Chap. 570.—An ACT to provide for working and keeping in order
the roads in Lunenburg county.

Approved March 1, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That the several magisterial districts of Lunenburg county
shall be each a separate road district, and it shall be the
duty of the county court, at its first term after the pas-
sage of ths act, and annually thereafter at its September
term, to appoint two discreet, intelligent persons, tax-pay-
ers, from each magisterial district in said county as mem-
bers of the road board of said district, who shall hold
their office for the term of one year from the first day of
January following their appointment or until their suc-
cessors are appointed and qualified: provided that the
commissioners first appointed under this act shall begin
immediately upon their appointment and qualification
and end on the first day of January, eighteen hundred
and ninety-four. Such persons shall qualify before the
county court of said county by taking the oath of office
prescribed by the general laws of the state of Virginia,
and if by reason of death, resignation, removal, refusal
to serve, or from any cause, a vacancy shall occur, the
county court shall, at its next term succeeding such va-
cancy, appoint some suitable person to fill the unexpired
term of the office so vacated: provided that no person
holding the office of justice of the peace or overseer of
roads shall be appointed a member of the road board, and
it shall be the duty of the county court to designate one
of the persons appointed under this section in each magis-
terial district to be known as the commissioner of roads.

2. The supervisor of the magisterial district and the
two persons appointed under section one shall constitute
a board of road commissioners for said district, the super-
visor as aforesaid to be chairman of said board, and they
shall, as soon as organized, appoint one of their number
to act as clerk, who shall give bond to be approved by said
board in the penalty of not less than two hundred dollars,
conditioned for the faithful performance of his duties.

3. Said district boards shall meet within their respective
districts as soon as practicable and redistrict the roads
into sub-districts, and it shall be the duty of each board
to appoint annually an overseer of roads for each sub-dis-
trict, who shall! hold his office until the first day of Janu-
ary succeeding his appointment, or until his successor is
appointed and qualified.

4. There shall be regular meetings of the district boards
on the first and fourth Mondays in October of each year,
or as soon thereafter as possible. At the first meeting in
October the several overseers of the roads shall make their
reports and statements of accounts. The board shall pro-
ceed to avail and settle the same, and, if not completed in
one day, may adjourn from time to time until all accounts
are audited and settled. Said accounts, when allowed by
said boards, shall be entered up in a book kept for that
purpose by the clerk of said board, in the name of each
party, amount due, and properly numbered, and for settle.
ment of same warrants shall be drawn (number, name,
and amount as above mentioned plainly set out therein )
upon the county treasurer, signed by said clerkand coun-
tersigned by the chairman of said board. At the second
meeting in October, or at the meeting next following the
first meeting in October, the said boards shall appoint the
overseers of roads for the sub-districts for the ensuing
year; shall also select a clerk, each of whom shall qualify
as aforesaid. They shall also at this meeting make an est1-
mate of the amount of tax necessary to be levied upon all
property, real and personal, of the magisterial district as-
sessed for the state revenue, to be made from the last re-
turns of the commissioners of the revenue, to pay the ex-
penses of keeping all the public roads within their district
in good repair, and of such width and condition as may be
required by law, not to exceed fifteen cents on the one hun-
dred dollars’ valuation of taxable property, which estimate
they shall require the clerk of said board to lay before the
county board of supervisors al their next meeting. The
said district board may also at this meeting transact any
unfinished business from former meetings.

5. Specia] meetings of the district board may be called
by the chairman, or any two members of the board, for the
transaction of any business deemed necessary and proper
to be done by the board, and any vacancy in the office of
clerk or overseers of any sub-district may be filled at any
meeting of the board.

6. All male persons who reside or claim to reside in such
sub-districts ‘shall be enrolled by the overseer of that dis-
trict, and compelled to work on some public road therein
four days in each year, except persons under sixteen
and over sixty years of age, and all ministers of the gospel,
persons who reside in a town that keeps its streets in order,
and any person who has lost a leg or arm, and such other
persons as may be exempted on certificate of the county
court. A list of persons so appointed to work on the
public roads shall be made out in alphabetical order and
pied by the overseer of roads with the clerk of the district
board.

