Chap. 198.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Blackstone, in Notto-
way county, Virginia.

Approved Febraary 23, 1888.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the town of Blackstone, in the county of Nottoway, as the
same has been heretofore by survey known as Barrow’s sur-
vey, of record in the clerk’s office for the county of Notto-
way, or may hereafter be laid off in lots, streets, and alleys,
shall be, and the same hereby is made a town corporate by
the name of Blackstone, and by that name shall have and
exercise the powers conferred upon towns by the fifty-fourth
chapter of the Code of Virginia, eighteen hundred and
seventy-three, and be subject to all laws of the state of Vir-
ginia now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted for the
government of towns of less than five thousand inhabitants,
Hd far as the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of
this act.

2. The boundaries of said town shall be as tollows: Taking
@ point three hundred feet due south of the centre of Main
street, at its intersection with the centre of the main line of
the Norfolk and Western railroad, running a line through
said point so found, south forty degrees, west one-half mile,
extending said line north forty degrees, east one-half mile,
making the long diameter of said town one mile; then run-
ning a line through said point so found at right angles with
line north fifty degrees, west one-fourth mile; thence extend-
ing said line south fifty degrees, east one-fourth mile, thus
making the short diameter of said town one-half mile, thus
forming a rectangle composing the boundaries of said town.
3. The officers of said town shall consist of a mayor and
seven councilmen, who shall constitute the council of said
town, except that the mayor shall have no vote in said coun-
cil unless there is a tie; a sergeant and such other officers as
the council shall deem necessary. The terms of the mayor
and councilmen shall commence on the first day of July suc-
ceeding their election. The terms of officers elected by the
council shall commence immendiately upon their election and
shall be for one year. The council shall have power to fill
all vacancies that may occur in their own body, in the mayor-
ality, or in any office which it may have created, and such
election shall be for the unexpired term. All officers elected
by the people or the council, sball be qualified electors of the
town, and shall continue in office until their successors are
elected and have qualified. :

Elections.

4, An election for mayor and councilmen shall be held on
the first Thursday in June, annually.

5. It shall be the duty of the county court of Nottoway,
at its regular term for May, eighteen hundred and eighty-
eight, and every three years thereafter, to appoint a qualified
voter of said town as registrar, to register according tostatelaw,
at any time, except as herein otherwise provided in aspecial reg-
istration book provided for the purpose, all the citizens of said
town as hereinafter set forth, who shall apply to him to be
registered. On the twelfth and eleventh days preceding any
regular election, under this charter, it shall be his duty to set
two days for the purpose of registering voters, and from sun-
set of the eleventh day preceding each election, to sunrise of
the day following such election, no name shall be entered
upon such registration book: provided, that no person shall
be entitled to have his name entered upon such registration
book by reason of a transfer from any other voting precinct
in this state. Such registrar shall be entitled to a compensa-
tion of two dollars per day for each day he shall sit under
this charter, and in addition thereto, to ten cents per name
for each name he shall enter upon such registration book on
any other day than the regular registration days, which
compensation shall be paid out of the town treasury. It
shall be the duty of such registrar to given notice of the days
upon which he shall sit to register voters under this charter,
by posting notices at three or more public places in said town
for ten days preceding such sitting; and five days previous
to any election, he shall post at a conspicuous place in said
town a list of all voters who have been registered since the
next preceding election.

6. The mayor shall appoint two members of the council,
who, with the town clerk, shall hold said election between

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the hours of sunrise and sunset, and they shall have all the
powers conferred by law upon judges of election. At the
close of each election, the persons. conducting the said elec-
tion shall count the ballots and make duplicate returns of the
result. One of said returns, with the ballots sealed up, shall
be returned to the clerk’s office of the court of the county
under seal, which officer shall receive and safely keep the
same, the other shall be returned to the council and recorded
in the record-book of said council. The council shall judge
of the election and qualification of the persons returned, make
out proper certificates of election, and cause the persons duly
elected, to be notified of their election within ten days after
the election so held. As to all other requisits in reference to
the election and qualification of officers, the same shall be as
described by chapter fifty-four,“Code of Virginia, cighteen
hundred and seventy-three, except that in the event of a tie
in any election, the council shall decide by lot.

7. It shall be the duty of the council at its regular meeting
in the month preceding any election, to provide a place for
conducting such election; and it shall be the duty of the ser-
geant of said town to give notice of the time and place of any
municipal election, by posting in said town three or more
notices thereof for five days preceding any election.

8. The qualified voters of said town shall consist of the
male inhabitants of said town qualified to vote for members
of the general assembly, who are duly registered upon the
town registration books, and have been actual residents of
the town for three months next preceding the election at
which they offer to vote.

9. The county court of Nottoway county, shall have juris-
diction in cases of contested elections in said town, with the
right of appeal to the circuit court. The mode of contesting
such election and of hearing and determining such contest,
shall conform to the laws with reference to contesting the
election of county officers.

Mayor.

