CHAP. 18.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to pro-
vide a charter for the town of Warrenton, Virginia, approved April
30, 1903.
Approved January 31, 1912.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act entitled an act to provide a charter for the town of War-
renton, Virginia, approved April thirtieth, nineteen hundred and
three, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:
That the territory in Fauquier county contained within the
following boundaries, according to a transit survey made upon
the true meridian, to-wit:

Beginning at a large stone planted in Gaines’s field, eighty-
five and eighty hundredths feet from a large poplar tree, cor-
ner of the previous corporate limits; thence south thirty de-
grees and thirty-four minutes west, seven hundred and three
and thirty-two hundredths feet to a stone set ten feet north of
the west end of Gaines’s stable; thence south thirteen degrees
and fifty minutes west, three thousand six hundred and fifty-
eight and seventy hundredths feet to a stone set at the northwest
corner of Mrs. Lomax’s garden; thence south fifty degrees and
twenty-two minutes east, four hundred and fifty-nine and ten
hundredths feet to a slab on the south side of Culpeper street;
thence crossing James K. Maddux’s south seventy degrees and
forty minutes east, one thousand five hundred and thirty-one and
seventy hundredths feet to a stone set near the corner of Judge
C. M. White’s and the Warrenton horse show grounds in Doctor
J. R. Hicks’s line; thence north eighty-two degrees and thirteen
minutes east, two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight and
sixtv hundredths feet to a stone set in Joseph A. Jeffries’s line
near Mistress Hodgkin’s corner; thence crossing Doctor J. O.
Hodgkin’s and T. N. Fletcher’s lots, north three degrees and
thirty-four minutes east, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one
and sixty hundredths feet to a point near a large poplar tree in
F. A. B. Portman’s field; thence north twenty-seven degrees and
twenty-three minutes west, two thousand and five hundred and
fifteen and seventy hundredths feet to a stone set at the inter-
section of a plank and wire fence in Horner’s line, near Henry
Yancey’s house; thence north seventy-two degrees and forty-
three minutes west, two thousand three hundred and sixty-one
and ninety hundredths feet to the beginning, shall constitute the
town of Warrenton.

2. The municipal officers of said town shall be a mayor, re-
corder (or clerk of the council), a treasurer, a commissioner of
the revenue, a town sergeant and seven councilmen, all of whom
shall be residents and qualified voters of said town, except the
town sergeant, in the discretion of the council, may not be. The
council of said town shall have power to elect or appoint any
other officers they mav deem necessarv and to define their
nowers. The same person may, in the discretion of the council,
be elected or appointed to and hold, at the same time, more than
one of the offices to be filled by election or appointment by the
said council.

8. The mayor, recorder and councilmen. of the town of War-
renton, as now constituted, and as thev shall be elected and
jualified as hereinafter provided, shall be a body politic and cor-
porate, by the name of the town of Warrenton, and shall have
nerpetual succession and a common seal, and by the name of the
town of Warrenton may sue and be sued, implead and be im-
pleaded, contract and be contracted with, purchase and hold real]
estate, and sell and convey the same needful for the public good,
and may exercise, retain and enjoy all the rights, immunities,
powers, exemptions and privileges, and be subject to all the
duties, obligations and liabilities now vested in, incumbent upon,
or pertaining to said town as a municipal corporation.

4. In all elections for mayor, recorder and councilmen of
said town, all persons who may be, by the laws of this State, en-
titled to vote for members of the general assembly, and who
shall have resided in this State two years, in the county of Fau-
quier one year, and in the said town for ninety days next pre-
ceding the day of election then to be held, shall be entitled to
vote; but before being entitled so to vote, they shall register
before the registrar of said town.

5. The mayor, recorder and councilmen shall be elected by
the qualified voters of said town.

6. The mayor, recorder and councilmen in office in said town
at the time of the passage of this act shall be continued in office
until the expiration of the terms for which they were elected
until their successors are duly elected or appointed and qualified
according to law.

7. The first election under this act shall be held on the sec-
ond Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and thirteen, at such
place in said town as shall be designated by the council of the
town; and biennially thereafter there shall be held an election
of a mayor, recorder and seven councilmen of the said town
on the second Tuesday in June, at such place and under such
rules and regulations and subject to such provisions as the
council may prescribe. Notice of the time and place of the hold-
ing of election under this act shall be published at least ten days
before the holding of such election by the posting by the town
sergeant of printed hand-bills in at least five public places in said
town. The mayor, recorder and councilmen under this act shall
qualify on or before the first day of September next succeeding
their election.

8. The term of office of the mayor,- recorder and councilmen
to be elected, as provided for in the preceding section of this
act shall be for two years from the first day of September next
succeeding their election, and until their successors have been
duly elected and qualified.

9. All vacancies occurring from any cause in the office of the
mayor, recorder and councilmen shall be filled for the unexpired
term by the council.

