Chap. 272.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled “an act to amend
and re-enact an act approved March 7, 1900, entitled an act to provide for
working and keeping in repair the public roads and bridges in the county of
Washington, and to authorize the board of supervisors to borrow money by
the issue of bonds, and to build bridges and macadamize the roads in said
county, and to authorize the qualified voters of said county to vote on the
question, approved April 2, 1902, as amended and re-enacted by an act ap-
proved May 15, 1903.

Approved March 15, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act en-
titled an-act to amend and re-enact an act approved March seventh, ninc-
teen hundred, entitled an act to provide for working and keeping in
repair the public roads and bridges of the county of Washington, and to
authorize the board of supervisors to borrow money by the issue of bonds,
and to build bridges and macadamize the roads in said county, and to
authorize the qualified voters of said county to vote on the question, ap-
proved April second, nineteen hundred and two, and amended by an act
approved May fifteenth, nineteen hundred and three, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§1. Prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven, and
every two years thereafter, the judge of the circuit court for the said
county shall appoint for each magisterial district of said county one road
commissioner, who shall serve for a term of two years, beginning on the
first day of January following his appointment, whose duty it shall be to
superintend the working and keeping in repair of all public roads and
bridges in their respective districts.

§2. For the purpose of raising revenue for working and keeping in
repair the public roads and bridges of said county the board of super-
visors shall annually levy, along with the county levy, a tax upon all
property, real and personal, assessed for taxation in the several magisterial
districts of the county, which shall be applied to working and keeping in
repair the public roads and bridges in said districts, and the compensation
of the engineer and others provided for under the provisions of this act.
Such tax shall not be more than fifty cents on every hundred dollars’
valuation of such property. The said levy and other levies under this
act shall be collected by the treasurer of said county as other countr
levies, accounted for and paid out on the warrant of said road commis-
sion, except that a levy for each magisterial district shall be kept sepa-
rate by the county treasurer. Each commissioner may draw on his own
warrant only the funds of his magisterial district as hereinafter pro-
vided. The amount collected in each magisterial district shall be ex-
pended in the district in which it has been collected, excepting that the
tax derived from the State levy for road purposes shall be divided equally
between the districts.

§3. The board of supervisors shall appoint a competent engineer, who
shall be known as the “road engineer,” whose duty it shall be to superin-
tend all roads in said county; and any application for a new road, or
change in grade or location of an old road shall be made to the board
of supervisors, and if considered of public necessity, they shall order the
said engineer to locate or relocate, as the case may be, the said road, and
the said enginecr, after having notice served upon the landowners through
whose property the proposed road may run, or upon their tenants in pos-
session, shall proceed to execute said order, and if said engineer cannot
agree with said landowners as to the amount of damages to be paid said
landowners or any of them, he shall designate and appoint three disin-
terested resident freeholders, whose duty it shall be to promptly ascertain
and report to said engineer a just compensation for the land to be used
for such road, and the said engincer shall make his report at the next
meeting of said board, showing the probable cost of construction, the
damages allowed, and anything else pertinent that may be required by
the said board: provided, however, that no new road shall be located at a
steeper grade than three and one-half degrees, and no road already estab-
lished shall receive any of the public money after one year from the
passage of this act, unless it shall be regraded so as to conform to the
same degree, unless the engineer shall certify that it is impracticable te
get the degree required by this act: provided, further, the degree shall
not be changed on the road known as the Abingdon and Russell turnpike
road. The board of supervisors may alter, reject, or confirm the report
of the engineer. And if the landowners through whose lands the road
is proposed to be located or relocated, as the case may be, cannot agree
with the engineer as to the amount of damages, or any other matters
affecting their interest, then any landowners who may feel aggrieved by
the said report of the road engineer may make exceptions thereto before
said board, and if any landowners feel aggrieved by the acts of the said
board, he may have said board report with the alterations, if any, r-
turned by the board of supervisors to the next term of the circuit court of
said county, where he may make exceptions thereto, and the said circuit
court shall consider said report as if it were the report of the receivers
contemplated in section nineteen hundred and forty-nine of the Code of
Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, except that no further
notice to said land owners, or their tenants, in possession, shall be
required; and all subsequent proceedings therein shall be under the
general provisions of chapter forty-three of said Code, except that
when any road shall be ordered to be opened, made or altered, located,
or relocated, the same shall be done by and under the supervision of the
county road engineer, as herein provided: provided, further, that the
judge of the circuit court shall, if he deems the said report of the engineer
insufficient in any particular, recommit the said report to the said en-
gineer for a more full and explicit report, and under proceedings under
this act in said court shall have precedence over all other civil cases on the
said docket, except unlawful detainer cases on said docket.

