CHAP. 573.—An ACT to provide for opening and keeping in re-
pair the public roads of Pulaski county.

Approved March 2, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That for the purpose of opening, repairing, locating, and
closing the roads of Pulaski county, and for all supervision
and control of the same, there shall be, and is hereby,
created a board of road commissions, to be composed of
three members from each magisterial district, one of whom
shall be the supervisor of each of said respective districts,
and by virtue thereof chairman of the district board, the
others to be freeholders of the district for which they
serve. At the election for county officers in eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-three there shall be elected one road com-
missioner from each magisterial district, whose term of
office shall commence the first of July following, and who
shall serve for the term of four years and until his suc-
cessor is elected and qualified; and at the regular election
for county officers in eighteen hundred and ninety-seven,
and every fourth year thereafter, there shall be one road
commissioner elected from each magisterial district to
serve for a like term of four years. On the qualification
of the supervisor and road commissioner for each magis-
terial district in eighteen hundred and ninety-three each
district board shall appoint a third member, who shall be
a freeholder of the district for which appointed, who shall
be also clerk of said district board. He shall serve for a
term of three years, and his successor shall be chosen, to
enter upon his duties the first of July, eighteen hundred
and ninety-six, and every third year thereafter.

2. That the commissioners hereby provided for shall re-
celve as compensation two dollars for each day actually
engaged in the duties devolving upon them under the
provisions of this act.

3. That the commissions hereby created shal] have full
power to open, work, change or discontinue roads in the
district in which they reside, and shall have contro! also
of the road funds, and the appointment and removal of
county engineer, and the fixing of his salary. Each and
every commissioner under this act shall execute a good
and sufficient bond, in the penalty equal to the total
road fund that can be collected in any one year, conditioned
on the faithful accounting of all moneys that shall come
into the county road fund and the performance of the
duties imposed under this act.

4. That the road commissions of the county shall ap-
point annually, in the month of July, a competent engi-
neer, whose duty it shall be to survey and locate all new
roads, change or discontinue old roads, furnish all esti-
mates of work to be done, and review and receive work
done in company with the commission, and give them any
information needed in connection with their work. His
compensation, as fixed by the commissions, shall be paid
out of the county fund, and he may be removed by a ma-
jority vote of the members of the commissions.

5. That applications for a new road or the changing or
discontinuing of an existing road must be upon the written
petition of not Jess than five freeholders of the district in
which such road now is or is asked to be located, and who
are interested in the road upon which petition is based.
The application so signed, stating clearly and specifically
the change, discontinuance, or route of new road from
point to point, shall be forwarded to the chairman of the
district road commission, who shall summon the other two
members and the members of the commission of any other
district affected thereby, and also the county engineer,
and together they shall view said route for new road,
change, or discontinuance, and cause the said change,
new road, or discontinuance to be made in accordance
with said application, or report adversely, according to
their judgment. In case of an adverse report, the peti-
tioners shall pay into the county road fund all costs ac-
cruing through said petition and view, and it is hereby
made a precedent to the consideration of any application
that the petitioners execute a bond to the road commis-
sions of Pulaski county conditioned on the payment of
such costs, said bond to be in the penalty of one hundred
dollars.

6. That when a new road is to be made, the commission
for the districts in which such road shall be, shall, with
the county engineer, locate the same so as to approach as
near as possible a three-degree road if compatible with
the best interests of the county; but no road shall exceed
eight degrees for a distance exceeding fifty yards.

7. That the commission or commissions acting shall
assess the damage to land owners and report their action
to the county court, if deemed advisable to grant the said
application, and the judge shall then cause said report to
be recorded and immediate notice given to the land-hold-
ers so damaged, and the land-holders so damaged shall
have the right of appeal to the county court for increased
damages, if the sum reported by the commission or com-
missions is deemed by them, or any of them, insufficient ;
or, in lieu of appealing to the court, they may elect to re-
fer the cause to the same commission supplemented by an
additional commission, which, however, must be from an
adjoining district, and the cause having been presented
and examined, the decision shall be final; provided, how-
ever, if the land-owners elect to submit their cause to this
court of commissions they must give notice to the chair-
man of the district in which they reside within fifteen
days after they receive said notice of damages. This shall
apply as well to appeal to the county court and trial by
jury. If hearing is to be by a court of commissions, the
chairman of the board of supervisors shall summon the
members of the commissions, and shall preside. He shall
require the attendance of the clerk of the board of super-
visors or a justice of the peace, who shall administer oaths
to witnesses, hear evidence, and record the action and de-
cision of this joint commission as to damages allowed.
These findings shall be reported to the county court for
recordation, and if the commission shall have decided in
favor of building the road, the damages shal] be paid.
8. If the appeal is to the county court and trial by a
jury, the case shall be docketed and the cause determined
at the next term of the county court, and shall also be
final, except to appeal on points of law. If, within fifteen
days after notice has been given to the land-holders of
damages allowed by original commissioner viewing any
proposed route, no notice of appeal is filed, then such
land-holders shall be deprived of all right of appeal. In
all questions of damages the question of compensating
advantages to Jand-holders shall be fully considered before
awarding damages for the opening or extending of any
road.