10. It shall be the duty of the mayor, as soon as may be
after an election, to call a meeting of the council to examine the
returns, and the council shall forthwith notify the persons
elected of their election.

11. In case it is impossible to determine the candidate who
has received the highest number of votes by reason of a tie, the
council shall, by lot, determine the matter, and not more than
two persons selected by each candidate affected by said lot shall
be present.
12. The manner of conducting elections under this act shall,
so far as the same is not in conflict herewith, be the same as
prescribed by the general election laws of the State.

13. The mayor, recorder and seven councilmen shall, after
being notified of their election to their respective offices, each
take and subscribe an oath before any person authorized by law
to administer an oath, that they will truly, faithfully and impar-
tially discharge the duties of their said office so long as they
shall continue therein, and said oaths of office so subscribed shall
be returned to the recorder and by him inscribed in his minute
book. And if any of the officers named in this section shall fail
to qualify on or before the first day of September next succeed-
ing his election, his office shall be deemed vacant; and when-
ever aS many as five members of the council (of whom the
mayor shall be counted one) shall have qualified by taking the
oath of office as aforesaid, they shall enter upon the duties of
their said offices, and shall supersede the former council of said
town.

14. The salaries of the mayor and recorder of the town, as
now constituted or hereafter elected, if any be allowed by the
town council, shall be fixed by the council, payable at stated
periods; and no regulation diminishing such compensation,
after it has once been fixed, shall be made to take effect until
after the expiration of the terms for which the mayor and re-
corder, then in office, shall have been elected. The salaries of
the mavor and recorder, when fixed, shall so continue until
changed bv the town council.

15. After the first day of April, nineteen hundred and twelve,
the town council may prescribe what compensation, if any, shall
be paid to members of the council.

16. The mayor shall preside over the deliberations of the
council and be entitled to one vote in case of a tie. He shall have
jurisdiction to try all violations of town ordinances and inflict
such punishment and impose such fines as may be prescribed for
a violation of the same. The mayor shall be entitled to the like
fees of a justice of the peace in civil and criminal cases. He
shall, by virtue of his office, possess all the jurisdiction and ex-
ercise all the power and authority in civil and criminal cases
arising in said town, or within one mile of the corporate limits
thereof, of a justice of the peace of Fauquier county in addition
to the powers given to him by this act. He shall have the power
to appoint and swear in special policemen for any occasion when
in his judgment it is expedient for the peace and good govern-
ment of the territory under the criminal jurisdiction of said
town, and at such compensation as may be fixed by the council.

17. It shall be the duty of the mayor to communicate to the
council annually, or as often as he shall deem it expedient or be
required so to do by said council, a general statement of the
situation and condition of the town in relation to its government,
finances and improvements, with such rezommendations as he
may deem proper.
18. The mayor shall exercise a constant supervision over the
conduct of all subordinate officers; have power and authority to
investigate their acts; have access to all books and documents
in their offices, and may examine such officers and their subordi-
nates on oath. He shall also have power to suspend all officers
elected or appointed by the council until the next regular meet-
ing of the council, but such suspension shall, in all cases, be for
misconduct in office or neglect of duty, to be specified in the
order of suspension. In case of the suspension of any such offi-
cer, the mayor shall appoint some other person in his place to
hold said office and perform the duties thereof until the next
regular meeting of the council; and at such meeting the mayor
shall report his suspension of the officer suspended, together
with his reasons for suspension.

19. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor, the re-
corder of the town shall possess the same power and discharge
the municipal duties of the mayor during such absence or. ina-
bility: provided, that he shall have but one vote upon any mat-
ter before the council for determination; and as to the trial of
all cases arising under the town ordinances the council of said
town may by ordinance clothe said recorder with jurisdiction, at
all times, though said mayor be not absent or incapactitated, con-
current with that of said mayor, and may by like ordinance
clothe said recorder, at all times, with all the powers of a justice
of the peace in civil matters within the corporate limits of said
town, and in criminal matters within said limits and one mile
beyond, said jurisdiction also to be when conferred concurrent
with that of said mavor; but this section shall not be so construed
as to require the passage of an ordinance by the council of said
town to clothe said recorder with said jurisdiction of cases aris-
ing under the ordinances of said town, or with the powers and
jurisdiction of a justice of the peace as above set forth during
the absence or inability of said mayor.

20. In case a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor or
recorder, the council shall elect a qualified person to fill such va-
cancy for the unexpired term.

21. In case of any vacancy happening in the council by death,
resignation, removal, or otherwise, the council shall elect a
qualified person to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term.

22. The mayor, or in his absence or inability the recorder,
shall have power to call a meeting of the council whenever he
deems it necessary, and in case of the absence of both the mayor
and recorder, or their absence, inability or refusal, the council
may be convened by the order of any four members thereof.

23. The council shall fix the time for their stated regular
meetings, and no business shall be transacted at a special meet-
ing but that for which it shall be called...

