Chap. 371.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved February 7, 1890.
entitled an act to incorporate the town of Ridgeway, in the county of
Henry.

Approved February 15, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the act
approved the seventh day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety.
entitled an act to incorporate the town of Ridgeway, in the county of
Henry, and all acts amendatory thereof since passed, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Cuaprter I.

The town of Ridgeway, in the county of Henry, chartered by an act
of the general assembly of Virginia, passed February seventh, eighteen
hundred and ninety, and acts amendatory thereof since passed, shall by
that name continue, and by that name shall have and exercise all the
powers and be subject to all the duties which now belong to the said
town, and have all the powers and be subject to all the provisions of
the existing laws with regard to towns of less than five thousand inhabi-
tants, except so far as the same may be changed and modified by thrs
charter.

2. The mavor and councilmen of said town now in office and their
successors shall continue to be a body politic and corporate, by the nam:
and style of the town of Ridgeway, and by that name and style shai!
have perpetual succession, with the power in that name and style to
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any of the courts of law or
equity of this commonwealth, or before any justice of the peace of 111:
county who has jurisdiction, with the same right of appeal as in cis
of individuals. The said town by this name and style shall hive
authority to purchase, receive, and hold lands and tenements, goods | nJ
chattels, either in fee simple or any less estate therein, and shall hve
power the same to lease, give, grant, and assign or sell the same: 7:ro-
vided, the sale or purchase of real or personal property shall be 1° «
two-thirds vote of the whole council, where the mayor does not as: :n'
thereto, and may place improvements on said real estate.

3. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows: Beginning st <«
dogwood on the road leading toward Madison, North Carolina, near th»
residence of the late Mistress George K. Jones; thence north six, «as!
thirty-four poles to a peach tree; thence north twelve, east two hunc red
and forty poles, crossing the Roanoke and southern railroad, and wo
branches to a rock in the road leading to horse pasture; thence v it!:

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said road as it meanders seventy-three poles to a rock in the road lead-
ing to Martinsville; thence south seventy-two and a half, east fifty
poles, crossing said railroad to an ash at a spring; thence south fifty-
nine, east ninety-six poles to a rock on ridge; thence south fifty-four
and a half, east one hundred and thirty-one poles, crossing a branch
to a rock; thence south forty, east fifty-nine poles to a white oak on
the Leaksville road; thence with the same as it meanders south thirty-
one, west forty-two poles, south six, west thirty poles, south sixty-four,
west twenty-nine poles to a chestnut stump; thence off south sixteen,
west seventy-four poles to a rock; thence south seventy-five, west one
hundred and sixty-eight poles to the northwest corner of a barn; thence
north sixty-six, west one hundred and thirty poles, crossing a branch
to pointers; and thence north seventeen, west thirty-eight poles to the
beginning.

4. The administration and government of said town shall be vested
in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor, six other trustees, who
shall constitute the council of said town, and such officers and agents
as may be appointed by the council. The mayor and members of the
council shall have resided in said town three months last preceding their
election, and be elected from among the electors of the town, and elected
by the qualified voters, who shall have resided within the corporate
limits of said town three months previous to the election, which next
election for said town shall take place on the fourth Thursday in May,
nineteen hundred, and every two years thereafter. The said mayor and
councilmen shall hold their offices for the term of two years, commenc-
ing on the first day of July next after their election, and afterwards
until their successors shall qualify, and members of the council shall
receive no pay for their services as councilmen. And in the said council
so composed, any four of whom shall constitute a quorum for the trans-
action of business, shall be vested the corporate powers of said town,
and shall be known as the council of the town of Ridgeway.

5. The mayor and all other municipal officers of the said town, before
entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be sworn in
accordance with the laws of the state by any one authorized to admin-
ister oaths under the laws of the state. If any person elected to any
office fail to qualify before the first day of July next, after such election,
or any person appointed to any office by the mayor or council fail to
qualify within thirty days after his appointment, or if any officer shall
fail to give bond, with approved security, within thirty days for the
commencement of his term as required to do, payable to the town of
Ridgeway, Virginia, the office shall be deemed vacant.

Cuyapter II.

6. Mayor.—The mayor shall preside over the deliberations of the
council, and be entitled to one vote in case of a tie. His salary shall
be fixed by the council, and shall not be diminished during his term of
office, and shall be entitled to the like fees of a justice of the peace in
civil and criminal cases.

