Chap. 161.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Pocahontas, in
the county of Tazewell, and to repeal all other acts or parts of acts in
conflict therewith. [S B 287]

Approved March 18, 1918.

_ 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
inhabitants of the territory in Tazewell county, contained within
the boundaries prescribed in section two hereof, be, and shall con-
tinue to be a body, politic and corporate, in fact and in name, under
the name and style of the town of Pocahontas; and as such shall
have and exercise all the powers conferred by and be subject to all
the laws of the State of Virginia now in force, or that may here-
after be enacted for the government of towns of less than five thou-
sand inhabitants, so far as the same are not inconsistent with the
Provisions of this act.

2. The boundaries of the town shall be as follows: Beginning
at a stake on the south side of the ridge north of Laurel creek, the
northeast corner of the part of the town of Pocahontas, known as
the Browning addition; said stake is situated south twenty-eight
degrees twenty minutes, east seventy-five feet, from a white oak, gum
and maple, a corner of the lands belonging to Mistress J. S. Brown-
ing; thence with the lines of the said Browning addition south sixty-
‘Wo degrees thirty minutes, west one hundred and sixty-seven and
five-tenths feet, to a white oak and gum stump; south thirty-one
egrees, west two thousand six hundred and ninety-two feet. to a
smal! chestnut and laurel near the top of a spur west of Reed’s
ranch, in a line of Mistress J. S. Browning’s land; south fifty-eight

meres, east one thousand three hundred and thirty-seven feet, to a
red oak and hickory on the east side of a spur of Laurel midge;
north thirty-three degrees fifteen minutes, east two thousand and
Seventy feet, to a stake between two spruce pine stumps on a north-
east hillside: thence, leaving said Browning addition, south twenty-
eet degrees twenty minutes, east two thousand one hundred and
} @ Abb’s valley road; north sixty-one degrees, east six thousand
ne hundred and seventy-eight feet, to a stake on the State line
‘outh of and near Roseville; thence with State line north forty
~erees thirty-four minutes, west seven thousand one hundred and
Dd: feet, to'a stake in a flat in an old field south of and near the
thove, erdue house; thence south sixty-three degrees, west four
south hy nine hundred and fifty feet, to a stake in the field on a
4 llside above the spring; thence south thirty-two degrees
an dine minutes, east three thousand five hundred and thirty-nine

nree-tenths feet, to the beginning.

and wm the Second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and eighteen,
said tow) two years thereafter there shall be elected one elector of
other ie who shall be denominated the mayor thereof, and eight
the sai ectors who shall be denominated the councilmen thereof, and
Ther and councilmen shall constitute the council of said
day of Gy” shall enter upon the duties of their offices on the first
in Office fe vember next succeeding their election and shall continue
Or a term af two veare and nntil their aicerecenre ara duly
elected and qualified. And said mayor and councilmen shall take
the oath of office as prescribed by the general laws of this State.
The failure of any person elected or appointed under the provisions
of this act to qualify or take the oath of office required, within the
time prescribed for entering upon the duties of the office to which
he is elected or appointed, shall vacate said office, and the council
shall proceed to fill said vacancy in the manner prescribed in this act.

4. There shall be appointed for the town a registrar and officers
of election in the manner provided for by the general laws of Vir-
ginia, and all elections held in said town shall be governed in ac-
cordance with said general Jaws, and the electorate or persons quali-
fied to vote in said town shall be as prescribed and defined by the
general laws of this State.

5. The council of said town shall judge of the election, qualifica-
tion and returns of its members; may fine them for disorderly be-
havior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds. expel a member.
If any person returned be judged disqualified, a new election to fill
the vacancy shall be held at the same place on such date as the coun-
cil may prescribe. Any vacancy occurring otherwise during the term
for which any of the said persons have been elected may be filled by
the council by the appointment of any one eligible to said office.
A vacancy in the office of mayor may be filled by the council from
the electors of said town.

6. The administration and government of said town shall be
vested in said mayor and councilmen of said town, and any such
other bodies and officers as are hereinafter mentioned and provided
for, or which may be provided for by said council.

7. The council shall have the power to suspend or remove all
other town officers, whether they be elected or appointed, for inef-
ficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct in office, to be specified in the
order of suspension or removal; but any such removal shall not be
made without reasonable notice to the officer complained of and an
opportunity afforded him to be heard in his behalf.

8. For the transaction of business by the council of said town,
five members thereof, of whom the mayor may be counted as one,
shall constitute a quorum.

9. The mayor of said town and the councilmen thereof shall each
have all the powers and authority of a justice of the peace in
criminal matters within the limits of said town and one mile beyond
the same; shall have the power to issue process, hear and determine
all prosecutions, cases and controversies which may arise under the
resolutions and ordinances of the town; may impose fines and in-
flict punishment when and wherever they are authorized by such
resolutions and ordinances, or the general laws of this State and
may issue executions for the collection of fines imposed; may com-
mit an offender to jail or to work upon the public works or streets
of said town until the fine and costs, or the costs if there be no fine,
are paid. Appeal shall lie from the decision of the mayor or coun-
cilmen to the circuit court of Tazewell county, in the manner pro-
vided by the general laws of this State.
10. The jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of the said town
in all criminal matters and for imposing and collecting license taxes
on shows, performances and exhibitions shall extend one mile beyond
the corporate limits of the said town.

