Chap. 148.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to amend
and re-enact the charter of the town of Leesburg, in the county of
Loudoun, approved February 27, 1858, as amended by an act approved
March 29, 1875. (H. B. 307.)

Approved March 20, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact the charter of the town
of Leesburg, in the county of Loudoun, approved February twenty-
seventh, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, as amended by an act ap-
proved March twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows, namely:

Sec. 1. The corporate limits of the town of Leesburg shall be
the same as is set forth in law order book number eight, folio two
hundred and seventy-three and two hundred and seventy-four of
the circuit court of Loudoun county, and the same as is set forth
in deed book eight p’s, folio three hundred and ninety-seven, clerk’s
office of the circuit court of Loudoun county.

Sec. 2. The municipal authorities of said town shall be a mayor,
recorder, and six councilmen, who shall be elected every two years,
on the second Tuesday in June, who together shall form the com-
mon council: provided, however, the council for the time being of
said town may, by a resolution adopted six months prior to a regular
municipal election, designate any number of councilmen not less
than six in number and not more than twelve in number who shall
be voted for at said election, and who shall, when elected, with the
mayor and recorder, constitute the common council.

Sec. 38. The mayor, recorder, and councilmen, so soon as they
have been elected, qualified and inducted into office, as hereinafter
provided, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name of “the
town of Leesburg, in Virginia,” and shall have perpetual succession
and a common seal, and by that name may sue and be sued, implead
and be impleaded, may purchase at whole, real and personal estate
necessary to enable it the better to discharge its duty, and needful
for the good order, government and welfare of the said town.

Sec. 4. All the corporate powers of said corporation shall be
exercised by the said council, or under their authority, except where
otherwise provided.
Sec. 5. There shall be a town sergeant of said town, appointed
by the common council, in the manner provided in the next section,
and his term of office (except when appointed to fill a vacancy for
an unexpired term), shall be for two years, and until a successor
shall have been appointed and qualified, as hereinafter provided.

Sec. 6. The mayor, recorder and vcuncilmen shall be elected by
the qualified voters of the said town; and at a regular meeting of
the newly elected common council, they shall appoint a sergeant for
said town, the recorder, however, not voting as he: cinafter provided.
In like manner they shall appoint an auditor, and a treasurer of said
town..

Sec. 7. The term of office of the above mentioned officials shall
be (except when elected to fill vacancies) for two years, and until
their successors shall have been appointed and qualified, as hereim-
after provided.

Sec. 8. The mayor, recorder, councilmen, sergeant, auditor and
treasurer shall each be residents of the said corporation and enti-
tled to vote for its common council at the election at which the said
mayor, recorder, and councilmen are candidates for their respective
offices.

Sec. 9. All persons who are duly registered and who have had
their domicil in said town for one year next preceding the day of
election, and who shall also be entitled to vote for members of the
general assembly of Virginia, shall be entitled to vote for all officers
elected by the people under this act.

Sec. 10. Whenever a vacancy shall occur from any cause in the
office of mayor or recorder the council for the time being shall at
once order a special election to be held to fill the vacancy, of which
election two weeks’ notice shall be duly given and published by the
council.

Sec. 11. The council upon a concurrence of a majority thereof
shall have power to remove the sergeant, the auditor or the treas-
urer, from office for any cause which they may deem sufficient, and
to declare the office vacant, whereupon the council may proceed at
once to appoint a successor to said office, to fill the vacancy of the
unexpired term; and whenever from any cause the office of sergeant
be vacant, the mayor may appoint a sergeant pro tempore to fill
the vacancy, until a sergeant shall have been appointed by the
council as herein provided and shall have duly qualified.

