Chap. 417.—An ACT to provide for working and keeping in re-
pair the public roads in the county of Louisa.

Approved February 29, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That each magisterial district of the county of Louisa
shal) keep in good repair the roads in said district, and, as
far as such districts may be able, in time gradually to per-
manently improve the same.

2. There shall be a commissioner of roads for each ma-
gisterial district in said county, who shall be appointed
by the county court at its next term after the passage of
this act, and every four years thereafter at the regular
March term of such court. Said commissioners shall qual-
ify before said court, and execute such bonds as the judge
thereof shall require.

3. The commissioners, as soon after their appointment
as practicable, shall, either with or without conference
with each other (except where a road divides two precincts,
in which case it shall be fairly proportioned between the
respective districts by the road commissioners of such dis-
tricts on conference with each other, or if they cannot
agree, by the said county court), lay off and divide the
roads in their respective districts into precincts, the same
in no case to exceed three miles in length, having regard,
in establishing each precinct, to the character of the road
with reference to the amount of work necessary to keep
the same in repair, and having regard also to the number
and convenience of hands, and each precinct in such dis-
tricts shall be numbered separately, as “ precinct number
one of district,” number two, and so on.

4, For each precinct the commissioner of roads for that
road district shall recommend to the court a suitable person

as overseer, and shal! allot the hands to each precinct who
are liable to work on the roads as hereinafter provided, and
the hands thus assigned shall be as nearly equal to the char-
acter and magnitude of the work as may be; and regard
also to the convenience of the overseer and hands shall be
had, and in assigning hands it shall be done by farms or
by geographical boundaries.

5. Each commissioner shall report to the court the divi-
sion of the roads of his district into precincts, the overseers
recommended for such precincts, and the hands allotted
to the same, and the court may establish the precincts, ap-
point the overseers, and allot the hands in accordance
with such report, or for good cause depart from the same
in any respect.

6. All male persons in each district, or whose domicile
is therein, though such person be absent therefrom,
whether out of the state or not, who are able-bodied and
between the age of sixteen and sixty years, and who have
not been or may hereafter be exempted by the court, shall
be compelled to work on the roads a period of time aggre-
gating two days of ten hours each in each year when
warned by the overseer of the precinct to which they be-
long, except persons who have lost an arm ora leg, or who
reside in an incorporated town which keeps its streets in
order.

7. The commissioners shall! hold their office for a term
of four years from the date of their appointment; and all
persons appointed as overseers of precincts shall be com-
pelled to act unless for good cause shown to the court, or
unless it be a person not liable to work on the roads as
provided in the preceding section, and the overseers shall
serve for two years, and until their successors are ap-
pointed, unless released by the court for good cause shown ;
and if they desire to be released at the end of the two
years, they shall notify the road commissioner of their
district, and it shall be his duty to report the fact to the
court and recommend another suitable person in his stead ;
but before such commissioner shall! do this, he shall ascer-
tain that the overseer has worked the number of days re-
quired of him and that his road is in good repair, as re-
quired by this act to be kept, and the court must be satis-
fied of the same before the said overseer shall be released
or another appointed in his stead.

8. If any person be notified, or in case of any person
whose domicile is in any road district and he is absent
therefrom, if notice be given in writing to any party over
sixteen years of age residing at the place of domicile of
such party, or by posting on the front door, if there be no
such party residing at such place of domicile, warning
such absent person to attend and work as required by the
overseer, and he fail to appear and work with such tools
as he has been notified to bring, upon the day he is
warned, or when any hand fails to do a good fair day’s
work, or if the overseer can effectively employ and shall
permit, shall fail to appear and do said work in ten days
after he is warned, unless good and sufficient cause be
shown, he shall be fined one dollar for such failure by the
overseer of his precinct, and said overseer shal] make out
an account against the said party, and the same shall
have the force and effect of a tax-ticket due the common-
wealth; and the said overseers are hereby empowered to
and shall collect the said fines in their several road pre-
cincts, and may distrain or levy therefor in the same man-
ner and upon the same property as in the case of distress
or levy for taxes, and shall return a list of all fines col-
lected and of the persons delinquent, and make return of
such accounts as are unpaid within thirty days after
making out the same to the clerk of the county court in
the same manner as provided for constables and sheriffs
to make return of list of fines under section ten hundred
and ten of the code of Virginia. The said overseers shall
receive one-fourth of all fines collected by them as their
compensation for collecting the same, and the residue of
such fines shall be turned over by said overseers to the
county treasurer to the credit of the respective districts
from which the same may arise, and take the receipt of
such treasurer for each payment of such fines to him, and
return the same along with said list of fines collected;
and for any failure to comply with this act in collecting
said fines and making said returns the said overseers shall
be subject to the penalty provided in section ten hundred
and twelve of the code of Virginia for failure to perform
their duties; and no property shall be exempt from lia-
bility for distress or levy for such fines either under the
homestead or the poor debtor’s exemption laws.

