Village Charter

An Act

To Incorporate the Village of Farmington

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota:

Section 1 - All that part of the Township of Empire, in the County of Dakota and the State of Minnesota, hereinafter described, shall be known and constituted the Village of Farmington, and such Corporation shall have the powers generally possessed by municipal corporations at common law, and in addition thereto shall posses the power hereinafter granted, and by that name may sue and be sued, make contracts, purchase, take and hold real and personal property, and have a corporate seal alterable at pleasure.

Every grant and devise of lands or right or transfer of property, which has been or may be made for the benefit of its inhabitants shall have the same effect as if made to the Village by name.

Section 2 - The territory included in the said Village of Farmington shall be all the territory divided into lots and blocks in section thirty-one (31), town one-hundred and fourteen (114), range nineteen (19) west, which is known as the town site of Farmington in the County of Dakota.

Section 3 - The government of said corporation and the management of all its municipal concerns shall be vested in three (3) Trustees, one of whom shall be selected by themselves as President, one Treasurer, one Justice of the Peace, one Assessor, one Constable, one Clerk, who shall be residents of said Village.

The Trustees, Treasurer, Justice of the Peace and Constable shall be elected by the qualified voters of said Village.

The Assessor and Clerk of said Village shall be appointed by the Trustees of said Village, and may be removed at any time by said Trustees.

The Trustees and Treasurer shall hold their office for one year, and the Justice of the Peace and Constable for two years and until their successors are elected and qualified.

The Trustees may fill by appointment any vacancy in any Village office.

The Trustees of said Village shall act as Judges of elections, but in case of the absence of either of them any qualified voter of said Village may be selected by the voters present to act as such Judge. At all Village elections held under his act, the polls shall be opened at one o'clock in the afternoon and continue open until four o'clock of the same day, and the election shall be by ballot and shall be conducted and governed in the same manner as far as may be as township elections.

The Village Clerk shall give notice of such elections; Provided, that any failure to give the notice aforesaid shall not in any manner invalidate any election.

Special elections may be called at any time by the Trustees of said Village on the petition of ten freeholders of said Village and by giving the notice above required, stating the object of such election.

The first election under this act shall be held on the first Monday of May, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and T.C. Davis, Patrick Devitt, and J.F. Dilley, or any two of them, shall act as Judges of said election, and shall give ten days notice of the time and place of holding said election by posting up notices thereof in three public places in said Village; they shall canvass the votes and issue certificates of election to those receiving the highest number of votes.

Section 5 - Said Village of Farmington as defined in this act, and the remaining portion of the township of Empire outside of said Village, shall for general election purposes constitute as hereafter an election district of said Dakota County, and the officers of said Empire township shall conduct such general elections and make return thereof as prescribed by the general election law of the State, and the said township of Empire may hold their township elections within the corporate limits of the Village of Farmington, if such township shall desire to do so.

Section 6 - All officers of said Village shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices within ten (10) days after their election or appointment, otherwise such office shall be vacant.

The Justice of the Peace, Treasure, Assessor, Constable and Clerk shall respectively possess all the powers and enjoy all the rights and be subject to the same liabilities, rules, laws and fees, as far as the same may apply, as such township officers are by the general laws of the State, and their official bonds shall run to the Trustees of said Village; Provided, that the Trustees of said Village shall receive no compensation for their services.

The President shall preside at all meetings of the Trustees and sign all orders, commissions, licenses and permits granted by the Trustees, which shall also be attested by the Clerk, and no money shall be paid out of the Treasury of said Village except by the affirmative vote of the Trustees or a majority of them, and upon a written order signed by the Trustees and Clerk.

The Treasurer of said Village shall give to the Trustees an official bond for such an amount as the Trustees may require; shall receive and pay out all moneys belonging to said Village and shall keep just and true account of all moneys and other things coming into the hands as such Treasurer, in a book to be provided by the Trustees for that purpose, which book shall remain the property of the Village. He shall settle with the Trustees at the end of every year, and oftener if required by them.