24. The council shall have authority to compel the attendance
of absent members; to punish its members for disorderly con-
duct, and by a vote of a majority of the whole council to expel a
member for malfeasance in office or for voluntarily absenting
himself from the meetings of the council. The recorder shall
record the proceedings of the council at large on a record book,
and keep the same properly indexed. The meetings of the coun-
cil shall be open, except when in the discretion of said council
the public welfare shall require secrecy.

25. Five members of the council (of whom, for the purpose
of constituting a quorum, the mavor mav be counted as one)
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but no
ordinance shall be passed, nor resolution adopted, having for its
object the appropriation of money, except by the concurrence of
a majority of those present. Upon the demand ot any member
of the council, upon the passage of any ordinance or resolution,
the ‘‘veas” and “‘nays” shall be taken and entered on the record.
No vote or question decided at a stated or regular meeting shall
be considered or rescinded at a special meeting unless there be at
least six councilmen present, and five of them shall concur.

26. The town council, as now constituted, or hereafter
elected, shall have, subject to the provisions of this act, the con-
trol and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the
town, and of the property, real and personal, belonging to said
town, and make such ordinances, orders and by-laws, relating
to same, as they shall deem proper and necessary; they shall
likewise have power to make such ordinances, orders, by-laws
and regulations as they shall deem necessary and proper to carry
out the powers with which are hereby vested in them.

First. To establish, enlarge, and operate a system of sewer-
age, water works, gas works and electric light works within or
without the limits of the town; to contract or agree with the
owners of any land for the use and purchase thereof, or to have
the same condemned according to law, within or without the
town, for the location, extension or enlargement of their said
works, the pipes or wires connected therewith, or any other ap-
purtenances or fixtures thereof, and shall have power to protect
from injury, by ordinance prescribing adequate penalties, the
works, pipes, fixtures and land, or anything connected therewith,
whether within or without the limits of said town.

Second. To close or extend, widen or narrow, straighten,
lav out, graduate, curb and pave and otherwise improve the
streets, sidewalks and public alleys in the town, and have them
kept in good order and properly lighted, and to require the pay-
ment by the property owners benefited by such works or im-
provements of such portion of the cost thereof as the council
may deem right and proper, and to make such sum a lien upon
their real estate, and collectible in the same manner as is herein
provided for the collection of taxes generally. And over any
street or alley in the town which has been, or may be ceded to
the town, conveyed to the town by proper deed, they shall have
like power and authority as over other streets and alleys; they
may build bridges in and culverts under said streets, and may
prevent or remove any structure, obstruction or encroachment
over or under, or in any street, sidewalk, or alley in said town:
and may permit shade trees to be planted along said streets; but
no company, firm, or individual shall occupy, with its or his
works or appurtenances thereof, the streets, sidewalks, or alleys
of the town without the consent of the council duly entered of
record; and whenever, in the construction of any sewer or
conduit or other public improvement, it 1s necessary that the
same should pass through or under private property, the said
council shall have authority to contract and agree with the own-
ers thereof for the use and purchase of the right of way or other
easement in, through, or under the same, or have the same con-
demned according to law. The said council shall have power
to authorize the laying down of railway tracks, and the run-
ning of cars thereon in the town by electricity or other motive
power, under such regulations as the council may prescribe.

Third. To prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks,
alleys, lanes or bridges in the town in any manner whatever,
and to have full and complete control of the same.

Fourth. To determine and designate the route and grade of
anv railroad to be laid in said town, and to restrain and regu-
late the speed of bicycles, traction engines, locomotives, engines,
cars, automobiles and other vehicles within said town.

Fifth. To secure the inhabitants of said town from con-
tagious, infectious or other dangerous disease; to establish, erect
and regulate hospitals and to prescribe quarantine regulations;
to provide for and enforce the removal of patients to said hos-
pitals; to appoint and organize a board of health for said town,
prescribe its duties, invest said board with police authority and
with full power for the prompt and efficient performance of its

uties.

Sixth. To require and compel the abatement and removal
of all nuisances within said town at the expense of the person
or persons causing the same, or the owner or owners of the
ground whereon the same may be; to require and compel the
owners of houses in the town, or if the owners be unknown or
absent, the occupants of such houses, to connect their water
closets and water drains with the sewers of the town, or other-
wise comply with such regulations as to sewerage and nuisances
as the council may prescribe; and upon failure so to do, the same
may be done by the town by entering upon the premises if neces-
gary, and the cost of attending the same shall be collected from
the owners or occupants of such houses as taxes are herein in
this charter allowed to be collected by the town.

Seventh. If any ground in said town shall be subject to be
covered with stagnant water, or if the owners or occupiers
thereof shall permit any offensive or unwholesome substance to
remain or accumulate therein or thereon, the council may cause
such grounds to be filled up, raised or drained, or may cause
such substance to be covered or to be removed therefrom and
may collect the expenses of so doing from the said owners or
owner, occupier or occupiers, or any of them, by distress and
sale, in the same manner in which taxes levied upon real estate
for the benefit of said town are authorized to be collected: pro-
vided, that reasonable notice shall first be given to said owners
or their agents. In case of non-resident owners, who have no
agents in said town, such notice may be given by publication
for not less than four weeks in any newspaper printed in said
town.

