Chap. 254.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled “An act to amend
and re-enact the charter of the town of Culpeper,” approved January 11, 1898,
as heretofore amended. [S B 256]

Approved March 24, 1936

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled “an act to amend and re-enact the charter of the town of Cul-
peper,” approved January eleventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight,
as heretofore amended, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as
follows:

Section 1. That the town of Fairfax, in the county of Culpeper,
as the same has been and. shall hereafter be laid off into lots, streets
and alleys, shall be, and the same is hereby, made a town corporate by
the name and style of the town of Culpeper and by that name shall
have and exercise the powers, and be subject to all the provisions of
the Code of Virginia, except so far as may be herein otherwise pro-
vided, and may sue and be sued by its corporate name.

Section 2. The corporate limits and bounds of the town of Cul-
peper shall be as follows: beginning at the mouth of Tanyard branch,
on Mountain Run, thence following a natural bed of said run to the
northwest corner between Lewis P. Nelson and John Jamieson on said
run; thence in a straight line to or near White Oak Spring; and thence
to the old Fredericksburg road, at the mouth of the lane between the
Henley house and the house of Ira Feld; thence with said lane across
the road to the Tanyard branch; thence in a straight line to the south-
east corner of the United States cemetery ; thence with the eastern wall
of said cemetery in a straight line to said Tanyard branch; thence
with said branch to beginning.

Section 3. The said town, and council thereof, shall in addition to
the powers herein and heretofore granted to it, and the duties herein
and heretofore granted to it, and the duties herein and heretofore
imposed upon it, have all the rights and powers granted to towns under
all provisions of the Code of Virginia, unless hereby expressly denied
to said town.

Section 4. The municipal authorities of said town shall consist of a
recorder, a treasurer and a council of nine members, one of: which
councilmen shall be president and one of whom shall be vice-president,
as hereinafter set forth, unless and until this form be changed in a
manner prescribed by law. All persons who are qualified voters of the
town of Culpeper shall be eligible to any of said offices. The terms
of all of said officers shall begin and continue for such length of time
as is prescribed by law; no member of any council shall be eligible,
during his tenure of office, as such member, or for one year thereafter,
to any office to be filled by the council—by election or by appointment.
All the corporate powers of said town shall be exercised by said coun-
cil, or under this authority except when otherwise provided.

Section 5. The form of government for said town shall be mod-
ifed commission plan as follows: all corporate powers, legislative,
financial and police authority vested in the town of Culpeper by law,
shall be, and is hereby vested in the council of nine members to be
elected at large from the qualified voters of the town of Culpeper, ex-
cept as hereinafter provided.

Section 6. The present officers of the town shall continue in office
until the expiration of the term for which they were elected unless
sooner removed as provided by law.

At the regular election to be held for the election of officers for
the town of Culpeper on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred
and thirty-six, there shall be elected from the qualified voters of the
town of Culpeper, a recorder and a treasurer whose term of office shall
be for a period of two years beginning the first day of September, nine-
teen hundred and thirty-six; and five councilmen whose term of office
shall be for a period of four years beginning the first day of Septem-
ber, nineteen hundred and thirty-six. At said election the five persons
receiving the highest number of votes for councilmen shall be declared
elected. The said five councilmen so elected together with the present
four councilmen whose term of office expires on the thirty-first day
of August, nineteen hundred and thirty-eight, shall constitute the coun-
cil of the town of Culpeper until their successors are elected and qual-
ify, as herein provided. At the regular election to be held in the town
of Culpeper on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
thirty-eight, for the election of officers; there shall be elected from the
qualified voters of the town a recorder and a treasurer whose term of
office shall be for a period of two years beginning the first day of Sep-
tember next following; and four councilmen. The said four council-
men shall be elected in the place and stead of the present four council-
men whose terms of office expire the thirty-first day of August, nine-
teen hundred and thirty-eight. The terms of office of the four council-
men so elected shall be for a period of four years beginning the first
day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-eight; and thereafter
at the regular election to be held in the town of Culpeper biennially,
on the second Tuesday in June, there shall be elected a recorder and a
treasurer whose term of office shall be for a period of two years be-
ginning on the first day of September following said election; and also
five and four councilmen, respectively, as their terms of office expire,
whose terms of office shall be for a period of four years beginning the
first day of September following said election,

