Chap. 144.—An ACT incorporating the town of Bowling Green, in the county of
Caroline.

Approved April 10, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all the ter-
ritory in the county of Caroline, contained within the following limits,
namely: Beginning at the grain yard on top of Mill hill, owned by S.
W. Broaddus, and running to the northeast corner of the Baptist par-
sonage lot; thence westwardly along the line of said lot and G. R. Collins’
land to the county road; thence west across said road in a straight line
to an icehouse owned by E. C. Moncure; thence southwest to E. C. Mon-
cure’s barn; thence south in a straight line to a dam across KE. J. Ander-
son’s ice pond; thence south in a straight line to E. J. Anderson’s spring;
thence south along the line between E. J. Anderson’s and C. W. Collins’
to Milford road; thence east up said road to Anderson’s avenue; thence
across said road ‘and along the line between the lands of J. M. Hudgin
and A. L. Jones to the line of John W. Murray; thence east in a straight
line to a cherry tree in rear of A. A. Anderson’s lot; thence east in a
straight line to L. T. Wright’s barn; thence east to the brick yard in
A. B. Chandler’s field, formerly owned by J. T. White; thence north in
a straight line to the beginning, shall constitute the town of Bowling
Green, and the inhabitants within the said boundaries shall be a corpora-
tion under the name and style of “Bowling Green,” and the forty-fourth
and forty-sixth chapters of the Code, edition of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven, and amendatory acts thereof, as far as consistent with this
act, shall be applicable to said town.

2. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and seven
councilmen and such other officers as may be provided for by law. The
mayor and council—Mister T. D. Coghill is hereby appointed mayor
thereof; Mister E. B. Collins, town sergeant, and Messrs. James T.
Richards, John W. Elliott, C. L. Collins, T. B. Gill, R. D. Vincent, W. L.
Broaddus, and James W. Barlow are hereby appointed councilmen
thereof. The members of the council shall serve without pay, and the
mayor and town sergeant. shall receive such compensation as the council-
men shall prescribe; the said mayor, town sergeant, and councilmen
shall have and exercise all the powers hereinafter granted to said officers,
and shall continue in office until the first day of July, nineteen hundred
and four, and thereafter until their successors shall be elected and quali-
fied according to law. A majority shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of the business of said board! of councilmen or trustees. The
mayor and councilmen shall constitute the board of trustees or council of
said town.

3. 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 Com-
monwealth, 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 four, 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 fifteen days after
their election, proceed to choose out of their own body one person to pre-
side at their meetings, who shall be the president of the board of trustees,
for twelve months from the first day of the next succeeding July, and
give the casting vote at any legal meeting of the trustees 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 exercise the like juris-
diction 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 disturb-
ances, 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 penalties as he
may be authorized by the by-laws or ordinances of said gown; 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 or-
dered for a violation of a town ordinance; but no imprisonment for vio-
lation of a town ordinance shall be for a longer period than six months.
The said mayor, or president of board of trustces, shall issue process, hear
and determine all prosecutions, cases, and controversies arising 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 what-
soever, wherein the 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 judz-
ments of a single justice of the peace.

4. 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 succecding time, as hereinbefore prescribed, for a biennial
election, or until a new election shall be had.

5. 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 mecting shall be composed of not less than
five members, and all questions be fore a special meeting of said trustees
shall be decided by a majority of trustees present, each having one vote.

6. 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 hceense and regulate shows ani
other public exhibitions, and the same to tax in such reasonable manner
and extent as they may deem expedient; to appoint all such officers as
may be necessary for conducting the affairs of said town, not otherwix
provided for by this act, and to allow them such compensation as thev
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 Unitec
States, and the same to amend, repeal, or enforce, by reasonable fines and
penalties, not exceeding for any one offense the sum of ten dollars, to be
recovered, with costs, in the name of the mavor and trustees aforesaid.
before 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.

7. Be it further enacted, That the said trustees, thus constituted, shall
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 subject to taxation bv the revenue laws of this Com-
monwealth: provided, that the tax on real estate shall not exceed in any
one year fifty cents on every hundred dollars’ value thereof, and one dal-
lar on all tithables within said town: and provided also, that the tax to be
imposed on all other property and inhabitants of said town, subject to
taxation as aforcsaid, shall not exceed the taxes on the like subjects now
imposed by the revenue laws of this Commonwealth, and shall not be
subject to any county tax, unless such excess shall have been authorized bv
a majority of the inhabitants of said town, and the owners of real estate
therein, qualified as aforesaid to vote for trustees thereof. And, more-
over, it shall be competent for said trustees to conduct and distribute
water into and through said town, upon the request or assent of the ma-
jority of the qualified voters thereof; such request or assent to be ascer-
tained in such manner as the said trustees may deem best calculated to
obtain a full expression of opinion upon the subject.

8. Be it further enacted, That the town sergeant may appoint a deputy
or deputies, subject to the approval of the board of trustecs, 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
=hall be entitled to the same or like fees and commissions as are allowed
bv law to constables for similar duties and services. The sergeant shall
execute bond with approved surety in such penalty as said trustees shall
cdleem necessary, pavable to them and their sutcessors in office, conditioned
for the faithful discharge of his duties and payment over of said taxes
and other moneys by him or his deputies collected or received by
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, pr other moneys 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.

9. Be it further enacted, That in case of the misconduct of any officer
of said town, appointed by the trustees thereof under 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 clec-
tion made py the trustees of said town as aforesaid.

10. 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 and the first day of April,
shall be subject to taxation the then current year.

11. 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.

12. 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 beer so pre-
sented 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 suiececd-
ing meeting on the minutes of said board, and said ordinance shal] then
become from said date valid, and if said mavor shall 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 con-
sider the same, and if the same is again ‘passed by a vote of tw o-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.
13. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby re
pealed.
14. This act shall be in force from its passage.