Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the inhabitants residing within the following limits and boundaries; to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of section twelve, in township five north, in range ten, west of the third principal meridian, in the county of Madison and State of Illinois, and running thence west on the north boundary lines of sections 12, 11, and 10, to the middle of the Mississippi River, thence due south to the main channel of the said river, thence down the main channel of the said river to a point due south of the southeast corner of fractional section thirteen, in township No. five north, thence due north to the southeast corner of the aforesaid fractional section 13, and thence north on the east boundary lines of the aforesaid fractional section 13 and section 12, to the place of beginning, shall be incorporated and known as a corporation, by the name of the “City of Alton;” and the said corporation, by their name aforesaid, shall have perpetual successson; may sue and be sued, complain and defend in any and all places and courts whatsoever; may have and use a common seal, and alter it at pleasure; may take and hold real and personal estate by gift, grant, purchase, or otherwise, as the purposes of the city may require; may borrow money, and pledge the revenue and faith of the corporation, and issue scrip or bonds for the payment of the same.

Sec. 2. The territory contained within the boundaries of the said “City of Alton,” shall be divided into four

---

wards as follows, to wit: All of that part of the said city, which lies west of the line run in the same direction with Market street, to the north boundary of the corporation, shall constitute and form the first ward; all that part of the said city which lies east of the first ward, and west of Langdon street, as now platted, and west of a line run in the same direction with the said Langdon street, to the north boundary of the said corporation, shall constitute the second ward; all that part of the said city which lies east of the second ward, and south of the half section line running east and west through section twelve, shall constitute the third ward; and all that part of the said city which lies east of the second ward, and north of the third ward, shall constitute the fourth ward. The mayor and aldermen of said city shall have power, from time to time, to cause a correct division of the said city to be made into as many wards as they may deem necessary and for the good of the inhabitants of said city: Provided however, That no division of the said city shall be legal unless it be made at least three months preceding the city election next ensuing. Each ward shall have three Representatives or aldermen, who shall be elected from the residents of such ward as they may respectively inhabit.

Sec. 3. For the municipal government of the said city there shall be elected annually, one mayor, twelve aldermen, one register, one treasurer, one collector, three assessors, one street commissioner, and one constable, who shall, at the time of their election, be citizens of the United States, twenty-0ne years of age, and shall have resided in the said city at least six months, next preceding the day of their election.

Sec. 4. There shall be an election held in the said city, under this act, at such time or place as the president and board of trustees of the town of Alton may designate and appoint, for the election of the several officers named in the third section of this act, who shall, within ten days after their election, qualify and enter upon the duties of their respective offices. And after the first election , held as aforesaid, an election shall be held annually in each of the wards of said city, for the said officers, in such manner, and under such regulations and rules as the mayor and aldermen of said city may by ordinance prescribe; at which election the polls shall be kept open one day, from eight o’clock, A.M., until seven o’clock, P.M. And any vacancy in the aforesaid offices which may happen between the annual elections, shall be filled by an order from the mayor, directed to the inspectors of election, to hold a special election to fill such vacancy, who shall give at

---

least six days notice in some newspaper in said city, or in hand bills, put up at least two in each ward, in the most public places in said city, of all special and annual elections to fill the aforesaid offices.

Sec. 5. All elections of said city shall be by ballot, until otherwise ordered by the mayor and aldermen. And all persons qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly of this state, for the time being, who shall have resided sixty days next preceding such election, within the corporate boundaries of said city, shall be entitled to vote for any of the officers named in the third section of this act. If any person offering to vote shall be required by any qualified voter to make oath of his qualifications to vote, the inspectors of such election shall require him to swear as follows, to wit:

“You do swear that you have resided in the State of Illinois six months next preceding this election; that you are twenty one years of age; that you have resided in the city of Alton sixty days next preceding this election; and that you have not voted at this election.”

Any person in making the said oath, who shall swear falsely, shall be subject to all the penalties for perjury under the laws of this State.

