Chap. 347.-An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved February 12,
1894, as amended by an act approved March 15, 1906, incorporating th>
town of Tappahannock, in the county of Essex. (S. B. 495.)

Approved March 27, 1914.
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly ef Virginia, That

an act approved February twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety-
four, as amended by an act approved March fifteen, nineteen hun-
dred and six, incorporating the town of Tappahannock, in the
county of Essex, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

2. Be it further enacted, that the town of Tappahannock, in
the county of Essex, as the same has heretofore been laid off in
lots, streets and alleys, or as the same may be hereafter laid off and
extended in lots, streets and alleys, except that Queen street, shall
not extend through the tract of land at the foot of said Queen street,
which said tract of land was conveyed by grant from the Common-
wealth of Virginia to T. P. Baughan, dated on the third day of
November, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, shall be and the same
is hereby made a town corporate by the name of the town of Tappa-
hannock, and by that name shall have and exercise the powers
conferred upon towns of less than five thousand inhabitants.

3. The boundaries of the said town shall be as follows: To
commence at the mouth of the creek which lies between the said
town and the dwelling house or farm called Greenfield, on the
Rappahannock river, the property of the Brockenbroughs, follow-
ing the meanderings of the said creek to the first slash, which is
on the road leading from Tappahannock to Lloyds, in the said
county; thence along the said road until it reaches a point in line
with the dividing line or fence between the Tanyard farm and what
was formerly the land of James Roy Micou, now J. W. Faulconer’s;
thence to and along said line and continuing until it reaches a
point in the field called Wakefield, formerly the property of M. B.
Wright, deceased, fifty (50) yards from said Faulconer’s land,
thence from said point to the Rappahannock river, passing through
a point thirty feet south of Judge T. R. B. Wright’s granary;

. thence along the river shore to the beginning.

4. The officers of the town shall consist of a mayor, six coun-
cilmen, a sergeant, a treasurer, and such other officers as the council
may appoint, who shall be voters and citizens of the town. The
mayor, councilmen and sergeant shall have all the power and
authority conferred on such officers by the forty-fourth and the
the one hundred and ninety-first chapters of the Code of Virginia
cf the edition of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by all acts
amendatory thereof, and by all laws applicable to towns.

In event of sickness or absence of the mayor from the town, the
duties of the office shall be discharged by some member of the
council, to be designated by him in writing, and in event the said
mayor should fail to so designate, then the council shall elect a
mavor pro tempore from among their members.

In the event of death or resignation of the mayor during his
term of office. the council shall elect for the unexpired term a mayor,
either from their number or from the qualified voters of the town.

The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the town council
and shall vote only in case of a tie.

All vacancies occurring in the council shall be filled for the

unexpired term by the council from among the qualified electors
ff 4h. dace
The mayor and councilmen shall sever without compensation,
and the compensation of the treasurer and sergeant shall be fixed
by the town council. .

6. The jurisdiction of the mayor, councilmen and sergeant shall
be such as is now conferred upon them by the forty-fourth and one
hundred and ninety-first chapters of the Code of Virginia of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by any and all amendments
thereot, and by any other law or laws, acts or act applicable to
towns.

7. The mayor and councilmen shall be elected on the second
Tuesday of June, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and every two
years thereafter.

8. The council may adopt rules for the regulation of their pro-
ceedings, but no tax shall be levied except by a majority vote of
the council. The mayor shall preside over the council and when he
is absent they may appoint a president pro tempore. A journal
shall be kept of their proceedings, and at the request of any mem-
ber present the yeas and nays shall be recorded on any questiun.
At the next meeting the proceedings shall be read and signed by
the person who was presiding when the previous meeting adjourned,
or if he be not then present, by the person presiding when they
are read.

9. The council shall hold monthly meetings at dates to be
designated by itself, and may be convened at any time upon the call
of the president or any three of its members.

10. The council shall elect the sergeant of the town from among
the electors of the town, and he shall have all powers and authority
conferred by law upon the sergeants of towns, and shall discharge
the same duties as constables within the corporate limits of the
town, and to the distance of one mile beyond the same, and be en-
titled to the same fees as constables.

11. The council may elect from its own body, or from the
electors of the town, a treasurer, whose duty it shall be to collect
all the town levies and taxes, and disburse the same by warrant of
the council. and he shall have the same power of levy or distress
in collecting the said levies and taxes as is now conferred upon
county and city treasurers.

The council may require of him any bond in any penalty with
such sureties as it may deem proper, payable to the town of Tappa-
hannock, and conditioned according to law for the faithful perform-
ance of said duties as treasurer of said town.

