University of Virginia Library

LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS RELATING TO CITIES

UP TO AND INCLUDING THE YEAR 1908.

(So far as applicable to the City of Charlottesville).

CODE OF VIRGINIA.

Sec. 114. Councils of cities to establish election districts.

The council of a city shall establish for each ward as many
election districts as they may deem necessary, and a voting place
in each district (but so that there shall not be less than one election
district for every one thousand voters or fractional part
thereof above five hundred), and prescribe and cause to be published
the boundaries of said districts; and they may alter the
boundaries of any such election district, and arrange, increase or
diminish the number thereof, and change the voting places or
establish others therein, not to exceed, however, one voting place
for each election district: provided, that no change shall be made
in any of the said boundaries or voting places within thirty days
next preceding any general election.

Sec. 823. Councilment and other city officers forbidden
to have interest in contract with, or claim against
their city; such contract to be void.

It shall not be lawful for any member of the council or board
of aldermen, or any other officer, or agent, or any commissioner
appointed for the opening of streets, or any other member of a
committee constituted or appointed for the management, regulation
or control of corporate property of any city, during their
term for which they are elected or appointed, to be a contractor,
or sub-contractor, with the said corporation, or its agents, or
with such committee, nor shall they be interested, directly or indirectly,
in any contract, sub-contract or job of work, or materials,
or the profits or contract price thereof, or any services to be performed
for the city for pay under any contract or subcontract;

and no such councilman, officer or employee shall
be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract, sub-contract,
or job of work, or materials, or the profits or contract
price thereof, or services to be furnished or performed for the
city for pay under any contract or sub-contract; nor as agent for
such contractor, or sub-contractor, or other person furnishing any
supplies or materials. Every such contract or sub-contract shall be
void, and the officer, councilmen, agent, or member of such committee
making such contract shall forfeit to the Commonwealth
the full amount stipulated for thereby. No officer of a city, who
alone or with others is charged with the duty of auditing, settling,
or providing, by levy or otherwise, for the payment of claims
against such city, shall, by contract, directly or indirectly, become
the owner of or interested in any claim against such city. Every
such contract or sub-contract void, and if any such claim be paid,
the amount paid, with interest, may be recovered back by the city,
within two years after payment, by action or motion in the Circuit
or Corporation or Hustings Court having jurisdiction over
said city.

Sec. 1013a. Definitions of the words "incorporated
communities," "cities" and "towns."

As used in this chapter the words "incorporated communities"
shall be construed only to relate to cities and towns; all incorporated
communities having within defined boundaries a population
of five thousand or more shall be known as cities, and all incorporated
communities having within defined boundaries a population
of less than five thousand shall be known as towns; but
nothing in this section shall be construed to repeal the charter
of any incorporated community of less than five thousand inhabitants,
having a city charter at the time this act takes effect, or
to prevent the abolition by such incorporated communities of the
Corporation or Hustings Court thereof.

Sec. 1014. Survey and plan of cities and towns to be
made and recorded; effect of plan as evidence.

The council of every city and town shall (unless it has already
been done) cause to be made a survey and plan of such city or
town, showing distinctly each lot, public street, and alley therein,
the size and number of the lots, and the width of the streets and

alleys, with such explanations or remarks as they may deem
proper. The said plan, when approved by the council, shall be
entered in some one of their books, and afterwards recorded, in
the case of a city, in the clerk's office of the Corporation or Hustings
Court of such city, and in case of a town, in the clerk's office
of the county in which said town or the greater part thereof
is, and when so recorded shall remain in said office. Said plan
shall be prima facie evidence of the boundaries of the said lots,
streets and alleys.

Sec. 1015. Wards of cities; how changed; map of wards
to be recorded, and description, etc., published.

The wards of the several cities shall be as now established,
except that the council of any city, in addition to the powers
conferred upon them by section one hundred and fourteen, shall
have power, from time to time, to alter boundaries and the names
or numbers of the wards of said city, or any of them, and rearrange,
increase, or diminish the number thereof, as they may deem
proper, subject, however, to the provisions of sections ten hundred
and fifteen (b) and tend hundred and fifteen (c) of this
chapter. When any such change is made, the council shall cause
a map or diagram to be made of the wards as changed, showing
distinctly the boundaries and name or number of each, and lodge
the same with the clerk of the Corporation or Hustings Court of
the city, who shall record the same in his office and furnish an
attested copy thereof to the keeper of the rolls. The council shall,
moreover, as soon as the change has been made, cause a description
of the boundaries and the names or numbers of the wards, as
changed, to be published for ten days in some newspaper of general
circulation published in the said city: provided, that no such
change shall be made within thirty days next preceding any general
election in said city. The council of any such city shall, in
making any such change, so provide that each ward shall contain
as nearly as may be an equal number of inhabitants, and for the
transfer of all registered voters to the proper precincts and
wards without re-registration by them on account of such change.

Sec. 1015a. Councils of cities.

There shall be in every city a council. In cities of ten thousand

or more population it shall consist of two branches, having
a different number of members, one of which shall be called the
"common council," and be composed of not less than fourteen nor
more than forty members, and the other shall be called the
"board of aldermen," and be composed of not less than eight
nor more than twenty-two members. In cities of under ten thousand
population the council shall consist of only one branch, which
shall be called its common council, and be composed of not less
than eight nor more than forty members. The members of the
council of each city, and of each branch thereof, when the council
consists of two branches, shall be residents of their respective
wards and qualified voters therein, and shall be elected by the qualified
voters of such wards, and, so far as practicable, each ward in
every city shall have equal representation in the council, and in
each branch thereof, where it consists of two branches, in proportion
to the population of such ward. The members of every
council, and of each branch thereof, when it consists of two
branches, shall be elected for a term of four years; but upon the
first assembling under this act of every council, and of each
branch thereof, where there are two, the members of each branch
thereof shall be divided into two equal classes, to be determined
by lot, and the term of the members of the first class shall be two
years, and that of the members of the second class shall be four
years, and thereafter the terms of all the members of each class
shall be four years, so that one-half of each branch shall be
elected every two years: provided, however, that in cases where
the total membership of a branch is uneven, provision may be
made in such division into classes for the assignment of the odd
number to one of such classes: and provided, that all elections to
fill vacancies in any council shall be for the unexpired term: and
provided, further, that nothing in this section in conflict with the
charter of any city, whose council now consists of two branches,
shall affect the charter of said city, except in so far as the same
is affected by the Constitution. * * * In any city having a
population of ten thousand or more, where the council now consists
of only one branch, it shall be the duty of said council to
provide by ordinance for the number of members of each branch,
and to apportion the same among the wards of said city.

Sec. 1015b. Council to reapportion representation
among wards; when obligatory upon council to
change boundaries of wards.

