Chap. 253.—An ACT to Amend and Re-enact an Act passed March fifteenth,
eighteen hundred and forty-nine, entitled an Act to Extend the Limits of
and Provide for Electing Trustees for the Town of Marion, in the county
of Smyth, Investing them with Certain Corporate Powers.

Approved July 9, 1870.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the act
passed March fifteenth, eighteen hundred and forty-nine, en-
titled an act to extend the limits of, and provide for electin
trustees for the town of Marion, in the county of Smyth, and
vesting them with certain corporate powers, be and the same is
hereby amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Ҥ 1, Be it enacted by the general assembly, That all the
lands, grounds, waters, water-courses, and territory within the
following boundaries, shall be included within the corporate
limits of the town of Marion, and shall be deemed and taken
within the limits and made part of the said town, in like man-
ner as if the same had been originally established as part and

arcel thereof, to wit: the said corporate limits shall extend
from the dividing line between Major Geo. S. Smith’s residence
and the land of Look and Smith on the West, to the line of
James W. Sheffey, on the East of Staley’s creek, so as to in-
clude a range of back lots ten poles deep on the North of the
present limits of the town. The said Eastern and Western
ines are to be extended at right angles with the main street,
and the Southern line so run as to embrace a range of back
lots ten poles deep on the South of the original limits of said
town.

Ҥ 2. Be it further enacted, That the said town of Marion,
as the same has heretofore been laid off into lots, streets, and
alleys, as well as that which has been added by the foregoing

rovision of this act, and as the same may be hereafter further
aid off either by the owners or mayor and councilmen, and
extended into lots, streets, and alleys, shall be and the same is
hereby made a town corporate, by the name and style of The
Town of Marion, and by that name and style shall have and
exercise the powers hereinafter provided.

Ҥ 3. That for the government and well ordering the affairs
of said town, all persons who are qualified to vote under the
constitution adopted on the sixth day of July, eighteen hun-
dred and sixty-nine, shall, on ‘the fourth Thursday of May in
each year, elect a mayor, recorder, and seven councilmen for
said town; the persons 80 elected, shall, before they enter upon
the duties of their offices respectively, take an oath faithfully
and impartially to discharge the duties of their several offices.

Ҥ4, Be it farther enacted, That should it so happen that
an election of the officers herein provided for, be not made at
the time prescribed for an annual, election, then such an elec-
tion may be had upon ten days’ notice, given by any five or
more voters of said town, of the time and place of election,
which notice shall be advertised in writing, posted up at the
court-house door and taverns in said town, and if no election
be had at the time prescribed for the annual election, or in the
manner aforesaid, then the officers last elected shall remain in
office till the next succeeding time for an annual election, or
until a new election shall be held. The governor shall have
the right and is hereby authorized to appoint the said mayor,
recorder, and seven councilmen, for the town of Marion, to
act under the provisions of this charter till their successors
shall be elected and qualified at the election provided for on
the fourth Thursday of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-one.
It shall be the duty of the said mayor and councilmen to ap-

oint annually, at least one month before the said fourth

hursday in May in each year, three persons as commission-
ers to superintend the election of officers for said town, and in
case two or more persons nominated and voted for at said
election shall have an equal number of votes at the close of
the polls, the commissioners, or any two of them, shall deter-
mine by lot which of of the said persons shall be elected and
shall certify the same to the person appointed to receive and
preserve the records of said town, such certificate to be filed
and preserved with said records.

“$5. The mayor shall have power to summon a meeting of
the council as often as occasion may require, which meeting
shall be composed of five members at least, including the
mayor or presiding officer, and all questions before a meeting
of the council shall be decided by a majority of those present,
except that the presiding officer shall not vote unless in the
case of atie. It shall be the duty of the councilmen, at their
first meeting after their appointment or election, to choose
one of their own number, who shall, in the absence of the
mayor, preside over the meetings of the council, and have and
exercise all the rights, powers, and functions of the office of
mayor.

Ҥ6. Be it further enacted, That the mayor and council-
men of the said town shall have power and authority to estab-
lish markets, and regulate the same; to improve the streets,
walks, and alleys of said town; to provide against and prevent
accidents by fire, and for that purpose to establish and orga-
nize fire companies and purchase engines; to prevent and pun-
ish, by reasonable fines, the practice of firing guns and running
horses in said town; to license and regulate shows and other
public exhibitions, and the same to tax in such reasonable
manner and extent, as they may deem reasonable and expe-
dient; to appoint all such officers as may be necessary for con-
ducting the affairs of said town, not otherwise provided for
by this act, and to allow them such compensation as they may
deem reasonable; and finally, to make all such by-laws, rules,
and regulations as they may deem necessary and proper for
the good government of said town: provided, they be not con-
trary to, or inconsistent with, the constitution and laws of this
commonwealth or of the United States, and the same to en-
force, by reasonable fines and penalties, not exceeding for any
one offence the sum ten dollars; to be recovered with costs, in
the name of the town of Marion, before any. justice of the
peace of said county of Smyth, and shall be applied, by the
mayor and councilmen of said town, in aid of the taxes im-
osed upon said town.