Sec. 12. Before entering upon the duties of their office the ser-
geant, treasurer, and auditor shall make oath or affirmation before the
mayor or person, who for the time being, shall preside at the council
meeting, that they will truly, faithfully and impartially discharge
the duties of their office so long as they shall remain therein. And the
sergeant and the treasurer shall, within a period of two weeks from
the date of their appointment, execute before the council their bond
in such amount as the council shall require for the faithful perform-
ance of their duties.
Sec. 18. The elections for the offices of mayor, recorder and
councilmen shall be held as herein provided and by commissioners
of election, composed of one registrar and three judges of election,
who shall be appointed not less than fifteen days before such elec-
tion by the electoral board of Loudoun county. The registrar
shall, before any election in said town, register all voters
who are residents of said town and who shall have pre-
viously registered as voters in Loudoun county; provided, such
parties shall have been residents of the said town for a period of
one year next preceding the day of election. Such list of registered
voters shall be placed by the registrar in the hands of the judges of
election who shall, at the time and in the manner prescribed by law,
open a poll at the place designated by the proper officer; the regis-
trar shall be governed, as to his qualification and power and in the
performance of his duty by the general law of the Commonwealth,
and the manner of receiving the ballot and canvassing the vote shall
conform to the general law of the Commonwea‘th, so far as the same
may be applicable.

Sec. 14. The election shall begin at sunrise and close at sunset
of the day thereof, and the judges shall count the ballot and make
duplicate return of the result. One of said returns with the ballots
sealed up, shall be returned to the clerk’s office of the circuit court
of Loudoun county; the other shall be returned to the council and
recorded in the record books of the said council.

Sec. 15. There shall be one voting place in the town, which shall
be fixed by an ordinance; five days’ notice shall be given of the time
and place of such election to the electors of Leesburg by the sergeant
of the corporation of Leesburg, by causing written or printed
notices to be posted at three or more public places within the said
corporation, and in such other mode as he may deem best, the ex-
penses of said election to be borne by the town.

Sec. 16. Whenever two or more persons are voted for the
same office at an election and receive an equal number of votes, the
said judges of election, or a majority of them, by proclamation
made in front of the place of voting, shall decide and announce
which of said persons shall be returned as elected.

Sec. 17. All other contested elections shall be heard and decided
by the council for the time being.

Sec. 18. The requirements for candidacy for town offices shall
be the same as those provided by the general law of the Common-
wealth.

Sec. 19. The mayor, recorder and councilmen shall, before Sep-
tember first, following the election, make oath or affirmation that
they will truly, faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of
their said offices to the best of their ability so long as they shall con-
tinue therein. The said oath or affirmation shall be made as afore-
said before the clerk of the circuit court of Loudoun county. Cer-
tificates whereof shall be recorded in the journal of the proceedings
of the incoming council. The said officers shall enter upon the per-
formance of the duties of their said offices on the first day of Sep-
tember next succeeding their said election, and shall continue in
office until their successors are qualified.

Sec. 20. Whenever a majority of the newly elected councilmen
shall have been so qualified they shall on September first enter upon
the duties of their said office and supercede the former councilmen.

Sec. 21. If any one who has been duly elected mayor or recorder
shall not have been eligible as herein prescribed or shall fail or re-
fuse to qualify as herein required, the council for the time being shall
declare his said office vacant, and shall order a new election for the
said office, as the case may be.

Sec. 22. If any one who has been appointed sergeant, auditor
or treasurer shall not have been eligible as herein provided, or shall
fail or refuse to qualify and give the bond required within two weeks
after his said election or appointment, the council for the time being
shall declare his office vacant and shall order a new election.

Sec. 23. Whenever from any cause a vacancy shall occur in the
office of councilmen, the council for the time being shall, by a vote
of the majority present, fill it by choosing a councilman from among
the citizens of the town eligible to that office under this act.

Sec. 24. The council shall be presided over at its meetings by
the mayor, or in his absence by the recorder, or in the absence of both
mayor or recorder by one of the councilmen selected by a majority
of the council present.

Sec. 25. The presence of the mayor or recorder and at least a
majority of the number of councilmen elected, or in the absence of
the mayor and recorder, the presence of at least three-fourths of
the councilmen elected shall be necessary to make a quorum for the
transaction of the business.

