An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Volume | 1874/1875 |
---|---|
Law Number | 163 |
Subjects |
Law Body
Chap. 163.—An ACT to provide g Charter for the City of Petersburg.
Approved March 11, 1875.
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, in
manner and form as follows:
CHAPTER I. .
§ 1. That the territory contained within the limits of the
corporation of Petersburg, prescribed by sundry acts of the
general assembly heretofore passed, and by any act hereafter
passed by the general assembly of the state, shall be deemed
and taken as the city of Petersburg, and the inhabitants of
the city of Petersburg, for all purposes for which towns and
cities are incorporated in this commonwealth, shall continue
to be one body politic, in fact and in name, under the style
and denomination of The City of Petersburg, and as such
shall have, exercise, and enjoy all the rights, immunities,
powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and
obligations now incumbent and appertaining to said city as
& municipal corporaticn.
§ 2. The administration and government of said city shall
be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor;
one board, to be called the common council of the city of
Petersburg, and in such other boards and officers as are here-
ainafter provided for.
§ 3. The wards of said city shall remain as at present de-
fined, until changed by virtue of an act of the general assem-
bly of Virginia, entitled an act authorizing the division of
cities and towns of more than five thousand inhabitants into
wards, approved April thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seven-
ty-four.
§ 4. The mayor and members of the common council, be-
fore entering upon the discharge of their duties, shall be re-
spectively sworn, in accordance with the laws of this state.
Such oaths may be administered by any person authorized
to administer oaths, and a certificate of such oaths being
taken, together with the oath subscribed, sball be filed with
the clerk of said council, and shall be preserved by him.
§ 5. Every other person, elected or appointed to any office
under this act, or under any law or ordinance of said council,
except such.as are required to qualify before the hustings or
corporation court of said city, shall, before he enters upon
the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath prescribed
by ‘the laws of Virginia, and such other oath as may be re-
quired by the common council. Such oaths may be taken
before any person authorized by law to administer oaths,
and a certificate of the same, together with the oaths sub-
scribed, shall be filed with the clerk of said common council,
who shall preserve the same. :
§ 6. If any person, elected or appointed to any office in
said city, by virtue of this act, shall fail to qualify to the
same, and give such bond as is lawfully required of him,
within sixty days after his election or appointment, his office
shall be deemed vacant, and the vacancy shall be filled under
and by the terms of this act.
§ 7. In the event of the death, resignation or removal of
any officer, whose election or appointment is provided for in
this act, the vacancy in said office shall be: filled under and
by virtue of the terms of this act. And all elections in the
city of Petersburg for the officers of said city and members of
the common council thereof, shall be held only under and by
virtue of the terms of this act.
CHAPTER ITI.
Mayor.
§ 1. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of
the city of Petersburg for the term of two years, and until
his successor shall be elected and qualified; and no person
shall be qualified to hold (the office of mayor except such as
shall be qualified to vote and hold) office under the constitu-
tion of this state. His salary shall be fixed by the common
council, and he shall receive no other compensation or emolu-
ment whatever; and no regulation diminishing such compen-
sation, after it has once been fixed, shall be made to take
effect until after the expiration of the term for which the
mayor then in office shall have been elected.
’§ 2. He shall, by virtue of his office, possess all the juris-
diction, and exercise all the powers.and authority of a justice
of the peace of said city, in addition to the powers hereby
given to him by virtue of this act, or that may hereafter be
given to him by virtue of any other act of assembly; but he
shall receive no fees for his services as justice of the peace.
It shall be his duty to communicate to the common council,
annually, or as soon as may be after the commencement of
the fiscal year, and oftener if he shall deem it expedient, or
be required by said council, a general statement of the situa-
tion and condition of the city in relation to its government,
finance and improvement, with such recommendations as he
may deem proper; he shall hold the mayor’s court in said
city, and be the custodian of the city seal.
3. He shall exercise a constant supervision over the con-
duct of all subordinate officers, have power and authority to
investigate their acts, have access to all books and documents.
in their offices, and may examine said officers and their su-
20rdinates on oath.. He shall also have power to suspend
and remove such officers for misconduet in office or neglect
of duty, to be specified in the order of suspension or remo-
val; but no such removal shall be made witbout reasonable
notice to the officer complained of, and an opportunity
afforded him to be heard in his defence. On the removal or
suspension of such officer or officers, the mayor shall report
the same, with his reasons therefor, to the common council.
§ 4. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor, the
president of the common council shall possess the same
pow ers, and discharge the municipal duties of the mayor,
uring such absence or inability.
§ 5. In case a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor,
the common council shall elect a qualified person to supply
the vacancy.
Cuapter III.
Common Council.
§ 1. The common council of the city of Petersburg shall
be composed of four members from each ward in said city,
who shall be residents of their respective wards, and other-
wise qualified to hold office under the constitution of this
state. The members of said council shall be elected by the
electors of their respective wards on the fourth Thursday in
May, cighteen hundred and seventy-six, and upon their
organization shall divide themselves into two classes, to
be known and designated as class one and class two—said
classes to be equal in numbers; and the term of office of class
number one under said election shall be two years, and of
class number two, four years; and thereafter the successors
of each of said classes shall be elected by the qualified
voters of their respective wards for a term of four years,
the election to be held on the fourth Thursday in May in the
year in which the term of office of said classes and their
successors respectively expire.
§ 2. In the cnse of any vacancy happening in either class
of the common council, by death, removal from the city,
resignation or otherwise, the council shall elect a qualified
person to supply the vacancy.
§ 3. The council shall elect one of its members to act as
president, who shall preside at its meetings, and continue in
office for two years, and when, from any cause, he shall be
absent, they may appoint a president pro tempore, who shall
preside during the absenco of the president. The president
or the president pro tempore, who shall preside when the
proceedings of a previous meeting are read, shall sign the
same. The president shall have power, at any time, to call
& meeting of the council; and in case of his absence, sick-
ness, disability or refusal, the council may be convened by
the order in writing of one-fourth the members of the coun-
cil. The president of the council, or the president pro tem-
pore in his-absence, shall, in addition to his vote on all ques-
tions before the council, have, in the event of a tie vote in
said council, the right to give a second or casting vote.
