15.2-1702 - Referendum required prior to establishment of county police force.
§ 15.2-1702. Referendum required prior to establishment of county policeforce.
A. A county shall not establish a police force unless (i) such action isfirst approved by the voters of the county in accordance with the provisionsof this section and (ii) the General Assembly enacts appropriate authorizinglegislation.
B. The governing body of any county shall petition the court, by resolution,asking that a referendum be held on the question, "Shall a police force beestablished in the county and the sheriff's office be relieved of primarylaw-enforcement responsibilities?" The court, by order entered of record inaccordance with Article 5 (§ 24.2-681 et seq.) of Chapter 6 of Title 24.2,shall require the regular election officials of the county to open the pollsand take the sense of the voters on the question as herein provided.
The clerk of the circuit court for the county shall publish notice of theelection in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week forthree consecutive weeks prior to the election. The notice shall contain theballot question and a statement of not more than 500 words on the proposedquestion. The explanation shall be presented in plain English, shall belimited to a neutral explanation, and shall not present arguments by eitherproponents or opponents of the proposal. The attorney for the county or cityor, if there is no county or city attorney, the attorney for the Commonwealthshall prepare the explanation. "Plain English" means written innontechnical, readily understandable language using words of common everydayusage and avoiding legal terms and phrases or other terms and words of artwhose usage or special meaning primarily is limited to a particular field orprofession.
C. The county may expend public funds to produce and distribute neutralinformation concerning the referendum; provided, however, public funds maynot be used to promote a particular position on the question, either in thenotice called for in subsection B, or in any other distribution ofinformation to the public.
D. The regular election officers of the county shall open the polls on thedate specified in such order and conduct the election in the manner providedby law. The election shall be by ballot which shall be prepared by theelectoral board of the county and on which shall be printed the following:
"Shall a police force be established in the county and the sheriff's officebe relieved of primary law-enforcement responsibilities?
[] Yes
[] No"
The ballots shall be counted, returns made and canvassed as in otherelections, and the results certified by the electoral board to the courtordering the election. If a majority of the voters voting in the electionvote "Yes," the court shall enter an order proclaiming the results of theelection and a duly certified copy of such order shall be transmitted to thegoverning body of the county. The governing body shall proceed to establish apolice force following the enactment of authorizing legislation by theGeneral Assembly.
E. After a referendum has been conducted pursuant to this section, nosubsequent referendum shall be conducted pursuant to this section in the samecounty for a period of four years from the date of the prior referendum.
(1983, c. 341, § 15.1-131.6:1; 1993, c. 630; 1997, c. 587; 2000, c. 298.)