Sec. 26. The council shall cause to be kept in a journal an ac-
curate record of all its proceedings, by-laws, acts, and orders, which
shall be fully indexed, and shall be opened to the inspection of
anyone who is entitled to vote for members of the council.

Sec. 27. At each meeting of the council the proceedings of the
last meeting shall be read to the council, and shall be thereupon
corrected, if erroneous, and signed by the person who presided at
the last meeting at the time of its adjournment. Upon the call of
any member the ayes and nays on any question before the council
shall be called and recorded in the journal. The mayor and
recorder shall have no vote as members of the council, except in all
cases of a tie the mayor, or the person at the time presiding at the
council shall have a casting vote, and except as hereinafter provided
regarding the right to veto.

Sec. 28. The council so constituted shall have power within said
town to lay off, open, curb, and pave streets, alleys, walks and
gutters for public use and to alter, improve and light the same and
have them kept in good order and free from obstructions; to regulate
the width of the sidewalks, and to order the same or the footways
and gutters to be curbed and paved with such material as the coun-
cil by ordinance may prescribe, and apply said regulations to any
particular street or streets; to keep said streets in good order, free
and clean by the owners or occupants of the real estate fronting or
abutting thereon; to lay off public ground, and to provide, control
and take care of all buildings proper for the town; to establish and
regulate markets and to prescribe the time for holding the same, and
what articles shall be sold in said town only in such market; to
prevent injury or annoyance to the public or to individuals from
anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome; to protect, places of
divine worship, and to prevent disturbance of public worship in
and about the premises where held; to abate or cause to be abated
anything which, in the opinion of a majority of the whole council,
shall be a nuisance; to regulate the keeping of gun-powder, gasoline,
kerosene and other combustibles in the town; to provide for the
regular building of houses and other structures and to establish on
particular streets by ordinance building lines and curb lines, and to
regulate the making of division fences; to make regulations for the
purpose of guarding against danger or damage from fire and to
condemn and have removed any buildings that are deemed, by the
council, as menacing the safety of the town or any part thereof;
to provide for the poor of the town; to appoint and publish the
places for holding town elections and the time of holding special
elections and polls; to provide a revenue for the town and to appro-
priate the same for its expenses; to adopt rules for the transaction
of business; and for the government and regulation of its own
body; to promote the general welfare of the town, to protect the
property of persons therein and to preserve peace and good order
therein; to keep a town guard, to appoint and order out a patrol
for the town in like manner and for like purposes within the same
as the patrol may be ordered out by the circuit court or a justice
within the county; and to appoint such officers as they may deem
proper; to define their powers, prescribe their duties, fix their term
of service and compensation, require and take from them bond with
security in such penalty.as the council may see fit, conditioned for
the true and faithful discharge of their duties and remove said
appointees at pleasure. All bonds taken by the council shall be
made payable to the town by its corporate name. To provide, per-
mit or prohibit the establishment of places for interment of the
dead in or near the town and regulate the same and alsc those here-
tofore established. And to prevent violation of said vegulation,
or injuries to or desecration of any places of interment and to pro-
tect the same, to acquire or otherwise obtain control of, or establish,
maintain, operate, extend, enlarge or regulate water works, gas
works, ice plants, electric plant, and other public utilities within or
without the limits of said town supplying products to said town;
and to acquire within or without said town by purchase, condemna-
tion or otherwise whatever land may be necessary for acquiring,
locating, establishing, maintaining, operating, extending, or en-
larging said water works, gas works, ice plant, electric plant and
other public utilities and the rights of way, rails, pipes, poles, con-
duits, or wire or any of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof; to
prevent injuries or polluting of the same or danger to the water or
healthiness of the town; to lay off and establish sewers and sewer
system and provide a suitable outlet therefor. For all of which
purposes the council shall have jurisdiction for five miles beyond
the limits of the town in like manner as it has within the town. To
regulate and provide for the weighing, measuring of hay, wood,
coal, and other articles sold or for sale in said town, and regulate
the transportation thereof through the streets; to regulate and con-
trol the passage aver the street of all vehicles that the council may
deem likely to seriously injure the same and to prevent the passing
of such vehicles over the same. To control the driving of all live
stock in the said town and over its streets. To carry into effect the
numerative powers and all other powers conferred upon said town
or its council, expressly or by implication in this or any other act
of the general assembly of Virginia, the council shall have the power
of eminent domain, and the power to make and pass all needful
orders, by-laws and ordinances not contrary to the Constitution and
laws of Virginia or of the United States and to prescribe, impose
and enact reasonable fines and penalty and imprisonments in the
county jail for a term not exceeding one year; all of which fines,
penalties or imprisonments shall be recovered before or enforced
under the judgment of the mayor of the said town or of the person
lawfully exercising the functions of his office. And the authorities
of said town shall have the right to use the jail of said county of
Loudoun for any purposes for which the use of the jail may be
needed by them under the act of the council or the laws of the
Commonwealth.