11. The council shall annually elect one of its members president
pro-tempore, who shall preside at its meetings, and assume the duties
of the mayor in his absence, or in case of his inability or refusal
to act.

12. The council of said town may adopt rules for the regulation
of its proceedings, but no taxes shall be levied or corporate debt
contracted unless by a vote of two-thirds of the council, six votes
being counted as two-thirds, the mayor having no vote except in
case of a tie, which vote shall be taken by yeas and nays and
recorded in the journal. A journal shall be kept of their proceed-
ing 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 meeting adjourned, or if he is not then present, by the per-
son presiding when they were read.

18. The town council shall, by ordinance, fix the time of their
stated meetings, and no business shall be transacted at a special meet-
ing’, unless all members of the council be present, but that for which
it shall be called.

14. The town council may be convened at any time upon the
cal] in writing of the mayor, or any three members thereof, but if
all members of the council shall be present at such meeting, any
action taken or resolution or ordinance passed at such meeting shall
be valid even though there should have been no call in writing for
said meeting, or such call be irregular, or not served upon all mem-
bers of the council. Service of a notice of a call of any special
meeting shall be served upon all of the members of the council and
the mayor, who do not sign the call, at least twenty-four hours prior
to such meeting. Such notice may be served by delivering a copy
of such call in writing to the party in person, or, if he be not found
at his usual place of abode or his usual place of business in the town,
if any, by delivering such copy and giving information of its pur-
port to his wife or any person found at his usual place of abode,
who 1s a member of his family and over the age of sixteen years;
and if there be none such found at his usual place of abode, bv
leaving such copy posted at the front door of the said place of
abode.

15. The meetings of the town council shall be open to the public,
except when, in the discretion of said council, the public welfare
shall require secrecy, and the journal of their proceedings shall at
all times be open to inspection by citizens of the town.

16. If any member of said council be voluntarily absent from
its meetings consecutively for three months, his seat may be declared
vacant by the council, and the unexpired term filled according to
law.
17. The principal officers of said town shall, in addition to the
mayor and councilmen, consist of a treasurer, sergeant, police Justice,
recorder, a commissioner of the revenue, and an assessor, to be ap-
pointed as hereinafter provided, and the council may appoint such
committees of the council and create such boards and departments
of town government and administration, with such powers and
duties, and subject to such regulations as it may seem fit, consistent
with the provisions of this act and the general laws of this State.
The council, however, may abrogate any of the offices mentioned
in this section, to be filled by appointment or dispense with the
services of any appointive officer mentioned therein, whenever, in its
opinion, the interest and necessities of the town do not require such
office or officer. Any such offices may also be consolidated, and any
one or more of said officers, that are not incompatible, may be filled
and held by the same person.

18. Subject to the provisions of the preceding section, a treasurer,
a sergeant, a police justice, a recorder, a commissioner of the revenue
and an assessor shall be appointed by the council at its first regular
meeting in September. succeeding its election, or as soon thereafter
as may be, and said officers shall qualify and assume the duties of
their office immediately thereafter. Their term of office shall be as
hereinafter provided, and thev shall serve until their successors shall
have qualified, unless said office be abrogated and dispensed with as
herein provided.

19. The council shall have, subject to the provisions of this act,
control of the fiscal and municipal affairs of said town, and all prop-
erty, real and personal belonging to said town, and they are hereby
vested with power to make such ordinances and by-laws relative to
the same as they may deem proper; and they shall likewise, in addi-
tion to the powers conferred by the general laws of the State, have
power to make such by-laws, ordinances, orders and regulations as
they may deem necessary to carry out the foregoing and following
powers which are hereby given and vested in the said council:

First. To erect and keep in proper condition all public build-
ings necessary and proper for the use of said town; to erect and
maintain in said town 4a prison, said prison to contain such apart-
ments as shall be necessary for the safekeeping of all persons con-
fined therein.

Second. To determine and designate the route and grade of any
railroad to be Jaid out in said town, and to restrain and regulate the
rate of speed of locomotive engines and cars upon the railroads
within said town.

Third. To direct the location of houses or buildings to be used
for the sale or storage of gunpowder, dynamite or any combustibles,
and to regulate the sale and use of all such substances in said town;
to regulate exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms, and to
restrict the making of bonfires, either on public street or private
property in said town; to fix and prescribe a fire limit as follows:
The fire limit shall extend two hundred feet from either side of
Center street on Railroad avenue, and two hundred feet on either

side of Center street on Water street; on Saint Clair street from
the west end of same to Moore street, on Church street from the west
end of same to Moore street; and two hundred feet on either side of
Center street on Rolfe street; both sides of the streets within the
bounds mentioned are included in the fire limit for a distance of two
hundred feet.

