CHAP. 195.—An ACT relating to the trespass of stock in vertain
parts of Washington county.

Approved February 10, 1880.

1. Be it enacted by iue general assembly of Virginia,
That each person on either side of the MiddJe Fork river
and the South Fork river, in Washington county, so guard
their stock as to prevent said stock from trespassing on
the lands of another where the fences now required to be
kept up by law are washed away by freshet or flood, and
until the fences have been replaced: provided, however,
there shall be no prosecution under this act after sixty days
from the time of such freshet or flood by the owner of any
land from which the fences may have been washed.

2. Any person violating the provisions of this act shall
be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less
than ten nor more than twenty dollars, and shall also pay
to the owner of the land, or his representative, trespassed
upon, any damages which the said owner may have suf-
fered by reason of such trespass.

3. This act shall be in force from its passage. |

Cuape. 196.—An ACT to provide for a new charter for the town of
Farmville.

Approved February 10, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That so much of the land that lies and is contained within
the following boundaries: Beginning at a point on the
Appomattox river above and west at a memorial stone
planted at a beech tree now on said river; thence south
twenty-nine degrees, west two hundred and forty-five and
one-fourth poles to a memorial stone on the lands now
owned and occupied by Albert Hurd; thence north sixty-
one degrees, east two hundred and forty-one and one-half
poles to a memorial stone planted on U. E. Venable’s sur-
vey; thence twenty-nine degrees, east three hundred and
thirty-six and one-half poles to a memorial stone planted
on the Appomattox river; thence up said river as it
meanders to the beginning (being the same limits as are
prescribed in section one of an act approved March nine-
teenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, entitled an act
to define and extend the corporate limits of the town of
Farmville, in the county of Prince Edward), shall be,
and is hereby, made a town corporate by the name and.
style of the town of Farmville, and by that name and |
style shall sue and be sued, and shall have and exercise
all the powers and be subject to all the provisions of the
code of Virginia except so far as may be herein otherwise
provided for.

2. The municipal aathoritive of said town shall consist |
of a mayor and nine councilmen, who shall be elected on |
the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety, |
and on the fourth Thursday in May in every second year
thereafter, by the qualified voters of the town. All per-
sons qualified to vote in said election shall be eligible to
either of said offices.

3. The mayor and councilmen shall constitute the coun-
cil of said town; and all the corporate powers of said
town shall be exercised by said council or under its au-
thority, except when otherwise provided.

4. There shall be elected, annually, by the council of
said town, a town sergeant, clerk, assessor, treasurer and
street commissioner.

5. The election of the mayor and councilmen, and the
registration of electors of said town, shall be held and
conducted in the manner provided by the laws of Virginia
then existing.

6. The mayor and councilmen shall each, before enter-
ing upon the duties of their offices, take the oaths pre-
scribed for all other officers by the laws of Virginia; but
if any or either of them shall fail so to do for thirty days
after the commencement of the term for which he or
they were elected, his or their office shall be deemed
vacant.

7. Whenever, from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in
the office of mayor or councilmen, the same shal! be filled
by the council at its next regular meeting, either from its
own body or from the qualified electors of said town, an
entry of said election to be made on the record book of
the corporation.

8. The mayor, when present, shall preside over all
meetings of the council; and in his absence, the president
of the council (who shall be elected by the council at its
first annual meeting in July of each year), shall preside.

9. The mavor and five councilmen, or in the absence of
the mayor, 81x councilmen, shall constitute a quorum of
the council for the transaction of all business.

10. The mayor shall have no vote in the council, except
in the case of a tie, when he shall give the casting vote.

11. The council shall cause to be kept in a journal an
accurate record of all its proceedings, by-laws, acts, and
orders, which shall be properly indexed and open to the
inspection of anv one who is entitled to vote for members
of the council.

12. At each meeting of the council the proceedings of
the last meeting 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 questioh shall be re-
corded in the journal.

