Chap. 537.—An ACT to amend an act entitled an act for the incorporation of the
town of Bowling Green, in the county of Caroline.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the village known as
Rowling Green, in the county of Caroline, as the same has been hereto-
fore laid off into lots, streets, and alleys, and as the same may be further
laid off and extended into lots, streets, and alleys within the following
described boundaries—namely: Beginning at the upper corner of Doctor
A. M. Glassell’s barn; thence in a straight line to the southeast corner of
Doctor James’ land on Milford street; thence in a straight line to a
cherry tree in James T. White’s field; thence in a straight line to the
gate posts on the east side of the old stage road; thence in a straight line
to the brickyard on James T. White’s land; thence in a straight line to
the graveyard on the top of Mill hill; thence in a straight line to a cedar
tree on main road at EK. C. Moncure’s gate; thence in a straight line to his
ice-house ; thence in a straight line to the northwest corner of his barn;
and thence in a straight line to the upper corner of Doctor A. M. Glas-
sell’s barn; and thence in a straight line to the beginning. ‘The same
shall be, and is hereby, made a town corporate by the name and style of
the town of Bowling Green, in the county of Caroline, and by that name
and style shall have and exercise the powers hereinafter granted; and
that W. J. Anderson, Doctor A. M. Glassell, A. B. Chandler, E. C. Mon-
eure, I. R. Pullen, William Wright, and E. J. Anderson, gentlemen, are
hereby appointed trustees thercof, who shall have and exercise the powers
herein granted as trustces of said town, and remain in office until others
shall be appointed in the manner hereinafter directed, a majority of
whom shall constitute a board for the transaction of business.

2. For the proper government of said town it shall be the duty of the
judge of the county court of Caroline to appoint annually from the quali-
fied voters of said town a registrar, whose duty it shall be to register. us
now or may be hereafter provided by law for the registration of the
legally qualified voters of this Commonwealth, the voters of said town
qualified to vote according to the constitution and laws of this Com-
monwealth; and it shall further be the duty of said judge to appoint
annually from the qualified voters of said town three judges of election,
whose duty it shall be to conduct all elections held under the provisions
of this act. It shall be lawful for the residents of said town qualified to
vote for all officers elective by the people under the constitution of this
Commonwealth, at the courthouse in said town, or such other place as
may be designated by the trustees of said town, on the fourth Thursday
in May, nineteen hundred and two, and thereafter as provided by law,
to elect by ballot, under the provisions, as far as practicable, of chapter
ten of the Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, unamended, a
mayor and town sergeant, and seven fit, discreet, and able men, being
freeholders and inhabitants of said town, to serve as trustees thereof. It
shall be the duties of the judges conducting said election to certify the
returns of the same as provided in chapter ten of the Code of Virginia,
and deliver one poll-book, together with the ballots cast, both sealed, to
the clerk of the county court of Caroline county, and to deliver the other
poll-book, sealed, to the mayor of said town. And it shall be the duty of
the board of commissioners of election provided for by chapter ten of the
Code of Virginia to examine the said poll-book returned to the said clerk,
and certify the result of said election in the same manner they do all
other elections held in the county of Caroline; and the clerk of the
county court of Caroline shall award certificates of election to the persons
thus declared to have been elected. In case of contest of election, the
same shall be conducted as in cases of contest for county offices. The
persons so elected shall, before entering upon the duties of their office
under the authority of this act, respectively, take an oath well and truly,
faithfully and impartially, to do, execute, and perform the duties of
their several offices, as prescribed by this act, to the best of their skill
and judgment, and no other oath shall be required; and shall, within fif-
teen days after their election, proceed to choose out of their own body
one person to preside at their meetings, who shall be the president of the
board of trustees, for twelve months from the first day of the next suc-
ceeding July, and give the casting vote at any legal meeting of the trus-
tees of said town whenever they are equally divided, and shall otherwise
vote upon any measure or proposition pending before the said board of
trustees. The person so elected president of the board of trustees shall
be, and is hereby, invested, in the absence of the mayor, with the powers
and authority of a justice of the peace within the corporate limits of said
town, and for one mile beyond the said corporate limits; to have and ex-
ercise the like jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever originating within
said limits as a justice of the county now or may hereafter have; and it
is hereby made the duty of said mayor acting as a justice of the peace as
aforesaid, and in his absence the president of the board of trustees, to
suppress all disturbances, riots, and disorderly conduct within the boundary
of said town, and for one mile beyond the same, in accordance with the
laws of this Commonwealth, or by the imposition of such fines and pen-
alties as he may be authorized by the by-laws or ordinances of said town ;
and for all fines imposed under this charter, or the ordinances of said
town passed in pursuance of this charter, the said mayor, or president
of the board of trustees when acting in his stead, if the said fines are not
at once paid, may issue an execution for the same, or, at his election, may
commit the party fined to the county jail until the fine and costs are paid.
The said town shall pay the expenses of said imprisonment when the
same is ordered for a violation of a town ordinance, but no imprisonment
for violation of a town ordinance shall be for a longer period than six
months. The said mayor, or president of board of trustees, shall issue
process, hear and determine all prosecutions, cases, and controversies aris-
ing under the by-laws and ordinances of said town, saving to the party
convicted the right of appeal to the county court of Caroline county in
all cases whatsoever wherein thé fine or judgment shall exceed the sum
of ten dollars. Appeals shall be taken in the same time and manner,
and upon the same terms that appeals are now or may hereafter be taken
by law from judgments of a single justice of the peace.