§ 4. The council shall fare the authority to adopt such
rules, and to appoint such officers and clerks, as they may
deem proper for the regulation of their proceedings and for
the convenient transaction of their business; to compel the
attendance of absent members; to punish its members for
disorderly behavior; and, by a vote of two-thirds of the
council, to expel a member for malfeasance or misfeasance in
office. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings, and
their meetings shall be open, except when the public welfare
shall otherwise require.
§ 5. A majority of the members of the council shall con-
stitute a quorum for the transaction of business. But on all
ordinances or resolutions appropriating money exceeding
the sum of one thousand dollars, imposing taxes, or authoriz-
ing the borrowing of money, the yeas and nays shall be en-
tered on the journal, and a majority of the number elected
shall be necessary.
§ 6. The city council shall have, subject to the provisions
herein contained, the control and management of the fiscal
and municipal affairs of the city, and all property, real and
personal, belonging to tho said city, and may make such
ordinances, orders, and by-laws relating to the same, as it
shall deem proper and necessarv. They shall likewise have
the power to make such ordinances, by-laws, ‘orders, and
regulations as they may deem desirable to carry out the fol-
lowing powers, which are hereby vested in them:
I. To establish markets in and for said city; prescribe the
times and places for holding the same; provide suitable
buildings therefor; and to enforce such regulations as shall
be necessary or proper to prevent huckstering, forestalling,
and regrating.
YI. fo erect or provide, in or near the city, suitable work-
houses, houses of correction and reformation, and houses for
the reception and maintenance of the poor and destitute.
They shall possess and exercise exclusive authority over all
persons within the limits of the city receiving or entitled
to the benefits of the poor laws, and shall regulate pauporism
within the limits of the city, and annually appoint from each
ward two overseers of the poor, who shall discharge their
duties as prescribed by law.
III. To compel persons sentenced to confinement in the
jail of the city, for petit larceny, or other misdemeanors, or
violations of the city ordinances, to work on the public
streets or property of the city, or be sent to the poor.
house, there to perform such labor as the overseers of the
poor may direct.
IV. To erect and keep in order all of the public buildings
necessary or proper for said city; to open, regulate, and
ornament public squares and parks.
V. To provide, within said city, a city prison; and said
prison may. contain such apartments as may be necessary for
the safe-keeping and employment of all persons confined
therein.
VI. To establish and enlarge water-works and gas-works
within or without the limits of said city; contract and agree
with the owners of any land for the use or purchase tnercof.
or may have the same condemned, for the location, exten-
sion or enlargement of their said works, the pipes connected
therewith, or any of the fixtures, or any of the appurte-
nances thereof; they’shall have power to protect from injury,
by adequate penalties, the said works, pipes, fixtures, and
land, or anything connected therewith, within or without
the limits of the city, and to prevont the pollution of the
water in the branch or other source of supply, by prohibit-
ing the throwing of filth or other offensive matter therein
above said works, within one mile above said water-works.
VII. To establish, construct, and keep inorder, alter or
remove landings, wharves, and docks on land belonging to
or which may hereafter belong to said city, and to lay and
collect a reasonable duty on vessels coming to and using the
game; to prevent and remove all obstructions in and upon
such landings, wharves, and docks; to preserve peace and
good order upon the saine, and upon all other wharves and
landings in said city. They may also appoint port wardens
for the port of said city, prescribe their duties and fix their
fees or compensation: provided, no salary or compensation
shall be paid such port wardens out of the city treasury.
VIII. To close or extend, widen or narrow, lay out and
graduate, pave, and otherwise improve streets and public
alleys in the city, and have them properly lighted and kept
in good order; and they shall have over any street or alley
in the city, which has been or may be ceded to the city, like
authority as over streets or ulleys. They may build bridges
over and culverts under said streets, and may prevent or re-
move any structure, obstruction or encroachment over or
under, or in a street or alley, or any sidewalk thereof, and
may have shade trees planted along the said streets; and no
company shall occupy with its works, the streets of the city,
without the consent of the council. In the meantime, no
order shall be made and no injunction shall be awarded by
any court or judge, to stay the proceedings of the city in
the prosecution of their work, unless it be manifest that
they, their officers, agents or servants, are transcending the
authority given them by this act, and that the interposition
of the court is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be
adequately compensated in damages.
IX. To prevent the cumbering of streets, avenues, walks,
public squares, lanes, alleys or bridges, in any manner what-
ever.
X. To authorize the laying down of city railway tracks,
and the running of horse cars thereon, in the streets of the
city, under such regulations as they may prescribe.
XI. To regulate and prescribe the breadth of tires upon
the wheels of wagons, ¢arts, and vehicles of heavy draught
used upon the streets of said city: provided however, that
this section shall not apply to vehicles coming into and not
owned in said city.
XII. To require oil, molasses, vinegar, and spirits of tar-
pentine, ardent spirits, ind wines, in casks, to be gauged and
inspected ; and may make such provision for the weighing
of hay, foddér, oats, shucks, or other long forage, as will not
be in conflict with the act passed the twenty-second of
March, eighteen hundred and forty-scven, to prevent the
authorities ot said city from laying and collecting a tax on
the bales of hay sent by the farmers of the state to said
city. They may also provide for measuring corn, oats,
grain, coal, stone, wood, lumber, boards, potatoes, and other
articles for sale or barter. |
XIII. To require every merchant, retailer, trader and
dealer in merchandise, or property of any description, which
is sold by measure or weight, to cause their weights and
measures to be sealed by the city sealer, and to be subject to
his inspection; and may impose penalties for any violation
of any such ordinance.
_ XIV. To grant aid to societies or associations for, the ad-
vancement of agriculture and the mechanic arts: provided,
such societies or associations are located in or near the city,
or in the case of agricultural societies, shall hold their fairs
in or near the city; and to provide or aid in support of pub-
lic libraries and public schools.