Fourth. To prevent hogs, dogs and other animals from run-
ning at large in said town, and to subject the same to such regula-
tions, confiscations and taxes as they may deem proper, and to
prevent the riding or driving of horses or other animals at an 1m-
proper speed, throwing stones, snowballs or other sports, or employ-
ments on the streets or alleys of said town, which may be deemed
dangerous or annoying to citizens or passengers of said streets and
alleys, as well a to punish the abuse and cruel treatment of horses
or other animals of said town, and to regulate the speed of all auto-
mobiles and motor-driven vehicles of all kinds on the streets of said
town, and to prescribe such traffic rules and regulations on said
streets as may be deemed necessary.

Fifth. To arrest and punish drunkards, beggars and vagrants;
to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve the public peace and
good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly
assemblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gaming houses; to
prevent and punish lewd and indecent conduct and exhibitions in
said town.

Sixth. To prevent the coming into the town of persons having

no obstensible means of support, and of persons who may be danger-
ous to the peace and safety of the town, and for those may require
any person bringing them into said town to enter into a bond with
good security that such person shall not become chargeable to the
town for the period of one year thereafter, or may require or compel
said person 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.
_ Seventh. To secure the inhabitants of said town from contagious,
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 hospitals; to appoint and
organize a board of health for said town, prescribe its duties and
invest said board with police authority and with full power for
the prompt and efficient performance of its duties.

Eighth. To require and compel the abatement of all nuisances
and the removal thereof within the town at the expense of the per-
son or persons causing the same, or the owner or owners of the
ground whereon the same may be; to require and compel the owner
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 otherwise comply with such
regulations as to sewerage and nuisances as the council may pre-
scribe; and upon failure so to do, the same may be done by the town
by entering upon the premises, if necessary, and the cost of attend-
ing same shall be collected from the owners or occupants of such
houses as taxes are in this charter allowed to be collected by the
town.

Ninth. To prescribe, for the violation of any such by-laws,
ordinances, orders and regulations any penalty by fine, not exceed-
ing five hundred dollars, or confinement in jail, not exceeding six
months, or both, or any other form of punishment provided by she
laws of this State for the punishment of misdemeanors; and when
by this act, or by the ordinances, by-laws and regulations of the town
council, or by general law provided, any offender shall be sentenced
to serve a term in prison, or be imprisoned for the failure to pay
any fine and the costs of trial, or the costs of trial where there is no
fine or penalty upon him for the violation of a town ordinance, such
offender may be compelled to work upon the streets or other public
improvements or works of said town, or the public buildings there-
of, unless physically incapable of so doing; and such offender shall
have credit on the amount of such fine, penalty or costs, with the
sum of fifty cents each day that he so works.

20. The council shall have power to lay and levy a tax for the
general purposes of said town on all real and tangible personal
property in said town at such rates as may be prescribed by said
council, not to exceed, however, one dollar on the one hundred dol-
lars value of all property and not in conflict with the general laws
of this State, provided that the maximum rate of one dollar shall
not be construed as increased by general statute; and the council
may likewise lay and levy a tax on intangible personal property
according to the authority given, and at a rate or rates not in excess
of that authorized, by the general law of this State, for the taxing
of such property by towns; and in addition thereto a tax not exceed-
ing twenty cents on the one hundred dollars valuation of real and
tangible personal property in said town for the benefit of the public
schools thereof and a poll tax of one dollar and fifty cents on each
male resident thereof over twenty-one vears of age, and the said
town in addition to the special power herein given shall have like
powers of distress, levy and sale for the collection of such taxes as
are now given to State officers for collection of State taxes.

21. The assessment of the real and personal property in the
town, for the purpose of municipal taxation, shall be the same as the
assessment of such property for the purpose of State taxation, where
there is a State assessment of such property.

22. In addition to the State tax on any license, the council may.
when anything for which a license is so required is to be done within
said town, impose a tax for the privilege of doing the same, and
require a license to be obtained therefor; and in addition thereto
may levy a tax, on agents and other persons. firms or corporations.
whose principal office is not located in said town, if such person,
firm or corporation do, or offer to do, business in said town; on
public theatricals or on other performances of a public nature, on
shows, on hawkers and peddlers; on agents renting or selling real
estate; 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 the limits of the Constitu-
tion; provided, farmers may sell the products from their farms in
said town without a license; it being the purpose of this section to
give the council of said town the power to tax all subjects within
its jurisdiction not withheld from taxation by the laws of this
State, whether the State taxes them or not, and whether herein
specifically enumerated or not.

23. The town council shall annually cause to be made up and
entered on its journal an account of all sums lawfully chargeable
on the town which ought to be paid within one year, and shall
order a town levy of so much as, in its opinion, is necessary to be
raised in that way for the several funds of the town, in addition
to what may be received for licenses and other purposes. The
council may add penalties for failure of any person to pay taxes at
the time provided for by ordinance of the council, and there shall be
a lien for all taxes assessed which may be enforced as provided for
by the general laws of the State, or as otherwise herein provided.

24. The town council shall not take or use any private property
for streets or other public purposes without making to the owner
thereof just compensation for the same, but in case where the town
council cannot by agreement with the owner: or owners thereof.
obtain title to any land needed for streets or any municipal build-
ing or other public purposes, it shall be lawful for the council to
acquire the same by condemnation proceedings in accordance with
the general laws of this State.

