Chap. 396.—An ACT to repeal the charter of the town of Smithfield, and to
grant a new charter to the said town.

In effect February 17, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all the
territory embraced in the following limits—to wit: Beginning at the
eastern side of the double tenement of J. D. Jordan, at the foot of east
Church street, running thence in a straight line in a southerly direction
to the creek called Little creek; thence up the channel of that creek to
a point opposite to a ravine on the lands of John L. Underwood and A.
J. Cofer; thence up the middle of that ravine across the road leading to
Isle of Wight courthouse to the lot of Emma J. White; thence along
the line of her lot to the rear of her lot and to the rear of the lots
of R. W. Johnson, T. I. Nelms, and others to a point in the field of O. G.
Delk, that is opposite a point two hundred feet from the northwest side
of Grace street; thence from that point in the field of O. G. Delk in a
straight line in a northerly direction to the said point two hundred feet
from the west side of.Grace street; thence from that point on Grace
street in a straight line in a northerly direction across the rear lines of
the lots of 8S. A. Eley and others to the lot of the Smithfield male and
female institute; thence northwardly down that line to a ravine between
the lands of N. P. Jordan and I. O. Thomas; thence down that ravine in
a northerly direction along the dividing ‘lines between the said N. P.
Jordan and J. O. Thomas to the middle of an old dam on their lands;
thence in a straight line to the northwest line of the factory lot of C. F.
Day; thence along that line in a straight line to low water-mark on the
east side of Pagan creek; thence down and along the line of that creck
to a point on the north side of that creek that is in a straight line with
and opposite to the said east side of the double tenement of the said
J. D. Jordan; thence and from that point across the said creek in a south-
erly direction to the point of beginning—shall be deemed and taken as
and for the town of Smithfield, and that the inhabitants of the said town
of Smithfield, for all purposes for which towns are incorporated in this
commonwealth, shall be, and shall continue to be, one body politic
in fact and in name, under the style and denomination of Smithfield, in
which name they may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and as
such shall have, exercise, use, and enjoy all the rights, immunities,

powers, and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and obligations
now incumbent upon and pertaining to towns as a municipal corporation.

2. The officers of the said town shall consist of a mayor, four alder-
men, a sergeant, a treasurer, and such other officers as the ‘council may
appoint who shall be citizens and qualified voters of the said town.

The mayor, councilmen, and sergeant shall have all the power and
authority conferred on such officers by the forty-fourth and one hundred
and ninety-first chapters of the code of Virginia of the edition of eigh-
teen hundred and eighty-seven, by all acts amendatory thereof, and by
all laws applicable to towns.

In the event of the death, sickness, or absence of the mayor, anv and
all of his powers, duties, and authority may be exercised by any of the
councilmen of the town until a new mayor is elected or appointed under
this charter.

The salary of the mavor shall not exceed seventy-five dollars a year,
and the councilmen shall serve without compensation.

3. The election for mavor and councilmen shall occur on the fourth
Thursday in May (1901) nineteen hundred and one, and on the same day
every second year thereafter.

The election shall be had, held, governed and be conducted, as under
and according to the laws applicable to towns as they now are, or as
they may be hereafter enacted. At the said election all persons may vote
who are entitled to vote for members of the general assembly of the
state. The oflicers elected shall take the oaths prescribed, and enter upon
the discharge of their respective duties on the first day of July next after
their election.

4. The council shall be the judge of the election, qualification, and
return of its members, and may fine or expel a member as the law directs.

5. Any vacancy occurring in the office of mayor or councilmen, may
be filled by the council by election from their own body or from the
electors of the town.

6. The jurisdiction of the’ mayor, councilmen, and sergeant shall be
such as is now confered upon them by the said forty-fourth, one hun-
dred and ninety-first chapters of the code of Virginia of eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-seven, by any and all amendments thereof, and by any
other law, act, or acts applicable to towns.

7. The council mav adopt rules for the regulation of their proceed-
ings, but no tax shal] be levied except by a majority vote of the council.
The mayor shall preside over the council, and when he is absent they may
appoint a president pro tempore. A journal shall be kept of their pro-
ecedings, and at the request of any member present the yeas and nays
shall he recorded on any question. At the next meeting the proceed-
ings shall be read and signed by the person who was presiding when the
previous mecting adjourned, or if he be not then present, by the person
presiding when they are read.