XV. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious
or other dangerous diseases; to establish, erect and regulate
hospitals; to provide for the removal of patients to said hos-
pitals, who may consent to be removed, or who may not be
provided at their own residences with necessary accommo-
dations; for the appointment and organization of a board of
health for said city, with the authority necessary for the
prompt and efficient performance of its duties.
XVI. To provide, in or near the city, lands to be appro-
priated, improved and kept in order, as places for the inter-
ment of the dead, and may charge for the use of ground in
said places of interment, and may regulate the same; may
prove the burial of the dead in the city, except in the pub-
ic burial grounds; may regulate burials in said grounds, and
may require the keeping and return of bills of mortality of
the keepers or owners of all cemeteries. . :
XVII. To require and compel the abatement and removal
of all nuisances within said city, at the expense of the per-
son or persons causing the same, or the owner or owners of
the ground whereon the same shall be; to regulate and pre-
vent slaughter-houses, soap and candle factories, or the pros-
ecution of any dangerous, offensive or unhealthy business,
trade or employment therein, which may be injurious to the
inhabitants of said city; and to regulate the transportation
of coal or other articles through the streets of the city.
XVIII. If any ground in the said city shall be subject to
be covered with stagnant water, or if the owner or owners,
occupier or occupiers’ thereof shall permit any offensive or
unwholesome substance to remain or accumulate therein, the
council may cause such ground to be filled up, raised or
drained, or may cause such substance to be covered or to be
removed therefrom, and may collect'the expense of so doing
from the said owner or owners, occupier or occupiers, or any
of them, by distress and sale, in the same manner in which
taxes levied upon real estate for the benefit of said city are
authorized to be collected: provided, that reasonable notice
shall be first given to the said owners or their agents. In
case of non-resident owners, who have-no agent in said city,
ruch notice may be given by publication for not less than
two weeks in any newspaper published in said city.
XIX. To direct the location of all buildings for storing
gunpowder, or other combustible substance, and to regulate
the sale and use of gunpowder, of fire-crackers, or fire-works
repared therefrom, kerosine oil, nitro glycerine, camphene,
urning fluid, or other combustible material; to regulate or
prevent the exhibition of fire-works, the discharge of fire-
arms, the use of candies or lights in barns, stables, and other
buildings, and to restrain the making of bonfires in streets
and yards, and the marching of torch-light processions
through the public streets.
XX. To prevent bogs, dogs, and other animals from run-
ning at large in the city, and may,subject the same to such
confiscations, regulations, and taxes as they may deem
proper; and the council may prohibit the raising or keeping
vf hogs in the city.
X AI. To determine and designate the route and grade of
any railroad to be laid in said city; to prevent the riding or
driving of horses or other animals at an improper speed; to
preveng the running of steam engines at an improper specd
within the limits of said city, and to wholly exclude the said
engines if they please: provided, no contract or legislative
authority be thereby impaired or violated; to prevent the
flying of kites, throwing stones, or the engaging in any em-
ployment or sports in the streets or public alleys dangerous
or annoying to passengers; and to prohibit and punish the
abuse of animals.
XXII. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, mendi-
cants, and street beggars.
XXIII. To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve pub-
lie peace and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturb-
ances, and disorderly assemblages; to suppress houses of ill-
fame and gaming houses; to prevent lewd and -disorderly
conduct or exhibitions in the city, and to expel therefrom
persons guilty of such conduct who shall not have resided
therein as much as one year. |
XXIV. To forbid and prevent the vending or other dis-
position of liquors and intoxicating drinks to be drunk in
any boat, store, or other place not duly licensed; and to for-
bid the selling or giving to be drunk, any intoxicating liquors
to any child or young person, without the consent of his or
her parents or guardian; and for violation of any such ordi-
nance may impose a fine in addition to those prescribed by
the laws of the state.
XXV. To prevent the coming into the city, from beyond
the limits of the state, of persons having no ostensible means
of support, or of persons who may be danagerous to the
peace and safety of the city, and for this purpose may re-
quire any railroad company, or the captain or master of any
vessel bringing such passengers to Petersburg, to enter into
bonds, with satisfactory security, that such persons shall not
become chargeable to the city for one year, or may compel
such company, captain or master to take them back from
whence they came, and compel the persons to leave the city
if they have not been therein more than thirty days before
the order is given.
XXVI. To provide for the organization and maintenance
of a fire department for said city, and appoint a chief engi-
neer and assistants, with any and all of the powers which
may have been or may be vested by law in such officers; to
make and enforce rules and regulations for the government
of the officers and men of the said fire department; to pre-
scribe what dresses or badges of authority shall be worn by
them, and may impose reasonable fines for the breach of any
regulation. They may make all needful ordinances for the
protection of property, and for that purpose may, from time
to time, designate such portions and parts of said city as it
shall think proper, within which no buildings of wood shall
be erected, and may regulate the manner of construction of
all buildings. They may prohibit the erection of wooden
buildings in any portion of the city, without permission ob-
tained from them, and shall, on the petition of the owner or
owners of not less than one-fourth of the ground iffcluded
in any square of the city, prohibit the erection in such square
of any building, or addition to any building, unless the outer
walls thereof be made of brick or mortar, or some other
fire-proof material, and may provide for the removal of any
such building or addition which may be erected contrary to
such prohibition, at the expense of the builder or owner
thereof. And if any building shall have been commenced
before said petition can be acted on by the council, or if a
building in progress appears clearly to be unsafe, the council
may have such buildings taken down, at the exclusive pro-
per cost of the owners of such. Whenever any buildings in
the said city shall be on fire, it shall be the duty of and be
lawful for the chief engineer to order and direct such build-
ing, or any other building which he may deem hazardous
and likely to communicate fire to other buildings, or any part
of such buildings, to be pulled down and destro¥ed; and no
action shall be maintained against any person or against the
city therefor, but any person interested in any such building
so destroyed or injured may, within three months thereafter,
apply to the common council to assess and pay the damages
he bas sustained. At the expiration of three months, if any
such application shall be made in writing, the common coun-
cil shall either pay tho said claimant such sum as shall be
agreed upon by them and the said claimant for damages, or
if no such agreement shall be effected, shall proceed to ascer-
tain the amount of such damages, and shall provide for the
appraisal, assessment, collection and payment of the same, in
the same manner as is provided for the ascertainment, as-
sessment, collection and payment of damages sustained by
the taking of land for the purposes of public improvement.
