This was posted in the Advertiser for several weeks in the Spring of 1869.




                                            AN ACT

                                            No. 111.

To amend an act entitled “an act to incorporate the town of Vermilionville, in the Parish of Lafayette,” approved March eleventh, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Louisiana in General Assembly convened. That the limits of the town of Vermilionville be and are fixed as follows : Beginning at a point on the Coulie west of the town, at its intersection with the street running east and west in the Mill’s addition, between lots twenty and twenty-three, in the plan made by John Campbell, United States Surveyor, March nineteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty six, and running east to the intersection of said street with Jefferson street, thence South Jefferson street to Mrs. Charles Mouton’s line, and following that line to the western limits of A. Mouton’s field, inclosure or ditch, and following that ditch south to it’s intersection with the line of Third street; thence following westerly the said Third street and its continuation to the Coulie, west of the town, and following the middle of said Coulie to the point of beginning.

Sec. 2 Be it further enacted, etc., That the City Council of Vermilionville shall consist of a Mayor, who shall be President of the Council, and seven Councilmen, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. They shall be elected, and in case of a tie, the tie shall be determined by a new election between those only who have received the tie vote.

Sec. 3 Be it enacted, etc., That the Mayor shall be the conservator of the peace, and invested with all the powers of a Justice of the Peace, with Jurisdiction, civil and criminal, in all infractions of the municipal laws and regulations, over all persons violating them within the corporate limits.

Sec. 4 Be it further enacted etc., That the City Council shall have power to pass all such ordinances that may be required to suppress all riots, unlawful assemblies, affrays and tumults, and all breaches of the peace, to arrest offenders, to remove nuisances, to prevent vagrancy, to enforce the payment of any fines unpaid, by imprisonment, not exceeding five days ; to levy a poll tax, not to exceed one dollar per annum on all male persons over twenty one years of age who shall have resided within the limits of the corporation three months prior to the levying of said tax ; to establish a quarantine against contagious or infectious diseases, and designate and fix the limits of the quarantine at such points beyond the corporate limits of the town by such lines and quarantine stations that will be likely to afford the proper protection from any violation of their quarantine regulations ; to determine what animals may run at large within the limits of the corporation, and prohibit others from so doing ; to fix the price of bread and meat in the town, taking as a basis the current prices of flour and beeves ; to prevent the stoppage or obstruction of any street, sidewalk, public place or square, and open such ditches or canals that may be found necessary for the proper draining of the town, upon complying with the law intended for the protection of property owners in cases of expropriation.

Sec. 5 Be it further enacted, etc., That all male inhabitants of said town above the age of sixteen years, and under fifty years, who have resided within the corporation three months, shall be subject to work,   or furnish an able hand to work in their stead on the streets of said town, ten days in each year, when ordered by the Council, under penalty of not more than two dollars for every day they may refuse or fail to work, when duly notified to do so.

Sec. 6 Be it further enacted, etc., That the City Council may, by enactment of proper laws, authorize the Town Constable to cause to work on the streets or sidewalks or public places within the limits of the corporation any person sentenced to imprisonment in the parish jail ;

provided that while said prisoner shall be thus employed, all expenses incurred for his detention and board shall be paid by the Council.

Sec. 7 Be it further enacted, etc., That the Town Assessor shall as soon as the assessment roll is completed, deposit it with the Mayor, who shall give public notice thereof during thirty days by advertisement in a newspaper published in said town, or by three notices posted at three different public locations within said town, during which time any person aggrieved may apply to said Mayor to have his assessment corrected, and in case of disagreement between the taxpayer and Mayor, said taxpayer may appeal to the City council from the opinion of the Mayor ; Provided, That after said thirty days notice no objection will be received against the assessment, which shall then have force and effect of a final judgment.

Sec. 8 Be it further enacted, etc., That the Mayor shall only have the right to vote in case of a tie in the Council, and shall have the right to veto any resolution or ordinance passed by the Council ; Provided, The veto of the exercised within three days of the passage of the law, if the Mayor be present at its passage, within three days after having been notified of its passage, if absent ; and said ordinance or resolution shall only become law, if passed, notwithstanding the veto, by a two-thirds vote.

Sec. 9. Be it further enacted, etc., That the collector of the taxes shall have the powers, and means to enforce the payment of the corporation taxes, licenses and the fines imposed, whether as residents or non-residents, as are given to sheriffs in like cases.

Sec. 10. Be it further enacted, etc., That the town Constable shall attend the Mayor’s Court, the meetings of the City Council, serve and execute such citations, subpoenas, write warrants, and judgments and orders that the Mayor’s Court or City Council are authorized to issue, and may do and perform all and singular, the duties imposed by law upon Constables in the State, and shall receive the same fees and emoluments as are allowed by law to Constables.

Sec. 11. Be it further enacted, etc., That the Town Constable may appoint a deputy who will be vested with all the powers of said Constable, who shall be responsible for all the acts of said deputy, who will take the oath required of the Constable.

Sec. 12. Be it further enacted, etc., That all officers shall continue in office and shall perform the functions of their offices until their successors shall have been duly qualified.

Sec. 13. Be it further enacted, etc., That all laws contrary to the present act be and the same and hereby repealed.

Sec. 14. Be it further enacted, etc., That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.

(Signed) CHAS. W. LOWELL,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(Signed) OSCAR J. DUNN,

Lt. Governor of the State of Louisiana.

(Signed( H. C. WARMOTH,

Governor of the State of Louisiana

A true copy:

Geo. E. Bovee,

Secretary of State.