13. The council so constituted shal] have power 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 obstructions on or over them; to regulate the
width of sidewalks on the streets, and to order the side-
walks, footways and gutters to be curbed, paved and kept
in good order, tree and clean, by the.owners or occupants
thereof; to lay off public grounds, and to provide, con-
tract for, and take care of all buildings necessary for the
use of the town; to establish and regulate markets, to pre-
scribe the time for holding the same, and what articles
: hall be sold in such markets; to prevent injury or an-

oyance to the public or individuals from anything dan-
gerous, offensive, or unwholesome; to protect places of
divine worship in or about the premises where held; to
abate, or cause to be abated, anything which, in the opin-
ion of the majority of the whole council, shall be a nui-
sance; to regulate the keeping of gun powder and other
combustibles; to provide in and near the town places for
the burial of the dead, and to regulate interments in the
town; to provide for the building of houses or other struc-
tures, and for the making of division fences, and for the
drainage of lots by proper drains and ditches; to make
regulations for guarding against danger or damage from
fires; to provide for the poor of the town, and appoint
and publish the places of holding the town elections; to
provide a revenue for the town, and appropriate the same
to its expenses, and to provide the annual assessmént of
taxable persons and property in the town; to establish
rules for the transaction of business and for the govern-
ment and regulation of its own body; to promote the gen-
eral welfare of the town, and to protect the property of
persons therein, and to preserve peace and good order
therein; 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
county court or a justice within the county; to require
and take from the sergeant and treasurer bonds, with such
securities and in such penalty as the council may see fit,
which bond shall be made payable to the town by its cor-
porate name, and conditioned for the faithful discharge of
their duties; to permit or prohibit 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, electric-light works, or
water-works in or near the town; to prevent injuries to
the same; to prohibit the pollution of the water which
may be provided for the use of the town; to regulate and
provide for the weighing and measuring of hay, coal, and
other articles sold or for sale in said town; to regulate
the transportation thereof through the streets; and to
enable the authorities of said town more effectually to
enforce the provisions of this section, their jurisdiction is
hereby declared to extend one mile beyond the corporate
limits.

14. To carry into effect the powers herein enumerated,
and all other powers conferred upon the said town or
its council by the laws of Virginia, said council shall
have power to make and pass all needful and proper or-
ders, by-laws, and ordinances not contrary to the consti-
tution and laws of said state, and to prescribe and impose
reasonable fines or penalties, or to impose imprisonment in
the county jail for a period not exceeding thirty days, ig
cases of contempt, or to enforce the collection of fines;
which fines, penalties, or imprisonments shall be imposed,
recovered, or enforced under the judgment of the mayor or
any one of the councilmen of said town. And the author-
ities of said town may, with the consent of the county
court of Prince Edward county, entered of record, use the
jail of said county for any purposes for which the use of
a jail may be needed by them, under the acts of the coun-
cil or of the state of Virginia: provided, however, that in
all cases where a fine is imposed by the mayor, any coun-
cilmen, or by the council, exceeding ten dollars, the party
or parties so fined: shall have the right of appeal to the
county court.

15. The mayor and each one of the councilmen of said
town. for the time being, are declared to be, and are hereby,
constituted conservatore of the peace within said town,
and within one mile from the corporate limits thereof, and
shall have all the powers and authority in civil as well as
criminal cases of justices of the peace.

16. The council shall cause to be made up annually, and
entered upon its journal, an accurate estimate of all sums
of money which are or may become lawfully chargeable
on said town, and which ought to be paid within one year;
and said council shall order a town levy for so much
money as in its discretion shall be sufficient to meet all
just demands against. the corporation.

17. The levy so made may be laid on all male persons
who are resident of said town and over twenty-one years
of age; upon dogs, and on all personal and real estate
within said town, except such persons, personal and real
estate as are exempt from taxation under the laws of this
state;. and also upon al) other such subjects within said
town as may at the time be assessed with state taxes.