Sec. 6. The three persons in each ward who shall receive the highest number of votes for Aldermen in their respective wards, shall be declared duly elected; and the persons who shall receive the highest number of all the votes given in the said city, for mayor, register, treasurer, collector, street commissioner, assessors, and constable, shall, in like manner, be declared duly elected, who shall hold their offices for one year, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified. And the said officers, so elected, shall, within twenty days from the day of their election, qualify and enter upon the duties of their said offices; and any officer neglecting or refusing, within the said twenty days, to qualify and enter upon the duties of his office, the office of the person so neglecting or refusing shall be deemed vacant, and another election ordered to fill such vacancy. Every person elected to fill any of the above offices shall, before he enters on the duties of the same, take and subscribe an oath, before any person authorized to administer oaths in this State—That he will support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State; and that he will, in all things, faithfully, and to the best of his ability, discharge the duties of his office; which oath shall be filed with the register of the city.

Sec. 7. The mayor of said city shall have all the ordinances passed by the common council faithfully executed; and to aid him in the discharge of his duty, he is

---

hereby authorized to call on every male inhabitant of said city over the age of eighteen years, and in cases of riot, to call out the militia to aid him in carrying the same into effect; and any person who shall not obey the call of the mayor or his agent, shall forfeit to the corporation a fine not exceeding five dollars. The mayor shall have power to call special meetings of the aldermen, when in his opinion the public good may require it. He shall have power whenever he may deem it necessary, to require of any of the officers of said city, an exhibit of his books and papers; and he shall, from time to time, make such communications to the board of aldermen as he may consider necessary and proper; and in general he shall have power to do all other acts and things that may be required of him, by any ordinance made in pursuance of this act. He shall be, ex-officio, a justice of the peace in the said city; and as such he shall have power to administer oaths, issue writs and process, under the seal of said city; and he or any justice of the peace may try and determine all causes of action arising under this act or any of the ordinances of the city, for fines, penalties or otherwise. He shall have concurrent jurisdiction with justices of the peace, in all civil and criminal cases within the limits of the corporation, and shall receive the same fees and compensation for his services. He shall have power to take the acknowledgement of deeds, mortgages, and all other instruments, and certify the same under the seal of the city, all of which shall be valid in law.

Sec. 8. The mayor and aldermen shall constitute the common council of said city. The common council shall meet at such times and places as they shall from time to time direct, or whenever they shall be required to do so by the mayor. The mayor when present, shall preside at all meetings of the common council, and shall only have a casting vote in case the aldermen shall be equally divided. In his absence, any one of the aldermen may be chosen to preside, and seven twelfths (7-12) of the aldermen shall be a quorum to do business, but a less number may adjourn from time to time, and may compel the attendance of members in such manner as the common council may provide; and the mayor and aldermen shall be the judges of the qualifications, elections, and returns of their own members, and other officers of said city; shall have power to appoint such officers and agents, and prescribe their duties; and may require bonds with such penalties as may be deemed proper from the treasurer, register, and such other officers and agents as to the common council may seem proper; and in general, to fix, regulate or alter, the salaries, fees and compensation, of any

---

such officers or agents, and to make such by-laws, rules and regulations for their own government, and for the public good, as to them may seem meet and proper.

