Chap. 596.—An ACT to provide for the establishing of a dispensary for the sale
of intoxicating liquors in the town of Rocky Mount, Franklin county, Virginia.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That a special
election, of which fifteen days’ notice shall be given, shall be held in and
for the town of Rocky Mount, in the county of Franklin, Virginia, on
Thursday, the twenty-fourth day of April, nineteen hundred and two, at
which said election there shall be submitted to the qualified voters of
said town the question of the establishment of a liquor dispensary for
said town as hereinafter provided ; and in case a majority of the qualified
voters voting at said election vote for the establishment of said dispen-
sary, then the same shall be established as provided by the subsequent
sections of this act, and the subsequent sections hereof shall be in full
force and effect; but if at said election a majority of the qualified voters
voting thereat shall vote against the establishment of said dispensary,
then the subsequent sections of this act shall be inoperative and void.
Said election shall be held, and the results thereof ascertained by the
officers who are charged with the duty of holding and ascertaining the
results of the regular elections for said town, and shall be conducted, and
the returns thereof made and canvassed, and the results thereof ascer-
tained in the manner as in the case of regular elections, except as modi-
fied by this act. At said election the official ballot shall have printed
thereon the words “For dispensary” and the words “Against dispensary,”
and the voters desiring to vote for the establishment of said dispensary
as hereinafter provided shall scratch out the words “Against dispensary,”
leaving the words “For dispensary” unscratched, and the voter desiring
to vote against the establishment of said dispensary as hereinafter pro-
vided shall scratch out the words “For dispensary,” leaving the words
“Against dispensary” unscratched. The commissioners of election who
canvass the returns of said election shall certify to the council of said
town the number of votes cast for the dispensary and the number of votes
cast against said dispensary, and the result of said election shall be en-
tered of record upon the minutes of the said council.

2. The council of said town of Rocky Mount shall have authority to
elect on the first day of May, nineteen hundred and two, three citizens of
the town of Rocky Mount who shall constitute a dispensary board for
the said town, whose term of office shall begin on the first day of May,
ninéteen hundred and two, and the term of the first one elected shall
expire one year from said date; the second, two years, and the third,
three years. All vacancies occurring on said board shall be filled by the
said council for the unexpired term, and the term of said members of
said board shall, in all cases, be three years, except those first above men-
tioned and where there is an election to fill a vacancy. The members of
said board shall, before entering upon the duties of their office, make oath
that they will well and truly carry out, to the best of their ability, all the
provisions of this act, and the said council shail have the right to remove
any member of the said board, in their discretion, at any time without
notice; said board shall elect one of its members as chairman, whose duty
it shall be to audit and approve all its bills contracted by said board.

3. It shall be the duty of the said dispensary board herein provided for
to provide a suitable place for the sale of spirituous, vinous, malt, and
other intoxicating liquors within the corporate limits of the town of
Rocky Mount where such liquors shall be kept for sale, under the direc-
tion of the said dispensary board, by the manager, who shall have charge
and control of all liquors bought by said dispensary board for sale in said
town. The said manager shall be chosen by said dispensary board, and
shall have charge of said dispensary, or place for sale of liquors, subject
to the control of the dispensary board, and he shall be subject to dis-
missal at the pleasure of said dispensary board. He shall give bond in
the sum to be fixed by said dispensary board, not less than five hundred
dollars for the faithful discharge of his duties, and for the payment of all
sums of money received by him to the treasurer of the town of Rocky
Mount. He shall be paid a salary, to be fixed by said dispensary board,
not exceeding the sum of fifty dollars per month, which compensation
704 | ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

shall not be dependent upon the amount of sales made by him. It will
be the duty of the manager to keep a register, on which shall be kept a
record of the quantity sold, price paid, and date of sale.

4. The manager of the dispensary shall at all times keep, under the
supervision of the dispensary board, a stock of spirituous, vinous, anc
malt liquors in such quantities as the dispensary board shall direct; anc
all bills incurred for the establishment and maintenance of the dispen-
sary and the purchase of stock, from time to time, shall be paid by the
treasurer of the town of Rocky Mount upon presentation of such bills.
approved in writing by the chairman of the dispensary board and said
manager. Said manager shall sell only for cash, and shall turn over all
moneys received by him to the treasurer of the town once a week, who
shall keep a separate account of the same.

5. Said dispensary board shall make, from time to time, rules and reg-
ulations for the operation of said dispensary, but in no event shall wine
or liquors be sold to any person known to be an habitual drunkard, to
minors or persons intoxicated, except upon the prescription of a regu-
larly licensed physician. The dispensary shall not be opened before sun-
rise, and shall be closed at sunset each day, and it shall be closed 22
Sundays, election days, and such other days, and under the same cir-
cumstances as make the sale of liquors unlawful under the laws of this
State. The room in which said business shall be conducted shall front
upon one of the principal streets in said town, and shall have no other
means of ingress or egress except the front door thereof.

6. The price at which spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors shall be sold
shall be fixed by the dispensary board.

