Chap. 64.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Hillsville, situated in
Carroll County, and to repeal all other acts inconsistent with this act, when
this act shall become effective. [S B 58]

Approved February 22, 1940

Whereas, The General Assembly of Virginia, by an act approved
March fifth, nineteen hundred, incorporating the town of Hillsville,
and an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia to amend and re-enact
said town charter approved February twenty-fifth, nineteen hundred
and twenty-six, and an Act of the General Assembly of Virginia to
amend and re-enact section three of said charter approved March
twenty-second, nineteen hundred and thirty; and

Whereas, It is desirable to repeal the said charter and all amend-
atory acts and to provide a new charter, to read as follows:

{. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
the town of Hillsville in the county of Carroll, be, and is hereby made
a town corporate by the name of Hillsville, and as such, shall have
and exercise all the powers conferred upon towns of less than five
thousand inhabitants by the general laws of this State now in force
concerning towns, or that may hereafter be enacted for the govern-
ment of towns, so far as the same are not inconsistent with this act.

2. The boundaries of the town of Hillsville shall be as follows:
Beginning at the ford of Beaver Dam Creek on the Floyd Turnpike
Road: thence up said creek to the Mill Road; thence a straight line
to the corner of H. H. Farmer and E. W. Early on the Fancy Gap
Turnpike Road; thence a straight line to Cranberry Creek at the
point where the creek crosses the line between Stephen Wilkinson
and Martha Mitchell; thence with said creek to the Grayson Turn-
pike Road; thence a straight line to the Mitchell’s stillhouse branch;
thence a straight line to the corner of the Tipton heirs and William
Dalton on the Fancy Gap Turnpike Road; thence a straight line to a
point on the Dug Spur Road, three poles north of the graveyard lot:
thence a straight line to the beginning, being the exact lines desig-
nated in the original act of the legislature incorporating the said
town, approved March fifth, nineteen hundred.
3. The council of the town of Hillsville shall be composed of
the mayor and four members.

4. The mayor shall be elected by the legally qualified voters of
the said town at large, and the four members of the council shall be
elected as follows: One from that part of each of the four magisterial
districts, Laurel Fork, Pipers Gap, Sulphur Springs and Pine Creek,
which lie within the corporate limits of the town of Hillsville, by
the legally qualified voters of said parts, respectively.

5. The mayor shall preside over the council meetings, and shall
be entitled to vote only when there is a tie vote of the council mem-
bers. He shall be invested with all of the powers and rights of a
justice of the peace within the corporate limits of the said town.
The council may elect one of its members as vice-mayor who in the
absence of the mayor, or in a case in which the mayor is interested,
shall have and exercise the same rights and powers as the mayor.

6. The administration and government of the town shall be
vested in the mayor and four members, who shall constitute the
town council, all of whom shall be electors of said town, the council-
men being from the district from which he or she is elected. Any
three members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the trans-
action of business at any regular or called meeting.

7. The town council may appoint additional officers for said
town as they may deem proper, such as clerk or secretary, treasurer,
chief of police, sergeant, or sergeants, town manager, commissioner
of the revenue, attorney, and such other officers, committees and
commissions as may be deemed proper for the efficient administra-
tion of the town government, subject to such regulations as they
deem advisable consistent with the provisions of this act and the
general laws of this State. The offices of clerk or secretary and
treasurer may be held by any member of the council, and the offices
of chief of police, sergeant, town manager and commissioner of the
revenue may be held by a person designated by the council, or each
office may be held by different persons as the council may deem
proper, and such offices shall only be held coincident with the council,
but such officer may be removed at any time in the discretion of the
council.

8. The duties and compensation of all municipal officers, except
as herein, or hereafter by the general laws of this State, defined or
provided, shall be defined and prescribed by the town council.

9. In case of a vacancy occurring in the office of mayor or council,
any qualified person who is an elector of said town, may be elected
to fill the office of mayor and any vacancy in the office of the council
shall be filled by the council by a qualified person from the ward in
which such vacancy shall exist.

