Chap. 361.—An ACT to amend the charter of the town of Dumfries.

Approved May 21, 1887.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act approved March second, eighteen hundred and seventy-
two, to incorporate the town of Dumfries, in the county of
Prince William, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as
follows:

§1. The corporate limits and boundaries of the town of
‘Dumfries shall be as they are now or may hereafter be estab-
lished by law.

§2. The government of said town shall be vested in a
council of five ‘persons, to be chosen annually, by ballot, on
the fourth Thursday in May of each year. Any person en-
titled to vote in the county of Prince William and residin
within the corporate limits of the said town, shall be entitled to
vote at all elections under this act of incorporation. The
mayor shall appoint two members of the council who, in
conjunction with the clerk of the council, shall hold all elec-
tions for corporation officers between the hours of one and
six o’clock post meridian, and they shall have power to de-
cide any contest in reference to the right to vote of any
person, and shall count the ballots and declare the result.
n case it is impossible to decide, the five persons who have

“received the highest number of votes, by reason ot a tie, the
said clerks shall decide by lot, in the presence of the two
said members of the council, and shall immediately there-
after make out and deliver to each one of the councilmen
elect a certificate of his election, whicb shall likewise be his
duty when there is no tie.
- §3. The council shall hold its first meeting on the first
Monday in July following, and organize by choosing from its
own members a mayor, who like the members of the council
-shall hold office from the first Monday in July for the term
of one year, and until their successors are elected and qual-
ified. The said officers shall qualify by taking the oath of
office before the clerk of the council or some one authorized
to administer oaths, and they shall be liable to removal from
office by the county court of Prince William in the same way
as county officers under the existing laws. All officers of
the corporation shall serve without compensation, except as
. hereinafter provided. The said council shall appoint its own
times of meeting, three members constituting a quorum.
_ Any vacancy occurring in any of the offices of the corpora-
‘tion shall be filled by said council.

§4. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of the council,
and shall have the same jurisdiction and power, and be en-
titled to the same fees as a justice of the peace for the county
of Prince William within the corporate limits of said town.

§5. In addition to the above named officers, there shall be
elected annually, by the qualified voters of said town, on the
fourth Thursday in May, a town clerk and town sergeant.
The clerk shall keep a correct record of all the proceedings
of the council, and in order to do the same shall provide a
record book therefor and all requisite stationery, at the cost
of the corporation. He shall make out the certificates oi
election for all officials of the corporation; shall make out a
list of property, both real and personal, within the corporate
limits, and value the same for the purposes of corporation
taxation on the basis of the assessor’s and commissioner's
books, in district number two of Prince William county, and
shall issue tickets for the taxes voted by the council, which
tickets he shall deliver to the sergeant when ordered by the
council, and he shall also have power to administer the oath
of office to any of the town officers, and for said services he
shall be allowed annually a certain sum, to be determined by
the council, not however in any case to exceed the sum of
fifty dollars. The sergeant shall ‘collect the taxes voted by
the council, for which he sball be allowed two and a half per
centum on the amount collected and paid out. He shall have
the same power and authority as any constable or collector
of Prince William county, and shall be entitled to the same
fees, except as herein provided; he shall pay out the money
of the town in his hands on the warrant of the mayor, coun-
tersigned by the clerk, certifying that itis done by the order of
the council; he shall perform all the duties of overseer of
roads and streets within the corporation, in accordance with
the general road law of Virginia, and for this purpose the
town of Dumfries is hereby declared to be a separate road
district of Prince William county, and no road tax shall be
assesscd upon the property within the corporation, exceyit
by the council of said town, which said road tax shall be ex.
pended upon the roads and streets of said town by the ser-
geant under the direction of the council, and for his services
as overscer of said roads and streets he shall be entitled to
the same compensation allowed by law to overseers of roaiis
under the general road law of Virginia. The sergeant shal!
before entering upon the discharge of his duties, enter into a
bond in the penalty of one thousand dollars, conditioned
for the faithful discharge of his duties, which said bond shai.
be approved by the council and filed with the clerk.

§6. The council shall have power to work accurately the
boundaries of existing streets, to lay off new streets, alleys, and
sidewalks, to provide for order and quiet, and the ‘observance
of the Sabbath within the corporation; to provide and prv-
tect shade trees, to adopt regulations in reference to con-
tagious diseases, to pass ordinances to carry into effect the
object of this incorporation, and to punish the violation of
the same by fine and imprisonment. The council shall also
have the power to condemn land for corporation use in the man-
ner provided by law, but any person aggrieved by its action
in such condemnation shall have the right of appeal to the
county court of Prince William where the matter shall be

assed on de novo. The council, in addition to the powers
ereinbefore conferred, shall have the same power and au-
thority as the council towns of less than five thousand inhabi-
tants under the general laws of the commonwealth.

§7. The council may annually levy a tax for road and
corporation purposes, which shall in no case exceed fifty
cents on the one hundred dollars worth of property, except
that on a petition of three-fourths of the freeholders within
the corporation, the council may levy a tax not to exceed
the amount named in said petition.

-§ 8. George M. Ratcliffe, W. H. Brawner, R. F. Merchant,
A. L. McInteer, and Robert Waters are hereby declared and
appointed councilmen, and J. E. Branner clerk, and W. H.

eys sergeant of enid town, and may qualify as such before
any justice of the peace in Prince William, by taking the
oath of their respective offices, and therefrom they shall con-
stitute the officers of said town, with all of their powers,
until the first Monday in July, cishteen hundred and eighty.
The said councilmen shall meet and organize on the second
Monday in May, eighteen hundred and visehty -SOVEN.

2. This act shall be in force from and atter its passage.