The Original Charter of Troy
A Bill to Incorporate the City of Troy
Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Kansas, as follows, to wit:
Section 1. All the district of country described as follows, to wit: The southeast quarter and the southwest quarter of Section No. 17, Township No. 3, of Range no. 21, in the County of Doniphan and Territory of Kansas, shall be known and called the City of Troy, and by that name shall be known in law, may have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, implead and impleaded, defend and be defended, in all courts of laws or equity, within this Territory or elsewhere; may have a common seal, and may alter or change the same at pleasure, and shall have all the powers and privileges usually granted or by any law of the Territory given to incorporated bodies.
Sec. 2. All the powers, privileges, rights, responsibilities and provision of an act passed at the first session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Kansas, A. D. 1855,entitled, “An Act to Incorporate the City of Leavenworth” except as otherwise provided in this act shall be and the same are hereby conferred on the said City of Troy in its corporate capacity.
Sec. 3. The corporate powers of said city shall be vested in a mayor and board of councilmen, who shall be chosen as hereinafter provided.
Sec. 4. The board of councilmen shall consist of five members, and shall be elected by general ticket of the whole city, until otherwise provided by ordinance. The city shall be divided into convenient wards, and as many as there are councilmen, by ordinance, whenever the mayor and council shall deem it advisable.
Sec. 5. That S. D. Benight, Leonard Smith and John B Brady are hereby appointed judges of election, to hold the first election for mayor and councilmen under this act. Such judges shall hold such election at such time and during the month of March or April, A.D. 1860,and at such place in Troy aforesaid, as they or a majority of them shall deem advisable; and they shall give at least three days’ notice of the time and place of election, by five written or printed hand-bills, put up at five of the most public places in said city; and said judges shall take an oath, before some one authorized to administer oaths, faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties of their offices, which shall be certified and filed in the office of the District Court; and such judges shall give to the person elected mayor and to each person elected councilman a certificate of his election. In case of any of said judges shall fail to attend said election, the vacancy may be filled the judge or judges who do attend. And such election shall be by ballot; the polls to be opened at nine a.m. and close at four p.m.
Sec. 6. The councilmen shall be chose by the qualified voters of the city, and by the qualified voters of their respective wards, when the city shall be divided into wards, and shall serve for the term of one year, and until their successors are elected and qualified; shal be at least twenty-one years of age, citizens of the United States, and shall have resided in the city for at least sixty days next preceding their election. And when there shall be a tie in the election of the councilmen, it shall be determined by the judges of election by lot; and all vacancies shall be filled by an election ordered by the Mayor, who shall issue his proclamation ordering an election, prescribing the time, place and manner of holding such election.
Sec. 7. The board of councilmen shall elect their president and all other officers, agents and servants of their board; shall judge of the qualification, election and return of their own members. A majority of the whole number shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as the board may prescribe; they may determine the rules and regulations of their own proceedings, punish their own members for disorderly conduct, and by a vote of two-thirds of their whole number eject a member, and they shall at any time, upon the request of any member, cause the yeas and nays to be called and entered upon the journal.
Sec. 8. The board shall hold their stated meetings on such days and times as shall be fixed by ordinance; but there shall be not exceeding six regular meetings in one year, and they may adjourn their stated and other meetings from time to time, and may by ordinance change the time of holding their regular meetings. (This section amended by Ordinance 105).
Sec. 9. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified electors of the city; shall hold his office for the term of one year, and until his successor is elected and duly qualified; and when two or more persons shall have an equal number of votes for mayor, the board of councilmen shall determine who is elected by lot.
Sec. 10. The mayor shall be a least twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States; shall have resided in the city at least three months next preceding his election, and be otherwise qualified as required in case of councilmen.