Section 7. The recorder, treasurer and councilmen shall each, on
or before the first day of the term for which they are elected, make
and subscribe an oath of affirmation that they will truly, faithfully and
impartially discharge the duties of their said office to the best of their
abilities, so long as they shall continue therein; the recorder and the
treasurer shall take said oath before a notary public, or some other
officer authorized to administer oaths, and the councilmen before the
recorder or some other such officer, who shall file the same and enter a
memorandum of the fact on the town records.

Section 8. At its first meeting in September, nineteen hundred and
thirty-six, and biennially thereafter, the council shall elect one of its
members to act as president, who shall be mayor and who shall pre-
side and also have a vote on all questions. If a vacancy occur in the
office before the end of his term, such vacancy shall be filled as is here-
inafter provided for. At the same time the council shall elect one of
its members to be vice-president and who shall be vice-mayor and who
shall preside at such meetings in the absence of the president and who,
when the president shall be absent or unable to perform any and all
duties so entrusted to the president. The president or vice-president,
when acting as president, shall have power at any time to call a meet-
ing of said council.

Section 9. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the
town. He shall take care that the by-laws, ordinances, acts and resolu-
tions of the council are faithfully executed. He shall be ex-officio, a
conservator of the peace within the town and within one mile of the
corporate limits thereof, and shall exercise all the powers, civil and
criminal, vested in justices of the peace for the county.

Section 10. The president, or vice-president as the case may be,
shall be entitled to vote on all questions just as any other member but
in no case shall he be entitled to a second vote on any question though it
be necessary to break a tie, that is to say, his office shall not entitle
him to a vote.

Section 11. The presence of the president and at least four council-
men, or the presence of five councilmen shall be necessary to make a
quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 12. It shall be the mayor’s duty especially to see that peace
and good order are preserved and that persons and property are pro-
tected in the town. He shall have the power to issue executions for all
fine or fines and cost or costs imposed by him for violations of town
ordinances, and he may require the immediate payment thereof, and
in default of such payment, he may commit the party in default to
jail of Culpeper county until the fine or fines and the cost or costs
shall be paid; but the term of imprisonment in such case shall not
exceed twelve months. He shall, from time to time, recommend to the
council such measures as may deem needful for the welfare of the
town. He may receive a salary to be prescribed by the council to be
paid by the treasurer. Such salary shall be fixed by the council preced-
ing the election of officers of the town, which shall be neither increased
nor diminished for the term for which he shall have been chosen.

Section 13. The recorder, treasurer and policemen and such other
officers and employees as may be required by the council so to do, shall
before entering upon the duties of their offices, or at such other time
as the council may require, execute before the council of the said town
or other officers of the said town, proper bond with security and con-
ditioned as the council may direct. The bonds of the recorder, treas-
urer or other officers from whom bonds may be required shall be con-
ditioned for the faithful performance of their respective duties as
such and for the proper collection and accounting for all moneys
which shall come into their hands, respectively, or which shall be their
respective duty to collect at such time as the council may order and to
pay over all moneys under proper order of the council to those entitled
to the same, and such other conditions as the council may direct.

Section 14. If anyone who shall have been duty elected recorder,
treasurer or councilman, shall refuse or neglect to take the oath of
affirmation, or to give the bond required within the time prescribed,
the council for the time being shall declare his said office vacant, and
shall forthwith fill such vacancy for the unexpired term, by majority
vote of the entire council.

