Chap. 188.—An ACT to amend the charter of the city of Danville, so as to
amend and re-enact section 1 of chapter 3, sections 1 and 2 of chapter 4,
sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of chapter 5, and section
2 of chapter 10, of an act approved February 17, 1890, entitled an act
to incorporate the city of Danville, as the same, or any of said sections,
may have been heretofore amended. [H B 132]

Approved March 14, 1918.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tion one of chapter three, sections one and two of chapter four, sec-
tions one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven
and twelve of chapter five and section two of chapter ten, of the
charter of the city of Danville, as contained in an act approved
February seventeen, eighteen hundred and ninety, entitled an act to
incorporate the city of Danville, as the same, or any of said sections
may have been heretofore amended, be amended and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

Chapter III.

Section 1. There shall continue to be for the said corporation
a court of record, which shall be called the corporation court of Dan-
ville, and shall be held by the judge thereof, with such powers and
jurisdiction and at such times as the Constitution and laws of the
State for the government of corporation courts may provide. The
judge of said court shall reside in said city and shall be paid such
salary as may be provided by law.

Chapter IV.

Section 1. (a) There shall be elected by the qualified voters
of the city, on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
twenty, and every four years thereafter, a mayor, who shall be
the chief executive officer of said city, whose term of office shall
begin on the first day of September, succeeding his election, and
continue for four years thereafter.

At said election and every two years thereafter, the voters of
each ward shall also elect, from their respective wards, such mem-
bers of the common council and board of aldermen as are required
to be elected, so that one-half of the members of each branch shall
be elected every two years; the terms of office of said councilmen
and aldermen shall begin on the first day of September succeeding
their election, and continue for four years thereafter.

On Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nineteen hun-
dred and twenty-one, and every four years thereafter, the qualified
voters of said city shall elect a city sergeant, an attorney for the
Commonwealth, city treasurer, and all other city officers elected by
the qualified voters whose election is not otherwise provided for by
law, whose term of office shall begin on the first day of January
next succeeding their election and continue for four years thereaf-
ier. On Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nineteen hun-
jred and twenty-one, and every eight years thereafter, there shall
also be elected by the qualified voters of said city, a clerk of the
corporation court, who shall likewise be clerk of the circuit court
of Danville, whose term of office shall begin on the first day of Feb-
ruary of the second year after such election, and shall continue
thereafter for eight years.

On Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nineteen hun-
dred and twenty-one, and every four years thereafter, the qualified
voters of each ward of said city. shall elect from their respective
wards one justice of the peace, who shall hold office for a term of
four years, and until his successor is elected and qualified, unless
sooner removed from office.

The commissioner of the revenue for said city shall be elected
or appointed for a term of four years in the manner prescribed by
aw.

b) When any vacancy shall occur in either branch of the coun-
cil, by death, resignation, removal from the ward, failure to qual-
ify, or from any other cause, the branch in which such vacancy
occurs shall elect a qualified person to supply the vacancy for the
unexpired term.

(c) In case-of a vacancy arising in any office elective by the
people, except as otherwise provided, the same shall be filled by the
corporation court or the judge thereof in vacation; provided, how-
ever, that whenever a general election will occur before the expira-
tion of the term of such officer, at which an election can be legally
held for the purpose, the corporation court, or the judge thereof in
vacation, shall issue his writ requiring an election to fill such
vacancy or vacancies to be held at such general election, in the man-
ner prescribed in the general laws of the State; the term of office
of any person appointed under this section shall commence as soon
as he shall qualify, and continue for the unexpired term of said
office, or until his successor is elected and qualified as herein pro-
vided.

(d) Whenever any special election shall be ordered by the city
council for an object not provided for in the general election laws
of the State, the council shall communicate the facts and its order
for the same to the corporation court, or the judge thereof in vaca-
tion, and the same proceeding shal! be had as provided by the laws
of the State for special elections to fill vacancies in any municipal
office.

Sec. 2. No person shall be capable of holding at the same time
more than one elective city office; and removal from the city of any
one holding any municipal office shall vacate the same.

CHAPTER Y.

Section 1. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters
of the city, for the term of four years. His salary shall be fixed
by the ordinances of the city, and paid as therein directed, and the
same shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office.