7. At such times as the overseer may judge most suit-
able, he shall notify all persons in his sub-district liable
to road duty of the day and hour on which he requires
them to work onthe road. This notice shall be in writing,
stating when, where, and at what hour they are required to
meet, and what tools or implements they are required to
carry to work the roads. Said notice shall be served on
each person in said sub-districts at least two days before the
day requiring them to work, by the said overseer or some
one authorized to do so by said overseer, by delivering to
each person 80 liable to work, in person, or by leaving a
copy of said notice at the usual place of residence of said

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person with some member of his family over the age of
sixteen years, explaining the purport of said notice to such
person; onif there be no such member of his family there,
then posting said notice on the front door of his residence
or usual place of abode shall be sufficient notice. Every
person so notified and liable to road duty shall, either in
person or by an able-bodied substitute not less than six-
teen years of age, attend at the hour and place indicated in
said notice, with such teams, wagons, carts and other im-
plements, if he have them, and work the roads on such
days (not exceeding four) as the overseer may require,
giving a full, honest day’s work each day; and the over-
seer shall not accept any less than a full day’s work.

8. For every day on which there may be a failure to
work by any person liable to road duty, and notified as
aforementioned, the sum of one dollar shall be paid as
fine to the overseer of his road district by the person in
default, if a person of full age, or if he be a minor, by
his parents or guardian. The overseer shall be empowered
to discharge any person on his road who shall be idle,
disorderly or who refuses or fails to obey his orders or in-
structions, and shall charge him with loss of such day or
days as incase he had not attended at all, and if the
money be not paid within ten days from the day of dis-
charge, it shall be recoverable by the overseer, with all
cost, before a justice of the peace, and said justice shall
issue a writ of fieri facias for the amount and all cost,
against which no exemption shall be claimed or allowed,
which, when collected, shall be paid to the said overseer
or his successor. Any money received by an overseer
under this section, after paying all cost, shall be applied
to the working of roads within his district, and shall be
accounted for by him to the district board.

9. Every overseer shall cause the roads under his charge
to be kept clear and smooth and free from loose rock or
stones, and all other obstructions, thirty feet wide, unless
otherwise ordered by the road board,and the middle or hed of
the road raised and sloped gradually each way from the
middle to the sides, where ditches sufficient to contain
and carry off all the water shall be made and kept open
at all times. He shall also cause all dead timber liable
to fall in the road to be removed. He shall keep at the
fork or crossing of every public road a sign board, on
which shall be plainly lettered, in large letters and fig-
ures, the distance to the most notable places or points to
which each road leads, and across all streams, when neces-
sary and practicable, a sufficient bench or log for the
accommodation of foot passengers.

10. Any person or persons causing water to be conveyed
into or across a public road, hy ditches or otherwise, shall
place and keep bridges over the same, in good order at all
times, at his, her or their expense, and, failing to do 80,
and on complaint of the road overseer, shall pay a fine of
twenty dollars, recoverable before a justice of the peace
as fines for failing to work on the road, and the money so
recovered shall be appropriated by the overseer of roads
as fines recovered for not working the roads when required
to do so.

11. Each overseer shall receive for his services such per
diem as may be fixed by the board, not to exceed two dol-
lars per day for each day actually and necessarily em-
ployed in the discharge of his duties, but no compensa-
tion shall be allowed any overseer whose roads have not
been inspected and approved by the road commission of
the magisterial district in which his subdivision is lo-
cated.

12. At the first meeting of the district board in the
month of October, annually, the overseer shall render an
account to the board of all fines imposed, collected and ex-
pended by him, and what persons are delinquent and for
what sums; what persons are entitled to pay, and how
much for labor, teams, implements and materials, and
how much, in his opinion, it will require to keep the roads
in his district in order the ensuing year and make such
improvements as may appear advantageous. Said over-
seer shall have credit in his settlement for all receipts of
constables for fines placed in his hands for collection and
uncollected, and the same shall be charged against his
successor, but the board may, at any time, credit such
overseer with any fines that mav appear insolvent, and
which the overseer may make affidavit have not been col-
lected by him: provided that if required by the board, the
overseer, in any charge for services rendered by himself or
his employees, hire of his own teams and implements, or
materials furnished by himself, shall prove the same by
affidavit of two disinterested witnesses, who shall be tax-
payers of his road district, that the charges are reasonable
and just. Any such overseer who shall fail to perform
any duty required by this act, or refuse to serve after being
appointed, shall be liable, on presentment by the grand
jury, to a fine of not Jess than five dollars nor more than
twenty dollars, and be removed from office by the district
board; but any person after serving as overseer for two
consecutive years may give up his office on producing a
certificate to the board, signed by the road commissioner,
stating that he has inspected the roads in his district and
that they are in good and proper order, and shall not in
two years thereafter be appointed overseer of roads without
his consent.