Section 15. Whenever from any cause a vacancy shall occur in
the office of councilman, the council for the time being shall, by a vote
of the majority present fill it by choosing a councilman from among
the citizens of the town eligible to that office under this act.

Section 16. The council shall be presided over at its meetings by
the president or in his absence by the vice-president or in the absence of
both president and vice-president by one of the councilmen selected by
the majority of the council present.

Section 17. If the said treasurer shall fail to account for and pay
over all of any moneys that shall come into his hands when thereto
required by the council, it shall be lawful for the council, in the cor-
porate name of the town, by motion before any court of record held
in Culpeper county, to recover from the said treasurer and his sure-
ties or their personal representatives, any sums that may be due from
the said treasurer to said town on ten days’ notice. But this action
shall not be construed to prevent the bringing of any action by the town
which it might have brought had this section not been passed.

Section 18. If a policeman, treasurer, officer or employee shall
fail to collect, account for, and pay over all taxes, fines and other rev-
enues of the town coming into their hands for collection or safekeeping,
according to the conditions of their respective bonds, it shall be lawful
for the council to recover the same by motion in the corporate name of
the town before any court of record in the said county of Culpeper,
against the policeman, treasurer, officer or employee and sureties of
either on his bond, or any or either of them, his or their executors, or
administrators, on giving ten days’ notice of the same. But this action
shall not be construed to prevent the bringing of any action by the
town which it might have brought had this section not have been passed.
Section 19. The council shall cause to be kept in a journal or
minute book an accurate record of all its proceedings, by-laws, acts
and orders, which shall be fully indexed and open to the inspection of
anyone who is entitled to vote for members of the council.

Section 20. It shall be the duty of the recorder to keep a journal
or minute book of the proceedings of the council and have charge of
and preserve the records of the town. In the absence from the town,
or sickness of the mayor and vice-mayor or during any vacancy in the
office of mayor and vice-mayor, he shall perform the duties of the
mayor or vice-mayor and be vested with all his powers, except to pre-
side over the council. He shall be a conservator of the peace within the
said town. He shall receive a compensation for his services to be
fixed by the council preceding the election of the officers of the town,
which shall not be increased or diminished during the term for which
he shall have been elected. All books kept by the recorder, shall be
open at any time to the inspection of the council or any member thereof.
He shall be ex officio the assessor of the corporation with like powers
and duties as a commissioner of the revenue in the assessments of the
property for State and county taxation, and shall make and preserve
a book in which the real estate of the town is assessed and one in which
the personal property of the town is assessed for taxation, and shall
return the same to the council at such time as it may prescribe for its
inspection and approval. The assessment of real estate and personal
property for the purpose of taxation, shall be the same as the assess-
ment thereof, for the purpose of State and county taxes, 1f assessed for
taxation by the State or county of Culpeper.

Section 21. At each regular meeting of the council the proceedings
of the last regular meeting and all special meetings since same, shall
be read to the council and shall thereupon be corrected if erroneous,
and signed by the person presiding for the time being. Upon the call
of any member, the ayes and noes on any question shall be called and
recorded in the journal or minute book; but by unanimous vote of the
members of the council present the reading of the minutes may be
dispensed with. It shall be the duty of the recorder to assess all prop-
erties, the assesment of which may have been omitted by the county or
State.

Section 22. The recorder may by a three-fourths majority of the
council be removed from office for good and sufficient cause and the
unexpired term shall be filled by a majority vote of the entire council,
but no such removal shall be made without reasonable notice to the
officer complained of, and an opportunity afforded him to be heard in
his defense.