Sec. 2. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of said
city, and shall take care that the by-laws and ordinances thereof
are fully executed, He shall have the same powers and duties with
reference to his supervision over the conduct of municipal affairs
and those acting in such relation, and the general affairs of the city,
as are prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the State.

Sec. 3. The mayor shall have the right, and it shall be his duty,
to designate the chief of police or some member of the police depart-
ment to collect and report to the council, as often as it may require,
all moneys received for the use of the city from fines, forfeitures,
fees and taxes, under the laws and ordinances of the city, and such
officer shall pay the same over to the city treasurer at such times
as he may be required by the city council. The council may require
bond of such officer for the faithful performance of his duties, and
prescribe the penalty of said bond.

Sec. 4. The mayor shal] at least once in every year report to
the council the situation and condition of the city in relation to its
government, finances and improvement, with such recommendations
as he may deem proper.

Sec. 5. In criminal cases, under the laws of the State, the mayor
shall exercise all power and authority of a justice of the peace, not
not only within the corporate limits of said city, but for the space
of one mile without and around the same; and in enforcing the laws
and ordinances of the city he shall have authority to impose and
collect all fines and penalties, together with costs, and inflict such
punishments as by the said laws and ordinances are ordained as a
penalty for any breach thereof, and except where otherwise pro-
vided; the said last named fines, penalties and punishments for the
violation of the laws and ordinances of said city, may, in the sound
discretion of the mayor, be imposed, collected and inflicted by him,
in addition to the punishments prescribed by the laws of the State
for such offenses; provided, however, the city council may, by a
vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each branch, relieve
the mayor of the jurisdiction conferred by this section and create
the office of police justice for said city, but said office shall not be
filled until September first, nineteen hundred and twenty, unless
before that time there shall be a vacancy in the office of mayor, in
which event said office may be then filled.

The judge of the corporation court shall appoint such police jus-
tice who shall hold office for a term of two years from the date of
his appointment, and until his successor is appointed and qualifies,
unless sooner removed from office. He shall have all the power and
jurisdiction conferred by this section upon the mayor and shall have
such other power and jurisdiction as may be conferred upon him
by the city council not in conflict with the Constitution and laws
of the United States or of the Constitution and laws of the State
of Virginia.

The council may provide for the salary or compensation of the
police justice and provide for the appointment of such clerks and
officers of said court of the police justice and make such rules for
the government of said court as it may find proper.

enever the police justice is unable to hold court on account
of absence or sickness, or upon his certificate that he is disqualified
by reason of relationship to to the parties to try a particular case,
the judge of the corporation court may appoint some qualified per-
son to act in his place and stead.

If any person, who has been duly summoned as a witness to
attend and give evidence before the mayor or police justice, touch-
Ing any matter or thing under the charter, or any ordinance of the
city, shall fail to attend in obedience to said summons, such person
shall be fined at the discretion of the mayor or police justice in a
sum not exceeding twenty dollars.

Sec. 6. An appeal may be taken from the judgment of the mayor
or police justice, in imposing penalties for infraction of the city
ordinances, to the corporation court of the city, except in cases
where the penalty imposed is a fine not exceeding ten dollars
($10.00), in which case it shall be final.

Sec. 7. In civil cases within the corporate limits of said city,
the jurisdiction of the mayor shall be the same as that conferred
by law on justices of the peace of the several counties of the State
in their respective jurisdictions; provided, however, the city coun-
cil may, by a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each
branch, relieve the mayor of the jurisdiction conferred by this sec-
tion and create the office of civil justice for said city, but said office
shall not be filled until September first, nineteen hundred and
twenty, unless before such time a vacancy shall occur in the office of
mayor, in which event said office may be then filled.

he judge of the corporation court shall nominate, and by and
with the consent of the city council to be expressed by a majority
vote of all the members elected to said council in joint meeting of
both branches, appoint such civil justice, who shall hold office for
the term of two years from the date of his appointment, and until
his successor is appointed and qualifies, unless sooner removed from
office. Such civil justice shal] have the jurisdiction and power con-
ferred by this section upon the mayor and shall have exclusive juris-
diction for the trial of all civil cases within his jurisdiction.

The council may provide for the salary or compensation of the
civil justice and for the appointment and compensation of such
clerks and officers for said court as it may find proper. The council
may also prescribe the fees to be charged, which shall be collected
from the plaintiff before trial and paid monthly by the civil justice
into the city treasury.

