Chap. 438.—An ACT to amend the charter of the town of Norton, in Wise county.

Approved March 29, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act en-
titled an act to incorporate the town of Norton, in Wise county, approved
February fifteenth, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four, as the
same was amended by an act approved March the first, one thousand
eight hundred and ninety-eight, be, and the same is hereby, amended s0
as to read as follows:

2. The limits of said town shall be as follows: Beginning at a chestnut
post, being the northeast corner of Spruce and Eleventh streets and
corner to plat number one of the Norton Land and Improvement Com-
pany, which plat is recorded in the office of the clerk of the said court of
Wise county, in deed-book twenty-six, pages one hundred and fifty-one,
et cetera; thence south sixty-six degrees west, four hundred and seventy-
two fect to a point on the line dividing lands of the Norton Land and
Improvement Company and Patrick Hagan; thence with their division
line south one degree forty minutes east, two thousand one hundred and
ninety feet to a white oak and poplar on the bank of Benjamin’s branch
south, eighty-four degrees fifty-five minutes east, two hundred and sixty-
seven and seven-tenths feet, crossing the Louisville and Nashville railroad
to a dead pine; south fifty-four degrees five minutes east, three hundred
and one and nine-tenths feet to a sourwood, chestnut, and locust; south
six degrees twenty-five minutes west, two hundred and fifteen feet to a
stake; south five degrees fifty-seven minutes west, three hundred and
seventy-five and six-tenths feet to a locust ; south forty-five degrees twenty
minutes west, two thousand four hundred and forty-two and seven-tenths
feet to a chestnut oak near the top of Stone mountain; south fifty-seven
degrees seven minutes east, five hundred and forty-four and six-tenths
feet to a pitch-pine near a cliff of rocks and corner to the lands of the
Norton Land and Improvement Company and Patrick Hagan; thence
leaving the lands of Patrick Hagan, and with the dividing lines of the
lands of the Norton Land and Improvement Company north, eighty-
nine degrees and forty-four minutes east, three thousand nine hundred
and fifteen feet to the “lone rock”; thence north thirty-seven degrees
fifteen minutes east, five thousand and sixty-two and seven-tenths feet,
passing through the lands of the Norton Land and Improvement Com-
pany and the lands of Mistress L. D. 8S. M. Frazier and the lands of the
Virginia Coal and Iron Company; thence with their division line north
sixty-seven degrees fifty minutes east, one thousand five hundred and
twenty-seven and six-tenths feet to a stake; thence leaving the line of the
Virginia Coal and Iron Company and passing through the lands of the
Norton Land and Improvement Company north, twenty-four degrees
west, crossing the Norfolk and Western railroad, five hundred and eighty
feet to the center of Guest river; up the middle of said river as it
meanders three thousand six hundred and twenty feet; thence south
sixty-six degrees west, and passing through the lands of the Norton Land
and Improvement Company, four thousand eight hundred and twenty-
two feet to a chestnut post, being the southeast corner of Tenth street
and Ridge avenue, and corner to plat number three of the Norton Land
and Improvement Company, which plat is recorded in the office of the
clerk of the county court of Wise county, in deed-book thirty-two, pages
thirteen, et cetera; thence following said plat number three north, sev-
enty-three degrees forty-seven minutes west, sixty-two and five-tenths
feet to a chestnut post; north cighty-three degrees twelve minutes west,
two hundred and eighty and twelve one-hundredths feet to a chestnut
post; south thirteen degrees twenty-seven minutes east, two hundred and
forty-five and three one-hundredths feet to a chestnut post; north sixty-
six degrees fourteen minutes west, three hundred and ninety-five and
twenty-five one-hundredths feet to a chestnut post; south twenty-three
degrees forty-six minutes west, one hundred and fifty feet to a chestnut
post, said post being on a line of said plat number one; thence following
said plat number one north, sixty-six degrees fourteen minutes west, fifty-
seven and five-tenths feet to the beginning.

3. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor, recorder,
sergeant, and four councilmen, and such other officers as are hereafter
mentioned or may be provided for by the mayor and council. The mayor
and councilmen shall compose the council of said town.

4. The council shall have power to pass all by-laws and ordinances for
the proper government of said town not in conflict with the constitution
and laws of the State of Virginia or the constitution and the laws of the
United States. They shall have power to impose a license tax upon all
business on which the State imposes license, or which is provided by law:
provided, the said license tax shall not exceed the amount of license im-
posed by the State, and its officers shall have such power to collect the
same as a State officer would have in like cases; and to impose a specific
tax for the sale of any merchandise that may be offered for sale by any
person not living in said town, and to levy annually such taxes as it may
deem necessary for the purposes of a corporation: provided, that such
levy shall not exceed ninety cents on the one hundred dollars valuation
of property, as per State assessment. And the sergeant shall have power
to collect the town taxes and levies on and after the first day of Decem-
ber in every year. And said town and the taxable persons and property
therein shall be exempt and free from payment of any road tax for any
year in which it shall appear that said town has, at its own expense,
kept its streets in order, and has taken care of its poor.