Section 23. The council shall cause to be annually made up and
entered upon its journal or minute book an account and estimate or
budget of all sums which are, or may become lawfully chargeable to
the said town, which ought to be paid within one year; and it shall
order a town levy of so much as in its opinion is the amount which
should be raised from taxes, licenses and other sources for said pur-
poses.
Section 24. It shall be the duty of the treasurer, or any person
specificially ordered by the council to collect the taxes and/or other
income and revenue of the town, to account for and pay the same to
such person or persons and at such times as the council may order;
and at such times as the council may prescribe to render an account
to the council showing his receipts and disbursements of the money
which he has or should have collected, and to account for all taxes and
other revenues which have been placed in his hands for collection and
to return therewith a list of such as he shall have been unable with due
diligence to collect, to which list the officer so rendering it shall make
oath that he has used due diligence to collect the same, but has been
unable to do so. The council shall, if it be satisfied that he could not
have collected the said claim by use of due diligence, allow them; but if
the council should be of the opinion that by the use of due diligence on
the part of said treasurer, or his deputy, or any officer authorized by
the council, he could have collected said taxes or other claims, then he
shall be chargeable with such as he might have collected.

Section 25. All moneys belonging to said town shall be paid over
to the treasurer, and disbursed as directed by a majority vote of the
council. He shall keep regular accounts with the town, crediting it by
all moneys received, and which by due diligence he might have received,
and charging it with all moneys so disbursed, which books, as well as
others relating to the business of the town, shall be open at any time
to the inspection of the council or any member or agent thereof. He
shall annually on the first day of September, or as soon thereafter as
practicable, settle his accounts with the council or a committee thereof
and at the same time he shall furnish a statement of all moneys received
by him during the preceding vear, and of all disbursements made. He
shall receive a compensation for his services to be fixed by the council
preceding the election of officers of the town, which shall not be in-
creased or diminished during the term for which he shall have been
elected.

Section 26. The treasurer shall collect all the town taxes, license
and other revenues, except as may be specifically otherwise ordered by
the council, and shall have the power one month after he shall have
received the books of the assessor of the said town, to distrain and sell
therefor in like manner as a county treasurer may sell and distrain
for State taxes, and shall have in all other respects the same powers as
a county treasurer to enforce the payment and collection thereof; and
he and his securities shall be liable to all fines, penalties and forfeitures
that a county treasurer is legally liable to for any failure or dereliction
in his said office, to be recovered in the same manner and before the
same courts that said fines, penalties and forfeitures are now recov-
erable against the county treasurer. Said treasurer may appoint one or
more deputy treasurers to assist him in the discharge of the duties of
his office, and when such appointment is confirmed by the council, such
deputy shall have all the powers for the collections of such taxes, license
and other revenues as is given to the treasurer by this section, and shall
be subject to the same penalties, remedies and liabilities ; but this shall
not release the treasurer from liability for the faithful collection and
disbursement of the revenues of the town or from responsibility for
the acts of his deputy.

Section 27. The treasurer may by a three-fourths majority of the
council be removed from office for good and sufficient cause and the
unexpired term shall be at once filled by a majority vote of the entire
council but no such removal shall be made without reasonable notice
to the officer complained of, and an opportunity afforded him to be
heard in his defence.

Section 28. Whenever vacancy shall occur from any cause in the
office of the treasurer or the recorder, the vacancy for the unexpired
term shall at once be filled by a majority vote of the entire council of
the said town.