8. The council may be convened at any time upon the call of the
president or any three of its members.

9, The council shall elect the sergeant of the town from among the
electors of the town, and he shall have all the powers and authority con-
ferred by law on sergeants of towns and shall discharge the same duties
as constables within the corporate limits of the town, and to the dis-
tance of one mile beyond the same, and be entitled to the same fees as
constables.

10. The sergeant of the town may be appointed by the council to col-
lect the town taxes, levies, and fines, and he may distrain, sell, or rent
therefor in like manner as is now provided by sections six hundred and
twenty-two and six hundred and twenty-three, and one thousand and
forty-four of the code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven,
and all amendments of the same. The council may require of him any
bond, in any penalty, with such sureties as it deems proper, payable to
the town of Smithfield, and conditioned according to law for the faith-
ful performance of his duties as collector of such taxes, levies, and fines.
Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, he shall take the oaths
required of district and county officers before the mayor of the said town,
or before any officer of the county authorized to administer oaths. As
such sergeant he may be removed by the council at any time for any
default in duty, or any failure properly and promptly to account for any
money that came, or that ought to have come, to his hands, as the council
may order and direct. Any person failing to pay his taxes and levies to
the treasurer of the town by the first day of December, after he shall
have received them for collection, shall incur a penalty thereon of five
per centum, which shall be added to the amount of the taxes and levies
due from such tax payer, which, when collected by the sergeant, shall
be accounted for in his settlements with the council. The council shall
determine his salary as sergeant, and his commissions as collector.

11. The council may elect from its own body or from the electors of
the town, a treasurer, who shall have the care and custodv of all of the
taxes and levies of the town when collected, and may require of him
any bond in any penalty, with such sureties as it deem proper, payable to
the town of Smithfield, and conditioned according to law for the faith-
ful performance of his duties, as treasurer of the said town. Before enter-
ing upon the discharge of his duties, he shall take the oaths required to
be taken by the treasurer of the county. He may be removed by the
council at any time from the office of treasurer, for any default in duty,
or any failure properly and promptly to account for any money in his
hands, as the council may order and direct. He shall receive for his
services as treasurer, five per centum on all money coming into his hands
as such treasurer of the town and for disbursing of the same.

12. In addition to the powers conferred upon the council of the town
of Smithfield by the code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, and by all amendments of it, and any other law, act, or acts relat-
ing to towns as is hereinbefore stated, it shall have the power to prevent
hogs, dogs, cows, horses, and any other animal from running at large
in said town; to prevent riding or driving horses or any other animals
im an improper speed through the streets of said town; the throwing of
pricks, stones, or other missiles; the engaging in any employment, sport,
-onduct, bicycle riding, or any other act or acts on the streets, sidewalks,
»r alleys dangerous or annoying to the passengers on the streets or to the
‘itizens of the town; to restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and
street beggars: to prevent vice and immorality; to suppress houses of ill

fame and gambling houses; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances, and
disorderly assemblages or assemblages likely to become disorderly; to pre-
vent lewd, indecent, or disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the same
town; to prevent persons from coming into the town having no visible
means of support, and of persons who. singly or in any numbers may be
dangerous to the health, peace, and safe ty of the said town, and if they
are brought to it by any person or company, may compel that person
or company, immediately, at his or its expense, to take them away or
earry them back; to appoint special police; to call out the local military
company, as the mavor of a city may do; and to do any and all other
thing or things necessary and proper to protect the health, the lives, the
safety of the town and of its citizens.

3. To carry into effect the enumerated and all other general powers,
the mayor and council shall have power to make all needful and proper
orders, by-laws, and ordinances not inconsistent with the constitution
of the United States and with the constitution and laws of this state;
to prescribe all reasonable punishment and fines, and compel obedience
and compliance with the same by all the remedies and powers granted
to mayors and councilmen of towns by the general Jaws and by “all the
powers conferred by sections one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two
and one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three of the code of eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven, by all amendments thereof and by any other
law whatever relating to mayors and councilmen of towns, and they shall
have all the fees allowed to justices of the peace.