9. If the said account is returned to the clerk’s office
as afore provided as delinquent, it shall be the duty of
the said court to issue a capias pro fine against the delin-
quent party and place the same in the hands of the sher-
iff or any constable of the county, who shall proceed to
arrest the said party and place him under the control of
the road commissioner of his district, who shall see that
he works out the amount of his fine and costs, allowing
him credit for seventy-five cents per day for each day of
ten hours employed, and the costs shall be the same as
allowed by law on an indictment for misdemeanor. If
such party refuse to do the work he shall be liable to en-
forced labor on the county roads by order of the county
court under the genera! law.

10. Each overseer shall cause the roads in his precinct
to be kept clear of loose rocks and secure from falling of
dead or dangerous timber, from gates unlawfully kept up,

Google
and other unlawful obstructions; shall keep open proper
drains and turn the water from the road as much as prac-
ticable; and where the more permanent and heavy work,
such as cross-laying, gravelling, sanding, ditching and
grading the roads, has not been reached or done by the
regular force of labor hereinafter provided for, work of this
character shall be done by the overseers to such extent as
to put and keep the roads in fair traveling condition;
and where necessary and practicable, a sufficient foot log
across streams for the accommodation of foot passengers
shall be provided by the overseers of each precinct; and
where the grade exceeds five degrees, or where the old road-
bed has washed much below the surface between high
banks on each side, it shall be put on a new location, if
practicable, or as may seem best by the road commissioner
of that district. In changing the road on account of the
old road-bed having washed below the surface between
high banks, the new location selected, everything else
being equal, shall be along the margin of the old road, so
that the latter may afford easy drainage.

11. Any overseer failing to have his roads worked as
required by this act as soon after his appointment as prac-
ticable, shall be liable to indictment, and on conviction
thereof shall be fined not less than five nor more than
thirty dollars, which when collected shall be turned over
to the road fund of the said overseer’s district.

12. When it becomes necessary for the overseer of any
road precinct to have timber or gravel or sand, or teams
and plows, or wagon or cart, or the like, to work his pre-
cinct, and cannot obtain the same without payment there-
for, and whenever there are hands assigned to any precinct
who have no suitable tools to work on the road, and the
overseer by personal inspection shall ascertain the fact,
he shall apply to the road commissioner of his district,
and it shall be the duty of such commissioner to purchase
such material and tools and to furnish such team and
vehicles for such overseer, and to supply such overseer.
Such commissioner shall make use of the teams and im-
plements belonging to the county, as hereinafter provided
for, so far as may be practical or convenient, and where
not practical or convenient, shall hire or purchase the
same.

13. The county court may at any time for good cause
remove any commissioner or overseer, as the best interest
of either district may demand.

14. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of
the county, at their next regular August meeting, and an-
nually thereafter, to lay a special levy on the assessed
value of all property within the county, real and per-
sonal, except the railroads, as hereinafter provided, of not

