Chap. 474.—An ACT to provide a special road law for the county of Fauquier;
to provide for the working and keeping in repair of the public roads in
said county and to create separate district road boards in each of the sev-
eral magisterial districts of said county; to authorize the erection of toll
gates and the collection of tolls upon certain public roads therein; and
making certain provisions for the construction, working, maintenance, etc.,
of said roads, and to levy a tax for said purposes in said county and in
the several magisterial districts thereof; and to repeal all special acts hereto-
fore enacted in reference to the public roads of said county; and to validate
the official acts of certain officers under laws heretofore in effect in said
county. [S B 364]

° Approved March 24, 1920,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia as follows:

2. That each of the five magisterial districts in the county of
Fauquier shall constitute a separate road district, and the improve-
ment, maintenance, construction and all other administrative control
of all public roads and highways in each district shall be vested in a
district road board thereof as hereinafter provided for.

3. That each district road board in the several magisterial districts
of the county of Fauquier shall be composed of the members of the
board of supervisors of such district and two qualified voters residing
therein, to be appointed by the judge of the circuit court of said county
to serve for the period of two years or until their successors shall
have been appointed and qualified, one of said members to be appointed
by the judge of the circuit court as aforesaid shall be selected by
said district road board as clerk of said board; and the said board for
each district shall meet at least once in each month at such time and
place as they may select. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the
board to keep a record of all meetings of the said board, and itemized
accounts of all expenditures made upon the warrants of said boards,
showing for what purpose the said expenditure was made, which said
records shall be kept open to public inspection at all times, and to
perform such other clerical work as may be required by said boards.

4. The members of the said district road boards, and any other
officers appointed under any of the provisions of this act, shall qualify
by taking the usual oath for the faithful performance of their duties,
and the members of the said district road boards shall be paid out of
the road funds of their respective districts the sum of five dollars per
day for each day necessarily and actually employed in the performance
of their duties and the said boards may in their discretion allow the
member of said board acting as clerk an additional compensation for
their services as such.
5. The said boards shall be, and are hereby, declared bodies politic
for the respective magisterial districts of the county of Fauquier an:
shall have power to sue and be sued, and suits for and against said
boards shall be in the name of the road board of the district so ‘suing
or being sued, but no member of said boards shall in any manner be
personally liable for any recovery against said boards.

6. The said district road boards may after this act goes into effect
appoint a district superintendent of roads for their respective districts.
who shall hold office at the will of said boards, and whose duties shall
be prescribed by said board; and the said boards may appoint suc
assistants to the said district superintendent as they may deem nece:-
sary for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this act.
And the said boards shall have full power to purchase machinery.
teams, supplies and materials and perform all other acts necessary to
carry into effect the provisions of this act. They may make all neces-
sary contracts, and may require proper bonds of all employees, servants
and contractors for the faithful performance of their duties. The
said boards shall fix the compensation to be paid to the said supernn-
tendent and all assistants, employees, or servants.

7. The board of supervisors of Fauquier county shall annually
levy along with the county levy a road tax upon the property, real
and personal, assessable for taxation, in the several magisterial districts,
which shall be applied to the construction, the working, keeping in
order, and repairing the public roads in such district. Such tax shall
not be less than twenty cents upon the one hundred dollars in value
of such property, and the same shall be collected, accounted for and
paid out on the warrants of the several district boards, and the fund
collected from each magisterial district shall be kept separate by the
county treasurer, and a different rate of tax may be prescribed by the
board of supervisors for the different districts in the county. The
amount collected in each district shall be expended therein, and for
such road purposes and in such manner as the board of said district
may see fit. And in addition to the district tax aforesaid the board of
supervisors of said county may annually levy along with the county
levy a county road tax to be used in permanently improving the roads
of said county, or to obtain the benefit of any laws which may be
passed granting State money or other aid to the county or district
highways or roads, or in co-operating with private subscribers fo:
said improvements; said county road levy to be used in and appor-
tioned throughout the county as may be decided by the said board of
supervisors. And further the said board of supervisors of said county
is hereby authorized, in addition to the levies aforesaid, upon the ap-
plication of the road board of said district to levy a tax in any magis-
terial district of said county not to exceed the sum of ninety cents
upon the one hundred dollars in value of the taxable property in said
district in which said tax may be levied, for the purpose of building
macadam, gravel, sand-clav, or other types of permanently improved
road, the construction of culverts, or the metalling and permanent grad-
ing and draining of such roads as the district road board may designate.
said work to be done upon the supervision of the several district road
boards, the fund derived from any such levy to be kept in a separate
account by the treasurer of the county and paid out on warrant of
the district road board.