3. Be it further enacted, That should it so happen that an election of
trustees of said town be not made at the time prescribed for a biennial
election, then the mayor and trustees last elected shall remain in office
until the next succeeding time as hereinbefore prescribed for a biennial
clection, or until a new election shall be had.

4. Be it further enacted, That the mayor, or any two of said trustees,
shall have power to call a special meeting of said trustees so often as
occasion may require, which meeting shall be composed of not less than
five members, and all questions before a special meeting of said trustees
shall be decided by a majority of trustees present, each having one vote.

5. Be it further enacted, That the trustees of said town shall have
power and authority to establish markets and regulate the same; to im-
prove the streets, walks, and alleys thereof; to provide against and pre-
vent accidents by fire, and for that purpose to establish and organize fire
companies and purchase engines; to prevent and punish, by reasonable
fines, the practice or act of firing guns, running or riding horses at an
unusual gait or speed in said town; to license and regulate shows and
other public exhibitions, and the same to tax in such reasonable manne!
and extent as they may deem expedient; to appoint all such officers as
may be necessary for conducting the affairs of said town not otherwise
provided for by this act, and to allow them such compensation as they
may deem reasonable; and, finally, to make all such by-laws, rules, and
regulations as they may deem necessary and proper for the good govern-
ment of said town : provided, they be not contrary to, or inconsistent with,
the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth or of the United States,
and the same to amend, repeal, or enforce, by reasonable fines and penal-
ties, not exceeding, for any one offense, the sum of ten dollars, to be re-
covered, with costs, in the name of the mayor and trustees aforesaid, be-
fore the mayor, or president of the board of trustees in the absence of the
mayor, and by him applied in aid of the taxes imposed upon said town.

6. Be it further enacted, That the said trustees thus constituted shal)
have power to assess and collect an annual tax within the said town for
the purposes before mentioned on all such property, vocation, profession,
or business as is now subjected to taxation by the revenue laws of this
Commonwealth: provided, that the tax on real estate shall not exceed in
any one year fifty cents on every hundred dollars value thereof, and one
dollar on all tithables within said town: and provided, also, that the
tax to be imposed on all other property and inhabitants of said town sub-
ject to taxation as aforesaid shall not exceed the taxes on the like subjects
now imposed by the revenue laws of this Commonwealth, unless such
excess shall have been authorized by a majority of the inhabitants of
said town, and the owners of real estate therein, qualified as aforesaid to
vote for trustees thereof. And, morcover, it shall be competent to said
trustees to conduct and distribute water into and through said town upon
the request or assent of the majority of the qualified voters thereof, such
request or assent to be ascertained in such manner as the said trustecs
may deem best calculated to obtain a full expression of opinion upon the
subject.

7. Be it further enacted, That the town sergeant may appoint a deputy
or deputies, subject to the approval of the board of trustees, and he and
they shall have and possess the like right of distress and powers in col-
lecting the said taxes, service, and return of process arising under the
authority of this act, or of any by-law made in pursuance thereof, and
shall be entitled to the same or like fees and commissions as are allowed
by law to constables for similar duties and services. The sergeant shall
execute bond, with approved surety, in such penalty as said trustees
shall deem necessary, payable to them and their successors in office, con-
ditioned for the faithful discharge of his duties and payment over of
said taxes and other moneys by him or his deputies collected or received
in virtue of his office; and he and his securities, his and their executors
or administrators, shall be subject to such proceedings, by motion or
otherwise, before the county court of the county of Caroline, for enforc-
ing the payment of such taxes or other moncys by him or his deputies
collected or received as aforesaid at the suit or motion of the said mayor
and trustees, or other person entitled, as collectors of county levies are
by law subject to for enforcing payment of the levies by them collected.

8. Be it further enacted, That in case of the misconduct of any officer
of said town appointed by the trustees thereof urder the authority of this
act, they, the said trustees, shall have power to remove the offender and
supply the vacancy thereby occasioned; and in case of the office of trustee
of said town, such vacancy shall be filled within thirty days by an elec-
tion made by the trustees of said town as aforesaid.

9. Be it further enacted, That in order the better to determine what
persons are liable to taxation in said town, it is hereby declared that all
persons liable to taxation as hereinbefore provided, and residing in said
town, annually, between the first day of March ond the first day of April,
shall be subject to taxation the then current year.

10. And be it further enacted, That all fines, penalties, and amerce-
ments, and other moneys received or raised by virtue of this act, and not
otherwise directed to be applied, shall be at the disposal of the mayor and
trustees for the use and benefits of the said town.

11. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the mayor of
said town to see that all the ordinances passed by the board of trustees in
pursuance to this charter are faithfully executed and performed; and all
ordinances passed by the board of trustees shall, within five days from
their passage, be submitted to the mayor by the board of trustees, and by
him approved or vetoed within five days after they shall have been so
presented to him, and returned to the president of the board of trustees;
and if approved, this fact shall be entered by the board at their next suc-
ceeding meeting on the minutes of said board, and said «rdinance shall
then become from said date valid, and if said maya: snzll disapprove of
said ordinance, he shall in like manner return the same to the president
of the board with his objections stated in writing, and the president of
the board shall, at the next meeting of the board, present said ordinance
to it, with the objections of the mayor thereto, when the board shall again
consider the same; and if the same is again passed by a vote of two-thirds
of all the members elected on said board, said ordinance shall become a
law of said town, notwithstanding the objections of the mayor to the
same.

12. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

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