$4. A road engineer shall hold his office for the term of his appoint-
ment, unless sooner removed by said board. The said engineer shall re-
ceive such compensation for his services as said board shall allow.

The engincer shall make annual reports to the board of supervisors, or
oftener as said board may direct of the condition of the roads, new
bridges in each magisterial district in said county, the progress of any
new work, the amount of money required to complete said work, any
change or changes necessary in any roads or bridges in the several magis-
terial districts in the county, the probable cost of the same, and anything
else deemed pertinent by said board.

85. Each commissioner shall have charge of the roads of his district,
and shall have power to appoint a sufficient number of foreman to take
charge of the hands in his district; said foreman shall be able to read and
write, and shall make reports from time to time to the road commis-
sioner as he may direct. In case of a road or bridge being on the line
dividing two magisterial districts, the road engineer and the commis-
sioners of the adjoining districts shall divide the road between each dis-
trict in such a way as will equally divide the expense of repairing said
road.

$6. If a bridge is to be built or repaired on the line, each district shall
bear one-half of the expense of building or repairing said bridge. Each
commissioner shall receive for his services, to be paid out of the road
fund of his district, one dollar and fifty cents per day for each day
actually employed in looking after the roads in his district: provided, he
shall not receive more than one hundred and fifty dollars for the same
in any one year. ‘The foreman appointed under this act shall receive not
less than one dollar nor more than two dollars per day for the time
actually employed on the roads, and all hands shall receive the usual
price paid for similar work in said county. The commissioner of each
district shall buy and keep in repair all the necessary tools for working
or keeping in repair said roads in his district. In the event that ex-
pensive machinery is wanted, he may combine with any or all other com-
missioners of the county in purchasing same. In case any foreman fails
to keep his road in order, on the complaint of any three tax payers of his
district, he may be fined not more than twenty dollars, if it can be shown
that he has funds at his command for repairing said road. Said fine
shall be recoverable before any justice of the peace in said county. If
any commissioner shall fail or refuse to keep the roads in his district in
repair (after being notified by the road board to do so) and it can be
shown that he has money at his command, he may be fined not more than
fifty dollars for each offense, said fine to be recoverable before the circuit
court of the county, and it is hereby made the duty of the prosecuting
attorney to prosecute said commissioner for said failure.

87. For the purpose of constructing and macadamizing roads and
building new bridges in said county, the board of supervisors be, and
they are hereby, empowered to issue bonds in the name and on behalf
of the county of Washington, to be called “public improvement bonds.”
for a sum not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, and to sell the
bonds under such conditions as are hereinafter prescribed, and with the
proceeds of such sale to build roads or bridges in the various districts of
said county, expending in each district such proportion as said board may
deem advisable: provided, that the board of supervisors shall not issue
any bonds or other evidences of debt provided for in this act in excess
of one hundred thousand dollars until it has ordered a special election
for that purpose, and submitted the question of issuing said bonds to the
qualified voters of Washington county. They shall fix the time for hold-
ing such election, and cause notice thereof to be published, at least four
times in any newspaper published in the county, and to be posted at each
voting place in the county at least one month before said election. Said
election notices shall state the purpose for which said election is held.

§8. The bonds issued in pursuance of this act shall be coupon bonds of
not less denomination than one hundred nor more than one thousand
dollars each, payable in not more than forty vears from their date, and
bearing interest, payable annually, at a rate not exceeding six per centum
per annum; the said board having the right to redeem any of said bonds
after the expiration of ten years. The said bonds shall be issued in the
name of Washington county, Virginia, shall be signed by the chairman
of the board of supervisors of said county, attested by the clerk, and
shall have affixed thereto the seal of said board.

