A proceeding to incorporate any such city, town or village shall be initiated upon petition addressed to and filed with the county court of the county in which the territory is located, or if in more than one county in which the major portion of the territory is located, indicating whether the territory sought to be incorporated will be upon incorporation, depending upon population, a Class I, Class II or Class III city or a Class IV town or village. Such petition shall be signed by at least thirty percent of the freeholders of the territory to be incorporated.

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Terms Used In West Virginia Code 8-2-2

  • City: is a word of art and shall mean, include, and be limited to any Class I, Class II, and Class III city, as classified in section three of this article (except in those instances where the context in which used clearly indicates that a particular class of city is intended), heretofore or hereafter incorporated as a municipal corporation under the laws of this state, however created and whether operating under: (i) A special legislative charter. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
  • County court: includes any existing tribunal created in lieu of a county commission. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Person: shall mean any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or any other entity or organization of whatever character or description. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Town: includes a city, village or town, and the word "council" any body or board, whether composed of one or more branches, which is authorized to make ordinances for the government of a city, town, or village. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Town or village: is a term of art and shall, notwithstanding the provisions of §. See West Virginia Code 8-1-2

Such petition shall be verified by at least one of the petitioners and shall be accompanied by a map made by a professional engineer registered under the laws of this state, which map shall be based upon an actual and accurate survey of the territory to be incorporated showing the courses, distances and the area of the territory to be incorporated.

Such map shall be verified and shall be left at the residence or place of business within the territory to be incorporated of some individual residing or some person doing business therein, and shall be subject to examination at all reasonable hours by every person interested in such application for a period of at least ten days prior to the hearing on such petition as provided for in section three of this article.