Chap. 59.—An ACT to provide for working the roads in the counties
of Shenandoah and Pare.

Approved February 6, 1878,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
it shall be lawful for the counties of Shenandoah and Page
to change and repair highways, roads, and bridges as fol-
lows:

2. That for each magisterial district in the counties of
Shenandoah and Page ‘there is hereby created and estab-
lished a board, consisting of the supervisor, a commissioner
of roads, and one of the justices of the peace for each dis-
trict; which board shall have the exclusive control of the
roads, bridges, and ferries within its limits; and all taxes
levied for road purposes, and for building and repairing
bridges, shall be expended in said magisterial district, except
as hereinafter provided.

3. The justice of the peace constituting a member of said
board shall be chosen and designated by the three justices
of the peace elected and commissioned in each magisterial
district, and the commissioner of roads shall be appointed
by the county judge, at the May term of the county court
next succeeding the passage of this act, who shall hold his
office until his successor is elected and qualified, as herein-
after provided. The designation of the justice who is to
serve on said board, shall be in writing, and shall be pre-
served and recorded by the board of commissioners of roads.
4. The board hereby created and constituted is declared
to be a body politic and corporate, and shall be known and
designated as The Board of Commissioners of Roads for
Magisterial District.

* 5. The sub-road districts, as now laid out and described by
metes and bounds, within the lines of the present magiste-
rial districts, shall remain as they now are.

6. That there shall be appointed by the said board, not
later than the fifteenth day of July, one overseer of roads
for each sub-district, whose term of office shall be for two
years, beginning on the first day of August succecding his
appointment. He shall reside in the district for which he
shall have been appointed, and shall have charge of the
roads of his district. If any such overseer shall refuse to
serve after being appointed, or fail to keep in good order the
roads in bis district, he shall be liable to a fine or present-
ment by the grand jury, not exceeding fifty dollars. But
any person who has served as overseer may, at the expira-
tion of the term for which be was appointed, give up his
office on producing a certificate to the board from the com-
missioner of roads, or other satisfactory evidence, that the
roads in his district are in proper order, and he shall not
within two years thereafter be appointed oversecr without
his consent.

7. That his duties shall be to see that the roads in his dis-
trict are kept in good repair; that the bridges are in safe
condition; that the roads are kept free from all obstructions;
that loose stones are removed; and he shall contract for all
tools and implements necessary for working roads, subject to
the approval of the commissioner of roads, and shall have
custody of the same, and shall perform such other duties %as
may be prescribed by law or directed by the board of com-
missioners of roads. His compensation shall be one dollar
per day for each day actually employed.

8. That at the regular election in May there shall be elected
in each magisterial district one commissioner of roads, who
shall reside in the district for which he is elected, and whose
term of office shall be for two years, beginning on the first
day of July next succeeding his election. Hach commissioner
of roads appointed or elected, shall qualify at the time and
in the manner prescribed by law for the qualification of
magisterial district officers, and shall at the time of his quali-
fication, or before he enters upon the discharge of his duties,
give bond with good personal security in the sum of two
hundred dollars.

9. That the commissioner of roads shall have charge of
all the roads in his magisterial district. His duty shall be
to’ see that all the roads in his district are of the proper
width, and in all cases where they are not, to notify the per-
sons trespassing, by written notice; and if the obstructions
are not removed after reasonable notice, not to exceed ninety
days, he shall direct the overseer of the district to remove

the fencing or other obstructions, and may recover the ex-
pense, with costs, from the trespasser, upon judgment of a
justice of the peace: provided, however, that where there is
a road of less width than thirty feet now in use, and the
commissioner of roads 1s satisfied that no inconvenience will
result to the public on account of the width of said road, be
may continue the same. Ife shall examine the roads in his
district twice in each year, in the months of May and Octo-
ber, and see that the ro: nds and br idves are kept in good re-
pair by the overseer. His compensation shall be one dollar
and fifty cents per day for each day in which he has been or
may be actually employed in discharging his duties under
the provisions of this act, and to be paid by the county trea-
surer in the manner hereinafter prescribed: provided, how-
ever, that his salary shall not exceed the sum of twenty dol-
lars within any one year.
10. That every 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, who shall endorse thereon his
approval or disapproval of the same, and his reasons there-
for; which petition and commissioner's report shabl be laid
before the county court at its next term, in open court, and
the court may appoint three discreet frecholders to view the
ground of any proposed change; the county, or other com-
petent surveyor, shall accompany the viewers, and, if neces-
sary, survey and map the road. ‘The whole number of view-
ers must view, but a majority may decide for or against; and
they may view and make report of, and estimates for any
modification of the route.
al. That notice of the time and place when and where the
viewers shall meet, shall be given in some public manner in
the vicinage of the proposed road, at least five days before
the time of meeting. ‘The view ers, before they proceed to
discharge their duties, shall be severally sworn by the com-
missioner of roads, or some other person authorized to ad-
minister oaths, to perform their duties impartially and to the
best of their judgment. If they decide that there is public
necessity for the change, they shall lay out the same, having
respect for the shortest distance and the best ground, 80 a8
to do the least injury to private property, and also, as far as
practicable, to be agreeable to the petitioners. They shall
assess the damage done to land through which the road
passes, taking into consideration the advantage to be derived
from the road’s passing through the land, and shall report in

> writing to the next term of the county court; but in no case
shall any yard, garden, orchard, or any part thereof, be taken

‘without the consent of the owner, except in cases where the
viewers certify to the judge of the county court that it’is
absolutely necessary for the public good that said road shall
pass through an orchard, then the judge shall have power to
confirm or reject their report, as he may deem fit.