It shall be the duty of the Constable to suppress all riots, disturbances and breaches of the peace, and to arrest all drunken, disorderly persons in said Village, and for this purpose he shall have all the authority and power of the County Sheriff of any County of the State.

Section 7 - A majority of the Trustees shall be a quorum for the transaction of business; they shall appoint a Clerk, Assessor and Constable, and such other officers as may be deemed necessary, and to prescribe by bylaws and duties as such officers when not defined by law.

The Trustees may enact ordinances and bylaws for all proposes contemplated by this act, and may affix penalties for violating the same, and they shall have the force of law; but before they shall become law they shall be signed by the President and Clerk and posted up in a public place in said Village ten (10) days, and shall be filed and recorded by the Clerk.

The style of ordinances shall be: "The President and Trustees of the Village of Farmington do ordain as follows, viz."

The Trustees shall have exclusive power,

First: to license and regulate within the corporate limits of the said Village, according to law or ordinances or both, the selling, vending or dealing in any manner in vinious, spiritous, malt, fermented, or intoxicating liquors or drinks;

to license and regulate the exhibition of common showmen or shows of any kind or the exhibition of any caravan, circus or theatrical or slight-of-hand performance;

to license and regulate billiard tables, ten pin or other ball alleys;

to license and regulate auctioneers and peddlers, venders of gunpowder, and to revoke any such license.

All moneys received for any such license and from all other sources shall be paid to the Treasure of said Village for its use, Provided, that in no instance shall the sum to be paid for any such license be less than the amount fixed and provided by the laws of this State, when the same is established by the law.

Second: to restrain and prohibit every description of gaming with cards or otherwise, and to authorize the destruction of all instruments used for the purpose of gaming.

Third: to prevent any riots or disorderly assemblages and to suppress and restrain disorderly houses, groceries, saloons or houses of ill-fame.

Fourth: to direct the location and management of slaughter-houses and markets, the storage of gunpowder or other combustible material, and to compel the owner or occupant of cellar, tallow candle shop, soap factory, hennery, stable, barn, privy, sewer, or any unwholesome house or place to cleanse, remove or abate the same.

Fifth: to prevent the incumbering of streets, sidewalks, lanes, public grounds and alleys, and to define the same, and to prevent racing or immoderate driving or riding on the same; also to prevent injury to the same or any public property in the Village.

Sixth: to restrain the running at large of horses, cattle, mules, swine, and sheep, and to authorize the distraining, impounding and sale of the same; also to prevent the running at large of dogs, to make and establish a pound and appoint a pound master, to protect shade and ornamental trees on the streets, alleys, and public grounds, and to require the owner or owners of lots to set out to set out shade or ornamental trees in the street or streets fronting the same, and to compel the owners and occupants of buildings to remove sewer dirt or rubbish from sidewalks, streets or alleys opposite streets.

Seventh: to organize Fire Company, Hook and Ladder Company, and to regulate their government, to restrain drunkards, immoderate drinking or obscenity in the streets, and punish all persons guilty of the same; to lease, purchase or erect all buildings necessary for use of said Village as a municipal corporation; to tax every male resident of said Village above twenty-one (21) and under fifty (50) years of age, two days labor, or in lieu thereof three dollars per annum, to be applied in roads, streets and alleys in said Village; to make, keep open and in repair, grade, improve, lay out, alter, widen, vacate or discontinue roads, streets, alleys, sewers and sidewalks in said Village; to examine and audit the accounts of all persons against said Village, to establish and maintain pumps, cisterns, reservoirs and drains in said Village, and purchase and hold any land necessary for the purpose herein named; to prescribe the limits within which wooden buildings may be erected or repaired; to prevent the dangerous construction or continuance of chimneys, fire-places, stove-popes, and cause the same to be removed or made safe.