7. The mayor shall, by virtue of his office, possess all the jurisdiction
and exercise all the power and authority in civil and criminal cases, aris-
ing in said town or in one mile of the corporate limits, of a justice of
tne peace of Henry county, in addition to the power given him by this
act.

8. It shall be the duty of the mayor to make to the council at the
commencement of each month a written statement of all the fines im-
posed, the amount, and the offense, and the person or persons convicted,
and fines received by him, to pay in the same to the sergeant; and shall
annually at the commencement of each fiscal year, or oftener if required
by the council, make a statement of the condition of the town in rela-
tion to its government, finances, and improvements, with such recom-
mendations as he may deem proper.

9. In case he deems it expedient, the mayor may appoint and swear
in special policemen for any occasion: provided, they shall not serve
longer than three days at a time, and receive no higher compensation
than one dollar per day.

10. The mayor may at any time have a called meeting of the town
council.

11. The mayor shall have authority to issue executions for fines and
to enforce his judgment in civil cases. And he may issue capias pro fines
for all fines due said town and the commonwealth, and imposed by the
corporate authorities.

12. The mayor shall have power to administer oaths of office to an‘
of the town officers or oaths to other persons.

13. The council may at any time be convened by the order in wit
ing of any three members directed to the clerk of the council, wh,
through the sergeant, shall notify the mayor and councilmen.

14. The council shall fix the time for their stated meetings, whic
shall be public, except when the public welfare shall require secrecy.
and no business shall be transacted at a special meeting but that for
which it was called.

15. The council shall have all the general powers vested in it by the
laws of this state in addition to the powers given by this charter.

16. No ordinance shall be passed or resolution adopted having for
its object the appropriation of money, or the levying of a tax, except }
the concurrence of at least four members of the council. |

17. The town council shall have, subject to the provisions of th:
act, the control and management of the fiscal and municipal affa:'
of the town, and of all property, real and personal, belonging to s1"
town; and it shall have power to make such ordinances, by-laws, an
regulations, relating to same, as they may deem necessary to carry
the powers vested in them by this charter. |

- 18. The council shall have authority to prevent the riding or dr
ing of horses or animals at an improper speed, throwing stones, or tr
engaging in any employment or sport on the streets, sidewalks, or pubs
alleys dangerous or annoying to passengers, and to prohibit and pun!
the abuse and cruel treatment of horses or other animals in said to7.

19. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street begza™:
to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve the public peace and gual
order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances, and disorderly asse2"

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blages; to prevent and punish lewd, indecent, and disorderly conduct
or exhibitions in said town, and to expel therefrom persons guilty of
such conduct who have not resided therein as much as one year.

20. To prevent the coming into the town persons having no osten-
sible means of support, and of persons who may be dangerous to the
peace and safety of the town.

21. Where, by the provisions of this act, the council shall have
authority to pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe any
penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars and confinement in jail not
exceeding ninety days for a violation thereof, and may provide that the
offender on failing to pay the penalty recovered shall be imprisoned in
the county jail of Henry county for a term not exceeding ninety days,
which penalty may be prosecuted and recovered with costs in the name
of the town of Ridgeway, or shall compel them to work on the streets
or other public improvements in said town, to pay said fines and costs.

22. The council may organize a chain-gang in conformity with the
Jaw in said town, with rules and regulations for its government.

23. The council shall appoint annually a sergeant, a clerk, and a com-
missioner of the revenue for the said town, and such other policemen
and such other officers and agents for the proper conduct and business
of the town as may be necessary; shall fix their compensation and pre-
scribe their duties where this charter does not, and require from any
or all of them such bonds as may be deemed proper, payable to the
town in its corporate name, conditional for the faithful discharge of
their duties, which shall be executed before the mayor and approved by
the council. The terms of each of said officers shall expire on the
thirtieth day of June of each year after their election or appointment,
and any of said officers, with the consent of the council, may nominate
and appoint a deputy or deputies, who shall have all the power and
authority of their principal.

