Chap. 435.—An ACT to provide a mew charter for the town of Floyd, and to
repeal all acts or parts of acts in conflict therewith. [H B 477]

Approved March 24, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
town of Floyd, in the county of Floyd, as chartered by act of assembly,
approved February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two,
entitled an act to incorporate the town of Jacksonville, in the county
of Floyd, as amended by act of assembly, approved ‘January twenty-
three, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, entitled an act to change the
corporate name of Jacksonville to Floyd, as heretofore laid off, and as
may be hereafter extended, shall continue to be a body politic and
corporate by the name of the town of Floyd, and as such shall have,
exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities and powers, and be sub-
ject to all the duties now incumbent upon the said town as a body
politic and corporate; and shall have and exercise all the powers and
be subject to all the provisions of the Constitution and Code of Vir-
ginia, whether enumerated herein or not, except so far as may be
herein otherwise provided. |

2. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and a
council of four, who shall be qualified electors of said town, and shall
be elected on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
twenty-six, and every two years thereafter, by the qualified voters
who reside within the corporate limits of said town.

3. The mayor of said town shall preside at the meetings of said
council, and shall in case of a tie vote upon any question, cast the
deciding vote. He shall also exercise all civil and criminal jurisdic-
tion, now by law conferred upon a justice of the peace, and shall pre-
serve peace and good order in said town; and during his absence or
inability to act, the power conferred upon him shall be vested in any
one of said council.

4. The said council shall appoint a sergeant and as many deputy
sergeants as it may deem proper, to serve during the pleasure of said
council, who shall be invested with the full power of a constable
within the limits of said town and shall also have power to arrest
offenders within one mile of said corporate limits for offenses com-
mitted therein, provided, that nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued as limiting the jurisdiction of the mayor to try or the sergeant
or any of his deputies to arrest for offenses against the State prohibi-
tion law, committed within three miles of the town limits, it being the
intention of this charter to confer upon the mayor and sergeants, his
deputies, or other police officers of such town such authority and
jurisdiction as are expressly conferred on towns of this class by the
provisions of chapter one hundred and eighty-four of the Code as same
now exists, or as same may be hereafter amended. Said sergeant
shall collect the town taxes and have power, upon the order of the
mayor and council, to distrain and sell therefor, in like manner as a
county treasurer may distrain and sell for State and county taxes.
Said sergeant and his duties shall receive such compensation as the
council may determine.

5. The said council shall appoint a clerk whose duty it shall be
to keep the books of the town and to record the proceedings and
minutes of the council in permanent books to be provided out of the
revenues of the town, and he shall receive such compensation as the
council may determine.

6. The council shall appoint a treasurer of the town, whose duty
it shall be to receive the town revenues, whether arising from taxes,
fines, forfeitures, or otherwise, and to disburse same according to law.
upon warrants drawn by him and countersigned by the mayor; pro-
vided, that nothing in this or the preceding section shall be construed
as preventing one person from holding both the office of clerk and
treasurer.

7. The town council may by ordinance provide, that any officer
of said town whose duty it shall be to make arrests, or to collect or
receive any of the revenues of said town, shall give bond with surety
in such penalty or penalties as said council may determine, condi-
tioned according to law and for the faithful performance of the duty
imposed upon him by the laws of said town and of the State of Vir-
ginia.

8. The said council shall have power to fill any vacancies in the
offices of said town, including the office of mayor and members of
council, from whatever cause the same may originate, whether it be
from failure of such officer duly elected to qualify or otherwise; and
the officer so elected shall hold the office for the unexpired term of his
predecessor, or the term for which any person elected thereto has
failed to qualify.

9. The said council shall be the judge ‘of the election, qualifica-
tion and return of its own members; may punish them for disorderly
behavior, and with the concurrence of three-fourths of its members,
expel a member for just cause.

914. The clerk of the council shall make out the certificates of
election of the mayor and members of council; shall make out a list of
property to be assessed, real and personal, using therein the list of the
commissioner of the revenue district of Floyd county, in which said
town is located; also a capitation tax list, a list of taxes on dogs within
the limits of the corporation, a list of all persons assessed with a license
tax; and shall issue and deliver to the party charged with the collection
of taxes all tickets therefor as levied by the council.