Eighth. To direct the location of all buildings for storing
gunpowder, firecrackers or other fireworks manufactured or
prepared therefrom; kerosene oil, nitro-glycerine, camphene,
burning fluid or other combustible material; to regulate the ex-
hibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms, the use of can-
dles, or lights in barns, stables or other buildings, and to regu-
late or restrain the making of bonfires in streets and yards.

Ninth. To prevent horses, cattle, hogs, dogs and all other
animals from running at large in said town, and may subject
the same to such confiscation, regulations and taxes as they
may deem proper; and the council may prohibit the raising and
keeping of hogs in the town, or in any part thereof.

Tenth. To prevent the riding and driving of horses or ani-
mals at any improper speed, throwing stones, or engaging in
any emplovment or sport on the streets, sidewalks or public
alleys, dangerous to or annoving to passengers, and to prohibit
and punish the abuse or cruel treatment of horses or other ani-
mals in said town.

Eleventh. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and
street beggars; to prevent vice and immorality, obscenity and
profanity; to preserve peace and good order; to prevent and
quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assemblages; to sup-
press houses of ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent lewd
indecent and disorderly conduct or exhibitions in said town, and
to expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct.

Twelfth. To prevent, forbid and punish the selling of liquor
and intoxicating drinks in any place not duly licensed, and the
selling or giving any intoxicating liquor to any child or
minor, and the selling or giving of cigarettes to any minor
under sixteen years of age, without the consent in writing
of his or her parent or guardian; to regulate the manner
and prescribe the time of the sale of liquor or intoxicating
drinks, by retail or wholesale, by any person dulv licensed; and
for any violation of any such ordinance or ordinances there
may be imposed such fines and penalties as the council may pre-
seribe.

Thirteenth. To prevent the coming into the town of persons
having no ostensible means of support, and of persons who may
be dangerous to the peace and safety of the town, and for those
may require any railroad company, or stage company, or any
person or persons bringing such persons to said town, to enter
into bond, with satisfactory security, that said person shall not
become chargeable to the town for the period of one year there-
after, or may require or compel said company or persons to
take them back from whence they brought them, and compel
said persons to leave town: provided, that such order to leave
be issued within sixty days after their arrival.

Fourteenth. To designate such portions and parts of the town
as they may deem proper within which no buildings of wood shall
be erected; to prohibit the erection of wooden buildings in any
portion of the town without their permission; to regulate and
control the erection of all buildings, and to provide for the
removal of any such building or addition which shall be erected
contrary to such regulations or prohibition at the expense of
the builder or owner thereof, and if any such building shall have
been commenced, or if any building in progress of erection ap-
pears clearly to be unsafe, the council may cause such building
to be taken down.

Fifteenth. In addition to the special powers hereinbefore spe-
cifically delegated to the town council, all general powers, not in
conflict with the laws of this State, or of the United States,
necessary for the proper and sufficient government of said town,
and which are by law allowed to municipal corporations, are
hereby likewise delegated to, and invested in, the said council
of the town of Warrenton.

27. Where by the provisions of this act the council have
authority to pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe
any penalty for the violation thereof not exceeding five hundred
dollars or imprisonment in jail not exceeding twelve months, one
or both, as the council may see fit, and for failure to pay any
fine which may be imposed hereunder the said council may by
ordinance require the person so failing to be confined in jail
for the length of time prescribed for failure to pay fines as now
prescribed by law for failure to pay fines due the State. The
confinement herein provided for in jail shall be in the county
jail of Fauquier county, Virginia, unless said town shall pro-
vide a jail of its own. All proceedings against persons violating
the ordinances of said town, or to recover any penalty therefor,
shall be in the name of said town, and in such proceeding said
town may recover against such persons all costs.

27%. Any person confined in jail, as provided by the fore-
ging section (twenty-seven) mav be required to work on the
streets or other public works of said town during the time of
such confinement, and any person refusing so to work may be
subjected to such corporal punishment as may be prescribed
by said council by ordinance now in existence or hereafter
passed. Said corporal punishment shall be administered by
the town sergeant or assistant town sergeant.

28. No ordinance hereafter passed by the said council, as
now constituted or as hereafter elected, for the violation of
which any penalty is imposed, shall take effect until the same
shall have been published as the council may order; and all laws
regulating any ordinance of said council, certified by the recorder,
may be read in evidence in all courts of justice, and all proceed-
ings before any officer, body or board, in which it shall be neces-
sary to refer thereto; but after the expiration of six months from
the date of such ordinance its publication shall not be questioned
or its validity affected by any failure to publish the same; but
this section shall not apply to the ordinances of whatever kind
now in force in the town of Warrenton so as to require republi-
cation thereof.

