The City Clerk shall serve for a term of two years, unless sooner removed for cause. He shall, before entering upon the discharge of his duties as such clerk, take and subscribe to the oath of office prescribed in Section Fifteen of this act, and shall execute such bond as shall be fixed by council which bond shall be approved by council and filed with the treasurer.
In addition to all other duties prescribed in this act, the City Clerk shall keep the records of the council, and he, or his deputy, shall be present at all regular and special meetings of that body. It shall be his duty to properly record in a well bound book all the proceedings of council as well as a complete record of all ordinances, franchises, bonds, permits and resolutions adopted or passed by council, and to properly index the same, for the convenience and inspection of the council, or any city official or taxpayer.
Before any business at any regular meeting of the council is undertaken it shall be the duty of the clerk to read publicly to the council the minutes of all regular or special meeting of that body, not therefore read or approved, and upon approval of same by council, the signatures of the mayor and clerk shall forthwith be affixed. All records of council so approved and signed, or duly authenticated copy thereof, signed by the clerk and under the seal of the city, shall be admitted as evidence in any proper case in any court in this state.
The City Clerk, except as may be otherwise herein provided, shall be the custodian of the records and papers of the city and the seal of the city, which shall be kept by him at his office, and the records and papers shall be open to public inspection at all proper hours. He shall, acting under existing laws, in so far as they are not in conflict with this act, perform such duties relating to all city elections held under this act, as the clerks of the circuit or county courts perform, under state laws, in relation to the holding of general or special elections; and he shall likewise be the custodian of all registration books, ballots, tally sheets, etc., pertaining to all municipal elections.
The City Clerk shall have power within the municipality to administer oaths and take acknowledgments of deeds and other instruments required by law to be acknowledged, in the same manner and with like effect and under the same penalties as notaries public, justices of the peace and other officers of the state are authorized to administer oaths, or take acknowledgments, under state laws.
It shall be the duty of the City Clerk, who shall be the assessor, to make an assessment of the property within the city subject to taxation, substantially in the manner and form in which assessments are made by the assessor of the county, and return the same to the council on or before the first day of August in each year, and for the purpose he shall have all powers conferred by law on county assessors. He shall list the number of dogs in the city and the names of the persons owning the same, which list shall be returned to the council. In order to aid the said council in ascertaining the property and tithables subject to taxation by said city, the City Clerk (who shall act as assessor) of said city, shall have access to all books and public records of Mineral County without expenses to said city or assessor, and he shall also have the same power and be subject to the same penalties in ascertaining and assessing the property and subjects of taxation in said city as are granted and imposed upon the county assessors throughout the state by the general state law, and the council shall also have authority to prescribe by ordinance such other rules and regulations as may be necessary to enable and require such assessor to ascertain and properly assess all property and tithables liable to be taxed by said city so that such assessment and taxation shall be uniform, and to enforce such ordinances by reasonable fines and penalties. And the said city assessor, making the valuation for assessment, shall make the same assessment for both real and personal property as the assessor of said county for the assessment year assessed by the county assessor. The City Clerk shall have an office in the city hall, council chamber or such other place as the council may designate and provide. He shall keep his office open at least three consecutive hours in the forenoon and afternoon of each day.
In addition to the duties hereinbefore set out and otherwise provided in this act, the City Clerk shall by virtue of his office be the police judge of the city, and his oath of office and the conditions of his bond shall extend to and cover his duties and obligations as police judge. The City Clerk shall, as such police judge, be ex officio a justice of the peace with authority to issue warrants or other process for all offenses within the police jurisdiction of the city, of which a justice of the peace has jurisdiction under state laws, and for all violations of any city ordinances. In order to preserve the peace and good order of the city and protect the persons property therein, riotous and disorderly persons in the city may be arrested and detained before issuing any warrant therefor. He shall hold daily sessions of his said court, Sundays excepted. He shall have and exercise all of the civil jurisdiction conferred by law upon justices of the peace, but before proceeding to act in such capacity, he shall file with the Clerk of the County Court of Mineral County, a certificate from the mayor of said city showing his appointment and qualification as City Clerk, and shall thereupon take the oath and execute the bond required to be taken and executed by justices of the peace.