§9. Any person, other than a duly authorized officer, changing the line
of any public road, on either side thereof as the lines were when said
road was located or relocated, as the case may be, without the permission.
entered of record, of the circuit court of the county in which the road lies,
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof shall
be fined not less than five nor more than fifty dollars. It shall be the
duty of the supervisor of the district to give notice in writing to all per-
sons making, or who have made, such encroachments on any public
road in his district by changing the lines or the direction thereof, without
permission of the court aforesaid, to remove any fence or obstruction,
whether made before or after the passage of this act, and to restore the
original line or lines of the said road, and on failure to do so within
twenty days after said notice, then the person so offending shall be liable
to a fine of five dollars for each day said fence or other obstruction re-
mains in said road after the expiration of the twenty days aforesaid.

$10. The said board of supervisors is hereby empowered to make sale
of said bonds, but no bonds shall be sold for less than the par valuc
thereof, and the said bonds and coupons and interest thereon shall be re-
deemable in lawful money at maturity, and shall be receivable at ma:
turity for all taxes and other debts due the said county of Washington
except school levies.

§11. The form of said bonds and coupons shall be determined by th
board of supervisors.

§12. The said bonds and coupons issued under this act shall be re
deemable at the office of the treasurer of Washington county, and wher
paid by him, or received from taxes or other debts, shall be marked paic
or cancelled.

§13. The said board of supervisors shall create a sinking fund to b
applied to the redemption and payment of the bonds issued for th
building and improvement of roads in any or all districts of said county
and shall annually, until such bonds are paid, pay over to the sinkin;
fund commissioners provided for in this act a sum sufficient to pay of
said bonds in forty years.

§14. Three substantial citizens and taxpayers of Washington county
to be designated by the board of supervisors, are hereby appointed |
board of sinking fund commissioners, who shall give bond to said board
to be approved by them, in double the amount of money likely to com
into their hands, for the faithful performance of their duty; and it shal
be the duty of said commissioners to receive said sinking fund and loa
or invest the same in road bonds of the county, keeping a separate ac
count of the funds received from and disbursed for each district; the
shall receive for their services one per centum of all money so receive
and loaned or paid out. Should either of said sinking fund commis
sioners fail or refuse to qualify, or after qualifying resign or die, then sai
vacancy shall be filled by the board of supervisors.

$15. It shall be the duty of the officers charged with conducting elec
tions in Washington county to hold an election when so directed by th
judge of the circuit court of said county, which judge shall, upon th
passage of a resolution by the board of supervisors requesting him
to do, order an election in accordance with the provisions of this act, fc
the purpose of taking the sense of the qualified voters of said county upo
the question of issuing the bonds authorized by this act. Said electio
shall be by ballot, and be conducted as other elections are conducte
Upon each ballot shall be printed the words “for bonds” and “again:
bonds”; each voter shall be handed a ballot at the voting place, and }
shall express his choice by scratching from the ballot the words “fe
bonds,” if he desires to vote against the issue; “against bonds,” if |
desires to vote for the issue.

$16. The judges of each election precinct shall ascertain the will «
the people by counting the ballots, and shall certify the result to the judg
of the circuit court in the manner and form of other clections.

817. The commissioners of election shall canvass the returns withi
ten days after the election, and declare the result.

$18. The bonds provided for in section seven of this act shall be issue
if a majority of those voting at such election shall vote for the issuan
of the same: provided, a majority of the legalized voters of said county
vote at such election. But should a majority of the ballots be cast against
said issue, then the question shall not within twelve months be again sub-
mitted to the vote of the people.