10. Before entering upon their duties, the mayor, members of
the council and other officers of the town shall take and subscribe to
the proper oaths of office, and in case a bond is required by the council,
such appointed officer shall execute a bond payable to the Common-
wealth of Virginia with security in such amount as may be required.

11. If any person elected or appointed to office shall fail to take
and subscribe to the oath of office to which he or she has been elected
or appointed, or give bond, on or before the day on which he or she
is to enter upon the duties of such office, such person, or persons,
shall be deemed to have declined the office, and the council shall
proceed to elect the person or persons to fill the vacancy or vacancies
existing. ,

12. If any person having been an officer of said town does not
within ten days after he has vacated, terminated, or been removed
from office, and upon notification or request of the clerk or secretary
of the town council, deliver over to his successor in office all property,
books, papers, and records belonging to the town or appertaining to
such office in his possession or under his control, he shall forfeit to
the town the sum of one hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered
with costs. In addition thereto, the mayor is authorized to proceed
by mandamus proceedings in the Circuit Court to require such per-
son to deliver up said records, books, papers, and property. All
records, books, papers, documents and property used in such office
by virtue of the provisions of this act, general laws of the State,
and ordinances, or order of the town council shall be deemed the
property of the town.

13. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the town
and it shall be his duty to see that the by-laws and ordinances of the
town are fully executed. He shall have power to veto any ordinance
or by-law, and before such by-law or ordinance shall become a law,
after the same has been vetoed by the mayor, it shall require a two-
thirds vote of the council.

14. The town council shall fix the time and place of their meet-
ings, and no business shall be transacted at a called meeting of the
council unless at least three members of the council be present, and
then only such business shall be transacted as set out in the call.
The council may be convened at any time upon a written call of the
mayor setting out the purpose of the meeting; or any three members
of the council may have the council convened by writing setting forth
the purpose of the meeting; but if all members of the council, in-
cluding the mayor, shall be present, the resolutions, by-laws and
ordinances passed at such meeting shall be valid, though there be
no call in writing for said meeting, or if such call should be irregular,
or not served upon the members of the council. No vote shall be
reconsidered or rescinded at any meeting, unless at such meeting
there shall be present as large a number of the council as were present
when the original vote was taken.

15. A journal or minute book shall be kept by the clerk or secre-
tary of the proceedings of the town council, showing all by-laws,
resolutions and ordinances passed by said council; and at the request
of any member present, the yeas and nays shall be recorded on any
question. It shall be the duty of the town clerk or secretary to keep
the records indexed.

16. The town council is empowered and authorized to pass such
ordinances with reference to hogs, dogs, and other animals kept
within the town as may be proper in order to keep the town in a
sanitary condition and free from obnoxious odors, and subject said
animals to such regulation and tax as may be deemed proper by the
council.

17. The town council shall have the power to make such regula-
tions and orders as will protect its citizens from the dangers of unsafe
houses and walls, and to that end, the said town council shall have
power to cause to be condemned and taken down any such building
or wall; but no such condemnation shall be made of such house or
wall until the owner, or in case of an infant or insane person, his
guardian or committee, be duly summoned before the mayor of the
town, or court having jurisdiction and allowed reasonable oppor-
tunity to show cause against such action and the right of appeal to
the circuit court of the county in which said wall or building is located.
The town council shall have the right and power to provide for the
regular and safe construction, or repair of all buildings and houses in
said town and the material from which the same are to be built; and
to provide such building zones and manner of construction of electric
wiring, plumbing, and heating facilities, and other power that may
be necessary for the safety of the citizens and property. The said
town council shall have power to remove by condemnation any un-
sightly, insanitary, or unsafe building, and in such proceeding, ap-
praisers shall be appointed, and only the value of the building or
buildings condemned shall be allowed by said appraisers.

19. The chief of police, sergeant and privates of the police force
shall be invested with all the authority which State officers have,
such as sheriffs or constables, under the laws of this State in taking
cognizance of and enforcing criminal laws of this State and the by-
laws and ordinances of the town, and in serving civil process within
said town.

