Talk:Atlanta ward system
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For reference, here is the 1847 charter (good until 1854)
1847 Vol. 1 -- Page: 50
Sequential Number: 039
Full Title: AN ACT to amend an act entitled an act to incorporate the town of Marthasville, in the county of DeKalb, passed on the twenty-third day of December, eighteen hundred and forty-three; and also to enlarge the boundary of said town, and to incorporate the same under the name of the city of Atlanta; and to change the name of the town of Rome to that of the city of Rome; to provide for the election of a Mayor and City Councilmen and other officers of said cities, and to confer upon them specified powers; and for other purposes herein mentioned.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That from and after the passage of this act, the town of Atlanta shall be known and called the city of Atlanta, and the authority and jurisdiction of said city shall extend one mile from the State Depot in every direction.
SEC. 2. And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That within sixty days after the passage of this act, by giving two days notice, and on the third Monday in every January thereafter, all free white persons, citizens [Illegible Text] within the incorporation of said city, who shall be entitled to vote for members of the Legislature of said State, shall be entitled to vote for a Mayor and six members of the City Council, in lieu and stead of Commissioners as is provided by the act to which this is amendatory; and that any person or persons legally entitled to vote at said election, shall be eligible either for Mayor or members of the City Council, at which election one Justice of the Inferior Court or of the Peace, and two freeholders, neither of whom being a candidate, shall preside, and the persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared duly elected. That the managers of said election shall give certificates to that effect, which shall be evidence of their election and authority to act, and be recorded by the Clerk of the City Council in a book to be kept for that purpose, which record shall be held and esteemed [Illegible Text] the highest evidence of such election.
SEC. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person shall be entitled to vote at said election except he be duly qualified to vote for members of the Legislature as aforesaid, and shall be citizens residing within the corporate limits of said city; any person voting at such election contrary to the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on indictment and conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment and labor in the Penitentiary of this State not more than two, nor less than one year.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor and the members of the City Council shall hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified; and in event that the office of Mayor, or any one or more of the offices of the City Council, shall become vacant by death, resignation, removal, or otherwise, that the Mayor, or in case his seat is vacated, a majority of the members of the City Council, shall order a new election, by [Illegible Text] at least ten days notice in any one or more of the city papers, or at two or more of the most public places in said city; and said election so held shall be managed in the same manner as the elections to be held in chief, according to the provisions of the second section of this act.
SEC. 5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor and members of the Council as before mentioned, shall be known as the Mayor and Council of the city of Atlanta, and by such their corporate name shall sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and do all other acts relating to their corporate capacity, and shall have and use a common seal, and shall be capable in law to purchase, hold, receive, enjoy, possess and retain to them and their successors, for the use and benefit of the said city of Atlanta, in perpetuity, or for any term of years, any estate or estates, real or personal, lands, tenements, hereditaments of what kind or nature soever, within the limits of said city, and to sell, alien, exchange or lease the same or any part thereof, or convey the same or any part thereof, in any way whatsoever; and the said Mayor and Council shall have full power and authority to pass all by-laws and ordinances respecting the [Illegible Text] of said city, to open and lay out the same, respecting public buildings, work-houses, market-houses, public houses, carriages, wagons, carts, drays, pumps, wells, springs, fire engines, care of the poor, suppression of disorderly houses, regulation of negroes and free persons of color, and every other by-law, regulation or ordinance that shall appear to them necessary and proper for the security, welfare and interest of the said city, or for preserving the peace, health, order and good government of the same.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Mayor and members of Council shall, at their first annual meeting after their election, proceed to elect by ballot a marshal, and if they deem it necessary a deputy marshal or marshals, clerk of Council and treasurer, each of whom shall remain in office until a new election for Mayor and Council is had (unless removed) and their successors appointed; and the salaries of the said officers shall be regulated by the laws and ordinances of the Mayor and Council, and shall not be increased or diminished during their continuance in office.
SEC. 7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That as soon as convenient after the election of the said Mayor and members of Council, and before they enter upon the discharge of their official duties, the Mayor shall before said Justice of the Inferior Court or Justice of the Peace, take and subscribe the following oath: "I, A. B., do solemnly swear that I will to the utmost of my ability discharge the duties of Mayor (or Council, as the case may be,) for the city of Atlanta, during my continuance in office -- So help me, God;" and the Mayor, after being so qualified as aforesaid, shall have full power and authority to administer said oath to each member of the Council.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case the Mayor or any member of the City Council, while in office, shall be guilty of any wilful neglect, malpractice in, or abuse of said office, he or they shall be liable to be indicted before the Superior Court of the county of DeKalb, and on conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for each and every such offence, and shall moreover be removed from office; which fine or fines shall be paid over to the city treasurer for the use of said city.