18. In all cases in which the laws of the state require a
license to be taken out by any person engaged in the pur-
suit of any business, trade, occupation, or calling, or for
any other purpose, the said council shall have power to
require a license to be taken out in all such cases for the
benefit of said town before such person shall be permitted
to pursue such business, trade, occupation, or calling
within the corporate limits of said town, or within one
mile from said limits. Said council may also grant or
refuse license to owners or keepers of wagons, drays, carts,
hacks, and other wheeled carriages kept or employed in
said town, for hire or as carriers for the public, and may
require the owners of such wagons, drays, carts, and 80
forth, using them in the town, to take out a license there-
for, and may require taxes to be paid thereon and subject
the same to such regulations as they may deem proper.

19. The revenue from these and other sources shall be
collected, paid over, and accounted for at such times and
to such persons as the council shall order.

20. The council shall require the treasurer of the said
corporation to make out a quarterly report of the receipts
and expenditures of said town for the preceding quar-
ter, which report shall state on what account the expen-
ditures were made, and from what source or sources the
receipts were derived; which report the council shall
cause to be published in one or more newspapers of the
town, on or before the fifteenth day of October, January,
April, and July of each year.

21. The council of the said town of Farmville is hereby
authorized to make and issue the registered or coupon
bonds of said corporation, payable ten years after their
date, bearing interest at not more than six per centum per
annum, payable semi-annually; said bonds to be issued
exclusively in paying off and discharging the principal
and interest of the present bonded debt of the corpora-
tion of Farmville. Said registered and coupon bonds
shall be regularly numbered, signed by the mayor, clerk,
and treasurer of the town, and recorded in a book kept
for that purpose.

22. The council] of said town shal! annually invest in
Virginia state or United States bonds, as a sinking fund,
such proportion of its annual revenue as shall be equiva-
lent in cash value to at least one-twentieth of the bonded
debt of said town, out of which to pay, as they fall due,
the bonds which are authorized to be issued in the next
preceding section: provided, nevertheless, that the said
council may, instead of investing its revenue in Virginia
or United States bonds, use said revenue which is to be
annually invested in said bonds in paying off and dis-
charging the principal of the bonds which are authorized
to be issued by the twenty-first section of this bill, but
for no other purpose or purposes.

23. The council of said town may negotiate any loan or
loans for the purpose of improving the streets, lighting
the same, buying the necessary real estate, erecting public
buildings, supplying’ the town with water, and for other
purposes, and shall have authority to issue registered or
coupon bonds for said loan, payable at not more than
twenty years after date of said bonds, bearing interest at
a rate not greater than six per centum per annum, paya-
ble semi-annually: provided, that two-thirds of the coun-
cil of said town shall authorize said loan or loans, and
that the same shall be sanctioned by a vote of three-
fifths of all the qualified electors of said town voting at
said election, to be ascertained by a vote taken and con-
ducted in the manner authorized for any election, after
having given notice thereof for two weeks in some news-
paper published in said town: and provided, further, that
the council of the town shall annually invest in Virginia
state or United States bonds, as a sinking fund, such pro-
portion of the revenue of said town as shall be equal in
cash value to one-tenth of said loan, which sinking fund
shall be used exclusively for the payment of the bonds
issued for said loan or loans. Any bonds issued under
the provisions of this section shall be regularly numbered,
signed by the mavor, clerk and treasurer, and recorded in
a book kept for the purpose.

24. The sergeant shall have power to collect the town
taxes, fines, and levies, and shall have power, one month
after he shall have received the books of commissioner of
revenue of said town, to distrain and sell therefor, in like
manner as the county treasurer may sell and distrain for
state taxes; and shall have in all other respects the same
powers as such treasurer to enforce the payment and col-
lection thereof; and the said sergeant shall have power to
exercise within the corporate limits of said town and
within one’mile thereof all the duties that a constable
can legally exercise in regard to the collection of claims,
executing and levying process, and he shall be entitled to
the same compensation therefor; and he and his securi-
ties shall be liable to all the fines, penalties and forfeit-
ures as 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, penal-
ties and forfeitures are now recovered against a constable.

