On December 1, 1775 the Fourth Virginia Convention was held at Richmond, but soon after the convention had become organized, it moved to Williamsburg. Edmund Pendleton was elected president of the convention. The chief problem of this convention was military protection and security for Virginia in the face of war. The army was increased from two regiments to nine regiments with an enlistment requiring two years of military service. The chief measures passed during the Fourth Virginia Convention of December 1775-January 1776 included the appointment of a commission of five men in each county to try cases of those individuals believed to be enemies of America, the creation of an admiralty court to hear cases involving maritime or naval affairs, the granting of permission for county courts to elect a sheriff for a one-year term and the issuing of special instructions to the Virginia delegates to the next Continental Congress to encourage the opening of American ports to the commerce of all foreign nations except Great Britain and the British West Indies. It was also decided at this convention to allow the Virginia troops to be merged or absorbed into the Continental Army and to have future military officers commissioned by the Continental Congress rather than by individual state or colonial legislatures. Another Committee of Safety for Virginia was named: nine members were re-appointed and two new members were substituted. Edmund Pendleton was still the chairman and the other committee members were Richard Bland, William Cabell, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, Joseph Jones, Thomas Ludwell Lee, James Mercer, John Page, John Tabb and Thomas Walker. On January 20, 1776, the convention adjourned.