The council, in every city, shall, in the year nineteen hundred
and three, and every tenth year thereafter, and also whenever
the boundaries of the wards of the city are changed, prescribe by
ordinance the number of members of each branch of the council
and reapportion the representation therein among the wards, but
so as to give, as far as practicable, to each ward of such city
equal representation in the council and in each branch thereof in
proportion to the population of each ward. In determining such
population, the council shall be governed by the last United States
census, or by an enumeration to be provided for by ordinance of
said council or such other enumeration as may be provided for by
law: provided, however, that whenever, by the last United States
census, or other enumeration made by authority of the council or
as may be provided by law, it shall appear that the population in
any ward exceeds that of any other ward by as much as three
thousand inhabitants, or whenever the corporate limits of the city
shall be extended or contracted, or whenever in the opinion of the
council it is necessary, it shall be the duty of the city council to
redistrict the city into wards, or so increase or diminish the number
of wards as that no one ward shall exceed any other ward
in population by more than three thousand inhabitants. For the
purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section, or whenever
it shall be considered to the interest of the city, the council
of each city shall have full power, by ordinance, to authorize an
enumeration of the population of the city, and of the different
wards thereof by such number of enumerators, with such compensation,
and in such manner, as may be provided for in such ordinance:
provided, that wherever such enumeration is authorized
the enumerators provided for in such ordinance shall be named
by the judge of the corporation court of said city, or if there be
none, by the judge of the circuit court having jursidiction thereof:
provided, however, that, if, by any change of the boundaries of
a ward, or by the increase or diminution of the number of wards,
any officer, who is required by law to be a resident of the ward
from which he is elected or appointed, shall become a resident of

a different ward, such officer shall, notwithstanding, serve as such
to the end of his term.

(An Act approved March 10, 1906—Acts 1906, p. 193.)

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That an
act approved March twelfth, nineteen hundred and four, entitled
an act to amend and re-enact section one of an act approved
March twenty-eight, nineteen hundred and three, in relation to
changing the boundaries of wards in cities and for increasing or
diminishing the number thereof, be amended and re-enacted so
as to read as follows:

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That in each city in this Commonwealth there shall be as many
wards as the city council may establish; provided, however, that
whenever, by the last United States census or other enumeration
made by authority of law, it shall appear that the population in
any ward exceeds that of any other ward by as much as three
thousand inhabitants, or whenever in the opinion of the council
it is necessary, or whenever the corporate limits of the city shall
be extended or contracted, if necessary, it shall be the duty of the
city council to redistrict the city into wards, or so change the
boundaries of existing wards, or so increase or diminish the number
of wards as that no one ward shall exceed any other ward in
population by more than three thousand inhabitants. But in no
case shall the city council redistrict the city into wards or change
the boundaries of existing wards, except in so far as it may be
necessary to change such boundaries for the purpose of attaching
newly annexed territory to such existing ward or wards as may be
contiguous thereto, oftener than once every five years, except upon
a recorded vote of three-fourths of the members elected to the
council, or three-fourths of the members elected to each
branch thereof, when the council is composed of two branches;
and in every such case the reason therefor shall be set forth in
the ordinance providing for such redistricting: and provided, that
whenever the city shall be so redistricted the judge of the corporation
or hustings court shall appoint three commissioners,
whose duty it shall be to rearrange and revise the registration
books of said city, so as to place each registered voter on the

proper precinct and ward registration books, and for this purpose
the registrars shall, upon the order of the corporation court
or judge thereof, deliver to the commissioners so appointed the
registration books for the purposes aforesaid. The commissioner
shall receive such compensation as the judge of the corporation
court may allow to be paid by the city, together with all other expenses
incurred thereby. A mandamus shall lie on behalf of any
citizen to compel the performance by the council of the duty so
prescribed.

2. In all cases in which cities have been redistricted into wards,
or in which the boundary lines of existing wards have been
changed, the ordinances of the said councils in so doing, which
were first adopted since the present constitution took effect, are
hereby validated; and said wards as designated and established
thereby, are hereby declared to be the existing wards of said
cities, and the time within which the same may be again altered
or changed, or said cities redistricted, shall be computed from the
date of the adoption of said ordinances, respectively.

3. No ordinance of any city redistricting the same into wards,
or changing the bounds of existing wards, which may be adopted
between the passage of this act and the time when the same shall
take effect, shall be valid unless the same be adopted by a recorded
vote of three-fourths of all the members elected to the
council, or three-fourths of all the members elected to each branch,
where the council is composed of two branches.

4. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

Sec. 1015c. Mandamus to lie in case of failure of council
to reapportion representation or change boundaries
or wards as prescribed in the preceding section.

Whenever the council of any city shall fail to perform the
duty of reapportioning the representation among the wards of
such city, or shall fail to change the boundaries of wards, as prescribed
in the preceding section, a mandamus shall lie in favor of
any citizen of any such city to compel the performance of such
duty.

Sec. 1015d. Members of city councils to be ineligible
during tenure of office, and for one year thereafter, to
any office to be filled by the council of which they may
be members.

No member of any council shall be eligible, during his tenure
of office as such member, or for one year thereafter, to any office
to be filled by the council—by election or by appointment.

Sec. 1015e. Vacancy; how filled.

When any vacancy shall occur in the council of a city having
one branch, or in either branch of the council of any city having
two branches, by death, resignation, removal from the ward,
failure to qualify, or from any other cause, the council, or the
branch, as the case may be, in which such vacancy occurs, shall
elect a qualified person to supply the vacancy for the unexpired
term.

Sec. 1015f. Presiding officers of city councils; their
duties.

The council of a city having one branch, and each branch of
the council of a city having two branches, shall elect one of its
members to act as president, who shall preside at its meetings
and continue in office two years, unless elected to fill a vacancy,
when the election shall be for the unexpired term. The council,
or each branch, as the case may be, shall also elect one of its members
to be a vice-president, who shall preside at such meetings
in the absence of the president, and who, when the president shall
be absent from the city or unable to perform the duties of his
office by reason of sickness or other cause, shall perform any and
all duties required of or entrusted to such president under any provision
of this chapter. When, for any cause, both the president
and the vice-president shall be absent from any meeting, a president
pro tempore shall be elected by the council or by that branch
in which such absence may occur, who shall preside during the
absence of the president and vice-president. The president, vice-president,
or president pro tempore, who shall preside when the
proceedings of a previous meeting are read, shall sign the same.
The president of the council, or of either branch, or the vice-president,
when authorized as above stated to act for the president,
shall have power at any time to call a meeting of the council,

or of his branch of the council, as the case may be; and,
in case of absence, sickness, disability, or refusal to act of both
the president and the vice-president of the council, or branch of
the council, it may be convened by the order in writing of any
three members of said council or branch.

Sec. 1015g. Rules and officers of councils; investigations
by councils and by boards of fire and police commissioners.