Sec. 28. The council shall, annually, cause to be made and
entered upon its journal an account and estimate of all sums which
are or may become lawfully chargeable on the town, which ought
to be paid within one year, and it shall order a town levy of so
much as in its opinion is necessary to be raised in that way in
addition to the amount which may be raised from licenses and other
sources. A levy so ordered shall be upon all persons within the
corporation of Leesburg, who are assessed with property for the
purpose of State taxation, which State assessment shall be the
valuation for the purpose of such municipal taxation; provided,
that the tax do not exceed seventy-five cents on every one hundred
dollars of the value of the real and personal property, or a poll tax
on each male citizen above the age of twenty-one years of one
dollar; and, provided, further, that the concurrence of a majority
of the whole council shall be necessary to pass any act levying
taxes on any subject whatever.

Sec. 29. Whenever anything for which a State license is
required is to be done within the said town, the council may require
a town license to be had for doing the same, and may impose a
tax thereon for the use of the town. And the council may in any
case in which it sees fit require from the person so licensed a bond
with sureties in a penalty and on such condition as it may deem
proper. The revenue from these and from other sources shall be
collected, paid over, and accounted for at such time and to such
persons as the council shall order.

Sec. 80. The collector of the town taxes and levies shall have
the power to distrain and sell therefor in like manner as the sheriff
shall sell for State taxes, and shall have in all other respects the
same powers as the sheriff to enforce the payment and collection
thereof.

Sec. 31. The taxes on any real estate shall be a lien thereon
from the time of their assessment; and if the taxes thereon are in
arrear for two or more years, the council may order the said real
estate to be rented out from time to time at public rental by the
sergeant for a term of one year at each rental and apply the rents
until the taxes in arrear and accrued by the end of said term and
the costs and charges attending said rental shall have been paid and
the surplus paid to the owner.

Sec. 32. ‘The council may order and require real estate in the
town delinquent for the non-payment of taxes to be sold by the
sergeant at public auction for the arrears with interest thereon,
with such percentum as the council may prescribe for charges, and
the surplus shall be paid to the owner, and they may regulate the
terms on which real estate so delinquent may be redeemed.

Sec. 83. The council may prohibit any theatrical or other
performance, show or exhibition which they deem injurious to the
moral or good order of the town.

Sec. 34. The council shall have power to require and take from
the sergeant and treasurer bond with satisfactory security to the
council, in such penalty as it may deem sufficient, conditioned for
the faithful and impartial performance of their duties. And it
may decide who shall collect and account for the payment of the
taxes, fines and other moneys of the town and require a sufficient
bond in a penalty to more than cover the amount of such collection
and may require the time in which such person or persons shall
account and the manner of said accounting.

Sec. 35. Elections for the purpose of deciding upon the
question of any bond issue shall conform to the general law of
the Commonwealth of Virginia regulating such matters as regards
towns.

Sec. 36. Whenever loans or certificates or bonds are issued by
the town the council shall, annually, set apart from the accruing
revenues of the town a sum equal to not less than seven percentum
of the said loans, certificates and bonds. This fund shall be called
“the sinking fund,” and shall be applied to the payment of the
interest on said loans, certificates and bonds, and to the payment
of the principal thereof as they may become redeemable and
payable.