SEC. 9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor and four members of Council shall form a quorum to transact all business, and the Mayor or President pro tempore shall have the casting vote, and a majority of the votes shall determine all questions and elections before the Council; and the Mayor and each member of the Council shall be to all intents and purposes a Justice of the Peace so far as to enable them, or any or either of them, to issue warrants for offences committed within the corporate limits of said city, which warrants shall be executed by the marshal or deputy marshal, and to commit to the jail of the county of DeKalb, or to admit to bail, offenders, for their appearance before the next Superior Court thereafter for the county of DeKalb; or in case the offender or offenders are slaves or free persons of color, then and in that case they shall be committed to the jail of DeKalb county or bound over for their appearance at the next Superior Court of said county of DeKalb, to await his, her or their trial, and it shall be the duty of the jailor of said county of DeKalb to receive all such persons so committed and safely keep the same until discharged by due course of law.
SEC. 10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the expenditures of the Mayor and Council, and the compensation of the city officers, shall be paid out of the city funds by an order drawn by the clerk of Council upon the city treasurer, and countersigned by the Mayor, or in his absence by the President pro tempore of the Council; and the marshal, treasurer and clerk shall give bond and security to the Mayor and Council of the city of Atlanta, in a sum each to be fixed by the Mayor and Council, for the faithful performance of his or their duties.
SEC. 11. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any of the officers of said corporation, who may be sued for any act done in his or their official character, may justify under this act.
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Mayor and Council of the city of Atlanta shall have power and authority to call out each and every male person within the jurisdiction of said corporation subject to road duty, who shall be compelled to do road and street duty according to the laws now in force in this State, or the said Mayor and Council shall have power to levy and collect a tax for that purpose.
SEC. 13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Mayor and members of Council shall have full power and authority to pass all ordinances and by-laws necessary for the government of said city, which do not conflict with the Constitution and laws of the State of Georgia and of the United States, reference to which alone shall be had in the adjudications to be had upon this act, and they shall have special power to make all contracts in their corporate capacity which they may deem necessary for the welfare of said city; to levy a tax of not exceeding the State tax on all persons, professions and property within the corporate limits of [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] [Illegible Text] kind, either real or personal, which is subject to taxation by the laws of this State -- which tax shall be collected by a tax collector to be chosen by the Mayor and members of Council, who shall, previous to entering upon the duties of his office, give bond and security to the Mayor and members of the City Council, in a sum not exceeding ten thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, who shall also act as tax receiver for said city -- which tax shall be collected at such times and in such manner as the Mayor and members of the Council in their by-laws shall direct, and shall pay the taxes so collected over to the treasurer of said city, on or before the first day of August in the year eighteen hundred and forty-eight, and on or before the first day of August in each and every year thereafter; and the said tax collector shall receive for his services such sums as may be fixed and set apart by the Mayor and members of Council, and whose term of office shall expire (unless removed) with those who elected him: to empower their said marshal or deputy marshal to remove all nuisances within the corporate limits of said city, and especially require him, the said marshal, to prosecute before the Superior or Inferior Courts of the county of DeKalb, all offenders -- and for this purpose the said marshal or deputy marshal shall have full power and authority to examine all places where he suspects a violation of the laws of this State to be carried on, and shall have full power and authority to call to his aid any and all of the white male citizens of said city capable of bearing arms, and shall report all offenders against the penal laws of this State to the Mayor or any member of the Council, whose duty it shall be upon such to issue a warrant or warrants, binding over such offenders to appear before the proper tribunals to answer such charge.
SEC. 14. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in all cases where any person or persons, citizens of said city, or who have property subject to taxation within the corporate limits of the same, shall fail, refuse or neglect to pay the taxes imposed according to this act, the clerk of the City Council shall issue execution for the same, which execution shall be signed by said clerk and bear test in the name of the Mayor, and be directed to the marshal of said city, commanding him to levy on the goods, chattels, lands and tenements of the defendants, or so much thereof as shall be sufficient to satisfy the demand and cost -- which execution shall bind all the property of the defendant from the date thereof, and the cost thereof shall be the same as on tax collector's execution by the laws of this State -- and the said marshal shall proceed to advertise and sell, in such manner as the laws or ordinances of said city shall of may direct, provided that in case any such execution shall be returned by said marshal "no property to be found," then and in that case a capias ad satisfaciendum against the body of the defendant or defendants may issue, from which he shall not be discharged except by virtue of the laws of this State made for the relief of honest debtors -- and should any such defendant or defendants fail to give security for his or their appearance before the Superior or Inferior Court of DeKalb county to take the benefit of said act, then and in that case he, she or they shall be committed to the common jail of the county of DeKalb, there to remain until discharged by due course of law.