The council, or each branch as the case may be, shall have authority
to adopt such rules and to appoint such officers and clerks
as it may deem proper for the regulation of its proceedings, and
for the convenient transaction of business, to compel the attendance
of absence members, to punish its members for disorderly
behavior, and by a vote of two-thirds of its members, to expel
a member for malfeasance or misfeasance in office. The council,
or each branch, shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
its meeting shall be open, except when by a recorded vote of two-thirds
of those members present, the council shall declare that the
public welfare requires secrecy. The council, or either branch
of the council, or any of its committees, when authorized by the
said council or branch, the board of police commissioners, and
the board of fire commissioners, if there be such boards, may each,
in any investigation held by them, respectively, within their respective
powers and duties, order the attendance of any person
as a witness, and the production by any person of all proper books
and papers. Any person refusing or failing to attend or to testify,
or to produce such books and papers, may be summoned by
such investigating body before the police justice, or in case there
is no police justice, before the mayor, or other officer having the
powers of a justice of the peace of the city, and upon failure to
give a satisfactory excuse, may be fined by him not exceeding the
sum of one hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding thirty
days, such person to have the right of appeal, as in cases of misdemeanor,
to the hustings or corporation court of said city. Such
witness may be sworn by the officer presiding at such investigation,
and shall be liable to prosecution for perjury for any false testimony
given at such investigation.

Sec. 1015h. Rules as to quorum and the passage of certain
ordinances.

A majority of the members of the council, or of either branch,
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No
vote shall be considered or rescinded at any special meeting, unless
at such special meeting there be present as large a number of
members as were present when such vote was taken. No ordinance
or resolution appropriating money exceeding the sum of
one thousand dollars, imposing taxes, or authorizing the borrowing
of money shall be passed by the two branches on the same
day, neither shall the branch in which any such ordinance or
resolution is proposed, whether the council be composed of one
or of two branches, pass the same on the day of its introduction,
nor shall any such ordinance or resolution be valid unless at least
three days intervene between its passage by the said branches
respectively.

Sec. 1016. Election or appointment of charter officers of
cities.

The officers of all cities, whose election or appointment is not
otherwise provided for herein or under the general statutes of
the State or charters of the several cities, shall be elected or appointed
by the councils of the several cities: provided, that where
provisions are made in the charter of any city for the office of
register, or chamberlain, or assessor, no such officers shall be
elected, but the duties heretofore devolving on such register, or
chamberlain, shall be performed by the city treasurer, and the
duties heretofore devolved on such assessors shall be performed
by the commissioner of revenue: and provided, further, that
wherever the council consists of more than one branch, the election
or appointment by the city council shall be made by the two
branches in joint meeting. The president of the board of aldermen
shall preside at such joint meeting, and each member of the
two branches shall be entitled to one vote in all such elections or
appointments, as well as in all other joint meetings of the two
branches of the council.

Sec. 1017a. Powers and duties of the police force of the
cities and towns of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(1) The officers and privates constituting the police force of

the cities and towns of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall be,
and they are hereby, invested with all the power and authority
which now belong to the office of constable at common law in
taking cognizance of, and in enforcing the criminal laws of the
said Commonwealth, and the ordinances and regulations of the
city or town, respectively, for which they are appointed or elected;
and it shall be the duty of each and every one of such policemen
to use his best endeavors to prevent the commission, within the said
city or town, of offenses against the laws of said Commonwealth
and against the ordinances and regulations of said city or town;
to observe and enforce all such laws, ordinances and regulations;
to detect and arrest offenders against the same; to preserve the
good order of the said city or town, and to secure the inhabitants
thereof from violence and the property therein from injury.

(2) Such policeman shall have no power or authority in civil
matters, but he shall in all other cases execute such warrant or
summons as may be placed in his hands by any justice of the
peace for said city or town, and shall make due return thereof.

(3) Such policeman shall not receive any fee or other compensation
out of the treasury of the Commonwealth or the city
or town, for any service rendered under the provisions of this act
other than the salary paid him by the city or town, and a fee as
a witness in cases arising under the criminal laws of the said
Commonwealth, except such policeman shall not receive any fee
as a witness in any case arising under the ordinances of his city
or town; nor for attendance as a witness before any police justice,
or justice of the peace in his city or town. If, however, it
shall become necessary or expedient for him to travel beyond
the limits of said city or town in his capacity as a policeman, he
shall be entitled to his actual expenses, to be allowed and paid
as is now provided by law for other expenses in criminal cases.

(4) Nothing contained in this act shall be construed as prohibiting
a policeman from claiming and receiving any reward
which may be offered for the arrest and detention of any offender
against the criminal laws of this or any other Commonwealth or
nation.

Sec. 1018. Of city sergeant.

The sergeant of a city shall perform the duties, receive the

compensation, and be subject to the liabilities prescribed in the
charter of his city or by law, and shall also, within the jurisdiction
of the court of his city, exercise the same powers, perform
the same duties, and be subject to the same liabilities touching
all process issued by the court of such city, or by the clerk of
such court, or otherwise lawfully directed to him, that the sheriff
of a county exercises, performs, and is subject to in his county.

Sec. 1019. Allowance to sergeant by city court.

There shall be chargeable to each city such sums as the court
thereof may allow to the sergeant attending it for services rendered
to the said city: provided, that no such allowance shall be
made under this section for services rendered by the said officer
in criminal prosecutions on behalf of the Commonwealth; but
the judge of the Hustings or Corporation Court of any city
may, with the consent of the city council, make allowance to the
sergeant of said city for services in criminal cases, payable out
of the city treasury.

Sec. 1032a. Clerk of courts of cities.

In each city which has a court, in whose office deeds are admitted
to record, there shall be elected for a term of eight years,
by the qualified voters of such city, a clerk of said court, who
shall perform such other duties as may be required by law.
There shall be elected, in like manner and for a like term, all
such additional clerks of courts for cities as may be authorized
by law, so long as such courts shall continue in existence. But
in no city of less than thirty thousand inhabitants shall there be
more than one clerk of the court, who shall be clerk of all the
courts of record in such city.

Sec. 1032c. City and town officers to be chosen by electors
when not otherwise provided.

All city and town officers, whose election or appointment is
not otherwise provided for, shall be elected by the electors of
such city or town, or of some division thereof.

Sec. 1033. Mayors of cities; how chosen; their duties;
appeals from their decisions; how removed for malfeasance,
et cetera.

In every city there shall be elected by the qualified voters

thereof a mayor for a term of four years, who shall be the chief
executive officer of such city, and shall take care that the by-laws
and ordinances thereof are fully executed. 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 such city, are faithfully performed. He shall have power
to investigate their acts, have access to all books and documents
in their offices, and may examine them and their subordinates
on oath. The evidence given by persons so examined shall not
be used against them in any criminal proceedings. He shall
also have power to suspend such officers and the members of
the police and fire departments, and to remove such officers for
misconduct in office or neglect of duty, to be specified in the
order or suspension or removal; but no such removal shall be
made without reasonable notice to the officer complained of,
and an opportunity afforded him to be heard in person or by
counsel, and to present testimony in his defense. From such
order of suspension or removal, the city officer so suspended
or removed, or the member of the police or fire department so
suspended, unless the charter of the city provides for an appeal
to the board of police commissioners, or to the board of fire
commissioners, shall have an appeal of right to the corporation
court; or, if there be no such court, to the circuit court of such
city, in which court the case shall be heard de novo by the
judge thereof, in term time or in vacation, whose decision shall
be final. He shall have all other powers and duties which may
be conferred and imposed upon him by general laws. The corporation
court of a city may remove the mayor of said city
from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, or gross neglect of
official duty, and such removal shall be deemed a vacation of
the office. All proceedings against a mayor for the purpose of
removing him from office shall be by order of or motion before
said court, upon reasonable notice to the party affected thereby,
and with the right to said party of an appeal to the supreme
court of appeals.