‘The commissioners appointed to appraise and assess the dam-
ages incurred by the said claimant, by the pulkng down or
destruction of said building, or any part theroof, by the di-
rection of the said officers of the city, as above provided,
shall take into account the probability of the same having
been destrcyed or injured by fire if it had not been so pulled
down or destroyed, and may report that no damages should
equitably be allowed to such claimant. Whenever a report
shall be made and confirmed in the said proceedings for ap-
praising and assessing the damages, a compliance with the
terms thereof by the common council shall be deemed a full
satisfaction of all said damages to the said claimant. But
any party feeling aggrieved thereby, may appeal to the hus-
tings or circuit court for the city of Petersburg, which court,
in taking jurisdiction thereof, shall be controlled by the laws
regulating assessment of damages to real estate in other
es; in all such cases such court taking into account the
probabilities of the damage or destruction of the property
under the circumstances.
XAVII. To provide for the organization of a police force ;
to adopt rules for the government thereof; to promulgate
and enforce such rules, and do all things needful to provide
for the good government and discipline of said force; and to
elect a regular police committee and clothe them, if adjudged
necessary, with full power to rule and govern said force,
subject however, to the right of the common council to alter,
amend or wholly set aside the acts and doings of said com-
mittee; to provide that such police force shall wear such
aniform and badges as may be presggibed by the council or
committee, and to provide by ordinance such penalties as
may be deemed necessary to inflict upon other porsons wear-
ing pablicly such uniform. :
§ 7. Where, by the provisions of this act, the common
council have authority to pass ordinances on any subject,
they may prescribe any penalty, not exceeding five hundred
dollars (except where a penalty is herein otherwise provided
for), fur a violation thereof, and may provide that tbe offen-
der, on failing to pay the penalty recovered, shall be impris-
oned in the jail of said city for any term not exceeding tbree
calendar months; which penalties maybe prosecuted and
recovered, with costs, in the name of the city of Petersburg.
And the common council may subject the parent or guardian
of any minor, or the master or mistress of any apprentice,
to any such penalty for any offence committed by such minor
or apprentice.
§ 8. All ordinances hereafter passed by the common coun-
cil for the violation of which any penalty is imposed, shall
be published once, at least, in one of the newspapers of said
city, to be designated by the sajd council. A record or entry
made by the clerk of said council, or a copy of said record
or entry, duly certified to by him, shall be prima facie evi-
dence of the publication of any such ordinance; and all laws,
regulations, and ordinances of the common council may be
read in evidence in all courts of justice, and in all proceed-
ings before ,any officer, body or board in which. it shall be
necessary to refer thereto, either from a copy thereof, certi-
fied by the clerk of said council, or from the volume of ordi-
nances printed by the authority of the common council.
§ 9. The council shall not take or use any private property
for streets, or other public purpose, without making to the
owner or owners thereof just compensation for the same.
But in all cases where the said city cannot, by agreement,
obtain title to the ground necessary for such purpose, it shail
be lawful for the said city to apply to and obtain from the
circuit or corporation court of said city, or to the proper
court having jurisdiction of such matters, if the subject lies
without the city, for authority to condemn the same; which
shall be applied for and proceeded in as provided by law.
§ 10. In every case where a street in said city has been or
shall be encroached upon by any fence, building, or other-
wise, the common council may require the owner or owner,
if known, and if unknown, the occupant or occupants of the
premises.so encroaching, to remove the same. If such remo-
val shall not be made within the time ordered by the coun-
cil, they may impose a penalty of five dollars for each and
every day that it is allowed to continue thereafter, and may
cause the encroachment to be removed, and collect from the
owner all reasonable charges therefor, with costs, by the
same processes that they are hereinafter empowered to col-
lect taxes. No encroachment upon any street, however long
continued, shall constitute an adverse possession to, or con-
fer any rights upon fhe person claiming thereunder as
against said city.
§ 11. Whenever any street, alley, or lane shall have been
opened to and used as such by the public for the period of
b
five years, the same shall thereby become a street, alley or
lane for all purposes, and the city sball have the same autho-
rity and jurisdiction over, and right and interest therein, as
they have by law over the streets, alleys and lanes laid out
by it. And any street or alley reserved in the division or
sub-division into lots of any portion of the territory within
the corporate limits of the city, by a plat or plan of record,
shall be deemed and held to be dedicated to the public use;
and the council shall have authority, upon the petition of
any person interested therein, to open such street or alley,
or apy portion of the same. No agreement between, or re-
lease of interest by, the persons owning lands immediately
contiguous to any such alley or street, whether the same has
been opened and used by the public or not, shall avail or ope-
rate to abolish said alley or street so as to divest the interest
of the public therein, or the authority of the council over
the same.
§ 12. Whenever any new street shall be laid out, a street
graded or paved, or any other public improvement whatso-
ever made, the common council may determine what portion,
if any, of the expenses thereof ought to be paid from the
public treasury: provided, however, that the same be not
more than one-third thereof, unless it be for such parts of the
streets as adjoin the public improvements or lands belonging
to the city, or at the intersection of the public streets one
with another; and may determine what portion shall be paid
by the owners of real estate benefitted by said improvement:
provided, however, that not mvure than two-thirds of said
expense shall be assessed against the owners of real estate
benefitted thereby. But no such public improvement shall
be made, to be defrayed by a local assessment until first re-
quested by a petition signed by at least a majority of the
owners of property to be assessed for such improvement, or
unless two-thirds of all the council shall concur in voting
any improvement to be expedient, or in determining to make
the same after allegations have been heard; in which case
no request shall be necessary. The council shall have the
same powers to collect such local assessments for improve-
ments as are hereinafter vested in them for the collection of
taxes.