Sec. 9. The common council of said city shall have power, by ordinance, to levy and collect taxes upon real and personal property within the limits of said city, not exceeding one-half of one per centum, upon the assessed value thereof, in lieu of the county tax; to make regulations to promote and secure the general health of said city; to prevent and remove nuisances; to establish night watches; erect lamps in the streets, and lighting the same; to improve and preserve the navigation of the Mississippi river within the corporate limits of said city; to erect and repair and regulate public wharves and docks; to regulate the rates of wharfage; to provide for licensing, regulating and taxing merchants, taverns, auctioneers, grocers, retailers, and venders of spirituous liquors and wines, theatrical and other shows and performances; to restrain and prohibit gaming (and) gaming houses; to establish and repair bridges; to establish and regulate markets; to open, widen and keep in repair, streets, avenues, lanes, alleys, drains and sewers, and to keep the same clear; to provide for the prevention and extinguishment of fires; to regulate the storage of gunpowder and other combustible materials; to erect pumps and keep them in repair; to regulate the police of the town, and in general to provide such ordinances as to carry into effect the objects of this act, the powers hereby granted, and as the good of said city may require. The common council shall provide for, and take care of all paupers within the limits of said city; and to accomplish this object, they shall have the exclusive right, power and authority to license and tax all ferries, taverns, merchants, auctioneers, pedlers, grocers, venders of spirituous liquors and wines, other public houses of entertainment, theatrical and other shows and performances, within the limits of said city; shall regulate and establish inspectors of beef, pork, wood, coal, lumber, lard, flour, and all other articles which they may deem proper for the public good, and appoint the inspectors, and regulate and establish their fees; to provide for the safe keeping of a standard of weights and measures, as fixed by the United States or this state, and for the regulating thereby all the weights and measures in the said city; to regulate party walls and fences in the said city; to regulate, license and tax pawnbrokers, exchange brokers, and forwarding merchants; to establish, appoint and regulate gaugers, measurers, and weigh masters, and prescribe their fees; to regulate, license and tax hackney coaches, and all other carriages and vehicles kept for hire, also drays, waggons,

---

carts, porters and watermen within the limits of said city, and to direct, in future, in what part of the city buildings of wood shall not be erected.

Sec. 10. That the common council of the city of Alton shall hereafter be required to keep all public roads and bridges in good order and repair, within the city of Alton, and for that purpose the common council shall have the exclusive right to call on every male person in said city, over the age of twenty one years, and under the age of fifty years, being residents of said city, to perform three days labor on said roads and bridges annually, or to pay into the city treasury the sum of one dollar for each and every day the said residents shall refuse to labor as aforesaid; and in case of non-payment or refusal to labor, the city council shall have power to sue for and collect the same, in the manner as is now provided under the provisions of the general road law; and that after due performance of the labor aforesaid, or payment of the penalty aforesaid, said residents shall be exempt from any other taxation under the power and authority of the county commissioners of Madison county, by virtue of the provisions of the general road law of the state of Illinois.

Sec. 11. That upon the application of the owners of two-thirds of the front of the lots, on any street or part of a street in said city, it shall be lawful for the common council to levy and collect a special tax on the owners of the lots on said streets, or parts of streets, according to their respective fronts, for the purpose of grading and paving the side walks on said streets.

Sec. 12. The common council of said city, are hereby empowered and authorized to establish elementary or common schools, wherein reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, and other useful branches of English education may be taught; and for this purpose, the common council are authorized and empowered to purchase lots, erect school houses or buildings, and suitably to furnish the same, in such parts of the city as may by them be deemed the most convenient and beneficial to the citizens thereof: Provided, That not more than one house shall be erected for every seven hundred and fifty inhabitants, and to procure suitable teachers for the same; and said common council, or persons appointed by them, shall visit said schools quarterly, and report to the common council, at their annual meeting to be held for that purpose, the state of the morals, discipline, and progress in learning, in said schools; and the said common council are hereby empowered to assess upon the real estate of said city, the sum necessary to purchase lots and erect the buildings necessary for such purpose; and to assess a tax upon personal property, suffi-

---

cient to raise the necessary sum of money for the support of said schools, which assessment shall not exceed one quarter per cent. and constitute a fund exclusively for the support of common schools. The common council of said city are hereby empowered, by ordinance, to direct whatever may be necessary to be done, for successfully carrying into operation the provisions of this section.

Sec. 13. The common council of the said city are empowered to regulate, grade, pave and improve the streets, avenues, lanes, and alleys, within said city, and to extend, widen, and open the same, making the person or persons injured thereby, adequate compensation; to ascertain which, the common council shall cause to be summoned six good and lawful men, free holders and citizens of said city, not directly interested in the case, who being first duly sworn for that purpose, shall enquire into and take into consideration the benefits as well as the injury which may accrue, and estimate and assess the damages which would be sustained by reason of the opening, extending, and widening, of any street, lane or alley, which damages they shall then apportion and assess, upon any and all the real estate in said city, which they may believe will be benefitted by the opening, extending, or widening, any street, lane, or alley, in the said city; all of which they shall return to the common council of said city, under their hands and seals; and the assessment so made, shall be collected as other taxes on real estate, and paid over to the person or persons whose property has been taken for the purpose of opening, widening, or extending, any street, lane, or alley, in the said city; and upon the payment of the same, the person or persons whose property has been so taken, shall deed to the public forever, all such property as shall be taken for the purpose of opening, widening, or extending, any street, lane, or alley, as aforesaid.