The several district road boards shall semi-annually at the
meeting of the board of supervisors of said county in the months of
January and July of each year audit, adjust, and settle their accounts
with the treasurer of the county for the preceding six months, but if
their business shall not be completed on that day, they may adjourn
from day to day until it is completed. Such settlement shall be made
before the board of supervisors, and an itemized statement in writing
of all receipts and disbursements received and made by the several
district boards in their respective districts during the six months next
preceding, and when, to whom and for what purpose disbursements
have been made shall be filed with said board of supervisors, and the
said board shall retain a copy of said settlement, and a copy thereof,
certified by the chairman and clerk of the board of supervisors shall
be published for one issue in some newspaper of general circulation
in said county of Fauquier, the cost of said publication to be paid for
out of the several district road funds. And the said board of super-
visors shall annually publish in some newspaper of general circulation
in said county and for one issue a statement of the receipts and dis-
bursements of the county road fund.

814. The said district road boards may represent at any time to
the board of supervisors that there should be certain alterations of
roads, or the establishment of new roads, and that road graders,
scrapers and certain machinery, tools, wagons, carts and teams are
necessary for the proper working and repair of the roads of their
respective districts and submit to the board of supervisors statements
of the costs of such alterations or establishment of new roads and
the purchase of said machinery, tools and other things necessary for
the working and repair of the roads of the said district, with appli-
cation to the said board of supervisors to make a special levy in the
district in which such alterations and new roads and machinery, tools,
et cetera, may be necessary, to provide for the same. And the said
road boards may represent to the board of supervisors that crushers,
road rollers and engines are necessary to the proper and permanent
improvement of the roads in said district or districts, and that by the
use of such machinery the road fund provided in this act can be spent
most advantageously in the interest of the people in making durable
work, and submit to the board of supervisors the estimated cost of
such machinery, and the said board of supervisors may thereupon make
a county levy for the necessary amount and turn the proceeds over
to the treasurer of the county to be placed to the credit of the road
fund of the said county, such machinery may be purchased after ad-
vertising for bids thereon or not as may be deemed best by the board
of supervisors, and said machinery when so purchased to become the
property of the county and to be used in the various districts as may
be directed by the said board of supervisors. It 1s the purpose of this
provision that in addition to the machinery purchased and owned by
the district road board, there may be purchased machinery by the
county to be used over the whole county and in supplement to the
machinery owned and operated by the various districts.

9. The board of supervisors shall have charge of the work ot
building and repairing bridges in Fauquier county, and to this end
shall annually levy along with the county levy a tax as a part of such
levy for the purpose of building such bridges, as they may determine
should be built, and they shall have the power to make contracts
for the building of said bridges and to provide for the supervision
of such work; provided, however, that when the cost of building
or repairing any bridge, or approaches thereto, shall be less than thirty
dollars, the same shall be paid out of the road fund of the district in
which said bridge or approaches lie, or 1f the same be of benefit te
more than one district, or be partly in one district and partly in an-
other, and the cost thereof is less than thirty dollars, the said
cost shall be apportioned between the said districts, and in such amount
as the road boards of said districts shall agree, or in the event that
they cannot agree, in such proportion as the board of supervisors
may upon application determine.

10. In order to improve, maintain, and keep in good repair the
macadamized, or otherwise permanently improved roads in the severa:
magisterial districts, the several district road boards are hereby au-
thorized and empowered to erect, maintain, and operate toll gates upon
said macadamized or otherwise permanently improved roads in their
respective districts, and to demand and receive tolls thereon at such
rates, and under such rules and regulations as they may prescribe.
Such rates of toll may be prescribed and enforced by the said district
road boards upon each section of five miles of said road as mav be
necessary to pay the cost and expense of operating said toll gate and
of improving, maintaining and keeping in good repair the road within
such section. For a fractional part of any section of five miles. if in
their judgment it is necessary, the said ‘district road boards may erect
toll gates thereon and demand and receive only such proportion of tolls
as the said fractional part bears to a full section of five miles.

All toll received upon any such section shall be expended by said
district road board in the improvement, maintenance and keeping in
repair the road within such section; unless and except such other ex-
penditure be first approved by the circuit court for Fauquier county,
or the judge thereof in vacation, by an order duly entered of record.

