Chap. 361.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 4, 11, 15, and 23%, as
amended, and Sections 5, 6, 7, and 20 of Chapter 230 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1920, approved March 16, 1920, and being the charter of the city of
Hampton, Virginia, which sections deal with the election and organization
of the council, the election of certain city officers, their bonds, the police
justice, the treasurer and his duties, the lien of city taxes and choad wai

Approved March 31, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections four, eleven, fifteen, and twenty-three one-half, as
amended, and sections five, six, seven, and twenty of chapter two hun-
dred thirty of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred twenty, approved
March sixteen, nineteen hundred twenty, and being the charter of the
city of Hampton be amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 4. The Council of the city shall consist of five members who
shall be elected on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
twenty, on a general ticket at large, from the electors of the city, and who
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 duly elected and qualified; provided, that in the first election here-
under the three candidates having the highest number of votes shall serve
for four years, and the two candidates having the next highest number
of votes shall serve for two years; the successors to the two candidates
elected for two years to be elected by the qualified voters of the city on
the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, for a
term of four years—an election being held accordingly every two years
to elect successors to the councilmen, whose terms of office expire as
herein provided; and provided, further, that the members of the first
council elected hereunder shall have the power, and it shall be their duty,
within ten days after the date of the certification of their election, to
qualify and organize for the sole purpose of electing a city manager, as
hereinafter provided; and the said council shall, if practicable, elect a
city manager prior to the said first day of September, nineteen hundred
and twenty, whose active service shall begin on that day, at the same
time as their own. 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. The council shall elect one of its members to preside over
its meetings, and he shall be ex-officio mayor, who shall be elected for
a term of two years, in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-eight, and
each two years thereafter. He shall have the same powers and duties as
other members of the council and be entitled to a vote on all questions, but
shall have no veto, and he 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. Any vacancy in the council, except as otherwise
provided in this charter, shall be filled by the remaining members. Each
member of the council shall receive such salary annually as the council
may fix not in excess of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars except the
President, whose salary shall be not in excess of Five Hundred Dollars
($500.00) annually, such salary to be payable quarterly. Absence from
three successive regular meetings shall operate to vacate the office of a
member, unless the absence is excused by the council, by resolution set-
ting forth the reason thereof, and entered upon the journal.

CITY OFFICERS

Section 5. The council shall elect a city manager, a city clerk and
a city attorney. All elections by the council shall be viva voce, and the vote
recorded in the minutes of the council. The council may determine its
own rules of procedure ; may punish its members for misconduct, and may
compel the attendance of its members in such manner and under such
penalty as may be prescribed by ordinances. It shall keep a journal of its
proceedings. A majority of the members of the council shall constitute
a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from time to
time. The council shall have at least two regular meetings in each month.
For each absence of a councilman or the president of the council, from a
regular meeting of the council, without a good and sufficient excuse, there
shall be deducted from his pay a sum equal to five per centum of his
annual salary. The president of the council, or any member thereof, or
the city manager, may call special meetings of the council at any time
upon at least twelve hours’ written notice to each member, served per-
sonally or left at his usual place of business or residence ; or such meeting
may be held at any time without notice, provided all members of the
council attend. Neither the council nor any of its members shall dictate
the appointment of any person to office or employment by the city man-
ager, or in any manner interfere with the city manager or prevent him
from exercising his own judgment in the appointment of officers or
employees in the administrative service. Except for the purpose of inquiry
the council and its members shall deal with the administrative service
solely through the city manager, and neither the council, nor any members
thereof, shall give orders to any of the subordinates of the city manager,
either publicly or privately.

Section 6. The city clerk and the city attorney shall be elected prior
to the first day of October, nineteen hundred and twenty, each of whom
shall serve for a term of four years from the first day of October next
following the date of his election, and until his successor shall have been
elected and qualified, and shall perform such duties and receive such
compensation as may be hereinafter prescribed.

