An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Volume | 1950 |
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Law Number | 438 |
Subjects |
Law Body
CHAPTER 438
AN ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Clover in Hali-
far County, and to repeal Chapter 6 of the Acts of Assembly
1895, approved December 14, 1895, and acts amendatory
thereof, which provided a charter for the town of Clover.
[S 343]
Approved April 6, 1950
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. That the town of Clover, in the county of Halifax, as
the same has heretofore been, or may hereafter be laid off into lots,
streets and alleys, and as its limits are, or may hereafter be
established by law, is, and shall continue to be, a body politic and
corporate by the name of Clover, and as such shall have and may
exercise all powers which are now, or hereafter may be, conferred
upon or delegated to towns under the Constitution and laws of the
State of Virginia, as fully and completely as though said powers
were specifically enumerated herein, and no enumeration of parti-
cular powers by this charter shall be held to be exclusive.
§ 2. The boundaries of the said town are, and shall continue
to be as follows:
“Beginning at a stone near mouth of a cut on the railroad;
thence north fifty-two and a half degrees west sixteen hundred and
thirty-six feet to a large white oak near Garner’s spring; thence
north six degrees east fifteen hundred and twelve feet to corner of
E. C. Hurt’s lot; thence with Hurt’s lot north twenty-three and
one-half degrees east, three hundred and ninety-six feet to a stone
across public road to Mount Laurel on W. G. Morton’s land; thence
north fifty-nine and one-fourth degrees east eighteen hundred and
ninety-four feet to a white oak on W. G. Morton’s line; thence
south eighty-two degrees east seventeen hundred and sixteen feet
to a stake on Coleman’s ferry road near John Allen’s house; thence
south three and one-half degrees west sixteen hundred and fifty
feet to a cedar tree at Harriet Smith’s old house place; thence
south one-half degree west seventeen hundred and sixteen feet to
a large white oak on F. A. Waddell's line near the old schoolhouse ;
thence south forty-seven and one-half degrees west twelve hundred
and sixty-five feet to corner on road to Dryburg below Dr. Woot-
ten’s house; thence north sixty-one and one-half degrees west, five
hundred and twenty-eight feet to corner on road to Houston near
Mary Foster’s house; and thence north sixty-eight degrees west
one thousand and sixty-three feet to the beginning.”
§ 3. There shall be elected on the second Tuesday of June,
nineteen hundred and fifty, and every two years thereafter, one
elector of the said town, who shall be denominated the mayor, and
five electors, who shall be denominated the councilmen of said town,
who shall qualify by taking the oath prescribed by law before,
and enter upon the duties of their offices, on the first day of
September next succeeding their election, and shall hold said
offices for the term of two years, and thereafter until their suc-
cessors are elected, and qualified, unless sooner removed. The
mayor and councilmen now holding office shall continue in office
until the exniration of their terms as herein specified.
§ 4. The mayor and said councilmen shall, together, consti-
tute the council of said town; and in the council so composed (four
of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business)
shall be vested the corporate powers of the town.
§ 5. The municipal officers of said town shall, in addition to
the mayor, consist of a treasurer, sergeant, clerk of the council.
assessor or commissioner of revenue and such officers as may be
provided by the town council; and the council may appoint such
committees of the council and create such boards and departments
of town government and administration, with such powers and
duties and subject to such regulations, as it may see fit, consistent
with the provisions of this act and the general laws of this Com-
monwealth. The time of appointment of all officers may be pre-
scribed by the council and they may be appointed for such term,
not exceeding two years, as the council shall provide, but all mu-
nicipal officers shall serve until their successors shall have quali-
fied unless otherwise provided by the council.
§ 6. The duties and compensation of all municipal officers,
except as herein or by the general laws of the State defined or pro-
vided for, shall be defined and prescribed by the town council.
§ 7. The council may appoint policemen and such other offi-
cers and agents for the proper conduct and business of the town
as they deem necessary, prescribe their duties and fix their com-
pensation and require and take from them such bond or bonds with
good security and in such penalty as they may deem proper, with
condition for the faithful discharge of the duties of their offices.
The sergeant of the town shall be ex officio chief of police.
§ 8. The council shall have, subject to the provisions of the
general laws of the Commonwealth applicable to towns, the con-
trol and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the
town, and all property, real and personal, belonging to it, and may
make such ordinances, orders and by-laws and regulations as they
inay deem necessary to enforce and carry out the powers vested
in the council; and in addition thereto, the following powers which
are hereby vested in them:
First. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious
or other dangerous diseases.