Sec. 11. The mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the board of councilmen, shall have the power to fill all offices within the city, which are not ordered by law or ordinance to be elected or otherwise appointed. The mayor shall take care that the laws of the Territory and he ordinances of the corporation are duly enforced, respected and observed within the limits of said city. He shall have power, with the consent of the board of councilmen, to remove from office any person holding office created by ordinance, to remit fines and forfeitures for offenses committed within the city, and shall be a conservator of the peace within the city and throughout the County in which said city is located; he shall have the power to fill all vacancies which may happen in any office, other than councilmen, until the end of the next session of the board of councilmen, and until such vacancy is filled according to law and the ordinances of the city; he shall, from time to time, give the board of councilmen information relative to the affairs of the city, and shall recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall deem expedient for the welfare of the city; and he may, on extraordinary occasions, by proclamations, convene the board of councilmen; and shall have power, when he shall deem it necessary to require any officer of the city to exhibit accounts, books or papers to the board, and to make report, in writing, to the mayor and councilmen touching any matter pertaining to his office.
Sec. 12. When any vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor, by death, resignation, absence from the city, removal from office, or refusal to qualify, or otherwise, or when the mayor shall be a party interested, or put upon his trial for any violation of law or ordinance, the president of the board of councilmen, for the time being, shall exercise the office of mayor, or until such vacancy shall be filled, or until such disability shall be removed, or, in case of such vacancy, other than a temporary absence or disability, the person exercising the office of mayor shall cause a new election to be held, giving ten days notice thereof by proclamation.
Sec. 13. Any ordinance passed by the board of councilmen, before it becomes law, shall be presented to the mayor for his approval; if he approves it, he shall sign it under his endorsement of approval; if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the board, who shall reconsider the same, and if notwithstanding the objections of the mayor, it shall be passed by a majority of the whole number of councilmen elected, it shall become a law, and in all such case the yeas and nays shall be entered upon the journal; and if any ordinance presented to the mayor for his approval be not returned within three days, with his objections, it shall become a law.
Sec. 14. The style of all ordinances shall be. “Be it ordained by the mayor and council of the city of Troy:” and all ordinances shall, before they take effect, be published in some newspaper within the city, or by five written or printed handbills, posted up in five public places in the city; provided, however, that the failure to publish any ordinance shall not render void such ordinance; but the person whose duty it may be to cause such publication, shall be liable to such fine as may be provided by ordinance.
Sec. 15. The mayor and council shall appoint a city register, who shall hold his office for the term of one year, and until his successor shall be appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed, who shall give bonds to the mayor for the use of the city, with sufficient securities, to be approved by the mayor, in such sum as may be provided by ordinance, conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office, he shall perform all the duties of the clerk of the council; shall keep a book or books wherein shall be entered al lthe proceedings of the board of councilmen, and all the records of the city, which books shall be open at all proper times for inspection of the citizens; and he shall have and preserve in his office all records and public papers and documents belonging to the city, and shall perform such other duties as may be enjoined on him by ordinance; he shall also, be the keeper of the seal of the city, and shall affix it to all papers and documents, as may be required by law.
Sec. 16. The mayor and councilmen, and all other city officers, shall, before entering upon the discharge of duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe to an oath to support the constitution of the United States, the provisions of an act organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, the laws of Kansas, and faithfully to discharge the duties of his office to the best of his ability.
Sec. 17. The mayor and council shall appoint a marshal, who shall hold his office for the term of one year, and until his successor is appointed and qualified, unless sooner removed, who shall, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, enter into bonds with the city of Troy in such penalties and with such securities as may be prescribed by ordinance, or such as ay be required by the mayor, conditioned that he will faithfully account for all moneys which may come into his hands by virtue of his office, when required by ordinance, or by the mayor, and faithfully to discharge all the duties of his office as marshal; which bond shall be filed and recorded in the office of the city register; and said marshal shall execute all writs and process to him directed by the mayor, or any justice of the peace, or other judicial officer, and return the same according to the command of said writ or process; and he shall be collector of the city revenue, and he shall hold his office within the city limits, and perform all such duties as may be prescribed by ordinance, and shall have and possess all the duties, powers and responsibilities of a constable, and shall be entitled to the same fees as constable of a Township may be or is entitled to by the laws of this Territory.
