Chap. 216.—An ACT to provide for working the public roads in the
county of Grayson.

Approved March 3, 1854.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
in licu of the mode and means now provided by law for keep-
ing in good order and repair the public roads that are or may
be established in the county of Grayson, it shall be lawful for
the board of supervisors of said county, annually, at the same
time they ascertain and impose the taxes for other county
purposes, to levy a special tax, not exceeding twenty cents on
the one hundred dollars worth of the assessed valuation of
all taxable property, real, personal and mixed, in said county,
to be collected and disbursed as other county funds are collec-
ted, and to constitute in the hands of the county treasurer a
road fund.

2. Theseveral magisterial districts in said county of Gray-
son shall be each a separate road district in said county, and
it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of said county,
on the first Monday in May, eighteen hundred and eighty-
four, and every two years thereafter, to appoint one road
commissioner in each magisterial district in said county, who
shall hold his office for two years from the date of his ap-
ointment, or until his successor is appointed and qualified.
aid commissioner shall qualify by taking the oath of office
prescribed by the general laws, and enter into bond with such
security and in such penalty as may be required and approved
by said board for the faithful performance of his duties as
prescribed by this act. If, in case of death, resignation, or
otherwise, a vacancy shall occur in said office of road com-
missioner of any magisterial district, the said board of super-
visors of said county shall, at their meeting next succeeding
the occurrence of said vacancy, appoint one suitable person to
fill the unexpired term of said road commissioner so vacated.
3. The supervisor of each magisterial district, the commis-
sioner of roads as hereinbefore appointed, and the commis-
sioner of the revenue of each district, to be called and known
as the Board of Road Commissioners; the supervisor shall
be chairman of said board, and one of the other members of
the board shall be appointed, clerk. The clerk shall give
bond, to be approved by said board, in a penalty of not less
than two hundred dollars, for the faithful pertormance of his
duties. The said district commissioner, as soon as the board
is organized, shall proceed to re-precinct the roads in his
magisterial district, giving the number of each precinct from
one up to the whole number in his district, and as near as
practicable the names of the roads upon which cach precinct
ix located, and allot the road hands to work on each precinct
as he thinks best for the purpose of carrying out the provi-
sions of this act, make a record of the same, and return the
same to the board of road commissioners for its approval.
Should the said board think proper to amend or alter the
report of the road commissioner as to precincts and hands to
work on same, it is hereby granted power to do so. '
4. Every able-bodied male citizen of cach magisterial dis-
trict, over sixteen years of age, and under sixty years of age,
who are required to work on the public roads by the laws
now in force, shall be required to work on the roads as pro-
vided by this act, that is to say, each hand shall work two
days in every year on the precinct of road to which he is
allotted when required by the surveyor of roads hereinafter
provided for. And for every day he shall fail to attend with
proper tools as required by the surveyor, and work faithfully
eight hours in the winter scason, and ten hours in the sum-
mer season, he shall forfeit and pay eighty cents per day for
such fuilure, to be recovered in the manner hereinafter pro-
vided. |
5. The board of said commissioners, as hereinafter pro-
vided for, shall as soon as may be after the return of the
report of the road commissioner, as to the road precincts and
hands allotted to same, proceed to let the work of keeping
the roads in order and repair according to the laws now in
force, and to contract by giving at least ten day’s notice, by
written or printed hand-bills posted at one or more public
places along the line of each precinct of public road already
opened in said county, that bids will be received by the board
of road commissioners, on a particular day, at such place in
the magisterial district, which the board may fix upon, for
keeping the said respective precincts in lawful repair for not
exceeding two years, for a sum to be specified by the bidder,
in addition to the two days work to be done by each road
hand as required in the fourth section of this act, and payable
out of the road fund created by the first section of this act;
in such instalments as the board shall indicate in said notices.
All contracts as herein provided, shall commence the first day
of July of each year atter the contract is made, and it shall
be the duty of the said board to file and preserve all said bids
for the inspection of any tax-payer after the contracts have
been let. The lowest responsible bidder shall be entitled to
the contract, unless in the opinion of the board, the bids are
all too high, in which case the board may order a new bid-
ding immediately, or at such time as the board may fix, but
in either case, so as to give an, opportunity to all the bidders
for fair competition.

6. When bids have been accepted, said board of road com-
missioners shall give to the successful bidder or bidders, on
each precinct, a certificate specifying the precinct upon which
the bid has been accepted, the amount of money to be paid,
and the amount of work to be done by the hands allotted to
each precinct for keeping it in repair; and for what length of
time, not exceeding two years, and the dates at which the
instalments of money are to be paid; which certificate shall
be in duplicate, one copy to be given to the bidder, and the
other filed with the clerk of the county court. Itshall be the
duty of said clerk, to report all such certificates filed with
him in the county court, at its first succeeding term; and it
shall be the duty of the county court thereupon, to appoint
the party named in such certificate, the surveyor of such pre-
cinct or precincts therein mentioned, and for the period he
has undertaken to keep said precinct or precincts in good
order and repair. And from the time of his appointment as
such surveyor, he shall be subject to all the pains and _ penal-
ties imposed by the laws now in force upon road surveyors,
for failing to keep their road in good order and repair. The
contractor an.] surveyor of any road precinct may take from
any convenient lands, s0 much wood, stone, gravel, or earth
as may be necessary to be used in repairing of such road, or
any bridge or causeway therein, and may, for the purpose of
draining the road, cause a ditch or water-gap to be cut
through any lands adjoining the same, taking care however,
to do the least possible injury to said lands.