5. The mayor shall be president of the council, but shall have no vote
except in case of a tie, and shall be chief magistrate of the town, and as
such shall see that the ordinances and by-laws of said town are faithfully
executed, and that the various officers of the town faithfully discharge
their duties. He shall be vested with full powers of a justice of the peace,
civil and criminal, within the corporation limits of said town and one
mile beyond and outside of the same; and shall, in addition, have such
other powers and perform such other duties as are now or may be here-
after prescribed for mayors of towns of less than five thousand inhabi-
tants.

6. The recorder shall keep an accurate record of all the proceedings of
the council, its by-laws, acts, and ordinances; shall be open at all times
to the inspection of any voter in the town, and the recorder shall be ex-
officio treasurer of said corporation, giving such bond, performing such
duties, and receiving such compensation as shall be prescribed by the
council. He shall make out tax bills upon the estimate of property, as
per State assessment, when ordered by the council, and deliver the same
to the sergeant for collection, and also administer the oath of office to
any officer of said corporation.

%. The sergeant shall be appointed by the council and mayor, and
shall be vested with powers of a conservator of the peace, and with powers
of a constable within the corporation limits of said town. He shall col-
lect all town levies, and have power to distrain and sue therefor in like
manner as a county treasurer may distrain and sue for State taxes. He
shall have power to arrest in said town or within the county of Wise,
upon a warrant issued by the mayor, any person charged with a violation
of the laws or ordinances of the said town, or the commission of any
crime in said town or within a mile of its corporate limits. When a vio-
lation of the laws or ordinances of said town is committed in his pres-
ence, he shall have authority and power forthwith to arrest the offender
without a warrant and carry him before the mayor of said town, to be
dealt with according to law. He shall perform such other duties and
receive such compensation as the council may prescribe.

8. The council and mayor shall, in their discretion, appoint an attor-

ney for the said town, who shall be a practicing attorney in the courts
of this Commonwealth and a resident in the said corporation; he shall
hold his office for two years and until his successor is appointed and
qualified ; he shall perform such duties and receive such compensation as
the council may prescribe; and the attorney for the said corporation may,
in his discretion, appear before the mayor at the trial of any person
charged with a violation of the laws or ordinances of the said corporation
and prosecute the party accused, and if the case be prosecuted to a judg-
ment for the corporation, the mavor shall, in taxing the costs incurred
therein, tax a fee of five dollars for the attorney for the corporation, to
be paid by the defendant, and be collected as in the case of other costs;
but nothing in this act shall be construed as allowing the attorney for
the corporation for such services payable out of the treasury of the cor-
poration, but all such fees shall be taxed and paid as hereinabove pro-
vided. .
9. That until the election hereinafter provided for all persons hold-
ing office in said town shall continue to hold the same until their terms
of office shall expire under the old charter, and until their successors
shall have duly qualified; and all laws and ordinances in force im-
mediately before the passage of this charter for the government of this
town, or affecting or relating to said town, so far as consistent herewith,
and all rights, actions, claims, contracts, and prosecutions arising there-
under, shall remain and continue as if this act had not passed.

10. The election of said officers shall take place on the fourth Thurs-
day in May, one thousand nine hundred and two, and every two years
thereafter, said election to be conducted in the manner prescribed by law.
11. Should any of the officers elected or appointed fail to act, it shall
be the duty of the mayor and council to appoint some other resident
voter of said town to act as such until his successor shall be duly elected
or appointed and qualified.

12. The council shall not take or use any private property for streets
or other public use without making to the owner or owners thereof a
just compensation for the same, but in all cases after the property can-
not be obtained by agreement between the council and said owner or own-
ers, it shall be lawful for the council to-apply to and obtain from the
county or circuit court of Wise county authority to condemn the same,
which shall be applied for and proceeded with according to law.

13. The authorities of said town shall have use of the county jail of
Wise county for the safekeeping and confinement of all persons who
should be sentenced to imprisonment under the ordinances of said town;
and when judgment should be rendered against any persons for fines, and
such persons have no effects which the sergeant may distrain or sell
therefor, such persons may be compelled to work out such fine on the
public streets or other improvements, and to suffer, in addition, such
terms of imprisonment as may be prescribed by the ordinances of said
town. The council of said town shall have power to appoint one or more
policemen for said town, who shall be vested with the powers of a con-
servator of the peace, and shall have the same powers of arrest as the
sergeant of said town, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the said
council.

14. No debt or liability shall be incurred by said town, nor any claim
or allowance made to any officer of said town or any other person in ex-
cess of the taxation permitted to be imposed by this charter without the
written consent of two-thirds of the property owners of said town.

15. All ordinances in force in said town not inconsistent with this act,
and laws of this State and of the United States, shall be and remain
in force until altered, amended, or repealed by the council.

16. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed.

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