_ 25. So long as the town of Pocahontas shall be dry and no
license territory, no person, firm or corporation, shall, within the
town, sell, or offer for sale, any ardent spirits, or solicit orders for
ardent spirits, or act as agent for the sale of ardent spirits, or the
transmission of such orders, or have in his possession for personal
or other use a greater quantity of ardent spirits than he is per-
nitted to have under the general law of the State of Virginia, or
advertise the sale, distribution, giving away or dispensing of the
same, by the circulation of hand-bills or circulars or otherwise;
nor shall any person bring into said town any such liquors except
for his own use, and then, not more or oftener than such amount
as he may be permitted to bring into said town, under the general
laws of the State. Any person violating the provisions of this act,
in addition to any fines or punishment provided by the laws of this
State for so doing, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars,
hor more than five hundred dollars, for each offense, and in addi-
tion thereto, may be sentenced to confinement in jail for such period
as the trial justice may determine, not exeeeding ninety days, and
upon the second offense, such person so convicted shall be likewise
fined and also sentenced to confinement in jail for not less than
thirty days nor more than six months. The town council shall
have power and authority to provide such ordinance or ordinances

for more fully carrying into effect this section, as they may deem
n .
26. The said town of Pocahontas, its inhabitants, and all taxable
property within the corporate limits of said town, shall be exempt
from all assessments or levies in the matter of district and county
road taxes imposed by the authority of Tazewell county for the
construction, repair or maintenance of roads, lying outside of said
town; provided, however, that said town of Pocahontas shall con-
struct, repair and maintain all streets and roads within the corpo-
rate limits of said town.

27. The town council may make appropriations from the gen-
eral public funds of said town to any public free schools within
the limits of said town, whenever, in the opinion of the council, such
funds are necessary for the proper and efficient conduct and main-
tenance of said school.

28. The town council] shall have the power and authority to
establish and maintain a fire department for the town, and all
powers necessary for the government, management, maintenance,
equipment and direction of such fire department and the premises,
property and equipment thereof. ‘The council may make ordinances
as it may deem proper for the prevention and extinguishment of
fires, for the regulation of the conduct of persons in attendance at
fires, in relation to the powers and duties of the officers and men of
the fire department; to require citizens to render assistance to the
fire department in case of need, and in relation to the acquisition,
use, maintenance and preservation of real estate, personal property,
fire apparatus and equipment necessary or proper for the use of
the fire department.

29. The town council shall have power and authority to con-
tract with any sewerage or water purification company, or power
company, to establish, enlarge and operate a system of sewerage,
water works and electric light works within or without the limits
of the town, and shall have power to protect from injury, by ordi-
nances prescribing adequate penalties, the works, pipes, fixtures and
land, or anything connected therewith, whether within or without
the limits of said town, and such other powers in regard to same
as is given by general laws of the State.

30. The council likewise shall have power and authority to close,
or extend, widen or narrow, straighten, lay out, graduate, curb and

ave and otherwise improve the streets, sidewalks and public alleys
in the town, and have them kept in good order and properly lighted,
and to make local assessments to pay for such proportion of the cost
thereof, or such part thereof, as may be provided by said council,
under the general laws of the State empowering towns to make
such assessment, and may prevent or remove any structure, obstruc-
tion or encroachment over, in, or under any street, sidewalk or alley
in said town, and may permit shade trees to be planted along said
streets; and to prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks, alleys,
lanes or bridges in the town in any manner whatsoever, and to have
full and complete control of the same.

81. No ordinance hereafter passed by said council, as now con-
stituted, or hereafter elected, for the violation of which any penalty
is imposed, shall take effect until the same shall have been published
by posting a copy thereof at the front door of the council chamber
in said town for ten days after the passage of said ordinance; but
after the expiration of three months from the date of such ordl-
nance, 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 said town,
so as to require publication thereof.

32. The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the council and
shall sign all ordinances enacted by said council and all warrants
drawn by the treasurer of said town or said council. He shall have
access to all books and accounts of each of the officers and authority
to examine the same, he shall, at least twice a year, and may do so
as often as he deems necessary or be requested so to do by the coun-
cil, communicate to the council the general conditions of the affairs
of the town with such recommendations as he may deem necessary ;
he shall have power to fill any vacancy that may occur in any office
by death, sickness or other disability, temporarily, or until the first
regular meeting of the council. The salary of the mayor shall be
fixed by the town council; payable at stated periods; and no regu-
lation diminishing such compensation after it has once been fixed
shall be made to take effect until after the expiration of the term
for which the mayor, then in office, shall have been elected. The
salary of the mayor shall continue until changed by the council, but
said salary shall not exceed the sum of sixty dollars per annum,
unless the council shall designate the mayor to exercise the duties
and perform the functions of police justice as herein provided, in
which event the council may increase the salary of the mayor to
such an amount as may be reasonable for the services performed,
not to exceed, however, twenty-five dollars per month.