SEC. 15. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor, and in his absence any three members of the City Council, shall have full power and authority to impose such fines, not exceeding fifty dollars, for the violation of any or all of the by-laws and ordinances of said city within the corporate limits of the same, provided such by-laws and ordinances be not violative of [Illegible Text] constitution or laws of this State or of the United States.
SEC. 16. And be it further enacted, That in [the] payment of all fines imposed pursuant to the preceding section, shall be enforced in the same manner which is hereinafter provided for the collection of taxes.
SEC. 17. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor of said city shall receive for his services the sum of two hundred dollars per year, and that each member of the City Council shall receive a salary of twenty dollars a year, and all the salaries to be paid to the officers of said corporation, together with all the expenditures made for the use of said city, shall be paid out of the city funds in the hands of the city treasurer, who shall keep a book in which he shall make an entry of all sums of money received and who from, and upon what account it was received, and shall also make an entry of all sums of money paid out and for what purpose, and shall take receipts for all sums of money paid out, which books and receipts shall be subject to the inspection of the Mayor and members of Council of said city at such times as they or either of them shall think proper -- and all sums of money paid into the hands of the city treasurer by this act, shall and it is hereby directed to be a fund for the use of said city.
SEC. 18. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said Mayor and City Council shall have power to license persons to retail and sell by retail spirituous liquors within the said city, and no person or persons shall sell by retail any spirituous liquors within the same without first obtaining such license, for which they shall pay a sum not exceeding fifty dollars, which tax shall be appropriated to the [use] of the said city of Atlanta.
SEC. 19. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the Mayor and members of Council of the city of Atlanta shall have full power and authority to levy a tax in addition to the taxes levied by the provisions of the thirteenth section of [Illegible Text] net, on all billiard tables kept or used for the purpose of playing on, gaming or renting, and on all ten pin allies, nine pin allies, or allies of any kind, which are kept or used for the purpose of playing on with pins and balls, or either, or for the purpose of renting the same; which tax or taxes shall be collected according to the provisions of the thirteenth and fourteenth sections of this act; and the said Mayor and City Council shall have power and authority to levy and collect a tax, not exceeding fifty dollars for each exhibition, from all itinerant show masters who may exhibit within said city any shows, circus riding, tumbling, slight of hand, legerdemain or tricks, or any other kind whatsoever coming under this description.
SEC. 20. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That said Mayor and City Council shall have power and authority to license a vendue master or vendue masters for said city, such vendue master or masters first paying to the Mayor and City Council the sum of fifty dollars each for said license, and giving bond and security to the Mayor and City Council, in the manner prescribed by the laws of this State regulating vendues; and if any person or persons shall sell any goods, wares, merchandize, or any other property whatsoever, as a vendue master, or at auction or public outcry, within said city, without having first obtained a license from the Mayor and City Council, he or they shall forfeit and pay for every such sale the sum of five hundred dollars -- to be recovered in any Court of competent jurisdiction, and to be applied, one-half to the use of the said city, and the other half to the person giving the information and sueing for the same: Provided, always, That nothing in this section shall be construed to extend to any sales made by lawful officers under executions issuing from the proper authorities, or to sales made by or under the authority of executors, administrators, or guardians, or to prohibit resident citizens of said city from vending at auction their own property therein.
SEC. 21. Be it further enacted, That from and after the passage of this act, the town of Rome, in the county of Floyd, shall be known and called by the name of the city of Rome, and that the authority and jurisdiction of said city of Rome shall extend one-half mile in every direction from the Court house.
SEC. 22. Be it further enacted, That each and every provision in this act contained in relation to the city of Atlanta, shall apply to and be in force as to the said city of Rome, as fully and to the same extent as if specially enacted therefor.
SEC. 23. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all laws, or parts of laws, militating against the provisions of this act, be, and the same are hereby repealed.
CHARLES J. JENKINS,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
ANDREW J. MILLER,
President of the Senate.
GEORGE W. TOWNS, Governor.
Approval Date: Approved, December 29, 1847.
