and
James City County, Virginia. All cities in Virginia are independent from the counties that surround them.
History In the
Commonwealth of Virginia, all municipalities incorporated as "cities" have been "independent cities", also called "free cities", since 1871, when a revised state constitution took effect following the
American Civil War and the creation of
West Virginia. Virginia's thirty-eight independent cities are not politically part of a county, even though geographically they may be completely surrounded by one. An independent city in Virginia may serve as the
county seat of an adjacent county, even though the city by definition is not part of that county. Some other Virginia municipalities, even though they may be more populous than some existing independent cities, are
incorporated towns. These towns always form part of a county. Incorporated towns have limited powers, varying by each charter. They typically share many aspects such as courts and public
school divisions with the county they are within. This municipal arrangement is in contrast to practices in other states. Cities and counties in Virginia sometimes form cooperative organizations for regional planning purposes. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, there are two classes of city. The primary difference relates to the court system. A first-class city (e.g.,
Richmond) has its own
District Court and also its own
Circuit Court. A second-class city (e.g.
Norton or
Emporia) has its own District Courts, but not its own Circuit Court. As a second-class city,
City of Fairfax shares a Circuit Court with
Fairfax County, while
Falls Church shares a Circuit Court with adjacent Arlington County. In Virginia, a District Court is not a
court of record, so all cases are heard by a judge; all
jury trials are heard in a Circuit Court. Three older Virginia counties, whose origins go back to the original eight
shires of Virginia formed in 1634 in the
Colony of Virginia, have or had the word
city in their names; politically, however, they are counties. The independent cities were formed to centralize trading and legal matters as the older system of merchant ships cruising from plantation to plantation was inefficient. The colonial capital of
Williamsburg was created for this reason, being a port on the James River. Two of these counties are
Charles City County and
James City County, whose names originated with earlier "incorporations" created in 1619 by the
Virginia Company as
Charles Cittie and
James Cittie. Additionally,
Elizabeth City County, which was originally part of the older
Elizabeth Cittie, became extinct in 1952 when it was consolidated politically by mutual consent with the small City of Hampton, its county seat, and the
Town of Phoebus. These merged entities became the current independent city of
Hampton, Virginia, one of the largest cities of Virginia.
Former cities Former independent cities, now extinct, that were long extant in Virginia include: •
Bedford, which gave up its
city charter in 2013, and is now an
incorporated town in
Bedford County. •
Clifton Forge, which gave up its city charter in 2001, and is now an incorporated town in
Alleghany County. •
Manchester, which was consolidated by mutual agreement with the
City of Richmond in 1910. •
South Boston, which gave up its city charter in 1994, and is now an
incorporated town in
Halifax County. •
South Norfolk, which merged with
Norfolk County in 1963 to form the
City of Chesapeake. Two other independent cities existed only for a short time: •
Nansemond, created from the former
Nansemond County in 1972, was merged in 1974 with the then-City of Suffolk and three
unincorporated towns within the county's former boundaries, to form today's
City of Suffolk. •
Warwick, which was formed from the former
Warwick County in 1952, was in 1958 consolidated by mutual agreement with the newly expanded
City of Newport News. ==Other states==