ir local
government did not change as a result of independence, certain new
governmental institutions were created because colonial ways were not
efficient enough to meet the demands placed on them by social and
economic growth. Although the general jurisdiction of the county court
was continued, in 1788 a new court, called the district court, was
established to relieve the pressure of judicial business.[78] These
district courts were the direct antecedents of the present circuit
courts of the counties which were created by the General Assembly in
1818.[79]

If the district court did not displace the county court immediately,
it forecast its eventual decline as a judicial tribunal. The new court
introduced the beginnings of professionalism on the bench, and offered
the prospect of full-time attention to the administration of justice
by trained judges. Establishment of the office of the Commonwealth
Attorney in 1788 added to this trend toward professionalism.[80]

Most of the administrative duties of the county court in colonial
times remained after independence. Consequently, the records of the
county court continued to show actions connected with the licensing of
inns, ordinaries, mills, ferries, peddlers, and other similar
activities, along with attention to the survey and maintenance of
roads, bridges, and fords.[81] Regulatory powers over the practices of
tradesmen and artisans was broad, and used by the county court to set
rates which could be charged and to prescribe trade practices which
affected the quality of the products involved.

In this area of activity, the county court was performing what
Virginians generally regarded as matters of purely local concern.
Except in connection with the production of tobacco and milling and
shipping of grain, economic activities seldom affected anyone beyond
the county neighborhood.[82] Therefore, the county court was deemed to
be the best body to understand and accommodate the interests involved.
This attitude began to change only as the improvement of
transportation facilities increased travel and commerce in the period
from 1830 to 1860.

NOTES FOR CHAPTER III

[43] See generally, Martha Hiden, _How Justice Grew: Virginia
Counties: An Abstract of Their Formation_, (Williamsburg: Virginia
350th Anniversary Celebration, 1957). Also, because time-honored
tradition as well as law influenced the organization of Virginia
counties, the description of English local govern