33. Police Justice——The police justice shall be, and is hereby,
invested with jurisdiction and authority to try and determine all
cases arising by reason of violation of any of the laws and ordi-
nances of said town, and impose such fines and penalties for viola-
tion of the same, as to him shall seem just, where the amount of
the penalty or fine for such violation of such laws and ordinances
is not fixed by the same, and he shall have the same jurisdiction to
issue civil process and to try and determine civil causes as the jus-
tices of the peace of the State of Virginia now have, and shall
receive like fees therefor. He shall also have the same jurisdiction
as the justices of the peace in all offenses against the laws of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, but he shall receive no fees for such
services, and fees arising through his office, except in civil causes,
shall be collected by the sergeant and paid into the town treasury.
He shall make a report of the affairs of his office to the council of
said town at its first regular meeting in each month, or oftener if
the council shall request same. The police justice shall hold office
during the pleasure of the council, and his salary shall be fixed by
the said council, not to exceed, however, twenty-five dollars per
month. The council may, however, in lieu of appointing a police
justice, designate the mayor or some member of the council to per-
form and exercise the duties of police justice, in which event, the
person so designated shall have all the powers, authority, and juris-
diction of the police justice and shall receive such compensation for
his services as may be allowed by council, not to exceed, however,
the maximum salary provided for the police justice. ,

34. Recorder.—<As herein provided, the council, at its first reg-
ular meeting in September, shall appoint a recorder, who by vir-
tue of his oflice, shall also be commissioner of the revenue. He shall
attend the meetings of the council and shall correctly note the pro-
ceedings of each meeting in a minute book, and he shall afterwards
record and properly index said proceeding in a book to be known
as the “record book;” he shall have custody of the corporate seal;
he shall keep all papers, that, by the provisions of this act, or the
direction of the council, are required to be filed and kept by him;
he shall give notice to all parties presenting communications or peti-
tions to the town council of the final action of the council on such
communications or petition; he shall publish such reports and ordi-
nances as the town council is required to publish, and such other
reports and ordinances as it may direct, and shall, in general, per-
form such other acts and duties as the council may, from time to
time, require; he shall also see that the license laws of the town
are faithfully performed; he shall hold office during the pleasure
of the council and his salary shall be fixed by the council, not to
exceed ten dollars per month, and in addition thereto, he shall
recveive as compensation for his services as commissioner of the
revenue, the fees allowed by law to the commissioner .of the rev-
enue of the county, to be paid by the person applying for such
license, and he shall receive no other compensation for performing
his duties as commissioner of the revenue. ;

85. Assessor.—The council shall, before the first day of Febru-
ary of each year, appoint an assessor, who shall assess the value of
all real and personal property in said town according to the laws
of the State of Virginia; he shall also make out all tax tickets and
deliver the same to the treasurer of the town. He shall receive as
compensation for his services, such sum as the council may provide,
not to exceed two hundred dollars, to be paid when the council is
satisfied with the duties performed by him.

36. Sergeant.—As herein provided, the council at its first regu-
lar meeting in September, shall appoint one town sergeant, who
shall hold office during the pleasure of the council. He shall have
power and it shall be his duty, to collect all fines and penalties
which may be imposed by the police justice and arising from the
police department, and he shall pay over the same to the treasurer
of the town every week. He shall be ex-officio chief of police, and
shall have and exercise all the powers of a police officer of towns
and cities under the laws of the State of Virginia. He shall attend
all meetings of the council and shall make a report to that body at
its first regular meeting in each month of the condition of his office,
and may be required to do so at any time by the council. He shall
qualify and give bond before the council for such amount and with
such surety as the council may approve. In all civil matters aris-
ing 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 receive for his services
such salary as may be fixed by the council, but such salary shall not
exceed the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month,
payable proportionately, at the end of each month, and he shall
receive no other compensation, except such fees as he may be enti+
tled to under the general laws, arising out of civil cases.

37. Police force—The council may, in addition to the sergeant,
appoint one or more policemen, as the needs of the town may require,
who shall be privates of the police force of the town; who shall hold
office during the pleasure of the council, and whose compensation
shall be fixed by the council.

38. The mayor, or in his absence, the president, pro-tempore
of the council, or in the absence of both, any councilman shall have
power and authority, whenever the regular police force of the town
is inadequate to meet the needs of the occasion, to appoint or swear
in such additional or special policeman as he may deem requisite
for a term of service not to exceed ten days, and at such compen-
sation as the council may fix for special policemen, or, if no com-
pensation is fixed by the council, then at two dollars per day. The
duties and powers of such special policeman shall be the same as
that of private or the regular police force.

39. The police force shall be under the control of the mayor
for the purpose of enforcing peace and order and executing the
laws of the State and the ordinances of the town. They shall also
perform such other duties as the council may prescribe. For the
purpose of enabling them to execute their duties and powers each
policeman is hereby made a conservator of the peace and endowed
with all the powers of a constable in criminal cases, and all other
powers, which under the laws of the State, may be necessary to
enable him to discharge the duties of his office.

