LOCAL LAWS. CHAPTER I. An Act granting to the citizens of the town of Evansville, in the county of Vanderburgh, a city charter. [APPROVED JANUARY 27, 1847.] SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That the boundaries of the city of Evansville shall be the same as the boundaries of the present town of Evansville, omitting Goodsell's enlargement of said town, that is to say, the bounds of said city shall include all the territory embraced within the original plan of said town as the same is recorded in the recorder's office of Warrick county, and all the territory embraced within the following enlargements of said town, viz: The donation enlargement, the lower or McGary's enlargement, the upper enlargement, and the eastern enlargement, according to the plats of said several enlargements, as made by the several proprietors of said enlargements, and recorded in the recorder's office of Vanderburgh county; and other territory may from time to time be annexed to and included within the bounds of said city as hereinafter provided. SEC. 2. From and after the first Monday in April, A. D. 1847, the people residing in the territory mentioned in the first section of this act shall become and be a body politic and corporate, by the name, style, and title of "The City of Evansville," and in and by such name shall be able and capable in law and equity to contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, complain and defend in any court of competent jurisdiction; they shall have power to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to alter, destroy, and renew at pleasure; to take, purchase, hold, and convey such real and personal estate as the purposes of the corporation may require; to survey, mark, and establish the boundaries of said city, and all future enlargements of the same; to ordain, establish, enforce, and put in execution such rules, by-laws, ordinances, and regulations as shall be deemed proper and necessary for the good government of said city, and the well-being of the inhabitants thereof, and generally to do all other acts and things which the good of the inhabitants of said city may require, not inconsistent with the constitution of the United States, or the constitution and laws of this State, and consistent with the objects of the corporation. SEC. 3. The powers of said corporation shall be vested in and exercised by a mayor and councilmen, to be elected by the qualified voters of said city, and such other and inferior officers, to be appointed by the common council, as are hereinafter named, or as may from time to time be appointed by the common council in pursuance of the rules, ordinances, and regulations to be made, ordained, and established as aforesaid. SEC. 4. The territory in said city shall be divided into six wards, as follows, viz: All that part of said territory lying south and east of Walnut street shall be the first ward; all that part of said territory lying between Walnut and Locust streets shall be the second ward; all that part of said territory lying between Locust street and Main street shall be the third ward; all that part of said territory lying between Main and Sycamore streets shall be the fourth ward; all that part of said territory lying between Sycamore and Vine streets shall be the fifth ward; and all that part of said territory lying north and west of Vine street shall be the sixth ward; and each ward shall be represented by one councilman, who shall reside therein, and shall be elected by the qualified voters of such ward. SEC. 5. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the whole city, and shall hold his office for the term of three years from the date of his election, and until his successor shall be elected and qualified, except where he is elected to fill a vacancy, in which case he shall hold his office until the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was elected, and until his successor is elected and qualified; and a councilman shall hold his office for the term of one year, and until his successor is elected and qualified, except where he is elected to fill a vacancy, in which case he shall hold his office until the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was elected, and until his successor is elected and qualified: No person shall be elegible to the office of either mayor or councilman unless he is a freeholder of said city, and a qualified voter therein: The common council may provide by ordinance for the payment of a stated salary to the mayor and councilmen: Provided, That for the first year after the organization of the corporation under this act, the salary of the councilmen shall not exceed fifty dollars each, nor that of the mayor one hundred and fifty dollars, in addition to his fees as a judicial officer; nor shall any ordinance increasing the stated salary of councilmen take effect until after the next general election of councilmen after the passage thereof. SEC. 6. All elections shall be by ballot, and all elections (except elections to fill vacancies) shall be held on the first Monday in April, annually: A poll shall be opened in each ward for the reception of votes, and every free white male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who has resided in this State one year, and in the said city six months, and in the ward in which he offers his vote one month next preceding such election, shall be entitled to a vote in the ward in which he resides, and not in any other ward. SEC. 7. Each qualified voter, according to the next preceding section of this act, shall be entitled to vote once and no more at each election, in his own ward: And if any person being under the age of twenty-one years shall vote or attempt to vote, or if any person shall vote or attempt to vote more than once, or shall knowingly vote or attempt to