29. In every case where a street of said town has been, or
shall be encroached upon by any fence, building, porch, projec-
tion, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the council to require
the owner, if known, or if unknown, the occupant of the prem-
ises encroaching, to remove the same, and if such removal be
not made within the time prescribed by the council, they may
impose a penalty of not exceeding five dollars for each and every
day it is allowed to continue thereafter, and may cause the
encroachment to be removed and collect from the owner, or if
the owner be unknown, from the occupant, all reasonable charges
therefor, with costs, by the same process that they are herein-
after empowered to collect taxes. No encroachment upon any
street of the said town, however long the same shall have been
or may be continued, shall constitute an adverse possession to,
or confer any right upon the person claiming thereunder or
against the said town.

30. Whenever any street, alley or lane in said town shall be
opened to and used as such by the public for the period of five
years, unless notice of the contrary intention on the part of the
landowner be given to the mayor of the town, the same shall
thereby become a street, alley or lane for public use, if the
council so elect, and the council shall have the same authority
and jurisdiction over and rights and interests therein as they
have by law over the other streets, alleys and lanes laid out by
them; and any street or alley reserved in the division or sub-
divisions into lots of any portion of the territory within the cor-
porate limits of said town by a plat or plan of record shall be
deemed and held to be dedicated to public use, unless it appears
by said record that the street or alley so reserved is dedicated for
private use; but upon a petition of a majority of the persons
interested therein the council shall have the power to open the
same for the use of the public.

31. The council shall grant and pay to all the town officers
elected under or appointed in pursuance of this act such salaries
or compensation as the council may, from time to time, deem
just and proper.

82. If any person having been an officer of said town shall
not within ten days after his term expires, or he shall have been
vacated or removed from office, and upon notification and request
of the mayor within such time thereafter as the council may
allow, deliver over to his successor in office all property, books
and papers belonging to the town, or appertaining to such office,
In his possession or control, he and his sureties shall forfeit and
pay to the town the sum of five hundred dollars, to be sued for
and recovered with costs; and all books, records and documents
used in any such office by virtue of any provision of this act,
or of any ordinance or order of the town council, or any supe-
rior officer of said town, shall be deemed the property of said
town and appertaining to said office, and the chief officer thereof
shall be responsible therefor.

33. The town council may take from any officer, elected or
appointed by them, a bond, with sureties to be approved by the
council in such penalty as they may deem proper, payable to the
town by its corporate name, with condition for the faithful dis-
charge of the duties of such officer. All officers elected or ap-
pointed by the council may be removed from office at the pleas-
ure of the council. All bonds of officers elected by the people or
elected or appointed by the council under this charter shall be
filed with and kept by the recorder.

34. There shall be elected by the town council one town treas-
urer, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the council;
but the present treasurer of said town shall continue to dis-
charge the duties of the office until removed by the council, or
until his successor shall have qualified.

He shall qualify and give bond before his council, with
surety approved by it in a penalty to be determined by the
council. Any vacancy in this office shall be filled by the council.

35. The said treasurer shall collect and receive all money
belonging to the town, and he shall perform such other duties
as are prescribed by the council. He shall keep his office in
some convenient place in the town. He shall keep his books and
account in such manner as the town council may prescribe, and
such books and accounts shall always be subject to the inspection
of the mayor, recorder, or any member of the town council, or
any committee or committees of the council. He shall receive
for his services such compensation as the town council may, from
time to time, allow.

36. No money shall be paid out by the town treasurer except
by order of the council, and upon a warrant of the recorder of the
council, countersigned by the mayor; and said town treasurer
shall keep a separate account of each fund or appropriation and
the debits and credits belonging thereto.

37. The town treasurer shall report to the town council, or
a committee thereof, as often as required, a full and detailed
account of all receipts and expenditures during the month and
the state of the treasury. He shall also keep a register of all
warrants, their dates, amount, number, and the fund from which
paid, and the person to whom paid, specifying also the time of
payment; and all such warrants shall be examined at the time
of making such report to the town council by the auditing com-
mittee thereof, who shall examine and compare the same with
the books of the treasurer and report discrepancies, if any, to
the town council.

38. The town treasurer, or his deputy duly qualified, or by
order of the council of said town the town sergeant, or assistant
sergeant, or any other person appointed by said council, shall
collect all taxes and assessments which may be levied by the
said town council, and for this purpose the said treasurer, or
his said deputy, town sergeant, assistant sergeant, or other
person appointed by the council as aforesaid, shall be vested
with power and be subject to the liabilities and penalties now
prescribed by law in regard to the county treasurers of the
State of Virginia in the levying and collection of taxes, and said
officers or person appointed as aforesaid to collect said taxes
shall have full power to levy on property and sell the same for
the payment of such taxes as the said county treasurers of the
State of Virginia are now empowered by law to do, and such
sales shall be made upon the notice and in such manner as now
prescribed by law in sales of personal property for State taxes;
and any person so appointed shall give bond, and receive such
compensation as said council may direct.