less than thirteen nor more than fifteen cents on the one
: QT
hundred dollars value thereof, which shall be collected by
the county treasurer as other taxes are collected, except
that he shall keep the same separate from the other funds,
and the sum collected from each road district also sepa-
rate; and upon the railroad known as the Chesapeake and
Ohio, the railroads leading from the sulphur mines and the
Arminius mines, and any other railroads that may here-
after be constructed in said county, the said supervisors
shall at the same time lay a levy on the value thereof,
which may be prescribed by the board of public works for
state taxes, of as many cents on the one hundred dollars
in value as the whole county levy may be for all purposes,
including said special road tax, on the other property in
said county; and the whole revenue thus arising from such
railroads shall be appropriated and expended exclusively
for roads and bridges, in the same manner as the special
road tax aforesaid, except the school tax; that the revenue
arising from this source shall, when collected, be appor-
tioned by the treasurer among or to the several road
district funds in proportion to the taxable values of
such districts, outside of such railroads, and shal! place
to the credit of each road district such proportion of
such revenue; and he shall open an account with each
road district, crediting each district with the funds col-
lected therein from such levy (or placed to the credit of
the same collected from said railroads) from fines, and
from all other sources, and charging the same, with his
commissions for collecting such road tax (which shall be
the same as for collecting other county levies), and with
moneys paid out, as hereinafter provided, upon orders of
the county court; and for the period that must intervene
from the passage of this act until December first, eighteen
hundred and ninety-two, when such special road tax will
be begun to be collected, the said board of supervisors
shall set apart of the funds arising from the present
county levy, and from the surplus now in the treasurer’s
hands to the credit of the county, by warrants upon the
treasurer in favor of the several road districts, issued from
time to time, as any funds may be available over and
above the expenditure upon other things necessary to be
incurred by the said board, a sum aggregate of not less
than four thousand dollars, which sum, and every warrant
for the parcels thereof, shall be apportioned to the several
road districts in proportion to their taxable values outside
of the railroads, and the same shall be by the treasurer
credited to the several road districts accordingly, and be
paid out by him upon orders of the county court, as in
case of the special road tax, railroad tax, fines, and so
forth, as aforesaid; and at their next regular meeting after
the passage of this act the said supervisors, of the said
sum of four thousand dollars, shall so set apart out of the
funds then in the treasurer’s hands to the credit of the
county, the sum of two thousand dollars.

15. The road fund of each road district shall’ be ex-
pended exclusively upon the roads and bridges in such
district, except where a road or bridge is on the boundary
between two districts, in which case each district shall
bear its just proportion of the expense in paying damages
for and in opening new roads, changing old roads, build-
ing and repairing bridges, and in defraying the cost of
road-working under the overseers and under the system of
employed labor as provided for in this act.

16. The overseers shall be paid at the rate of one dollar
per day for the time they are actually employed in sum-
moning the hands to work upon the roads in their pre-
cincts, for which they shall make out their accounts, make
oath to the correctness of the same, and present to the
said court, when the court will order the amount due each
overseer to be paid him by the treasurer out of the road
fund of such overseer’s road district. The road commis-
sioner of each district, to the parties from whom he may
purchase timber or other material or tools, or hire teams
or vehicles, or plows or other implements, and to the fore-
man and al] persons employed upon the roads as herein-
after provided, immediately after such purchase is made
and the timber or other material or tools are furnished,
or such teams, vehicles, or plows or other implements are
used,and in case of labor employed as aforesaid, on the
tenth of each month, for the’ work done the preceding
month, shall issue certificates for the amount due them;
and this shall be done in case of amounts due for timber
or other material or tools purchased, either in the working
the roads by the overseers or by the employed labor, as
hereinafter provided for; and the rates that such road
commissioner shal! allow for the same shall be in accor-
dance with a schedule to be made out by the supervisors
as early as may be after the passage of this act, subject to
the approval of the court, and in the time intervening
before such supervisors may act in accordance with a
schedule to be made out by the said court. The road
commissioners shall return to each term of said court an
itemized statement of all the certificates issued by them
during the preceding month, stating the amount of each,
to whom given, and for what. These certificates shall be
dated, and of the following form:

I, , road commissioner for road dis-
trict of Louisa county, do certify that is
dollars and cents for

entitled to the sum of

And such certificate shall not be assignable or transferable,
and upon presentation to the county court the same will
order the treasurer to pay the same to the party in whose
favor the certificate is the amount thereof, unless the court
ascertain that this amount is not due to such party, in
which case it shall order the true amount due him, if any,
to be paid by the treasurer out of the road fund beJonging
to the road district in which such expense was incurred.

17. It shall be the duty of each road commissioner,when
directed by the judge of the county court, at such periods
of time and for such lengths of time as the said judge
may from time to time prescribe by order, in term or vaca-
tion, employ in their several road districts a foreman, and
authorize him to employ as many hands to labor on the
roads in such districts as the said court or the judge there-
of in vacation may direct; which foreman shal! labor on
the roads, as well as employ and have in charge and direct
the hands aforesaid, and he shall himself be under the
general supervision and direction of the road commissioner
of his district. Such foreman shall be paid not exceed-
ing one dollar and a half per day, and each hand not ex-
ceeding one dollar per day, as may be prescribed by the
county court for each day of ten working hours employed.
The road commissioner of their district shall, by the tenth
of each month, issue to such foreman and hands, when the
same are employed, certificates for the severa] amounts due
them for work during the preceding month, which, when
presented to the county court, shall be ordered to be paid
by the treasurer out of the road fund of that road district
as in such cases above provided. Each foreman shal] keep
a time-book, and note therein the time which each hand
works, and his own time as well, and report the same to
the road commissioner of his district at the end of each
month.