Section 8 - Any Peace officer may, and it shall be the duty of the Constable to arrest without process any person found in a state of intoxication or guilty of immoderate drinking, improper reviling, obscenity, or noisy, boisterous or disorderly conduct, in the streets or public places, and take such person or persons forthwith before the Justice of the Peace who has an office in said Village, or keep them until they become sober, in confinement, or until such time as said Justice can reasonably hear and dispose of such offender.

Section 9 - The Trustees shall on the annual election day make an accurate statement of the finances of the Village at that date, including all debts and liabilities, and the means and assets to discharge the same, which statement shall be read to the electors present and recorded for the inspection of all persons.

Section 10 - The Village of Farmington shall constitute one road district, and the highway labor and taxes shall belong to the general fund, and the Trustees shall appoint one Overseer of said road district, and they shall issue warrants to him containing the whole amount of highway labor and taxes assessed and levied in his district, which said warrant shall be returned to the Village Clerk.

The laws of the State shall apply to warning, working, suing for and collecting highway taxes and to returning delinquent taxes, and in all other respects except as herein expressly provided.

The Trustees shall have full power to direct the Overseer when, where and how to expend such labor and tax, and to remove him, and may direct him to expend the labor in the manner to be directed by them at any point beyond the limits of the Village; and the Trustees shall perform the duties imposed by law of the Supervisors of towns in levying highway taxes, and shall be governed or restricted in the amount so levied, by the laws applicable to Supervisors of towns in levying highway labor taxes.

Section 11 - Penalties and forfeitures shall be sued for by the Trustees in the name of "The Village of Farmington," and shall belong to said Village.

The expense of opening and grading new streets, and of paving or repairing buildings and maintaining sidewalks on streets or alleys may be chargeable to the lots fronting on such improvements, or paid in whole or part from the general fund, at the discretion of the Village Trustees.

Section 12 - All property both real and personal in the Village, except such as may be exempt by the laws of the State or as Village property, shall be subject to taxation not exceeding five mills on the dollar for any one year, for general purposes, and such property shall also be liable for such special taxes as the Trustees shall levy in pursuance of law; and the Trustees may levy a tax upon the taxable property of said Village, when authorized by a major vote of all the legal voters of said Village, not exceeding ten mills on every dollar of valuation for any one year, to be used for such purposes as the voters of said Village may direct.

Section 13 - The Trustees shall report to the Auditor of Dakota County, by October first of each year, the amount of general and special taxes levied upon any of the lots or portions of said Village, and it shall be the duty of the County Auditor to insert such taxes in the assessment roll of said Village of Farmington, and the same shall be collected by the County Treasurer or returned by him as delinquent; and all proceedings in relation thereto, including the selling, conveying and redeeming property, shall be the same as in proceedings on account of other taxes under the law of the State.

Section 14 - The damages sustained by reason of the laying out, opening or altering of any road, street or alley, may be determined in the same manner as the laying out of a road in a town under the laws of the State, except that the Village Clerk is substituted for the town clerk, and the Trustees for the supervisors.

Section 15 - All actions brought to recover any penalty, sum, of money or forfeiture under this act or the ordinances or by-laws made by the Trustees, shall be brought in the corporate name of the Village, and it shall be proper to complain that the defendant is indebted for the amount of such penalty or damage, and to refer to the act or by-law under which the same is claimed, and to give special matters in evidence under it; and all civil cases shall be under the direction and control of the Trustees, and they shall have the power to settle and compromise, prosecute and defend all such actions on the part of the Village.

In actions against said Village, services of process shall be on the President of said Village, and the Village shall have the right to appeal, as individuals have.

Section 16 - Such actions may be commenced in the District Court of before any Justice of the Peace of Dakota County without being required to give security for costs in any such action, and in no case such any judgment be rendered against such Village for costs in criminal actions; and no person shall be an incompetent judge, justice or juror, by reason of being an inhabitant of said Village in an action to which the Village shall be a party.