Second. To regulate the building of stables, privies and hog
pens, to require and compel the abatement and removal of all
nuisances, or anything which, in the opinion of a majority of the
council or in the opinion of the mayor, under an ordinance vesting
in him such discretion, is a nuisance, within the said town, at the
expense of the person or persons causing the same, or the owner or
owners of the ground whereon the same may be, the collection of
which said expense may be enforced in the same manner as fines due
to the town; to provide for the drainage of lots by proper drains
or ditches; to prevent or regulate slaughter houses or the exercise
of any dangerous, offensive or unhealthy business, trade or em-
ployment within the town.
Third. To prevent hogs, dogs, cows or other animals from
running at large in the town, and may subject the same and the
owners thereof to such levies, taxes and regulations as they may
think proper.
Fourth. To establish and maintain a fire department in the
town and provide for the regulation of the same and to compel
the residents of the town to aid and assist the fire department
when required so to do. They shall have power to establish fire
limits in the town, within which no building shall be erected with-
out the council’s consent unless the outer walls thereof be so con-
structed as to comply with the building code or ordinances of the
town.
Fifth. To regulate the operation of motor vehicles within the
town, and to adopt ordinances for said purpose not in conflict with
the State law regulating the use, ownership and operation of motor
vehicles, and to prescribe punishment for the violation of such
ordinances.
Sixth. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street
beggars; to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace
and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and dis-
orderly conduct and assemblages; to suppress houses resorted to
for the purpose of immorality, and houses used for gambling pur-
poses; tu prevent and punish lewd, indecent and disorderly con-
duct or exhibitions within the town, and to expel therefrom persons
guilty of such conduct.
Seventh. To prevent any cow, horse, hog or other animal from
injuring or trespassing upon any public square or ground within
the corporate limits of the town, and to prevent the running at
large of animals and to prescribe punishment for the owner of
such animal or animals permitted to trespass or run at large.
Eighth. To adopt any rule, regulation or ordinance author-
ized by general law of the Commonwealth to be adopted by towns.
§ 9. Where, by the provisions of law, the council have au-
thority to pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe pun-
ishment bv fine or imprisonment, or both, for all violations thereof.
Fines may be recovered, with costs, upon warrants issued in the
name of the town. Whenever judgment is rendered against any
person for a fine, the officer trying the offender may require imme-
diate paymnent thereof, and in default of such payment may com-
mit the party so in default to jail until such fine and cost is paid.
All fines for the violation of the ordinances of the town shall be
paid into the treasury of the town and be appropriated as the
council shall determine.
§ 10. The mayor of the town of Clover shall be clothed with
full authority to enforce the laws and the ordinances of the town,
and he shall be clothed with all powers and authority of a trial
justice in civil matters within the corporate limits of the town, and
in criminal matters within said limits and within one mile beyond
such limiis; and he shall have power to issue process, hear and
determine all prosecutions, cases and controversies which may
arise under the by-laws and ordinances of the town. The council
shall have power to name one or more of the members of the
council as vice-mayor with full power to exercise the authority of
the mayor in the event of his absence or disability.
§ 11. All criminal and civil warrants, writs and process issued
by the mayor or any member of the council under the general laws
of the State of Virginia, shall run in the name of the “Common-
wealth of Virginia”, and all criminal or civil writs or process
issued by the mayor or any member of the council for violation of
an ordinance of the town shall run in the name of the “Town of
Clover”, and all process and writs issued in the name of the town
shall conform as nearly as may be to the form for similar writs
and precess issued under general state laws. The mayor or member
of the council trying the case shall have power to issue subpoenas
for witnesses, and to compel their attendance, and in the event of
the failure of the witness to appear to punish such offender for
contempt by line not exceeding ten dollars.
§ 12. The town sergeant shall perform the duties and be sub-
ject to the liabilities prescribed by this charter and by the general
law and by the ordinances, by-laws and regulations of the town
council. He shall have authority to execute criminal process
issued under authority of this charter, and to make arrests for
violations of the laws and ordinances of the town, and shall have
general police powers. It shall be the duty of the sergeant or any
police officers to swear out warrants of arrest for any person or
persons where they have reason to believe that any violation of
the ordinances, by-laws, rules and regulations of the town has
been committed.
§ 13. To meet the expenditures that may be lawfully charge-
able to the said town, the council may annually levy a town tax
of so much as in its opinion may be necessary, upon all taxable
persons and property, resident or situate within the said town,
not exempted from taxation by the laws of the State; provided that
a capitation tax not greater than fifty cents per head on the inhab-
itants of the said town over the age of twenty-one years may be
levied in any one year; and provided, further, that the tax so to
be levied on the real and personal property within the said town
does not exceed one dollar on the one hundred dollars of assessed
value thereof for any one year.
