Chap. 23.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 19, 26, 28. 29, 30-f, 30-g,
30-h, 30-i, and 47 of an act approved February 9, 1912, entitled an act to
amend and re-enact sections 19, 19-d, 28, 29, 30, concerning the procedure
necessary to recover and the liability on bonds given by municipal
officers for the faithful discharge of their duties and creating an admin-
istrative board and defining their duties, and to amend and re-enact sec-
tions 31, 387, 47, 62, 63, and 64 of an act approved March 24, 1870, en-
titled an act providing a charter for the city of Richmond, as heretofore
amended; and to amend and re-enact section 19-c of an act approved
March 3, 1908, entitled an act to amend and re-enact section 19 of the
charter of the city of Richmond, as heretofore amended, in relation to
the powers of the city council; and to amend and re-enact section 64 of
the said charter in relation to the duties of the city engineer, and
amending and re-enacting section 22 of an act approved March 24, 1870,
entitled an act providing a charter for the city of Richmond, as here-
tofore amended. (H. B. 303.)

Approved February 28, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
sections nineteen, twenty-six, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty-f,
thirty-g, thirty-h, thirty-i, and forty-seven of an act approved Feb-
ruary ninth, nineteen hundred and twelve, entitled an act to amend
and re-enact sections nineteen, nineteen-d, twenty-six, twenty-eight,
twenty-nine and thirty, concerning the procedur2 necessary to re-
cover and the liability on bonds given by municipal officers for the
faithful discharge of their duties and creating an administrative
board and defining their duties, and to amend and re-enact sections
thirty-one, thirty-seven, forty-seven, sixty-two, sixty-three and six-
ty-four of an act approved March twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred
and seventy, entitled an act providing a charter for the city of
Richmond, as heretofore amended; and to amend ond re-enact sec-
tion nineteen-c, of an act approved March third, nineteen hundred
and eight, entitled, an act to amend and re-enact section nineteen
of the charter of the city of Richmond as heretofore ai-ended, in
relation to the powers of the city council, and to amend and re-
enact section sixty-four of the said charter in relation to the duties
of the city engineer; and section twenty-two of an act approved
March twenty-fourth, eighteen hundred and seventy, entitled. an
act providing a charter for the city of Richmond as heretofore
amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to rea: as follows:

Sec. 19. The council of the city of Richmond shall have power
to enact suitable ordinances to secure and promote the general wel-
fare of the inhabitants of the city, by them deemed proper for the
safety, health, peace, good order and morals of the community, and
to make and adopt ordinances and resolutions concerning the con-
trol and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the city,
and of all property, real and personal, belonging thereto, cleemed
proper to secure the selection of honest and competent. officers and
to promote efficiency and integrity in the discharge of official duties,
ard may, in their discretion, create and maintain a special fund
to be known as the “city employees fund,” the profits of which shall,
under rules and regulations to be established by them, he appro-
priated to aid in the maintenance of persons incapacitated for work
by reason of age or infirmity, who, at the time of such incapacity,
had been continuously in the employment of the city for at least
twenty years, and may, in their discretion, provide for the estab-
lishment and maintenance of an employment bureau, by the aid of
which unemployed persons may secure employment; and no in-
junction shall be awarded by any court or judge to stay the pro-
ceedings of the city of Richmond in the prosecution of its works.
authorized to be done under this charter, unless it be manifest that
it, its officers, agents or servants, are transcending the authority
given it by this charter, and also that the interposition of a court
of equity is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be adequately
compensated in damages.

They shall, in addition, likewise have power to make such ordi-
nances, resolutions and regulations as they may deem desirable and
suitable to carry out the following specified powers, which are
hereby vested in them. .

