Chap. 251.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 3, 4, 5, and 6 of an act
approved November 24, 1884, entitled an act to incorporate the town of Boy-
kins, in the county of Southampton. )

Approved February 6, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
three, four. five, and Bix of an act approved November twenty- fourth,
town of Boykins, in the county of Southampton, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 3. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and
five councilmen, to be elected every two years on the fourth Monday in
November, from the qualified electors of said town. Any person en-
titled to vote in the county of Southampton, and who has been a
resident of the town for three months, and whose name is properly reg-
istered on the town registration books, shall be entitled to vote at any
and all elections under this amended act of incorporation. The
mayor shall appoint two members of the council, or any two electors
of said town, who, with the town clerk, shall hold said elections be-
tween the hours of one, post meridian, and sunset. If the town clerk
be sick, absent, or refuse to act, then the other two councilmen or electors
appointed by the mayor to conduct said election shall, after waiting for
said clerk thirty minutes, appoint some one else to act in his stead, evther a
councilman or an elector of said town, and the person so appointed shall
make out the certificates of election and give to the mayor and councilmen
receiving the largest number of votes just as if he were the regular clerk
elected by the council. They shall decide any contest with reference
to the right of any person to vote, and shall count the ballots and
certify to the council the names of the persons elected mayor and
councilmen. In case of a tie vote the clerk shall decide by lot, in
the presence of the two councilmen or two electors holding said elec-
tion as aforesaid. The said clerk shall immediately thereafter make
out and deliver to the mayor and to each councilman a certificate of
his election. The first election under this amended act shall be
held on the fourth Monday in November, eighteen hundred and ninety-
siz, and every two years thereafter. All officers of said town shall take
the oath of office before the town clerk or some other officer author-
ized to administer oaths. Should any officer fail to qualify within
thirty days from the beginning of has term of office his office may be declared
vacant by the council, and they shall proceed to fillit. The council can,
by a two-thirds vote, remove the mayor or either one of its members for wil-
ful neglect of duty or immoral conduct. The electoral board of Southamp-
ton county shall appownt a registrar for the said town; the person 80 ap-
pointed to be recommended to said electoral board by the council of sard
town. The said registrar shall hold registration on such days and at such
places as the council may prescribe. The. mayor and councilmen whose
term of office will have expired on the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-siz, are hereby appointed to serve as mayor and council-
men until the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, or
until their successors are elected and qualified.

§ 4. The mayor and councilmen shall constitute the council of said
town, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum to do business,
and all the corporate powers of said town shall be exercised by said
council or under its authority, except when otherwise provided by
law. The mayor shall preside over the meetings of the council when pre-
sent, and in his absence the president of the council shall preside, and if
both be absent some member of said council shall be designated to preside
pro tempore. The mayor shall have all the rights, powers and privi-
leges such office confers under the general laws governing towns
within this state, and shall be invested with all powers of a justice
of the peace within the corporate limits of said town and one mile
beyond said limits, in both criminal and civil cases, and all fines,
penalties and imprisonments for violations of the by-laws or ordi-
nances of said town shall be recovered before or enforced under the
judgment of the mayor, and for that purpose he may issue process
as a justice of the peace, and shall be entitled to the same fees as a
justice for like services; but the mayor shall have no vote in the
council except in case of a tie. Any vacancy which may occur in
the office of mayor or councilman shall be filled by the council. The
mayor and councilmen shal] hold their respective offices for two years
from the first day of January succeeding their election, and until their
successors are elected and qualified.

§ 5. The said council shall elect one of its members president, who shall
be empowered to discharge the duties of mayor of said town in the absence
of the mayor or his inability to act. The said council shall also have
power to elect a clerk, a treasurer, a sergeant, and such other officers
as they may deem necessary for the said town, to regulate their com-
pensation, prescribe their duties, remove them from office, and re-
quire bond, with approved security, for the faithful performance of
their respective duties. The clerk and treasurer may be elected from the
council or from the electors of said town. The said clerk shall annually
before the first day of May go to each taz-payer and take the list of all per-
sonal property that 18 subject to taxation for town purposes. The council
shall also have power to pass all by-laws and ordinances for the gov-
ernment of the said town which they may deem proper, not in con-
flict with the constitution of this state or the United States; to
mark accurately the bounds of existing streets and alter or change
the same, and to lay off new streets, alleys, or sidewalks, and keep
them in order, and to make other improvements, for which purposes
the council of said town shall have the same powers and jurisdiction
for condemning lands for streets, alleys, and sidewalks as the county
court has for condemning lands for roads in the county; to
cause to be made a survey and plat of the said town, showing dis-
tinctly its boundaries its public streets, alleys, and sidewalks, and
their width, with such remarks and explanations as they may deem
proper; to regulate or prohibit the running at large of animals; to
provide and protect shade trees; to establish a fire department with
suitable and necessary conveniences; to make regulations in
reference to contagious diseases; to abate nuisances; to provide for
order and quiet and the observance of the Sabbath within said town
and one mile beyond its limits; to punish violations of the ordinances
and by-laws of the council with fines and imprisonment, or either;
to appoint every two years one elector of said town to assess
the value of all real estate within the limits of said town for the
purpose of taxation, who shall certify his assessment to the council
by the first day of May, and in addition to the powers conferred by
this act, shall have the same powers and authority as the councils of
towns of less than five thousand inhabitants under the general laws
of the state; and for the purposes of this incorporation the said coun:
cil may levy such taxes as they may deem proper on all property.
real and personal, within the said town, not toexceed twenty cents on
the one hundred dollars assessed value, a capitation tax not to exceec
fifty cents per year, a tax on dogs not to exceed one dollar per year
and a license tax on every vocation, profession, or business for which
a state license is required. In case of failure to pay the taxon any
dog, the same shall be killed by the town sergeant under regulations
to be prescribed by the council.

§ 6. The sergeant of said town shall be a conservator of the peace.
and be invested with the full powers of a constable within the limits
of said town and one mile beyond said limits, and shall be entitled tc
the same fees as a constable for like services; and for the purpagse
of carrying into effect this corporation the said town shall! be allowed
the use of the jail of Southampton county for confinement and safe
keeping of all persons arrested or sentenced to imprisonment under
the by-laws and ordinances of the council of said town; and the
sergeant of raid town may convey any person so arrested or sen-
tenced to said jail, and the jailer shall receive such person in the
same manner as if such person were committed by a justice of the
peace and delivered to said jailer by a constable.

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