§ 14. The town council, within the limits of the constitution
of this State, and in accordance with the provisions of the general
laws thereof, may, in the name of, and for the use of the town,
contract loans or cause to be issued certificates of indebtedness,
notes or bonds. The council shall not contract any loan or issue
bonds therefor unless the same be authorized by vote of the resident
freeholders of said town and a majority of the vote be in favor
thereof. All proceedings for the purpose of authorizing the is-
suance of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness by the town shall
conform to the provisions of the general laws of the State of
Virginia with respect to the issuance of bonds by towns, so far as
the same are applicable.
§ 15. The town council, in addition to the State taxes on
licenses, may, when anything for which a license is so required
is to be done within the town, impose a tax for the privilege of
doing the same and require a license to be obtained therefor, said
license to be for such time and cover such period as the council of
the said town shall prescribe; and in ay case in which they see
fit may require from the person licensed, bond with surety, in such
penalty and with such condition as they may deem proper, or make
other regulations concerning the same, and within the limitations
of the Constitution of the State and of the United States, may levy
a license tax on any Other business carried on in the town, whether
a license tax is required therefor by the State or not; provided no
license shall be required in any case where the requirement or im-
position thereof by cities or towns is prohibited by general law.
The council shall also have the right to impose a tax upon paid
admissions to moving picture theaters or to any other show, enter-
tainment, sporting event or place of amusement, and to require the
management in charge of such theater, show, entertainment, sport-
ing event or place of amusement to collect and remit such tax to
the town treasurer. The rate of such admissions tax shall be fixed
by the council.
§ 16. The town council shall, by ordinance, fix the time of
their stated meetings, and no business shall be transacted at a
special meeting unless all members of the council be present, but
that for which it shall be called. The mayor or any two members
of the council may call a special meeting, and reasonable notice
of such meeting, in writing, shall be given to all members of the
council. Any action taken at a special meeting, whether notice
thereof be given or not, shall be valid, if all members of the council
are present.
§ 17. The treasurer shall receive all money belonging to the
town and shall perform such other duties as are, or may be, pre-
scribed by the council. He shall keep his books of accounts in such
manner as the council may prescribe, and such books and accounts
shall always be subject to inspection of the mayor and the council.
§ 18. The treasurer, or by order of the council of the town,
the town sergeant, or any other person appointed by the council,
shall collect all taxes, licenses and assessments which may be
levied by the council, and for this purpose the said treasurer, or
other person appointed by the council as aforesaid, shall be vested
with power and be subject to the liabilities and penalties now pre-
scribed by law in regard to the county treasurer, in the levying and
collection of taxes, and the said treasurer, or person appointed as
aforesaid to collect taxes, shall have full power to levy on property
and sell the same for the payment of taxes as the county treasurer
is given by law. All sales shall be made upon the notice and in
such manner as now prescribed by law in sales of personal prop-
erty for State taxes or county taxes. The treasurer shall be re-
quired to keep all funds in his hands belonging to the town in such
place or places of deposit as the town council, by ordinance, shall
provide or direct.
§ 19. No money shall be paid out by the town treasurer ex-
cept by order of the council, and upon a warrant or check of the
clerk of the council signed by the mayor, or in such other manner
as may be prescribed by ordinance.
§ 20. The clerk of the council shall attend the meetings of
the council and keep the records of its proceedings. He shall have
custody of the corporate seal, and he shall keep all papers that, by
the provisions, or the direction of the council, are required to be
filed with, or kept by him; and he shall perform such other acts
and duties as the council may require.
§ 21. In the event of a vacancy occurring in the council by
death, resignation, removal or otherwise, the council shall appoint
a qualified person to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.
§ 22. If any person be sentenced to jail for violation of a
town ordinance, he may be confined in the jail of Halifax County,
the consent to use the said jail for said purpose being first ob-
tained from proper authorities of the county.
§ 23. If any section, or provision, of this act shall for any
reason be adjudged in any court of competent jurisdiction, to be
invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the
remainder of this act.
2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed, insofar as they affect the provisions of this act, and
Chapter six of the Acts of Assembly of eighteen hundred ninety-
five approved December fourteen, eighteen hundred ninety-five, and
acts amendatory thereof, providing a charter for the town of
Clover is hereby repealed.
3. An emergency exists, and this act is in force from its passage.