39. All money received on any special assessment shall be
held by the treasurer as a special fund, to be applied for pur-
poses for which the assessment is made, and said money shall be
used for no other purpose whatever.

40. The treasurer shall be required to keep all moneys in his
hands belonging to the town in such place or places of deposit
as the town council by ordinance may provide or direct.

41. The recorder of said town shall attend the meetings of
the council and keep a record of its proceedings. He shall have
the custody of the corporate seal; he shall keep all papers that,
by provision of this act or the direction of the council, are
required to be filed with or kept by them. He shall give notice
to all parties presenting communications or petitions to the town
council of the final action of the council on such communication
or petition. He shall publish such reports and ordinances as
the town council is required to publish, and such other reports
and ordinances as it may direct, and shall, in general, perform
such other acts and duties as the council may, from time to time,
allow. Any vacancy in this office shall be filled by the council,
until such time as the recorder elected at the next regular elec-
tion following such vacancy shall have qualified.

42. There shall be elected by the council one commissioner
of the revenue, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of
the council; but the present commissioner of the revenue of said
town shall continue to discharge the duties of the office until
removed by the council, or until his successor shall have quali-
fied.

He shall qualify and give bond before the town council, with
surety, In such amount as the council may determine; said surety
to be approved by the council. Any vacancy in this office shall
be filled by the council.

43. The said commissioner of the revenue shall perform all
the duties in relation to the assessment of property for the pur-
pose of levying of town taxes and licenses that may be ordered
by the town council. He shall keep therein such books, sched-
ules, records and other papers, and in such manner as the town
council may direct and prescribe, which books, schedules, records
and other papers shall be subject to the inspection and exami-
nation of the mayor, recorder and members of the town council,
or any committee or committees thereof, and of the treasurer.
His compensation shall be such as the council shall, from time
to time, allow.

44. There shall be appointed by. the council one town ser-
geant, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the coun-
cil; but the present town sergeant of said town shall continue to
discharge the duties of the office until removed by the council,
or until his successor shall have qualified. He shall qualify and
give bond before the council for such amount and with such
surety as the council may approve. His compensation shall be
such as the council may, from time to time, allow.

In all cases, civil and criminal, arising in said town, or within
one mile of the corporate limits thereof, he shall be vested with
all the powers which the general laws of the State confer upon
constables. He shall be chief of police of said town. In addi-
tion to the powers conferred upon town sergeants by the general
law of this State, the sergeant of said town and all police officers
appointed by the mayor or the town councH thereof, shall have
all the powers conferred upon special police by the provisions
of section three thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven of the
Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and
amendments thereto. They shall have power to arrest without
warrant and carry before the mayor or recorder, if the recorder
be given jurisdiction in such matters by the town council as pro-
vided for herein in section nineteen, to be dealt with according
to law, and any and all persons who shall violate any ordinance
of the town, or law of the State, in their presence, and it shall
be his duty to swear out warrants of arrest for any person or
persons where he has reason to believe any offense has been
committed. 1

45. The council shall control and manage the water works
of said town, either by itself or through such committees or
agencies as it may adopt; and the council shall prescribe and
regulate the rate of charges to be paid for the use of water fur-.
nished by the town to the citizens thereof, and to persons outside
the corporate limits thereof, who may wish to purchase water
from the town. They may impose fines and penalties for the
injury and abuse of said works or property connected therewith,
or for waste of said water furnished by the town, and may
enforce and collect said fines and penalities and the charges for
water by distress or otherwise, as the council may determine,
or refuse to further furnish water to citizens or other persons
in arrears.

46. The council of the town of Warrenton, whenever three-
fourths of its members by a recorded vote decide that it is to
the interest of the town so to do, may borrow money to the
extent prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the State of
Virginia, for the uses and purposes of the town, by issuing bonds
of the said town and selling the same for the purpose of raising
such money. |

47. Any bonds which may be issued under this act may be
either registered or coupon bonds, and shall be issued in such
denominations and bear such rate of interest, not exceeding the
legal rate per centum per annum, as may be determined by the
council. Such bonds shall be made payable in not exceeding
thirty years from their date, and may, at the option of the
council, be made redeemable after such time as the council may
prescribe; the interest shall be made payable annually, or semi-
annually, as the council may determine; and the council may
exempt any or all such bonds from town taxes, in which case a
clause to that effect shall be inserted in each bond. The treasu-
rer shall endorse on each bond issued and sold a certificate to
the effect that the town of Warrenton has received the amount
of said bond from the holder, and when such certificate is so
endorsed upon said bond, and signed by the treasurer, the title
of the purchaser shall in no case be questioned, nor shall the
purchaser, or any subsequent holder, be required to see to the
proper application of the money by the town, and the validity
of such bonds shall never thereafter be questioned. All bonds
issued by virtue of this act shall be signed by the mayor, and
countersigned by the recorder, and shall have the seal of the
town affixed thereto, and said bonds shall be issued and sold,
and the proceeds used under the orders of the council. Every
bond issued by the council shall state on its face for what pur-
pose it was issued: provided, always, that no bond shall be
issued or sold for the purpose of subscribing to the stock of any
company for internal improvement or other purposes; and noth-
ing contained in this charter shall be held to authorize the coun-
cil to endorse or guarantee the bonds of any person or corpora-
tion whatever.

