Chap. 482.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act continuing in
force the corporation of the town of Pearisburg, county of Giles, and detining
and prescribing the righte and powers thereof, approved March 25, 1872, to
extend the corporate limits of said town of Pearisburg and to provide a new
charter for said town.

Approved February 24, 15898.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act continuing in force the corporation of the town of Pearis-
burg, county of Giles, and defining and prescribing the rights and
powers thereof, approved March twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and
seventy-two, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows :

§ 1. The boundaries of the town shall be one-third of a mile west,
one-third of a mile north, one-third of a mile east, and one-third of a
mile south from the courthouse, and embracing the area contained
therein so as to make said area four-ninths of a mile square.

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the council of said town to compel the
abatement of all nuisances in said town at the expense of persons caus-
ing the same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same
shall be.

§ 3. To prevent by the enactment of proper by-laws the riding or
driving of horses or other animals at an improper or dangerous speed ;
the throwing of stones or engaging in any sport or employment on the
streets and alleys dangerous or annoying to the citizens.

§ 4. To restrain and punish drunkards, street beggars, vagrants, and
persons coming into town without any visible means of support; to
preserve the peace and good order of the town ; to prevent vice and im-
morality ; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly
conduct and assemblages ; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling,
and to punish lewd conduct on the streets.

§ 5. They may require any person or persons engaging in any of the
foregoing offenses to give bond for their good behavior in a penalty not
to exceed one thousand dollars, with approved security, and upon failure
to give such bond, to be imprisoned in the county jail not to exceed
twelve months.

§ 6. They shall prevent the running at large on any of the streets and
alleys of said town any stock or property of whatever kind, and may, in
their discretion, prohibit the same to the corporate limits of said town,
and for the purposes of carrying out this provision, the said council is
hereby invested with full power to ordain and pass any ordinance relative
thereto.

§7. To remove for cause any officer of said town and to fill any
vacancy that may occur by such removal or otherwise.

§ 8. To appoint a town sergeant and also such special police as may
be necesssary in their judgment to quell riots and preserve the peace
and good order of said town.

§ 9. When judgment shall be rendered against any person for fines
and costs in the default of payment of same, such person or persons
may be compelled to work out such fines and ensts on the public streets
and roads within the corporation, and shall have credit on said fines and
costs at the rate of twenty-five cents per day for each day of such
work.

§ 10. All fines for the violation of the ordinances of said town shall
be paid to the sergeant and shall be appropriated as the council may
determine.

§11. The sergeant of said town shall have authority and power to
collect all taxes, levies, costs and fines legally imposed by the mayor or
council, and may levy on and take into his possession and sell for cash,
after ten days’ written notice posted at such places as the council may
determine, stating the time, place and terms of sale, any property sub-
ject to the payment of such taxes, levies, fines and costs.

§ 12. The sergeant shall have power to execute within the corporate
limits of said town and one mile beyond the same any warrant or process,
either civil or criminal, directed to him by the mayor or councilmen of
said town or that may otherwise be legally directed to him, for which
services he shall be allowed the same compensation, as constable for like
services.

§ 13. The recorder shall keep an accurate record of all the proceedings
of the council, its by-laws, acts, and ordinances. He shall make out the
tax bills upon estimates of property as per state assessment when ordered
by the council, and deliver the same to the sergeant for collection. The
council shall prescribe by ordinance his compensation for his services.
The sergeant shall before entering upon the duties of his office execute
a bond for the faithful performance of his duties, which bond shall be
approved by the council and filed with the records. In any case upon
satisfactory evidence that the state assessment of the real or personal
property, which is located inside the corporate limits of said town, is
assessed at less than its true value, or where there are valuable improve-
ments made upon same, enhancing the value thereof since the last state
assessment, it shall be the duty of the council to require their recorder
to forthwith, in the order that state assessments are made, obtain from
the owner of such property a full and complete list and value of same
under oath, from which list he shall make out the corporation tax
tickets. An action shall lie in the county or circuit court of Giles
county against the sergeant and his sureties, either by suit or motion for
any violation or failure of said sergeant in the performance of his duties
as aforesaid.

§ 14. The boundaries of the corporation of the town of Pearisburg
shall constitute a separate road precinct, and it shall be the duty of the
council of said town to provide for and keep the streets and roads within
its corporate limits in repair and clear of all fences and other obstructions;
and it shall be the duty of the county treasurer of Giles county, and he
is hereby required so to do, to pay over to and settle with the council of
said town all the road taxes collected by him on real and personal prop-
erty within the limits of said corporation instead of the board of super-
visors of said county, and the said council shall, by proper ordinances,
regulate the hauling in and over the said streets and roads in said cor-
poration and shall have power to impose fines and penalties for the
abuse of same.

§ 15. The council of said town shall have the power to lay and levy a
tax not exceeding forty cents on the one hundred dollars value of all
property, real and personal, of the said town and a poll tax not exceed-
ing fifty cents on each male citizen thereof over the age of twenty-one
years, to be expended as the council may deem proper and direct; and
the said town shall have like powers of distress, levy and sale for col-
lection of said taxes as are now given to the state officers for the collection
of state taxes. All farming lands, in tracts exceeding three acres, in-
cluded within the corporate limits ‘of said tow n, shall “be exempt from
said corporation tax herein provided. This exemption, however, does
not apply to or exclude from such taxation any mansion or dwelling
house and garden within said corporation.

$ 16. Said council shall have power to issue bonds in an amount not
exceeding six per centum of the taxable property of the town, which bonds
shall be negotiated and sold by said council and the proceeds thereof
used for the purpose of distributing water over said town and providing
means of protection against fire: provided, however, that the same be
ratified and approved by two-thirds of the qualified voters of the town
in an election held for the purpose. Such bonds, if issued, shall not
bear a greater rate of interest than five per centum and shall not be sold
at less than their par value.

§ 17. The council shall have power to make such contracts with the
board of supervisors of Giles county, or with any other person or persons,
with reference to providing said water supply, as may by them be deemed
proper and to the best interest of the town.

§ 18. The council shall designate and appoint a recorder for the town,
who shall, in addition to the duties hereinbefore prescribed, list and
assess for taxation, at a fair cash value, all property, both real and per-
sonal, within the limits of the town, and also all male citizens subject to
taxation and make out tax tickets therefor.

2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with the foregoing sections are
hereby repealed.

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