14. The council may, with the consent of the county court of Isle
of Wight county, use ihe jail of the said county and pay the jJailor his
usual costs and ch: Irges.

15. To meet any expenditures that may be lawfully chargeable to the
said town for general purposes, and for schools, the council may at such
time as it deems best, levy a town tax of so much as, in its opinion, mav
scem necessary and proper, upon all taxable persons and property in the
said town not exempt from taxation by the laws of the state: provided,
that a capitation tax, greater than fifty cents per head, on the male in-
habitants of the said town over the age of twenty-one years shall not be
levied in any one vear: provided further, that the taxes levied for general
purposes on the real and personal property of the town shall not exceed
twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars of its assessed value, and
the tax so levied on the said property for school purposes, shall not
exceed twenty cents on the hundred dollars of the assessed value, for any
one year.

16. The council may levy a tax on all licenses to agents of insurance,
express, and other companies doing business in the town, whose principal
office is located in or out of the state; upon all licenses to auctioneers
or cricrs; to public theatrical or other shows, exhibitions, performances,
circuses, menagerics, merry-go-rounds, or other contrivances in the town
or within a mile of the same; upon licenses to keepers of billiard or pool
tables, ten-pin alleys, and liv ery stables; to all hawkers and peddlers;
to all agents of sale or rental of real estate; to all owners of any boats,
sail or steam, plying regularly between the town and other towns and
cities of the commonweath; to all persons in the said town engaged in
buying, cleaning, separating, and selling peanuts, and to all persons in
the same engaged in buying, curing, and selling hams or bacon; to any
and all owner or owners of any telegraph or telephone lines doing busi-
ness in the said town; to all commission and other merchants and to all
persons and corporations engaged in any calling, business, or profession
in the said town for which a license is required by the laws of the state.

And no person under any license under this charter shall do anv
business of any kind under that license, except the special and identical
business named and specified in that license.

17. The council may tax all money and credits invested, used, or em-
ployed in any business, whether borrowed or not, as it taxes other per-
sonal property in the said town.

18. The mayor and council may, in addition to the levy on personal
and real property provided for in the preceding sections of this charter,
make such other and additional special tax as may be necessary to pay
and discharge the three thousand dollars and all interest thereon, which
it proposes to borrow to pave and repair its streets and to build a jail.

19. Full power and authority is hereby given to the mayor and council
of the said town to buy a piece of land for its jail, and to take a good
and sufficient deed for the same to the said town in its corporate name,
and to build a jail upon it. And they shall have all the power to con-
demn land for their purposes given by the forty-sixth chapter of the code
of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

20. The said town and all the said taxable persons and property therein
shall be free and exempt from the payment of any poor rates, any road,
school, or other tax, to or by the county of Isle of Wight, and from con-
tributing to the county expenses for any year: provided, the said town
shall, at its own expense, provide for its poor and attend to its own
streets.

21. The persons now holding offices in the said town of Smithfield
shall continue to-hold the same until their term of office shall expire,
and until their successors shall have been elected and duly qualified;
and all ordinances in force, immediately before the passage of this charter
for the government of said town, or relating to it, and not inconsistent
herewith, shall remain and continue in force until they shall be altered,
imended, or repealed by the council under this charter.

22. All the rights, privileges, and properties heretofore acquired,
possessed, owned, and enjoyed by the town of Smithfield, shall continue
.o be acquired, possessed, owned, and enjoyed by it.

23. The act granting a charter to the town of Smithfield by the two
nundred and forty-ninth chapter of the acts of eighteen hundred and
iftv-five and fiftv-six, passed February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred
ind fifty-six: and the amendments of the same granted by chapter two
nundred and fifty of the acts of eighteen hundred and fifty-five and
ifty-six, passed March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-six; bv
>hapter two hundred and thirty-six of the acts of eighteen hundred and
eventy-six and seventy-seven, approved March twenty-ninth, eighteen
1undred and seventy-seven; by chapter twenty-six of the special session
.£ eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, approved March twentv-eighth,
iahteen hundred and seventv-nine (page two hundred and seventy);
.nd by chapter three hundred and eighty-three of the acts of eighteen
hundred and eighty-nine and ninety, approved February twenty-eighth,
eighteen hundred and ninety and any and all other amendments are
hereby repealed.

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