40. Treasurer.—As herein provided, the cquncil shall at its reg-
ular meeting in September, after its election, appoint a treasurer,
who shall hold office during the pleasure of the council, and who
shall serve until his successor shall be appointed and qualified. It
shall be the duty of the treasurer to receive all moneys belonging to
the town, to collect all taxes, assessments and licenses, and to pay
out and disburse the same only on the written order of the council
signed by the mayor and attested by its recorder. He shall have
power to appoint a deputy to assist him in the discharge of his
duties. He shall make a report of the condition of his office at least
once a month, and may be required to do so at the pleasure of the
council. He shall, before entering upon the duties of his office,
execute a bond in the penalty of five thousand dollars or more, in
the discretion of the said council, conditioned according to law for
the faithful performance of his duties, said bond to be signed by at
least three personal sureties, or such corporate sureties as may be
approved by the council, Ihe treasurer shall receive as compen-
sation for his services a salary to be fixed by the council not to
exceed two hundred dollars per year, payable proportionately at
the end of each month and he shall receive no other compensation
except such fees for the collection of delinquent taxes as herein-
after provided.

42. In addition to all other taxes, the council 1s empowerd and
authorized to provide a special tax and levy for the payment of
interest on all bonds of said town heretofore issued or that may
hereafter be issued by virtue of any act of the general assembly, or
general laws of the State, and also to provide a sinking fund to
retire said bond at maturity or sooner.

42. The town treasurer or other officer whose duty it is to col-
lect town taxes shall commence to receive the town levies on or
before the first day of July of each year, or as soon thereafter as
he may receive the tax tickets from the assessor, and continue to
receive same up to the first day of December thereafter; and for
this purpose, said treasurer or such other officer shall advertise for
ten days at the voting place in the town, and at such other public
places therein as may be necessary to give general publicity thereto,
upon what days he will be in his office in said town to receive such
levies; and shall at a time specified, remain in his office not less
than three days for the purpose of receiving such levies.

Any person failing to pay any town levies to the treasurer or
other such officer by the first day of December of the year in which
assessed, shall incur a penalty thereon of five per centum, which
shall be added to the amount of levies due from such tax-payer,
which penalty when collected shall be received by the treasurer
as an additional compensation for his services; and on the sum total
of said levy ticket and penalty, there shall be added interest at six
per centum per annum from December fifteenth of the vear in
which such levy was assessed until the same be paid, said interest
to be accounted for by the treasurer and paid into the treasury of
said town.

It shall be the duty of the treasurer or other such officer after
the first of December to call upon each person, resident within the
town chargeable with levies, who has not paid the same, or upon
the agent, if any, of such person resident within the town, for the
payment thereof; and upon the failure or refusal of such person or
agent to pay the same he shall promptly proceed to collect the same
by levy, distress or otherwise.

Should it come to the knowledge of the treasurer or other such
officer that any such person or persons owing such levies is moving
or contemplating moving from the town prior to the first day of
December, he shall have the power to collect same by levy, distress
or otherwise at any time after such tax tickets have come into his
hands.

43. There shall be a hen upon all real estate within the town for
town taxes and levies assessed thereon, and interest on such taxes
and levies at the rate of six per centum per annum, from the fif-
teenth of December, in the year in which same may have been
assessed, for the period of five years, unless sooner paid.

44. Any goods or chattels in the town belonging to the person
or estate assessed with town levies or taxes, may be distrained there-
for by the treasurer or other officer whose duty it is to collect the
same. In all cases property subject to levy or distress for muni-
cipal taxes and levies shall be liable to levy or distress in the hands
of any person for town taxes and levies thereon.

When the treasurer or other such officer has to levy or distrain
or sell, or levy or distrain without selling, he shall receive a fee of
sixty cents, to be collected with the town levies or taxes levied or
distrained for.

45. The treasurer or other officer whose duty it is to col-
lect town taxes or levies may distrain for municipal levies and
license taxes for which he has accounted to the town council at any
time within one year after June fifteenth next succeeding the year
for which such levies or license taxes were assessed.

46. The goods or chattels of the tenant, or other person, claim-
ing under the party or estate assessed with municipal levies on land,
may be distrained if found on the premises, but not for an amount
exceeding the rent contracted to be paid by such tenant for said
premises, nor until property of the landlord subject to distress,
within the town, shall have been exhausted.

47. Any real estate in the corporate limits of said town belong-
ing to the person or estate assessed with town taxes or levies due
on such real estate, may be rented or leased by the treasurer, or other
officer whose duty it is to collect town taxes and levies, either on the
premises or at some public place in the town, after giving not less
than fifteen days’ notice by printed or written notices posted at the
front door of the courthouse of the circuit court of Tazewell county,
and at three or more places in the neighborhood of the real estate
to be leased. Such lease shall be for a term not exceeding one year,
and for cash sufficient to pay the levies due on real estate so rented,
and the cost and charges of advertising and leasing.

When real estate 1s advertised for leasing for the town taxes
and levies thereon and there is any tenant in possession of the prop-
erty so advertised, then the treasurer or other collecting officer mak-
ing the lease, shall serve upon such tenant at least five days prior to
the day of leasing a copy of the notice of leasing.

When the treasurer or other such officer advertises and leases
or advertises without leasing, a parcel of real estate under this sec-
tion, he shall receive a fee of sixty cents, to be paid as part of the
cost of his proceeding.