In event of the death, resignation, removal of the mayor,
or 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, according as the city council has or has not the
branches, until another mayor is elected and qualified, or until
such inability shall cease.

Within ten days after such death, resignation, or removal of
the mayor, the corporation or hustings 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. But nothing in this
section shall be construed to alter or repeal the provisions of
the charter of any city regulating the filling of any vacancy
in the office of mayor.

Sec. 1033b. Mayors, councils, and other elective officers
of cities; when elected; when their terms begin, et
cetera.

The mayors and councils of cities shall be elected on the second
Tuesday in June, immediately preceding the expiration of
the term of office of their predecessors, and their terms of office
shall begin on the first day of September succeeding; all
other city officers elected by the electors of such cities shall be
elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November,
and their terms of office shall begin on the first day of January
succeeding, except that the terms of office of clerks of city
courts shall begin coincidently with those of the judge of their
said courts. The terms of members of the city council now in
office shall be continued until September first, nineteen hundred
and four, and all elections to fill such offices thereafter shall be
held in pursuance of section ten hundred and fifteen (a) of this
act.

Sec. 1033c. Veto power of mayor of city: when ordinance
may become operative, notwithstanding his objection;
vote to be entered on journal; no ordinance,
et cetera, appropriating over one hundred
dollars in money or authorizing the borrowing of
money to be passed, except by recorded affirmative
vote of a majority of all members.

Every ordinance, or resolution having the effect of an ordinance,
passed by the council of a city, shall, before it becomes

operative, be presented to the mayor of such city. If he approve
he shall sign it, but if not, if the council consists of two
branches, he may return it, with his objections in writing, to
the clerk, or other recording officer, of that branch in which it
originated; which branch shall enter the objections at length on
its journal and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such consideration,
two-thirds of all the members elected thereto shall agree
to pass the ordinance or resolution, it shall be sent, together
with the objections, to the other branch, by which it shall likewise
be considered, and if approved by two-thirds of all the
members elected thereto, it shall become operative, notwithstanding
the objections of the mayor. But in all such cases the
votes of both branches of the council shall be determined by
yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for and
against the ordinance or resolution shall be entered on the journal
of each branch. * * * If any ordinance or resolution
shall not be returned by the mayor within five days (Sundays
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall become
operative in like manner as if he had signed it, unless
his term of office, or that of the council, shall expire within said
five days.

The mayor of a city shall have the power to veto any particular
item or items of an appropriation ordinance or resolution;
but the veto shall not affect any item or items to which he does
not object. The item or items objected to shall not take effect,
except in the manner provided in this section as to ordinances
or resolutions not approved by the mayor. No ordinance or resolution
appropriating money exceeding the sum of one hundred
dollars, imposing taxes, or authorizing the borrowing of
money, shall be passed, except by a recorded affirmative vote
of a majority of all the members elected to the council or to
each branch thereof, where there are two; and in case of the
veto by the mayor of such ordinance or resolution, it shall require
a recorded affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the members
elected to the council, or to each branch thereof, where
there are two, to pass the same over such veto in the manner
provided in this section. Nothing contained in this section shall
operate to repeal or amend any provision in any existing city
charter requiring a two-thirds vote for the passage of any ordinance

as to the appropriation of money, imposing taxes, or
authorizing the borrowing of money.

Sec. 1033d. Streets, et cetera, of cities and towns not
to be used for certain purposes, without previous consent
of corporate authorities.

No street railway, gas, water, steam or electric heating, electric
light or power, cold storage, compressed air, viaduct, conduit,
telephone or bridge company, nor any corporation, association,
person or partnership engaged in these or like enterprises,
shall be permitted to use the streets, alleys, or public
grounds of a city or town, without the previous consent of the
corporate authorities of such city or town.

Sec. 1033e. Restrictions on the granting of franchises
and selling of public property by cities and towns.

The rights of no city or town in and to its water front, wharf
property, public landings, wharves, docks, streets, avenues,
parks, bridges, and other public places, and its gas, water, and
electric works shall be sold, except by an ordinance or resolution
passed by a recorded affirmative vote of three-fourths of
all the members elected to the council, or to each branch
thereof, where there are two, had in the manner heretofore
provided for in this chapter, to pass the same over the veto.
No franchise, lease or right of any kind to use any such public
property, or any other public property or easement of any description,
in a manner not permitted to the general public, shall
be granted for a longer period than thirty years, except for a
trunk railway, the municipality shall first, after due advertisement,
receive bids therefor publicly, in such manner as is provided
by the following section, and shall then act as may be required
by law. Such grant, and any contract in pursuance
thereof, may provide that upon the termination of the grant
the plant as well as the property, if any, of the grantee in the
streets, avenues and other public places shall thereupon, without
compensation to the grantee, or upon the payment of a fair
valuation therefor, be and become the property of the said city
or town; but the grantee shall be entitled to no payment by reason
of the value of the franchise; and any such plant or
property acquired by a city or town may be sold or leased, or,

if authorized by law, maintained, controlled, and operated by
such city or town. Every such grant shall specify the mode of
determining any valuation therein provided for, and shall make
adequate provision by way of forfeiture of the grant, or otherwise,
to secure efficiency of public service at reasonable rates,
and the maintenance of the property in good order throughout
the term of the grant. Nothing herein contained shall be construed
as repealing any additional restriction now required in
any existing municipal charter, in relation to the powers of cities
and towns in granting franchises or in selling any of their
property.

Sec. 1033f. Regulating the grant of franchise, et cetera,
by cities and towns, and providing for the advertisement
thereof and the public reception of bids therefor,
and providing for the enforcement of the obligations
of the grantees, grantors, or owners of franchises,
and providing penalties for the usurpation of
or violation of the terms and provisions of franchises.

(1) Before granting any franchise, privilege, lease, or right
of any kind to use any public property, or easement of any description,
except in the case of and for a trunk railway, it shall
be the duty of the city or town proposing to make the grant to
advertise the ordinance proposing to make the grant, after its
terms shall have been approved by the mayor, or the ordinance
passed over the mayor's veto, as in case of other ordinances,
once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper published
in said city or town; or, if no newspaper be published therein,
then in some newspaper having general circulation therein; and
the ordinance may be also advertised as many times in such
other newspaper or newspapers, published in or out of the city
or State, as the council or board of trustees, as the case may
be, may select and determine upon.

(2) Such advertisement shall invite bids for the franchise,
privilege, or right proposed to be granted in the ordinance, which
bids are to be in writing and delivered upon a day and hour
named in the advertisement to the presiding officer of the council
or board of trustees of the city or town; or, if there be more
than one branch thereof, to the presiding officer of the most

numerous branch of the city council, in open session. The costs
of the advertising herein required shall be paid by the city or
town; which, however, shall be reimbursed by the person or
corporation to whom the grant is finally made. The city or town
shall have the right to reject any and all bids, and shall reserve
this right in the advertisement hereinbefore required.