10. The real estate within the limits of said town shall be assessed
as of the first day of February of each year by the treasurer of said
town, according to the last State or county assessment.

11. The council is authorized and empowered to raise and levy
annually by assessment, on all male and female inhabitants of the
town over the age of twenty-one years, who are not exempt by law,
and on all real and personal property in the said town, subject to local
taxation, and on all subjects and property liable to local taxation,
such sums of money as it shall deem necessary, expedient and proper
to defray the expenses of the said town, provided, that the taxes on
real and personal property shall not exceed fifty cents upon the one
hundred dollars of the assessed value thereof, and provided further
that the tax on each male and female inhabitant of said town, by way
of capitation or head tax shall not exceed the sum of one dollar.

The council shall have power to require a town license to be taken
out by any person, firm or corporation engaged in the pursuit of any
business, occupation, profession, trade or calling, whether the princi-
pal place of business of such person, firm or corporation is located in
said town, or not, before such person, firm or corporation shall be
permitted to engage in or pursue any such business, occupation, pro-
fession, trade or calling within the corporate limits of the said town;
and under this act the said town shall have the right, through its
council, to require such license whether the State of Virginia does, or
does not, require a license for any such business, occupation, profession,
trade or calling; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued to permit the imposition of license fees or taxes on any subject
of taxation, the taxation of which, by cities and towns, is expressly
prohibited by general law.
The said council is further empowered to require a license of any
agent of any oil or fertilizer company, or any stock or security sales-
man, or salesmen selling or offering to sell real estate, no matter where
the principal office of such company or of such salesman is located;
and the said council may refuse to issue such license to any person,
firm or corporation, if, in its opinion the business or occupation to be
carried on under such license would be inimical to the public welfare.

And as an incident to the exercise of the proper police power of
said town, authority is hereby expressly conferred upon said council
to levy and require the payment of a license tax upon the proprietor
of any show, circus or menagerie for each performance of such show,
circus or menagerie in said town or within one mile of the corporate
limits thereof, and may by ordinance provide punishment by fine, or
imprisonment, or both for any violation hereof.

12. The town may acquire by purchase, construction or other-
wise, any public utility necessary or desirable for the public health,
comfort, convenience or welfare of said town, such as a water system,
a filtering system, a sewerage system and a lighting system, and to
effectuate the ownership, construction or acquisition of any of same,
may exercise the right of eminent domain on lands and other property
either within or without the corporate limits of said town. And asan
incident to the acquisition, ownership or construction of any of said
utilities may borrow money for such uses and purposes, should the
voters so elect, whenever in the opinion of a majority of all the mem-
bers of the council, ascertained by a recorded affirmative vote, said
council shall deem it advisable and to the interest of the town to do so;
in which event a proper ordinance or resolution shall be drawn, in
which the plans and purposes shall be plainly stated in advance of the
submission of the proposition to the voters of said town. And for
any of such purposes, the said town at any time hereafter is auth-
orized and empowered to borrow any sum not exceeding the aggregate
of eighteen per centum of the assessed valuation of the real estate in
said town, subject to taxation, as shown by the last preceding State
or county assessment, and to issue bonds therefor, either registered
or coupon, in such denominations as the council may direct, which
bonds shall be signed by the mayor and attested by the clerk under
the seal of the town; provided, that such bonds shall not bear interest
at a rate exceeding six per centum per annum, and shall become due
and payable not exceeding forty years from the date of their issue,
and may be free of assessments for town taxes if the ordinance pro-
viding for such bond issue shall so direct. And the council acting
hereunder shall make proper provision for the payment of the annual
interest upon such bonds as may be issued under this act, and shall
provide a sinking fund for the retirement thereof at or before their
maturity.

And the council of said town shall from year to year provide by
levy and assessment on the taxable subjects in said town, and within
the limitations of the general law, such rate on the one hundred dollars
of property therein, in addition to the rate hereinbefore provided for
general purposes, as may be necessary to pay the annual interest on
said bonds and to create a sinking fund for their retirement as afore-
mentioned.