$19. It shall be lawful for the board of supervisors to build bridge:
wherever the public necessity may demand. Upon the recommendation
of the supervisor of a district when he shall decide to build a bridge in his
own district, the board of supervisors may, by and with the advice of the
county engineer, locate said bridge, and require said engineer to make a
report to them, giving plans and specifications and the probable cost of
such bridges; and said board may lay a local levy on said district or dis-
tricts to pay for building said bridge, and the district in which any
bridge is built shall bear the whole expense of such bridge, or if built be-
tween two districts, they shall each bear one-half of the said expense, and
the board of supervisors may issue a certificate for the whole amount of
said expense, payable in one, two, three, four, and five years, bearing in-
terest at the rate of six per centum per annum, and the said certificate:
shall state upon their face for what bridge they are issued, and out of
what district levy they shall be paid, and the terms of their payment.

§20. The said board is hereby empowered, without submitting the
‘question of a bond issue to the voters of said county or any district
therein, to issue bonds of said county for such amount as they deem
necessary not in excess of one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose
of constructing, macadamizing, or improving the roads of said county.
or any district or districts therein: provided, that from the money ob-
tained under the provisions of this section not more than twenty-five
thousand dollars shall be expended in any one district of said county.
Said board may levy a tax in such district or districts wherein said im-
provements are made in addition to the regular county levy for an amount
sufficient to pay the interest on and provide a sinking fund for the amount
or amounts so expended in said district or districts: provided, said tax
shall not be more than fifty cents on every hundred dollars’ valuation of
property, real and personal, in said district or districts.

$21. It shall be the duty of the judge of the circuit court of said
county, before authorizing an election on the question of a bond issue.
and before any bonds are issued by the board of supervisors under section
nineteen of this act, to appoint two resident freeholders in each magis-
terial district wherein said improvements are contemplated, who, together
with the supervisor from that district, shall be known as the “district road
commission,” any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, of which the
commissioner from that district shall be ex-officio chairman. It shall be
the duty of said district road commission to determine upon a recom-
mendation to the board of supervisors what improvements are most
needed in its district, and to see that the money set apart for improve-
ments in that district is properly and judiciously expended, to the end
that the public interest may be fully protected. Said district road com-
mission shall report annually, or oftener, if required, to the supervisors
showing an itemized account of the expenditures of said fund. All
moneys realized from the sale of said bonds issued under the provisions of
this act shall be received by the treasurer of said county and shall be
drawn out of his hands for improvements in the various districts on
warrants ordered to be issued by the board of supervisors, upon the re-
commendation of the district road commission of said respective districts ;
said warrants to be signed by the chairman of the board, and counter-
signed by the chairman of the district road commission of the district
wherein said improvements are made.

§22. The said road commissioners shall cause to be kept an itemized
account of all work done and money expended in road improvements,
with the funds issued under this act, which shall be recorded by the clerk
of the board of supervisors in a book to be kept for the purpose and pub-
lished in the manner provided by law for the publication of other ex-
penditures.

§23. Before entering upon the duties of his office each road commis-
sioner shall execute before the clerk of the circuit court bond in the pen-
alty of five hundred dollars for the faithful performance of his duty as
such commissioner, with good and approved security.

§24. The board of supervisors shall devise a system of bookkeeping in
order to carry out the intention of this act and require by order the clerk
of said board to keep said books as directed, and they shall prescribe the
method by which the treasurer shall keep his books with reference to the
county and district levy and the collection of the county and district road
tax, and require said treasurer to follow out the plans, and if the treas-
urer or clerk of said board of supervisors shall fail or refuse so to carry
out the order of the board of supervisors, they shall be fined for each
offense not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, said
fine to be recoverable by motion after reasonable notice in the circuit
court of said county.

§25. It is further provided that the road commissioners may let to
contract, if they think proper, the building of any bridges across any
stream, or the macadamizing or keeping in repair of the roads provided
for in this act, to the lowest responsible bidder, and have the power to
reject any or all bids.

$26. Specifications for said work shall be drawn by the said engineer
and the work carried on under his supervision: provided, that no com-
missioner. road engineer, or foreman shall be personally interested, either
directly or indirectly, in any contract for the building of any bridges
or the altering of any road.

$27. This act shall be liberally construed to the end that its purposes
may be fully carried out.

$28. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby re-
pealed.