(3) The presiding officer aforesaid shall read aloud, or cause
to be read aloud, the bids that have been received for public
information, and shall then inquire if any further bids are offered.
If further bids are offered they shall be received until
no further bid is offered; but if not, the presiding officer shall declare
the bidding closed, and the bids that have been received shall
be communicated in due course to the other branch of the city
council, if there be another branch. After reference to committee
and such other investigation as the council, or either
branch of the council, sees fit to make, it shall be the duty of
the council, if it sees fit to make the grant, to accept the highest
and best bid, and to enact the ordinance as advertised, without
substantial variation, except as to the insertion of the name
of the accepted bidder: provided, that the council may, by a
recorded vote of a majority of the members elected to the council,
and to each branch thereof, if it be a council having two
branches, reject a higher and accept a lower bid, and award the
said franchise, right, or privilege to the lower bidder, if, in its
opinion, some reason affecting the interest of the city or town
makes it advisable so to do, which reason shall be itself expressed
in the body of the subsequent ordinance granting the
franchise, right, or privilege; but if, after such advertisements,
no bid, or no satisfactory bid, shall be made, the council may advertise
for further bids, and in case no bid at all is made, the
council may, if it sees fit so to do, enact an ordinance in the manner
required by law granting such franchises, rights, or privileges
to any person or corporation making application therefor:
provided, further, however, that the person or corporation to
whom any such franchise, right or privilege is awarded, whether
by competing bids or otherwise, as hereinbefore provided, shall
first execute a bond, with good and sufficient security, in favor
of the city or town, in such sum as said city or town shall determine,
conditioned upon the constructing and putting into operation

and maintaining the plant or plants provided for in the
franchise, right, or privilege granted.

(4) The subsequent ordinance actually making the grant, with
a detailed list giving names, amounts, and addresses of all bidders,
shall be presented to the mayor for his information and
for his approval or disapproval, as in the case of all other ordinances.

(5) No amendment or extension of any such franchise, right,
or privilege that now exists, or that may hereafter be authorized,
which extends or enlarges such franchise, right, or privilege,
either as to the time during which it is to last or as to the territory
in which it is to be enjoyed, shall be granted by any city
or town until the provisions of this act shall have been complied
with; and no amendment that releases the grantee, or his
assignee, from the performance of any duty required by the ordinance
granting the franchise, or that authorizes an increase in
the charges to be made by such grantee or assignee, for the use
by the public of the benefits of such franchise, shall be granted
unless and until notice of such proposed amendment shall be
given to the public by advertising the proposed amendment for
ten days in some newspaper published in the city or town; or,
if there be no newspaper published therein, then in some newspaper
having circulation therein. The cost of such advertising
shall be paid by the city or town, which shall be reimbursed by
the person to whom the amendment is granted. No such amendment
shall be adopted except by ordinance.

(6) The corporation courts of the cities and the circuit courts
of the counties in which the towns may be situated shall have
jurisdiction by mandamus, according to the provisions of section
one hundred and forty-four of the Code of Virginia, to enforce
compliance by said cities or towns and by all grantees of
franchises, whether now in force or granted under the provisions
of this act, with all the terms and contracts and obligations of
either party, as contained in franchises. Services of process in
such mandamus proceeding may be made upon any agent or
employee of such grantees residing in said city or town, or
otherwise, as provided by law for service of process on a defendant:
provided, however, that such jurisdiction in mandamus
shall not preclude any party from bringing any other suit or

action which such party would be entitled to bring without the
passage of this act, at law or in equity.

(7) Any person or corporation that shall undertake to occupy
or use any of the streets, avenues, parks, bridges, or any
other public places or public property, or any public easement of
any description in any city or town, in a manner not permitted to
the general public, without having first legally obtained the consent
thereto of the city council or board of trustees, as the
case may be, or a franchise therefor, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less
than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, each day's continuance
thereof to be a separate offense, and such occupancy shall
be deemed a nuisance, and the court or justice trying the case
shall have power to cause the said nuisance to be abated, and
to commit the offenders and all their agents and employees engaged
in such offenses to jail until such order of the court shall
be obeyed.

Sec. 1033g. Regulating the issue of bonds and other interest-bearing
obligations by cities and towns.

No city or town shall issue any bonds or other interest-bearing
obligations for any purpose, or in any manner, to an amount
which, including existing indebtedness, shall at any time exceed
eighteen per centum of the assessed valuation of the real estate
in the city or town subject to taxation, as shown by the last preceding
assessment for taxes: provided, however, that nothing
above contained in this section shall apply to those cities and
towns whose charters, existing at time of the adoption of the
Constitution, which went into effect July tenth, nineteen hundred
and two, authorize a larger percentage of indebtedness than
is authorized by this section: and provided, further, that in
determining the limitation of the power of a city or town to incur
indebtedness, there shall not be included the following classes
of indebtedness:

(a) Certificates of indebtedness, revenue bonds, or other obligations
issued in anticipation of the collection of the revenue
of such city or town for the then current year: provided, that
such certificates, bonds, or other obligations mature within one

year from the date of their issue, and be not past due, and do
not exceed the revenue for such year.

(b) Bonds authorized by an ordinance enacted in accordance
with section one hundred and twenty-three of the Constitution,
and approved by the affirmative vote of the majority of the qualified
voters of the city or town voting upon the question of their
issuance, at the general election next succeeding the enactment
of the ordinance, or at a special election held for that purpose,
for a supply of water, or other specific undertaking from which
the city or town may derive a revenue; but from and after a
period to be determined by the council, not exceeding five years
from the date of such election, whenever and for so long as
such undertaking fails to produce sufficient revenue to pay for
cost of operation and administration (including interest on
bonds issued therefor and the cost of insurance against loss by
injury to person or property), and an annual amount to be
covered into a sinking fund sufficient to pay, at or before maturity,
all bonds issued on account of said undertaking, all such
bonds outstanding shall be included in determining the limitation
of the power to incur indebtedness, unless the principal and
interest thereof be made payable exclusively from the receipts
of the undertaking.

Sec. 1033h. Assessment of property for municipal taxation
to be the same as that for State taxation.

In cities and towns the assessment of real estate and personal
property, for the purpose of municipal taxation, shall be the
same as the assessment thereof for the purpose of State taxation,
whenever there shall be a State assessment of such property.

Sec. 1038. General and enumerated powers of councils
of cities and towns.

