Chap. 343.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the city of Lynchburg, Vir-
ginia. [S B 373]

Approved March 21, 1928

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all acts
creating and amending the charter of the city of Lynchburg be and
the same are hereby amended and re-enacted in the manner and form
following:

CHAPTER I—CORPORATE LIMITS

Section 1. The territory contained within the following limits shall
be deemed and taken as the city of Lynchburg:

Beginning at the point where the right or southerly bank of Fishing
creek intersects with the southerly bank of James river; thence across
the mouth of Fishing creek up James river; thence with a straight line
across the southern branch of James river and across the Norfolk and
Western island and across the northern branch of James river to a
point opposite the mouth of Fishing creek, thence with the north bank
of James river up the river to a point on the north bank of said river
where the northwest line of the bridge of the Southern railway inter-
sects said bank; thence crossing with the northwest line of said railway
bridge over the north branch of James river to Daniel’s island, and
thence with the northwest property line of the Southern railway across
Daniel’s island and with the northwest line of the Southern railway
bridge across the southern branch of James river to the northwest
end of the south abutment of the Southern railway bridge spanning
James river; thence up the south bank of James river to the point where
the corporate line fixed by the annexation of nineteen hundred and
eight intersects with said bank of the river; thence into the river to
the Amherst county line; thence up James river with the Amherst
county line to the point where the dividing line between Bedford and
Campbell counties intersects the Amherst county line; thence following
the line between Bedford and Campbell counties in a southerly direc-
tion to the intersection of said line with Ivy creek and across the
creek ; thence down the right bank of Ivy creek to the southern right
of way line of the Norfolk and Western railway main line; thence
westward with the said southern right of way line to the boundary line
between the properties of J. C. Woodson and J. R. Ford; thence with
the line between Woodson and Ford in a southern direction to the left
bank of Blackwater creek; thence up the left bank of Blackwater
creek, all the creek being in the city, to the mouth of a small branch
between the property of Hutter and Swisher; thence up the left bank
of said branch, all of said branch being in the city, to the property line
between Glass and Johnson; thence along the property line between
Johnson and Hutter southwesterly to the corner of Johnson and Hut-
ter; thence southerly along the westerly property lines of Johnson,
Craddock and Early and crossing the Salem turnpike on the same
course to the southern side of said turnpike; thence with the said
southerly side of said turnpike to its intersection with Ward’s road;
thence along the westerly side of Ward’s road in a southerly direction
to the line between the Harvey property and Edgewood farm; thence
on a straight line across Ward’s road in an easterly direction to the
intersection of the line between Lindsay and Harvey on the line of
Lula Dodd; thence along the northwesterly line of Dodd and across
Lindsay street a straight line to a small branch running between the
property of Lula Dodd and McKinney; thence down the right bank
of said branch crossing the Norfolk and Western railway to Fishing
creek and across the creek; thence down the right bank of Fishing
creek to the point where the right bank of Fishing creek intersects the
old corporate line as fixed by the nineteen hundred and eight annexa-
tion, which line is a straight line drawn between the point of inter-
section of the northern condemnation line of the Southern railway and
the west corner of James and Carroll streets; thence with said line in
an easterly direction to the Southern railway at its intersection with
the Durham division of the Norfolk and Western railway and across
the Southern railway and the Norfolk and Western railway on the
same course to the easterly right of way line of the Durham division
of the Norfolk and Western railway; thence along the easterly right
of way line of the Durham division of the Norfolk and Western rail-
way in a southerly direction to the line between Fairview heights and
Roseland park; thence in an easterly direction along said dividing line
between Fairview heights and Roseland park to the westerly line of
Campbell avenue and across Campbell avenue on the same course;
thence along the easterly line of Campbell avenue in a southerly di-
rection to the southerly line of Pocahontas avenue; thence with the
southerly line of Pocahontas avenue in an easterly direction to the
southern line of the Norfolk and Western railway belt line right of
way; thence with said line of said right of way in a northwesterly
direction to the intersection of the same with the Morgan college
property ; thence crossing the right of way of the Norfolk and Western
railway belt line and along the line between the properties of Morgan
college and Poole to the intersection of said line with the O’Holloran
property; thence along the line between Morgan college and O’Hollo-
ran to the southern line of College avenue; thence along the southern
line of College avenue to its intersection with the Campbell court-
house turnpike and crossing the turnpike; thence along the eastern
line of said turnpike to the southeasterly bank of Fishing creek; thence
down said bank of Fishing creek, the creek being in the city, to the
northerly condemnation line of the Southern railway; thence with
said condemnation line in an easterly direction to where said condemna-
tion line again intersects with the right or southerly bank of Fishing
creek; thence with the right bank of said creek down the creek to
where it again intersects with the northern condemnation line of the
Southern railway; thence with the northern condemnation line of the
Southern railway in a northeriy direction to where it again intersects
with the right or southerly bank of Fishing creek; thence down said
right or southerly bank of Fishing creek to where it empties into James
river at the point of beginning.

The inhabitants of the territory comprised within the present limits
of the city of Lynchburg as hereinbefore described or as the same may
be hereafter altered and established by law, shall continue to be one
body politic in fact and in name under the style and denomination of
the city of Lynchburg, and as such shall have and may exercise all
powers which are now or hereafter may be conferred upon or dele-
gated to cities under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth
of Virginia, as fully and completely as though said powers were spe-
cifically enumerated herein, and no enumeration of particular powers
by this charter shall be held to be exclusive, and shall have, exercise
and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges and be
subject to all the duties and obligations now appertaining to and incum-
bent on said city as a municipal corporation, and the said city of Lynch-
burg, as such, shall have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued.
contract and be contracted with and may have a corporate seal which
it may alter, renew or amend at its pleasure.

CHAPTER TI—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 2. The city of Lynchburg and its inhabitants shall he
exempt from all assessments for levies in the way of taxes imposed
by the authorities of Bedford, Campbell or Amherst counties for any
purpose whatever, except upon property in the said counties owned
by the inhabitants of said city, nor shall said inhabitants be liable to
serve upon juries in said counties.

Section 3. Unless otherwise specifically provided, the persons hold-
ing any of the offices provided for in this charter, which offices have
existed under the charter heretofore in foree, shall continue to hold
the same under their previous election or appointment until the term
of such office as herein provided shall expire, dating the commence-
ment of such term from the time fixed in said former charter.

CHAPTER II—GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Section 4. The government and administration of the city shall be
vested in one body, to be called the council of the city of Lynchburg.
and in one administrative officer, to be styled city manager, and in such
other departments, boards and other officers as are hereinafter pro-
vided for, or as are permitted or required by law appointed by the
council.

Section 5. On and after September first, nineteen hundred and
twenty-eight, the council shall consist of seven members, who shall
be elected at large from qualified voters of the city and they shall
serve for a term of four years from the first day of September next
following the date of their election and until their successors shall
have been elected and qualify; provided, however, that at the first
election held hereunder in nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, five
councilmen shall be elected, three of the councilmen elected at said
first election hereunder shall succeed the three present councilmen.
whose terms expire on August thirty-first, nineteen hundred and
twenty-eight, and shall serve for a period of four years, and two of the
councilmen elected at the first election hereunder shall serve for a
period of two years; the councilmen to serve for the two-year period
shall be determined by lot between the five councilmen elected at the
first election hereunder at the first meeting of the council held in Sep-
tember, nineteen hundred and twenty-eight; and at the next election.
four councilmen shall be elected to succeed the two present councilmen,
whose terms expire on the thirty-first day of August, nineteen Hundred
and thirty, and the two councilmen elected at the first election here-
under to serve for two years, and at said election and each election
thereafter, the councilmen elected to succeed those whose terms expire
shall be elected for a period of four years. The council shall be a
continuing body and no measure pending before such body shall abate
or be discontinued by reason of the expiration of the term of office
or removal of the members of said body or any of them. Vacancies
in the council shall be filled within thirty davs, for the unexpired term,
by a majority vote of the remaining members.

