The term of office of each member of a community services board shall be for three years from January 1 of the year of appointment or, at the option of the governing body of a county or city, from July 1 of the year of appointment, except that of the members first appointed, several shall be appointed for terms of one year each, several for terms of two years each, and the remaining members of the board for terms of three years each. The appointment of members for one-year, two-year, and three-year terms shall be as nearly equal as possible with regard to the total number of members on the board. If a governing body has appointed members for terms commencing January 1 or July 1 but desires to change the date on which the terms of office commence, the governing body may, as the terms of the members then in office expire, appoint successors for terms of two and one-half or three and one-half years, so that the terms expire on June 30 or December 31. In the case of a board established by more than one city or county, the decision to change the date on which terms of office commence shall be the unanimous decision of all governing bodies. Vacancies shall be filled for unexpired terms in the same manner as original appointments. No person shall be eligible to serve more than three full terms; however, a person first appointed to fill an unexpired term may serve three additional full three-year terms. The remainder of a term to which a member is first appointed to fill a vacancy shall not constitute a term in determining the member's eligibility for reappointment. However, after a one-year period has elapsed since the end of the member's last three-year term, the governing body may reappoint that member. Any member of a board may be removed by the appointing authority for cause, after being given a written statement of the causes and an opportunity to be heard thereon.

1968, c. 477, § 37.1-196; 1970, c. 346; 1972, c. 498; 1977, c. 88; 1979, c. 391; 1980, c. 582; 1998, c. 680; 2005, c. 716; 2007, c. 570; 2010, c. 71.