In addition to the powers conferred by other general statutes,
the council of every city and town shall have power to
lay off streets, walks, or alleys; alter, improve, and light the
same, and have them kept in good order; to lay off public
grounds and provide all buildings proper for the city or town;
to provide a prison house and work house, and employ managers,
physicians, nurses, and servants for the same, prescribe

regulations for their government and discipline, and for persons
therein; to prescribe the time for holding markets and
regulate the same; to prevent injury or annoyance from anything
dangerous, offensive, or unhealthy, and cause any nuisance
to be abated; to regulate the keeping of gunpowder or other
combustibles, and provide magazines for the same; to provide
places for the interment of the dead in or near the city or town;
to acquire or otherwise obtain control of or establish, maintain,
operate, extend and enlarge water works, gas works, electric
plants, and other public utilities within or without the limits
of said city or town; to acquire within or without the limits
of the city or town by purchase, condemnation or otherwise
whatever land may be necessary for acquiring, locating, establishing,
maintaining, operating, extending or enlarging said water
works, gas works, electric plants and other public utilities and
the right of way, rails, pipes, poles, conduits or wires connected
therewith, or any of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof; provided,
that no city or town shall have the right to acquire by
condemnation the steam and electric plants, gas and water works,
or water power and the fixtures and appurtenances, or any part
thereof, owned and operated in whole or in part on the eighteenth
day of February, nineteen hundred and eight, by any
manufacturing corporation or public service corporation, for the
purpose of acquiring, establishing, maintaining, operating or enlarging
its electrical plant or water works; to prevent the pollution
of the water and injuries to water works, for which purpose
their jurisdiction shall extend to five miles above the same;
to make, erect and construct, within or without said city or town,
drains, sewers, and public ducts and to acquire within or without
said city or town by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, so
much land as may be necessary to make, erect, construct, operate
and maintain the same; to make regulations concerning the building
of houses in the city or town, and in their discretion to establish
and maintain parks, playgrounds and boulevards, and
cause the same to be laid out, equipped or beautified, and in particular
districts, or along particular streets, to prescribe and establish
building lines, or to require property owners in certain
localities or districts to leave a certain percentage of lots free
from buildings, and to regulate the height of buildings; to make
regulations for the purpose of guarding against danger from
accidents by fire, and, on the petition of the owners of not less
than two-thirds of the ground included in any square, to prohibit
the erection in such square of any building, or an addition
to any building more than ten feet high, unless the outer walls
thereof be made of brick and mortar, or stone and mortar, and
provide for the removal of any building or addition erected contrary
to such prohibition; to provide for the weighing or measuring
of hay, coal or any other articles for sale, and regulate the
transportation thereof through the streets; protect the property
of the city or town and its inhabitants, and preserve peace and good
order therein. The council of any city or town may, in their
discretion, authorize or require the fire department thereof to
render aid in cases of fire occurring beyond their limits, and
may prescribe the conditions on which such aid may be rendered.
For carrying into effect these and their other powers,
they may make ordinances and by-laws, and prescribe fines or
other punishment for violation thereof, keep a city or town
guard, appoint a collector of its taxes and levies, and such other
officers as they may deem proper, define their powers, prescribe
their duties and compensation, and take from any of them a
bond, with sureties, in such penalty as to the council may seem
fit, payable to the city or town by its corporate name, and with
condition for the faithful discharge of the said duties. Cities
and towns of this commonwealth are hereby authorized to make
appropriations of public funds, of personal property, or of any
real estate to any charitable institution or association, located
within their respective limits; provided, such institution or association
is not controlled in whole or in part by any church
or sectarian society. But the words "sectarian society" shall not
be construed to mean a non-denominational young men's Christian
association or a non-denominational women's Christian association.
And nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
any city from making contracts with any sectarian institution
for the care of indigent, sick, or injured persons. Provided,
that no property shall be condemned for the purposes specified
in this section unless the necessity therefor shall be shown to exist
to the satisfaction of the court having jurisdiction of the
case.

Provided, further, that no property of any public service corporation,
except lands required for drains, sewers, or public
ducts shall be condemned except in accordance with clauses
fifty-two and fifty-three of section eleven hundred and five (e) of
Pollard's Code of nineteen hundred and four.

And provided further, that the provisions of this section shall
in no wise repeal, amend, impair or affect any of the powers,
rights and privileges conferred on cities and towns by charter or
under the provisions of the general law.

Sec. 1038a. To exempt those engaged in the publication
of newspapers from being required to obtain a
license for the privilege or right of printing or publishing
the same in the cities, towns and counties of
the State.

The councils of any incorporated city or town, or board of
supervisors of any county in this State, shall not require a
license to be obtained for the privilege or right of printing or
publishing any newspaper in said cities, towns or counties. But
this act shall in no manner be construed so as to exempt those
so engaged in the publication of newspapers from the payment
of tax upon the plant, machinery, capital or other property so
used in such business, or upon the income derived therefrom.

Sec. 1038b. To authorize the city councils of cities to
adopt reasonable ordinances to prevent improper interference
with scholars attending or boarding at
any female school situated in cities.

The city council of any city, or the town council of any town,
may adopt any reasonable ordinance necessary to prevent any
improper interference with or annoyance of the scholars attending
or boarding at any female schools situated in such city
or town.

Sec. 1038c. To authorize and empower the corporate
authorities of the incorporated cities and towns of
the Commonwealth to contract with any sewerage or
water purification company, et cetera.

The corporate authorities of any incorporated city or town of
this Commonwealth shall have power and authority to contract

with any sewerage or water purification company to introduce,
build, maintain and operate a system or systems of sewerage
and water purifications, or of sewers, pipes and conduits suitable,
necessary, and proper for the purification of the water
supply or for the sewerage of any such city or town; and shall
have power also to require the owners or occupiers of the real
estate within the corporate limits of any such city or town which
may front or abut on the line of any such sewers, pipes or conduits
as aforesaid to make such connections with and to use such
sewers, pipes and conduits under such ordinances and regulations
as the corporate authorities of any such city or town may
deem necessary to secure the proper sewerage thereof and to improve
and secure good sanitary conditions, and shall have
power also to enforce the observance of all such ordinances and
regulations by the imposition and collection of fines and penalties,
to be collected for the use of any such city or town as other
fines and penalties under their respective charters.

The corporate authorities of any incorporated city or town of
this Commonwealth contracting with any company for the objects
and purposes aforesaid shall have power and authority to
provide in any such contract for the charges and fees to be paid
by the owners or occupiers of the properties within the corporate
limits of any such city or town to any such company for connecting
with, tapping or using any such sewer, pipes, or conduits
introduced in any such city or town as aforesaid; and shall
have power also to make and pass all such ordinances and to
enforce the same as may be necessary and proper to compel the
payment of said fees and charges by the imposition and collection
of reasonable fines and penalties, to be collected for the use
of any such city or town as other fines and penalties under the
provisions of their respective charters; and shall have power
also to do all other acts and things that may be necessary to establish,
enforce and maintain under any such contract a complete
system of water and sewerage purification and sewerage for any
such city or town.

Sec. 1040a. Taxation of shares of stock issued by banks
located in counties and cities.

(1) Hereafter each county or city in which any bank, either

national or State, is so located may, subject to the conditions
mentioned below, tax all the shares of stock issued by any such
bank so located within its limits at the same rate as is assessed
upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individuals residing
in such county or city.

(2) That in so taxing said shares the said county or city authorities,
respectively, shall follow the mode of assessment and
manner of collection prescribed by statute for the collection of
State taxes upon said shares.