Section 6. The council shall elect one of its members to preside
over its meetings, who shall be entitled president, and who shall be
ex-officio mayor of the city, and shall also elect another member to be
vice-president of the council to act in the place of the president in his
absence or incapacity. The president and vice-president shall be elected
for a term of two years, and any vacancy in the offices shall be filled
by the election by the council for the unexpired term. The mayor shall
have the same powers and duties as other members of the council with
a vote, but no veto, and shall be the official head of the city. With the
exception of those officers required by the Constitution of the State to
be elected by popular vote, the members of the council shall be the
only elective city officials.

Section 7. The salary of each member of the council shall be five
hundred dollars per annum, except that member who shall be elected
mavor, whose salary shall be seven hundred and fifty dollars per annum,
pavable out of the treasury of the city of Lynchburg in monthly in-
stallments.

Section 8. The council shall meet at such times as may be pre-
scribed by ordinance or resolution, provided, however, that it shall
hold at least two regular meetings cach month. No business shall be
transacted at a special meeting except that for which it shall have been
called, unless all members of the council attend such special meeting
or give their written consent thereto. [for lack of quorum, any reg-
ular meeting may be postponed to such time as the council may dcter-
mine.

Section 9. The president or any other two members of the council
or the city manager may call special mectings of the council at any
time upon at least twelve hours’ written notice to each member served
personally or left at his usual place of business or residence, but spe-
cial meetings may be held at any time without notice, provided all
members of the council attend said meeting or waive notice thereof.

Section 10. A majority of the members of the council shall con-
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No vote shall be
considered or rescinded at any special mecting unless at such special
meeting there be present as laryve a number of members as were present
when such vote was taken. No ordinance or resolution appropriating
money exceeding the sum of one thousand dollars, imposing taxes, or
authorizing the borrowing of money, shall be passed by the council on
the same day on which it is introduced, nor shall any such ordinance
or resolution be valid unless at least three days intervene between its
introduction and date of passage. No ordinance or resolution appro-
priating money exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars, imposing
taxes or authorizing the borrowing of money shall be passed except
by recorded affirmative vote of a majority of all members elected to
the council.

Section 11. The officers of the city whose election or appointment
is not otherwise provided for herein or under the general statutes of
the State, shall be elected or appointed by the council except such ad-
ministrative officers and employees as are appointed by the city man-
ager under the powers granted him by this act.

Section 12. Upon the announcement by the president of the adop-
tion of resolutions or ordinances having for their object the increase
of the indebtedness of the city, or the expenditure of its revenues, ex-
cept for the payment of its salaried officers and employees, any two
councilmen may give notice of a motion to reconsider, which motion
shall delay the question until said reconsideration can be acted on at
the regular meeting oi the council.

Section 13. The city manager shall be the administrative head of
the municipal government. He shall be chosen by the council without
regard to his political belief and solely upon the basis of his executive
and administrative qualifications. The choice shall not be limited to
the inhabitants of the city or State unless otherwise required by the
Constitution of the State. The city manager shall receive such com-
pensation as shall be fixed by the council by ordinance or resolution. He
shall be appointed for an indefinite period and shall serve at the will
of the council. During the absence or disability of the city manager,
the council shall designate some properly qualified person to perform
his duties.

Section 14. The city manager shall be responsible to the council
for the efficient administration of all affairs of the city. He shall have
power, and it shall be his duty:

First. To see that all laws and ordinances are enforced.

Second. Except as otherwise provided in this act, to appoint all
heads or directors of departments, and all subordinate officers and
employees of the city, with power to discipline and remove any officer
or employee so appointed. Such appointment and removals shall be
reported to the council at its next regular meeting.

Third. To exercise supervision and control over all departments
and divisions created herein or that may be hereafter created by the
council.

Fourth. To attend all regular meetings of the council with the
right to take part in the discussion but having no vote. He shall be
entitled to notice of all special meetings.

Fifth. To recommend to the council for adoption such measures
as he may deem necessary or expedient.

Sixth. To see that all terms and conditions imposed in favor of
the city or its inhabitants in any public utility franchise are faithfully
kept and performed; upon knowledge of any violation thereof, to call
the same to the attention of the council and of the city attorney.

Seventh. To make and execute all contracts on behalf of the city
except as may be otherwise provided by this act or by ordinance passed
in pursuance thereof.

Eighth. To act as budget commissioner and as such to prepare and
submit to the council the annual budget, after receiving estimates made
by the heads or directors of the departments or of any boards or com-
mission not within the departments.

Ninth. To keep the council at all times fully advised as to the
financial conditions and needs of the city.

Tenth. To perform all such other duties as may be prescribed by
law or be required of him by ordinance or resolution of the council.

Section 15. No person elected to the council, whether he qualify
or not, shall during the term for which he was elected or twelve months
after the expiration of that time be elected by the council or appointed
by the city manager to any position of trust or office of trust or profit
of the city.

Section 16. The council shall elect a city clerk, a city auditor (the
duties of both officers, city clerk and city auditor may be imposed upon
one individual) a city attorney and a city collector, each of whom shall
serve for such term as may be provided by the council, and until his
successor has been elected and qualified.

CHAPTER IV—ELECTIONS, OATHS OF OFFICE,
BONDS AND SO FORTH

Section 17. The election of all the municipal officers who are chosen
by the vote of the people shall be held at the intervals and on the days
prescribed for such elections by the laws of the State.

Section 18. In case of a vacancy arising in any elective municipal
office hereinafter mentioned, except as otherwise provided, it shall be
the duty of the council to certify the same to the judge of the corpora-
tion court, who shall issue his writ for an election to fill such vacancy
in the manner prescribed by the general election laws of the State.

Section 19. Whenever any special election shall be ordered by the
city council for any object not provided for in the general election laws
of the State, they shall communicate their order for the same to the
judge of the corporation court, and the same proceedings shall be had
by it as are provided by law for special elections to fill vacancies in any
elective municipal office.

Section 20. The members of the city council and all other officers
of the city, whether elected by the people or appointed by the council,
before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be
sworn in accordanee with the laws of the State. Such oaths may be
administered by any person competent to administer an oath under the
laws of the State; and a certificate of such oaths having been taken
shall be filed by each officer with the clerk of the council, who shall
enter the same upon the journal of the council. If any person ap-
pointed or elected to any office in said city, shall neglect to take such
oath for thirty days after recciving notice of his election or appoint-
ment, or shall neglect for a like space of time to give such securities as
may be required of him by the city council, as hereinafter provided,
or as may be hereafter required by any law or ordinance, his office
shall be deemed vacant, and there shall be another appointment or
election for the same.