§ 13. If any person, having been an officer of said city
shall not, within ten days after he shall have vacated or been
removed from office, and upon notification and request of the
clerk of the council or of the authority by whom he was
appointed, deliver over to his successor in office all the pro-
erty, books and papers belonging to the city or appertain-
ing to such office, in his possession or under his control, he
shall forfeit and pay to the city the sum of five hundred dol-
lars, to be sued for and recovered with costs. And all books,
records and documents used in any such office by virtue of
apy provisions of this act, or of any ordinance or order of
the common council, or any superior officer of said city, shall
be deemed the property of said city and appertain to said
ofice, and the chief officer thereof shall be responsible there-
or.
§ 14. It shall not be lawful for any member of the council,
or officer, or employee of the city, to be a contractor for any
ublic work of the city, or be interested, either directly or
indirectly, in any such contract, during the time for which
he is elected as a councilmar, or elected or appointed an
officer, or engaged as a city. employee. Any councilman,
officer or employee violating this section, shall, for each of-
fence, be fined the sum of not less than thirty dollars, and,
in addition, if a councilman, he shall be expelled from the
council; if an officer, removed from office; and if an em-
ployee, shall be discharged from office. -
§ 15. The common council shall prescribe the pay of all
city officers and employees; but this section shall not be
construed as applying to the commonwealth’s attorney, clerk
of the hustings or corporation court, sergeant, and high con-
stable.
§ 16. The common council shall appoint a suitable and
proper person, who shall be the attorney and counsellor for
the city of Petersburg, who shall hold his office for the term
of two years, unless sooner removed, and until his successor
shall be appointed and qualify. The said council may pre-
scribe the powers, duties and liabilities of said city attorney,
and fix his compensation at such an amount as to them may
seem fit, to be paid by the city. ©
§ 17, The city treasurer, collector of city taxes, and com-
missioner of the revenue, may each appoint one or more
deputies, but the sureties in the bonds of said officers shall
be equally liable for the acts of the deputies as for those of
their principals.
t § 18. The common council may elect a superintendent of the
* water works, a register of the water works, a street commis-
sioner, one clerk of Centre market, one clerk of Old market,
fone keeper of the powder magazine, a keeper of the hay
, scales, a city engineer, and a keeper of the Blandford cemetery,
‘each of whom shall hold his office for the term of two years,
unless sooner removed from office, and shall execute such
s sufficient bonds and receive such compensation as the coun-
cil may prescribe. And if, at any time, it shall be adjudged
by two-thirds of all the members of the council, by a vote
_taken by yeas and nays and recorded, that the interests of
the city demands the creation of other officers, then such as
- they may prescribe may be, by such anthority, created, and
the duties prescribed and devolved upon such existing offi-
cers as the council may designate, or otherwise upon such
persons as they may elect specially to discharge the same,
and for their performance they will prescribe the compensa-
tion, and take from them all necessary and sufficient bonds:
provided, that the term of office of any such person so elected
to any office created, as aforesaid, shall not extend beyond
the last day of June, in the year in which any election of any
portion of said council may occur.
- §19. The common council shall have power to remove
from. office for malfeasance, misteasance, gross neglect of
official duty, or for gross incompetency, any officer clected
or appointed under and by virtue of the terms of this act,
such removal to be deemed a vacation of office. But this
power of removal is not intended to apply to the following
officers, to-wit: Mayor, commonwealth’s attorney, clerk of
the hustings and circuit courts, sergeant, city treasurer,
commissioner of the revenue, justices of the peace, and high
constable. Where such vacancy occurs, or where a vacancy
occurs from any other cause, in said office (not embracih
‘hose exempted as aforesaid), tha common council shall fil
the .same: provided, that nothing herein contained shall be
sonstrued as preventing said council from filling the vacancy
in the office of mayor as provided in section five of chapter
Lwo of this act.
§ 20. If at any time it appears to the common council that
there is no necessity for the election of any officer whose
election is by the terms of this act given to them, said coun-
cil may abolish the office, but no ordinance abolishing such
office shall take effect until the expiration of the term of
office of the then incumbent.
CHAPTER LV.
Finance.
§ 1. The common council may, in the name of the city,
make temporary loans by note or otherwise, for the improve-
ment of streets, extending water and gas mains, and for all
other municipal purposes and for carrying any floating debt,
now existing, and may on any such account pledge any pro-
erty, real or personal, of the city. And the council may,
y bonds or other evidences of debt, make loans for and on
account of the interest and purposes of the city: provided
always, that no contract or engagement on such account
shall be entered into, otherwise than upon the vote of two-
thirds of the members of the council elected, such vote to be
taken by yeas and nays, and recorded at a regular meeting
of the council, not within thirty days after the first presen-
tation of the particular subject to the council: and provided
further, that whenevey any such use of the credit of the city
is to bo made, the council shall levy a direct tax to be known
by the title of the particular subject of outlay, sufficient to
meet semi-annually the interest of the particular debt s0
created, and, in addition, to establish a sinking fund sacred
to the retirement of the principal at maturity, such specific
tax to be held to such purposes inviolate. But it is expressly
intended, and is so declared and provided, that the debt of
said city shall at no time exceed twenty-two per centum of
the assessed value of the taxable real estate of said city,
except by express authority of the general assembly of Vir-
ginia. And it is also provided, and so declared, that the
bonds of the city issued under, and by the terms of this act,
may be at such rate of interest as the common council pre-
scribes, not exceeding eight per centum per annum.