20. The town council shall have power and authority to estab-
lish a fire department for the town and do all things necessary in
maintaining the same, and regulate persons attending fires, and to
require persons to render assistance to the fire department in case of
fire.

21. The town council shall have power and authority to regulate
the keeping and storing of gunpowder, dynamite, and other com-
bustibles or inflammables within the town; and to regulate the sale
and use of fireworks, firecrackers and other combustibles, and the
discharge or shooting of fire-arms and explosives of all kinds and
descriptions; to restrict the making of bonfires in the streets and
alleys and yards; to prohibit the sale or use of any fireworks, fire-
crackers and combustibles within the said town as the council may
deem proper.

22. The town shall have power and authority to regulate water
and electric concerns within the town of Hillsville and pass such
ordinances as to the manner of distribution of the same as to lines,
wires, and poles, and conduits for the safety of its citizens; also to
acquire, manage and control a water, electric and sewer system
within said town; maintain, operate, extend and enlarge any munici-
pally owned water system within said town; to acquire within and
without said town by purchase, donation, or condemnation such
lands and waters as may be necessary for establishing, maintaining,
operating, extending, and enlarging said water works, sewer service,
electric system, or other public utility.

2214. The town council shall have power and authority, and
it shall be their duty, to make and enforce ordinances to secure the
safe use of the streets, alleys and sidewalks in said town, and to
regulate traffic thereon, for the protection of persons and property.

23. All disbursements from the funds of the town shall be by
check drawn by the treasurer, and a record shall be kept of all ex-
penditures and all collections. All disbursements shall be authorized
by the council, and a record kept showing to whom paid and for
what purpose. The town treasurer shall make an annual settle-
ment on the last day of August of each year showing all prior collec-
tions and disbursements and the balance of funds on hand. The
treasurer shall make up a detailed statement of the financial condition
of the town, which report shall be published in a newspaper published
in Carroll County.

24. The council may by two-thirds vote in the affirmative pro-
vide for an election to create a bonded indebtedness of the town for
such improvements to the town as made and provided by the general
laws of this State. In the event of an election to create a municipal
indebtedness, only freeholders residing within the corporate limits
of the town shall be eligible to vote in such election.

95. The town council shall have power and authority to provide
by a special tax and levy on all subjects of taxation liable to town
taxation under general law for the payment of interest on all bonded
indebtedness and all bonds at maturity or sooner.

26. For the execution of the powers and duties the town council
shall have power and authority to raise annually by levies, taxes,
licenses and assessments in said town such sums of money as they
shall deem proper and necessary for the same, and in such manner
as they deem expedient in accordance with the Constitution and laws
of this State and of the United States, whether taxed by this State
or not. The town council shall at its regular meeting in November,
or as soon thereafter as the council may think proper, cause to be
made up a budget for the town which shall be entered upon the
minute books, with a list of all sums lawfully chargeable on the town
required to be paid within one year, and shall order and make a
town levy on all real estate and personal property, and persons, in
addition to receipts from impositions of licenses and from other
sources. The levy so ordered may be upon any or all of the following
subjects of taxation:

(a) Male-and female persons within the town over the age of
twenty-one years.

(b) Any property, real and personal, in the town subject to
town taxation under general law. |

(c) Such other subjects of taxation as may at the time be assessed
with State taxes or county levies against persons and not specifically
exempt from municipal taxation by the Constitution or laws of this
State.
(d) Such other subjects of taxation as at the time of said levy
is ordered may be subject to municipal taxation by the laws of this
State.

27. The rate of such levies upon real estate and personal property
shall not exceed two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) upon the one
hundred dollars assessed valuations.

28. Such municipal capitation tax shall not exceed one dollar
per poll.

29. All municipal taxes imposed shall be uniform upon the same
class of subjects within the town and shall be levied and collected
under the general laws and ordinances.