Every execution issued upon any judgment recovered therein for any penalty or for the violation of any of the provisions of this act or any ordinance or by-law made by the virtue thereof, may contain a clause directing in the event of the non payment of the judgment the imprisonment of the defendant in the county jail of said Dakota county, not exceeding thirty days, if the damage or penalty recovered by such judgment shall be ten dollars or less, and not exceeding sixty days, if such damages or penalty exceed that sum; and the Sheriff of said Dakota County shall receive and take charge of such defendant committed to said jail.

Penalties and judgments shall be paid into the Village treasury.

Section 17 - It shall be lawful for all the legally qualified voters of said Village residing within its corporation limits, as herein before described, to meet at the Niskern Hotel, within such limits, on the first Monday of April, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, at one o'clock P.M. of that day, to choose, viva voce, two judges and one clerk of election, and the election shall be conducted as near as may be as general elections are by law conducted; at said election the electors shall vote for or against this act of incorporation; and a majority of the votes so cast shall decide and be conclusive in accepting or rejecting the same.

Section 18 - This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its acceptance by a majority of legal voters residing within the corporate limits of said Village.

Special Laws of Minnesota of 1872

Charter of the Village of Farmington

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota:

Every grant and devise of lands or right or transfer of property, which has been or may be made for the benefit of its inhabitants shall have the same effect as if made to the Village by name.

Offices of the Village

The Trustees, Treasurer, Justice of the Peace and Constable shall be elected by the qualified voters of said Village.

The Assessor and Clerk of said Village shall be appointed by the Trustees of said Village, and may be removed at any time by said Trustees.

The Trustees and Treasurer shall hold their office for one year, and the Justice of the Peace and Constable for two years and until their successors are elected and qualified.

The Trustees may fill by appointment any vacancy in any Village office.

Time and Manner of Conducting Elections

Section 4 - There shall be annual election held on the first Monday of April of each year, at which the electors of said Village qualified to vote at town elections, may elect by ballot and the plurality of votes, the Trustees, Treasurer and Justice of the Peace and Constable of said Village. The Trustees of said Village shall act as Judges of elections, but in case of the absence of either of them any qualified voter of said Village may be selected by the voters present to act as such Judge.

At all Village elections held under his act, the polls shall be opened at one o'clock in the afternoon and continue open until four o'clock of the same day, and the election shall be by ballot and shall be conducted and governed in the same manner as far as may be as township elections.

The Village Clerk shall give notice of such elections; Provided, that any failure to give the notice aforesaid shall not in any manner invalidate any election.

Township and Village to be One Election District

Duties and Powers of Village Officers

Section 6 - All officers of said Village shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices within ten (10) days after their election or appointment, otherwise such office shall be vacant.

He shall settle with the Trustees at the end of every year, and oftener if required by them.

Powers and Duties of Trustees

The style of ordinances shall be: "The President and Trustees of the Village of Farmington do ordain as follows, viz."

The Trustees shall have exclusive power,

to license and regulate the exhibition of common showmen or shows of any kind or the exhibition of any caravan, circus or theatrical or slight-of-hand performance;

to license and regulate billiard tables, ten pin or other ball alleys;

to license and regulate auctioneers and peddlers, venders of gunpowder, and to revoke any such license.

All moneys received for any such license and from all other sources shall be paid to the

Treasure of said Village for its use, Provided, that in no instance shall the sum to be paid for any such license be less than the amount fixed and provided by the laws of this State, when the same is established by the law.

Second: to restrain and prohibit every description of gaming with cards or otherwise, and to authorize the destruction of all instruments used for the purpose of gaming.

Third: to prevent any riots or disorderly assemblages and to suppress and restrain disorderly houses, groceries, saloons or houses of ill-fame.

Arrest by Peace Officers and Constable without Process

Annual Statement of Finances by Trustees

Road District - Road Taxes and Labor on Roads

The laws of the State shall apply to warning, working, suing for and collecting highway taxes and to returning delinquent taxes, and in all other respects except as herein expressly provided.

