Independent city (United States)

Of the 41 independent U.S. cities, 38 are in Virginia, whose state constitution makes them a special case. The three independent cities outside Virginia are Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, and Carson City, Nevada. Baltimore is the most populous independent city in the United States.

Virginia

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 any county, though some are completely surrounded by a single county, forming enclaves. 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 by area and population.

Despite being legally separate from counties, twelve of Virginia's independent cities serve as county seats. These cities include:

• Charlottesville - Albemarle County
• Covington - Alleghany County
• Emporia - Greensville County
• Fairfax - Fairfax County
• Harrisonburg - Rockingham County
• Lexington - Rockbridge County
• Manassas - Prince William County
• Martinsville - Henry County
• Salem - Roanoke County
• Staunton - Augusta County
• Williamsburg - James City County
• Winchester - Frederick County

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.