30. The town council, in addition to the State taxes on licenses,
may when anything for which a license is so required is to be done
within the town, impose a tax for the privilege of doing the same,
and require a license to be obtained therefor, within the limitations
of the Constitution and laws of this State, and of the United States,
and may levy a license tax on any other business, or thing done or
carried on in the town, whether a license tax is required therefor or
not by the State, provided, however, that nothing herein contained
shall be construed to permit the imposition of a tax or requirement
of a license in any case where such imposition or requirement by
cities and towns is prohibited by general laws of this State or of the
United States. The town council is empowered and authorized to
require a license for anything done in the town for which the State
could impose a license tax, whether the State imposes the same or
not.

31. All taxes assessed or levied, whether on property, capitation,
license, dog tax, or other tax shall be a lien on any property, real or
personal, and the treasurer, or chief of police or sergeant of the town
shall have the right to levy the same and enforce collection as is
provided for the collection of taxes under the general laws of this
State. Any person, firm, concern, partnership, association, or corpora-
tion, failing to pay the treasurer, or other officer authorized to collect
taxes by the first day of February following the year in which the
taxes were assessed shall incur a penalty of five per centum on the
taxes due and unpaid; and if not paid by the first day of June follow-
ing, the taxes unpaid shall bear interest at the rate of six per centum
per annum, until paid, and the penalty and interest shall be ac-
counted for by the treasurer in the annual report and settlement.
When the treasurer or other officer of the town has to levy, or distress
for unpaid taxes, and shall sell, or levy or distrain without selling, a
fee of one dollar shall be collected in addition to the actual costs, for
the services of the treasurer or other officer.

32. The jailer of Carroll county shall receive all prisoners com-
mitted to jail from the town of Hillsville and said prisoners shall
receive the same treatment, care and attention as required for State
prisoners, and the town council shall pay for the costs of keeping
and caring for said prisoners, but the town shall only be liable for
the actual number of meals fed town prisoners. Three meals and
lodging shall constitute a day; one meal and lodging shall constitute
one-half day; two meals and lodging shall constitute three-fourths
day, and shall be paid for by the town accordingly, unless the general
laws shall make a specific provision otherwise.

33. All persons convicted who do not pay the fines imposed
upon them shall be committed to jail and there confined as is provided
by general law; but the court trying the case shall have the right to
suspend the fine and costs, and any jail sentence imposed, in its
discretion; or said court may take bond with security for the payment
of the fine and costs, on such time and terms as it may think proper,
not exceeding six months.

34. The jailer shall deliver all town prisoners to the chief of
police or other police officer of the town to work on the chain gang
within the town, if the town sees fit to work town prisoners; and
when town prisoners are worked an allowance of seventy-five cents
per day shall be allowed such prisoners to be credited on their fines
and costs.

35. The town council is hereby empowered and authorized to
prescribe a fine and jail sentence, either or both, for the doing of
anything within the town without first obtaining a license therefor,
when a license is required by the town.

36. The residence of the person, firm, concern, partnership,
association or corporation shall not determine the liability of the
subject to a license tax, but such liability shall be determined as to
whether the thing done is carried on within the corporate limits of
the town.

37. The town council is empowered and authorized to enact and
pass such by-laws, resolutions and ordinances as it deems necessary
for the general welfare, comfort, morals, law and order, and the
enforcement of the same, providing penalties for the violation of the
same by fine and jail sentence, either or both, in accordance with
the Constitution and laws of this State and the United States.

38. All by-laws, resolutions, and ordinances enacted and passed
by the town council, and in force at the time this act shall become
effective, shall remain in full force and effect, in so far as they are
not inconsistent with this act, until altered, amended or repealed
by the town council. In any court in which any ordinance, by-law
or resolution is questioned, after this act shall become effective, it
shall be construed as having been enacted and passed by the council
under the provisions of this act.

3814. 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.

39. Inasmuch as the welfare of the town of Hillsville requires
prompt action, an emergency rendering it necessary that this act
become effective at once, therefore, this act shall be in force from its
passage.