Sec. 14. That any person or persons appointed to collect the tax on personal property, imposed by virtue of the powers granted by this act, shall have power and authority to collect the same by distress and sale of the goods and chattles of the person or persons chargeable therewith, but, no sale shall be made unless twenty days previous notice shall be given in some newspaper published in said city, or by putting up written or printed notices at two or more public places in said city; and when any tax on real estate within the city of Alton, is not paid according to the ordinances of the said city, the said real estate shall be sold for said tax, and shall be redeemable as may be provided by ordinance.

Sec. 15. That all elective officers who shall be guilty of any palpable omission of official duty, or who shall wil-

---

fully and corruptly be guilty of oppression, malconduct, or partiality in the discharge of his official duty, shall be liable to indictment before the municipal court of the city, and on conviction thereof he shall be fined in a sum not more than two hundred dollars, and the court shall have power, on the recommendation of the jury, to add to the judgment of the court that said officer, so convicted, shall be removed from office.

Sec. 16. All fines, penalties, and forfeitures imposed by the ordinances of the common council of the city of Alton, or by this act, if not exceeding one hundred dollars, shall be recovered in the name of the city of Alton, before any justice of the peace residing in the said city; and if any such fine, penalty or forfeiture, shall exceed one hundred dollars, it shall be recovered in the name of the city of Alton, in any court having competent jurisdiction of the same, and where the amount of the fine penalty or forfeiture is not specifically defined by ordinance, or by this act, the court trying the case shall say what the amount shall be, and execution shall issue forthwith, and be levied on the goods or chattles of the person or persons convicted to be found in the county of Madison; and if no goods and chattles be found upon which to levy, a ca. sa. may be issued against the body of any offender or offenders, who shall be imprisoned in the city jail, forty-eight hours, for the first ten dollars of fine that may be issued against him, her, or them, and twenty-four hours for each additional ten dollars of fine as aforesaid.

Sec. 17. The common council of the city of Alton shall have power to pass any ordinance for the government of the said city, not repugnant to the laws of the state; and all ordinances and acts passed by the common council aforesaid shall be obligatory upon, and cognizable by the several courts of this state, and justices of the peace, sheriffs, and constables, in the county of Madison, and all other persons within the limits of said city, to all intents and purposes, as the acts of the General Assembly of the State of Illinois.

Sec. 18. All taxes, fines, forfeitures, and moneys, arising from any source mentioned in this act, shall be paid into the city treasury, unless otherwise directed by this act or the ordinances of the city, to be expended for the benefit of the said city under the direction of the common council.

Sec. 19. Whenever a majority of the inhabitants of Upper Alton, qualified to vote for Governor of this state, or whenever the inhabitants of any quarter section, half section, or section of land, adjoining the present limits of the city of Alton, shall vote in favor of becoming a part of said

---

city, any three of them may make affidavit before a justice of the peace, who shall certify the same to the common council of said city, said common council may by ordinance receive them as a part of said city; from thenceforth the quarter section, half section, or section of land so received shall be a part of the said city; and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, and bound by all the acts and the ordinances made in conformity thereto.

Sec. 20. All ordinances passed by the common council of the city of Alton, shall be published in some newspaper within the city, or posted up in two of the most public places in said city, at least ten days before said ordinances shall take effect.