Penalties and Forfeitures

Section 11 - Penalties and forfeitures shall be sued for by the Trustees in the name of "The Village of Farmington," and shall belong to said Village.

Limit of Taxation for General Village Purposes

Tax Levy to be Returned to County Auditor

Damages Relating to Open Streets

Actions for Recovering of Penalties and Fines

In actions against said Village, services of process shall be on the President of said Village, and the Village shall have the right to appeal, as individuals have.

Further Provisions Relating to Actions

Penalties and judgments shall be paid into the Village treasury.

Time and Place of First Election

Section 18 - This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its acceptance by a majority of legal voters residing within the corporate limits of said Village.

Amendments to the 1872 Village Charter

Special Laws of 1873, page 192.

Amendment to Section 2

The town is increased in size by a quarter section - 160 acres.

Amendment to Section 3

Trustees can remove the Justice of the Peace, Constable, Clerk, Treasurer, and Assessor if they believe it to be for the interest of the community.

Approved March 4, 1873

Special Laws of 1875, page 256.

Amendment to Section 5

Empire Township residents may elect Township officials that reside in the Village of Farmington.

Approved February 5, 1875

Special Laws of 1876, page 92.

Amendment to Section 2

All of section 31 becomes the Village of Farmington.

Amendment to Section 3

Trustees may add a street commissioner and a second Justice of the Peace as officers of the Village.

Amendment to Section 5

Trustees act as election judges. Village Clerk also acts as an election judge. The electors may also choose a clerk. Trustees, Village Clerk and chosen clerk by the electors conduct the elections. They receive $2 for their services. The Trustees decide where the elections are to be held.

Amendment to Section 7

Trustees may hire police officers. Trustees decide the salary of the constable for services rendered other than as a police officer.

The style of ordinances change to "The Trustees of the Village of Farmington Do Ordain as Follows:"

Liquor licenses cost from $50 to $300. Village voters are to decide if Farmington is to become a temperance town by voting "in favor of license" or "against license."

The Trustees have the exclusive power to:

make, establish and improve public grounds - create a public park;

require the owners and occupants of buildings remove snow, dirt and rubbish from sidewalks in front of their homes or businesses;

prevent the introduction of contagious diseases;

borrow money to pay expenses and debts of the Village;

allow the Fire Warden to inspect homes and business;

regulate the place and manner of weighing and selling hay, firewood, coal, peat and lime,

require the owners and occupants of buildings to remove any substance as the Board of Health directs;

construct a village hall and fire barn;

take a census of the Village;

act as Officers of the Peace, and

command bystanders to assist them in keeping the peace or be fined $10.

Approved February 11, 1876

Repealed March 3, 1877

Special Laws of 1879, page 204

Amendment to Section 4, Chapter 26, Laws of 1872, also Section 4, Chapter 30, 1877

Polls open at 9:00 am and close at 4:00 PM.

Approved February 17, 1879

The first page of the new Village Charter - 1881

An Act To Amend and Codify the Several Acts Incorporating the Village of Farmington,

Dakota County, Minnesota.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota:

Section 1 - The inhabitants of that portion of the township of Empire in Dakota County, State of Minnesota, hereinafter described shall henceforth be a body politic and corporate be the name of the Village of Farmington, and shall have all the powers of a corporation at common law, together with such other powers as are hereinafter specially granted; and the authorities thereof shall be perpetual succession and be capable of suing and being sued, contracting and being contracted with, pleading and being impleaded with in all courts of law or equity, and shall have a common seal which they may alter at pleasure.

Section 2 - The territory included in said village of Farmington shall be all of section 31, township 114, range 19 west, in said County of Dakota; and the jurisdiction of said village authorities shall extend beyond said limits in all directions a distance of one mile for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing for violations of the laws of the state, this charter or ordinances or by-laws of said village.

