15.2-1245 - Procedure for allowance of claims.
§ 15.2-1245. Procedure for allowance of claims.
A. No account shall be allowed by the governing body of the county unlessmade out in separate items with the nature of each item specifically stated.When no specific fees are allowed by law, the time actually and necessarilydevoted to the performance of any service charged in such account shall beverified by affidavit, which shall be filed with the account. The attorneyfor the Commonwealth, or the county attorney if there is one, shall representthe county before the board and advise the board of any claim which in hisopinion is illegal or not before the board in proper form or upon properproof, or which for any other reason ought not to be allowed. No such claimshall be denied unless the attorney representing the county has, by certifiedmail, served written notice on the claimant or his agent of the date that thegoverning body will consider the claim.
B. If any claim has been allowed by the governing body against the countywhich in the opinion of such attorney is improper as to form or proof orillegal, the attorney shall seek the advice of the Attorney General as tolegality or the State Auditor of Public Accounts as to matters of accounting.If any claim has been allowed by the governing body against the county which,in the opinion of any six owners of land within the county is improper as toform or proof or illegal, such landowners may appeal the decision of thegoverning body to the circuit court for the county. If either the AttorneyGeneral or the State Auditor of Public Accounts is of the opinion the claimis illegal or in improper form, the attorney for the Commonwealth shallappeal from the decision of the governing body to the circuit court for thecounty. In the event of any such appeal, the moving party shall serve awritten notice of the appeal on the clerk of the governing body and the partyin whose favor the claim is allowed within 30 days after the making of suchdecision. If the court finds and states in its order that the claim wasimproperly allowed but that the consideration received or to be received bythe county for payments made or to be made was or will be for value, it shalldismiss the appeal. If the court finds otherwise, it shall remand the claimto the governing body for appropriate action.
C. Whenever any claim allowed by a county governing body is declared illegalby a court of competent jurisdiction, the attorney for the Commonwealth, orthe county attorney if there is one, in the name of the county, shallinstitute proper proceedings in the circuit court of his county within twoyears from the entry of the order declaring the claim illegal, if such amounthas already been paid. Such attorney shall be available to the governing bodyand give his legal opinion when requested.
D. Nothing in this section shall prevent any county governing body fromdisallowing any account, in whole or in part, when rendered and verifiedconsistent with subsection A, or requiring any other evidence of the truthand propriety of any account as it thinks proper.
(Code 1950, §§ 15-257, 15-258; 1962, c. 623, §§ 15.1-550, 15.1-551; 1968, c.450; 1980, c. 58; 1982, c. 173; 1984, c. 617; 1997, c. 587; 2010, c. 668.)