In event of the inability of the civil justice to perform the duties
of his office by reason of sickness, absence, vacation, interest in the
claim, relationship to the parties, or otherwise, he shall certify such
fact to the judge of the corporation court, who shall designate some
qualified person to perform the duties of the office during such
absence or disability.

The office of civil justice and the office of police justice may be
consolidated and both offices filled by the same person, in which
event such office shall be styled “civil and police justice of Danville.”

Sec. 8. The mayor or police justice shall hold court every day
except Sunday for the cognizance of such cases as may be brought
before him under the laws of the State and the ordinances of the
city, and he shall have power to enforce the payment of any fine or
penalty imposed by him, not only for the violation of the laws of
the State and in accordance with the laws of the State, but also for
any infraction of the city ordinances, by imprisonment in the city
ail.

Sec. 9. The mayor shall see that the duties of the various city
officers, members of the police and fire departments, whether elected
or appointed, in and for said city are faithfully performed. He
shall have such powers of investigation and such powers of suspen-
sion and removal of said officers as may be prescribed by the gen-
eral laws of the State.

Sec. 10. In event of the death, resignation or removal of the
mayor, or of his inability to discharge his duties from some other
cause, his place shall be filled and his duties shall be discharged by
the president of the board of aldermen, or by the president of the
council until] another mayor is elected and qualified, or until such
inability shall cease.

Sec. 11. Within ten days after such déath, resignation or
removal of the mayor, the corporation court of the city shall order
a special election, which shall be held within thirty days after such
order is entered, to fill the unexpired term of such mayor, provided
the unexpired part of said term remaining after such election is as
much as one year. If less than one year the unexpired term shall
be filled by the council.

Sec. 12. The corporation court of the city may remove the
mayor, police justice and civil justice from office for malfeasance,
misfeasance or gross neglect of official duty, and such removal shall
be deemed a vacation of the office. The proceedings against the
mayor, police justice and civil justice, for the purpose of removing
him from office shall be by order of, or motion before, said court,
upon reasonable notice to the party to be affected thereby, and with
the right to said party of an appeal to the supreme court of appeals.

CHAPTER X.

Section 2. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of each
ward of said city, one justice of the peace from each ward, who
shall be residents of their respective wards, and shall hold office for
a term of four years, and until their successors be elected and quali-
fied, unless sooner removed from office. The said justice of the
peace shall be conservators of the peace within the city and for the
space of one mile without and around the same; and within such
limits shall possess the jurisdiction and exercise the powers con-
ferred upon justices of the peace under the laws of this Common-
wealth, and receive the same compensation, except that in civil
cases their jurisdiction shall be confined to the corporate limits
of said city, and within said limits in civil cases shall be equal
and co-extensive with that of the mayor of said city; provided,
however, that nothing herein contained shall be construed as vesting
in said justices any Jurisdiction of offenses against the ordinances
of the city, nor any jurisdiction of criminal] cases arising under
the laws of the Commonwealth, which power is vested solely in
the mayor or police justice; and, provided, also, that whenever
a civil justice 1s appointed, as provided by chapter five of this
charter, the said justices of the peaces shall not have jurisdiction
to try and decide civil cases; but shall have exclusive jurisdiction
to issue warrants in civil cases, which shall be made returnable
before the civil justice for trial and decision.

Whenever a police justice is appointed, as provided by chapter
five aforesaid, and said justices of the peace shall have concurrent
jurisdiction with the police justice, to issue warrants in criminal
cases and complaints and warrants charging offenses of whatever
nature against the ordinances of the city; and all such warrants
and complaints so issued shall be made returnable before the police
justice for trial and decision. For issuing such warrants the jus-
tices of the peace so designated shall receive such compensation as
may te fixed by the council.

enever a police justice is appointed, as provided by chapter
five aforesaid, the council shall have power to designate one or
more of said justices of the peace, and the justice so designated
shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the police justice to admit
to bail, persons charged with offenses against the city ordinances
and persons charged with criminal offenses not punishable with
death or confinement in the penitentiary, pending trial or exami-
nation before the police justice; also to recognize or commit persons
charged with such offenses to jail for trial or examination before
the police justice. The council may, by a vote of two-thirds of the
members elected to each branch, abolish the office of police justice
for said city, and the civil justice for said city, either or both.

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