?. The manager of said dispensary shall sell to no person or persons
any spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors except in sealed packages, and
whenever any original package is broken it shall be at once bottled and
sealed, and the price labeled thereon. The said board shall appoint
some reliable person to assist said manager whenever it shall become
necessary to break any original package and bottle and seal the same, the
duty of which person it shall be to see that all of such original packages
are bottled in such size packages as may be suggested by the said mana-
ger, and securely corked and sealed, and the price labeled thereon. The
said manager shall at no time keep, or allow to be kept, any broken or
unsealed package of liquor in said dispensary, either for his own use or
for the use of any other person or persons. The amount of liquor sold
in said sealed packages in said dispensary sha!l in no case be less than
one-half a pint nor more than four gallons, and it shall be unlawful for
the said manager, or any other person, to open any such package or bottle,
or to drink any liquor of any kind in or within ten feet of the entrance
to the said dispensary. Said manager shall make a monthly report to
the dispensary board, showing the amount of purchases and sales for the
preceding month, and the stock on hand on the last day of the month.

8. Said dispensary board may cause an inspection and analysis to be
made of the stock on hand, from time to time, by a competent chemist,
and no spirituous, vinous, or malt liquors shall be sold in said dispensary
that are not known on the market as pure and unadulterated, and the
board may have the liquors purchased analyzed, from time to time, to
ascertain if they are pure as represented. If «ny liquors are condemned
by the chemist making the analysis as impure and unwholesome, such
liquors shall not be sold at said dispensary, and the same shall be re-
turned to the person from whom purchased, and payment for the same
refused.

9. No liquors shall be sold in said dispensary to persons purchasing
for the purpose of selling again, and said dispensary board is required
to make such rules and require the manager to make such investigation
as will, so far as practicable, prevent persons from so purchasing; and
if the said board becomes satisfied that any person or persons have pur-
chased or are purchasing liquor from the said dispensary for the pur-
pose of selling it again, they shall direct the manager as to the quantity
to be sold to such person or persons, which shall be such an amount as
will probably prevent a resale, and in case such board becomes satisfied
that any person or persons are, directly or indirectly, purchasing repeat-
edly for the purpose of reselling, then the dispensary board is authorized
to direct the manager not to sell to such person or persons except upon
the certificate of a reputable physician that such liquors are needed for
medical purposes. The said dispensary board shall have power to em-
ploy attorneys, agents, or detectives to assist and aid in the detection
and prosecution of any violation of this act; may borrow money neces-
sary to conduct said dispensary, subject to the control of the town coun-
cil as to the amount borrowed, and shall have the power to do all other
proper things not contrary to law in order to carry out the true intent
of this act.

10. The manager of the dispensary shall not allow any person or per-
sons to loiter in or about the said dispensary, und any person who is vio-
lating this provision and refuses to leave, at the request of the manager,
shall be punished, upon conviction in the mayor’s court of said town, as
may be prescribed by the ordinances of said town.

11. The council of the said town of Rocky Mount shall, from time to
time, pass such ordinances as may be necessary to carry out the provis-
ions of this act, and shall prescribe suitable penalties for violations of
said ordinances. |

12. The council of the said town shall appropriate from the treasury of
said town a sufficient amount to establish the dispensary as provided for
in this act, which amount shall be repaid into said town treasury from
the profits arising from said dispensary as they shall accrue, and no
profit shall be paid out in any other direction until said amount is so re-
paid, and thereafter said dispensary shall be supported and maintained
out of the profits accruing out of said business: provided, however, that
the said town council may allow said board to borrow money or buy
goods on the credit of the dispensary alone if it be necessary to keep said
dispensary in operation.

13. The dispensary board shall make and publish an annual report,
showing in detail the amount of money expended in the purchase of
liquors, the amount of money realized from the sale of liquors, the item-
ized expenses of said dispensary, salary paid to manager, dispensary
706 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

board, and all other moneys expended on account of said dispensary, anc
moneys received on account thereof.

14. The treasurer of the town of Rocky Mount, before receiving any 0:
the funds derived from said dispensary, shall enter into bond sufficien
to cover the amount of funds received by him, which bond shall be of an
amount not less than one thousand dollars, to be received and appreved
by the mayor and council of Rocky Mount. The said treasurer shall
receive for his services one per centum of all moneys coming into his
hands under this act for receiving, holding, and disbursing the same.
He shall deposit all moneys paid to him under this act in such depositury
as the said council of the town of Rocky Mount may direct, and shall not
be responsfble for any loss occasioned by the failure of said depository.
He shall disburse said funds as directed by said dispensary board under
the terms of this act.

15. The net profits accruing from said dispensary under this act shall
be disposed of in the following manner: One-fourth to the State of Vir-
vinia, three-fourths to the town of Rocky Mount for its general purposes.
Such distribution shall be made when ordcred by said board, and at least
once @ year.

16. In establishing said dispensary, said dispensary board may pur-
chase from the present liquor dealers in Rocky Mount such of their stock
on hand May first, nineteen hundred and two, as may be desirable to keep
in said dispensary : provided, they shall not pay more than wholesale cash
price for the same: and provided, that they shall be satisfied that the
same are pure.

17%. On and after the first day of May, nineteen hundred and two, it
shall be unlawful for any club, corporation, ¢r firm organized for the
purpose, or the members thereof in any capacity whatsoever, or any per-
son, to distribute among the members of the said club, corporation, or
firm, pursuant to agreements, or to sell, barter, or exchange any spiritu-
ous, vinous, malt, or. intoxicating liquors of any kind in the town of
Rocky Mount, Franklin county, Vi irginia, without having first obtained
permission therefor from the council of the said town; said permission
to be entered in the minutes of the proceedings of the said council and
made a part of its records, and any one violating the provisions of this
section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars, or
imprisoned not less than one month nor more than six in the county
jail.

18. All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed, so far as applicable to the town of Rocky Mount, Franklin county,
Virginia.

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