7. At such times as the contractor may judge most suita-
ble, he shall notify all persons in the bounds of his road pre-
cinct liable to road duty, of the day on which he requires
them to work on the road, and every person liable to road
duty, and so notified, shall, either in person or by an able
bodied substitute, not less ‘than sixteen years of age, when
required by the contractor of his precinct, attend with such
tools as the contractor may require, and work on such days
in each year (not exceeding two days) as the contractor may
direct.

8. For every day on which there shall be a failure to work
by any person liable to road duty, eighty cents shall be paid
as fine for such failure. Tho fine shall be paid by the con-
tractor by the person in default, if a person of free age, or if
he be a minor, by his parent or guardian. If the money be
not paid within thirty days from the time of such failure,
then the contractor may make out a ticket or an account in
his own name against the person in default for eighty cents
per day for each day’s tuilure, adding ten per centum to said
amount, which is to go to the collecting officer into whose
hands the account may be placed for collection. Any collect-
ing officer into whose hands such accounts may be placed for
collection, may collect the same in the manner now provided
by law for the collection of state taxes. Any property lable
for taxes shall be liable for said road fine and commissions.
The officer collecting the same shall be liable under his official
bond to the contractor for said accounts so placed in his
hands for collection. and may be proceeded against for failing
to collect and pay over the same as now provided by law, as
in the case of a constable’s failure.

9. The payments of money to the contractor out of the
road fund created by the first section of this act, shall be
made on the first day of January and July,in each year, and
shall be drawn from the county treasury by a warrant upon
the treasurer, drawn by the board of road commissioners, and
siened by the chairman of said board and eountersigned by
the clerk, stating the amount called for and who payable to,
and for what purpose. It shall be the duty of the county
treasurer to keep separate accounts of the money collected
for the road fund in a book tor that purpose, so that the road
fund of each magisterial district shall not be mixed with any
other, but be kept in a manner that will show the amount of
road fund belonging to each district at any time. The county
treasurer shall have the same compensation for collecting and
disbursing the road fund, that ho 1s now allowed by law for
collecting and disbursing other county funds. He shall settie
his accounts annually in the month of June with the district
board.

10. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of the revenue
of each magisterial district, when making his assessments of
other taxes, to extend upon his books opposite the name of
each person assessed with real or personal property therein,
in a separate column, the amount of road tax for which he is
liable; and for his services he shall receive a compensation
not exceeding two and one-half per centum of the total
amount of said tax assessed, payable out of the district road
fund. .

11. The commissioner of roads shall receive a compensation
of one dollar per day for each day actually employed in re-pre-
cincting the roads of bis district, and allotting hands to same
and reporting to the board of road commissioners; the whole
amount, however, of such compensation, shall not exceed
twenty dollars. And for attending the meetings of the board
of road commissioners, each member of the same shall receive
a compensation of one dollar per day for every day actually
engaged in performing the duties of said board as required
by this act: provided however, that the clerk of the board
shall have for any extra work that he may perform, such
additional compensation as the board may think just.

12. The commissioner of roads shall have under his gene-
ral supervision, all the roads in his district, and shall, from the
first to the fifteenth day of June and December in each year,
inspect and note the condition of all the roads in his district,
when in his opinion it is necessary to do so, or when required
by the district board to do so, and report the condition of the
roads to the board of road commissioners at its meeting to be
held on the third Monday in June and December of each
year, at such place in each district as the chairman of the

oard may desiynate. Special mectings of the board may be
called by the chairman at any time he may think the road
interest of the district may require it. If trom the report of
the road commissioners made to the meetings of the board
held on the third Monday in June and December of cach
year, the board shall be of opinion the contractor is entitled
to his pay, due the first day of July or January, as the case
may be, the board shall order a warrant on the treasurer of
the said county ot Grayson, to be issued for the same. But
if the board shall be of opinion, from the report of the com-
missioner as aforesaid, the contractor has not put and kept
his precinct or precincts in such repair as the laws now in
force require, then the board shall withhold the warrant for
the pay of such contractor, until the road is put in proper
repair.

13. The road contractor, and surveyor created by this act,
in addition to the services hereinbefore required of him, shall,
whenever any of his list of hands assigned to him as such
contractor, are assigned and required to work on any new
road, or an alteration of an old road, when notified by the
superintendent of any new road, summon and attend with
his list of hands, and superintend them in the opening and
completion of said new road, or alteration, according to
the laws now in force.

14. This act shall not be in force in the said county of
Grayson until approved by a majority of the board of super-
visors of said county.

15. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provis-
ions of this act are hereby repealed.

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