Sec. 27. If, after paying the interest, it exceeds that part of
the principal which is then redeemable, then the residue shall be
invested in the bonds of the State of Virginia and of the United
States and applied to the said principal when redeemable.

Sec. 38. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the
town; he shall preside at the meetings of the council. He shall
take care that the by-laws, ordinances, acts and resolutions of the
council are faithfully executed. He shall be ex-officio, a conservator
and justice of the peace within the town and one mile beyond the
sume, and shall exercise all the powers vested in the justices of the
peace for the county. He shall have control of the police of the
town and may appoint special officers when he deems it necessary.
Iie shall see that peace and good order are preserved and persons
and property are protected within the town. He shall, from time
to time, recommend to the council such measures as he may deem
needful for the welfare of the town. All by-laws, ordinances, acts
and resolutions before they become valid and operative shall have
his signature, and he shall have the veto power, and no by-law,
ordinance, act or resolution shall become operative without his
signature unless passed by a two-thirds vote of all the members
elected to the council, said vote to be a recorded vote.

Sec. 39. The duty of the recorder shall be to keep the journal
of proceedings of the town and have charge of and preserve the
papers and records of the town. In the absence from the town or
sickness of the mayor or when in the mayor's opinion he is so
situated as to render it improper to act or during any vacancy in
the office of mayor, the recorder shall perform all the duties of
mayor and be invested with all his powers. He shall be a conservator
of the peace within the town. He and the mayor shall each receive
for his services a compensation to be fixed by the council, which
shall not be increased or diminished, for the term for which they
shall have been elected.

Sec. 40. In case of the absence or sickness or that they may
deem it improper for them to act of both mayor and recorder, or
in case both of said offices are vacant at the same time, the council
shall, by a vote of a majority present, appoint one of their own
members to fill each office until the mayor and recorder returns or
resumes their duty or a new election is had of said offices.

Sec. 41.. It shall be the duty of the town sergeant to make
such collection as the council may require, and to pay the same and
to account therefor to such person or persons, and at such time or
times as the council may require. He shall do and perform all
the other acts pertaining to the office of sergeant of a corporation
and of a police officer within said town and one mile beyond the
_ same, and as such shall have the same powers, fees, duties and -
: liability as or by law prescribed as a constable. He shall, for his

services, receive a compensation to be fixed by the council, which
shall not be diminished for the term for which he shall have been

: elected.

-

Sec. 42. The mayor, treasurer, auditor and each councilman

: shall receive a salary to be fixed by the council, which shall not be

changed for the term for which elected. The ‘salary of mayor to

: be fixed by the council for the time being preceding his said
. election. The councilmen in no event to receive more than twenty-
: five dollars per year.

Sec. 43. And if the sergeant, treasurer, or other collector shall

. fail to collect and pay over all the revenues of the town in his
‘hands for collection according to the condition of his bond, it

shall be lawful for the council to recover the same by motion in

-the corporate name of the town before any court of said county of
. Loudoun against the obligors in his said bond or any or either of
-sthem, his or their heirs, executors or administrators on giving at

«least fifteen days’ notice of any such motion.
Sec. 44. The said town and the taxable persons and property

+ therein shall be exempt and free from the payment of any rate or

-sroad tax and from contributing to any county expenses for the poor

,/or the road and bridges of said county for any year in which said
-etown shall, at its own expense, provide for its own poor and keep

its own streets in order.
+ Sec. 45. All the rights, privileges and property of the said town
»sheretofore acquired and possessed, owned and enjoyed, under any
act now in force, shall continue undiminished and remain vested
sin said town under this act; and all the laws, ordinances, acts and
resolutions of the council now in force and not inconsistent with
..this act shall be and continue in full force and effect until regularly
repealed by a council elected as provided for under this act.
Sec. 46. This act, in so far as it provides for a change in
<ouncilmen, shall not be in force until the next municipal election
for town officers. In all other respects the same shall be in force
as of July first, nineteen hundred and fourteen.