Section 21. All persons elected by the people to fill any municipal
office, shall enter upon the duties thereof at the time prescribed by
the general laws of the State, and shall respectively continue in office
until their successors have qualified.

Section 22. The council shall designate such officers and employees
of the city as shall give to the city bonds, with securities to be approved
by the council, conditioned so as to secure the faithful discharge of
their official duties, and the several penalties of said bonds shall be
the sums the council, by ordinance, shall prescribe; provided that the
securities of the treasurer, collector, commissioner of revenue and
high constable, respectively, shall be equally liable for the acts of his
deputy or deputies as for those of their principals.

The bonds provided for under this section are only to secure the
faithful discharge of duties to the city, and in no wise are to super-
sede the official bonds of the Commonwealth required of any of said
officials by law. All official bonds given by municipal officers and em-
ployes shall be filed with the clerk of the corporation court.

Section 23. In case of default on the part of any bonded municipal
officer, the city shall have the same remedies upon his bond against him
and his sureties as are provided for the State in enforcing the penalty
of any official bond given to it.

CHAPTER V—CORPORATION, CIRCUIT AND MUNICIPAL
COURTS, BAIL COMMISSIONERS

Section 24. The jurisdiction of the corporation and circuit court
of the city shall extend to the corporate limits thereof and to a space
of one mile without and around said limits, except that the same shall
not,extend into the county of Amherst beyond the corporate limits:
and any judgment, order or decree of the said corporation court or
of the said circuit court for the city of I.ynchburg heretofore made
in any case, in which the said court would have had jurisdiction had
this act been in operation, shall have the same effect as if this act had
been at that time in force.

Section 25. First. The city council shall, in the year nineteen hun-
dred and thirty-one, and each fourth vear thereafter, elect an officer
who shall be called the judge of the municipal court of said city, whose
term of office shall begin on the first day of January succeeding his
election and shall continue for four vears thereafter; his salary shall
be fixed by the council and paid out of the city treasury and shall not
be diminished during his term of office.
Second. The city council shall also have authority to elect an off-
cer, who, if elected, shall be designated as judge of the municipal civil
court, whose term of office shall begin on the first day of January
succeeding his election, and shall continue for four years thereafter ;
his salary shall be fixed by the council and paid out of the city treasury,
and shall not be diminished during his term of office. The council may
elect to the position of judge of the municipal civil court the same
person who holds the position of judge of the municipal court.

Section 26. The judge of the municipal court shall have all the
powers and duties a justice of the peace has in both civil and criminal
matters (and such other powers as may be conferred upon him by
law) and in addition to such powers and duties, it shall be his duty
and he shall have jurisdiction to enforce the penal laws of the State
and city and the ordinances and resolutions of the council, and he
shall have exclusive original jurisdiction to try all offenses of what-
ever nature against the ordinances of the city. He shall have the same
Jurisdiction as the civil and police justices of the cities of Virginia
under the laws of the State, and specifically as set forth in section
thirty-one hundred and two of the Code of Virginia. His jurisdiction
shall extend throughout the corporation limits of the city and in crimi-
nal matters for one mile bevond those limits, except that the same
shall not extend into the county of Amherst beyond the corporate
lines. In enforcing such laws, ordinances and resolutions, he shall
power to enforce and collect all fines and penalties and to impose and
inflict such other punishment as by such laws, ordinances or reso-
lutions are ordained in the penalty for any breach thereof. Provided,
however, that in case there is elected by the council of the city a judge
of the municipal civil court, all civil jurisdiction of the judge of the
municipal court shall vest exclusively in the judge of the municipal
civil court.

Section 27. An appeal may be taken to the corporation court from
a judgment of the said judge of the municipal court in imposing any
fine or penalty for a violation of the penal laws of the State in all
cases where an appeal might Le taken from the decision of a justice
of the peace. From his judgment imposing a penalty for any infrac-
tion of a city ordinance, an appeal may be taken to the corporation
court of the city, except in cases where the penalty imposed is a fine
not exceeding twenty dollars, in which case it shall be final.

Section 28. The said court, and the judge thereof, shall have power
to enforce the payment of any fine or penalty imposed by the said
court for any violation of a city ordinance or resolution, or of any
State law, by imprisonment in the city jails or by committing any per-
son convicted by said court to the city farm.

Section 29. The civil jurisdiction of the judge of the municipal
court shall be that provided by the State law for civil and police
justices and municipal courts and when the matter in controversy
does not exceed twenty dollars, his judgment shall be final.

Section 30. Said judge shall hold a court each day (except Sunday
and such days as he may set apart for the trial of juvenile and domestic
relations cases when he is sitting as judge of such court), to take cog-
nizance of such cases as may be brought before him under the laws
of the State or the ordinances of the city.

Section 31. The judge of the municipal civil court shall have all
the powers and duties of a justice of the peace in civil matters and of
civil justices and judges of the municipal courts of the cities of Vir-
ginia under the laws of the State, and specifically as set forth in section
thirty-one hundred and two of the Code of Virginia. He shall have
exclusive trial jurisdiction in all such civil cases, except in such cases
as the corporation and circuit courts may have concurrent jurisdiction.
In civil suits, where the matter in controversy does not exceed twenty
dollars, his judgment shall be final.

Section 32. The judge of the municipal civil court shall hold at
least three days each week to take cognizance of such cases as may be
brought before him. All fees and costs in said court shall be those
provided by State law for such courts, and when collected shall be
paid into the city treasury. The provisions of the State law with refer-
ence to appeals and removals applicable to civil and police justices and
judges of municipal courts of cities shall apply to said court, and any
such appeal or removal may be taken to either the corporation or cir-
cuit court of the city of Lynchburg.

Section 33. In case of the absence from the city, or inability to
act, on the part of either the judge of the municipal court or the judge
of the municipal civil court, the council may designate some person to
act in the place of said judges, who, when acting, shall possess the
same powers and discharge the same duties as such judges, and at all
times shall have the same powers to issue warrants and admit to bail.

Section 34. Any vacancies in the office of the judge of the munici-
pal court or judge of the municipal civil court may be filled by election
by the council. The person or persons thus elected shall serve for the
unexpired term and until their successor shall be elected and qualified.

The present judge of the municipal court shall be judge of the said
municipal court until the expiration of the term for which he was
elected and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, unless
sooner removed from office.

Section 35. There shall be a clerk of the municipal court, to be
appointed by the judge thereof, who shall also act as clerk of the
domestic relations and juvenile courts, and who shall perform such
other duties as may be assigned him. There shall be a clerk of the
municipal civil court, appointed by the judge thereof, who shall per-
form such duties as may be assigned to him. The salary of both of
said clerks shall be fixed by the council.

Section 36. The city council shall have authority to appoint from
such of the qualified voters of the city as have no official connection
with the police department of the city not more than five persons,
who shall, when appointed, be called bail commissioners, whose re-
spective terms of office shall begin on the first day of January succeed-
ing their respective appointment and shall continue for four years
thereafter.

All said bail commissioners, if appointed, shall each, at all times,
have the same authority and power as the judge of the municipal
court to issue search warrants and warrants of arrest for violation of
the criminal laws of the State and penal ordinances of the city, and
each of said bail commissioners shall at all times have power and
jurisdiction within the said city to admit to bail persons charged with
crime in all cases where the courts of record or the judges thereof are
authorized to admit to bail; but none of said bail commissioners shall
issue any such warrants nor admit any persons to bail after any court
of record having jurisdiction in the matter, or the judge thereof, or
the judge of the municipal court of the city, has acted upon the appli-
cation for such warrant for bail nor while the application for such
warrant or bail is pending before such court or judge.