47. Any payment of taxes or levies by the tenant, unless under
an express agreement by which the tenant is bound to pay such
taxes, shall be a credit against the person to whom he owes rent.

48. No deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chattels shall

revent the same from being distrained and sold for town taxes or
evies against the grantor in said deed while such goods and chattels
remain in the grantor’s possession; nor shall any such deed prevent
the goods and chattels conveyed from being distrained and sold for
town taxes or levies thereon, no matter in whose possession they may
be found.

49. The officer of the town, whose duty it is to collect the town
taxes and levies, shall have all powers to levy upon and distrain
goods and chattels of the tax debtor or any other person therefor
that may be given by the laws of this State to the officer of a town
whose duty it is to collect town levies and taxes.

50. When the treasurer or other officer whose duty it 1s to col-
lect town taxes and levies, cannot find sufficient goods or chattels
to distrain for municipal taxes and levies, any person indebted to
or having in his hands estate of the party assessed with such levies
or taxes may be applied to for payment thereof out of such debt or
estate; and a payment by such person or the said levies or taxes
either in whole or in part, shall entitle him to a charge or credit
for so much on account of such debt or estate against the party so
assessed. If the person applied to does not pay so much as may
seem to the treasurer or other such officer ought to be recovered on
account of the debt or estate in his hands, the treasurer or other
such officer shall, if the sum due for such taxes or levies does not
exceed twenty dollars, procure from the mayor or any councilman
of the town or from a justice of the peace a summons directing such
person to appear before the mayor, or some councilman of the town
or some justice of the peace at such time and place as may seem rea-
sonable; and if the sum due exceed twenty dollars, shall procure
from the clerk of the circuit court of Tazewell county a summons
directing such person to appear before the said court on the first
day of the next term thereof; and from the time of the service of
any such summons, the said taxes and levies shall constitute a lien
on the debt so due from such person, or on the estate in his hands.

If such summons be returned executed, and the person so sum-
moned does not appear, judgment shall be entered against him for
the sum due for such taxes and levies and for the fees of the clerk,
mayor, councilman, or justice and of the officer who executed the
summons.

If the person so summoned appear, he shall be interrogated on
oath, and such evidence may be heard as may be adduced, and such
judgment shall be rendered as, upon the whole case, shall seem

roper.

P BL. The treasurer or other officer whose duty it is to collect
town taxes and levies after ascertaining which of the taxes and
levies assessed in the town cannot be collected, shall not later than
the fifteenth day of June in each year, make out lists of such as
cannot be collected upon forms similar to those prescribed for
county treasurers, with the names of the persons chargeable with
such town taxes and levies placed thereon alphabetically; and such
lists shall be of four classes.

First: A list of property on the commissioner’s land book
improperly placed thereon or not ascertainable, with the amount of
the municipal levies charged thereon.
Second: A list of other real estate which is delinquent for the
non-payment of the municipal levies thereon.

Third: A list of such municipal levies assessed other than on
real estate as he is unable to collect, including the capitation levies
included in lst number four below.

Fourth: A list of such capitation taxes or levies as he is unable
to collect.

At the foot of each list subscribe the following oath: |

,

oe Ppa ee , of the town of Pocahontas, in
Tazewell county, who is charged with the duty of collecting the
taxes and levies of said town, do swear that the foreging list 1s, I
verily believe, correct and just; that I have received no part of the
town levies mentioned in the said list; and that I have used due
diligence to find property within my town liable to distress for
the said levies, but have found none.”

52. Each of the said lists shall be presented to and examined
by the town council together with the tax or levy tickets corre-
sponding thereto; and if the said council be satisfied of the correct-
ness of the list, and that the taxes or levies are correctly extended,
or having corrected them, if erroneous, it shall credit the treasurer
or other officer charged with the collection thereof with the amount
thereof; and thereafter the treasurer or other such officer shall be
under no liability for failure to collect the same, and such delin-
quent tax or levy tickets shall be delivered to the town sergeant for
collection. .

53. The original of the lists whereof credit may be allowed, the
said recorder of the town shall transmit to the auditor of public
accounts a copy of the list of real estate appearing thereby to be
delinquent, showing the amount of delinquency of each lot, or levies
appearing thereby to be delinquent.

The said recorder of the town shall at the same time he certified
said lists to the auditor of public accounts, make two other copies
of the same, one of which he shall deliver to the clerk of the cir-
cuit court of Tazewell county to be delivered by him to the treasu-
rer of Tazewell county as hereinafter provided, and the other of
which he shall deliver to the clerk of the court of Tazewell county
to be recorded by him as hereinafter provided.

54. When the clerk of the circuit court of Tazewell county deliv-
ers to the treasurer of said county a list of real estate delinquent for
the non-payment of State taxes and county levies, he shall also
deliver to said treasurer the said copy of real estate delinquent for
the non-payment of municipal levies of the town of Pocahontas.
Upon receipt of which lists the county treasurer shall proceed to
post and distribute copies of such list and advertise for sale, the
real estate so delinquent as is provided by the laws of this State
in the case of real estate delinquent for the non-payment of State
taxes and county levies and capitation taxes.