Sec. 19-c. To secure inhabitants from contagious, infectious or
other dangerous diseases; to establish, erect and regulate hospitals;
to provide for and force the removal of patients to said hospitals;
to provide for the appointment and organization of a board of
health, with authority necessary for the prompt and efficient per-
formance of its duties; to authorize the supervision by a city official
of the construction and maintenance of all water and sewer pipes,
traps and other fixtures, and the construction and maintenance of
dry closets in localities where there is no sewer available for use, and
to require the use of such pipes, traps and other fixtures and closets
deemed proper as sanitary measures by the city council, or said board
of health or health officer, with power in said board of health to make
rules and regulations concerning the construction and maintenance
of the same and to prescribe and enforce penalties for the violation
of such rules and regulations and also with power vested in the
council to provide what compensation shall be paid to the city of
Richmond by the owners of property on which are located and
maintained dry closets for the removal of night soil therefrom by
the city of Richmond, and the manner of collecting and securing
the payment of such compensation; the council shall likewise have
power to prescribe the duties of the coroner of the city of Richmond,
who shall be appointed, as provided by the general statutes of the
State, by the judge of the hustings court, but who shall receive,
instead of fees, a salary to be determined by the city council, and
to be paid by the city; provided, the salary of the said coroner shall
not be less than two thousand dollars. He shall be a physician of
not less than five years standing, and shall also be a chemist. He
shall hold all the inquests and make all post mortem examinations
without the assistance of any medical experts for whose assistance
the city may be liable, without the consent of the mayor.

Sec. 22. In order to carry out effectually the powers conferred
by this charter, the city of Richmond is hereby expressly authorized
to acquire, by condemnation proceedings instituted in the hustings
court of the city of Richmond, if the subject lies or is situated
within the city, and, if not within the city, in the circuit court of
the county in which such subject lies, land or any interest
therein, any right, easement or estate of any person or cor-
poration therein, whether such corporation, owning the same,
be authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain or
not, or whether such land, interest, estate or easement has
already been devoted to a public use by the owner, when-
ever the city of Richmond cannot agree on terms of purchase or
settlement with those entitled to such subject, because of the in-
capacity of such owner, or because of the inability to agree upon
the compensation to be paid, or other terms of settlement or pur-
chase, or because the owner, or some one of the owners of the sub-
ject proposed to be acquired, is a non-resident of this State, or
cannot, with reasonable diligence, be found in this State, or is un-
known.

Sec. 26. The city council shall fix the pay of all officers ap-
pointed by them and the administrative board shall fix the pay of
all officers (whom they are now or may be hereafter authorized to
appoint), subject, however, to the approval of the council, and the
wages of all employees of the city in departments under their con-
trol shall be fixed by the administrative board, and such wages
may, from time to time, be increased or diminished by said board,
any increase not to take effect, however, until the expiration of the
fiscal year during which such increase is made.

Sec. 28. There shall be elected by the people one city treasurer,
one commissioner of the revenue, and five members of a board to
be known as the administrative board, the terms of all of whon
shall be four years from the first day of January succeeding thei.
election, and there shall be appointed by the council in joint ses
sion, one city clerk, one clerk of council committees, one sergear

at arms of the city council, one city attorney, one auditor, or:
police justice, one clerk to the police justice, one substitute polic
Justice, five members of the board of health, nine members of th«
city school board, one clerk to the city treasurer, one clerk to th.
city auditor, and one collector of delinquent taxes, and each branch
of the council shall be authorized to appoint such officers and clerks
as may be deemed proper for the regulation of its proceedings and
for the convenient transaction of their business, the terms of which
cefficers and clerks so to be appointed shall be two years from the
first day of July succeeding their appointment, except the term of
police justice, whose term shall be four years.

Sec. 29. The council may create such offices and clerkships as
they may deem proper, in addition to those herein provided for,
and define their powers and prescribe their duties, and require
bonds with sureties in proper penalties, payable to the city by its
corporate name, with condition for the faithful performance of
said duties, but no office or clerkship under the control of the ad-
ministrative board shall be created except on the recommendation
of the administrative board. Any municipal officer appointed by
the council may be removed from office at their pleasure. In case
of vacancies occurring, in any such municipal office, they shall elect
a qualified person to fill such office during the unexpired term.

Sec. 80-d. Appropriations, as far as practicable, to the extent
of the fairly anticipated revenues for each ensuing year, shall be
made in lump sums in the annual budget ordinance, for the main-
tenance of each department, but the council may from time to time,
make additional appropriations, but nothing herein shall be so con-
strued as to curtail or impair the powers and authority of the
council of the city of Richmond, of a legislative charter, under the
Constitution, charter of the city of Richmond, or other statutes of
the State of Virginia.

