An Act to provide for designation by cities and towns of segregation districts for residence of white and colored persons

Chap. 157 of Acts 1912.––An Act to provide for designation by cities and towns of segregation districts for residence of white and colored persons; for the adoption of this act by such cities and towns, and for penalties for the violation of its terms.

Approved March 12, 1912.

Whereas, the preservation of the public morals, public health and public order, in the cities and towns of this commonwealth is endangered by the residence of white and colored people in close proximity to one another; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That in the cities and towns of this commonwealth where this act shall be adopted in accordance with the provisions of section eleven hereof, the entire area within the respective corporate limits thereof shall, by ordinance, adopted by the council of each such city or town, be divided into districts, the boundaries whereof shall be plainly designated in such ordinance and which shall be known as "segregation districts."

2. That no such district shall comprise less than the entire property fronting on any street or alley, and lying between any two adjacent streets or alleys, or between any street and an alley next adjacent thereto.

3. That the council of each such city or town shall provide for, and have prepared, within six months after such council shall have adopted the provisions of this act, a map showing the boundaries of all such segregation districts, and showing the number of white persons and colored persons residing within such segregation district, on a date to be designated in such ordinance of adoption, but which shall be within sixty days of the passage of such ordinance; and such map shall designate as a white district each district wherein there are, on the date so designated, more residents of the white race than there are residents of the colored race, and shall designate as a colored district each district so defined, in which there are on the said date as many or more residents of the colored race, as there are residents of the white race.

4. That after twelve months from the passage of the ordinances adopting the provisions of this act, it shall be unlawful for any colored person, not then residing in a district so defined and designated as a white district, or who is not a member of a family then therein residing, to move into and occupy as a residence any building or portion thereof in such white district, and it shall be unlawful, after the expiration of said period of twelve months from the passage of the ordinance adopting the provisions of this act, for any white person not then residing in a district so defined and designated as a colored district, or who is not a member of a family then therein residing, to move into and occupy as a residence any building, or portion thereof, in such colored district.

5. That any person occupying any room as a sleeping place in any district, whether as a dependent, boarder or lodger, shall be classed as a resident of such district, unless it appear that such occupation was merely transitory and that such person had another fixed place of abode.

6. That the said map shall be certified by the clerk of the council of such city or town, and shall be at all times kept open to inspection by the public in the office of such clerk, and that any person considering that such map has not been prepared in accordance with the provisions of this act, and who is in any wise prejudiced thereby, shall, within sixty days from the completion thereof, or within eight months from the adoption of the provisions of this act by such city or town, notify the clerk of said council in writing of the particulars of the error claimed to have occurred in the preparation of such map, and such person may thereafter within thirty days after giving such notice move the corporation court of such city, or if there be no such court, the circuit court of the county wherein such city or town is situate, or the judge of such court in vacation, to correct the error complained of, and the said court or the judge thereof in vacation, shall investigate the facts in the premises, and order such corrections of such map as may be necessary to make the same conform to the provisions of this act.

7. That the map so prepared and certified and corrected shall be prima facie evidence of the boundaries and racial designation of such districts.

8. That any person who, after the expiration of twelve months from the passage of the ordinance of adoption, shall reside in any such district, contrary to the provisions of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined for the first week of such prohibited residence not less than five nor more than fifty dollars, and for each succeeding day of such residence the sum of two dollars.

9. That nothing herein contained shall preclude persons of either race employed as servants by persons of the other race from residing upon the premises of which such employer is the owner or occupier.

10. That nothing herein contained shall be construed or operate to prevent any person who, on the date which this act shall be adopted in any city or town, shall have acquired a legal right to occupy as a resident any building, or portion thereof in any such district, in such city or town, whether by devise, purchase, lease, or other contract, and who shall not, on the date which this act shall be so adopted have actually moved into such premises from thereafter moving into and occupying the same.

11. This act shall apply only to the cities or towns which by a recorded vote of a majority of the members elected to the council thereof, or if there be two branches of such council by a recorded vote of a majority of the members elected to each branch thereof, shall adopt the provisions of this act, and in all respects comply with the requirements hereof.

(1912, p. 330.)