§ 2. For the execution of its powers and dutics, the com-
mon council may raise, annually, by taxes and assessments,
in said city, such sums of money as they may deem neces-
sary to defray the expenses of the same, and in such manner
as they shall deem expedient in accordance with the laws of
the state and the United States: provided however, that
they shall impose no tax on the bonds of said city, nor on
any capital invested in real estate or employed in manufac-
ture outside the city limits, although the person or persons
engaged in said business or manufacture have a place of
business in said city. Neither shall they impose any tax at
the same time upon the stock of a corporation and upon the
dividends thereon; nor upon any capital, income, interest or
dividends, where a license or other tax is imposed upon the
business in which the capital is employed, or upon the prin-
cipal money, credit or stock from which the interest, income
or dividend is derived; nor upon the income derived from
the rent of real estate, when such real estate is taxed. Said
taxes shall be equal and uniform upon all property, both real
and personal. The capital invested in all business operations
shall be assessed and taxed as other property. Assessments
upon all stock shall be according to the market value there-
of. The said council may, once in every five years, have the
taxable real estate in said city reassessed, and upon the value
s0 ascertained, shall assess the taxes necessary to be raised
thereon. |
§ 3. The common council may grant or refuse licenses,
and may require taxes to be paid on such licenses to agents
of insurance companies, whose principal office is not located
In said city; to auctioneers, to public theatrical or other per-
formances, or shows; to keepers of billiard tables, ten-pin
alleys and pistol galleries; to hawkers and peddlers in the
city, or to persons to sell goods by sample therein; to agents
for the sale or renting of real estate; to commission mer-
chants, and all other business which cannot be reached by
the ad valorem system under the preceding section. They
may also grant or refuse such license to all sellers of wine
or spirituous or fermented liquors, and require taxes to be
paid for such license, in addition to other taxes imposed.
§ 4. The council may grant or refuse licenses to owners or
keepers of wagons, drays, carts, hacks, and other wheeled
carriages, kept or employed in the city for hire, and may re-
quire the owners or keepers of wagons, drays, and carts,
using them in the city, to take out a license therefor, and
May require taxes to be paid thereon, and subject the same
to such regulations as they deem proper, and prescribe their
fees and compensation.
§ 5. The council may vest in the collector of the city taxes
and of any other assessments which the said council is au-
thorized to make, any or all the’ powers which are now or
may hereafter be vested in any collector of the state taxes;
may prescribe the mode of his proceeding, and the mode of
proceeding against him for the failure to perform his duties.
§6. All goods and chattels, wheresoever found, may be
distrained and sold for taxes assessed and due thereon; and
no deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chattels shall
prevent the same from being distrained and sold for taxes
assessed against the grantor in such deed while such goods
and: chattels remain in the grantor’s pdssession; nor shall
any such deed prevent the goods and chattels conveyed from
being distrained and sold for taxes assessed thereon, no mat-
ter in whose possession they may be found.
§7. Any payment of taxes made by a tenant, unless under
an express contract contained in his lease, shall be a credit
against the person to whom he owes the rent; and where
any tax is paid by a fiduciary on the interest or profit of
moneys of an estate invested under an order of court or
otherwise, the tax shall be refunded out of such estate.
§8. There shall be a lien on real estate for the city taxes
as assessed thereon, from the commencement of the year for
which they were assessed. The common council may re-
quire real estate in the city delinquent for the non-payment
of taxes, to be sold for said taxes, with interest thereon at
the rate of twelve per centum per annum, and such per
centum as they may prescribe for charges. Such real estate
shall be sold and may be redeemed under the provisions
hereinafter made.
§9. The collector of city taxes shall, under the direction
of the common council, cause to be published in one of the
daily newspapers in said city of Petersburg, not more than
twenty days nor less than ten days previous to such sale, a
list of the several parcels of real estate so to be sold, the
time and place of sale, and shall describe therein each parcel
of real estate in the same manner as the same is described in
the assessment rolls in which the said facts or assessment is
imposed thereon, together with the name of the person and
the amount of tax and assessment thercon.
§ 10. If such tax or assessment, and the percentage, interest
and expenses aforesaid, be not paid previous to the day for
which said sale was advertised, or on some day immediately
thereafter to which the sale may be adjourned, the collector
shall proceed to make sale accordingly of the said several
parcels of real estate, or so much thereof as may be néces-
sary, to the highest bidde1; and the sale may be adjourned,
from day to day, until it shall be completed. On such sale
the collector shall execute to the purchaser a certificate of
sale, in which the property purchased shall be described, and
the aggregate amount of tax or assessment, with charges
and expenses specified; but the collector shall not, for him-
self, either directly or indirectly, purchase any real estate so
sold.
§ 11. If, at any such sale, no bid shall be made for any
such parcel of land or such bid shall not be equal to the tax
or assessment, with interest and charges, then the same shall
be struck off to the city. On such sale the collector shall
execute to the city, a certificate of sale, in which the pro-
perty purchased shall be described, and the aggregate amount
of tax or assessment, with charges and expenses specified,
and shall deposit such certificate with the treasurer. .
§ 12. The owner of any real estate so sold, his heirs or
assigns, or any person having a right to charge such real
estate for a debt, may redeem the same by paying to the
purchaser, his heirs or assigns, within two years from the
sale thereof, the am ount fcr which the same was sold, and
such additional taxes thereon as may have been paid by the
purchaser, his. heirs or assigns, or, if purchased by the city,
with such additional sums as would have accrued for taxes
thereon, if the same had not been purchased for the city,
with interest on the said purchase money and taxes, at the
rate of twelve per centum per annum, from the time that the
same have been so paid; or the same may be paid within the
said two years to the city treasurer, in any case in which the
purchaser, his heirs or assigns, may refuse to receive the
same, or may not reside or cannot be found in the city of
Petersburg.
§ 13. An infant, married woman, insane person, or person
imprisoned, whose real estate may have been so sold, or his
heirs, may redeem the same by paying to the purchaser, his
heirs or assigns, within two years after the removal of the
disability, the amount for which the samo was so sold, with
the necessary charges incurred by the purchaser, his heirs
or assigns, in obtaining the title under the sale, and such
additional taxes on the estate as may have been paid by the
purchaser, his heirs or assigns, and the appraised value of
any improvement that may have been made thereon, with
interest on the said items at the rate of twelve per centum
er annum from the time the same may have been paid.
pon such payment, within two years after the removal of
such disability, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, shall, at
the cost of the original owner, his heirs or assigns, convey
to him or them by deed, with special warranty, the real
estate so sold.