Sec. 21. There shall be established in said city of Alton, a municipal court, which shall have concurrent or equal jurisdiction with the circuit court in Madison county, in all civil matters arising within said Madison county, and exclusive jurisdiction of all criminal matters arising within the corporate bounds of said city, except such matters as are cognisable before justices of the peace; Provided, That the said court shall be held in said city in such place as may be provided by the common council thereof.2

Sec. 22. Said court shall be held by one judge, who shall be appointed by joint ballot of both branches of the General Assembly, and commissioned by the Governor, and shall during his continuance in office, reside within the limits of said city, and shall receive a salary of one thousand dollars annually, payable quarter yearly by the common council of said city, which salary shall not be diminished but may be increased by said common council; Provided, always That the said judge may and shall be removed from office for the same causes and in the same manner that the constitution of this state provides for the removal of other judges.

Sec. 23. That the docket fees now authorized and required by law to be paid to the clerk of the circuit court, shall be paid in all suits arising in the said municipal court, to the clerk thereof, and shall by him be paid into the city treasury; out of which fees, together with the other revenues of said city, the salary of the judge and the other expenses of said court shall be paid.

Sec. 24. That the grand and petit jurors of said municipal court shall be selected from the qualified inhabitants of said city, by the common council thereof, in the same manner as other jurors are selected by the county commissioners’ courts of this state; which jurors shall possess the same qualifications, and (shall be) liable to the same punishments and penalties, and have the benefits of (the) same ex-

---

cuses and exemptions, as are imposed upon and allowed by the laws of this state to other jurors; and they shall take the same oath, possess the same powers, and be governed in all their proceedings as is prescribed in the cases of other jurors, by the laws of this state; Provided, That the inhabitants of said city shall not be required to act as grand or petit jurors in the circuit court of said Madison county.

Sec. 25. The said jurors shall be summoned by the sheriff of Madison county in the same manner as other juries are summoned by the sheriffs of this State; and the said juries shall be empannelled by the officers of the said municipal court, in the same manner as juries of circuit courts; and the judge of said municipal court shall have all the powers concerning jurors as are given by the laws of this State to the judges of the circuit courts.

Sec. 26. The juries of said municpal court shall receive out of the city treasury the same compensation for their services as is allowed to the juries of the circuits courts, to be paid upon the certificate of the clerk of the said municipal court, which certificate the treasurer shall file as his voucher.

Sec. 27. The judge of said municipal court shall hold four terms of said court in each year, for the transaction of civil and criminal business, and shall continue each term until the business before it shall be disposed of. The said terms shall respectively commence on the first Monday of January, April, July, and October: Provided always, The common council of said city shall have power to increase the number of terms of said court, or to alter the same by giving at least four weeks notice thereof in some newspaper printed in said city: Provided, also, That the common council shall so order and arrange the terms of the said courts, that said municpal court shall not be held during any sitting of the Madison circuit court.

Sec. 28. That the clerk of said court shall be appointed by the judge thereof, and enter into bonds as clerks of the circuit courts are now required to do, and shall receive the same emoluments as the clerk of the circuit court for similar services; which fee shall be collected in the same manner as provided by the laws of this State.

Sec. 29. That the rules and proceedings, not herein otherwise provided for, shall conform as near as may be to the rules and proceedings of the circuit courts of this State, and appeals from the municipal court shall be taken and conducted in the same manner as provided by the laws of this State for the taking of appeals or writs of error from the circuit court. All judgments rendered in said municipal court shall have the same lean

---

on real and personal estate, and shall be enforced and collected in the same manner as judgments rendered in the circuit courts of this State; and all appeals from judgments rendered by the mayor of said city, or any justice of the peace within the limits of said city, may be taken to the next circuit or municipal court, whose term shall first happen, at the option of (the) appellant.

Sec. 30. The judge of said municipal court, together with the advice and consent of the common council, shall have power, from time to time, to establish, alter, and regulate the fees which shall be charged in all suits brought in and adjudicated by said court, and shall have power to order and direct the amount of fees and costs that shall be taxed against the successful or unsuccessful party in all such suits, which fees shall be taxed by the clerk of said court, and recovered and collected in the same manner as fees are recovered and collected in the circuit courts of this State; and that all docket or jurors’ fees accruing or arising in said municipal court shall be paid into the city treasury; and that the grand and petit jurors shall be paid out of the city treasury the same compensation as is now allowed to grand or petit jurors by the laws of the State: Provided, The aforesaid section shall not be construed to allow said judge or common council to levy a higher fee upon any resident plaintiff or defendant who may reside within the limits of said city, than is now imposed by the laws of this State; and said section shall only apply to parties plaintiff, or plaintiffs who may sue in said court, and who shall not reside within said city of Alton.