24. In all cases of vacancies in any office, they may be filled by the
council. |

25. The sergeant of said town, who shall from time to time be ap-

ointed under this act, shall be the treasurer for said town, and shall
have the like rights of distress, and such power for the collecting of the
taxes and levies made by said council, as a county treasurer in similar
cases, and shall be entitled to like fees and commission. And said
sergeant after he shall have executed bond before the mayor and ap-
proved by the council, he shall receive and hold the moneys belonging
to the said town; shall pay out the same upon warrants signed by the
mayor and countersigned by the clerk of the council, and shall make
monthly reports to the council of his receipts and disbursements during
that month and the balance in his hands, and shall make a full settle-
ment with the council or its committee at the end of each year, or
oftener if required; and if he so fails to settle, he may be fined by the
mayor the sum of one hundred dollars, and may be removed by the
council from said office.

26. The sergeant, as treasurer, shall keep his books, papers, and
accounts, in such manner as the council may prescribe, and they shall
at all times be open to the inspection of the mayor and council, or any
committee thereof. He shall keep a register of all the warrants paid,
their number, date, amount, to whom, and where paid, and surrender
them on receipt of the mayor and clerk upon his final settlement. He
shall keep the town’s money in such bank or such other place as the
council may designate, deposited to his credit as treasurer, and shall
not use the same or any part for his private use or purposes of others;
if he does, he may be fined by the mayor one hundred dollars, and be
removed by the council from ollice.

27. The sergeant shall have power to execute all writs and processes.
criminal and civil, original, mesne, or final, legally issued by the duly
authorized oflicers of said town, anywhere in said town or county, and
to serve notices and other papers in pais, usually served bv ministerial
olficers. He shall be a conservator of the peace, and shall have authority
to arrest parties for violation of law or town ordinance in his presence,
or who are escaping or preparing to escape, without any process or
warrant so directing him to do, and so shall any policeman of said town.
And in the service of process, arrest of parties, and the collection of
fines arising under authority of this act or any by-laws or ordinances
made in pursuance hereof, he shall have and possess the same rights
and powers and be entitled to like fees and commissions as are now
allowed by law to the sheriff for similar services.

28. The sergeant of said town may execute before the county court
of Henry county a bond in the penalty of two thousand dollars, with
approved security, by said court, and conditional and payable as bonds
of constables are now required by law; and upon giving such bond and
qualifying in court, he shall, by virtue thereof, have all the powers
and be subject to all the liabilities of a constable of Henry county,
both within said town and county.

29. The council shall appoint one commissioner of the revenue of
said town, who shall give bond before the mayor, with approved security,
subject to the approval of the council, payable to the town in such pen-
alty as the council may determine.

30. He shall assess annually, as county assessors are required to do,
all real and personal property in said town, and in the case of real
estate his assessment shall be based on the assessment for state and
county purposes. Where a license tax on any business is required to be
paid to the town, the said commissioner shall issue the license upon the
presentation of a receipt from the proper officer for the amount of the
tax.

31. Finances.—The council of said town may annually levy a tax
for roads, streets, sidewalks and other purposes, by a two-thirds vote of
all the councilmen elected for said town, on all real and personal prop-
erty and other things or business in said town, belonging to or carried
on by any person, firm, company, or corporation, which on no property
shall exceed fifty cents on the hundred dollars valuation, except that
on a petition of freeholders representing two-thirds of the valuation
within the corporation, the council may levy a corporation tax not
to exceed seventy five cents on the hundred dollars of valuation. The
poll tax shall not exceed fifty cents on each male person in any one
year.

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32. Nothing in this act shall be construed to exempt property fro1
all or any county levies levied or to be levied in Henry county, no
shall there be so exempt any person or property in said town on whic
county levies are now or may hereafter be made.

33. Any town process may run in the name of the commonwealtl
but all warrants issued and tried before any officer for violation of an
state laws or corporation laws, ordinances, or charter, shall run in th
name of the commonwealth, and be directed to the sergeant or an
policeman of the town, but when the offense is against any town ord:
nance or law, the offense shall be so stated in the warrant, and th
recovery be in the name of the town of Ridgeway, and fieri facias an
caplas pro fine may be issued for its recovery. No offense against th
laws of the town shall be charged and embraced in the same warran
with any offense against the laws of the commonwealth. Where ther
is any offense which is a violation of both town and state laws, and th
accused is acquitted or convicted of a violation of the town law by th
town authorities, the same may be pleaded in bar of any trial or convic
tion by the state authorities.

34. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereb
repealed.

35. This act shall be in force from the time of its passage.