Section 29. The council so constituted shall have powers within
said town to lay off, open, curb and pave streets, alleys, walks and
gutters for the public use, and to alter, improve and light the same
and have them kept in good order and free from obstruction on, over,
under or through them; to regulate the width of sidewalks, and to order
the sidewalks, footways and gutters to be kept free and clean and also
may require the owners or occupants of property facing on such side-
walks to keep them free and clean; to lay off public grounds, and to
provide contract for and take care of all public buildings proper for the
needs of the town; to establish and regulate markets; to prescribe the
time for holding the same and what articles shall be sold only in such
markets; to prevent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals
from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome; to protect the
places of divine worship and about the premises where held; to abate
or cause to be abated anything which, in the opinion of a majority of
the whole council, shall be a nuisance; to regulate the keeping of gun-
powder and other combustibles or explosives; to provide in or near
the town places for the burial of the dead, and to regulate interments
therein in the town; to provide for and regulate building of houses or
other structures and for making of division fences and for the drain-
age of lots; to make regulations and provisions for guarding against
danger or damages from fire; to establish and regulate fire zones in
said town; to provide for the poor of the town; to provide a revenue
for the town and appropriate the same to its expenses and to provide
the annual assessment of taxable property in the town; to adopt its
own rules for the transaction of business and for the government and
regulation of its own body; to promote the general welfare of the
town, and to protect the property of persons therein; to keep a town
guard; to appoint and order out a patrol for the town in like manner
and for like purposes within the same as the patrol may be ordered out
by the circuit court or justice within the county; to require and take
from the policemen, treasurer and recorder bonds with sureties, in
such penalty as the council may see fit, conditioned for the true and
faithful discharge of their duties (all bonds taken by the council shall
be made payable to the town by its corporate name; to permit or pro-
hibit the establishment of new places for the interment of the dead in
or near the town, and to regulate the same; to erect or authorize or
prohibit the erection of gas works or water works or gasoline tanks in
or near the town and to regulate the transportation and sale of gas or
gasoline or other explosives in or through the town; to prevent injuries
to or pollution, or danger to the water and healthfulness of the town; to
receive gifts of real or personal property either by will or otherwise ;
(for all which purposes named in this clause, except that of taxation,
the council shall have jurisdiction for one mile beyond the town) ; to
regulate and provide for the weighing and measuring of hay, coal and
other articles sold or for sale in said town, and to regulate the transpor-
tation thereof through the streets.

Section 30. The council may appoint an officer known as the town
manager, who shall hold office during the pleasure of the council,
whose duties shall be prescribed by the council. He shall receive
such compensation as shall be fixed by the council. The council shall
also be vested with all powers granted city and town councils under
the Code of Virginia.

Section 31. To carry into effect those enumerated powers, and all
other powers conferred upon cities and towns, or its council ; expressly
or by implication, in this or any other Acts of the General Assembly
of Virginia, the council shall have power to make and pass all needful
orders, by-laws and ordinances not contrary to the Constitution and
laws of Virginia, or the Constitution of the United States, and to
prescribe, impose and enact reasonable fines not exceeding one thou-
sand dollars, and penalties, or imprisonment in the county jail for not
exceeding twelve months, or both such fine and imprisonment (except
that in cases of contempt the imprisonment in jail should not be for
more than ten days or a fine of more than twenty dollars), or to
enforce the collection of a fine, which fines, penalties and imprison-
ment shall be recovered under the judgment of the mayor of said town,
or by the person lawfully exercising his functions. And the authori-
ties of said town may, with the consent of the circuit court of said
county, entered of record, have the right to use the jail of said
county of Culpeper for any purpose for which the use of a jail may
be needed by them, under the acts of the council or of the State.

Section 32. The council of said town shall appoint or cause to be
appointed a town policeman or policemen who shall hold office during
the pleasure of the council. Any town policeman may, at any time,
be removed from office by a majority vote of the council, Upon the
death, removal or resignation of any town police, the council shall
appoint or cause to be appointed a successor, who shall likewise hold
office during the pleasure of the council. The council shall designate
a chief police officer for the said town whose powers and duties as
such shall be defined by the council. All policemen shall have the
power to exercise within the corporate limits of said town and in the
county of Culpeper within one mile of the corporate limits of the
said town, all the duties that a constable can legally exercise in regard
to the collection of claims, executing and levying process, and he
and his sureties shall be liable to all fines, penalties and forfeitures
that a constable is legally liable to, for any failure, or dereliction in
his said office, to be recovered in the same manner and before the
same courts that said fines, penalties and forfeitures are now recover-
able against a constable. He shall for his services receive such com-
pensation as the council may fix.