§ 14. The purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes and
not redeemed, shall, after the expiration of two years from
the sale, obtain from the city treasurer or such other officer
as may be designated by the common council, a deed con-
veying the same, wherein shall be set forth what appears in
his office in relation to the sale. When the purchaser has
assigned the benefit of his purchase, the deed may, with his
assent, evidenced by his joining therein, or by a writing an-
nexed thereto, be executed to his assignee. If the purchaser
shall have died, his heirs or assigns, may move the corpora-
tion or court of hustings of said city to order the treasurer
or such officer as may be designated by the common council
to execute a deed to such heirs or assigns.
§ 15. When the purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes,
his heirs or assigns, shall have obtained a deed therefor, and
within sixty days from the date of such deed shall have
caused the same to be recorded, such estate shall stand vested
in the grantee in such deed as was vested in the party as-
sessed with the taxes (on account whereof the sale was.
made) at the commencement of the year for which the said
taxes were assessed, notwithstanding any irregularity in the
proceedings under which the said grantee claims title, unless
such irregularity appear on the face of the proceedings; and
if it be alleged that the taxes, for the non-payment of which
the sale was made, were not in arrears, the party making
such «legations must establish the truth thereof by proving
that tho taxes were paid. .
§ lv. In case that any real estate, struck off to the city as
hercinbefore provided, shall not be redeemed in the time
specified, the city treasurer, or such officer as may be desig-
nated by the common council, shall within sixty days after
th» expiration of two years from the sale, cause to be re-
ccrded such certificate of sale, with his oath that the same
hus not been redeemed; and thereupon the said corporation
or their assignees shall acquire an absolute title to the same
in fee. The said certificate may be acknowledged or proved
and recorded in the same manner that deeds are recorded,
and the said certificate, or the record thereof, or a copy of said
record, duly authenticated, shall, in all courts and places, be
presumptive evidence of the facts therein stated, and of the
regularity and correctness of such sale, and of all proceed-
ings prior thereto.
CHAPTER V.
City officers.
§ 1. There shall be one city treasurer, one collector of city
taxes, one commissioner of the revenue, and one city gauger,
to be elected by the qualified voters of the city of Pe-
tersburg.
§ 2. Phe said officers shall give such bonds, in such penal-
ties, and with auch security as the common council shall
prescribe: provided, however, that the city treasurer and the
commissioner of the revenue shall, in addition to said bonds,
execute such other bonds before the corporation or hustings
court of said city as under the laws of this state are required
of him.
§3. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of said
city, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and
seventy-six, and every second year thereafter, one collector
of city taxes, one commissioner of the revenue, and one city
gauger, each of whom shall hold his office for the term of two
years, and until his successor is elected and qualified, unless
sooner removed from office. They shall perform such duties
and have such powers as aro prescribed herein, and as are
now or may hereafter be preseribed by the laws of this state
and the ordinances of said city. ,
§ 4. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of said
city, on the fourth Thursday of May, eighteen hundred and
seventy-six, and every third year thereafter, one city trea-
surer, who shall bold his office for the term of three years.
‘The city treasurer shall be tho custodian of all moneys be-
longing to the city; shall deposit the same in such bank or
banks as the common council shall prescribe, shall keep his
office in some place designated by the council; shall keep his
books and accounts in such manner as said council may re-
quire. which books and accounts shall always be open to the
inspection of the mayor. the president or any member or
committee of the common council. He shall pay no money
except upon the order of the common conncil. or upon the
order of a committee or saii coancil. lawfally drawn in par-
suance of the ordinances of the city. He shall report to
the common council. at the end of each fiscal year, aud
oftener, if required. a full and detailed account of all receipts
and expenditures during that year and the state of the tres-
sury. He shall keep as a separate fund any special asseas-
ment, and the same shall only be used for the purpose for
which it was raised. He shall keep all city moneys separate
and distinct frum his own moneys, and he Is prohibited from
using, either directly or indirectly, the corporaulon money
in his custody and keeping. for his own use and benefit or
that of any other person or persons whomsoever; and any
violation of this provision shall subject him to immediate re-
moval from office.
§ 5. The city collector shall collect all taxes and assess
ments which may be levied by said city, and perform such
other duties as may be herein prescribed or ordained by the
council. He shall keep his office in such place as may be
designated and prescribed by the council, and shall keep in
his said office such books, vouchers, and accounts as the
council may direct and prescribe, all of which shall be sub-
ject to the inspection and examination of the mayor, the pre-
sident and members of the common council, and of any com-
mittee of said council; he shall make report, in writing,
under oath, to the treasurer, weekly, or oftener, if required,
the amount of all moneys collected by him, and shall pay the
same into the city treasury weekly. Atthe end of each fiscal
year, he shall submit to the common council, a statement of
all moneys by him collected during the year, and the partic-
ular assessment or account upon which collected, and also a
statement of the amount uncollected.
§ 6. The said collector is expressly prohibited from keep-
ing the moneys of the city in his hands, or in the hands of
any person or corporation for his use, beyond the time pre-
scribed for the payment of the same into the city treasury;
and any violation of this provision shall subject him to im-
mediate removal from office.
§ 7. It shall be the duty of the said collector to conduct
all tho proceedings and render all the service necessary to
perfect the sale and transfer of real estate in said city, where
the samo shall be sold or advertised for sale for the non-pay-
“ment of any tax or assessment imposed by the common coun-
cil as herein provided.
§ 8. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
city of Petersburg, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen’
hundred and seventy-six, and every two years thereafter,
one commissioner of the revenue, who shall hold his offico
for the term of two years, and until his successor shall be
elected and qualified, unless sooner removed from office.
