Chap. 142.—An ACT to Amend and Re-enact an Act entitled an act to In-
corporate the town of Goodson, in the county of Washington, passed
March 5, 1856.

. Approved June 17, 1870.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That an act incor-
porating the town of Goodson, in the county of Washington,
passed March fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, be amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Ҥ 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the cor-

orate limits of the town of Goodson, in the county of Wash-
ington, shall be and are hereby established as follows: Begin-
ning at the intersection of the Virginia and Tennessee states’
line and the western boundary line of the town cemetery, and
running west with said state line twenty-two hundred yards;
thence north nine hundred and fifty yards; thence east twenty-
two hundred yards, on a line parallel with the states’ line;
thence south nine hundred and fifty yards to the point of be-
ginning. And the same shall be and is hereby made a town
corporate by the name of the Town of Goodson, by that name
shall have and exercise the powers conferred upon towns by
the fifty-fourth chapter of the Code of Virginia, not in con-
flict with this act.

Ҥ 2. The officers of said town shall consist of a mayor, five
councilmen, a recorder, and sergeant, who shall be elected by
those qualified to vote for members of the general assembly
and no other persons.

“$3. The first election of officers under this act shall be
held at King’s block on the second Tuesday in July next, under
the superintendence of John N. Bosang, John Keys, and
Jesse H. Pepper, or any two of them, and thereafter the said
officers shall be elected annually on the second Tuesday in May.

Ҥ 4. The council shall prescribe the manner of certifying
and declaring elections, of deciding between two or more
when the number of votes shall be equal, and of filling vacan-
cies in said board. A majority of xaid council shall constitute
& quorum to do business.

Ҥ 5. The sergeant of said town shall have the like right of
distress and power in collecting the taxes and levies made by
the council of said: town as sherifts and revenue collectors in
similar cases, and shall be entitled to the same or like fees and
commissions tor collecting said taxes and levies as are allowed
for the collection of county leviex; aud in the service and re-
turn of all process, and in the collection of all fines arising
under the authority of this act or of any by-laws made in pur-
suance of this act, he shall have and possess the same rights
and powers, and be entitled to the same or like fees, as are al-
lowed hy law to sheriffs for similar services.

“$6. The sergeant of aiid town shall execute before the
town council, a bond with conditions such as constables are
required ly law to enter into, a copy of which shall be certi-
fieat to the county court of Washington county for record; he
soall have power and authority to execute any and all process
to his directed; and shall and may do and perform all acts
and execute aod return such warrants and be liable in the same
manner, and to the same extent that constables are liable to,
by the laws of the commonwealth.

“§ 7. ‘The mayor, recorder, and councilmen shall and may ex-
ercise all jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, in order to
preserve the peace and good order in said town, and to this
end they and each of them shall be a conservator of the peace,
with all the powers and duties authorized to be exercised by
such conservator, by the constitution now in force and the
laws made in pursuance thereof: provided, that the mayor
alone shall have authority and jurisdiction to hear and deter-
mine all matters in controversy arising under the laws and
ordinances of said town.

“$8. ‘The council shall have power and authority, whenever
they deem it. expedient, to eatablish new streets, to extend and
alter any street that has been or may hereafter be established,
to have the sidewalks and gutters along any street within said
town, of such width as they may prescribe, properly paved or
otherwise improved, repaired, and altered, at the proper cost
and expense of the owner and occupier of the lands or lots
along the front or sides of which suth sidewalks or other im-
provements extend, and to levy and collect a special tax, suffi-
cient for that purpose, on each of such lots or pieces of land;
which special tax shall be collected by the sergeant of said
town, as other taxes on real estate within said town are
directed to be collected.

Ԥ9. All taxes, general or special, assessed upon lands or
lots within the said town under this act, are hereby declared
to constitute a lien upon such land or lots in the same manner
and to the same extent as state taxes are a lien on real estate
in the hands of the owner, or his heirs, devisees, assigns, or
any subsequent purchaser or other person claiming the same,
and may be collected from such subsequent purchaser entitled
to such land or lots in like manner as they might have been
collected from the original owner or occupier: provided, that
no tax shall be assessed on lands lying with said corporation
that is not divided into town lots or held as town property.

Ҥ10. The council may prevent hogs, dogs, or other ani-
mals from running at large within the corporate limits, and
may subject the same to such regulations as it may deem

roper.

Ҥ 11. The council of said town shall have power to impose
fines, not exceeding twenty dollars in amount, for breaches of
the peace committed within said town; also for obstructing
the streets and sidewalks, or for any wilful or malicious injury
done thereto, or to the public property of the town, as may be
regulated by ordinance of said council, and confine or imprison
till said tines are paid or secured.

Ҥ 12. For the purpose of carrying into effect the police
regulations of said town, the council are authorized to erect,
buy, or rent a suitable building or room for the safekeeping
and confinement of all persons who shall be sentenced to im-
prisonment under the ordinance of said town; and all persons
so confined shall be under the charge and custody of the town
sergeant of said town, who shall receive, keep, and discharge
the same in such manner as shall be prescribed by the ordi-
nances of said town, or otherwise discharged by due course of
law.

Ҥ 13. That the mayor and common council of said town
be and they are hereby authorized to subscribe for, on behalf
of said town, and upon such terms and conditions as they may
agree and stipulate, a sum, not exceeding ten thousand dollars,
for the purpose of purchasing suitable grounds within the
limits of the town for a public square, improving the same,
and building a town hall: provided, that no such subscription
shall be made until the expediency thereof be submitted to the
vote of those persons qualified to vote at the election of said
common council, and shall receive the assent of three-fourths
of the votes actually polled after thirty days’ public notice of
the time and place of opening the polls for that purpose.

Ҥ 14. Be it further enacted, That the said mayor and com-
mon council be further authorized to borrow, on behalf of said
corporation, such sums of money as will be required to effect
said object, and to assess, levy, and collect such taxes as in
their opinion will be necessary for the purpose of paying the
interest and reducing the principal of any loan which the said
common council may negotiate by virtue of this act.

Ҥ 15. Be it further enacted, That the said mayor and com-
mon council be and they are hereby authorized to issue the
bonds of the said corporation for all loans which they may ne-
gotiate, for the purposes aforesaid, by virtue of this act, re-
deemable and payable at such time or times as they may agree
and stipulate.”

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