CHAPTER 9
An Act to amend and reenact § 3.01, as amended, § 3.01:1, and §§ 3.02:1 and 3.02:2, as amended, of Chapter 147 of the Acts of Assembly of 1962, which provided a charter for the City of Virginia Beach, and to repeal § 3.02:3 of Chapters 127 and 762 of the Acts of Assembly of 2020, relating to city council; voting districts; emergency.
[S 681]
Approved March 9, 2026
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 3.01, as amended, § 3.01:1, and §§ 3.02:1 and 3.02:2, as amended, of Chapter 147 of the Acts of Assembly of 1962 are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 3.01. Division of city into districts.
A. The city shall be divided into seven residence ten single-member election districts of approximately equal population which that shall be numbered one through seven ten . The council shall consist of eleven members, including the mayor , elected at large and one member to be elected by the city at large from the residents of each of the seven districts and three members and the mayor to be elected by and from the city at large and from each of the ten single-member election districts .
B. The boundaries and names of such districts shall be established by ordinance on or before March 1, 1996 , and thereafter the boundaries shall be adjusted periodically as may be necessary to ensure that the populations of the districts remain approximately equal.
C. The city council shall, no later than January 1, 1996, petition the circuit court to order an advisory referendum to be held on the question of whether the council member elected from each district shall be elected by the qualified voters of that district rather than at large. The wording of the question shall be determined by majority vote of the city council and shall be included in the petition. Upon the filing of the petition, the circuit court shall order that an advisory referendum be held on the question in the city at the municipal elections to be held in May 1996.
§ 3.01:1. Implementation of districts.