Chap. 56.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to amend and
re-enact an act approved March 2, 1888, providing for the making, changing,
and working of roads in the county of Rockingham, approved March 8, 1888,
as amended by an act of the general assembly, approved March 5, 1890, as
further amended by an act of the general assembly approved February 25,
1892, as further amended by an act of the general assembly, approved March
2, 1894, and as further amended by an act of the general assembly, approved
February 26, 1896, approved March 15, 1904, as further amended by an act
approved March 10, 1910, also by an act approved March 20, 1916, lastly
amended by an act approved September 10, 1919, approved Mare 15, 1920.

H B 179]
Approved February 25, 1922.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to amend and re-enact and act, approved March second,
eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, providing for the making, chang-
ing, and working of roads in the county of Rockingham, approved
March eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, as amended by an
act of the general assembly, approved March fifth, eighteen hundred
‘and ninety, as further amended by an act of the general assembly,
approved February twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, as
further amended by an act of the'general assembly, approved March
second, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and as further amended
by an act of the general assembly, approved February twenty-sixth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-six, approved March fifteenth, nineteen
hundred and four, as further amended by an act approved March
tenth, nineteen hundred and ten, also by an act approved March
twentieth, nineteen hundred and sixteen, lastly amended by an act ap-
proved September tenth, nineteen hundred and nineteen, approved
March fifteenth, nineteen hundred and twenty, be amended and re-
enacted so as to read as follows:

Sec. 1. For each magisterial district in the county of Rockingham
there is hereby created and established a board consisting of the
supervisor, a commissioner of roads, and the county superintendent
of roads who shall be ex-officio a member of said road board. Said
board shall have exclusive control of all roads and bridges within
its limits, except as hereinafter provided, and all district taxes levied
for road purposes and for building and repairing bridges, shall be
expended within the magisterial district in which it is so levied.

Sec. 2. The supervisors of each district shall be ex-officio chair-
man of the board of commissioners of roads for his district.

Sec. 3. The road board shall meet as hereinafter provided from
time to time, not to exceed twenty-four times in any one year; its
members shall be paid three dollars per day for each day actually
employed in ‘the discharge of their duties and shall be -paid by
warrant on the county treasurer issued by said board as hereinafter
prescribed.

Sec. 4. The board hereby provided for, shall be a body corporate,
and shall be known and designated as the board of ...........
magisterial district of Rockingham county, and as such shall have
the nght to contract, and be contracted with, sue and be sued.
Sec. 5. The commissioner of roads provided for in this act shall
reside in the district for which he is elected, and the term of his office
shall begin on the first day of January next succeeding his election;
he shall qualify at the time and in the manner provided by law for
the qualification of magisterial district officers, and shall at the time
of his qualification or before he enters upon the discharge of his
duties, give bond for the faithful discharge of his duties in the sum
of one thousand dollars.

Sec. 6. His duties shall be to see that all the roads in his district
are of proper width, and in all cases where they are not, to notify
the persons trespassing by ;written notice, and if the obstructions
are not removed after reasonable notice, not to exceed ninety-days,
he shall proceed to remove the fence or other obstructions, and may
recover the expense with costs from the trespasser upon judgment
before a justice of the peace; provided, however, that where there
is a road of less than thirty feet now in use, and a commissioner of
roads is satisified that no inconvenience will result to the public
on account of the width of said road, he may continue the same.
He shall examine all the roads in his district two or more times
in each year, as directed by the road board, to see that all district
roads and bridges are kept in good repair, as hereinafter provided
for. He shall have the care and custody of all tools and machinery
belonging to the district or county while in use in his district. When
such tools and machinery are not being used or operated he shall
provide such means as shall be reasonably ‘necessary to protect such
machinery and tools from injury and damage, and any expense in-
curred by ‘the commissioner in so doing shall be paid out of the
district fund on warrant of the board of commissioners of roads.
His compensation shall be three dollars per day for each day he may
be actually engaged in the discharge of his duties under the pro-
visions of this act, to be paid by the county treasurer in the manner
hereinafter prescribed. The duties and powers of said commissioner
set out in this section are subject, however, to be changed by such
rules and regulations as the board of supervisors may adopt respecting
the duties and powers of said commissioner.