Ҥ 7. Be it further enacted, That the said mayor and coun-
cilmen thus constituted, shall have power to assess and collect
an annual tax within the said town, on all property therein, as
they may deem expedient: provided, that such tax shall not
exceed the state tax in the annual revenue act upon the same
subject of taxation, unless the excess be authorized by the vote
of a majority of those qualified to vote for said mayor and
councilmen, and that the tax on real estate shall not exceed in
any one year fifty cents on every one hundred dollars thereof,
as assessed under the laws now in force for ascertainimg the
value of lands for apportioning public taxes, and fifty cents on
all tithables within the said town; and moreover, it shall be
competent for said mayor and councilmen to dig wells, erect
and repair pumps in said town, whenever they may deem the
same convenient or useful. } |

Ҥ 8, Be it further enacted, That the said mayor and coun-
cilmen shall have power to appoint, annually, a sergeant or
town collector, who shall have and possess the like right of
distress and powers in collecting the said taxes, service and
return of all process arising under the authority of this act, or
of any by-law made as aforesaid in pursuance hereof, and shall
be entitled to the same or like fees and commissions as are al-
lowed by law to sheriffs for similar duties and services. The
sergeant or town collector shall execute to said mayor and
councilmen for the time being, bond, with approved security,
in such penalty as they shall deem necessary, payable to them
and their successors in office, conditioned for the faithful dis-
charge of his duties, and payment over of said taxes, and all
other moneys by him collected or received in virtue of his of-
fice; and he and his securities, his and their executors and ad-
ministrators, shall be subject to such proceedings, by motion or
otherwise, before the court of the county of Smyth, for enfor-
cing payment of such taxes and other moneys by him collected
and received, at the suit of the mayor and councilmen, or other
person entitled, as collectors of county levies are by law sub-
ject to for enforcing payment of the levies by them collected.

Ҥ 9. Be it further enacted, That in case of the misconduct
of any officer of said town, appointed by the mayor and coun-
cilmen under the authority of this act, the said mayor and
councilmen shall have power to remove the offender and sup-
ply the vacancy thereby occasioned; and in case of vacancy in
the office of councilmen of said town, such vacancy shall be
filled, within thirty days, by an election, as in the first instance
provided.

Ҥ 10. Be it further enacted, That all fines, penalties, and
amercements, and all other moneys received or raised by virtue
of this act, or any by-law in pursuance of this act, and not
otherwise directed to be applied, shall be at the disposal of the
mayor and councilmen for the use and benefit of the said town.

Ҥ 11. Be it further enacted, That in all suits or prosecu-
tions arising under any by-law, rule, or regulation, made by
the mayor and councilmen of the said town, in manner afore-
said, where the constitutionality or validity of such by-law,
rule, or regulation shall be contested, appeals shall lie from
the judgment of any justice of the peace of the said céunty
of Smyth, to the circuit court for the county of Smyth, with-
out regard to the sum or amount in controversy; such appeals
shall be taken within the same time and upon the same terms
as are prescribed by law for taking appeals from the judgments
of justices of the peace to the several county and corporation
courts within this commonwealth, and the said circuit courts
shall try and decide such appeals in the same manner as the
several county and corporation courts within this common-
wealth are by law directed to try appeals from the judgments
of justices of the peace; and jadgments of the said circuit
court, rendered upon such appeal, shall be executed as other
judgments of the said court are executed.

“$12. Be it further enacted, That the mayor and council-
men of the said town may hereafter, at any time when they
may think proper, lay off new town lots and streets, and in-
clade them within the corporate limits of said town, with the
consent of the owner or owners of the land which they may
desire to include: provided, however, that a fair plat and sur-
vey of such new lots and streets be made and recorded in the
clerk’s office of the county court of Smyth county, previous to
the sale thereof; and the lots thus laid off and improved by
the owners within the corporate limits, shall also be subject to
taxation.

Ҥ13. Be it further enacted, That the said mayor and
councilmen shall keep a record of their proceedings, subject to
the inspection of any citizen of said town; and shall publish
their by-laws and regulations, and deposit a copy thereof with
the recorder.

Ҥ14. Beit further enacted, That the mayor shall be clothed
with all the powers conferred upon justices of the peace in
this commonwealth, to be exercised within the corporate lim-
its of said town of Marion.

“$15. Be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts
coming within the purview of this act shall be and the same
are hereby repealed.

“$16. This act shall be in force from its passage.”