I was out of touch with the Internet (a pleasing experience, actually) back when this topic came up in June, else I would have posted then what I post now:

The origins of separation of city and county government, as Jon Kukla rightly pointed out, go back into the colonial period. During the 19th century when the General Assembly chartered a good many towns and cities, the legislature usually endowed those jurisdictions with bodies of public officials and similar responsibilities as in counties. The Constitution of 1902 implicitly recognized the separate, independent, status of cities, and during the 20th century that became explicitly recognized in both statue law and constitutional practice.

But there wasn't any prudential or practical reason that I (or anybody else) ever discovered for creating or continuing a separation. Like Topsey in Uncle Tom's Cabin, it just growed.

Brent Tarter
The Library of Virginia
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Please visit the Library of Virginia's Web site at http://www.lva.virginia.gov


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