3 branches of

gover nment

By Ally Palombo
Legislative Branch
• The legislative branch or state legislature is
the General Assembly, a body whose 140
members make all laws of the Commonwealth
of VA.
• Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
serve two-year terms, while members of the
Virginia Senate serve four-year terms.
• The General Assembly also selects the
Commonwealth's Auditor of Public Accounts.
• The statutory law by the General Assembly is
codified in the Code of Virginia.
 Executive Branch
• The most powerful officials of the executive branch are the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, and the Attorney General. They are the only three
officials elected statewide. All three officers are separately elected to four-
year terms in years following Presidential elections (1997, 2001, 2005, etc)
and take office in January of the following year.
• The Governor serves as chief executive officer of the Commonwealth and as
commander-in-chief of its militia. The Constitution does not allow a governor
to succeed himself in office (though a governor is allowed to serve multiple
non-consecutive terms). The Lieutenant Governor, who is not elected on the
same ticket as the governor, serves as president of the Senate of Virginia
and is first in the line of succession to the governor. The Attorney General is
chief legal advisor to the governor and the General Assembly, chief lawyer of
the Commonwealth and the head of the Department of Law. The attorney
general is second in the line of succession to the governor. Whenever there
is a vacancy in all three executive offices of governor, lieutenant governor,
and attorney general, then the Speaker of the House of the Virginia House of
Delegates becomes governor.
• Many executive branch agencies have the authority to promulgate
regulations. Proposals to create or amend state regulations are often subject
to review by the executive branch.
Judicial Branch
• The judicial branch consists of the
Supreme Court of Virginia, the
Virginia Court of Appeals, the
General District Courts and the Circuit Courts.
• The Virginia Supreme Court, composed of the
chief justice and six other judges is the highest
court in the Commonwealth (although, as with all
the states, the U.S. Supreme Court has appellate
jurisdiction over decisions by the Virginia Supreme
Court involving substantial questions of U.S.
• Constitution law or constitutional rights).
• The Chief Justice and the Virginia Supreme Court
also serve as the administrative body for the
entire Virginia court system.
 Makes the laws

General
Assembly

legislative Senate

House of
Delegates

Enforces the laws.

executive
Makes sure the
Laws are carried out.

judicial Governor

Interprets the laws

Judge the laws
Decides court Supreme
cases court
Decides if laws fit in
in Virginia Richmond
 B
Y
E
Governor Tim Kane
F
O
R

President Barack N
Husane Obama O
w