13. If any overseer shall fail to account for any property
or money, or other thing in hand belonging to or due said
district, and if he fail to make such settlements as is

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provided for in the preceding sections, or fail to account
for any money or property placed in his hands, the board
shall ascertain the value or amount of such property or
money and deduct the same from his pay; and it shall be
the duty of the district board toascertain all these facts be-
fore any warrants are issued by said board for the pay of
overseers of roads in their respective districts.

14. The overseer of any sub-district may take from any
convenient land so much timber, stone, gravel, or earth
ag may be. necessary to be used in the construction or re-
pairs of such roads, or any bridge abutments or causeways
therein, and may, for the purpose of properly draining the
road, cause a ditch to be cut through any lands adjoining
the same; provided any such timber or other article be
not taken from, or any such ditch be not cut through, any
lot in a town, yard, or garden without the consent of the
owner; and it shall be unlawful for the owner of land
through which such ditch is cut, or any other person, to
fill up or obstruct in any way any such ditch, and on con-
viction of so doing shall be fined not less than twenty
dollars nor more that fifty dollars, recoverable before any
justice of the peace, as provided in section eight of this
act against persons failing to work the roads when so re-
quired, and the fines shall be collected and applied as is
directed in that section.

15. If any owner or legal representative of any such
lands shall think himself injured thereby, a justice, upon
application to him by said owner or legal representative,
shall issue a warrant to three disinterested freeholders of
the sub-district requiring them to view the said lands,
timber, and so forth, so taken, and ascertain what is a fair
and just compensation to such owner or legal representa-
tive for damages by reason of anything done under the
preceding section. The said freeholders, after being first
duly sworn, shal! ascertain such compensation and report
the same to the district board at the next meeting of the
board thereafter, who shall allow and audit the same
among claims against said district, to be paid as other
claims are paid.

16. The commissioner of roads shall have under his
general supervision all the roads within his road district,
and shall, before the first meeting of the board in Octo-
ber of each year, inspect and carefully note the condition
of all the roads in his district, the need of new ones, or
alterations in existing ones, the condition of bridges and
where new ones are needed, give the overseer of each
sub-district a certificate of approval of the work done
upon their roads, provided their condition justify the
same; all of which matters, with such suggestions as to
the future work he may consider advisable, he shall em-
body in a report to be made to the board at its second or
last meeting in October, or whenever the last fall meeting
is held. It shall be his duty to pass over and carefully
inspect all the roads in his district at least three times
every year, and shall advise and suggest to the overseers
of roads any improvements in the mode and manner of
working them, and shall carefully note any violation of
duty or inefficiency of any road overseer in his district.
He shall receive for his services two dollars per day for
the time actually employed, but no commissioner of roads
in any district shall receive more than sixteen dollars for
any one year’s inspection. Any commissioner of roads
who shall fail to perform any duty required of him by
this act shall be liable, on presentment by the grand jury,
to a fine of not less than ten nor more than twenty dollars,
and may be removed from office by the county court,
unless excused by the county court for good cause.

17. The members of the board of road commissioners for
each magisterial district shall each receive for their ser-
vices two dollars per day for time actually employed,
provided that the total compensation of each shall not ex-
ceed twelve dollars for any one year; the road commis-
sioner, however, to receive in addition to the above his
compensation as provided in section sixteen. The clerk
of the board shall receive reasonable additional compensa-
tion for extra services rendered, to be fixed by the district
board, subject to the approval of the county board of super-
visors. The allowance to the members of the board of road
commissioners and the clerk’s extra compensation shal] be
audited by the said district board among the claims against
said district.