Sec. 7. Each petition to alter or change a public road must first
be presented to the commissioner of roads in the district in which the
road is located, who shall endorse thereon his approval or disapproval
of same and his reason therefor, which petition and endorsement there-
on shall be laid before the board of supervisors at its next regular
meeting. Each viewer appointed by the board under the general law
shall be ‘allowed two dollars per day and expenses not exceeding
one dollar per day, where such viewer travels over ten miles, and
the county or other surveyor shall receive two dollars and fifty cents
per day for accompanying said viewer and making necessary survey
and be paid in addition such sum as the board shall determine, for
and map of such change as may be required of him. Said viewers
and such expenses to be paid by order of the board of supervisors out
of the county levy’for roads and bridges.
Sec. 8. In case the change of road shall place it on a line dividing
two magisterial districts, the commissioner of roads of the adjoining
districts shall divide equitable the expenses of maintaining said road
between said district. In case they cannot agree the board of super-
visors shall divide the same and direct what part of said road shall
be kept in repair by each magisterial district.

Sec. 9. The board of commissioners of roads in each magisterial
district shall annually make an estimate of the probable amount
necessary to pay all the expenses of keeping in repair the roads and
bridges (except such roads and bridges as are kept in repair out
of the county levy), and pay allowance to officers provided for in
this act, and other expenses likely to arise under the provisions of
this act, and shall, before the first day of August each year, furnish
to the county treasurer a statement of taxes assessed against each
person in his district, which tax said treasurer shall be required to
collect, as other revenues are collected, and for which he shall receive
a like compensation. The funds coming into the hands of the county
treasurer under ‘the provisions of this act shall be kept separate and
shall be held by him subject to the order of the board of commis-
sioners of roads to be expended in such manner as in its judgment
is for the best interest of the roads. Provided, however, that no
warrant shall be issued by said board nor paid by said treasurer,
except and unless it shall plainly show to whom and for what the
same was allowed and issued by said board, and that such warrant
shall be signed by the chairman and clerk of said board. All funds
collected in any one district shall be expended in that district.

Sec. 10. It shall be lawful for the board hereby constituted to
take charge of and have worked and kept in good repair all public
roads and bridges heretofore or hereafter established within their
respective districts as herein provided, except bridges across the
rivers and the brdges of thirty feet or more in length across the
creeks shall be kept in repair out of the general county levy for roads
and bridges. The work may be done by the day under competent
overseers, who shall furnish the commissioner of roads with a state-
ment of accounts once a month. The said board may enter into
contract for the repair of any part or sections of roads if they deem
It to the best interest of the district so to do. Said road to be kept
clear of falling timber, loose stones, and to be raised in the center
and sloped on each side to ditches of sufficient width and depth to
carry off all surplus water, and all contracts nade for the mainte-
nance or repair of said roads under this act shall so provide, and shall
be in writing and duly signed and filed with the clerk of said board.

Sec. 11. The said board of commissioners may make such rules
and regulations as it deems necessary to keep the roads and bridges
over which it has control in good condition or to improve the same;
said board may sub-divide their districts into sections and employ
competent overseers for each section.

Sec. 12.) The board of commissioners shall divide the public roads
and bridges in their respective districts into two classes; the first
class being those roads and bridges to be maintained out of the county
and State funds; the second class being those roads and bridges to
be maintained out of the district levy. The roads and bridges of the
first class, when accepted as such, to be under the control of the board
of supervisors and to be maintained out of the county and State
funds. The board of supervisors shall enter on the minutes of the
board the roads accepted by them. The roads of the second class
shall be maintained and worked by direction of the board of commis-
sioners for tha magisterial district.

Sec. 13. The board of commissioners of roads shall have the
authority to purchase any necessary tools, machinery and materials
out of its respective district funds, for use in making and repairing
the roads and bridges in its district as herein provided for.

Sec. 14. At the discretion of the board of commissioners of
roads and by order of said board the road commissioner shall measure
all roads in his district and divide them or any part thereof into such
sections as in his judgment he may deem best and most economical.

