Chap. 333.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Emporia.
Approved February 20, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That the town of Hicksford and Bellfield, in the county of
Greenesville, be, and the same are hereby, made a town cor-
porate by the name of Emporia, and by that name shall
have all the powers conferred upon towns by, and be sub-
ject to all the provisions of law now in force in Virginia,
and all acts amendatory thereof, so far as the same are not
in conflict with this act.

2. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows:
Beginning on the Petersburg and Weldon railroad one
mile north from the railroad bridge spanning the Meherrin
river, and running west fifteen hundred yards; thence
south on a line parallel with said railroad two miles;
thence east two thousand yards; thence north on a line
parallel with said railroad on the east side thereof to the
Meherrin river; thence down said river five hundred
yards; thence north one mile; thence west to point of be-
ginning.

3. The officers of said town shall consist of nine coun-
cilmen, a mayor and a sergeant. The mayor shall be ex-
officio a member of the council, any five of whom shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The
officers of the town shall hold office for two years, and un-
til their successors are appointed and qualified. The coun-
cil shall have power to pass all ordinances and by-laws
for the proper government of the town (not in conflict
with the constitution and laws of this state or of the
United States), and also to provide for aiding the county
in keeping the streets in order and for other improve-
ments.
4. The mayor shall be ex-officio president of the council,
and shall preside at all meetings when present, and when
they are equally divided shall give the deciding vote. He
shall be invested with all the powers of a justice of the
peace, shall be subject to the laws now in force regulating
their conduct, and shall have exclusive jurisdiction of all
criminal matters arising under the ordinances or by-laws
of said town in said town, and concurrent jurisdiction
with other justices of the peace over offences against the
commonwealth committed in the said town or county of
Greenesville. In the absence of the mayor a majority of
the members of the council present may select some mem-
ber of the body to act as president of the council for the
time.

5. W. E. Bailey, P. R. Farley, W. M. Farmer, W. T. Deal,
J. A. Hartley, G. B. Wood, E. C. Tredway, A. R. Raney, and
J. R. Everett, are hereby appointed councilmen of said
town, and Charles Baker mayor, and they shall have and
exercise all the powers herein granted to said officers, and
shall remain in office until their successors are appointed
and qualified according to law.

6. The council shall, when organized and every two
years thereafter, appoint a sergeant, whose term of office
shall be the same as that of members of the council. The
sergeant shall be conservator of the peace within the said
toWn, and shall have such powers, perform such duties,
and receive such fees as are now prescribed: by law for
constables for like service, and shall be subject to all laws
governing their acts. He shall receive in addition to the
fees herein provided such compensation as the council of
the town may deem proper.

7. The council shall have power to impose and the ser-
geant to collect an annual tax not exceeding five cents on
the one hundred dollars in value on all property, real and
personal, within the limits of the said town, said levy to
be based upon the values as fixed by the last general as-
sessment for state and county purposes next preceding
each assessment made by said town council; and they
shall also have power to impose and the sergeant to collect
from all persons, firms or corporations doing a mercantile
or any other business in said town, and from such shows
and exhibitions as are now taxed by law, a license tax not
in excess of that now imposed by the state laws, which
shall be in addition thereto, and the revenue arising there-
from, together with all fines imposed by the mayor and
collected by the sergeant, shall be applied by the council
in aiding the county in keeping in repair the public roads
within the said town and for other necessary improve-
ments or purposes; and nothing in this act shall be con-
strued to relieve the county of Greenesville from the care
and control of the public roads within the town, as now
prescribed by law, nor exempt the property, real, personal,
or mixed, from county, district, school, or other taxes now
imposed by law on said section of land forming said town.

8. The judge of the county court of Greenesville county
shall, on the first Monday in July, eighteen hundred and
ninety-three, and every two years thereafter, appoint nine
members of the council, who shall hold their offices as
hereinbefore provided, and they shall elect a mayor, who
shall hold office for two years.

9. No salaries shall be paid to any officer of the town,
but the mayor shall receive such fees as are now or may
be hereafter prescribed by law for a justice of the peace,
and the sergeant shall receive the legal fees of a constable,
and such additional fees or salary as the council may deem
proper for collecting the revenues provided in this charter,
and performing the duties of conservator of the peace.

10. The said council are authorized and empowered to
erect a station-house upon the court-house square adja-
cent to the county jail (after first obtaining the consent
of the board of supervisors and county judge), and all
persons committed to jail by the mayor of the said town,
or station-house, for violations of town ordinances, shall
be by the sergeant turned over to the jailor of the county
of Greenesville, to be kept by him in the county jail until
the said council shall provide a station-house, after which
time said prisoners shall be kept by the sergeant in the
said station-house, and the said sheriff or sergeant shall
receive such pay, and in like manner, as is now provided
by law for the maintenance and care of prisoners.

11. It is expressly provided that the jurisdiction of the
county of Greenesville and its officers over said town as
it now exists for taxation and all other purposes, shall not

in any manner affected or abridged, except as herein
expressly provided

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