Chap. 110.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 2 and 5 of article II of an
act entitled an act to incorporate the town of Phoebus in Elizabeth City county,
approved January 22, 1900, as heretofore amended, and to amend said act by
adding thereto a new section numbered section 7. [H B 91]

Approved March 7, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions two and five of article two of an act entitled an act to incor-
porate the town of Phoebus, in Elizabeth City county, approved Jan-
uary twenty-second, nineteen hundred, as heretofore amended, be
amended and re-enacted, and that said act be amended by adding
thereto a new section numbered section seven, which amended section
and new section shall read as follows:

Section 2. Article II (a) At the first meeting of each council
after the members thereof shall have qualified, such council shall
appoint a town sergeant who shall be an elector of the said town and
not a member of the council. The town sergeant shall perform the
duties herein specified and hold office for two years, or until his suc-
cessor shall have been appointed and have qualified, subject to the
general laws and the powers of this charter as to removal before the
expiration of his term of office, and in the event of any vacancy ex-
isting in said office, the council shall fill such vacancy for the unex-
pired term of such office.

(b) The mayor shall be chief magistrate of the municipal cor-
poration hereby created, and he shall have exclusive original jurisdic-
tion of all offenses of whatever nature against the ordinances of the
town, and the general laws of the State of Virginia, and in addition
is vested with all rights, powers and privileges conferred upon such
office by the general laws governing towns of less than five thousand
inhabitants; and in civil cases that arise within the corporate limits,
he shall have and exercise all powers vested in a justice of the peace
by the laws of this State. The mayor shall be president of the coun-
cil, and as such, shall preside at its meetings, but he shall have no
vote, except that in case of a tie, upon any question which may be
before the council for consideration, then the mayor shall have the
casting vote. He, or any three members of the council, may call spe-
cial sessions of that body.

(c) The mayor shall receive for his services such a salary as the
council may deem proper, provided the same shall not exceed one thou-
sand two hundred dollars per year, which salary shall be in full com-
pensation for all services and in lieu of all fees for the trial of State
and municipal offenses, but the mayor shall receive, in addition to
his salary, the fees allowed by law for the hearing of civil cases; he
shall tax and collect the usual fees for violation of State and muni-
cipal laws prescribed by the statute, or by the ordinances of the town,
and all fees so collected shall be paid into the town treasury monthly,
and the mayor shall perform such other duties required of him by
the general laws of this State and of this charter.

(d) It shall be the duty of the recorder to keep a fair and proper
record of the proceedings of the council, and to publish in such man-
ner as the council may indicate, the by-laws, ordinances and resolu-
tions that may from time to time be adopted. He shall, under such
ordinances and resolutions as the council may adopt issue licenses to
all persons engaged in a pursuit, business, occupation, calling, pro-
fession or other purpose for which a license shall be required, and
shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the
council and by the provisions of this act, for which services he shall
receive such compensation as the council may determine to be right
and proper, not exceeding seventy-five dollars per month. But be-
fore entering upon the discharge of his duties, the recorder shall enter
into a bond, with security to be approved by the council in the pen-
alty of five hundred dollars, payable to the town of Phoebus, Virginia,
conditioned upon the faithful performance of his duties.

(e) The treasurer shall keep all funds and other moneys belong-
ing to the corporation, and pay out the same on the order of the
council, drawn by the mayor and attested by the recorder. The said
treasurer shall be required to give bond before entering upon the dis-
charge of the duties of his office, with security to be approved by the
council, in the sum of five thousand dollars, payable to the town of
Phoebus, Virginia, and shall make to the council, at such times as it
May require, a statement of all his receipts and disbursements. He
shall receive no salary, but his compensation for the performance of
his duties shall be a commission of five per centum of all moneys re-
ceived by him from all sources except on the proceeds of bonds issued
by the town or money borrowed by the town, upon which amounts
collected as the proceeds from the sales of bonds or from money bor-
rowed he shall receive a commission of one-fourth of one per centum
only, and no money collected and invested by the town and subse-
quently paid back, upon which he shall receive a commission of five
per centum only upon the interest collected thereon.

(f) The town sergeant shall be a conservator of the peace,
and, in civil cases that may arise within the corporate limits of the
town, he shall be vested with all the power which the general laws of
this State confer upon constables; his jurisdiction as a police officer
shall extend one mile beyond the corporate limits. He shall possess
the like right of distress and power in collecting municipal taxes
possessed by a sheriff or constable in collecting State and county taxes.

(g) All fees arising from the performance of his duties, other
than in civil matters, shall be collected by the mayor and turned into
the treasurer of the town. He shall receive as the full compensation
for the discharge of his duties, other than those in purely civil matters,
such salary as may be prescribed by the council, not exceeding one
hundred and fifty dollars per month. The sergeant before entering
upon the discharge of his duties, shall execute a bond, with security to
be approved by the council, in the sum of one thousand dollars, pay-
able to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and conditioned upon the
faithful discharge of his duties, and the payment to the said town
of all moneys and fines collected and received by him by virtue of his
office, and such bond shall be recorded in the clerk’s office of the
county court of Elizabeth City circuit; the town sergeant shall be
under the direct control of the council and shall perform such duties
as may be required of him of this act and by the resolutions or or-
dinances of the council; and he shall be subject to removal by a vote
of at least six members of the council for incompetence, misconduct
or negligence of duty after reasonable notice. The town sergeant
shall be ex-officio chief of police of the town, and as chief of police
shall see that all the laws of the State are faithfully executed and car-
ried out by the police force and shall be at all times subject to such
rules and regulations as may be passed by the council governing the
police force and the management thereof.

Section 5. The council shall have the power to appoint such po-
lice officers as to it may seem proper, and shall prescribe the compen-
sation for policemen; provided, that the salary of each shall not ex-
ceed one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month. Costs shall be
charged against persons arrested or summoned by such policemen
for violation of State statutes and town ordinances, as in cases of
arrest or summons by a sheriff, constable or town sergeant, and such
costs shall be collected by the mayor and paid into the town treasury.

The council shall also elect one of its number as vice-president of
the council, who shall during the absence of the mayor, or his in-
ability to act, have the same powers and duties as the mayor.

Section 7. Article Il. Beginning September first, nineteen hun-
dred and thirty-three, each member of the council shall receive, sub-
ject to the provisions of the charter of the town of Phoebus, Virginia,
and its amendments thereto, a salary of sixty dollars per year, such
salary to be paid in equal monthly installments. This not to include
officers, including the mayor, who are otherwise provided for by
separate provisions of the charter of the town of Phoebus, Virginia.

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