48. For the execution of their powers and duties, the council
of the town of Warrenton shall have the power to raise annu-
ally by taxes and assessment, in said town, such sums of money
as they shall deem necessary to defray the expenses of the same,
and in such manner as they shall deem expedient in accordance
with the Constitution and laws of this State and of the United
States.

The town council shall have the power to tax all real and
personal property situated in said town, and not exempt by
law from State taxation, including any taxable real or personal
property omitted from the State assessment; to levy a tax on
licenses of agents of insurance, fertilizer, and other persons,
firms or corporations, whose principal office is or is not located
in said town, if said persons, firms or corporations do, or offer
to do, business in said town; to auctioneers, to public theatricals,
or to other performances or shows; to keepers of billiards and
pool and such like tables; ten-pin alleys; to hawkers and ped-
dlers; to agents for the renting or sale of real estate; to com-
mission merchants, and on the business of any person, firm
or corporation doing business in said town, whether a license
tax on such business be imposed by the State or not, within the
limits of the Constitution: provided, however, that the said
town council shall have the right to impose a license tax of not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than four thousand dol-
lars on any person, firm or corporation selling or dealing in, or
handling wine, beer, whiskey, brandy, or ardent or intoxicating
spirits of any kind in said town, at retail or wholesale, either
or both, or within one mile of the corporate limits of said town;
and upon all auctioneers who shall bring into said town mer-
chandise to be sold at auction, not less than one hundred nor
more than one thousand dollars; and also to impose a license
tax of not less than one hundred or more than two hundred
dollars upon any firm, person or corporation who, not being
regularly engaged in business in said town, shall consign their
goods to others to be sold, or shall come into said town them-
selves at various times and intervals to offer their goods, wares
and merchandise for sale by auction or otherwise without the
intention of continuing their business permanently or regularly
in said town: provided, also, that any farmer may sell the pro-
ducts of his farm in said town without any license. The juris-
diction of the corporate authorities of said town for imposing
and collecting a license tax on saloons, shows, performances and
exhibitions shall extend one mile beyond the corporate limits of
said town; it being the purpose of this section to give to the
council of said town the power to tax all subjects within its juris-
diction not withheld from taxation by the laws of this State,
whether the State taxes them or not, and whether herein spe-
cially enumerated or not.

49. The council may grant licenses to owners or keepers of
wagons, drays, carts, hacks and other wheel vehicles kept or em-
ployed in said town for hire; and may require the owner or keep-
ers of wagons, drays, carts or other vehicles using them in the
town to take out a license thereon and subject the same to such
regulations as they may deem proper, and may prescribe their
fees and compensations.

50. All goods and chattels wheresoever found may be dis-
trained and sold for taxes and licenses assessed and due thereon;
and no deed of trust or mortgage upon goods and chattels shall
prevent the same from being distrained and sold for taxes and
licenses assessed against the grantor in such deed while such
goods and chattels remain in the grantor’s possession.

51. There shall be a lien upon real estate for the taxes as-
sessed thereon by the town council from the commencement of
the year for which they were assessed. When any of said taxes
are returned delinquent by the town treasurer, a list of the same
shall be returned to the clerk of the court of Fauquier county,
and be by him entered in a book furnished by the said town and
kept in his said office, the form and manner of entering the same
to be similar to that provided by law for the record of delinquent
taxes on real estate due the State. In said book there shall als
be columns in which shall be entered the names of the purchasers.
the amount and date of sales of real estate sold for delinquent
taxes as provided in this charter. When the taxes so returned
delinquent are entered into said record as herein provided, the
same shall be held to be constructive notice of the lien thereof,
and the said real estate shall be liable thereto as against creditors,
and in the hands of purchasers or other persons into whose hands
the real estate may pass. And the said real estate may be sold
for said taxes as provided in this charter, whether owned by the
person in whose name it was assessed or not. After said real
estate has been sold for taxes, the same may be redeemed within
such time and by such persons and upon such terms as is pro-
vided by law for the redemption of land sold for State taxes,
except that the money paid for such redemption shall be paid
to the treasurer of the town of Warrenton.