9. That all notices and summons may be served by the
sheriff or his deputies, or by the chairman of the commis-
sion, and the compensation shall be the same as is allowed
for similar service by officers.

10. That all new roads shall be made at county expense.

11. That a chain-gang shall be organized and prisoners
worked upon the roads at such points as can be made
profitable. Where prisoners are worked under this sec-
tion they may be kept from jail for a period not exceeding
five days at a time, under proper guard, and may be lodged
at nights in tents or wagons; but in all cases prisoners
must be returned to jail by four post-meridian Saturdays.
Chain-gangs shall perform ten hours of labor in summer
and eight hours in winter to constitute a day’s work.

12. That all officers created by this law shall be subject
to indictment for neglect of their duties, and may be fined
as are road overseers under existing laws.

13. That in order that the provisions of this act shall
become operative this year, it shall be the duty of the
judge of the county court of Pulaski county, at the June
term of the said court in the year eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, to appoint two freeholders from each magis-
terial district as road commissioners; one of whom for
each district he shall designate as clerk, which two free-
holders, with the supervisor of said districts, shall form
the road commission for each district. The commissions
so formed shall constitute the road commissions of Pulaski
county, and shall have all the powers and be subject to
all provisions of this act. They shall receive the com-
pensation as herein provided for road commissioners, shal]
appoint acounty engineer to serve during their term of
office, unless sooner removed as herein provided for the
removal of county engineer, and shall fix his compensa-
tion. The boards so constituted under this section shal]
serve until succeeded by the boards as elected, appointed,
and qualified according to the provisions of section one of
this act.

14. The said road commission shall, at the July term of
the county court in eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and

annually thereafter, as to such districts and sections where
contracts will expire, severally let tocontract to the lowest
suitable bidder the work of keeping in repair the roads
and bridges in their districts, notices of which letting
shall be posted for ten days at each post-office and else-
where in the district, the said letting to be as whole dis-
tricts or in sections, and for a term of not less than one
nor more than five years, at the discretion of the commis-
sion of the district in which such road or section lies, said
term to commence the first day of August thereafter: pro-
vided that any and all bids may be rejected. They shall
require all bids to be in writing and signed by the bidder,
and shal! deliver the same under seal to the board of super-
visors for their examination and approval or rejection at
their first meeting thereafter. Each contractor shall be
required to execute a bond to the county, with good se-
curity, in 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, after ten days’ notice to the contractor
and his securities; and in case of a recovery on said mo-
tion, the same costs shall be taxed in said judgment as if
the motion was in favor of the commonwealth, and any
such judgment may be deducted by said board of super-
visors from the amount due said contractor on his contract.
The attorney for the commonwealth shall institute and

rosecute such motion. The said contracts and bonds
shall be filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors:
provided that the board of supervisors shall appoint sur-
veyors for and provide for the working of such roads as
are not contracted for under this act under the general
road laws of the state, and in such cases only may com-
pulsory labor be required.

15. That it shall be the duty of each road commission,
immediately after entering upon its duties of office, to di-
vide the roads and bridges of their several districts into
sections convenient for letting to contract under this act,
a record of which divisions shall be filed with the clerk of
the board of supervisors. Said commissions shall give
personal supervision to all the roads and bridges within
their respective districts. They shall see that the con-
tractors are faithfully performing their contracts, and for
avy failure to carry it out the commission of the district
shall at once institute, through the commonwealth’s attor-
ney, proceedings for the recovery of damages for the breach
of said contract; and it shall be the duty of each commis-
sion to cause the roads in its district to be kept cleared,
smoothed of rocks and obstructions, of necessary width,
well drained, and otherwise in good order, and secure from
the falling of dead timber therein; at the fork or crossing
of every road shall keep erected sign-boards, on which
shall be stated in plain letters the most noted places to
which each road leads, and across each stream, when it is
necessary and practicable, a sufficient bridge, bench, or
log for, the;accommodation of foot passengers; and for
every breach of duty under any of the sections of this act
said commission shall be guilty of misdemeanor.

16. It shall be the duty of each road commission to fur-
nish necessary tools for the use of surveyors working roads
not let to contract under this act, buying such as are ne-
cessary only upon the order of the chairman. They shall
furnish vouchers for all expenditures, whether for tools,
materials, pay to contractors, engineer and their own com-
pensation, quarterly, which, being approved by the board
of supervisors, shall be paid from the road funds.

17. That surveyors serving under this act in keeping up
and repairing roads or sections not let to contract shall
receive two dollars per mile per annum for keeping in re-
pair such roads; but no surveyor shall receive any compen-
sation until he shall have been shown to have fully com-
plied with the general law thereto applying.

18. That for the purposes of this act the board of super-
visors shall annually levy a capitation taxof fifty cents on
every male citizen over the age of twenty-one years, and
a tax not to exceed twenty cents on the one hundred dol-
lars on the assessed value of the real eatate and personal
property in the county of Pulaski, for the benefit of the
road fund.

19. That the commissioners hereby created shall hold a
meeting annually, during the month of July, at the court-
house, for the purpose of electing an engineer, the letting
of roads and the transaction of such business as may pro-
perly come before them.

20. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act
are hereby repealed.

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