
department of public works or the department of public utilities, as the case
may be. If the estimate of cost is more than $10,000, such capital improvement
project shall, except as hereinafter provided, be constructed by contract. No
contract for any capital improvement project estimated to cost more than $1000
shall be let except upon sealed bids based on the plans and specifications
prepared by the department of public utilities, which bids shall be advertised
for, received, opened and tabulated by the purchasing agent in the manner and
subject to the conditions prescribed by ordinance. The contract shall be
awarded by the purchasing agent to the lowest responsible bidder, provided that
the city manager, when the estimated cost of the capital improvement project is
$10,000 or less, and the council in all cases, may authorize the rejection of
all bids, instruct the purchasing agent to readvertise for bids with or without
modification of the plans and specifications for such capital improvement
project or order the same to be constructed by the department of public works
or the department of public utilities, as the case may be. A record of all
bids, showing the names of the bidders and the amounts of the bids and
indicating in each case the successful bidder, together with the originals of
all sealed bids and other documents pertaining to the award of contracts, shall
be preserved by the purchasing agent for six years in a file which shall be
open to public inspection during regular business hours. No capital improvement
project which is essentially a unit shall be divided for the purpose of evading
the intent of this section.
Before and during the construction of a capital improvement project, the city, and any of its departments, offices, or other component entities administering the project, shall comply with the public procurement requirements specified by general law and the Colonial Heights City Code. Also, before and during the construction of a capital improvement project, the city school board shall comply with the public procurement requirements specified by general law and any policies the school board has adopted.
2. That §§ 10.4, 10.5, as amended, 10.6, as amended, and 12.8 of Chapter 213 of the Acts of Assembly of 1960 are repealed.