Chap. 259.—An ACT to provide for the working of roads and repair-
ing of bridges in the county of Scott.

Approved March 4, 1884.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
it shall be lawful for the county of Scott, after the first day
of August, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, to repair high-
ways, rouds and bridges, as follows:

3. That for each magisterial district in the county of Scott,
there is hereby created and established a board, consisting
of the supervisor, a commissioner of roads, and one of the jus-
tices of the peace for each district; 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 re-
pairing bridges, shall be expended in said magisterial dis-
trict, execpt as hereafter provided. 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 com-
missioned in the several magisterial districts, and the com-
missioner of roads shall be ‘appointed by the judge of the
county court as hereinafter provided; the designation of the
justice, who is to serve on said road board, shall be in writ-
ing, and shall be preserved and recorded by the commissioner
of roads. The board hereby created and constituted, is de-
elared to be a body, politic and corporate, and shall be known
and designated as the board of commissioners of roads for

magisterial district.

3. That at the May term of the county court of Scott
county, in the year cighteen hundred and cighty-four, and
every two years thereafter, it shall be the duty of the judge
of said court, to appoint one commissioner of roads for each
magisterial district in said county, whose term of office shall
be for two years, beginning on the first day of July next
succeeding his appointment. He shall reside in the district
for which he is appointed. Each commissioner of roads thus
appointed, shall qualify before the judge of the county court
in term or during vacation, and shall at the time of his quali-
fication, give bond, with good personal security, in not less
than one thousand dollars, nor more than three thousand
dollars.

4. That the commissioner ot roads shall have charge of all
the roads in his magisterial district. His duty shall be to
sce that all the roads in his district are kept in good condi-
tion and are of the proper width. He shall examine the
roads in his district cach year in the months of April, August
and November, and’ sce that the roads and bridges are kept
in good repair by the contractor; and if he shall find any
contractor delinquent he shall give him notice in writing,
and on his failure to comply with the law or his contract,
shall make necessary repairs and force payment therefor, as
provided for in this act. But if upon such examination he
shall find that such contractor has executed his contract, or
performed his duty according to law or his contract, he shall
give him a certificate to that effect, with a statement show-
ing the amount such contractor is entitled to have offset
ayainst his road tax, such certificate to be given before the
time fixed for the collection of said tax, and when work has
been done by any person other than a contractor, under the
direction of the commissioner, it shall be the duty of such
commissioner to give a like certificate. Tho compensation of
said commisioncr shall be one dollar and fifty cents per diem
for each day in which he may be actually engaged in dis-
charging his duties under the provisions of this act, and to
be paid “by the board of commissioners of roads for the re-
spective magisterial districts: provided that the compensa-
tion of commissioners shall not for any one year exceed
thirty dollars.

5. That the commissioner of roads for the district shall let
to contract, at public letting, to the lowest and best bidder,
for a term of two years, all the roads in his district, not ex-
ceeding two miles in one section, of the time and place of
which letting he shall give ten days’ notice by handbills
posted in at least three places in eaeh road district. The
specifications of such contract shall be such as will effectually
keep in repair, and clear of all impediments to safe and con-
venient travel, all public roads and bridges in said district.

6. Each contractor shall sign bis name in a book to be
kept for that purpose by the commissioner of roads to a con-
tract embracing all the specifications in relation to the roads
contracted for ‘by him as provided for in this act, as well as
the contract price, and the length of time contracted for. All
contractors shall give bond and security in such sum as the
board shall deem sufficient, in a penalty not less than thirty
dollars and not more than double the contract price.

7. That if a contractor refuse or neglect to comply with
the law or his contract, upon complaint the commissioner of
roads shall, as soon as practicable, examine the road or sec-
tion, and if the complaint is well founded, shall give imme-
diate notice in writing to the party to make or put his sec-
tion or road in repair according to law, or as the contract
requires, and upon his failure to do so, the commissioner
shall proceed to put the same in order, and the expense
thereof, with cost of suit, shall be recovered by the commis-
sioner of roads, in the name of the board, from the contrac-
tor and his securities, as other debts are recoverable.

8. That if any section remain unlet, by reason of their
being no bidder, or the amount offered be dcemed unjust, the
commissioner of roads of the district may let the same by
private contract, the contract price not to exceed that esti-
mated by the district road board, and no supervisor of said
county, commissioner of the revenue, or justice of the peace
therein, or other person authorized to make contracts for
the working of any of the roads thereof, shall be in any way
interested in any contract provided for in this act, and any
violation of this provision, shall render the contract null and
void.

9. For the purpose of providing a fund for working roads
and repairing bridges in the county of Scott, it shall be
the duty of the board of supervisors of said county, not later
than the fifteenth day of June in each year, to levy a tax on
all real and personal property in said county, not exceeding
ten cents upon each one hundred dollars of the assessed value
thereof.

10. The board of road commissioners for each district,
shall certify to the board of supervisors, on or before the fif-
teenth day of June in each year, the amount that in its opin-
ion will be necessary or proper to be spent in its road dis-
trict for the ensuing year, and the rate of tax that should be
levied upon the real and personal property in said district,
not to exceed ten cents upon each one hundred dollars worth
of real and personal property in said district, and such cer-
tificate shall be binding upon the board of supervisors, who
shall levy the tax thus certified, upon each district, respec-
tively, and shall certify the amount necessary to be raised,
to the commissioner of the revenue, and he shall extend the
taxes against all property and persons in the district levied
for road purposes.

11. The county treasurer shall collect the rond tax of the
county, and pay the same out upon the order of the commis-
sioners of roads of the several road districts. He shall be
charged with the full amount of road taxes levied for the
year, and credited with all sums paid over in money or other-
wise, as herein provided. The treasurer shall receive, as
equivalent to money, all accounts for labor, teams, wagons,
plows and materials furnished, or for services rendered in any
way, when properly certified by the commissioner of roads,
and the same shall be reccipted for by the commissioner, as
if paid to him in money. The taxes levied under this act,
shall be subject to the same laws regulating the collection of
other taxes. The treasurer shall received the same per cen-
tum for collecting road taxes as is allowed for collecting state
taxes.
12. All persons in the county of Scott, not exempt by the
general road law, may be required to work on some public
road not exceeding two days in each year. All persons so
required to work shall be notified by the contractor of the
road precinct in which he resides, of the time and place
where he is to work, as near his place of residence as may be.
All persons so notified, must appear or furnish an acceptible
substitute in time to perform ten hours labor, and if he fail
so to appear with a suitable tool to work with, such person
shall, by the contractor of the road precinct, be charged one
dollar per day for every day of such failure, and if he fails to
pay the same within thirty days thereafter, the contractor
may collect it upon a warrant of a justice of the peace as
other claims are collected. All moneys collected by the con-
tractor under the foregoing proceedings, shall be accounted
for to the commissioner, who must account for the same on
settlement with the board of road commissioners.

13. The locating, opening, and building of new roads and
bridges in the county of Scott, shall be “carried out as the
general law now provides.

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