The council shall have authority by ordinance to provide such rules
and regulations governing the work and duties of the said bail commis-
sioners as it may deem proper and shall fix the fees and compensation
of such bail commissioners as it may deem proper.

CHAPTER VI—THE CITY COUNCIL, ITS POWERS,
DUTIES, ETC.

Section 37. The council shall have authority to adopt such rules
and appoint such officers and clerks as it may deem proper for the
regulation of its proceedings, and for the convenient transaction of
business may compel the attendance of absent members, may punish
its members for disorderly behavior, and by a vote of two-thirds of
its members may expel a member for malfeasance or misfeasance in
office. It shall cause a journal of its proceedings and its meetings to
be kept and its meetings shall be open except when by recorded vote
of two-thirds of the members present, the council shall decide that
the public welfare requires secrecy. The council in any investigation
held by it may order the attendance of any person as a witness and
the production by any person or any proper books and papers. Any
person refusing or failing to attend or testify or produce such books
and papers, may be summoned by the council before the judge of the
municipal court or other officer having the powers of a justice of the
peace of the city, and upon failure to give a satisfactory excuse, may
be fined by him not exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars, or im-
prisoned not exceeding thirty days, such person to have the right of
appeal as in cases of misdemeanor, to the corporation court of said
city. Such witness may be sworn by the officer presiding at such in-
vestigation and shall be liable for prosecution for perjury for any false
testimony given at such investigation.

Section 38. The council shall have all the general powers vested in
it by the Constitution and laws of the State, and it shall have power
to enact ordinances providing for the exercise within its jurisdiction
of all police powers which the State itself may exercise under the
Constitution, except such as may be specially denied cities by act of
the general assembly; and shall further have power:

First. To control and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of
the city, and all property, real and personal, belonging to the city, and
make such ordinances, orders and by-laws, relating to the same as it
may deem proper and necessary.

Second. To purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and personal
property necessary for its uses and purposes.

Third. To establish markets in the city and regulate the same, and
to enforce such regulations in regard to the keeping and sale of fresh
meat, vegetables, eggs, and other green groceries, and the trade ot
hucksters and junk dealers, as may be deemed advisable.

Fourth. To erect in or near the citv limits suitable workhouses,
houses of correction or reformation, and houses for the reception and
maintenance of the poor and destitute. It shall possess and exercise
exclusive authority over all persons within the limits of the city receiv-
ing the benefits of the poor law; appoint officers and other persons
connected with any institution or house which it may establish, and
regulate pauperism within the limits of the city, and the council,
through a board of overseers of the poor, or such other agencies as it
may appoint for the direction and management of the poor of the city,
shall exercise the powers and perform the duties vested by law in
overseers of the poor.

l'ifth. To erect and keep in order all necessary public buildings; to
establish and regulate public squares, airports, playgrounds, and parks
in or near the city, and to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or
otherwise, the land it may deem necessary for such uses, and to con-
struct in such public squares, playgrounds or parks, as it may maintain,
Or upon any city property, stadiums, swimming pools, and recreation
or amusement buildings, structures, or inclosures of every character,
refreshment stands, restaurants, et cetera; to charge for admissions,
and use of the same, and to rent out or lease the privileges of con-
struction or using such swimming pools, recreation or amusement
building, structures or inclosures of every character, refreshment
stands or restaurants, et cetera.

sixth. To establish, maintain and enlarge water works or gas
works within or without said city; to contract with the owners of land,
water and riparian rights, for the use or purchase thereof, or to have
the same condemned for the location or enlargement of said works, or
the pipes and fixtures thereof, and to acquire by purchase or condem-
nation such quantity of the watershed land adjacent to the intake
or source of supply, as in the judgment of the said council may be
necessary to insure a sufficient supply of water for said city, and to
protect the same from pollution; to acquire by purchase or condemna-
tion from lower riparian owners the right to divert streams into the
present or any future reservoir; to prevent the throwing of filth or
offensive matter in James river within six miles of the city limits, and
to protect said water supply, works, pipes, reservoirs and fixtures,
whether within or without the city, against injury and pollution, by
appropriate ordinances and penalties, to be enforced as are other
ordinances of said city.

Seventh. To establish or acquire by purchase and to maintain and
operate within or without the corporate limits suitable works for the
generation of electricity for illumination or other purposes, and to
supply the same to consumers in or near the city at such price and
on such terms as it may prescribe, and to that end may contract with
owners of land and water power for the use thereof, or may have
the same condemned.

Fighth. To establish, or acquire by purchase, such other public
utilities, abattoirs and other enterprises, either within or without the
city, as may in its judgment be in the public interest, and to that end
may contract with owners of land, with or without buildings, for the
use or the purchase thereof, or may have the same condemned.

Ninth. To take care, supervision and control of streets, squares
and commons, and to close, vacate, abandon, extend, widen, narrow,
lay out, pave, graduate, improve and otherwise alter the streets in
said city; have the streets properly lighted and kept in good order;
make or construct sewers or public ducts through the same wherever
else they may deem expedient; build bridges in or culverts under said
streets or alleys, prevent or remove obstructions or encroachments
over, under or in the same; plant shade trees along the same, and pre-
vent the cumbering of streets. alleys, walks, public squares, lanes or
bridges in any manner whatever.

Tenth. To permit railroads to be built and to determine and desig-
nate the route and grade thereof; to permit poles for electrical, tele-
phone, or telegraph purposes to be erected, gas and steam pipes and
conduits for wires to be laid in the streets, and to prescribe am annual
license charge for the privileges granted hereunder; and to levy an
annual inspection charge upon all such poles, pipes and conduits; to
regulate the speed of engines and cars upon the railroads within the
city, and to wholly exclude the same where the welfare of the city
may demand it.

Eleventh. To provide for the weighing of hay, fodder, oats and
shucks or other long forage, ice, coal and live stock, and the measur-
ing of wood and lumber.

Twelfth. To require every merchant or trader in property of any
description which is sold by measure or weight, to have his weights and
measures sealed by the city sealer, or other officer designated to per-
form such duties.

Thirteenth. To provide for aid in the support or maintenance of
public free schools; to appoint the school board for the city, and to
designate the age of pupils to be admitted into the public schools and
the grade of such schools.

Fourteenth. To grant aid to military companies and to contribute
to the support of a band maintained within the city, to associations
for the advancement of agriculture or the mechanic arts, to scientific,
literary, educational or benevolent organizations or institutions and to
public libraries, provided such action is not prohibited by the Constitu-
tion of the State, and that all such societies, organizations or in-
stitutions be located in or near the city, and provided further that no
appropriation for any such purposes shall be made, nor shall aid be
otherwise granted through exemption from charge for use of water
or light facilities or otherwise, either with or without charge, beyond
the city limits, unless two-thirds of all the members elected to the
council vote therefor.

Fifteenth. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious or
other dangerous diseases ; to establish a quarantine ground; to provide
and maintain hospitals; to compel the removal of patients to same;
to appoint and organize a board of health or a department of public
welfare; to define its duties, and grant to it the necessary authority
effectually to discharge them.