Upon the redemption of said real estate, the treasurer shall
issue to the persons so redeeming it a certificate to that effect,
which shall be presented to the clerk of the court of Fauquier
county, who shall thereupon mark in the said record the redemp-
tion of said real estate, the name of the party redeeming it and
the date thereof. The clerk shall receive for his service a fee of
ten cents for each lot of land so entered in said record, a fee of
ten cents for the entry of such sale of real estate as provided in
this charter, and a fee of twenty-five cents for each redemption
so entered, to be paid by the town of Warrenton, and which
shall be charged against and be a lien upon said land along with
the taxes assessed against the same.

At the expiration of the time within which said real estate
may be redeemed, if the same has not been redeemed as herein
provided, the recorder shall execute to the purchaser thereof a
deed conveying the same in like manner as is now prescribed by
law for the conveyance of real estate by the clerk of the circuit
court which has been sold for delinquent taxes due the State,
and such deed shall convey such title as would be conveyed had
the same been sold for delinquent State taxes.

52. The circuit court for Fauquier county, on the applica-
tion of the council of the town of Warrenton, may order real
estate delinquent for the non-payment of taxes to be sold by the
treasurer of the town of Warrenton at public auction for such
taxes, penalties, interests and costs at such time as it shall direct,
said sale and advertisement thereof to be made in conformity as
near as may be to the State law with reference to the sale of de-
linquent lands. When such sale has been made, the same, with
date thereof, the name of the purchaser, and the amount for
which the said real estate sold, shall be entered by the clerk in
the record of the delinquent real estate, provided for in section
fifty-three.

53. If at any sale no bids shall be made by any person for
any such parcel of land, or such bid be not equal to the taxes,
with interest, penalties and costs thereon, then the same may be
bid in and purchased by the treasurer for the town. On such
sale the treasurer shall execute to the town a certificate of sale,
in which the property purchased shall be described and the aggre-
gate amount of taxes, interests, penalties and costs specified,
and shall deposit such certificates with the recorder.

54. In case that any real estate purchased by the treasurer
for the town as hereinbefore provided shall not be redeemed
within the time specified, the town treasurer shall, within sixty
days after the expiration of the time for redemption, cause to be
recorded in the clerk’s office of the circuit court for Fauquier
county such certificate of sale, with his oath that the same has
not been redeemed, and thereupon the said town of Warrenton,
or its assigns, shall acquire an absolute title to the same. The
said certificate or record thereof or a certified copy thereof, shall,
in all courts and other places, be evidence of the facts therein
stated: provided, however, that the failure to obtain or record
such certificate shall not invalidate the lien of the town for all
taxes assessed against such real estate; but the said town may,
at any time, elect to enforce its lien for taxes in a court of equity
and release its right as purchaser, or to become a purchaser, of
such real estate.

55. The council of the town of Warrenton shall have the
right to add to all tax bills not paid by the first day of Decem-
ber in each year a penalty of five per centum on the amount of
such tax bills, and the said council shall also have the right to
add to all taxes on licenses not paid by the first day of June in
each year a penalty of five per centum on the amount of such
licenses, and to prescribe a fine for engaging without the pay-
ment of a license by any person in a business for which a license
tax is charged.

56. The council shall annually order a levy upon all male per-
sons within said town over twenty-one years of age, and on all
real estate within said town not exempt by law from State taxa-
tion, and on all such personal property and other subjects as
may at the time be subject to taxation by this charter: provided,
however, that the tax on persons shall not exceed one dollar, and
the tax levied for general purposes shall in no year exceed one
dollar on the one hundred dollars’ worth of property, real and
personal, and this maximum rate of taxation shall not be in-
creased except by amendment to this charter.

57. The council may organize and maintain a fire depart-
ment for the town, and make rules and regulations for the gov-
ernment of the officers and men of said department, and may
make such ordinances as they may deem proper to extinguish
and prevent fires; to prevent. property from being stolen, and
to require citizens to render assistance to the fire department in
case of need.

58. The town of Warrenton, its inhabitants and all taxable
property within the corporate limits of said town shall be ex-
empt from all assessment or levies m the way of taxes imposed
by the authorities of Fauquier county for the maintenance of
county schools, or for the construction, repair or maintenance of
roads lying outside of said town: provided, however, that all
such taxable property within the corporate limits of said town
shall not be exempt from any special levy of taxes made by said
authorities of Fauquier county for the purpose of creating a
sinking fund to redeem the principal of, or of paying the in-
terest on, any bonds of said county of Fauquier issued for the
purpose of macadamizing or otherwise permanently improving
the public roads or bridges either of the said county, or of the
magisterial district in which said town is located, pursuant to
special election for either of such purposes as now provided by
law; but in the event of any such special election for the pur-
pose of authorizing the issuance of bonds to build roads or
bridges in the county or district in which said town is located,
the qualified voters of said town shall have the right to vote at
such election.

59. All ordinances now in force in the town of Warrenton
not inconsistent with this charter, the laws of this State and of
the United States, shall be, and remain, in force until amended
or repealed by the town council.

60. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are
hereby repealed.

61. An emergency existing by reason of a change in the reve-
nues as provided in this act for the coming fiscal year, this act
shall be in force from its passage.