Chap. 32.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved February 12, 1894,
as amended by an act approved March 15, 1906, as amended by an act
approved March 27, 1914, incorporating the town of Tappahannock, in
the county of Essex. (H. B. 67)

Approved February 10, 1915.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
approved February twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, as
amended by an act approved March fifteenth, nineteen hundred and six,
as amended by an act approved March twenty-seventh, nineteen hun-
dred and fourteen, 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 Jaid off in lots, streets,
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 Commonwealth 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 Tappahannock, 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 com-
mence 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 Brockencroughs, following the meanderings of the
said creek to the first slash, which is on the road leading from Tappahan-
nock 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 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 said town shall consist of a mayor, six council-
men, a sergeant, a treasurer, and such other officers as the council may
appoint who shall be voters and citizens of the town. The mayor, council-
men and sergeant shall have all the power and authority conferred on
such officers by the forty-fourth and the one hundred and ninety-first
chapters of the Code of Virginia of 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 members 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 mayor pro tempore from
among their members.

In 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 occuring in the council shall be filled for the unexpired
term by the council from among the qualified electors of the town.

&. ‘The mayor and councilmen shall serve 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 thereof, and by any other law
or laws, acts or act applicable to towns.

?. 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 proceed-
ings, but no tax shall be levied except by a majority vote of the council.
‘The mayor shall provide over the council and when he is absent they may
appoint a president pro tempore. A journal shall be kept of their pro-
ceedings, and at the request of any member present the yeas and nays
‘shall be recorded on any question. At the next meeting the proceedings
shall be read and signed by the person who was presiding when the
previous meetings adjourned, or if he be not then present, by the person
‘presiding when they are read.

9. The council shall elect the sergeant of the town from among the
electors of the town, and he shall have all powers and authority con-
ferred 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 entitled to the same fees
:as constables.

11. ‘The council may elect from its own body, or from the electocs 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
surities as it may deem proper, payable to the town of Tappahannock,
and conditioned according to law for the faithful performance 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 treasurer 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 compensation as the town
council may from time to time direct. ,

12. To meet the expenditures that may be lawfully chargeable to th
said town and for general purposes, the council may at such time as it
deems best, levy a town tax of so much as in its opinion may seem neces-
sary and proper not in conflict with the general laws of this State,
when all taxable property and property in the said town not exempt
from taxation by the laws of the State; provided that the taxes levied
for general purposes shall not exceed fifty cents on the one hundred
dollars of its assessed value; said taxes shall be used for the building
and repair of the streets of said town in so far as it may be necessary
and said town shall have authority to build, repair and maintain its
streets at its own expense as a corporation and all the property within
said town, both real and personal, shall be exempt from all assessments
and levies in the way of taxes imposed by the authorities of Essex county
for road purposes. .

13. In addition to the powers conferred upon the council of the town
of Tappahannock by the Code of Virginia, of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven, and by all amendments of it, and any other law, act or acts
relating to towns as is hereinbefore stated, it shall have the power to
prevent hogs, 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 missiles; the engaging any in any employment,
sport, conduct, bicycle riding or any other act or acts on the streets,
or the citizens 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, disturb-
ances, and disorderly assemblages, or assemblages likely to become dis-
orderly; 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 necessary 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 pow-
ers, 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 Constitution and laws
of the State; to prescribe all reasonable punishment and fines, and com-
pel 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 section one thousand niue hun-
dred and thirty-two, and one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three,
of the Code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by all amendments
thereof, and by any other law whatever relating to mayors and council-
men of towns, and they shall have all the fees allowed justices of the
peace. ,

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 jailor his usual costs and charges; and the council shall
have the authority to provide a lock-up for the detention 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 ordinances 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 Tappahannock before 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
improvements of said town upon such terms as the council by ordinance
may prescribe. All fines for the violation 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 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 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.

1%. The council may tax all moneys and credits invested, used 01
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 shal!
draw up and sign all warrants upon the treasurer, which said warrant:
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. Henley, B. B. Brocken.
brough, J. T. Robins, A. A. Cralle, Thomas Latney and D. C. Winstor
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. It being necessary that the operation of this act should be im-
mediately effective, an emergency is declared to exist, and this act shall
be in ferce from its passage. ,