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2004 SESSION


CHAPTER 554
An Act to amend and reenact § 3, as amended, of Chapter 186 of the Acts of Assembly of 1938, which provided a charter for the Town of Clifton, relating to town council.
[H 994]
Approved April 12, 2004

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 3, as amended, of Chapter 186 of the Acts of Assembly of 1938 is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3. (a) Government of said town shall be vested in a town council, which shall be composed of a mayor and five councilmen, who shall be residents and qualified voters in said town and whose qualifications to hold office, respectively, shall be the same as required of persons to vote and hold office under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the council and. In the absence of the mayor, the vice mayor shall preside at all meetings of the council. In the absence of the mayor and the vice mayor, one of the members of the council, to be chosen by the members present, shall act as mayor pro tempore and shall be clothed with all the powers of the regularly chosen mayor during the latter's absence from the meeting.

(b) The mayor and five councilmen shall be elected on the first Tuesday in May of every even-numbered year, and every two years thereafter, and shall hold office for two years from the first day of July next succeeding their election. The said mayor and five councilmen shall be elected under and pursuant to the provisions of the election laws of the State of Virginia governing town elections.

(c) The officers aforesaid shall qualify by taking the necessary oaths of office on or before the first day of July next succeeding the election, and shall enter upon the duties of their office on the first day of July next succeeding their election, and shall continue in office until their successors have qualified.

(d) The council shall appoint a clerk and town treasurer and may appoint a town sergeant, and if they deem it advisable a deputy town sergeant and such other officers as the council may deem necessary and proper, all of whom shall hold office at and during the pleasure of the council, and the said officers shall qualify and execute bond in the manner prescribed by resolution of the council, and the council shall have power to fill the vacancy in any of these offices, and in any other municipal office created by death, resignation, removal or otherwise. The same person may be appointed town clerk and town treasurer.

(e) The appointment of all election officials and the conduct of all elections for public office shall be pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of general law.

(f) through (k) (deleted 1964)

(l) The town council may fine its members for disorderly behavior, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all members elected, and after due notice, expel a member.

(m) There shall be an annual meeting of the town council on the first Tuesday of July in each year, at which time the town sergeant and treasurer shall make their annual settlements with the council, and at the annual meeting next succeeding a town election the new council shall organize and elect a town clerk, a town sergeant, a deputy town sergeant if they deem it advisable, and a town treasurer and such other officers as the town council may deem necessary and proper.

(n) There shall be such other regular and special meetings of the town council as the bylaws may prescribe, and at all meetings, four members of the council, of whom the mayor may be one, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of all business.

(o) A vacancy in the office of mayor or councilman shall be filled within thirty 30 days, from the electors of the town, for the unexpired term, by a majority vote of the remaining members of the council, provided, however, that a vacancy in the office of mayor may be filled from their own body by the council.