§ 9. The said commissioner of the revenue shall perform
all the duties in relation to the assessment of property for
the purpose of levying the city taxes, that may be ordered
by the common council. He shall keep his office in such
place as may be designated and prescribed by the common
council, and shall keep therein such books, schedules, and
records, and in such manner as the council may direct-and
prescribe, whieh books, records, and other papers shall be
subject to the inspection and examination of the mayor, the
president and members of.the common council, or of any
committee of said council.
§ 10. To aid the commissioner of the revenue in his duties,
the clerk of the circuit and hustings court of said city shall
deliver to him such lists of recorded deeds, wills, and decrees
of court as may be necessary to enable him to make transfer
of real estate in said city. °
§ 11. As soon as the said commissioner of the revenue shall
have ascertained the value of all the real and personal pro-
perty taxable in said city, he shall make complete schedules
of the same, and leave them in his office, open to inspection
and cxamination of all persons interested therein; and he
shall give notice by six day’s publication in one of the daily
newspapers of said city, of the time and place, when and
where such inspection and examination may be made. Said
schedules shall be kept open fora period of ten days from
the time of the first publication of said notice, so that any
person feeling aggrieved by the assessment of his or her pro-
perty, may appear to make his or her objection. The said
commissioner of the revenue shall hear and consider all ob-
jections which may be made, and shall have power to alter,
add to, take from, and otherwise correct and revise his as-
sessment; and he shall have power to examine any person,
on oath, as to the value of his personal property, and also to
examine, under oath, such, other persons as witnesses in re-
lation thereto, as he may deem proper; and for that purpose
may administer oaths and issue process to compel the attend-
ance of witnesses before him. Any person feeling aggrieved
at the decision of said commissioner of the revenue, may ap-
peal to the common council, whose decision shall be final.
Any person who shall refuse to make, under oath, a full dis-
closure of all the facts necessary to cnable said commissioner
of the revenue to make a fair and just assessment of his per-
sonal taxable property, when duly called upon by said com-
missioner of the revenue so to do, or to answer such ques-
tions as may be put to him in relation thereto, shall be as-
sessed a gross sum, in the judgment of the commissioner of
the revenue, double the correct assessment of bis personal
taxable property. .
CnHaPpTer VI.
§ 1. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
city of Petersburg, on the fourth Thursday of May, eighteen
hundred and seventy-six, and every sixth year thereafter.
one clerk of the corporation or hustings court, who shall
also be the clerk of the circuit court of said city, who shall
serve for six years, and until his successor be elected and
qualified, unless sooner removed from office. He shall give
bond as a clerk of the said corporation or hustings court,
with sureties, to be approved by the judge thereof, in the
penalty of not less than twenty thousand dollars. He shall
receive for his services the fees and emoluments which are
now or may hereafter be allowed by law, and shall execute
such bond as clerk of the circuit court as the judge thereof
may require, the penalty thereof to be not less than twenty
thousand dollars.
§ 2. There shall be elected on the fourth Thursday of
May eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and every two years
thereafter , by the qhalified voters of the city of Petersburg.
one commonwealth’s attorney for the said eorporatian, who
shall hold his office for the term of two years, and until his
suceessor be elected and qualificd, unless sooner removed
from office. Ile shall perform such duties, have such powers,
and be subject to such penalties as are now or may be here.
after presreibed hy law.
§ 3. There shall be elected by the qualitied voters of the
city of Petersburg, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen
hundred and seventy-six, and every second year ther -eafter,
one city sergeant, who shall hold his office for the term ot
two years, and until his successor be elected and qualified,
unless sooner removed from office. He shall give bond with
sureties, to be approved by the judge of the corporation or
hustings court, in the penalty of not less than fifty thousand
dollars. Ie shall perform such duties, have such powers,
and be liable to such penalties as are now or may hereafter
be prescribed by law.
€ 4. There shall be clected by the qualified voters of each
ward in said city, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen
hundred and seventy-six, and every two years thereafter,
two justices of the peace, who shall be residents of their re-
spective wards, and shall hold office for the term of two
years, and until their succcessors shall be clected and quah-
fied. In the absence of the mayor, either of said justice?
may hold the mayor’s court.
§ 5. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of said
city, on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and
seventy-six, and every second year thereafter, one high con-
stable, who shall hold his office for the term of two years.
and until his successor is elected and qualified, unless sooner
removed from office. He shall give bond with surcties, to
be approved by the judge of the corporation or hustings
court, in the penalty of not less than five thousand dollars,
payable to the commonwealth of Virginia, and conditioned
for the faithful performance of bis duties: said bond to bo
filed in the office of the clerk of said court. He shall per-
form such duties, have such powers, and be subject to such
penalties as are now or hereafter may be prescribed by law
in reference to constables in the various connties and corpo-
rations of this commonwealth. Said high constable may,
with the approval of the said judge, appoint one or more
deputies to attend to and execute the duties of his office,
but the surcties on the bond of the said high constable shall
be equally liable for the acts of the said deputy or deputies,
as for those of the principal; but said high constable shall
receive no compensation out of the city treasury, and no
other constable shall be elected in said city.
§ G. The hustings or corporation court for the city of Pe.
ter =sbur g Shall have power to remove from office the mayor,
city treasurer, clerk of the hustings or corporation court,
commonwealth’s attor ney, sergeant, and commissioner of the
revenue, justices of the peace, and high constable for mal-
feasance, misfeasance, gross neglect of official duty, or for
TOSS incompetency ; ‘sueh removal to be deemed a vacation
of the office. All vacancies occurring in cither of said offices,
except that of the mayor, shall be ‘filled by the said court.
But before any of said officers shall be removed by the said
court, the officer to be affected thereby, shall have notice of
the charge ayainst him, and an opportunity given him for
defence.
§ 7. The term of office of all officers elected by the quali-
fied voters of said city, under and by the terms of this act,
shall commence on the first day of July succeeding their
election.
2. Be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts
applicable to the city of Petersburg in conflict with this act,
are hereby repealed.
3. This aet shall be in force from its passage.