18. The clerk of the board of road commissioners in each
magisterial district shall forward, as soon as approved by
the board, any and all bonds of the overseer of sub-dis-
tricts to the clerk of the county board of supervisors. He
shall, before the first Monday in December of each year,
make out a statement in writing of al] claims against his
said district, audited by the said board, the amount of
each, and to whom due; what amount remains collected
and unexpended in the hands of the overseer, and what
amount of fines remains uncollected; also the amount of
road tax required by said board to be levied upon real and
personal property within his district for the working and
keeping in order the public roads of said district. This
statement shall be laid before the board of supervisors at
their next regular meeting or any adjourned meeting by
the clerk of said board of supervisors. The clerk of the
district board shall receive no pay for extra services until
the above statement is made as directed and delivered to
the clerk of the board of supervisors.

19. The county board of supervisors, at any regular or
adjourned meeting after the first Monday in December in
each year, before the annual levy is closed, as they may
deem expedient, examine all statements of the district
boards laid before them, having power and authority te
correct any and all errors that may be found therein, and
shall levy such road tax for the ensuing year upon each
magisterial district as the board of said district may re-
quire: provided said tax does not exceed fifteen cents on
the one hundred dollars’ valuation of taxable property,
real and personal, in said district.

20. The clerk of the county board of supervisors shall
carefully file away and keep with other records of his
office all bonds of road commissioners and road overseers,
and all other papers relating to public roads within the
magisterial districts of his county that may be delivered
to him by the district boards.

21. The price to be paid for labor, teams, implements,
and so forth, to work and keep the roads in order shall be
fixed by the board of road cc mmissioners in each magis-
terial district, and may be changed from time to time as
circumstances may require, and it shall be the duty of the
clerk of each magisterial district to furnish each and all
the overseers of roads in his district with a copy of prices
as often as they are changed by the said boards.

22. The clerk of the board of supervisors shall, on or
before the first day of February in each year, deliver to
the commissioner of the revenue for said county a certi-
fied statement of the amount of road tax Jaid by the said
board of supervisors upon its magisterial district, and it
shajl be the duty of the said commissioner of the revenue,
when making his assessment of other taxes, to extend
upon his books opposite the name of each person assessed
with real or personal property therein, in a _ separate
and distinct column, the amount of road tax for which
each is liable, keeping each district separate; and for this
service he shall receive a compensation not exceeding two
per centum of the road tax assessed and collected, payable
out of the county treasury. .

23. The county treasurer of said county shall enter sai
road tax, assessed as provided in the preceding sections of
this act, upon his tax bills, in a separate column, against
all persons liable therefor, and collect the same in such
manner as is provided by Jaw for the collection of other
taxes. He shall also keep a road tax account with each
magisterial district, and when said taxes are collected he
shall pay all road warrants presented to him, signed by
the clerk of the district board and countersigned by the
chairman of said board, crediting each district with the
amount of road tax collected therein, and charging each
district with all road warrants issued thereon when paid
by him. He shall also eettle his accounts relating to road
tax annually with the district boards at such time as the
said boards may order; and for this service he shall re-
ceive the same rates of per centum upon road tax as is
now allowed by law for the collection of other taxes.

24. Every petition for a new road must first be presented
to the commissioner of roads of the district in which the
road is proposed to be opened, who shall endorse thereon
his approval or disapproval of the same, and his reasons
therefor, which petition, with the said commissioner’s en-
dorsation thereon, shall be laid before the county court, to
be proceeded in as is now provided in the general road
law of this state; all damages allowed and all other costs
to be paid out of the county treasury.

25. Where public roads are the dividing lines between
two magisterial districts, the commissioners of roads in
each adjoining district shall apportion said roads between
the said adjoining districts as to them may seem equita-
ble and right.

26. All matters not specially provided for by this act
shall be as provided in the general road law of this state,
when not in conflict with this act.

27. When a public road or any part of the same is so
worn that a new road-bed becomes necessary, the road
commissioner of the said district shall ascertain and
assess the damages for the same to the land owner, and
direct the overseer of the road to open the same; and
provided said land owner should not be satisfied with said
damages, he may appeal to the county court within thirty
days, by first giving bond with security approved before
the court, the bond to be approved by the court for all
cost and damages attending said appeal. °

28. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act
are hereby repealed.

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