Chap. 62.—An ACT to provide for working and keeping in order the
roads in the county of Hanover.

Approved February 20, 1878.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the board
of supervisors of Hanover county shall divide into precincts
all the county roads not kept in order under contract, and
as often as they please may appoint a surveyor for each pre-
cinct, who shall hold his office until another be appointed in
his stead. The clerk of the said board shall, upon such ap-
pointment, issue a writ to the sheriff, commanding him to
give information thereof to the person so appointed; which
writ the sheriff shall execute and return to the board at its
next meeting. Any clerk or sheriff failing in such duty
shall forfeit therefor five dollars: provided, that whenever a
surveyor so appointed shall remove from the precinct where
appointed, his office of surveyor shall be vacated.
2. Every such surveyor shall superintend the roads in his
precinct. He shall cause the same to be kept cleared,
smoothed of rocks and other obstructions; of necessary
width, well drained, and otherwise in good order and secure
from the falling of dead timber therein. He shall, under
instructions from the board of supervisors, caused to be
placed and kept at important forks or crossings of his pre-
cinct, a sign-board properly lettered, and across every stream,
where it is necessary and practicable, a sufficient bridge,
bench, or log for the accommodation of foot passengers.
When any more important bridge or causeway is necessary,
and it is practicable for him to have it made, he shall cause
it to be made twelve feet broad at the least, and safe and
eonvenient. Every bridge or causeway in his precinct shall
be kept by him in as good order as the means in his power
will permit.

3. The board of supervisors of said county, at any meet-
ing of said board, upon the motion of any road surveyor in
any magisterial district therein, or whenever, in the opinion
of the board thereof, a necessity therefor exists, shall alter
or rearrange any precinct or precincts therein, and allot the
hands to work on the same, and a report of their action in
the premises shall be filed in the clerk’s office for exceptions;
and at the next term of the county court any person who
thinks himself aggrieved thereby may appear, and, for good
cause shown, have the same altered or amended by the
court; otherwise it shall stand confirmed.

4, Hvery person required to work on the public roads
shall either in person or by a sufficient substitute, when no-
tified by the proper surveyor, attend, with proper tools, and
work the road on such days as the surveyor may direct.
For every day on which there may be a failure, seventy-five
cents shall be paid to the surveyor within thirty days there-
after by the person in default, if a person of full age, or, if
he be an infant, by his guardian or parent. Ifthe money be
not paid to the surveyor within the time above specified, he
shall make out a ticket against such delinquent party for the
amount of said fine, with an addition of ten per centum for
costs; which ticket shall be put by him in the hands of the
constable of his district, or the sheriff of the county, for col-
lection: provided, however, that such delinquent may, after
notice to such surveyor, apply to the supervisor of his dis-
trict, and for good cause shown, have said fine released or
remitted. The officer having charge of the collection of
such fines may distrain therefor in the same manner as for
taxes and county levies. He shall account to the surveyor
for all fines collected by him, dividing the costs collected
equally with the surveyor, and shall return to the clerk of
the board of supervisors annually, at each regular annual
meeting of the same, a list of all fines so collected, with the
names of the surveyors to whom the same have been paid.
Said clerk shall label and file the same in his office.
5. If the surveyor of any road precinct is unable, with the
means and labor at his disposal, to keep in good order his
road precinct, he may apply to the board of supervisors, who
may authorize bim to hire as many laborers as will suffice to
keep bis road precinct in good order, or to repair great dama-
ges casually occurring, or open anew road: provided that
when the cost of either exceed the sum of fifty dollars, it
shall be necessary for the court to ratify the action of the
board. The said board may also authorizs the surveyor to
purchase such material, tools or implements, as may be ne-
cessary to facilitate or economize the work in bis precinct.
Tho surveyor shall return to the board of supervisors a par-
ticular account, on oath, of the expense so incurred, and for
the hire of teams, ploughs, and so forth; also, the expense
of placing and keeping sign boards, as before montioned ;
and they shall allow the same, or so much thereof as may
be justly due, to be paid out of the county fund.

6. Every road surveyor, in addition to what is required of
him in the fifth section, shall report to the board of super-
visors, at their regular annual meeting, an exact account,
verified on oath, of all moneys received by bim, by virtue
of his office, during the past year. Said account shall specify
the amount expended by him, and the manner in which the
same has been expended, together with the amount, if any,
remaining in his hands unexpended. He shall apply any
balance so remaining to his road precinct, in such manner as
said board may dir¢ct, or turn over the same to his successor
in office, who shall in like manner, account therefor in the
next annual report. It shall be the further duty of said sur-
veyor to embrace in his report the number of days’ labor
performed by him and his hands on his road precinct during
the past year, what alterations, improvements, or repairs he
may think should be made during the ensuing year, the
probable costs of the same, and any Pother matters or sugges-
tions io relation to his road precinct which he may deem
pertinent, or which may be required of him by said board.
It shall be the duty of the clerk of said board, after said re-
port has been examined by the board, to label and file the
same in his office.

7. Every surveyor of a road shall be entitled to compensa-
tion, at the discretion of the board of supervisors, to be by
them allowed in the county levy, not exceeding one dollar
per day for the time actually employed in summoning hands
to work on the road: provided that when the work is done
on two or more consecutive days, there may be an allowance
for summoning for each day. It sball be the duty of each
surveyor to summon all the hands belonging to his road pre-
cinct at least twice in each year, and to work on said road
two whole days in each vear. If he fail to do so, or if in
case of the bad condition of any part of his road, or of any
bridge thereon, he shall fail, when notified in writing by the
supervisor of his district within ten days, to repair the same,
he shall, in either case, without an excuse deemed reasonable
by the board of supervisors, be fined by said board a aum
not less than five dollars; said fine, when collected, to be
expended on his road precinct.

8. Be it further enacted, That all the provisions of an act
passed March twentietb, eighteen hundred and seventy-five,
entitled an act for working and keeping in order the roads
of the commonwealth, except in so far as the same are modi-
fied and changed by the foregoing, shall be applicable to the
county of Hanover.

9. This act shall be in force from its passage.