The said district road boards are hereby authorized and empowere:
to erect such buildings, fences, gates, and to employ such collectors,
or toll gate keepers, and other servants as may be necessary, and to
require bond of such employees conditioned for the faithful discharge
of their duties, and are hereby vested with all such powers as may be
necessary to maintain and operate the toll gates and to collect the
tolls as provided in this act.

The said district road boards shall be accountable for all tolls
collected by them in their respective districts, and all monies and tolls
so collected in any district shall be deposited by the road board of such
district at the end of each month with the treasurer of the county and
by him credited to the road fund of said district, but in a separate
account from other road funds, and shall be disbursed upon the warrant
of the said district road board. But before any toll shall be demanded
or received by the said district road boards under this act the members
of such road board shall each enter into bond before the clerk of the
circuit court of said county in such sum as the circuit court of said
county, or the judge thereof in vacation, may prescribe, with security
to be approved by the said clerk, and conditioned for the faithful
discharge of their duties.

The district road boards shall settle their accounts of the fund
derived from the collection of toll at the same time, and in the same
manner as they settle their account of the general road fund, and state-
ment of such settlement shall be certified and published in the same
manner.

The said district road boards shall from time to time cause a list
of all toll rates to be printed, and have such rates posted conspicuously
at each toll gate.

All collectors, or toll gate keepers employed by the said district
road boards, are hereby vested with the power of special police while
engaged in the performance of their duties.

If any person subject to the toll prescribed by the road board of
any district shall attempt to pass, or shall pass, or cause any vehicle,
animal or other things subject to the prescribed rate of toll, to pass
any toll gate, or other regular place for the payment of toll, without
paying or tendering such toll, he .shall be deemed guilty of a misde-
meanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less
than one nor more than twenty-five dollars.

Upon the complaint of five or more persons residing in any district
that a section or sections of road, or the fractional part of a section
of road, in said district, on which tolls are being demanded and re-
ceived under this act, are out of repair, or that the rates of toll
charged thereon are unreasonable and excessive, or that the monies
received from the collection of tolls is not being expended by the
district road board of such district in the manner provided herein,
they may apply by petition in writing to the circuit court of Fauquter
county, or to the judge thereof in vacation, which said petition shall be
sworn to, and the district road board of such district shall be made
party defendant thereto. The petition shall set forth the matters
complained of, and may be heard by the court, or the judge thereof
in vacation, but no hearing upon said petition shall be had until after
fifteen days’ notice of the filing of same, together with a copy of said
petition shall have been served! upon the clerk or chairman of such
district road board. :

The court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall hear the case
set out in said petition upon the evidence introduced by the parties
plaintiff and defendant, and if the court or the judge thereof in vaca-
tion, shall be satisfied from all the evidence that the said section or
sections, or part thereof, are not kept in good repair, he may, in his
discretion by an order duly entered of record suspend the collection
of tolls thereon for such time and upon such conditions for the repair
thereof as he may deem proper; and if the said judge, or the court,
shall be satisfied from all the circumstances and facts introduced ir
evidence that the rates of toll complained of are unreasonable or exces:-
sive, or that the monies received from said tolls are being expended bh
the district road board of such district in violation of the provision:
of this act, the court or judge, as the case may be, may by an orde:
duly entered of record revise and correct the said rates in such mannez
and for such time, and take such action to secure the proper applica-
tion of the monies received from said tolls as in the discretion of the
court or judge may be deemed proper. And the court or judge, if
deemed advisable, may require security of the complainants for the
costs of such proceedings, and may enter such order as to costs upon
a final hearing as may be deemed proper.

11. Any lumber company, corporation, person or persons engaged
in the lumber business, or in the business of hauling, draying, or
teaming for hire, and hauling mill logs, lumber, ties, pulp wood.
piling or other like material or products, by means of their own equip-
ment or by equipment hired from others, whether said equipment be
horse or power drawn or propelled, over any of the public roads of the
county of Fauquier, shall pay a license tax of ten dollars per annum,
together with such further sum as may be fixed upon by the board
of supervisors of said county, not to exceed one-half of one per centum
on every one hundred dollars of the gross amount of business done
by them in said county during each year. But the provisions of this
act are to be taken to extend only to those who engage in the business
aforesaid, and not to anyone not regularly employed in such business
or occupation who may occasionally haul said material or products over
the roads of said county for hire.

Such license shall be assessable on the first day of May of each
year, and shall be for the period of one year thereafter and shall be
assessed by the commissioner of the magisterial district in which the
said company, corporation, or person or persons to be taxed, have
their principal property or headquarters in this county.