Sixteenth. To provide for the registration of births in the city, and
to that end may require physicians, midwives, or parents to report the
same to the board of health or department of public welfare under
such regulations as it may deem proper.

Seventeenth. To provide in or near the city lands to be used as
burial places for the dead, to improve and care for the same and the
approaches thereto, and to discharge for and regulate the use of ground
therein; to prohibit the burial of dead within the city and to regulate
public cemeteries, and to require the return of bills of mortality
by the keepers of all cemeteries in or near the city.

Eighteenth. To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances
within the city, or upon property owned by the city beyond its limits,
at the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or of the
owner or occupant of the ground or premises whereon the same may
be; to require all lands, lots and other premises within the city to be
kept clean, sanitary and free from weeds or to make them so at the
expense of the owners or occupants thereof; to regulate or prevent
slaughter houses or other noisesome or offensive business within the
said city; the keeping of animals, poultry or other fowl therein, or
the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade or em-
ployment therein; to regulate the transportation of all articles through
the streets of the city; to compel the abatement of smoke and dust;
to prevent unnecessary noise therein; to regulate the location of
stables and the manner in which they shall be kept and constructed ;
to provide means for and to regulate the cleaning of all dry closets
and to assess against the owner or occupant of the premises on which
the same is located a reasonable charge therefor, which shall be col-
lectible as any other city taxes, and generally to define, prohibit, abate,
suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, safety,
comfort, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the city.

Nineteenth. To authorize and regulate the erection of party walls
and fences, and to prescribe how the cost thereof shall be borne by
co-terminous owners,

Twentieth. To direct the location of all buildings for storing ex-
plosives or combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of
gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, fireworks, kerosene oil or other like ma-
terial; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of fire-
arms and the making of bonfires in the streets and yards.

Twenty-first. To prevent fowls and animals being kept in or run-
ning at large in the city, and to subject the same to such taxes, regula-
tions and confiscations as it may think proper.

Twenty-second. To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other
animals at improper speed; to regulate the use of automobiles and other
automotive vehicles upon the streets in accordance with law; to prevent
the flying of kites, throwing of stones, or engaging in any sort of
employment in the public streets which is dangerous or annoying to
passersby, and to prohibit and punish the abuse of animals.

Twenty-third. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and
mendicants.

Twenty-fourth. To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve pub-
lic peace and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and
disorderly assemblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gaming
houses and gambling devices of all kinds; to prevent lewd, indecent
and disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the city, and to expel there-
from persons guilty of such conduct who have resided therein less
than one year.

Twenty-fifth. To prevent the coming into the city of persons
having no ostensible means of support, or of persons who may be
dangerous to the peace and safety of the city, and for this purpose
may require any railroad company bringing such passengers into the
city to enter into bond, with approved security, that such persons
shall not become chargeable to the city for one year, or may compel
such company to take them back from whence they came, or compel
such persons to leave the city if they have been in the city more than
six months before the order is given.

Twenty-sixth. To regulate and control auction sales, livery stables,
garages, gasoline filling stations, slaughter houses, theatrical perform-
ances or other public shows or exhibitions, the hiring or use for pay
of carriages, carts, wagons and drays, automobiles and other auto-
motive vehicles, and the business of hawkers, peddlers, persons selling
vzoods by sample, persons keeping billiard tables, tenpin alleys and pistol
galleries for profit, and all other similar businesses and occupations
and employments, and as to such trades, occupations and employments,
and any other of a like nature, may grant or refuse license as it may
deem proper.

Twenty-seventh. To compel persons sentenced to confinement in
the jail of the city for petty larceny or other misdemeanor or other
violations of the city ordinances to work on the public streets, parks
or other public works of the city or on the city farm, or be sent to
the poorhouse, there to perform such labor as the overseers of the
poor or officer having charge of such department may direct; and
on the requisition of the judge of the municipal court it shall be the
duty of the sergeant of the city to deliver such person to the duly
authorized agent of the city for such purposes from day to day as he
may be required.

Twenty-eighth. To divide the administrative work of the city
into such departments as the council, in its judgment, may deem
proper and to appoint a city engineer, city surveyor, city electrician,
a collector of city taxes, a.city attorney and an auditor, and such
other officers and employees as it may deem proper and necessary,
and to prescribe their respective powers and duties, terms of office
and compensation ; and all such officers may have such assistants and
clerks as the council may approve. Any office which the council has
the power to fill by appointment or election it may abolish or declare
vacant at any time, whether the term of office of the incumbent has
expired or not; and it may likewise at any time consolidate any such
office with any other of the offices that the council has the power to
fill by election or appointment, or it may consolidate any such office
with any office to which the incumbent is elected by the voters of the
city, provided that the fire and police departments shall not be
abolished. When a vacancy occurs in any office to which the incum-
bent is elected by the council, the council is empowered to fill the
vacancy, and when such vacancy occurs otherwise than by the regular
expiration of the term of the incumbent the election shall be only
for the unexpired term.

Twenty-ninth. To change the boundaries of wards and increase
the number thereof.

Thirtieth. To give names to or alter the names of streets.

Thirty-first. To make such regulations and orders as will protect
its citizens from unsafe houses or walls, and to that end it shall have
the power to cause to be condemned and taken down any such build-
ing or wall, but no such condemnation shall be made or such house
or wall taken down until the owner thereof, or in case of an infant
of insane person, his guardian or committee, be duly summoned before
the board of officers of the city, or the committee of the council
thereof charged by the ordinances with such duty, and allowed reason-
able opportunity to show cause against such action.

Thirty-second. To provide for the regular and safe construction
of houses in the city for the future, and to provide a complete building
code for the city, and to provide setback lines on the streets beyond
which no building may be constructed.

Thirty-third. To designate and prescribe from time to time the
parts of the city within which no buildings of wood shall be erected.
and to regulate the construction of buildings in the city so as to protect
it against danger from fire: and to enact an ordinance dividing the
city into zones under the provisions of the State law; and to provide
for a city planning commission and define its powers.
Thirty-fourth. To provide any penalty for the violation of any
city ordinance, not exceeding three hundred dollars, or three months’
imprisonment in the city jail, or both.

Thirty-fifth. To pass all by-laws, rules and ordinances not repug-
nant to the Constitution and laws of the State which it may deem
necessary for the good order and government of the citv, the manage-
ment of its property, the conduct of its affairs, the peace. comfort,
convenience, order, morals, health and protection of its citizens or
their property, and do such other things and pass such other laws as
may be necessary or proper to carry into full etfect anv power, author-
ity, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted to or vested
in said city, or in the council, court or officers thereof, or which may
be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

Thirty-sixth. To provide for the due publication in the newspapers
or otherwise of its ordinances and resolutions.

Thirty-seventh. To contribute funds or other aid to the building or
improvements of permanent public roads leading to the city, or of
bridges on such roads, or to the purchase of bridges on such roads
by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members elect of
the council, provided that no such appropriation shall be made to-
ward the building, purchase, or improvement of any road or bridge at a
point more than forty miles kevond the corporate limits of the city
measured along the route of such road.

