Chap. 100.—An ACT Directing the Division of Cities and Towns into Wards.

In force May 24, 1870.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the judges of hustings courts of cities and towns having more
than five thousand inhabitants, within this commonwealth,
may, within ten days after this act shall become a law, appoint
one competent voter from each ward, as at present defined,
and one person, a voter, from the city at large, who shall con-
stitute a board of commissioners, whose duty it shall be, after
having taken an oath or affirmation before some one authorized
by law to administer oaths, that they will faithfully and honestly
discharge the duties required of them by this ast, to proceed
to lay off their respective cities or towns in wards and votin
places in such a manner that they may be conveniently bounded
by streets, water courses, or natural and recoguized lines, and
shall prescribe a name or number for each ward, and establish
a voting place in each precinct; but said voting place may,
after the first general election held in May, eighteen hundred
and seventy, or sooner, if necessary, be changed by the com-
mon council to some other place in the precinct; and the said
commissioners shall prepare, at the earliest practicable day, an
outline map, showing such divisions, and return the same to
the clerk of the hustings court, who shall file the same with
the report of the commissioners. The wards and precincts
so defined, shall thenceforth be and become the wards and
precincts of said cities and towns, and shall so continue until
changed by law. And it shall be the duty of the said clerk
to cause the boundary lines of the said wards and precincts to
be published in the paper having the largest circulation within
said city or town, for a period of ten days.

2. In case there shall be no one present authorized to ad-
minister oaths, as required of the commissioners in the pre-
ceding section, then any of the said commissioners shall ad-
minister the oath to the others, and in turn, be himself sworn
by one of them.

3. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the hustings court,
upon the return of said report to his office, to cause the same
to be entered of record, and furnish to the keeper of the rolls
an attested copy thereof. |

4. The said board of commissioners shall cause to be made
out a statement, signed by a majority of its members, and re-
turn the same to the clerk’s office of the hustings court, show-
ing the number of days each member of the board was actually
engaged in the discharge of his duties under this act, and all
sums of money, if any, actually expended by said commis-
sioners, or allowed by them to other parties for services ren-
dered in carrying out this act. The compensation of said com-
missioners shall be three dollars per day each, and that of the
clerk of the court, for services rendered under this act, the like
fees allowed by law for recording deeds; all of which several
amounts, together with all other necessary and proper charges
in carrying out the provisions of this act, shall be paid by the
said city or town for which the services were rendered: pro-
vided, that no commissioner or clerk shall be entitled to re.
ceive any pay under this act if it shall appear that he has
caused any delay in executing the same by failing to discharge
properly the duties assigned him. |
5. It shall be the duty of the keeper of the rolls to publish,
with the acts of the general assembly of the current year, the
names or numbers of the several wards within the corporate
limits of the cities and towns of this commonwealth, as estab-
lished by this act.

6. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.

7. This act shall be in force from its passage.