vote for a councilman in a ward in which such person has not been a bona fide resident for one month next preceding such election, or shall designedly hand in two or more tickets folded together, or shall otherwise fraudulently vote, at any election to be held in said city, or any ward thereof, every person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum of money not exceeding fifty dollars, to be recovered in an action of debt or case, in the name of the city of Evansville, and for the use and benefit of said city, before any court of competent jurisdiction; and every person against whom judgment shall be rendered in any such action, shall be incapable of voting or being elected to any office at any city election for three years next after the rendition of such judgment. SEC. 8. The polls for all elections shall be opened between nine and ten o'clock, A. M., and continued open until four o'clock, P. M., and closed before five o'clock, P. M., of the same day. SEC. 9. Every ticket handed in shall contain the name of every person intended to be voted for, either written or printed, and designate the office to which such person named is intended to be elected; and if any ticket designates more than one person as voted for for the same office, as to that office such ticket shall not be counted; but no ticket shall be lost for the want of form, if the judges and inspectors of the election can satisfactorily ascertain, from an examination of the ticket, the person voted for and the office intended. SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of the common council to designate some particular place in each ward for holding elections, which place may be changed from time to time as the common council may think proper: It shall also be the duty of the common council annually to appoint for each ward in said city from among the qualified voters of such ward an inspector of elections, who shall hold his office until a successor is appointed, and whose duty it shall be on every day when an election is to be held, to attend at the proper place for holding elections in his ward, and take to his assistance, previous to opening the polls, two qualified voters of his ward, who, together with himself, shall constitute the judges of the election then about to be held in such ward, which judges shall appoint two suitable persons clerks of said election; and said inspector, judges, and clerks shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, take an oath (which may be administered by the inspector to the judges and clerks, and by one of the clerks to the inspector) faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties assigned them. SEC. 11. Should the regular inspector of any ward fail to attend and open the polls by ten o'clock, A. M., of any day on which an election is to be held in his ward, or if after having opened the polls he should for any cause be unable to remain and continue to discharge his duties as inspector, then it shall be lawful for the qualified voters of such ward present to appoint viva voce, and by a plurality of voices, an inspector for the occasion, who shall be governed in all things by the same rules as the regular inspector. SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the common council, before the day of election, to make out, and on request to deliver to the inspector of each ward, a poll book for such ward, together with suitable tally papers: Every election shall be held at the particular place in each ward designated by the common council; and before receiving any votes, the inspector shall proclaim or cause it to be proclaimed aloud, without the house, that the polls are opened: The polls being opened, the judges and inspector shall proceed to receive the votes, and when a vote is presented, the inspector shall call out the name of the voter, and if there be no objections, and he be a qualified voter, the inspector shall receive his ticket, and in the presence of the other judges put it into the ballot box, and the clerks of said election shall record the name of every person voting, upon their respective poll books, numbering the names of the voters consecutively as their votes are given. SEC. 13. If any inspector or judge of any election shall receive at such election the vote of any person who is known to such inspector or judge not to be a qualified voter, or if any judge, inspector, or clerk shall attempt to pry into or find out the name or names of any person or persons on any folded ticket prior to putting it into the ballot box, or expose such ticket to the inspection of any other person, or place any mark on it with a view to identify it afterwards, he or they so offending shall for every such offence forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered in an action of debt or case, in the name and for the use of the said city of Evansville. SEC. 14. If any doubt arise as to the right of any person to vote, it shall be settled by the judges and inspector, who, in order to do so, may examine other witnesses, as well as the person offering his vote, or either, at discretion; the witnesses and the voter so examined being first sworn by the inspector, who, when any person is sworn in relation to his own qualification to vote, shall administer to him the following oath: "You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you are, to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief, not less than twenty-one years of age, that you have resided in this State one year, in this city six months, and in this ward one month next preceding this time, and that you have not voted at this election;" and any person who shall be sworn by the inspector, as in this section mentioned, and shall swear falsely and corruptly, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished accordingly. |