All bonds issued by the town under this act shall be advertised and
sold by the treasurer of the town, under supervision of the mayor,
which sale in advance of the delivery of said bonds to the purchaser,
shall be reported to and approved by the council; and the proceeds
from said sale shall be paid to the treasurer of the town, who shall give
bond with surety for the faithful application of the proceeds in accord-
ance with the provisions of this act and the general law.

In the event of a bond issue hereunder for any of the purposes
hereinbefore mentioned, the council of the town in office at the time
of such issue shall appoint a sinking fund commission composed of
three freeholders who are residents of the town, whose powers and
duties relating to said sinking fund shall be prescribed by ordinance,
in which ordinance the bonds of the members of such sinking fund
commission shall be fixed, with such provisions, penalty and security
as will safeguard said fund and insure the proper investments and dis-
position of same.

In all the requisites of a valid bond issue not herein specifically
mentioned or enumerated, said council shall be governed by the pro-
visions of chapter one hundred and twenty-two of the Code and the
Constitution of Virginia, as same now exists or as same may be here-
after amended.

13. The mayor and council elected on ‘the second Tuesday in
June, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, shall take the oaths of office
provided by general law before the clerk of the circuit court of Floyd
county, and shall assume the duties of their respective offices on the
first day of September following their election.

14. The council shall lay its annual levy on all property real and
personal, subject to taxation for town purposes, on the first Monday
in April of each year; and all property shall be assessed for taxation
as of the first day of February of each year. All tickets for such taxes
shall be payable on the first day of December of each year, after which
time a penalty of five per centum shall be added on all taxes which
remain unpaid.

15. All licenses issued by said town shall run from the first day
of May to the thirtieth day of April following, and there shall be no
rebate or deduction of the tax thereon for any fractional part of a
year; and the council of said town shall by proper ordinance, prescribe
the license tax on each trade, calling, profession or business to be
licensed hereunder, and shall prescribe proper penalties against all
persons, firms and corporations who may follow such trade, calling,
profession or business without having first paid such license tax.

16. The council may use the Floyd county jail for the imprison-
ment of such offenders against its laws and ordinances as may be
committed thereto by the mayor or any councilman acting in his
stead, and may establish and maintain a chain gang, composed of such
offenders as may be sent there in default of the payment of their fines
and costs, or for the term of their imprisonment.

17. The mayor and the members of the council shall be conser-
vators of the peace, and shall be charged with the duties and enjoy
the privileges and immunities appertaining to conservators of the
peace under the laws of the State.

18. The said council shall have power to pass all ordinances and
by-laws necessary for their own guidance while in meeting, and for
the proper government of the said town, not in conflict with the Con-
stitution and laws of the State or the United States, and also to pro-
vide for widening, extending and keeping the streets, walks, and alleys
of said town in order, and in the event that it shall become necessary
to lay out a new street, or alley or extend or widen the same, said town
may exercise the right of eminent domain, to the end that all improve-
ments therein for the public welfare and general good may be made.

19. The enumeration of particular powers and authority in this
charter shall not be deemed or held to be exclusive, but, in addition to
the powers and authority enumerated herein, implied hereby or appro-
priate to the exercise thereof, the said town shall have and may exer-
cise all other powers and authority which are now, or may hereafter
be possessed or enjoyed by towns of said class under the Constitution
and general laws of this State.

20. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this act shall for
any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be
invalid, such judgment shall not affect or impair the remainder of this
act, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence,
paragraph or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in
which said judgment shall have been rendered.

21. All acts and parts of acts including the former charter and
amendment thereto for the town of Floyd are hereby repealed, pro-
vided, however, that all contracts and obligations heretofore and
hereafter made by the present council, not inconsistent with this
charter and the general laws and Constitution of the State shall be
and are hereby declared to be valid and legal; and provided, further
that the mayor and council and all officers of said town unless other-
wise legally removed, shall remain in office and perform their several
duties until their successors are duly elected and qualified as provided
in this act.

22. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its
passage.