Sec. 18. The mayor shall publish, or cause to be published, during the first week of March, in each year, a full and complete statement of all moneys received and expended during the preceding year, and on what account received and expended; which statement shall be inserted for three successive weeks in some newspaper published in the city or by five written or printed hand bills, set up in as many public places.
Sec. 19. The mayor shall be, ex-officio, a justice of the peace; he shall have concurrent jurisdiction with each and every justice of the peace in his County, and shall have exclusive original jurisdiction of all cases arising under this act, as well as under any of hte ordinances of the said city, and have all the powers, rights, privileges, immunities, jurisdiction, and be subject to all the responsibilities and duties of a justice of the peace, both in civil and criminal cases, (arising) under the laws of the United States, and the laws of this Territory, subject to appeal and certiorari as allowed from justices’ courts by the laws of this Territory, and shall receive the same fees as are or may be allowed to justices of the peace; he shall have power to issue writs, execution, and all other processes to the marshal or any constable in the County, and shall hold his court and keep his office within the limits of the city of Troy, and shall hold a regular court at such times as he may designate, once in each week, or as often as, in his, opinion, it may be necessary.
Sec. 20. The mayor as such justice of the peace, on demand of any person or persons in whose favor he shall have rendered judgment, shall give to such person a certified transcript of such judgment, and the Clerk of the District Court, or other appellate court, upon application, shall file, and record in his book of judgments, such transcripts, and note the day of such filing, which judgment so filed shall be a lien upon all real estate of the defendant or defendants, in such judgment throughout the County in which the city of Troy is situated, to the same extent, and with the same effect, as a judgment of the said District Court, and shall be equally under the control of the said District Court.
Sec. 21. At the first meeting of the city council after any general election, the board of councilmen shall cause to be made out, and certified by the register, the election and qualification of the mayor, and within ten days thereafter, he shall cause the same to be recorded in the Recorder’s office in the County in which the city is situated. A neglect to qualify and record as aforesaid, shall be deemed a refusal to accept. And the mayor shall be authorized to administer oaths, to take depositions and the acknowledgement of deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing, affecting the title of lands in the Territory, and certify the same under the seal of the city, which shall be received as good (and) valid throughout the Territory.
Sec. 22. The mayor and marshal are hereby authorized to call upon very male inhabitant, over the age of twenty-one years, to aid in enforcing the laws and ordinances; and in case of riot, to call out the militia to aid them in enforcing the same, or carrying into effect any law or ordinance; and any person who shall not obey such call; shall forfeit to the city a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.
Sec. 23. Any officer of the city who shall be guilty of any willful or corrupt violation of duty, or omission to discharge his duty, or any flagrant misdemeanor, may be impeached and tried by the city council, and removed from office, by a majority vote of the members of the board.
Sec. 24. All ordinances of the board may be proved by the certificate of the city register, with the seal of the city affixed and when printed or published in book or pamphlet form, and purporting to be published by the authority of the city, shall be read and received in evidence in all courts of law, without further proof.
Sec. 25. That the mayor and council shall have the exclusive power and authority to grant licenses within the limits of the city, to grocers, saloon keepers, and all other persons for any purpose whatever, that in their discretion may seem advisable; and the license fees for such licenses shall be appropriated in such manner, for the benefit of the city, as shall be prescribed by ordinance.
Sec. 26. This act is declared to be a public act, and may be used in evidence in all courts of law and equity in this Territory, without proof.
Sec. 27. This act, for the purpose herein named, shall take precedence of all acts or parts of acts coming in conflict with the provisions of this act.
Sec. 28. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
Gustavus A. Colton
Speaker of House of Representatives,
W. W Updegraff
President of the Council.
Approved February 24, 1860
S. Medary, Governor