Section 3 - The government of said corporation and management of all its municipal concerns shall be vested in three trustees (one of whom shall be chosen by themselves as president) one treasurer, two justices of the peace, one assessor, one marshall, one street commissioner and one clerk, all of whom shall be residents of said village. The trustees, treasurer and justices of the peace shall be elected by the qualified voters of said village. The assessor, street commissioner, marshall and clerk of said village shall be appointed by the trustees of said village annually at the first session of the trustees after the expiration of the time for the qualification of the newly elected trustees, and may be removed at any time by said trustees.

Clipping from the Farmington Press 1881

A New Village Charter

"Law and Order" Editorial

Charter Accepted

Village Ordinance No. 88 repealing all ordinances prior to March 1881

Village Election Results of 1881

A NEW CHARTER for the village of Farmington has been drawn up and forwarded for passage by the Legislature. The old one was so bungled that it was difficult to find out much about it. The new ones makes some changes, notably the provision for the Trustees to be elected one each at a time to serve three years; also one giving Trustees the power to appoint a village marshal with constabulary powers. A petition for its enactment has been signed by a majority of the voters, and its adoption it is thought would be highly favorable to a better control of the police force and to "law and order."

January 1, 1881

"LAW and ORDER"

On Tuesday of next week the voters of this village will be called upon to vote for or against the amended charter of Farmington, as recently passed by the Legislature.

For the information of all we here give the main points of difference between the new charter and the old.

The new charter provides -

1. That the village limits shall include the old Devitt farm, thus making the village territory a solid square.

2. The trustees will be elected to serve each three years - one to be elected each year; thus always having two members of the former board.

3. The trustees to constitute a local board of equalization, with power to abate taxes in whole or part.

4. A village marshal, with constabulary powers, to be appointed by the trustees - doing away with the office of constable, and making the marshal responsible to trustees for faithful performance of duty.

This feature is decidedly in the interests of "law and order."

5. The village justice to have exclusive jurisdiction in all manners under the charter and ordinances.

6. Tramps and vagrants are to be made to work out their board by order of village justice.

7. Trustees have power to compel persons building chimneys, etc., to make them reasonably safe.

8. Village to have police jurisdiction one mile in all directions beyond village limits.

9. As to the question of license or no license, it remains precisely as now - local option is the law, and a vote of the majority will decide the question when raised.

For our own part, and in behalf of the law-abiding citizens, we wish to see the new charter adopted, and by a strong popular vote.

"Law and order" is the best motto for all classes.

The laws are lenient enough, and if people live up to them, all will be peace and harmony; if any parties will not live up to them, the power should be vested somewhere to arrest and punish them, so that we can stand before the world cleanly, a wholesome and well-regulated community.

So The Press says - Vote for the new Charter, by all means.

Possibly there may exceptional feature in the bill, but we have not seen the full text. The village clerk will have a certified copy before the election, which may be seen at The Press office the last of this week, so that all may examine and vote understandingly.

March 9, 1881

"The New Charter Accepted"

At the special election, yesterday the vote on the acceptation of the new charter for Farmington was 181. For the charter 111; against the charter, 70. Majority for the charter, 41. But for some absurdities in the act, it might have held at least 75 majority.

March 16, 1881

VILLAGE OF FARMINGTON

Ordinance No. 88 - An Ordinance repealing other ordinances.

The Trustees of the Village of Farmington do ordain as follows:

Section 1 - That this ordinance and amendments of the same passed by the trustees of said village prior to March 15, 1881, be and the same are hereby repealed, saving and reserving, however, the validity of all ordinances, resolutions and acts had or done by said board of trustees of said village and the rights vested thereunder up to said 15th day of March A.D. 1881, the same as though this repeal had not taken place.

Section 2 - This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in The Farmington Press.

Approved and passed May 17, 1881.

E.L. Brackett, President Board of Trustees

Attest: Roswell Judson, Village Clerk.

May 25, 1881