,
12. That the court shall examine the amount ot damages
assessed, and if satisfied the public interest will be subserved
by its payment and by making the proposed change, shall
approve the report and order the damages to be paid by the
magisterial district or districts through which the road may
pass, in such proportion as the damages may have been
assessed in the said districts respectively; but upon the re-
turn of the report of the viewers, the proprietors and ten-
ants of lands upon which said road will be, if so changed,
shall be summoned to show cause against said report; and
any proprietor or tenant of lands on which said road will be
if so changed, may enter himself a party defendant to said
petition, after which the same proceedings shall be had as
under the general road law of the state, upon the return of
the report of the commissioners of roads: provided, that the
viewers and surveyor shall be paid out of the county treasury
upon the order of the county court. :

13. That in case the changing of a road shall place it on a
line dividing two magisterial districts, the commissioners of
roads of the adjoining districts shall equitably divide the
expense of said road between such districts, if they can
agree; and in case they cannot agree, the county court shall
divide the same, and direct what part of said road shall be
opened and kept in repair by each magisterial district.

14. The board of commissioners of roads for each magis-
terial district, at its annual meeting in July, shall assess and
levy a tax upon the property, real and personal, of the mag-
isterial district assessed for state revenue an amount which,
with the labor contributed under the nineteenth section of
this act, shall be sufficient to pay the expense of keeping all
the public roads in its magisterial district in good repair, and
of such width and condition as may be required by law, and
for aJl other purposes provided for in this act: provided, that
the assessment on property shall not be more, in any one
year, than ten cents on the hundred dollars, the assessment
to be made upon the same basis as that upon which state
revenues are levied.

15. That the board of commissioners of roads in each
magisterial district, shall annually make an estimate of the
probable amount necessary to pay the expenses of changing
and working roads, repairing bridges, paying allowances to
officers provided for in this act, and any other expenses they
may deem likely to arise under the provisions of this act;
and shall, before the first day of August in each year, furnish
to the county treasurer a statement of the tax assessed
against each person in their district, which tax said treas-
urer shall be required to collect as other revenues are col-
lected, and for the collection and disbursement of which he
shall receive a commission of five per centum. The board
of commissioners shall, at such times as they may think
proper, direct the treasurer to pay over to the overseers of
roads such amounts as they may deem necessary, in addition
to the labor provided for in section ninetecn, to keep their
roads in order; and said overseers shall pay to the commis-
sioner of roads any amount not so required to be held by
him subject to the order of the board of commissioners of
roads for his district.

16. The board of commissioners of roads of cach magiste-
rial district shall fix a schedule of prices for labor, hire of
teams, and other service upon roads in their district.

17. That the board of commissioners of roads in each
magisterial district shall, annually, on the first Tuesday in
December, examine and audit all claims arising under the
provisions of this act, and shall furnish to the county treas-
urer a Certified statement setting forth all claims so audited
and allowed, which he shall be required to enter in a book
to be kept for that purpose, which said claims shall be paid
by hira out of any funds in his hands for that purpose.

— 18. That the justice of the peace and the supervisor who,

with the commissioner of roads, constitute in each magiste-
rial district a board of commissioners of roads for that dis-
trict, shall each receive one dollar and fifty cents per day for
each day actually employed in accordance with the provis-
ions of this act.

19. That all male persons in each road district,except such
as are exempt by law, shall be appointed by the overseer of
roads for that district, and compelled to work two days in
each year on some public road therein as near as may he to
the place of their residence, or in’opening a new road.

20. Every person required to work shall, either in person
or by a sufficient substitute, when required by the overseer
of roads for his district, attend with proper tools and work
the roads on such days (not exceeding two in each year) as
the overseer of roads may direct. For every day on which
there may be a failure, eighty cents shall be paid as a fine to
the said overseer of roads, within twenty days thereafter, by
the person in default, if a person of full age, or if he be an
infant, by his parent or guardian. If the money be not paid,
it shall be recoverable by the overseer of roads, with costs,
before a justice, and said justice shall issue a writ of fieri
facias for said fine and costs, which, when collected, shail be
paid to said overseer of roads. Any money received by an
overseer of roads under this section, after the payment of
costs, shall be applied to the improvement of roads in his
district.

21. The general road law of this state, except so far as the
same is in conflict with this act, shall be in force in the coun-
ties of Shenandoah and Page: provided, that nothing herein
contained shall conflict with the laws now in existence pro-
viding for the working of roads and repairing of bridges in
the county of Rockingham.

22. This act: shall be in force from its passage.