Thirty-eighth. No ordinance hereafter passed or amended by
the council for the violation of which any penalty is imposed. shall
take effect until the same shall have been published for five days con-
secutively in one of the daily newspapers of said city to be designated
by the said council, provided, however, that the requirements shall
not apply to an ordinance merely granting to a person some individual
right or privilege nor to any ordinance re-ordained or amended or re-
ordained in or by compilation or codification of said ordinances. The
record or entry made by the clerk of said city or a copy of such record
or entry duly certified by him shall be prima facie evidence of the
time of such publication; and all laws, regulations and ordinances
of the city council may be read in evidence in all courts of justice and
in all proceedings before any officer, body or board in which it shall
be necessary to refer thereto, either from a copy thereof certified by
the clerk of said city or from the volume of ordinances printed by
authority of the city council.

Section 39. There shall be a police department and a fire depart-
ment, which may be incorporated into one department known as the
“department of public safety,” with the director therefor to be ap-
pointed by the city manager.

First. (a) The city manager shall, through the director of the
department of public safety, if such department be established, ap-
point a chief of police whose duties and bond shall be such as the
council may ordain. The city manager shall further, on nomination
of the chief of police through the director of the department of public
safety, if such office be established, appoint such number of policemen
as may be authorized by the council.

(b) The chief of police and policemen appointed as hereinbefore
provided, shall constitute the police force of the city and shall hold
their respective positions during good behavior or until they are re-
moved by the city manager.

(c) The police force shall be under the control of the city man-
ager for the purpose of enforcing peace and executing the laws of the
State and ordinances of the city. It shall perform such other duties
as the council may prescribe. For the purpose of enabling it to execute
its duties, every member thereof is hereby made a conservator of the
peace and endowed with the powers of a constable in criminal cases,
and with such other powers under the laws of the State as may be
necessary to the discharge of the duties of his office.

(d) The pay, uniform, rules and regulations of the said police
force shall be prescribed by the council.

Second. (a) The city manager shall, through the director of the
department of public safety, if such department be established, appoint
a chief engineer of the fire department, whose pay, duties and bond
shall be such as the council may ordain. The city manager shall
further, upon the nomination of the chief engineer, appoint such
number of firemen as may be authorized by the council. Vacancies
in the force of firemen shall he filled in like manner. The chief engi-
neer and firemen shall retain their position during good behavior or
until they are removed by the city manager.

(b) The pay, uniforms, rules and regulations of the said members
of the fire department shall be prescribed by the council.

CHAPTER VII—JUDGE, COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY,
CLERK AND OTHER OFFICERS

Section 40. There shall be for said city a judge of the corporation
court, a Commonwealth’s attorney, a clerk of the corporation court, a
treasurer, a sergeant, and a commissioner of the revenue, each of
which shall be elected in the manner and at the time, and to hold office
for the term prescribed by law; they shall respectively perform such
duties, have such powers, and be liable to such penalties as may be
prescribed by the laws of the State or the ordinances of the city, made
in pursuance thereof; and for all services performed for said city
by the treasurer or by the commissioner of revenue, or performed under
any ordinance or resolution of the council, such officers shall receive
such compensation as may from time to time be fixed by the council,
which compensation may be either in the shape of salary or commis-
sions as the council may determine.

Section 41. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each
ward of the city one justice of the peace, who shall hold office for the
term of four years and until his successor is elected and qualified,
unless sooner removed from office. The said justices shall be con-
servators of the peace within the corporate limits of the city, and for
one mile beyond the corporate limits thereof, except that the same
shall not extend into the county of Amherst beyond the corporate lines,
and within such limits shall possess the jurisdiction and exercise the
powers conferred on justices of the peace under the laws of this
Commonwealth, except that nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued as vesting in such justices any portion of the jurisdiction given
by law to the judge of the municipal court in enforcing the ordinances
of the city or the criminal laws of the State, and in case the council
shall establish the municipal civil court as heretofore provided in this
act, with exclusive civil jurisdiction to try civil cases, said justices of
the peace shall not have authority to try civil cases, though such
criminal and civil jurisdiction, or any part thereof, may be vested in
them, or in any one or more of them, by resolution or ordinances of
the council.

Section 42. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the city
one high constable, who shall hold his office for the term of four years
and until his successor be elected and qualified, unless sooner removed.
Said high constable shall keep his office in some convenient place in the
city, and shall have the same powers and duties and be subject to the
same penalties as are prescribed by law for the constables, and shall
further perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the ordi-
nances of the city, for which duties his compensation shall be fixed by
the council. He may be appointed as clerk of the municipal civil court.

Section 43. The collector, commissioner of revenue and high con-
stable may each appoint one or more deputies, provided such appoint-
ments meet with approval of the council; but the sureties of said
officers, respectively, shall be equally liable for the acts of said deputies
as for those of their principals.

CHAPTER VIII—BONDS, TAXES, SINKING FUNDS,
ET CETERA

Section 44. The council may, in the name and for the use of the
city, contract debts and cause to be issued therefor notes or bonds;
but no debt of the city shall he payable more than thirty-four years
from the date thereof; provided that the council shall not have power
to contract debts for the city or issue evidences therefor, whether notes
or bonds for sums which, when added to the net debt of the city then
existing after the deduction of sinking funds and all bonds issued for
or allocated to the water department, shall cause the total amount of the
indebtedness of the city to be greater than sixteen per centum of the
value of the real and persona: estate, which shall include all capital
on which a license is paid, in the city as assessed for taxation, either
by the State or the city; provided, however, that in determining the
limitation of the power of the city to incur indebtedness there shall not
be included the classes of indebtedness mentioned in subsections (a)
and (b) of section one hundred and twenty-seven of the Constitution
stables, photographic artists of all kinds, agents of all kinds (including
the agents of insurance companies, whose principal office is not located
in the city). sellers of wines and other liquors, venders of quack
medicine, public theatrical or other performances or shows, keepers of
billiard tables, tenpin alleys, pistol galleries, hawkers, peddlers, sample
merchants, railroad companies, canal companies, telegraphic companies,
telephone companies, gas companies, electric companies, traction com-
panies of all sorts, street railway companies, express companies, insur-
ance companies, and any other person, firm, corporation or employment,
whether of like kind with any of the foregoing or not, which it may deem
proper, whether such person, firm, corporation or employment be herein
specifically enumerated or not, and whether any tax be imposed thereon
by the State or not. As to all such persons, firms, corporations or em-
ployments, the council may lav a direct tax or may require a license
tax therefor under such regulations as it may prescribe and levy a
tax thereon; and where it is not prohibited by the laws of this State,
or of the United States, may levy both a direct tax and a license tax
thereon; but the taxes herein authorized shall be subject to the pro-
visions and conditions set forth in the third section of this chapter.
But this section shall not render it legal to conduct within the city any
business, calling or vocation which but for this section would be illegal.

Section 49. The council may subject anv person, who without
having obtained a license therefor, shall do any act or follow any
employment or business in the city, for which a license may be required
by ordinance, to such fine or penalty as it is authorized to impose for
any violation of its laws.

Section 50. There shall be set aside annually from the revenues of
the city a sinking fund equal to not less than one per centum on the
aggregate outstanding debt of the city, which by its terms 1s not pavable
within one year, and on the debt of the city contracted for a new-water
system for said city, or for improving the present svstem, there may
be set aside an additional fund equal to the two per centum of said
debt contracted for a water system for said city; provided that no
sinking fund need be set aside for the retirement of serial bonds
maturing periodically. Said sinking fund shall be applied to the debt
or debts for the discharge of which it was created, and until so apphed
shall be invested, with its accumulations of interest, in bonds of the
United States, or of the State of Virginia, or of the city of Lynch-
burg, or of any city in the State of Virginia having a population of
ten thousand inhabitants or over, according to the latest United States
census.