Section 33. The council may regulate any theatrical performance,
entertainment, show, public dance hall, pool room or any other enter-
tainment or exhibition, or if they deem any one of them injurious to
the morals or good order of the town they may prohibit the same.

Section 34. The said council shall have the power to make such
ordinances, by-laws, orders and regulations as they may deem neces-
sary to prevent hogs, dogs, or other animals from running at large
or doing injury or annoying persons or property in the limits of the
corporation, and may subject the same to such fines, regulations and
taxes as they may deem proper and which fines and taxes shall con-
stitute liens on the same, and the said animals may be sold or killed
after ten days’ notice, to enforce payment of said fines and taxes.

Section 35. The council shall not take or use any private prop-
erty for streets or other public purposes, without making to the
owner or owners thereof just compensation for the same; but in all
cases where the said corporation cannot by an agreement, obtain title
to or an easement in the ground necessary for such purposes, it shall
be lawful for said corporation to apply to the circuit court of Culpeper
county for authority to condemn the same, either within or beyond
the corporate limits of the town of Culpeper, which shall be applied
for and proceed with according to law.

Section 36. Whenever anything for which a State license is or
may under the Constitution and laws of this State or the Constitution
of the United States be required to be done within the said town, the
council may require a town license to be had for doing the same, and
may impose a tax thereupon for the use of the town, unless prohibited
by law; and the council may in any cause in which it sees fit, require
from the person licensed a bond, with sureties, in such penalty and
with such conditions as it may think proper, said council may also
grant or refuse license to owners or keepers of wagons, drays, carts
or motor vehicles, in the town; and may require taxes to be paid
thereon, and subject the same to such regulations as they may deem
proper.

Section 37. The council shall not have the power to contract or
authorize the contracting of any debt or liability or make any ap-
propriation of money without concurrence of at least five members
of the council, entered on the journal or minute book.

Section 38. The town council, its officers or its agents shall not
have the power or authority to sell, rent, lease or otherwise dispose
of any municipal public utility being the property of the town of
Culpeper, without first submitting such sale, rental or lease to a vote
of the qualified voters of the said town, at a special election to be
held in accordance with law providing for special election for towns
in Virginia, and such sale shall only be consummated upon a vote
of a majority of the qualified voters of the said town, voting in
such an election.
Section 39. All corporate powers of said corporation shall be exer-
cised by the said council, or under their authority except when other-
wise provided, including all the powers heretofore vested in the trus-
tees of said town,

Section 40. The levy so ordered may be upon all the real estate
within the said town which is not exempt from taxation, and on all
such other property and subjects, subject to local taxation, not pro-
hibited by law; provided, that the tax does not exceed one dollar
and fifty cents on every hundred dollars of the value assessed on real
and personal property, including the levies to meet the interest on
the funded debt of said town, and to provide for the final payment
of the principal thereof; and provided further, that before any debt
shall be created by the said council for which money is to be borrowed,
the council, if it shall deem it to be to the interest of the corporation
to create such debt, evidence by a recorded vote of a majority of its
members, or if two hundred of the qualified voters of the town shall
present to the council a petition requesting the same, shall submit to
a vote of the qualified voters of the said town, at such time as it may
prescribe not exceeding sixty days after such recorded vote, or after
the said petition shall have been presented as aforesaid, the question
as to whether said sum of money shall be borrowed. Said election
shall be held in the manner provided for such elections by the general
laws of the Commonwealth, and if a majority of the qualified voters
voting at such election shall be in favor of borrowing money, the
said council shall issue and sell the bonds of the said corporation, and
said bonds shall be issued in such denominations and bear such interest
not exceeding six per centum per annum, as may be determined by
the council, said interest to be payable quarterly, semi-annually or
annually, as the council may prescribe. The council may select a
depository for the money arising from the same or negotiations of
the said bonds, and they may require such security therefor as may
be approved by the recorded votes of at least two-thirds, of all the
members of the council, but if they shall choose a national bank or
banks as depository or depositories no security shall be required un-
less specifically ordered.