18. It shall be the duty of the road commissioner of each
district, when directed by the county court, or the judge
thereof in vacation, for their respective road ‘districts, to
furnish the foreman, while employed as in this act provi-
ded, with a good yoke of oxen or two good horses or mules,
one good cart or one good wagon, and all tools, implements,
and machinery necessary to make, repair, and keep the
roads in order as required by this act, and the road com-
missioner of each district, subject to the approval of the
county court, or the judge thereof in vacation, shall pur-
chase the same, and arrange for the feeding and caring for
the team: provided that such commissioner and said court
may, 1n making such purchases under this act, provide for
the payment therefor, partly in cash and partly in pay-
ments not to exceed two annual instalments; and in the
discretion of the court such purchases may at any time be
made by any two or three or four of the road commission-
ers, and held for the joint benefit and at the joint charge
for the purchase and caring for the same of any two or
three or all four of the road districts, as the case may be,
and be furnished alternately to the foreman of the respec-
tive road districts.

19. It shall be the duty of the road commissioners of
each district to direct the work to be done on the roada
and bridges in his district, and to see that the foreman
and the overseers in his district discharge their duties.
Such foreman, with his force of hands, shall be first em-
ployed upon the trunk roads or main thoroughfares of the
county. The work done shall be of a permanent and dur-
able character, by cross-laying with poles of not less than
three inches at the smal! end, covered with not less than
six inches of earth, and by using rocks, gravel or sand on
miry or other sections of the road which cannot be kept
in good, firm condition by drainage. The roads shall be
elevated high in the centre, and where fall can be obtained,
ditched with deep, broad ditches, with sloping banks on
each side of the road; and the water shall be turned from
the roads wherever practicable, and to effect this ditches
may be cut through the lands adjacent to the roads of such
depth and length as may be necessary. The breadth of
road to be worked under this act shall be not exceeding
twenty feet. At least once a year the commissioners shall
traverse and examine all the roads in their several dis-
tricts, and at such times as the foreman and his force of
hands may be employed. Each road commissioner shall
at least once a month inspect the work done by the same
in his road district the preceding month, and direct where
the work for the future shall be done, and shall specify
the character of the work and direct the manner in which
it shall be done. And the road commissioner may pro-
vide and engage places of shelter for the teams where ne-
cessary and while they are employed, the expense of which
shall be paid by orders of the county court on certificates
given by the commissioners as in case of other expenses
of road work by the commissioners hereinbefore provided.
The commissioners shall see that the roads in their dis-
tricts are of the proper width, and in all cases where they
are not he shall notify the person trespassing by written
notice, and if the obstruction is not removed in thirty
days he shall direct the overseer of the precinct in which
such obstruction is to remove the same, and the said com-
missioner may recover the expense of such removal, with
costs, from the trespasser, upon judgment before a justice
of the peace, whose jurisdiction shall not be limited by
the amount of expense claimed or recovered. And each
road commissioner shall annually, at the May term of the
county court, report in writing to the court the general
condition of the roads and bridges in his district, and
what work will be needed on such roads and bridges for
the ensuing year to put them in such order as required by
this act.

20. It shall be the duty of the road commissioner to dis-
charge any foreman, and of the foreman to discharge any
hired employee for inefficiency or neglect of duty, and the
commissioner shall have power to hire other foremen, and
the foremen other hands to fill the vacancy caused by
such discharge, or to fill any vacancy from whatever cause
created.

21. Whenever, in the opinion of a road commissioner of
a road district, it is necessary, or whenever a citizen de-
sires to alter or change or discontinue a public road or
build a bridge, such person shall apply to the county court
for the same. The county court shall direct the road
commissioner of the road district in which the same is, to
view the ground of any new road or bridge, or any pro-
posed change; the county surveyor or some other compe-
tent surveyor shall accompany the commissioner, in the
case of a road, if the commissioner shall deem it neces-
sary, and survey and map the same. The commissioner
shall, as early as practicable after receiving the order of
court to that effect, proceed to make the view, and if he
decides that there is a necessity for a new road, or change
of a road, or of building a bridge, he shall locate the
same, assess the damages that will be occasioned to any
land owner thereby, and the probable cost of opening or
changing such road, as the case may be, or of building
such bridge, and make report in writing to the next term
of court of all such matters, and any other facts that will
enable the court to determine the propriety of action in
the premises. In the case of a new road or change of a
road the commissioner shall report especially whether any
yard, garden or orchard will have to be taken. Upon the
return of the report of the road commissioner, the owner,
the guardian or committee, if within the county (if not,
the occupant of the land on which the road or bridge will
be, if established) shall be summoned to show cause
against the said report; and any proprietor or tenant of
the land may enter himself as party defendant to the
proceeding, after which the same proceedings shall be had
as under the general law of the state, after there has been
a report of viewers.