The police judge may commit persons charged with felony or misdemeanor to jail or take bond for their appearance before the grand jury, but he shall receive no fees or other compensation for such services; he shall have power to issue executions for all fines, penalties and costs imposed by him, and he may require the immediate payment thereof, and in default of such payment may commit the person so in default to jail, until the fine and penalty and costs shall be paid or satisfied, and any one so committed may be required to work during imprisonment, as required by council.
If any person is sentenced to imprisonment, or any person or corporation is assessed with a fine of ten dollars or more, such person or corporation shall be allowed an appeal from said decision of the police judge to the Circuit Court of Mineral County, upon the execution of an appeal bond with surety deemed sufficient and approved by the police judge in a penalty double such fine and costs conditioned that the person or corporation proposing to appeal will perform and satisfy any judgement which may be rendered against him or it by said court on such appeal; and in no case shall a fine of less than ten dollars be given by the police judge, if the defendant, his agent or attorney request that the fine be made as much as ten dollars.
If the appeal be taken, the warrant or arrest, the transcript of the judgement, the appeal bond and other papers of the case shall be forthwith delivered by the police judge to the Clerk of the Court to which such appeal is taken, and said court shall proceed to try the case as upon indictment or presentment and render such judgement, including that of costs, as the law and evidence may demand.
The police judge shall be authorized to suspend sentence or parole any juvenile offender under the age of sixteen years, who may be brought before him for the violation of any ordinance of the city or charged with any misdemeanor under the laws of the state; he shall prescribe the conditions of such parole and enter them in his docket and may commit the offender to the care and custody of any proper person, with a view to the correction and reformation of such offender, and may take from such person such bond or security, conditioned as he shall prescribe. The chief of police, or a policeman designated by him, shall attend all sessions of the police court and perform such duties as may be required by ordinance or requested by the police judge.
The police judge shall keep in a well bound book a complete record of all cases heard and considered by him, and he shall account for and pay over the amount of all fines, as well as the fees of himself and other officers, under salary, collected by him, weekly, to the treasurer of the city, and shall make monthly reports thereof, and of all other matters pertaining to his office to the council of the city. In the absence of the police judge the mayor of the city shall sit as such police judge with the same power and authority.
The police judge, if an attorney, shall not practice in said police court as an attorney or counselor or in any case appealed or removed therefrom, but shall have the right to practice law as an attorney in other courts and cases.
In addition to the other duties to be performed by the City Clerk, he shall also be the city collector, charged with the duty of collecting all taxes, levies, assessments, water rents and all other funds due the city, except licenses; and as such collector shall have and exercise all of the rights, authority and powers conferred upon town sergeants by the general law of the state with reference to the collection of taxes and funds of cities, towns and villages, and upon sheriffs with reference to the collection of state and county taxes and funds. He shall at least once in each week, or oftener if the council so require, account for and pay over to the city treasurer all moneys received by him as such collector; he shall before entering upon the duties of his office give the bond hereinbefore required, payable to the City of Keyser in the penalty of not less than five thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of the office of City Clerk, collector and police judge and to account for and pay over, as required by law, all moneys which may come into his hands by virtue of any and all of said offices, and shall be chargeable with all of the city taxes, levies, assessments and water rents, from the time the bills therefor are required to be made up and collected, and with all moneys of the city, including fines, fees and penalties, that may come into his hands. He shall receive no fees or commissions for his services, but shall account to the city for all fees received by him, except those received by him when acting in civil suits, taking depositions or acknowledgments. He shall at the first stated meeting of the council in each month make his report to the council of all moneys and credits coming to his hands as City Clerk, police judge and collector, accompanied by a receipt or receipts from the treasurer showing that said moneys have been paid to him, and he shall publish once in every six months a detailed itemized statement of all receipts and expenses of the city for the proceeding six months.
The City Clerk may appoint such deputies and assistants, with the approval of the council, as the duties of his office render necessary. The deputies shall take the oath required of the City Clerk and shall give such bond as he may require, but such deputies or assistants shall not perform any judicial duty of the police judge.
The salary fixed for the City Clerk, which shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office, shall be deemed to include all the services of all deputies, clerks and agents employed by him, and no additional allowance shall be made for, or on account of, any such services so rendered by the City Clerk.