CHAP. 423.—An ACT to provide for working and keeping in repair
the roads in the county of Middlesex.

Approved March 3, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That on and after the first day of July, eighteen hundred
and ninety, it shall be lawful for the county of Middle-
sex to work and keep in repair highways, roads, and
bridges, as follows:

2. The board of supervisors of said county shall take
charge of, and have worked and kept in repair, all public
roads and bridges heretofore and hereafter established,
and for this purpose are authorized and empowered to levy
a road tax, not exceeding in any one year twenty cents upon
the one hundred dollars of assessed taxable value in said
county, and to adopt such regulations as do not conflict
with the laws now in force, as may be necessary to secure
the proper working of roads in said county.

3. The said board of supervisors shall, as soon after the
first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety, as may be
practicable, appoint one commissioner of roads for each
magisterial district in said county, who shall qualify be-
fore the county court of said county, by taking the usual
oath of office, and shall continue as such until their suc-
cessors are duly qnalified. The term of said commis-
sioner of roads shall be one year, and shall commence on
the first day of August of each year, and they shall be
appointed at the meeting of the board of supervisors next
preceding that day. The said commissioners of roads
shall] have supervision of all the roads and bridges within
their respective districts in said county.

4, The said commissioners of roads, severally, shall at
the August term, eighteen hundred and ninety, of the
county court of Middlesex, or as soon thereafter as practi-
cable, and at each successive August term thereof, or as
goon thereafter as practicable, let to contract, to the lowest
suitable bidder, the work of keeping in repair the roads
and bridges in their districts, notices of which lettings
shall be posted for ten days at each postoffice, and other-
wise published, at the discretion of the commissioner or by
order of the board of supervisors. The said letting shall
be in a whole or in sections, at the discretion of the com-
missioner, and for the year ending on the thirty-first
day of July of each year. They shall require the bids to
be in writing and signed by the contractor, and shall
deliver the same under seal to the board of supervisors for
their examination and approval or rejection, at their first
meeting thereafter. Each contractor shall be required to
give bond, with good security, in a penalty at least double
the amount of his bid, for the faithful performance of his
contract, and a recovery may be had for any breach of
said contract, in the name of the county, for the benefit of
the road fund in the county court, by motion, aften days’
notice to the contractor and his security or securities.
The attorney for the commonwealth shall institute and
prosecute such motions. The said contracts and bonds
shall be filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors.

5. Each contractor shall be entitled to the services, for
not more than two days in any year, of all persons liable
to service in working the public roads under existing laws,
and shall be entitled to all remedies now existing for the
collection of fines for failure to work when duly sum-
moned by him against persons owing that duty.

6. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of roads to
give personal supervision to all the roads and bridges
within their respective districts, to see that the contractor
is faithfully performing his contract; and for any failure
in carrying it out, the commissioner of the district shall
at once institute, through the prosecuting attorney, pro-
ceedings for the recovery of damages for any breach of
said contract.

7. The commissioner of roads shall receive as compen-
sation not exceeding one dollar a day for every day actually
employed, but in no case shall the compensation exceed
fifty dollars per year, to be paid by the county.

8. All levies made and collected under this act shall be
collected and accounted for by the county treasurer as
other levies are, and shall be paid out on the order of the
board of supervisors.

9. No member of the board of supervisors, or commis-
sioner of roads, shall be directly or indirectly interested
in any contract made under this act, and any participation
therein by either shall render the contract null and void.

10. When the court shall order the opening of a new
road, or the erection of a new bridge, the work of opening
or building shall be let to contract, as now provided by law.

11. The board of supervisors shall have power at any
time, for good cause, to revoke the appointment of any
commissioner of roads, and to appoint his successor to fill
his unexpired term, and all other power necessary to be
employed in executing this act. For the additional ser-
vices required by this act, the supervisors shall receive
two dollars per day. for the time so employed.

12. If the board of supervisors shall neglect or refuse
to perform any duty required of them by this act, the
judge of the county court may, upon the application of any
person interested, by mandamus, compel said board to
perform such duty.

13. Such provisions of the general road law of the state
as do not conflict with this act shall continue in force in
the county of Middlesex.

14. This act shall be in force from the first day of July,
eighteen hundred and ninety.