25. The officers of said town elected or appointed by
the council shall, during the time they are in office, have
all the power and authority of like officers in the county
of Prince Edward, unless the same be abridged or restricted
by the council.

26. The mayor shall have power to suspend and the
council shall have power to remove all other town officers,
whether they be elected or appointed, for misconduct in
office or neglect of duty to be specified in the order of sus-
pension or removal; 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.
27. The mayor or council may prohibit any theatrical
or other performance, show, or exhibition within said
town, or within a mile of its corporate limits, which may
be deemed injurious to the morals or good order of the
town or the people of the county.

- 28. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of
the town; he shall take care that the by-laws, ordinances,
acts. and resolutions of the council are faithfully exe-
cuted; he shall be, ex-officio, a conservator of the peace
within the town and within a mile of its corporate limits,
and shall within the same exercise all the powers vested
in the justices of the peace for the county; he shall have
control of the police of the town, and may appoint special
police officers when he deems it necessary; he shall have
authority to issue his warrant for the arrest of any person
or persons violating any of the ordinances, acts, or reso-
lutions of said town; it shall be his duty especially to
see that peace and good order are preserved, and that per-
sons and property are protected in the town; he shall have
power to issue executions for all fines and costs imposed
by him, or he may require the immediate payment thereof ;
and in default of such payment he may commit the party
in default to the jail of Prince Edward county until the
fine and costs shall be paid, but the term of imprison-
ment shall not exceed thirty days; he shall from time to
time recommend to the council such measures as he may
deem needful for the welfare of the town; he shall receive
a compensation for his services to be fixed by the council,
which shall not be increased or diminished for the term
for which he shall have been elected.

29. All moneys belonging to the said town shall be paid
over to the treasurer, and no money shall be by him paid
out except as the same shall have been appropriated and
ordered to be paid by the council; and the said treasurer
shall pay the same upon the certificate of the mayor or in
his absence upon the certificate of the president of the
council.

30. If the said treasurer shall fail to account for and
pay over all or any moneys that shall come into his hands
when thereto required by the council, it shall be lawful
for the council, in the corporate name of the town, by
motion before any court of record held in Prince Edward
county, to recover from the treasurer and his sureties, or
their personal representatives, any sum that may be due
from said treasurer to said town on ten days’ notice.

31. And if the sergeant shall fail to collect, account for
and pay over all the taxes, fines, and other revenue of the
town in his hands for collection according to the condi-
tion of his bond, it shall be lawful for the council to
recover the same by motion, in the corporate name of the

Qn +
town, before any court of. record of said county of Prince
Edward against the said sergeant, his sureties in his said
bond, or any or either of them, his or their executors or
administrators en giving ten days’ notice of the same.

32. 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, and from contributing to any
county expenses for any year in which it shall appear that
said town shall, at its own expense, provide for its own
poor and keep its streets in order.

33. The council shall have power to make such ordi-
nances, by-laws, orders, and regulations as they may
deem necessary to prevent hogs, dogs, and other animals
from running at large in the limits of the town, and may
subject the owners thereof to such fines, regulations, and
taxes as the council may deem proper, and may sell said
animals at public auction to enforce the payment of said
fines and taxes.

34. The council shall not take or use any private property
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
agreement obtain title to the ground necessary for such
purposes, it shall be lawful for said corporation to apply
to and obtain from the county court of Prince Edward, or
the circuit court thereof for authority to condemn the
same, which shall be applied for and proceeded with ac-
cording to law.

35. All the rights, privileges, and properties of the cor-
poration of Farmville heretofore acquired and possessed,
owned, and enjoyed by any act now in force, not in conflict
with this act, shall continue undiminished, and remain
vested in said town under this act, and all] laws, ordi-
nances, and resolutions of the corporation of Farmville
now ih force and not inconsistent with this act, shall be
and continue in full force and effect in the town of Farm-
ville until regularly repealed by a council elected as pro-
vided under this act.

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

37. This act shall be in force from its passage.