Chap. 94.—An ACT relating to Fences, and for the Protection of Crops.

Passed January 26, 1866,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That in any
county of this commgnwealth, which shall adopt the pro-
visions of this act, in the manner hereinafter specified, the
boundary lines of each lot or tract of land in said county
shall be and they are hereby constituted a lawful fence.

2. It shall not be lawful for the owner or manager of any
horse, mule, swine, sheep, goat or neat cattle of any descrip-
tion, to permit the said animals to run at large beyond the
limits of their own lands.

_ 3. If any of the animals enumerated in the foregoing sec-
tion shall hereafter be found going at large, or upon the lands
of any person other than the owner, the owner or manager
of said animals shall be liable for all damage or injusy done
by the said animals to the owner of the crops or lands upon
which they may trespass, whether the said animals wander
from the premises of their owner in the county in which the
trespass was committed, or from another county.

4. In case of trespass as aforesaid, the aggrieved party
may make complaint to a justice of the county in which the
trespass is committed, who shall issue his warrant immedi-
ately, returnable within five days from the date thereof; and
at the time and place named in said warrant the case will be
tried; and the amount of damage sustained: by the com-
plainant shall be ascertained, and judgment given for the
same, with legal costs, as in case of other warrants. And
upon a repetition of the offence, and for every suéceeding
one, judgment shall be given for double the amount of
damages sustained by the complainant: provided, that where
the judgment of the justice shall be for a sum exceeding fifty
dollars, the defendant, upon appeal to the county court, shall
be entitled to demand a trial by jury in said court; and the
judgment of the said court upon the appeal, shall be accord-
Ing to said verdict, subject to the right of said court to set
the verdict aside according to the rules of law. A lien upon
the trespassing animals for the payment of the damages, with
costs, thus ascertained, shall attach from the date of the war-
rant, and shall supersede all other liens, except when this
commonwealth or the United States have a previous claim,
for public dues, upon said animals.

5. The county court of any county in this commonwealth,
after due summons to the justices thereof to attend at some
regular court of said county for the purpose—a majority of
the acting justices being present, and a majority of those
present concurring—may declare the provisions of this act,
or any one or more of them, to be in force in their county,
or in any selected portion thereof, as to any or all of the
animals enumerated in this bill; in which case, the first sec-
tion of chapter ninety-nine of the Code of eighteen hundred
and sixty shall be inoperative in said county, or in such se-
lected portion thereof—otherwise, shall continue in full force.
Nothing in this act shall deprive the injured party of his ac-
tion of trespass, when the damages are laid in a sum exceed-
ing the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace. But this act
shall not apply to the county of Accomack.

6. That the act passed February eighth, eighteen hundred
and sixty-four, entitled an act for the. protection of crops in
Fairfax, ‘Alexandria and Prince William counties, be and the
same is ‘hereby repealed.

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

Chap. 94.—An ACT relating to Fences, and for the Protection of Crops.

Passed January 26, 1866,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That in any
county of this commgnwealth, which shall adopt the pro-
visions of this act, in the manner hereinafter specified, the
boundary lines of each lot or tract of land in said county
shall be and they are hereby constituted a lawful fence.

2. It shall not be lawful for the owner or manager of any
horse, mule, swine, sheep, goat or neat cattle of any descrip-
tion, to permit the said animals to run at large beyond the
limits of their own lands.

_ 3. If any of the animals enumerated in the foregoing sec-
tion shall hereafter be found going at large, or upon the lands
of any person other than the owner, the owner or manager
of said animals shall be liable for all damage or injusy done
by the said animals to the owner of the crops or lands upon
which they may trespass, whether the said animals wander
from the premises of their owner in the county in which the
trespass was committed, or from another county.

4. In case of trespass as aforesaid, the aggrieved party
may make complaint to a justice of the county in which the
trespass is committed, who shall issue his warrant immedi-
ately, returnable within five days from the date thereof; and
at the time and place named in said warrant the case will be
tried; and the amount of damage sustained: by the com-
plainant shall be ascertained, and judgment given for the
same, with legal costs, as in case of other warrants. And
upon a repetition of the offence, and for every suéceeding
one, judgment shall be given for double the amount of
damages sustained by the complainant: provided, that where
the judgment of the justice shall be for a sum exceeding fifty
dollars, the defendant, upon appeal to the county court, shall
be entitled to demand a trial by jury in said court; and the
judgment of the said court upon the appeal, shall be accord-
Ing to said verdict, subject to the right of said court to set
the verdict aside according to the rules of law. A lien upon
the trespassing animals for the payment of the damages, with
costs, thus ascertained, shall attach from the date of the war-
rant, and shall supersede all other liens, except when this
commonwealth or the United States have a previous claim,
for public dues, upon said animals.

5. The county court of any county in this commonwealth,
after due summons to the justices thereof to attend at some
regular court of said county for the purpose—a majority of
the acting justices being present, and a majority of those
present concurring—may declare the provisions of this act,
or any one or more of them, to be in force in their county,
or in any selected portion thereof, as to any or all of the
animals enumerated in this bill; in which case, the first sec-
tion of chapter ninety-nine of the Code of eighteen hundred
and sixty shall be inoperative in said county, or in such se-
lected portion thereof—otherwise, shall continue in full force.
Nothing in this act shall deprive the injured party of his ac-
tion of trespass, when the damages are laid in a sum exceed-
ing the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace. But this act
shall not apply to the county of Accomack.

6. That the act passed February eighth, eighteen hundred
and sixty-four, entitled an act for the. protection of crops in
Fairfax, ‘Alexandria and Prince William counties, be and the
same is ‘hereby repealed.

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