(3) Whenever any commissioner of the revenue, before closing
his assessment rolls or tax lists, shall receive from the cashier
of a bank furnishing a list of the holders of bank stock, as
required by law for the purposes of State taxation, or from the
owner of any stock mentioned therein, a certificate of the commissioner
of the revenue of the county or city of the State in
which the owner of such stock lives, stating that certain shares
of the stock mentioned in said list are owned by a resident of
that county or city, and that the same have been returned for
taxation for that year in such city or county, then the said commissioner
of the revenue, to whom the said list of the holders
of such bank stock has been furnished, shall deduct from the
aggregate value of the shares set forth in said list the aggregate
value of the shares mentioned in said certificate. The shares
owned by non-residents of this State shall be taxed only at the
place where the bank issuing the shares is located.

Sec. 1041. Penalty for non-payment of levies.

It shall not be lawful for the authorities of any city or town
to impose or receive, in any case, a higher rate of penalty for
the non-payment of levies than is prescribed in the cases of
persons delinquent in payment of State taxes.

Sec. 1041a. Providing for local assessments to pay for
certain public improvements in cities and towns.

No city or town shall impose any tax or assessment upon
abutting land owners for street or other public improvements,
except for making and improving walkways upon then existing
streets, and improving and paving then existing alleys, and for
either the construction, or for the use of the sewers; and the
same, when imposed, shall not be in excess of the peculiar benefits

resulting therefrom to such abutting land owners. But such
improvement may be ordered by the council, and the cost
thereof apportioned in pursuance of an agreement between the
city or town and the abutting land owners, and, in the absence
of such agreement, improvements, the cost of which are to be
defrayed in whole or in part by such local tax or assessment,
may be ordered on a petition from not less than three-fourths
of the land owners to be affected thereby, or by a two-thirds
vote of all the members elected to the council; but, when no
petition is so filed, notice shall first be given as hereinafter
provided to the abutting land owners notifying them when and
where they may appear before the council or some committee
thereof, to whom the matter may be referred, to be heard in
favor of or against such improvement. When the council consists
of two branches, any committee acting under this or subsequent
provisions of this section shall be composed of not less
than three members from the larger and two members from the
smaller branch. The cost of such improvement, when the same
shall have been ascertained, shall be assessed or apportioned by
the council, or by some committee thereof, or in any city having
by the last United States census a population of more than forty-six
thousand inhabitants, by some officer authorized by
its council to make such assessment or such apportionment between
the city or town and the abutting land owners where less
than the whole is assessed: provided, that except when it is
otherwise agreed the portion assessed against the abutting land
owners shall not exceed one-third of the total cost. The amount
assessed against each land owner, or for which he is liable by
agreement, shall be reported as soon as practicable to the collector
of taxes, who shall enter the same as provided for other
taxes. When the assessment or apportionment is not fixed by
agreement, notice thereof, and of the amount so assessed or apportioned,
shall be given each of the then abutting owners, and
he shall be cited thereby to appear before the council, or the committee
thereof, or before the officer having the matter in charge,
not less than ten days thereafter, at a time and place to be designated
therein, to show cause, if any he can, against such
assessment or apportionment. The notices required by this section
may be given by personal service on all persons entitled to
such notice, except that notice to an infant or insane person may
be served on his guardian or committee, and notice to a non-resident
may be mailed to him at his place of residence, or served
on any agent of his having the property in charge, or on the
tenant of the freehold, or, in any case where the owner is a nonresident
or where the owner's residence is not known, such notice
may be given by publication in some newspaper published in the
city or town once a week for two successive weeks, the last publication
to be made at least ten days before the day on which the
parties are cited to appear. Any land owner wishing to make objections
to an assessment or apportionment may appear in person
or by counsel, and state his objection. If his objections are
overruled, he shall, within thirty days thereafter, but not afterwards,
have an appeal as of right to the corporation or hustings
court of the city, or, in case of a town, to the circuit court of
the county in which such town is situated. When an appeal is
taken the clerk of the council, or of the committee, or of the officer
having the matter in charge, shall immediately deliver to
the clerk of the court which has cognizance of the appeal the
original notice relating to said assessment, with the judgment of
the council, committee or officer endorsed thereon, and the clerk
shall docket the same. Every such appeal shall be tried by the
court or the judge thereof, in a summary way, without pleadings
in writing and without a jury, in term time or in vacation, after
reasonable notice to the adverse party, and the hearing shall be
de novo.

The amount finally assessed against or apportioned to each
land owner, or fixed by agreement with him, as hereinbefore
provided, shall be a lien on his abutting land, from the time when
the work of improvement shall have been completed, subject,
however, to his right of appeal and objection as aforesaid, and
may be enforced by suit in equity; and, provided that as against
a purchaser for value and without notice, such assessment or
tax shall not be a lien except and until it shall have been reported
to the collector of taxes as above provided.

Sec. 1042. Licenses.

In addition to the State tax on any license, the council of a
city or town may, when anything for which a license is so required

is to be done within the city or town, impose a tax for
the privilege of doing the same, and require a license to be obtained
therefor; and in any case in which they see fit, require
from the person licensed bond, with sureties, in such penalty and
with such condition as they may deem proper, or make other
regulations concerning the same. They may also impose a tax
and require a license to be obtained for the privilege of keeping
in the city or town for hire any wheeled carriage.

Sec. 1042a. To prohibit the several cities and towns of
the Commonwealth from imposing and collecting any
tax, fine, or other penalty upon persons selling farm
and domestic products, grown or produced by them,
within the limits of such town or city outside of and
not within the regular market houses and sheds of
such towns and cities.

It shall be unlawful for any city or town of this State, or for
any agent or officer thereof, to impose upon or collect from any
person any tax, fine, or other penalty for selling farm and domestic
products within the limits of any such town or city and
outside of and not within the regular market houses and sheds
of such city or town: provided, such products are grown or
produced by such person.

Sec. 1043. Authorizing cities and towns to make city
and town levies.

The council of every city or town shall cause to be made up
and entered on their journal an account of all sums lawfully
chargeable on the city or town which ought to be paid within one
year, and order a city or town levy of so much as in their opinion
is necessary to be raised in that way in addition to what
may be received for licenses and from other sources. The levy
so ordered may be upon the male persons in the said city or
town above the age of twenty-one years, and upon any property
therein, and on such other subjects as may at the time be assessed
with State taxes against persons residing therein.

Sec. 1044. Collector may distrain for city or town levies.

The officer of a city or town, whose duty it is to collect city

or town levies, shall have the same power to distrain therefor
goods and chattels within his city or town as is given by sections
six hundred and twenty-two and six hundred and twenty-three
to the officers named therein.

Sec. 1045. Delinquent lists.

He shall, after using due diligence to collect said levies, make
out the lists of such as cannot be collected upon forms similar to
those prescribed in sections six hundred and five and six hundred
and six, with the names of the persons chargeable with
such levies placed alphabetically in said lists, and at the foot
of each list subscribed the following oath: "I, A. B. —, of the
city (or town) of —, do swear that the foregoing list is, I
verily believe, correct and just; that I have received no part of
the city (or town) levies mentioned in the said list; and that I
have used due diligence to find property within my city (or
town) liable to distress for the said levies, but have found none."

