Chap. 490.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 84 of the charter of the city
of Richmond, as amended and re-enacted by chapter 162, acts of assembly 1901-
02, approved March 11, 1902, and to amend and re-enact sections 86 and 89 of
said charter, all in regard to the police department of said city.

Approved December 24, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
hty-four of the charter of the city of Richmond, as amended and re-
nacted by chapter one hundred and sixty-two, acts of assembly nineteen
undred and one and ninetcen hundred and two, approved March
eventh, nineteen hundred and two, and sections eighty-six and eightr-
ine of said charter be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 84. The police department of the city of Richmond shall be under the
mntrol and management of a board of police commissioners thereof.
hich shall consist of the mayor and one commissioner from each ward
of the city, each commissioner to be a resident of his respective
majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The mayor shall
officio president of the board, and shall preside at its meetings, a1
have a vote in case of a tie. In his absence the other members m:
a president pro tempore. Each of said commissioners shall hol
for a term of six years from the date of his election: provided, t
term of one commissioner shall expire each year, according to tl
ent plan, so that the terms of no two said commissioners shall ey
the same year, except that in case the number of commissioners s|
ceed six, then in that event the terms of as many as two commis
may expire in the same year. But it is expressly provided that
quence of the expiration of the terms of said commissioners fr
wards established prior to the twenty-seventh day of February, n
hundred and two, shall not be changed; and the terms of commi:
elected from wards established, or which may be established, sub
to the twenty-sixth day of February, nineteen hundred and tw
expire one after another in successive years, in accordance with
tention of the present plan. As the terms of the commissioners s]
pire the vacancies in the board thus created, or created by this act
any act of the general assembly heretofore or hereafter passed, s
filled by election in the month of July of each year by the two b
of the city council in joint session. But no person shall be clect
does not receive a majority in each branch of the council of all th
bers elected to such branch. The said board shall adopt rules an
lations for the government thereof; it may establish, promulga
enforce rules, regulations, and orders for the government of the
force; it may divide the city into such police districts as it ma‘
proper for the best management of the police force, and the pre
and detection of crime, and may alter and change the same from -
time; it shall have authority to investigate all matters pertaining
police department, and for that purpose to send for persons and
ond by the presiding officer to administer oaths to witnesses.

The members of said board may be removed for good cause
time by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to the city ¢
If any member of the board shall resign, remove from the ward in
he lived when elected to said board, cease to be a voter, or be a cal
for any office, federal, State, or municipal, it shall ipso facto vac
seat in said board; and when any member of the said board is na
an applicant or candidate, or as proper to be supported as a candid
any office, or proper person to receive such office, the president sl
any member of the board may, notify him that his name is mentic
connection with such office, and if said member does not, with
days after the receipt of such notice, file with the president of the
his statement in writing that he is neither candidate nor applic:
such office, that he will not serve nor accept, if elected or appoint
said board will declare his place vacant, which will he filled in th
ner hereinbefore prescribed. When vacancies are filled for any
other than the expiration. of a term, they shal] he filled by the
cnly for the unexpired term.
§ 86. Members of the police force of the city shall be elected by the
board of police commissioners. The said force shall consist of as man:
members as the city council may by ordinance prescribe, but shal] not be
reduced below one hundred and one men, and the board of commission-
crs shall have full power and authority to elect a chief of police and such
other officers as it shall deem necessary for the proper discipline and map-
agement of the foree for such term, not exceeding three years, as it may
designate. The said board shall elect a surgeon of police, whose term of
oflice shall not exceed three years. The compensation for his services shall
be paid out of a fund in the hands of the chief of police, said fund to be
raised by levying a tax, not exceeding one dollar per month, upon each
member of the police force; but in no event shall the city be liable for
the said compensation or any part thereof. All elections to the force shall
be for three years, except those to fill vacancies not caused by the expira-
tion of a term, which shall be for the unexpired term only. The chief of
police shall be responsible to the board of commissioners for the disci-
pline and efficiency of the police force. All orders shall pass through him,
except so far as the rules, regulations, or orders of the board of police
commissioners authorize orders to be given direct to any subordinate on
the police force. Any officer or member of the force may be fined by the
board of police commissioners for good cause shown, such fine to be de-
ducted from his pay, or he may be removed or suspended from the force
or reduced in the rank, when the same shall be, in the judgment of the
board, for the good of the service.

§ 89. The salary or pay of the officers and members of the police force
shall be such as may be prescribed by the city council. It shall be the
duty of the board of police commissioners, once in each year and oftencr
if deemed necessary, to submit to the city council, in writing, a detailed
estimate of what funds will be needed for the proper maintenance anl
growth of the police department, and to request the council to make ap-
propriation accordingly. It shall be the duty of the city council to ap-
propriate such sums of money as the said council shall deem sufficient
for the proper maintenance of the police department, for pay-rolls, ex-
pense, equipment, and construction.

The said board of police commissioners are authorized and empowered
to draw warrants on the auditor of the city to pay claims against the po-
lice department, after the same shall have been approved by the hoard in
session, each warrant to be accompanied by an itemized bill for which 1
is drawn, and to be signed by the president of said board, or the president
pro tempore.

2. This act shall be in foree from its passage.