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, he shall take
the oaths required to be taken by the treasurer of the county. He
may be removed by the council at any time from the office of treas-
urer for any default in duty, or any failure properly and promptly
to account for any money in his hands, as the council may order or
direct. He shall receive for his services as treasurer such con-
pensation as the town council may from time to time direct.
12. To meet any expenditures that may be lawfully chargeable
to the said town and for general purposes, the council may, at such
times as it deems best, levy a town tax of so much as, in its opinion,
may seem necessary ‘and proper not in conflict with the general

* Jaws of this State, upon all taxable persons and property in the
said town not exempt from taxation by the laws of the State; pro-
vided, that the taxes levied for general purposes on real and per-
sonal property of the town shall not exceed fifty cents on the one
hundred dollars of its assessed value.

13. In addition to the powers conferred upon the council of the
town of Tappahannock by the Code of Virginia. of eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-seven, and by all amendments of it, and anv other
law, act or acts relating to’ towns as is hereinbefore stated, it shall

' have the power to prevent hogs, dogs, cows, horses and any other
* animal from running at large in said town; to prevent riding or
+ driving horses or any other animals at an improper speed through
* the streets of the said town; the throwing of bricks, stones or other

‘v> missiles; the engaging in any employment, sport, conduct, bicycle

tt riding or any other act or acts on the streets, sidewalks or alleys
-. dangerous or annoying to the passers along the streets, or the citi-

“+ gens of the town; to restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and

~ street beggars; to prevent vice and immorality; to suppress houses
of ill fame and gambling houses; to prevent and quell riots, dis-

- turbances, and disorderly assemblages, or assemblages likely to
-; become disorderly: to prevent lewd, indecent or disorderly conduct
or exhibitions in the said town; to prevent people coming into the

: town having no visible means of support, and of persons who,

- singly or in numbers, may be dangerous to the health, peace or
safety of the said town, and if they be brought to it by any person

‘or company, may compel that person or company immediately, at

; his or its expense, to take them away or carry them back; to appoint
_ Special police; to call out the local military company, as the mayor
.- of a city may do, and to do any and all other things or thing neces-

.sary and proper to protect the health, the lives and safety of the

. town and its citizens.

14. To carry into effect the enumerated and all other general

» powers, the mayor and council shall have the power to make all

needful and proper orders. by-laws and ordinances not inconsistent

_, with the Constitution of the United States and with the Constitu-

tion and laws of the State; to prescribe all reasonable punishment

,and fines, and compel obedience and compliance with the same by

‘all the remedies and powers granted to mayors and councilmen of
‘towns by the general laws, and by all the powers conferred by

2 ” section one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, and one thou-

‘sand nine hundred and thirty-three, of the Code of eighteen hun-

* dred and eighty-seven, by all amendments thereof, and by any other

‘law whatever relating to mayors and councilmen of towns, and they

“shall have all the fees allowed justices of the peace.

r

15. The council may, with the consent of the circuit court and
the board of supervisors of Essex county, use the jail of the said
county, and pay the jailer his usual costs and charges; and the
council shall have the authority to provide a lock-up for the deten-
tion of criminals pending their removal to the county jail, which
said lock-up shall be under the charge of the sergeant. When, by
the provisions of the law, the council have authority to pass ordi-
nances on any subject, they may prescribe punishment by fine or
imprisonment, or both, for all violations thereof. Fines may be
recovered by warrants issued in the name of the town of Tappa-
hannock betore the mayor. Whenever judgment is rendered against
any person for a fine, the officer trying the offender may require
immediate payment of the same, and in default of such payment,
may commit the party in default to the county jail, or may compel
him to work out such fines and costs on the streets or other improve-
ments of said town upon such terms as the council by ordinance may
prescribe. All fines for the violations of the ordinances of said town
shall be paid into the treasury thereof, and may be appropriated
as the council may determine.

16. The council of the said town may impose, levy and collect
a. license tax on all persons taxed by the general law doing business
in said town; the council shall also have the power to levy and
collect a license tax on any show, exhibition or merry-go-rounds
within one mile of the limits of said town.

17. The council may tax all moneys and credits invested, used
cr employed in any business whatever, whether borrowed or not.
as it taxes other personal property in said town.

18. The council shall elect from its number a secretary, who
shall draw up and sign all warrants upon the treasurer, which said
warrants shall be countersigned by the mayor of said town.

19. Be it further enacted, that H. C. DeShields shall be mayor
of said town until his successor shall be elected and qualified under
the election herein provided for, and that J. L. Henly, B. B.
Brockenbrough, J. T. Robins, A. A. Cralle, Thomas Latney and
I. C. Winston shall be the council of the said town until their
successors shall be elected and qualified as herein provided.

20. The mayor and council shall go into office on the first day of
September immediately succeeding their election, and serve for
two years.

21. An emergency existing on account of the election herein
ordered, this is declared to be an emergency act, and as such shall be
in force from its passage.