Section 51. The council shall not appropriate any part of the sink-
ing fund or its accruing interest otherwise than as mentioned in the
preceding section, except in time of war, insurrection or invasion, and
then only by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to such
council.

Section 52. The treasurer, collector of city taxes and assessments
and collector of delinquent taxes, the collector of water rents, water
rates and water assessments, sidewalk, sewer and dry closet assess-
ments and any other collector of funds due to the city which it may
appoint, shall have any or all of the powers which are now or may
be hereafter vested in any officer of the State charged with the col-
lection of State taxes, and may collect the same in the same manner
in which State taxes are collected by any officer of the State. No
deed of trust or mortgage upon goods and chattels shall prevent the
same from being distrained or sold for taxes assessed against the
grantor in such deed while such goods and chattels remain in the
possession of the grantor, nor shall any such deed prevent the goods
and chattels conveyed from being distrained and sold for the taxes
assessed thereon, no matter in whose possession they may be found.

Section 53. All moneys received or collected for the use of the
city shall be paid over, held and disbursed as the council may order
or prescribe.

Section 54. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the corporation
court of said city annually, between the first and fifteenth days of
January, to furnish the commissioner of revenue for said city a certified
list of all transfers of real estate which may have been made in his
office during the preceding twelve months.

Section 55. A tenant from whom payment of taxes on his land-
lord’s property shall be obtained by distress or otherwise shall have
credit for the same against such person on account of his rent, unless by
contract the tenant is to pay such taxes.

Section 56. The council may impose the penalty of five per centum
for the non-payment of city taxes and levies and may cause such
penalty to be added to the amount of taxes and levies due from tax-
payers at such time on and after the first of July, as it may by ordi-
nance or resolution from time :o time determine; and after such
penalty has been added, the treasurer, city collector of taxes, col-
lector of delinquent taxes, and all other officers of the city authorized
to collect taxes or levies due to the city of Lynchburg, shall have the
power of distress, garnishment, renting or action, and any other power
now possessed or that may hereafter be given to any person charged
with the collection of State taxes after the penalty for non-payment
of State taxes has been added. Should it come to the knowledge of
the treasurer or collector of city taxes that any person, firm or cor-
poration owing taxes or levies to the city is moving or contemplating
moving therefrom prior to the time said penalty may be added by the
council, the treasurer or collector shall have the right to collect the
taxes by distress, garnishment, renting, suit or action or otherwise at
any time after such bills for taxes have come into his hands.

Section 57. On or before the fifteenth day of June in each year
the collector shall file with the clerk of the corporation court a list of
all real estate in the city of Lynchburg delinquent for the non-payment
of taxes thereon for the preceding year, which list shall be recorded by
the clerk in the book of delinquent taxes kept in the clerk’s office,
indexed in the name of the party against whom said tax is assessed,
avail or operate to abolish said alley or street so as to divest the interest
of the public therein or the authority of the council over the same
provided, however, that the right may be reserved by the owner of
any subdivision and set forth on said plat to modify said plat by
abolishing any block with the streets or alleys in said block, provided
no lot has been sold in said block, and provided, further, that no
such change shall be made which shall cut off the owner of any other
property from convenient access to the main avenues of the city; and
provided, further, that where said plat has been submitted for approval
by the council before its recordation, no such modification shall be
allowed without the approval of the council.

Section 73. (a) In any action against the city to recover damages
against it for any negligence in the construction or maintenance of its
streets, alleys, lanes, parks, public places, sewers, reservoirs or water
mains, where any person or corporation is liable with the city for such
negligence, every such person or corporation shall be joined as defendant
with the city in any action brought to recover damages for such negli-
gence, and where there is judgment or verdict against the city, as well
as the other defendant, it shall be ascertained by the court or jury which
of the defendants is primarily liable for the damages assessed.

(b) If it be ascertained by the judgment of the court that some

person or corporation other thari the city is primarily liable, there shall
be a stay of execution against the city until execution against such
person or persons or other corporation or corporations shall have been
returned without realizing the full amount of such judgment.
(c) If the city, where not primarily liable, shall pay the said
judgment, in whole or in part, the plaintiff shall, to the extent that said
judgment is paid by the city, assign the said judgment to the city
without recourse on the plaintiff, and the said city shall be entitled
to have execution issued for its benefit against the other defendant
or defendants who have been ascertained to be primarily liable, or
may institute any suit in equity to enforce the said judgment, or an
action at law, or scire facias to revive or enforce said judgment.

Section 76. No action shall be maintained against the same city
g08 damages for any injury to any person or property alleged to have

en sustained by reason of the negligence of the city or of any officer,
agent, or employee thereof, unless a written statement verified by the
eares veh cleigiant, us agent or attorney, or the personal representa-
ae see ace cook wy ek goat is ge result of the alleged negligence
aL ee 8 seve’ ARE ONES 0! the nature of the claim

jury is alleged to have occurred
or to have been received, shall have been filed with the city attorney of
said city within six months after such cause of action shall h
accrued. And no officers, agents or empl ae etlahave
: Pployees of the city shall hav
authority to waive such conditions 2 -
precedent or any of them.
to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, within two years from the
sale thereof, the amount for which the samé was sold, and such addi-
tional taxes thereon as may have been paid by the purchaser, his heirs
or assigns, with interest on the purchase money at the rate of six per
centum (6%) per annum from the time the same may have been paid,
or, if purchased by the city, with such additional sums as would have
accrued for taxes thereon, if the same had not been purchased for
the city, with interest on the said purchase money and taxes at the
rate of six per centum (6%) per annum from the time that the same
may have been so paid, or the same may be paid within the said two
years to the collector in any case in which the purchaser, his heirs
or assigns, may refuse to receive the same, or may not reside or
cannot be found in the city of Lynchburg.

Section 63. Any infant, insane person, or person imprisoned, whose
real estate may have been sold, or his heirs, may redeem the same by
paying to the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, within two years after
the removal of the disability, the amount for which the same was so sold,
with the necessary charges incurred by the purchaser, his heirs or
assigns, in obtaining the title under the sale, and such additional
taxes on the estate as may have been paid by the purchaser, his heirs
or assigns, and the appraised value of any improvement that may have
been made thereon, with intercst on the said items at the rate of six
per centum (6%) per annum within two years after the removal of
such disability, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, shall, at the cost of
the original owners, his heirs or assigns, convey to him or them, by
deed with special warranty, the real estate sold.