Section 7. The officers provided for in this act, whether appointed
or elected, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall
execute such bond as may be required of each of them, conditioned upon
the faithful discharge of their official duties, and shall qualify before the
Circuit Court of the county of Elizabeth City, Virginia, or the Judge
or the clerk thereof. A vacancy arising in any of the offices provided for
herein, whether elective or appointive, shall be filled by the council for
the unexpired term of the officer vacating such office.

Section 11. The city council may appoint a police justice for the city
who shall, in civil matters within the limits of the city and in criminal
matters within the limits of the city and for one mile beyond, have and
possess the same powers, authority and jurisdiction as that which now
is, or may hereafter be, vested by general law in the trial justice of the
various counties within their counties. Such appointment, if made, shall
be for the term of four (4) years beginning on the first day of January,
nineteen hundred and forty, and every fourth year thereafter, or for such
remainder of said term as shall not have expired at the time of such
appointment, in case the same shall not have been made on or before the
beginning of said term or in case a vacancy shall at any time exist, and
shall be effective until his successor is duly appointed and has duly quali-
fied to the office.

. Such police justice shall receive such salary (not to exceed two thou-
sand dollars ($2,000.00) per annum) as may be fixed by the city council,
and he shall receive no other compensation for his services as police
justice.

The city council may also appoint a substitute police justice who is
empowered to act as police justice during the absencé or disability of the
police justice, and his compensation shall be the same as that of the
police justice for the time actually served by him as such substitute
police justice and may in the discretion of the city council be paid out
of the salary of the police justice.

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties the police justice
and the substitute police justice shall qualify and shall each execute bond
in such penalty and with such surety as the council may determine, condi-
tioned upon the faithful performance of their respective duties.
The city council may also appoint a clerk for the police justice and
in so doing may appoint any other officer or employee of the city whose
office is not incompatible therewith to perform the duties of such clerk,
who before entering upon his duties, shall execute bond in such penalty
and with such ‘surety as the city council may determine, conditioned upon
the faithful performance of his duties. The term of office and salary of the
clerk shall be as fixed by the city council and his duties, powers and
authority in respect to the police justice court shall be the same as those
of the clerk to the trial justice of a county in respect to the trial justice
court of such county.

All fees to be charged by the trial justices or their clerk in counties
under general law for the issuance of warrants, trial of cases, etc., shall
be charged by the police justice or his clerk and collected as their costs
are collected, and the said fees and costs, together with all fines collected
for violation of all laws and ordinances of the said city, shall be turned
into the city treasury for the use and benefit of the said city. The said
police justice shall also be judge of the juvenile court and domestic rela-
tions court of the said city.

Section 15. The city treasurer shall be elected at the time and in
the manner and for the term provided in section fourteen of this act.
Before entering upon the duties of his office, he shall execute a bond with
a recognized surety company as surety thereon, to be approved by the
city council in a penalty not greater than the amount of city and school
revenue to be received annually by him, nor less than twenty-five per
centum thereof, payable to the city and conditioned upon the faithful
discharge of his official duties as city treasurer. The city council shall
have the power and authority to increase the said treasurer’s bond and
to require additional security thereon at any time they may deem such
increase or additional security necessary during the treasurer’s term of
office. He shall collect and keep all funds and other monies belonging
to the city and pay out the same on the order of the council by vouchers
drawn in triplicate by the city manager, showing detail and department
for which the disbursement is made. The original voucher to be in check

form and signed in the following manner:
CITY OF HAMPTON

a City Treasurer _
APPROVED:

City Manager

The duplicate or treasurer’s copy of voucher to be retained as a perman-
ent record in the city treasurer's office, and the triplicate or city manager’s

y of voucher to be retained as a permanent record in the city manager’s
office. He shall also collect and keep all funds and other monies belonging
to the schools of the said city, all school funds received and/or collected
by the city treasurer to be paid out on order of the city school board, in
accordance with the annual budget approved by the council, by vouchers
drawn in triplicate by the superintendent of schools, showing detail and
department or account for which it is drawn. The original voucher to be
in check form and signed in the following manner:

PURSUANT TO AN ORDER OF THE SCHOOL BOARD
OF THE CITY OF HAMPTON

City Treasurer
APPROVED:

Chairman or Superintendent

The city school board, by resolution properly recorded in the minutes of
the school board, and upon approval of the council, may designate either
the superintendent or chairman of the school board to sign the original
voucher. Separate vouchers must be drawn for all salaries and disburse-
ments, except weekly payrolls in which case one voucher may be drawn
for the total weekly payroll, and receipts taken by the treasurer on weekly
payroll forms for funds so disbursed. He and such deputies as may be
allowed shall receive such annual salary and expenses as may be fixed
in accordance with the general law. In addition to the above the powers
and duties of the city treasurer shall be such as may be from time to
time prescribed by general law or by the council.

There shall be an annual audit of the books and accounts of the trea-
surer by an auditor approved by the council.

Section 20. There shall a lien on all real estate, and on each
and every interest therein, for the city taxes assessed thereon, from the
commencement of the year for which they were assessed, and also for all
local assessments which may be made thereon according to law. There
shall also be a lien on any lands or premises for the amount of the
expenses incurred by the city in abating any nuisance thereon, or cutting
or removing weeds therefrom, after notice to the owner thereof, by publi-
cation or otherwise, as may be provided by ordinance. A list showing all
such unpaid municipal taxes, levies, assessments or expenses incurred as
aforesaid, with the name of the person against whom, and a description
of the property upon which the same is charged, shall be docketed in a
book or books kept for that purpose in the office of the city treasurer, and
indexed in the name of the person or persons owning such estates or
lands at the time the said lien accrued ; provided, however, that the lien for
the amount of any local improvements, or for the expense of abating any
nuisance, or cutting or removing weeds from any premises shal! not be
good against a purchaser, for value, without notice, of such land or prem-
ises, except and until from the time the same shall be docketed in said
book or books in the name of the person or persons owning such estate
or lands at the time the lien accrued. It shall be the duty of the city trea-
surer to enforce such liens in favor of the city by such means as may be
provided by general law.
Section 2334. School District, School Levies or Appropriation, and
City Treasurer’s Commissions on School Levies.—The City of Hampton
shall constitute a single school district and shall have a school board
known as the Schoool Board of the City of Hampton, composed of three
members elected by the city council in the manner provided by law, and
the present school trustees shall continue to constitute the said board
until their respective terms shall terminate and their successors shall be
elected or appointed.

The said school board shall have and exercise the powers and duties of
school trustees as in other cities of the second class, under the general
laws of the State. There shall be one superintendent of schools for the
city of Hampton, who shall be elected by the school board of the said
city from an eligible list furnished by the State Superintendent of Schools
and/or the State Board of Education, as provided by general law; the
said superintendent of schools may, in addition to his duties as superin-
tendent of schools, fill the position of principal of the Hampton High
School should the school board of said city so determine. Should the
school board of the city of Hampton so recommend, and upon approval
of the city council, there may be one superintendent of schools for the
city of Hampton and the county of Elizabeth City.

The council of the city of Hampton shall, at the same time it lays its
levy on the property owned or taxable within the corporate limits, include
in the said levy a proper amount for the maintenance and support of the
public schools of the city or the said council, instead of making a specific
levy for the support and maintenance of said schools, may from the levy
made for all purposes, make an appropriation specifically for the schools.

The city school board and the superintendent of schools shall submit
to the council its budget for the succeeding year at least sixty days prior
to the time that the council lays its levy or makes an appropriation for
the maintenance and support of the schools, which said budget shall be
made acceptable to the city council and shall be approved by it prior to
making any levy or appropriation for the schools. After the budget has
been accepted and approved by the council, all expenditures made by the
school board shall be strictly in accordance with the said budget, and no
expenditures shall otherwise be made by the school board except upon
the approval of the city council.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.