Sec. 31. The common council shall have power to appoint a prosecuting attorney for said municipal court, who shall conduct all suits brought by said city of Alton against natural or artificial persons, either before the mayor of said city, before any justice of the peace, or in the municipal court of said city, and who shall defend all cases in which the said city shall be made defendant, and who shall perform all the duties before said municipal court, as are or may be required of the several circuit attorneys, in their respective circuits in this state, and who shall be entitled to the same fees as said circuit attorneys are allowed for similar services in this state; and the said attorney shall be allowed such annual salary as the common council shall order and direct.

Sec. 32. The said municipal court shall be a court of record, and have a seal to be provided by the common council, and all writs and process of said court shall be tested in the name of the judge of said court, and signed by the clerk, under the seal of said court, and

---

shall be directed in the same manner as other writs emanating from circuit courts of this state; and the sheriff or other officer, serving said writs and process, shall receive the same fees as are allowed to sheriffs for similar services by the laws of this state. And the sheriff of Madison county shall be required to appoint one or more deputies, who shall reside within the corporate limits of said city. And the said sheriff of Madison county shall be required to give an additional bond, with the same penalty and same conditions as are required of sheriffs in the several counties of this state.

Sec. 33. There shall be established in said city, a register’s office with a common seal to be provided by the common council, in which all deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing, conveying, or relating to lands lying in said city, shall be recorded; and it shall be the duty of the register of said city to record all such deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing aforesaid, in proper and well bound books, to be provided by the common council for that purpose; and all such deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing, so recorded in the register’s office, shall have the same force and effect as if the same had been filed, recorded in the recorder’s office of Madison county; and the said register shall be entitled to receive the same fees as are allowed to recorders of deeds in this state, and who shall perform all the duties within the said city, and be subject to the same liabilities as are required of county recorders in this state.

Sec. 34. The common council shall have power and authority to transcribe, into books suitable for that purpose, all deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing, relating to, or conveying lands, lying within the corporate limits of said city, noting at the end of each deed, mortgage, or other instrument in writing, the book and page in which said instrument is recorded in the recorder’s office of said county. And the said common council shall have power to appoint, for the purpose of transcribing said instruments in writing, some proper person or persons, who shall have free access to the records of Madison county, for the purpose of transcribing such instruments in writing as aforesaid, and who shall receive such compensation for such services as the common council shall agree upon, to be paid out of said city treasury.

Sec. 35, The register of the said city shall keep his office within the boundaries thereof, in a safe and convenient place, to be provided for that purpose by the common council; and from and after this act shall take effect, the said register’s office shall be and remain, to all intents and purposes, the place in which to record deeds, mortgages,

---

and title papers, and other instruments in writing, relating to lands within the limits of said city; and all copies of such deeds, mortgages, and other instruments in writing, from the records of said office, duly certified under the seal of said office, shall have the same force and effect as certified copies made by other recorders.

Sec. 36. That from and after the officers of said city are elected at the first election under this act, and qualified for office according to the previous sections of this act, all the powers of the trustees, and other officers of the town of Alton, shall be void; and the common council so elected and qualified, shall be deemed in law successors to the trustees to the town of Alton, to all intents and purposes; and all obligations and contracts entered into by the trustees of Alton, shall be carried into full effect by the common council of said city of Alton.

Sec. 37. That all copies of the ordinances or other proceedings of the common council of the city of Alton, certified by the clerk of said city, under the seal thereof, shall be read in evidence in any court of this state.

Sec. 38. This act to be in force and effect from and after its passage.

Sec. 39. Nothing in this act contained shall authorize the corporation to levy, assess, or collect, any tax or imposition of any kind whatever, upon property owned by the state. 3

Approved, 21st July, 1837.