Chap. 148.—An ACT to provide for the opening, altering, changing
and working the public roads in the County of Warren.
Approved February 18, 1886.

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
hereafter the supervisors of the several magisterial districts of
Warren county, shall be ex-officio road commissioners of their
respective districts, with duties and powers, and subject to the
provisions hereinafter contained.

2. That said commissioners shall have exclusive charge and
control of the public roads and bridges within their respective
districts, except as hereinafter provided.

3. That all taxes levied and collected for road purposes, and
for building and repairing bridges, shall be éxpended on the
roads and bridges in the district from which the same. may be
collected.

4- That the commissioners of roads for the respective dis-
tricts of the county of Warren, shall be known as the commis-
sioner of roads for magisterial district, and by such
name shall have the power to contract and be contracted with,
sue and be sued; but no judgment against such commissioner
shall bind him personally. It shall be paid by the treasurer out
of the district road fund. }

5. That the term of office of said commissioner shall be the
same as that of supervisor. He shall qualify at the same time
and in the same manner as the supervisors qualify, and shall
give bond, with security, in a penalty of not less than five hun-
dred nor more than two thousand dollars, for the faithful per-
formance of his duties as commissioner of roads. This qualifi-
cation and bond shall be independent of and in addition to his
qualification and bond given as supervisor: provided, that the
supervisors now in office in said county shall qualify and give
bond as road commissioners, at the April term, eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-six, of the county court of Warren county.

6. That it shall be the duty of said commissioner to see that
all roads in his district are of lawful width, and clear of ob-
structions, and in all cases of obstruction to notify the party
offending by written notice, and if the obstruction caused by
said party be not removed after ten days’ notice, such commis-
sioner shall cause the obstruction to be removed, and may re-
cover the expense, with costs, from the offender, upon a war-
rant, before a justice of the peace, and the said justice may
also in his discretion impose a fine upon the offender not ex-
ceeding ten dollars, which fine shall go into the road fund.

7. That it shall be the duty of the commissioner of roads,
not less than thirty days preceding the day of the first letting,
as directed by a succeeding section of this act, to lay out and
divide the public roads of his district into sections of not more
than three miles in length, and numbered from one up. Each
section definitely defined, with .a brief description of the char-
acter of the same, shall be entered in a bovwnd book, which
book shall be kept by the commissioner open to the inspection
of any citizen of the county. He shall also make an estimate
of the probable amount necessary to put and keep each section
in good repair; this estimate shall not be entered into his sec-
tion book, but kept for the guidance of himself and the board
of supervisors. :

8. That the several commissioners shall provide for opening
and keeping in good repair all public roads in their respective
districts, and to this end shall, between the fifteenth and twen-
tieth day of June, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, let to con-
tract each section of road within his district, at public lettmg,
to the lowest bidder, for the term of one year, reserving the
right to the board of supervisors, as hereinafter provided, to
reject any and all bids. Between the fifteenth and twentieth of
June, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and every three
years thereafter, there shall be another letting of said roads,
in same manner as above, except that the letting shall be for
three years. At every regular letting of roads the commis-
sioner may employ a clerk to assist him for a period not ex-
ceeding five days, at a cost not exceeding two dollars per day,
the same to be paid out of the road fund. on the order of the
commissioner.

9. That of the time and place of letting each commissioner
shall give ten days’ notice by printed handbills, posted in at
least three public places in each magisterial district.

10. That the specifications of work to be done upon each
section, and the condition in which the same is to be kept,
shall be such as, in the judgment of the commissioner, the
section will require, and shall be written out and made known
at the time of letting.

11. That among the specifications it shall be provided that,
when practicable, the bed of the road shall be raised in the
middle and slope gradually each way to the sides, where
ditches sufficient to carry off the water shall be kept open,
and that the road bed shall not be less than twelve feet in
width.

12. The commissioner shall — to the board of super-
visors, at a meeting to be held by them between the twentieth
and twenty-fifth of June suceeeding any public letting under
this act, and as soon as may be after any private lefting, the
sections let, the number of each section, to whom let, and at
what price; ‘and if no reason appear to the contrary, said board
shall confirm said letting, and said commissioner shall enter
into a written contract with the person to whom the road is
let, which contract shall be in accordance with the terms of
letting, and in the penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars,
nor more than double the contract price, and with security to
be approved by the board of supervisors.