Section 64. The purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes and
not redeemed, shall, after the expiration of two years from the sale,
obtain from the city auditor a deed conveying the same, wherein shall
be set forth what appears in his office in relation to the sale. In no
case shall a deed to any such real estate be made to any such pur-
chaser until after he has given to the person in whose name the real
estate so sold stood at the time of said sale and to the person to whom
said real estate so sold has been conveyed of record subsequent to the
time of stich sale or if any of said persons be dead, then to his or their
personal representatives and heirs or devisees, and to the trustees,
mortgagees and beneficiaries, as shown by the records in any deed of
trust or mortgage on said real estate, or their personal representatives,
four months’ written notice of his said purchase; provided that no
notice need be given to any trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary in any
deed of trust or mortgage which has been recorded, or the lien thereon
renewed, more than twenty years prior to the date of such sale; and
the person entitled to redeem the said real estate shall have such right
of redemption at any time before the expiration of said four months,
although such time extend beyond the two years mentioned herein.
When the purchaser has assigned the benefit of his purchase, the deed
may, with his assent, evidenced by his joining therein, or by writing
annexed thereto, be executed to his assignee. If the purchaser shall
said alley or street so as to divest the interest

of the public therein or the authority of the council over the same;
provided, however, that the right may be reserved by the owner of
any subdivision and set forth on said plat to modify said plat by
abolishing any block with the streets or alleys in said block, provided
no lot has been sold in said block, and provided, further, that no
such change shall be made which shall cut off the owner of any other
property from convenient access to the main avenues of the city; and
provided, further, that where said plat has been submitted for approval
by the council before its recordation, no such modification shall be
allowed without the approval of the council.

Section 73. (a) In any action against the city to recover damages
against it for any negligence in the construction or maintenance of its
streets, alleys, lanes, parks, public places, sewers, reservoirs or water
mains, where any person or corporation is liable with the city for such
negligence, every such person or corporation shall be joined as defendant
with the city in any action brought to recover damages for such negli-
gence, and where there is judgment or verdict against the city, as well
as the other defendant, it shall be ascertained by the court or jury which
of the defendants is primarily liable for the damages assessed.

(b) If it be ascertained by the judgment of the court that some
person or corporation other thari the city is primarily liable, there shall
be a stay of execution against the city until execution against such
person or persons or other corporation or corporations shall have been
returned without realizing the full amount of such judgment.

_(c) If the city, where not primarily liable, shall pay the said
judgment, in whole or in part, the plaintiff shall, to the extent that said
judgment is paid by the city, assign the said judgment to the city
without recourse on the plaintiff, and the said city shall be entitled
to have execution issued for its benefit against the other defendant
or defendants who have been ascertained to be primarily liable, or
may institute any suit in equity to enforce the said judgment, or an
action at law, or scire facias to revive or enforce said judgment.
fe Segronn (es Ne action shalt be maintained against the same city
re ae i y injury to any person or property alleged to have
y reason of the negligence of the city or of any officer,
agent, or employee thereof, unless a written statement verified by the
aioe i ces geo GF attorney, or the personal representa-
Bees gots ose death is the result of the alleged negligence
a nes a 3 cers, agents, or employees, of the nature of the claim
ean place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred
or to have been received, shall have been filed with the city attorney of
said. ay yar six months after such cause of action shall fave
See ee ec 2k Sp iy shall an
S precedent or any of them.

avail or operate to abolish
of such payment upon the delinquent land book opposite the entry of
such tract or lot for the year or years for which it was redeemed, or in
case the property has been purchased, on the delinquent sales book
for the year or years for which it was sold to the purchaser. The
clerk shall receive a fee of twenty-five cents to be paid by the person
for whose benefit the endorsement was made for endorsing the fact of
redemption or payment on delinquent land book or sales book.

CHAPTER IX—STREETS, HIGHWAYS, DAMAGES
ET CETERA

Section 68. The city shall not take or use any private property
for streets or any other public purposes without making just compensa-
tion for the same, but where the city cannot obtain the title to ground
necessary for its purpose, it may proceed to condemn the same in the
mode prescribed by law.

Section 69. No order shall be made and no injunction shall be
granted by any judge or court of this Commonwealth to stay the
proceedings of the city in the exercise of any power herein granted
it over its streets and railways, unless it be manifest that it is exceeding
its powers and that the interposition of the court 1s necessary to prevent
injury which cannot be adequately compensated in damages.

Section 70. In every case. where there has been or shall be en-
croachments upon a street by a fence, building or otherwise, the judge
of the municipal court may require the owner to remove the same.
If such removal shall not be made within the time ordered, the judge
of the municipal court may impose a penalty to be fixed by the council
for each day which it is allowed to continue thereafter, and may
cause the encroachment to be removed at the risk and cost of the
owner, although the right to impose such penalty or require the removal
of such encroachment involves the validity of a bona fide title to real
estate. ;

Section 71. Wherever any ground shall have been opened to and
used by the public as a street for ten years it shall be considered as
dedicated to the public, and the city shall have the same authority and
jurisdiction over and right and interest therein as it has over other
strects.

Section 72. No property within the territorial limits of the city
shall be laid out by the owner thereof with streets and alleys therein
except upon a plan to be first approved by the council. Any street
or alley reserved in the division or subdivision into lots of any portion
of the territory within the corporate limits of the city by a plan or plat
of record shall be deemed and held to be dedicated to the public use
and the council shall have authority, upon the petition of any person
interested therein, to open any such street or alley or any portion of
the same. No agreement between or release of interest by the persons
owning the lands immediately contiguous to any such alley or street,
whether the same has been opened or used by the public or not, shall
avail or operate to abolish said alley or street so as to divest the interest
of the public therein or the authority of the council over the same;
provided, however, that the right may be reserved by the owner of
any subdivision and set forth on said plat to modify said plat by
abolishing any block with the streets or alleys in said block, provided
no lot has been sold in said block, and provided, further, that no
such change shall be made which shall cut off the owner of any other
property from convenient access to the main avenues of the city; and
provided, further, that where said plat has been submitted for approval
by the council before its recordation, no such modification shall be
allowed without the approval of the council.

Section 73. (a) In any action against the city to recover damages
against it for any negligence in the construction or maintenance of its
streets, alleys, lanes, parks, public places, sewers, reservoirs or water
mains, where any person or corporation is liable with the city for such
negligence, every such person or corporation shall be joined as defendant
with the city in any action brought to recover damages for such negli-
gence, and where there is judgment or verdict against the city, as well
as the other defendant, it shall be ascertained by the court or jury which
of the defendants 1s primarily liable for the damages assessed.

(b) If it be ascertained by the judgment of the court that some
person or corporation other than the city is primarily liable, there shall
be a stay of execution against the city until execution against such
person or persons or other corporation or corporations shall have been
returned without realizing the full amount of such judgment.

(c) If the city, where not primarily liable, shall pay the said
judgment, in whole or in part, the plaintiff shall, to the extent that said
judgment is paid by the city, assign the said judgment to the city
without recourse on the plaintiff, and the said city shall be entitled
to have execution issued for its benefit against the other defendant
or defendants who have been ascertained to be primarily liable, or
may institute any suit in equity to enforce the said judgment, or an
action at law, or scire facias to revive or enforce said judgment.

Section 76. No action shall be maintained against the same city
for damages for any injury to any person or property alleged to have
been sustained by reason of the negligence of the city or of any officer,
agent, or employee thereof, unless a written statement verified by the
oath of the claimant, his agent or attorney, or the personal representa-
tive of any decedent whose death is the result of the alleged negligence
of the city, its officers, agents, or employees, of the nature of the claim
and the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred
or to have been received, shall have been filed with the city attorney of
said city within six months after such cause of action shall have
accrued. And no officers, agents or employees of the city shall have
authority to waive such conditions precedent or any of them.
CHAPTER X

Section 77. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are
hereby repealed; and all acts and parts of acts in any way concerning
the city of Lynchburg and the rights of the people thereof, or any of
them, not inconsistent with this act, shall be in full force, to all intents
and purposes, as if this act had never been passed.

An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its passage.