LAWS OF VERMONT

RELATING TO STATE AND LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE PRESERVATION OF LIFE.

SEC. 4667. There shall be a board of three persons, known as the state board of health, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate, each of whom shall hold office for six years from the first day of December following his appoint

ment.

SEC. 4668. At the biennial session of the general assembly in 1896, a member of said board shall be appointed in place of the one whose term then expires; and thereafter at each biennial session a member shall be appointed in the place of the one whose term then expires. If a vacancy occurs in such office, the governor shall fill the same by appointment, and the person appointed shall hold office until the first day of December after the next biennial session

of the general assembly, at which session the vacancy shall be filled by the governor and senate.

SEC. 4669. The board shall organize by electing one of its members president, and shall appoint a secretary, who shall be a reputable practicing physician of this state, and, if not already a member of such board, he shall become a member thereof by virtue of his office; he shall hold office until the appointment of his successor, and shall be the executive officer of the board.

SEC. 4670. The board shall take cognizance of the interests of the life and health of the inhabitants of the state; shall make or cause to be made sanitary investigations and inquiries respecting causes of disease, especially of epidemics, and the means of preventing the same; the sources of mortality, and the effect of localities, employments, habits, and circumstances of life on the public health; and when requested, or when in their opinion the sanitary interests of localities require it, shall advise with municipal officers in regard to the location, drainage, water supply, heating, and ventilation of public buildings, and the drainage and sewerage of towns, villages and cities.

SEC. 4671. The board shall meet biennially on the second Tuesday of the session of the general assembly at Montpelier, and at such other times and places as in the judgment of the board the public safety and health require.

SEC. 1672. Each member shall receive five dollars per day and actual expenses while in discharge of his official duties, and the governor and state auditor may allow the secretary such additional sums for his services or for services in times of extraordinary peril as they deem reasonable; but the whole expense of the board, including the secretary, for services and expenses, shall not exceed four thousand dollars for any biennial term, except in some extraordinary public peril, in which case the governor may order said board to perform service for the safety of the state and her people in excess of said sum, but never to exceed six thousand dollars in any biennial term.

SEC. 4673. The board shall have authority to promulgate and enforce such regulations for the better preservation of the public health in contagious and epidemic diseases, and regarding the causes which tend to their development and spread, as they judge necessary; and if a person neglects or refuses, after having been duly notified in writing, to comply with such regulations, he shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, and not less than twenty-five dollars.

SEC. 4674. The secretary shall superintend the performance of the work prescribed in this chapter, and shall perform such other duties as the board directs. He shall, in case of epidemics, contagious diseases, or other unusual sickness, at the request of the selectmen of a town, the trustees or bailiffs of a village or the

mayor of a city, render such assistance as he deems best. He shall assist the secretary of state in preparing the report of the annual registration of births, marriages and deaths. He shall, annually, on or before the first day of September, make report to the governor of the investigations, discoveries and recommendations of the board, which report shall be printed and distributed in the same manner as the registration report.

HEALTH OFFICERS.

SEC. 4675. The state board of health shall appoint a health officer for each town, village and city in the state, and the secretary shall give him a certificate of his appointment.

SEC. 4676. The health officer, with the selectmen of the town, trustees or bailiffs of a village, or the aldermen of a city, shall constitute a local board of health.

SEC. 4677. The health officer shall be secretary and executive officer of the local board of health, and shall hold office for three years, and until another is appointed, unless he resigns or is sooner removed by the state board of health, which shall have authority to make such removals, appoint his successor and fill all vacancies.

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SEC. 4678. He shall, in connection with the other members of the board, make sanitary inspections whenever and wherever he has reason to suspect anything exists which may be detrimental to the public health. He may enter any house, other building, or any premises where he has reason to suspect anything exists which is or may become detrimental to the public health. He shall, as executive officer of the local board, in writing, order the destruction, prevention or removal within a specified time, of all nuisances, sources of filth or causes of sickness.

SEC. 4679. If a person neglects or refuses to comply with such written order, he shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars, and not less than five dollars. In case of such neglect or refusal, the health officer may prevent, remove or destroy any such nuisance, sources of filth or cause of sickness, at the expense of the town, city or village for which he was appointed, and such expense may be recovered of the person neglecting or refusing to comply with such order, in an action upon this statute in the name of such town, city or village.

SEC. 4680. Local boards of health shall have authority:

1. To abate all nuisances, destroy, prevent or remove all sources of filth or cause of sickness.

2. To guard against the introduction of contagious or infectious diseases, by the exercise of proper and vigilant medical inspection and control of all persons and things arriving in their respective towns, villages or cities from infected places, or which for any cause are liable to communicate contagion,

3. To require the isolation of all persons and things infected with or exposed to contagious or infectious disease, to provide suitable places for the reception of the same, and, if necessary, to furnish medical treatment and care for such sick persons, at their expense, if of sufficient ability to pay the same, otherwise at the expense of such town or city; to prohibit and prevent all intercourse and communication with or use of infected premises, places or things; and require, and if necessary, provide the means for the thorough purification, disinfection and cleansing of the same before general intercourse therewith or use thereof shall be allowed. They may call upon sheriffs, constables, and police, to assist them in the discharge of their duties.

SEC. 4681. The expense incurred in the medical treatment and care of such sick person may be recovered of any other town liable therefor, as if it had been furnished by the overseer of the poor of the town furnishing such aid.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES.

SEC. 4682. If a person, knowing himself to be infected with the small pox, or other infectious or contagious disease, dangerous to the public health, comes within a town, without previously obtaining consent of the board of health, or if a person knowingly and voluntarily communicates or receives the infection of small pox, or such other infectious or contagious disease in a town, without the consent and approbation of the board of health, he shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars.

SEC. 4683. The local board of health shall report to the secretary of the state board every case of small pox, varioloid, Asiatic cholera, typhus fever or yellow fever within its jurisdiction, provide a suitable supply of vaccine virus, when deemed necessary by the state board and of a quality and from a source approved by it, and during the existence of small pox in any town, village or city, provide thorough and safe vaccination for all persons within its jurisdiction who may need the same.

SEC. 4684. The head of a family in whose dwelling there occurs a case of infectious or contagious disease, dangerous to the public health, shall immediately give notice to the health officer. A physician who knows or suspects that a person to whom he has been called is sick, or has died, of a communicable disease, dangerous to the public health, shall at once report to the health officer the place where such case exists, the name, degree of virulence and cause or source of the disease. If a head of a family or physician fails to give reasonable notice to the health officer of the existence of such disease, he shall be fined not more than ten dollars for each offense.

SEC. 4685. The health officer shall, upon receiving notice of a case of infectious or contagious disease, dangerous to the public health, investigate far enough to determine if possible, the source