13. The board of supervisors shall provide for each road
district a road contract book, containing blank bonds or con-
tracts in proper form, with printed specifications of a general
nature, and such written special specifications and stipulations
as may be agreed upon at the time of letting of said roads.
One of these bonds or contracts shall be executed by the road
commissioner and the contractor, with his security, before the
board of supervisors, at the time of the approval by the said
board of the letting of any section of road to such contractor,
Said bond or contract shall be kept in said book, shall be pre-
served in the county clerk’s office, except at such times as it
may be needed by the commissioner in any proceeding against
a contractor. .

14. Between the tenth and fifteenth of June and November
of each year, the commissioner shall pass over and inspect
every section of road in his district, and if any road or section
is not in good order, or has not been worked according to the
contract, said commissioner shall at once notify the contractor
of the fact, and if he does not within twenty days from the no-
tice put the section in such repair as his contract calls for, then
the commissioner shall have said road worked according to the
terms of the contract, and the cost of such work, including
two dollars per day for said commissioner while attending to
same, together with the costs of recovery and an additional
sum of ten dollars per mile, or portion thereof, shall be recov-
erable of the delinquent contractor on his bond by the com-
missioner before a justice of the peace of the district, without
limit as to the amount, with the right of appeal to the county
court if the amount recovered exceed twenty dollars. The
amount recovered shall, except costs, be paid to the treasurer
of the county, to be by him credited to the road fund of the
district.

15. But if upon,such examination the commissioner shall
find that such contractor has executed his contract and per-
formed his duty, he shall upon each viewing, in June and No-
vember, give him a warrant on the treasurer of the county for
one-half of the whole amount called for in his contract, and
the treasurer shall pay said warrant out of the fund in his
hands hereafter provided for.

16. That at any time three tax-payers from any district may
petition their road commissioner to view one or more sections
of road in their district, upon the ground that the same is not
worked according to contract, if said commissioner fail or re-
fuse to view the section complained of, or if his view be ad-
verse to petitioners, upon motion, the county court shall ap-
point three disinterested viewers, who shall, after being duly
sworn, view the sections and make a report at the next term
of the court. If their report be against the road, the court
shall order the commissioner to proceed as directed by section
fourteen of this act. But if the report of the viewers be favor-
able to the road, the petitioners shall pay costs of the commis-
sioner and viewers, winch shall not be more than one dollar
per day.

17. If any section remain unlet by reason of there being no
bid, or the amount offered be deemed excessive, or for any
other reason, the commissioner may let the same privately
and report to the board of supervisors, as provided in section
twelve of this act. And in case there be no letting, the com-
missioner shall take charge of said road or section and make
or keep it in repair, and to this end may employ hands, teams,
and so forth, paying for same the customary price of the
neighborhood. He shall keep an accurate and itemized ac-
count of such work, expense, and: so forth, and make oath to
the same, and lay it before the board of supervisors, which
board shall inspect the same; and if it is found correct, the
board shall give said commissioner of roads a warrant on the
treasurer of the county for the amount thereof, to be paid out
of the road fund of the district. |

18. That, in case of a road dividing two magisterial districts,
the commissioner of roads of the districts so divided, shall
apportion said road between said districts in such a way as will
equitably divide the expense. If they cannot agree, the county
court shall apportion the same, and shall direct what part ot
said road shall be opened and kept in repair by each magis-
terial district.

19. That the commissioners of roads for each district shall
lay before the board of supervisors, at the meeting of said
board when the county levy is made, his book of road sections,
hereinbefore provided for, and shall also report to the board
how much, in his judgment, will be required to work and keep
in repair the roads in his district for the ensuing year: pro-
vided that when the costs of altering or changing a road, or
opening a new one, be, in the judgment of the supervisors, too
burdensome to be paid in one year, they may, in their dis-
cretion, cause the same to be levied and paid i in not exceeding
three equal instalments.

20. That the said board of supervisors shall then cause to be
levied a road tax for each district, not exceeding twenty-five
cents on the one hundred dollars worth of real, personal and
mixed property within the district, taking the state assessment
as a basis..

21. That treasurer of the county shall collect the road tax,
herein directed to be levied, as he collects state and county
taxes, and shall keep a separate account of taxes collected from
each district, giving each road district credit for the amount

collected from the same, and shall pay the same out as herein-
before provided.

