CHAPTER 314

An Act to amend and reenact Section 4 of Chapter 480 of the Acts of
Assembly of 1942, approved April 7, 1942, being the charter of the
town of Chatham, the section relating to certain administrative and
governmental duties, powers, and procedures.

[(S 377]

Approved March 11, 1952

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That Section 4 of Chapter 480 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942, ap-
proved April 7, 1942, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 4. Administration and Government.

(1) The present mayor and council of the town of Chatham shall
continue in office until the expiration of the term for which they were
respectively elected, or until their successors are duly elected and quali-
fied.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this charter, all powers of the
town and the administration and government of the said town shall be
vested in the council of the Town of Chatham, and such boards or officers
as are hereafter mentioned, or may be by law otherwise provided.

(3) On the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and forty-two,
and every two years thereafter, there shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the Town of Chatham, one elector of the town, who shall be
denominated mayor, and six other electors who shall be denominated the
councilmen of the town, and said mayor and councilmen shall constitute
the town council. They shall enter upon the discharge of the duties of
their offices on the first day of September next succeeding their election,
and shall continue in office until their successors are duly elected and
qualified. Every person elected shall take an oath faithfully to execute
and discharge the duties of his office to the best of his judgment, and
the mayor shall take the oath prescribed by law for State officers. The
failure of any person elected or appointed under the provisions of this
Act to qualify or to take the oath required, within the time prescribed
for entering upon the discharge of the duties of the office to which he
is elected or appointed, shall vacate the said office, and the council shall
proceed and are hereby vested with power to fill such vacancy in the
manner herein prescribed.

(4) There shall be appointed for the town a registrar and officers
of election in the manner provided for by general law of Virginia, and
all elections held in said town shall be governed in accordance with said
general law; the electorate shall be that prescribed by general law.

(5) The council of the town shall judge the election, qualification
and return of its members; may fine them for disorderly conduct, and
with concurrence of two-thirds vote of the council, expel a member. If
any person returned, be adjudged disqualified, or be expelled, a new
election to fill the vacancy shall be ordered by the council and held on
such day as it may designate by ordinance. Any other vacancy occuring
during the term of any member of the council shall be filled by the council
by the appointment of any one elegible to such office. A vacancy in the
office of mayor shall be filled by the council from the electors of the town,
and any member of the council may be eligible to such office.

(6) For the transaction of busines by the council, four members of
whom the mayor may be counted as one, shall constitute a quorum.

(7) Each member of the council may receive a salary to be fixed by
the council, payable at such times, and in such manner, as the council
may direct, but the salary paid to any one member during any year shall
not exceed the sum of sixty dollars per annum; the mayor may receive
a salary to be fixed by the council, payable in such manner and at such
times as the council may direct, not to exceed the sum of five hundred
dollars per annum; and the council is also empowered to provide that
the salary of the mayor shall be in lieu of any fees he is entitled to re-
ceive for acting as justice of the municipal court. The present acting
council of the town shall receive no salary for their services during the
remaining part of their present term, but may set a salary for both
mayor and councilmen to begin on and after the first day of September,
nineteen hundred and forty-two.

(8) The mayor shall preside at the meetings of the council and per-
form such other duties as may be prescribed by this charter and by
general law, and such as may be imposed by the council, consistent with
his office. The mayor shall have no right to vote in the council except
that in case of a tie vote then the mayor shall vote. The mayor shall,
unless the council shall by resolution place the trial of violations of town
ordinances in the hands of the trial justice, or some other duly authorized
person, be clothed with authority to try all violations of any ordinance
of the town, and shall be a conservator of the peace within the limits of
the town. There may be two justices of the peace for the town of Chat-
ham who shall be appointed by the council and shall hold office during its
pleasure, and such justices may be justices of the peace for Chatham
Magisterial District. They shall be conservators of the peace within
the limits of the town of Chatham, and one mile beyond, and shall
have the right and authority to issue warrants and summon witnesses
involving violations of town ordinances. All warrants and process issued
by the justices shall be returnable before the mayor. The compensa-
tion of said justices of the peace shall be determined by the council of
the town and shall be cither in the form of a salary or the fees which
the justices collect.

(9) The council shall, as soon as practicable, after qualification,
choose one of its members as vice mayor. The vice mayor shall perform
the duties of the mayor during his absence or disability, and in event of
a vacancy for any reason in the office of mayor, he shall serve until a
mayor is duly appointed by the council or is elected. The said vice mayor
shall continue to have all rights, privileges, powers, duties and obliga-
tions of councilman while performing the duties of mayor during the
absence or disability of the mayor of the town, and the said vice mayor
shall be clothed with authority to try all violations of any ordinance of
the said town in absence of the mayor or in event of the mayor for any
reason being disqualified to try any such violation. In the absence of
the mayor or vice mayor, the mayor may designate a member of the
council to perform his duties.

(10) The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time for their meetings,
but shall have at least one meeting each month. Special meetings shall
be called by the clerk at the instance of the mayor or any three members
of the council, in writing; no business shall be transacted at a special
meeting but that for which it shall be called, unless the council be unani-
mous. The meetings of the council shall be open to the public except
when in the judgment of the council the public welfare shall require
executive sessions.

(11) The council shall keep a minute book, in which the clerk shall
note the proceedings of the council, and shall record proceedings at large
on the minute book and keep the same properly indexed.

(12) The council may adopt rules for regulating its proceedings,
but no tax shall be levied or corporate debt contracted except by a vote
of two-thirds of the council, four votes being counted as two-thirds,
which vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and recorded in the minute
book. It may appoint such committees as may be deemed proper for
mi transaction of business, and may compel attendance of absent mem-

ers. -
(13) The council may require the mayor to communicate to it an-
nually as soon after the close of the fiscal year, or oftener, if necessary
a general statement of the condition of the town in relation to its govern-
ment, finances and improvements, with such recommendations as he may
deem proper.-. He shall exercise a constant supervision over the conduct
of all subordinate officers, have power and authority to investigate their
acts, have access to all books and documents in their offices, and may
examine such officer on oath. He shall have power to suspend all officers
appointed by the council until the next regular meeting of the council,
but such suspension shall in all cases be for misconduct in office or
neglect of duty, to be specified in the order of suspension. In case of
suspension of any officer the mayor shall submit a written reoprt of
the same to the council at its next regular meeting, or any meeting called
for that purpose, specifically designating the charge against the officer
and reasons for dismissal, and in case of suspension by the mayor, he
shall have power to appoint some other person in his place to hold such
office and perform the duties thereof until the next regular meeting of
the council.

(14) Every ordinance passed by the council for the violation of
which a penalty is imposed shall be published in such way as the council
may order, so as to give general publicity thereto, and no order may
become effective until so published, either by handbills posted in at least
two public places, or in a newspaper published and having general cir-
culation in the town, except in the case of an emergency, in which in-
stance the ordinance shall so state and shall become effective immediately
upon is passage. If published by handbill, a certification of the posting
thereof shall be made by the clerk or sergeant as to the time and place
where the ordinance is recorded, provided however, that after the ex-
piration of six months from date of the passage of any ordinance, its
publication shall not be questioned, or its validity affected by any failure
to publish the same.