Sec. 30-f. The said board shall have the exclusive control
of the letting to contract, the doing of all work for the city, and
the furnishing of all supplies and materials for the use of any de-
partment of the city under their control, in accordance with the
ordinances and resolutions of the city, but all purchases for any
department shall always be made by the said board under proper
requisitions therefor, by the head of the department, under rules
and regulations established by the said board, and only after an
ordinance or resolution making the appropriation therefor, except
in cases of emergency, where great loss or damage to the city would
ensue, and in such cases the head of the department in which such
emergency exists shall file with the board a certificate, showing the
nature of such emergency and the necessity for the expenditure.
‘A contracts for work or material shall only be let after due ad-
vertisement and bidding, where practicable, and the said board
-hall have the power to reject any and all bids, and order new
idding, or in their discretion, let the contract without further bid-
‘to, And the said beard is hereby authorized and required to
ynake and promulgate rules and regulations as to the advertise-
went, bidding and letting to contract of work to be done or ma-
terials to be furnished for the city. The said board shall audit
all bills against the city for work done for the city and for all
materials furnished under anv contract for the city which they are
authorized to make, and no bill for such work or supplies shall be
vaid by the auditor, unless the same has been so audited and certi-
fied by the board as correct. ‘

Sec. 30-g. It shall be the duty of the city engineer when he
deems it necessary so to do, or when the administrative board re-
quires, to recommend to the administrative board, grades or changes
of grades in the streets, alleys and public places of the city, with
profiles and plans showing the same, and thereupon the said ad-
ministrative board. if they determine that there should be a change
in the grade of such street, alley or public place, they may ratify
or confirm such proposed grades, or they may make such changes
therein as they may deem necessary and then confirm the same, and
in either case require the necessary work to be done in conformity
with the grade so established. or they may reject the recommenda-
tion of the city engineer. And said board is hereby expressly
authorized to exercise the powers and duties and be subject to the
limitations imposed upon the council of the city of Richmond under
the act of the general assembly in force June fourteenth, nineteen
hundred and twelve (acts of the general assembly, nineteen hun-
dred and twelve, page four hundred and fourteen), concerning local
assessments in cities and towns, and under any amendments of said
act that may be hereafter made.

Sec. 30-h. The said board is hereby vested with authority to
appoint all officers, other than those whose appointment is ex-
pressly provided for by the charter of the city of Richmond, and
also all other officers now authorized to be appointed, and all em-
ployees and subordinates now employed by any committee of the
council or authorized to be employed under any ordinance or reso-
lution now in force or hereafter passed, other than those whose
appointment is expressly reserved to the council, and those ap-
pointed by the board of police commissioners, board of fire com-
niissioners, city school board, board of health, city attorney and the
committee on finance. The terms of office of any person appointed
by said administrative board shall be two years, and until his suc-
cessor is duly chosen and qualified, unless sooner removed by the
said board, and any person employed shall continue in such em-
ployment during the pleasure of said board. And the power is
hereby expressly conferred on the administrative board to abolish
any office which they are authorized to fill, or combine the duties
appertaining to two or more offices in one officer, and designate
the officer to execute the combined duties, and the person whose
office is abolished. and who has not been elected to perform the
duties that are discontinued. shall have no right to demand or re-
ceive any salarv or compensation thereafter.

Sec. 30-1. The said beard shall have power to prefer charges
against any city officer not appointed by them. and forward the
same to the mayor, who shall take such action thereon as provided
for by law. and the said board may suspend any officer appointed
by them, for a period sufficient for charges to be preferred against
him and heard by them. and in the meantime direct the first as-
‘sistant of the department to discharge the duties of the officer so
suspended, and after hearing of charges, which shall be reduced to
writing and served on the officer so suspended at least ten days be-
fore the hearing, remove such officer and appoint some other.

Sec. 47. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
city of Richmond one collector of the city taxes, who shall hold his
office for the period of four years, and until his successor shall be
elected and qualify, unless sooner removed from office. He shall
give bond, with sureties, to the amount of not less than fifty thou-
sand dollars, said bond to be approved by the city attorney and
filed in the office of the city clerk; provided, however, that the
council of the city of Richmond may, if they deem it proper so to
do, abolish said cffice of collector of city taxes and confer the
powers and duties imposed upon said collector upon the treasurer
of the city of Richmond, under such restrictions, regulations and
conditions by them deemed suitable as to compensation of the treas-
urer for the powers and duties so imposed and suitable to secure
the faithful and efficient discharge of such powers and duties; pro-
vided, further, that such abolition of the office of collector shall
only take effect at the end of the term during which such abolition
is made.

2. An emergency existing for the prompt establishing of cer-
tain grades in the streets and alleys, this act is hereby declared an
emergency and shall be in force from its passage.