CHAPTER 248

An Act to amend and reenact 8§ 8, as amended, 4, 5, as amended, 6 and

7 of Chapter 125 of the Acts of Assembly of 1872-78, approved March

8, 1878, which incorporated the town of Louisa, in Louisa County, the

amended sections relating to officers of the town and the powers of

council, the duties and powers of the mayor, elections and the appoint-

ment, and duties and powers of the town sergeant and the town
secretary.

(H 508]

Approved March 6, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 8, as amended, 4,5, as amended, 6 and 7 of Chapter 126 of
the Acts of Assembly of 1872-78, approved March 8, 1878, be amended
and reenacted as follows:

The officers of said town shall consist of a mayor and of * five
trustees who shall constitute and compose the town council, a majority
of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The
present officers of the town shall hold office until their successors are
elected and qualified as hereinafter provided. The board of trustees or
council shall have power to pass all by-laws and ordinances for the gov-
ernment of the town that may be deemed proper, not in conflict with the
Constitution of Virginia or of the United States; and also to provide for
keeping the streets in order, opening new streets, grading and paving the
same and making other necessary improvements for which purpose they
may levy such tax as they may deem proper on all real estate and tangible
personal property in said town not exceeding one dollar and fifty cents
on every one hundred dollars of the assessed value thereof, and on all
vocations, professions or business subject to taxation by the localities
under the revenue laws of this State. But such increased taxation shall
not be effective until approved by the qualified voters of the town at a
anedial election called by the judge of the circuit court or at a general
election.

§ 4. The * mayor shall preside at all * meetings of the trustees, and
when they are equally divided shall * give the casting vote. * The mayor *
shall be vested with all the powers of a justice of the peace within the
limits of said town, except that no civil warrants shall be tried by him.

§ 5. * The mayor and trustees shall be * elected on the * second
Tuesday in * June of every odd numbered year by the qualified voters of
said town. * The mayor, with the advice and consent of a majority of
the members of the town council, shall appoint one town sergeant, who
shall be a conservator of the peace, and invested with the full power of a
constable within the limits of said town, and also have power to arrest
all offenders within one mile of said limits of said town. He shall collect
the town taxes, and may distrain and sell therefor in like manner as
State taxes and county levies are distrained for, and the said town council
may take such bonds as will insure his accountability for all taxes received
by him, and in the event a vacancy should at any time occur in the office
of town sergeant, the council of said town may fill the vacancy by appoint-
ment, without respect to whether the appointee be a resident or non-
resident of said town.
CHS. 248, 249, 250] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 267

__ _.§ 6. Should no election from any cause be held on the day named
in this act for the * said election, such election may be held on any subse-
quent day that may be fixed on by the council, upon giving such notice
by the sergeant as shall be prescribed by the council. The first election
under this act shall be held on the * second Tuesday in * June, nineteen
hundred and * fifty-seven.

§ 7. The trustees * elected under this act, and their successors who
may hereafter be elected, shall have power at their first or any subsequent
meeting to elect a secretary to the council, who shall be ex officio treasurer
of the town, may fix his salary and require of him such ‘bond as will
insure his accountability for all funds that may come into his hands.

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