93. After such lists of such delinquent municipal levies and
capitation taxes are delivered to the treasurer of Tazewell count
he shall have the authority to receive payment thereof, and for ant
collections thereof he shall receive a commission of ten per centum,
and unless the amount for which said lands so delinquent and such
municipal capitation taxes together with the interest, costs and
charges shall have been previously paid to such treasurer, he shall
proceed to sell such real estate so delinquent at the same time and
place, and in the same manner as the real estate delinquent for the
non-payment of State taxes and county levies.

56. The sale of the treasurer of Tazewell county of lots of the
land in the town of Pocahontas shall be of each lot separately. or such
undivided interests therein as shall be sufficient to satisfy the State
taxes, county levies and municipal levies thereon, with interest, costs
and charges, as provided by law, and its proportion of expense.

57. All proceedings in anywise connected with the sale of the
land in the town of Pocahontas, for the non-payment of municipal
levies thereon, the duties of the treasurer of Tazewell county with
reference to such sale, reports of such sales, confirmation of such
sales, rights of purchasers at such sales, rights of redemption of
land so sold, duties of the clerk of the circuit court of Tazewell
county as to such sales, the making of deeds to purchasers at such
sales, and all such matters, shall be the same as are provided by the
law of this State as to sales of land delinquent for the non-payment
of State taxes.

58. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the circuit court of Taze-
well county to lay a copy of the treasurer’s report of such sales
before the council of the town of Pocahontas at the next meeting
thereof after the clerk has certified such report to the auditor of
public accounts, and the town council shall charge the said treasu-
rer with whatever is due on account of said sale for municipal levies

less a commission of ten per centum, and his sureties on his official
bond shall be liable therefor.

59. When any real estate is offered for sale for the non-pay-
ment of State taxes, county levies or municipal levies of the town
of Pocahontas, as provided in this act, and the laws of the State.
and no person bids the amount chargeable thereon, the treasurer
shall purchase the same in the name of the auditor of public accounts
for the benefit of the State and county or the town, respectively,
unless such real estate has been previously purchased in the name
of the auditor, in which case it shall be sold for such price as it
will bring.

A list of real estate so purchased in by the treasurer, showing
in whose name sold, the amount of taxes, county levies, municipal
levies, costs and charges, certified by his oath, shall be returned by
him to the circuit court of Tazewell county at the time he returns
his report of sales of delinquent lands as is provided by law. If
the court finds said list to be correct, or having corrected the same,
where there are errors, it shall confirm the same and direct its clerk
to transmit a copy thereof to the town council of Pocahontas at
their next meeting. On receipt of said copy, the town council of
the town of Pocahontas shall credit the treasurer with the amount
of town levies chargeable on such real estate so purchased in the
name of the auditor.

60. When any real estate in the town of Pocahontas is sold for
less than the aggregate amount of taxes, county levies, and muni-
cipal levies thereon, what may remain after the Commonwealth’s
lien for its taxes and interest is satisfied, shall go ratably to the
county and town of Pocahontas.

61. Where town levies of the town of Pocahontas are paid to
the auditor of public accounts in redemption of any delinquent real
estate in said town, he shall immediately thereafter, account for and
pay over the same to the treasurer of the town.

62. The clerk of Tazewell county shall pay over to the treasu-
rer of the town all levies of the town of Pocahontas received by him
under the provisions of this act and the general laws of this State
within ten days after collecting the same, and take and file receipts
therefor in his office.

67. So soon as the clerk of the circuit court of Tazewell county
shall receive from the recorder of the town council of Pocahontas,
copies of the lists of the real estate within the town of Pocahontas
delinguent for the non-payment of town levies thereon and of per-
sons delinquent for the non-payment of taxes he shall record and
index the same in a book to be kept for such purpose, without wait-
ing for a sale to be had thereof. Such book shall be furnished by
the town of Pocahontas and shall conform as near as may be to
the book in which real estate delinquent for the non-payment of
State taxes and county levies and State capitation taxes. For
recording such lists and indexing the same, the said clerk shall be
entitled to a fee of five cents per name, to be paid by the town of
Pocahontas.

68. In addition to the bond herein required of the sergeant and
the recorder, the council may require any other officer of said town
to enter into a bond for the faithful performance of his duties as
such officer in such penalty as they may prescribe.

69. Each councilman of the town of Pocahontas, for his ser-
vices, shall receive a salary of twenty-five dollars per annum.

70. All ordinances now enforced in the town of Pocahontas not
inconsistent with this act shall be and remain in force until amended
or repealed by the town council.

The present mayor and councilmen of the town shall be and
remain in office until] the expiration of their several terms, and the
present officers of the town elected by said council, shall remain in
office until the expiration of their several terms. unless sooner re-
moved by the council.

72. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed in so far as they affect the provisions of this act and all
former acts chartering or amending the charter of the town of
Pocahontas are hereby repealed.

AN emergency caused by reason of a change in the revenue as

rovided for in this act for the fiscal year beginning February first
of this year, this act shall be enforced from its passage.