The road commissioner shall report to the board of commissioners
of roads of his district, by April first, or as soon thereafter as pos-
sible, the number of sections of roads and the number of miles in
each section when said board may proceed to apportion such amount
to each section as in their judgment is an equitable amount to each
section, according to conditions and needs, and may at the same time
appoint a good and competent overseer for each section thus worked,
who shall have immediate supervision over the work to be done in
this section.

When fifty or more qualified voters of any magisterial district
shall address to the supervisor or board of commissioners of roads
of such district a petition setting forth the complaint that the roads
of the portion of the district in which they reside are not receiving
an equitable apportionment of funds as provided in this section,
and that for the two years next preceding, a fair‘proportion of the
funds received from the State and county and from the district road
tax has not been expended on the roads of the section in which they
reside, and that said roads are in need of improvement and repair,
the supervisor and board of commissioners of roads shall at once
examine into the alleged facts contained in said petition, and if said
allegations are found true, shall proceed to expend upon such roads
such sums as would represent an equitable proportion of such funds
for the current and previous two years, or so much thereof as may
be necessary to put such roads in good repair.

Should the supervisor or board of commissioners of roads of any
district in which such petition has been filed, or either of them,
fail or refuse to make such repairs or expenditures as are provided
in this section, within a reasonable time, then the petitioners shall
have the right of action or appeal to the circuit courts; upon such
action being taken or appeal filed, the judge of said court shall
examine into the facts alleged by said petitioners and the merits of
their claims, and give judgment accordingly.
Said board may have worked the remaining section in such manner
as in their judgment is best. The overseer shall at such time as
directed by a road commissioner proceed to hire hands and teams
and work his road as directed by the road commissioner, who shall
have authority 'over contractors and overseers, under the direction
of the road board, and when tools and machinery are necessary
the commissioner shall report to the board of commissioners of roads,
which may order him to purchase same. The board shall have the
right to remove an overseer or contractor at any time and work
the road otherwise if in its judgment it would be)best.

Sec. 15. Each overseer provided for in this act shall be charged
with all the tools and machinery furnished him by the district road
board, giving his receipt for the same, and on his retirement shall
turn them over to his successor, or to the commissioner of roads,
taking a receipt for same. The overseer shall perform work on the
roads with other laborers; ten hours of actual work shall be con-
sidered a day’s work.

Sec. 16. When in the opinion of the commissioner of roads any
road or portion thereof in his district is in need of special attention
or work he shall report that fact to the board of commissioners,
and if said board deems it advisable, the other members may view
said road or part thereof, and for such services each member shall
receive the sum of three dollars per day, while in actual discharge
of such duties, payable out of the district fund.

Sec. 17. The board of supervisors in its discretion may purchase
any necessary machinery and pay for same out of the. county levy
for roads and bridges, for the purpose of aiding the magisterial
district in making and repairing the public roads of the county and
district. It may appropriate out of said funds, or the general county
levy, for the purpose of permanent road improvement in any district
or districts, such amounts as may be necessary to secure any State
aid money available for said district or districts, or to secure convict
labor for said permanent improvement of said:roads. In case the
board ‘of supervisors declines to appropriate the necessary funds re-
quired by the State law to secure State aid money or procure State
convict labor, then the board of commissioners of roads of each
magisterial district shall have the authority, with the consent of
the board of supervisors, to make appropriations out of district funds,
or funds raised by private contributions such amounts as are necessary
to assure State aid money or convict labor; provided in such event
the county shall not be chargeable with any liability or expenses
by reason of any district thus procuring any State road improvements
fund or convict labor.

The cost of expenditure per mile in the permanent improvement
of the public road shall be determined by the State highway commis-
sioner and the board of commissioners of the roads in their district
or districts in which the improvements is to be made, except in
such cases as require the action of the said board of supervisors. The
distribution of the State and county aid may be made between the
districts of the county, on such basis as a majority of the board of
supervisors in their judgment may deem right and just; provided,
that no part of the State aid fund which would be due any district,
upon an equitable distribution of same, based upon the tax paid
into the State treasury by said district, shall be taken from the
district and used elsewhere, unless the board of commissioners of
roads in said district declines to use same on roads in said districts,
and gives its consent in writing, signed by a majority of the board of
that district, that said amount may be expended elsewhere, said
writing to be filed with and preserved as part of the records of the
board of supervisors. ,