22. That every petition for a new road, or to lay out, open,
alter or change a public road, must first be presented to the
commissioner of roads in the district in which the road i is, who
shall endorse thereon his approval or disapproval of the same,
and his reasons therefor, which petition, with the commission-
er’s endorsement, shall be laid before the county court at its
next term, in open court, and the court shall appoint three
discreet freeholders to view the ground of any-new road or
proposed change. The road commissioner, the county sur-
veyor, or other competent surveyor, shall. accompany the
viewers, and, if necessary, survey and map the road. The
whole number of viewers must view, but a majority may decide
for or against, and they may view and make report of, and
estimate for, any modification of the route.

23. That notice of the time and place of the meeting of the
viewers shall be given by the viewers in some public manner
in the vicinity of the proposed road, at least five days before
the time of meeting. The viewers, before they proceed to dis-
charge their duties shall be severally sworn by the commis-
sioner of roads, or some other person authorized to administer
oaths, to perform the duties impartially and to the best of their
judgment. If they decide there is necessity for the road, or
change, they shall lay out the same, having respect for the
shortest distance and the best ground, and so as 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 the land through which the road passes, taking into
consideration the advantage to be derived from the road pass-
ing through the land; and shall report in writing to the next
term of the court, the probable amount of damage, cost of con-
struction, and such facts as will enable the court to determine
the propriety of opening said road. Although it may appear
that no more than a few, or even one person, will be benefitted
by the opening of any road, yet the court may, in. its discretion,
cause said road to be opened, requiring such beneficiary, and
the district in which the road may be, respectively, to pay such
part of the damages, expense of construction, costs and repair,
from time to time, as to the court may seem right.

24. That upon the return of the report of the viewers, the
owner, his guardian or committee, if within the county, if not
the occupier of the land upon which the said road will be, if
established, shall be summoned to show cause against said re-
port; and any proprietor or tenant of lands on which said road
will be, if established, or the commissioner of roads, may enter
himself a party defendent to said petition, after which the same
proceedings shall be had as under the general road law of the
state. Thecourt may, at its discretion, grant a second or third
view.

_ 25. The court shall examine the amount of damages assessed,
and the probable expense of opening the road, and if satisfied
that the public interest will be subserved by opening the road,
or the proposed change, shall approve the report, and order
the damages to be paid by the road district through which the
road may pass, in such proportion as the damages may have
been assessed in the said districts respectively, and shall cause
the clerk to deliver a copy of the order establishing, changing
or altering the road, to the commissioners of roads in whose
district or districts the road may be. The commissioner shall
embrace the amount of damages, costs and expense of opening
or changing the road, and keeping it in repair, in his estimates
of necessary road tax, to be laid before the board of super-
visors.

26. That if the court decides against the application to alter,
change or open a road, it may require the costs to be paid by
the petitioner, or by the district or districts, as to the court
shall seem just.

27. The viewers shall be paid two dollars per diem for their
services, and the surveyor two dollars and fifty cents per diem.

28. That the county court shall, at the time when any new
road is established, direct what width the road shall be made,
and shall have power to regulate the width of roads: provided,
that the land condemned for any new road shall not be less in
width than thirty feet.

29. It shall be the duty of the attorney for the commonwealth
to represent the several road commissioners in all matters affect-
ing the public roads, in the courts of record in the county.

30. The county treasurer. shall, annually, at the July meet-
ing of the board of supervisors, settle and adjust before said
court, his accounts with the road fund of the several districts.
The said board shall charge him with the full amount of the
road tax levied in the district, and all sums collected from de-
linquent contractors, and shall credit him by his commissions,
delinquents, and all payments made by him, for which he has
the proper vouchers. He shall receive the same per centum
for collecting and disbursing road taxes as for collecting state
revenue.

31. The commissioner shall receive as compensation two
dollars per diem for the time actually employed in the discharge
of his duties: provided, that in no case shall he receive over
seventy-five dollars in any one year. He shall, at the Decem-
ber and July terms, file before the county court of the county,a
sworn statement of the time of his actual employment upon the
road matters of his district, giving the number of days, date,
and how employed; and if the account is approved, the court
shall certify the fact tothe board of supervisors, who shall issue
a warrant on the county treasurer for the amount to the parties
thereto entitled, payable out of the district road fund.

32. The property in any incorporated town in the county,
which keeps its own streets in order, shall be exempt from the
road tax hereinbefore provided for. |

33.. That no resident of the county of Warren shall be re-
quired to labor upon the public roads, except as provided by
law as a punishment for some offence. °

34. The general road law of the state, except so far as the
same is in conflict with this act, shall be in force in Warren
county. .

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