Division 3. CHAPTER 202, LAWS OF 1846-47

An Act to Incorporate the Town of Statesville.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of North Carolina, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the corporate limits of the town of Statesville, in the county of Iredell, shall be included within the following boundaries, to wit; Beginning at a black oak sapling (now a rock) near the north east corner of Fourth Creek Grave Yard, running south one and a half (1½) degrees, east, one hundred and ten (110) poles to a stake (now a rock); then south eighty-nine and a half (89½) degrees, east, one hundred and two (102) poles to a post oak, Robert Work's corner; then north one and a half (1½) degrees, east, one hundred and ten (110) poles to a stake on the Salisbury road (now a rock); then south eighty-nine and a half (89½) degrees west, one hundred and two and a half (102½) poles to the beginning.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That Arthur M. Walker be, and is hereby appointed town magistrate and commissioner for the town of Statesville, in the county of Iredell; and that James F. Harbie, Joseph W. Stockton, Theophilus Falls and L. Q. Sharpe, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, for the town of Statesville, in county aforesaid and that said above-named town magistrates and commissioners shall each of them take an oath of office, on or before the last day of February next, and shall hold their appointment for one (1) year therefrom, and until others shall be elected, under the provisions of this act.

Sec. 3. Be it further enacted, That the said town magistrate and commissioners, after they shall have taken an oath faithfully to perform their duty, shall be deemed and held a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of "the commissioners of Statesville," and as such may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, have and use a common seal, and change the same at pleasure, and have perpetual succession; and the said commissioners, town magistrate acting as one, shall have full power and authority to adopt all such rules, regulations and bylaws, as they, or a majority of them, may deem necessary for the good order and government of said town, for the improvement of the streets, and preservation of health in said town, and all other regulations the comfort and convenience of the citizens may require, provided the same shall not be inconsistent with the constitution of this State or of the United States; and said commissioners shall have power to appoint a town clerk, who shall hold his appointment for one (1) year only, whose duty it shall be to record all the proceedings of the commissioners, in a well-bound book, kept by him for that purpose: He shall also act as treasurer; and shall give bond and security, in the sum of five hundred dollars ($500.00), made payable to the State of North Carolina, and conditioned for the safekeeping of all monies that may come into his hands as treasurer, and for paying out the same as ordered by the commissioners, and for the faithful performance of his duty as clerk. They shall also have power to make sale of any vacant lot or lots, if any there be, in the corporate limits of said town, and convey title for the same; to appoint a town constable, whose duty it shall be to collect all the taxes levied, and fines imposed by said commissioners, and forfeitures incurred by the violation of any bylaw passed by said commissioners, and he shall give bond and security, in one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), made payable to the State of North Carolina, and conditioned for the collection of all such claims, as may be placed in his hands by the commissioners, or their order, and the punctual paying over of the same to the treasurer, above named, and faithful performance of his duty as town constable; and said constable so appointed, shall hold said appointment for one (1) year only, and shall have the same powers and privileges as other constables, and shall have, use and exercise all lawful ways and means, which are usually had, used and exercised by the several sheriffs of this State, and be subject to the same liabilities that they are in the collection of public revenue; and the above named bonds, when executed as above directed, shall be filed in the county court clerk's office for safekeeping; and for a breach of the condition of either the clerk's or constable's bond, the commissioners shall have the same remedies as are usually had on the bonds of clerks and constables.

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the citizens of said town, who live within the corporate limits of the same, to meet at the court house and elect a town magistrate and four (4) commissioners, on the last Monday in February, eighteen hundred and forty eight, and every two (2) years thereafter, who shall hold their offices for two (2) years therefrom; and it shall be the duty of the sheriff of said county to give ten (10) days' notice, at the court house door, previous to said elections, and to hold the same, under the same rules, regulations and restrictions, that elections are now held for members of the General Assembly, and shall determine who is elected; and he shall immediately furnish the town clerk with a certificate of who are elected town magistrate and commissioners; which said certificate said clerk shall enter into the book in which he records the proceedings of the commissioners of Statesville; and such so made, by said town clerk, shall be held and deemed conclusive evidence of the election of such persons to the offices therein specified.

Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, That any free white male citizen within the corporate limits of said town, of the age of twenty-one (21) years, who has lived in the limits of said town for three (3) months immediately preceding the day of election and paid a public tax in the county, shall be entitled to vote in said election.

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, That said town magistrate and commissioners, or a majority of them, should they deem it necessary, are hereby authorized and empowered annually, on or before the first Monday in May in every year, to lay a tax not exceeding one dollar ($1.00), on all taxable polls residing within the corporate limits of said town, and tax not exceeding twenty-five cents ($0.25) on every hundred dollars ($100.00) worth of property, within the corporate limits of said town, which tax, when collected, to be applied to the improvement of the streets of the town, and such other purposes, as the town magistrate and commissioners, or a majority of them, may think proper.

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That the town magistrate, who shall also be a justice of the peace of said county, shall preside in all meetings of the commissioners, and shall have power to call them together, whenever he may deem it necessary: he shall have power to issue warrants, in the name of the commissioners of Statesville, against all persons who may violate the laws of the corporation, and try and determine the same: it shall also be his duty to have a general supervision over the corporation, to superintend all improvements and works ordered by the commissioners, and see that the laws are observed, and good order preserved.

Sec. 8. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every person residing or owning property within the corporate limits of said town, to deliver, on oath, to the town magistrate, on or before the first Monday in April in every year, a list of the taxable polls that may be members of his or her family, at that time; also a statement of all the town property which he or she may own, and the value of the same; and any person failing to give in, as above required, either or both of said statements, shall incur a forfeiture of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), recoverable in the name of the commissioners of "Statesville," by warrant before any justice of the peace in the county, to be applied, as the commissioners may think best, for the improvement of the streets.

Sec. 9. Be it further enacted, That if the town magistrate, or any of the commissioners herein appointed, or who may hereafter be elected under the provisions of this act, shall fail or refuse to act as commissioner of said town, or to qualify within two (2) months after the appointment or election, such delinquent or delinquents shall incur a forfeiture of fifty dollars ($50.00) for every such failure, or neglect, recoverable by warrant, before any justice of the peace, in the name of the State, to the use of the commissioners of Statesville, to be applied by them to the improvement of the streets.

Sec. 10. Be it further enacted, That if the sheriff should fail or neglect to perform his duty in holding the election for commissioners of Statesville, at any time as required by the provisions of this act, for every such failure, he shall incur a forfeiture of fifty dollar ($50.00), recoverable in like manner and to be appropriated in the same way as the forfeiture of commissioners in the preceding section.

Sec. 11. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the town clerk to advertise ten (10) days all the bylaws passed by the commissioners of Statesville, at the court house door, and no bylaw, rule or ordinance shall take effect until after such advertisement.

Sec. 12. Be it further enacted, That the town clerk and town constable, shall receive such fees for their services as said commissioners may think proper to allow, and no more; and anyone appointed town clerk or town constable, by the commissioners of Statesville, under the provisions of this act, and shall fail, neglect or refuse to act, shall thereby incur a forfeiture of fifty dollars ($50.00), recoverable by warrant, before any justice of the peace, in the name of the commissioners of Statesville, and applied to the improvement of streets.

Sec. 13. Be it further enacted, That if said town magistrate and commissioners shall permit the streets or roads within the corporate limits of said town to get out of order, and remain so as to become a nuisance, or shall permit any other nuisance to exist in said limits, which they had the power to remove, they shall be liable to indictment, and on conviction, shall be fined at the discretion of the court.

Sec. 14. Be it further enacted, That all acts heretofore passed, for the better regulation of the town of Statesville, coming within the meaning and purview of this act, be, and the same [is] hereby repealed.

Sec. 15. Be it further enacted, that this act shall be in force from and after its ratification.

(Ratified 9th of January, 1847)