It shall be the duty of any such company, corporation, person or
persons, engaged in any of the businesses or occupations aforesaid
and hauling over the roads in said county to furnish the commissioner
of the revenue of the magisterial district wherein is located their prin-
cipal property or headquarters in this county at the time when said
assessment is made with an accurate statement of the gross amount of
business done in said county during the previous year, which statement
shall be duly sworn to or affirmed.

All licenses hereunder shall be payable to the county and shall be
paid to the treasurer of Fauquier county and placed by him to the
credit of the road fund of the district in which said license was
assessed.

The board of supervisors of said county, should they adopt the
provisions of this section as hereinafter provided for, shall prescribe a
form for the statement herein required to be made to the commissioner
of the revenue.

Any person, or persons, firm, lumber company, or corporation vio-
lating any of the provisions of this act shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not
less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars for each offense, and
each day in which said hauling is done and each day of failure to
furnish the statement required by this act shall be considered a sepa-
rate offense hereunder.

The provisions of this section shall not be in force until the same
shall have been adopted at a regular monthly meeting of the board of
supervisors of said county, after notice of the proposed adoption
thereof shall have been published in some newspaper of general cir-
culation in said county for two successive issues, and the adoption
thereof by the said board of supervisors shall be further notified by
like publication in some newspaper of general circulation published
in said county and for two successive issues.

12. The general road law of the State of Virginia in effect at
the time of the passage and approval of this act, except in so far as
the same be in conflict with the provisions hereof, shall be in force
in the county of Fauquier, and nothing herein contained shall be con-
strued so as to interfere with the State highway system, or with any
existing and unexpired contract or contracts for the building, improv-
ing, or construction, or repair of any road or bridge in said county.

13. The several district road boards of the said county of Fauquier
shall have all of the powers, and be charged with all of the duties as
conferred upon the county superintendents of roads by the general
law in force at the time of the passage and approval of this act.

14. All property, including machinery, teams and all other articles
used and owned by the several district road boards in office at the
time of the passage and approval of this act shall pass to and be
transferred to their successors appointed under the provisions of this
act when and as they shall be appointed and qualify.

15. The several district road boards for the county of Fauquier
and in office by virtue of any act in force at the time of the passage
and approval of this act shall hold office and exercise all the powers
and duties of the road boards to be appointed hereunder until such
time as the several district road boards to be appointed under the
provisions of this act have been appointed and qualified as provided
herein.

16. The board of supervisors of the county of Fauquier is hereby
authorized to employ such county superintendents of roads, or such
county road engineers, to be paid out of the general road fund of
said county available, as may at any time in their judgment be neces-
sary, and said county superintendent or engineer shall perform such
services, and in such part of the county, and at such times as the
said board of supervisors may direct.

17. No member of any of said district road boards, or other public
officers of said county of Fauquier, or any officer created by the pro-
visions of this act, shaH have any interest in any work done under
the provisions hereof, and any monies paid, or things of value made
over or delivered to any such member of a road board, or to any public
officer, or officer created by this act, other than as herein expressly
authorized and allowed may be recovered by suit to be instituted in
the name of the board of supervisors of said county, which suit shal:
be instituted by and prosecuted by the Commonwealth’s attorney for
said county of Fauquier, and he shall be allowed for his services in
connection therewith such reasonable fee as may be directed by said
board of supervisors.

18. All payments and disbursements heretofore made by the treas-
urer “of Fauquier county upon the warrants of any county or district
road board of said county, and all the official acts of any such county
or district road board of said county made and performed by virtue
of, and in compliance with the provisions of any special act heretofore
in force in said county, are hereby validated and confirmed.

19, The act entitled an act to provide a special road law for the
county of Fauquier; to provide for the working and keeping in repair
of the public roads in said county and to create separate district road
boards in each of the several magisterial districts thereof; to authorize
the erection of toll gates and the collection of tolls upon certain public
roads therein, and making certain provisions for the enforcement and
correction of said tolls and the protection of the roads and the property
of said district road boards, and providing certain penalties for the
violation thereof, and to repeal all special acts heretofore enacted in
reference to the public roads of said county, and to validate the
official acts of certain officers under laws heretofore in effect in said
county, approved February second, nineteen hundred and fifteen, to-
gether with all amendatory acts thereto, and all special acts heretofore
passed by the general assembly of Virginia in reference to the public
roads of said county, shall be and the same are hereby repealed.

20. It being necessary for road purpose in Fauquier county that
the several powers conferred upon the board of supervisors of said
county of Fauquier, and the several district road boards, shall be
exercised at once, an emergency 1s declared to exist and this act shall
be in force from its passage.