Sec. 1046. How examined and allowed; copy of list of
real estate to be sent to auditor.

The said lists shall be returned, examined and posted or published
as the council of the city or town may prescribe, and such
credit given to the officer on account thereof as they may direct.
The lists, whereof credit may be allowed, shall be preserved
in the office of the clerk of the council. Within one
month after the said lists are allowed, the said clerk shall transmit
to the auditor of public accounts a copy of the list of real
estate appearing thereby to be delinquent, showing the amount
of delinquency on each lot.

Sec. 1047. Disbursements of moneys; claims allowed to
be posted and published.

All moneys collected or received for any city or town shall
be applied as the council thereof may direct; and it shall be the
duty of the council and of the clerk of the circuit and corporation
courts to cause to be made out quarterly an itemized statement
of all accounts authorized to be paid by the said council
and by the judge of the circuit and corporation courts, and
cause the same to be posted at the front door of the courthouse

or other public place in said city or town, and also to be published
in such newspaper as the said council may direct.

Sec. 1043a. To authorize cities and incorporated towns
to establish and maintain free public libraries and
reading rooms.

(1) The council of each incorporated city and town shall have
power to establish and maintain a public library and reading
room for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of such city or
town, and may levy a tax not to exceed one mill on the dollar
annually on all taxable property in the city or town, such tax to
be levied and collected in like manner with other general taxes
of said city, and to be known as the library fund.

(2) When any city or town council shall have decided to establish
and maintain a public library and reading room under
this act, the mayor of such city or town shall, with the approval
of the council, proceed to appoint a board of nine directors for
the same, chosen from the citizens at large with reference to
their fitness for such office, and not more than one member of
the council shall be at any one time a member of said board, and
he shall be the chairman of the committee on finance of said
council, and the city superintendent of public schools shall also
be a member of said board.

(3) Said directors shall hold office—one-third for one year,
one-third for two years, and one-third for three years—from
the date of their appointment, and at their first regular meeting
shall cast lots for their respective terms, and annually thereafter
the mayor shall appoint, as before, three directors, to take
the place of the retiring directors, who shall hold office for
three years and until their successors are appointed. The mayor
may, by and with the consent of the council, remove any director
for misconduct or neglect of duty.

(4) Vacancies in the board of directors, occasioned by removal,
resignation or otherwise, shall be reported to the council,
and be filled in like manner as original appointments, and
no director shall receive compensation as such.

(5) Said directors shall, immediately after appointment,
meet and organize by the election of one of their number president,
and by the election of such other officers as they may

deem necessary. They shall make and adopt such by-laws, rules
and regulations for their own guidance, and for the government
of the library and reading room, as may be expedient and may
be not inconsistent with this act. They shall have the exclusive
control of the expenditure of all moneys collected to the
credit of the library fund, and of the construction of any library
building, and of the supervision, care and custody of the ground,
rooms or buildings constructed, leased or set apart for that purpose:
provided, that all moneys received for such library shall
be deposited in the treasury of said city to the credit of the library
fund, and shall be kept separate and apart from other
moneys of such city, and drawn upon by the proper officers of
said city upon the properly authenticated vouchers of the library
board. Said board shall have power to purchase or lease ground,
to occupy, lease or erect an appropriate building or buildings for
the use of said library; shall have power to appoint a suitable
librarian and necessary assistants, and fix their compensation;
and shall also have power to remove such appointees; and shall,
in general, carry out the spirit and intent of this act in establishing
and maintaining a public library and reading room.

(6) Every library and reading room established under this
act shall be forever free to the use of the inhabitants where located,
always subject to such reasonable rules and regulations
as the library board may adopt; and said board may exclude
from the use of said library and reading room any and all persons
who shall wilfully violate such rules.

(7) The said board of directors shall make, at the end of each
and every year, from and after the organization of such library,
a report to the city or town council, stating the conditions of
their trust at the date of such report, the various sums of
money received from the library fund and from other sources,
and how such moneys have been expended, and for what purposes;
the number of books and periodicals on hand; the number
lost or missing; the number of visitors attending; the number
of books loaned out, and the general character and kind of
such books, with such other statistics, information and suggestions
as they may deem of general interest. All such portions of
said reports as relate to receipt and expenditure of money, as

well as the number of books on hand, books lost or missing, and
books purchased shall be verified by affidavit.

(8) The council of said city or town shall have power to
pass ordinances imposing suitable penalties for the punishment
of persons committing injury upon such library or the ground
or other property thereof, and for wilful injury to or failure to
return any book belonging to such library.

(9) The said board of directors shall be legally known and
designated as the board of directors of the public library of the
city (or town) of —, or as the board of directors of the
free reading rooms of the city (or town) of —, and as such
shall have power to take property, real or personal, by gift,
grant or devise. Any person desiring to make donations of
money, personal property, or real estate for the benefit of such
library, shall have the right to vest the title to (the) money
or real estate so donated in the board of directors by its proper
legal designation created under this act, to be held and controlled
by such board, when accepted, according to the terms of
the deed, gift, devise or bequest of such property; and, as to
such property, the members of said board shall be held and considered
to be special trustees.

Sec. 1048. Effect of chapter on charters of cities and
towns.

Section 1. Nothing contained in this chapter, in conflict with
any provision of the charter of any city or town, shall be construed
to repeal such provision, except sections ten hundred and
thirteen a, ten hundred and fifteen b, ten hundred and fifteen c,
ten hundred and fifteen d, ten hundred and fifteen e, ten hundred
and fifteen f, ten hundred and fifteen g, ten hundred and
fifteen h, ten hundred and twenty-eight a, ten hundred and
thirty-two a, ten hundred and thirty-three a, ten hundred and
thirty-three b, ten hundred and thirty-three c, ten hundred
and thirty-three d, ten hundred and thirty-three e, ten hundred
and thirty-three f, ten hundred and thirty-three g, ten hundred
and thirty-three h, and ten hundred and forty a, which
shall be construed to repeal any provision of the charter of any
city or town in conflict with the provisions of said sections, or
any of them, anything in the said charter to the contrary notwithstanding.

Section 2. Sections ten hundred and thirty-nine and ten hundred
and forty of the Code of Virginia, and section ten hundred
and forty-three of the Code of Virginia, as amended and
re-enacted by an act approved March four, eighteen hundred
and ninety-six and attempted to be repealed by an act approved
March seventh, nineteen hundred, and an act approved
March seven, nineteen hundred, entitled "an act to provide for
local assessments in cities and towns," are hereby repealed: provided,
that whenever proceedings to make local assessments for
public improvements were commenced prior to the twentieth
day of May, nineteen hundred and three, they shall be completed
and made effective in accordance with the provisions of
subsection ten hundred and forty-one a, of section one of the act
in relation to cities and towns, approved May twentieth, nineteen
hundred and three.