Sec. 18. The majority of the entire board of supervisors may
adopt any part of the general road law not in conflict with this act,
and a majority of the entire board may also at any time prior to the
first day of January of any year appoint a county road superintendent
whose term of office shall be for a period of two years from the first
day of January following his appointment. The said superintendent
shall be a civil engineer or a man well versed in practical road build-
ing, and who is competent to establish grades and keep records as
required by law. The powers and duties of the superintendent of roads
to be those set forth in the general road law so far as they do not
conflict with this act. The salaries and compensation of such superin-
tendent shall be fixed by the said board of supervisors; and be paid
out of the county road fund. Such superintendent shall give such
bond as the board of supervisors may direct for the faithful dis-
charge of his duties.

Sec. 19. That the commissioner of roads, from each magisterial
district shall meet at the court-house of the county with the board of
supervisors at a time to be fixed by the board of supervisors and
shall act with said board in consideration of the road question, and
to make any changes within the limits of the law they may deem
best, forthe making, changing and working the public roads of
Rockingham county, and by a majority vote of all the supervisors and
commissioners of roads present may order the road levies of all the
disricts or any of the districts raised to an amount not to exceed
forty cents on one hundred dollars of assessed property, both real
and personal, in any one year, and should it be determined that the
levy for any one year should be raised over twenty cents on the one
hundred dollars of assessed property, both real and personal, in any
district or districts then there shall be not less than ten cents nor
more than fifteen cents of said levy on the one hundred dollars used
for permanent road improvement. The said board of supervisors and
the commissioners of roads may by a majority vote of all present,
provide for and appoint a clerk for each of the boards of commis-
sioners in the county, but the same person may act as clerk for all
of the said boards or for any one or more of said boards. The duties
and compensation of said clerk or clerks to be fixed by the said
supervisors and said commissioners of roads as above provided. In
case the boards of supervisors should refuse or fail to appoint a county
road superintendent, then the said clerk shall be a member of the
board of commissioners of roads in the place of said county road
superintendent.

Sec. 20. At the end of each fiscal year the settlement of the
accounts of each of said board of commissioners showing the receipts
and disbursments of said board shall be made for the fiscal year
then ended. A statement in writing shall be made at the time of this
settlement by said board, signed 'by each member of said board,
itemizing in such statement all the funds which during said year have
been in the hands of the treasurer of said county to the credit of
said board and any other funds which have been under the control of
such board and also itemizing the disbursments which have been
made by said board and setting forth in their consecutive order
the warrants issued by said board, the dates of same and to whom
issued, and, briefly, for what debt consideration. Attached to said
statement shall be a certificate signed by the treasurer of said county.
setting forth that the statement is true and correct, so far as the
same is shown by the records in his office. When said statement is so
prepared, with the said certificate of the treasurer attached thereto,
the same shall be submitted to the board of supervisors accompanied
by the paid warrants therein referred to, and said board shall care-
fully examine said settlement or statement, and ascertain whether the
same is correct. When found correct, the said statement shall be
published in such manner as said supervisors direct. If found 1n-
correct, the board of supervisors shall by such proceedings as are
in their opinion appropriate, require the correction of same by the
road board. The costs of publication of annual statements or settle-
ments shall be paid out of the funds of the respective road districts.

Sec. 21. The board of supervisors and the commissioners of roads
of the county shall meet at the court-house between July fifteenth
and August first, nineteen hundred and twenty-three, giving public
notice of such meeting and its object for at least two weeks previous
thereto, when the question of adopting the general road law of the
State shall be considered. Should three-fifths of said supervisors and
commissioners of roads by a recorded vote, which must be a majority
of all supervisors and commissioners of roads in the county, decide
to adopt the general road law, then after December thirty-first, nine-
teen hundred and twenty-three, the general road law of the State
shall supersede the special law hereby re-enacted, and no election shall
be held in said county for comnussioners of roads at the election on
the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nineteen hundred
and twenty-three. On January first, nineteen hundred and twenty-
four, the general road law of .the State shall be the road law of
Rockingham county.

Sec. 22. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.

2. An emergency existing by reason of the fact that the road
work for the current year will begin before this law will otherwise
become effective, this act shall be in force trom its passag.e.