22. The court, if satisfied that the public interest will
be subserved by opening, or changing, or discontinuing
the road, or building the bridge, may establish the same,
and order such damages as it may determine upon, if any,
to be paid ta the parties entitled, and shall cause the
clerk to deliver a copy of such order establishing such road
or bridge to the commissioner of roads of the road dis-
trict in which the same is located.
23. If the court decide against the application to alter
or change, or discontinue, or open such road, or build such
bridge, it may require the costs to be paid by the petitioner
as it may deem just; and where the road is altered or
changed, or a new road or bridge established, the court
may order the damages, if any awarded, and costs to be
paid by the treasurer out of the road fund of the road
district in which the same is, if in the opinion of the
court the district should bear all the expense of the same,
or it may compel the petitioner benefited by the road or
bridge to pay any part or the whole of such damages and
costs.

24. Any surveyor acting under this act shall be paid
two dollars and a half per. day for the time employed, out
of the road fund of the district in which such work is
done, by order of court upon the certificate of the road
commissioner of that district.

25. The commissioner of roads receiving such order of
court shall direct the foreman in his district to alter, close,
or open the said road or build the said bridge; or in case
of a bridge, the said commissioner, with the approval of
the county court, or the judge thereof in vacation, may
employ such skilled bridge builders as may be necessary
to assist the foreman, or instead of the foreman and his
regular force of hands; such labor to be paid for at the
customary and usual prices for the same, on the certificate
of the commissioner as in case of other employees; or in
the discretion of the court or the judge thereof in vacation
the building of said bridge may be let by contract, to be
built of wood, iron, or other material, in such manner as
to the letting as may be most convenient or expedient.

26. Each commissioner of roads may change any road
in his district, which does not involve the condemnation
of land or payment of damages, as where the land owners
consent in writing, which shall be returned by the commis-
sioner with his next monthly report, which shall be en-
tered of record by the court and filed by the clerk of said
court in the record of the proceedings of the next term of
court after its return.

27. The commissioners shall receive a compensation of
one dollar per day for each day employed in the discharge
of their duties under this act: provided that they shall
not be paid more than fifty dollars in any one year; and
they shall make out an account for their services at the
end of each year, and make oath to the correctness of the
same, and present it to the county court at its January
term following, when the court shall order the same to be
paid out of the road fund of the road district of such
commissioner.

28. The county treasurer shall annually, at the August
meeting of the board of supervisors, settle and adjust be-
fore said board bis accounts with the road fund. The said
board shall charge him with the full amount of the road
tax levied in each road district, and of the railroad tax
apportioned to each district as assessed, the amount col-
lected in each road district from fines and from all other
sources, and credit him by his delinquencies, his commis-
sions and all payments for which he has proper vouchers.

29. The county treasurer shall, whenever required by
the said court, render to the same a statement of his ac-
counts with any road district, and it shall be his duty to
pay the orders of said court upon any such fund on pre-
sentation when he has funds to the credit of such district:
provided, he may offset any taxes due by any party in
whose favor such order is; and for every day which said
treasurer shall fail to pay any order on any such fund on
presentation, he shall be subject to indictment, and on
conviction be fined not less than five nor more than thirty
dollars, each day being a separate offence, which fine,
when collected, shall be placed by him to the credit of the
road district out of the fund of which such order was
payable.

30. Nothing in this act shall affect the general law of
the state with reference to work and employment upon
the roads of the chain-gang, and the road commissioner
of the court-house road district, subject to the approval
of the county court, may employ hands to work under the
foreman of the chain-gang, which hands shal! be paid
out of the road fund of such district on certificate of the
road commissioner of such district as other hands em-
ployed by him.

31. It shall be the duty of the commonwea!lth’s attorney
to represent the county, without any additional compen-
sation, in all cases arising under this act, in the county
and circuit courts.

32. The general road law of the state, except so far as
it igs in conflict with this act, shall be in force in the
county of Louisa, and all special road laws for such
county heretofore in force are hereby repealed.

33. It shall be the duty of the county court to give a lib-
eral construction to this act, so as to have the same fully
executed and carried into effect.

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