10. The mayor of said town shall be president of the coun-
cil, and shall have all the rights, powers and privileges such
office confers under the general laws governing towns within
this state, and shall be invested with all the powers of a jus-
tice of the peace within the limits of said town and one mile
beyond said limits, except that no civil warrants shall be is-
sued or tried by him. It shall be his duty to see that the
ordinances of the council are enforced and that good order is
preserved. He shall have charge and command of the police
force of the town, shall appoint such policemen as the council
may deem necessary, and may remove any police officer for
misfeasance, malfeasance and gross neglect of public duty,
but in all cases he shall report to the next meeting of the
town council the reasons for his removal. He shall have au-
thority to hear and determine all charges against any.\person
or persons, for a violation of town ordinances, and if he find
such person guilty, may prescribe the punishment of the
offence by fine and imprisonment within the limits named by
the council. In cases in which a fine is imposed, he shall have
authority to issue a fieri facias for the recovery ot the fine,
and when in his judgment it is necessary, he may issue a
capias pro fine, and may imprison the person found guilty
until the fine is paid, so that such imprisonment shall in no
case exceed sixty days, or sentence them to, work on the
streets in said town, under such restrictions and for such
term as shall be prescribed by the council: provided such
term of work shall not exceed sixty days. But in all cases
in which the person is found guilty and imprisoned, or a fine
exceeding twenty dollars is imposed, the party shall have a
right of appeal to the county court of Nottoway on applica-
tion within ten days, and if the judgment be affirmed, the
clerk of the said court shall issue proper process for the col-
lection of said fine and costs, and when collected, return the
same, less the costs that have accrued in the county court, to
the treasurer of the town, or the said clerk may make return
thereof to the mayor of said town, who may take such course,
in reference to the carrying out of the sentence or judgement
with fine and costs, as would have been proper had the same
been rendered in his court. The mayor shall be entitled to
the same fees as a justice of the peace for like services, but
no costs shall be paid out of the town treasury unless the
council so provide.

Council.

11. The council shall have power to pass such by-laws and
ordinances for the government of said town as they may deem
necessary, to elect a sergeant and such other officers as they
may deem necessary, to prescribe the number of policemen for
the mayor to appoint, and to fix the salary of such policemen
and of all other officers elected by it or the people, and to pre-
scribe the punishment by fine or imprisonment in the town
jail, or both, for a violation of a town ordinance, and to abate
nuisances at the offender’s expense. The members of the
council shall be and are hereby constituted conservators of
the peace, and as such shall have such powers as other con-
servators of the peace under the general laws of the state.

12. Said council shall have authority to levy a tax upon
all the real and personal property in said town, not exceeding
twenty cents upon every hundred dollars in value; to impose
a license tax upon all business carried on in said town: pro-
vided such license tax shall not exceed the state license tax,
where one is imposed by the state; to impose a capitation
tax on all male residents over twenty-one years of age, not
exceeding fifty cents per capita; to impose a tax of one dol-
lar on each dog and two dollars on each bitch. Should this
said tax not be paid within a reasonable time, to be prescribed
by the council, said dog or bitch to be killed by the town
sergeant.

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13. The state assessment shall be taken as the basis of
value in all taxation for corporation purposes.

14. The said council shall have power to order the collec-
tion of taxes due for any year; to instruct the sergeant to
add a penalty of five per centum to any tax-bill which shall
remain unpaid after a certain date; to instruct the sergeant to
levy for taxes when they deem it necessary, and to empower
the sergeant to sell any real estate which shall be returned
delinquent for the non-payment of taxes for any year.

15. Said council shall have authority, and it shall be their
duty to provide a suitable lock-up for the incarceration of
those found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for offences
committed within corporate limits.

Sergeant.

16. The sergeant of said town shall be a conservator of the
peace, and be invested with the full powers of a constable
within the corporate limits, and shall also have authority to
arrest offenders within the county of Nottoway for offences
committed within such limits. He shall collect all taxes in
said town, and when instructed so to do by the town council,
shall have power to levy or distrain for taxes just as a state
officer has for state taxes. He shall execute a bond for the
proper discharge of his duties in such penalty as the council
may prescribe, and shall be prepared, on or before the first
day of June of each year, to exhibit before the council or its
committee, a full statement of his transactions as sergeant
during the preceding year.

17. The sergeant shall have authority to collect all fines
imposed by the mayor; to collect such fines by fieri facias
issued by the mayor, and to execute any order of arrest is-
sued by the mayor; and shall have authority to arrest, with-
out a warrant, and take before the mayor any person com-
mitting an offence or violating an ordinance of the town in
his presence.

18. It shall be the duty of the town sergeant to furnish to
the town council, at its first meeting after this act becomes a
law, and at its first regular meeting in January of every year
thereafter, a list of all real estate in said town which is de-
linquent for the non-payment of taxes. Upon receipt of such
list, the council shall order a sale of such real estate in ac-
cordance with existing state laws.

19. The officers mentioned in the foregoing charter, shall
receive like fees for like services rendered by the officers
which they ex-officio represent.

20. Except as otherwise provided in this charter, all laws
for the government of towns of less than five thousand in-
habitants shall be fully applicable to the town of Blackstone.
The following named persons shall constitute the mayor and
council of said town, who, after taking the oath of office be-
fore any person qualified to administer oaths, shall exercise
the rights and privileges, and be subject to the duties of their

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respective offices until their successors in office are elected
and qualified under this charter: G. S..Wing, mayor; coun-
cil—E. C. McCulloch, H. H. Seay, E. F. Crowe, J. A. Smith,
J. M. Harris, J. J. Estes, J. A. Taylor.

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