Section 41. The revenues from these and other sources shall be
collected, paid over and accounted for at such times and to such per-
sons as the council shall order. And the said council shall have the
further power and authority to designate the time of the year for
which taxes are assessed shall begin, except when otherwise provided
by the State.

Section 42. There shall be a lien on the real estate within said
town for the town taxes assessed thereon, from the commencement
of the year for which they are assessed. When any of said taxes are
returned delinquent a list of the same shall be returned to the clerk of
the circuit court of the county of Culpeper, and be by him entered in a
book furnished by the said town, and kept in his said office, the form
and manner of entering the same to be similar to that provided by
law for the record of delinquent taxes on real estate due the State or
county. In said book there shall also be columns in which shall be
entered the names of purchasers, the amount and date of sales or real
estate sold for delinquent taxes as provided in this charter. When
the taxes so returned delinquent are entered into said record as herein
provided, the same shall be held to be constructive notice of the lien
thereof, and the said real estate shall be liable thereto as against
creditors, and in the hands of purchasers or other persons into whose
hands the said real estate may pass. And the said real estate may be
sold for taxes as provided in this charter, whether owned by the per-
sons in whose name it was assessed or not. After said real estate
has been so sold for taxes the same may be redeemed within such
time and by such persons and upon such terms as is provided by law
for the redemption of lands sold for State and county taxes, except
that the money paid for such redemption shall be paid to the treasurer
of the town of Culpeper. Upon such redemption of said real estate
the treasurer shall issue to the persons so redeeming it a certificate
to that effect, which certificate shall be presented to the recorder of the
town, who shall countersign the same, and the same when so counter-
signed shall be presented to the clerk of the circuit court of the
county of Culpeper, who shall thereupon mark in the said record the
redemption of the said real estate, the name of the party redeeming
it, and the date thereof, and shall preserve such certificate in his office.
The clerk shall receive for his services a fee of ten cents for each lot
of land so entered in such record, a fee of ten cents for the entry of
such sale of real estate as is provided in this charter, and a fee of
twenty-five cents for such redemption so entered, to be paid by the
town of Culpeper, and which shall be charged against and be a lien
upon said land along with the taxes against the same. At the ex-
piration of the time within which said real estate may be redeemed,
if the same has not been redeemed as herein provided, the recorder of
the town of Culpeper shall execute to the purchaser thereof a deed
conveying the same in like manner as is prescribed by law for the
conveyance of real estate by the clerk of the county which has been
sold for delinquent taxes to the State, and such deed shall convey
title as would be conveyed had the same been sold for State or
county taxes,

Section 43. The circuit court of Culpeper county on application
of the council may order real estate, delinquent for the non-payment
of taxes, to be sold by the treasurer of said town at public auction for
such taxes at such times as it shall direct; said sale and the advertise-
ment thereof, to be made in conformity, as near as may be, to the
State law with reference to the sale of delinquent land. When such
sale has been made the same with the date thereof, the name of the
purchaser and the amount for which the said real estate sold shall be
entered by the clerk in the record of delinquent real estate provided
for in section forty-two.

Section 44. The said town and the taxable persons and property
therein shall be exempt and free from the payment of any poor rates
or road tax for any year in which it shall appear that said town shall,
at its own expense, provide for its own poor and keep its street in
order, except the tax for road bonds already issued, for which the
town is not being taxed.

Section 45. All the rights, privileges and properties of the said
town heretofore acquired and possessed, owned and enjoyed by an act
now in force, not in conflict with this act, shall continue undiminished
and remain vested in the said town under this act, and all laws,
ordinances, acts and resolutions of the council now in force, not incon-
sistent with this act, shall be and continue in full force and effect
until regularly repealed by a council elected as provided under this act.

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

3. An emergency existing, requiring the same being deemed to
exist, this act shall be in force from its passage.