Chap. 1004.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to authorize
the board of supervisors of the county of Carroll to let to contract the roads of
said county and levy atax to keep the same in order, approved February 29,
1892, and acts amendatory thereof, approved, respectively, January 22, 1894,
and February 2, 1898.

Approved March 7, 19€0.

1. Be it enacted bv the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to authorize the board of supervisors of the county of
Carroll to let to contract the public roads of said county and levy a
tax to keep the same in order, approved Tebruary twenty-ninth,
eighteen hundred and ninety- two, and acts amendatory thereof, ap-
proved respectively January twenty-second, eighteen hundred and
ninety-four, and February second, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight,
be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
eounty court of Carroll county shall, at its March term, nineteen hun.
dred, and every two years thereafter, appoint two road commissioners
and five road inspectors for said county, men especially qualified and
fitted for the duties hereinafter required of them, who shall be free-
holders and tax-payers, and in making said appointments the said court
shall appoint one of the said commissioners from each of the two road
districts hereinafter provided for, and said inspectors shall be appointed,
one from each of the magisterial districts of said county. The said
commissioners and inspectors shall hold office for a term of two years
next after their appointment, and until their successors are appointed
and qualified, with duties and powers, and subject to the provisions
hereinafter contained.

§ 2. The said commissioners and inspectors shall qualify at the term
of court at which they are appointed, or before the clerk thereof, within
thirty days thereaftcr,and said commissioners shall execute bonds before
said court, or the clerk thereof, before entering upon their duties, with
good security, in the penalty of not less than three thousand dollars
nor more than five thousand dollars each for the faithful performance
of their duties as commissioners of roads.

§ 3. The said county of Carroll shall be divided into two road dis-
tricts, known as the eastern and western districts, respectively. The
eastern district shall embrace all territory of said county lying on the
east side of the Tazewell courthouse and Fancy Gap turnpike road,
including said turnpike road from the county seat of said county to the
Wythe county line, and the western district shall embrace all the terri-
tory of the said county of Carroll lying west of the turnpike, including
said road from said county seat to the North Carolina line.

§ 4. Said commissioners shall have under their control all the road
fund for said county hereinafter provided for; and it shall be their duty
to take charge of, and give personal supervision to all the roads and
bridges in their respective districts; and it shall be their duty to cause
the roads in their districts to be kept cleared, smoothed of rocks and
ruts made by wagon wheels and other obstructions; and all roads in the
county which were originally constructed as turnpike roads shall be
worked, kept in order, and maintained of the width of which they were
originally opened and constructed, except where the old road-bed is
worn down and is now between steep and high embankments on either
side, at which points the original road-bed may be reduced to sixteen
feet in width, of smooth road for public travel, and all other roads shall
be worked, smoothed, and kept in repair of the width heretofore
directed by the county court, or which may hereafter be directed by the
road inspectors or the county court, and all roads shall be kept well
drained and free from the falling of dead timber therein. At the fork
or crossing of every road shall be kept sign boards, on Which shall be
stated in plain letters the most noted places to which said roads lead.
and across each stream when it is necessary and practicable a sufficient
bench, bridge, or log for the accommodation of foot passengers, and it
shall further be their duty to raise the bed of all the turnpike roads in
the county eighteen inches higher in the middle than on the sides, and
slope them gradually each way from the middle to the sides; and thev
shall construct of wood or stone and keep in good repair covered water-
lets or culverts across said turnpikes whenever necessary and practicable
for properly draining said turnpikes; and where necessary, said commis-
sioners shall make V-shaped water breaks of crushed stone across turn-
pikes six inches high, and broad enough so vehicles may pass over
them easily and rapidly, to carry the water from the wagon-ruts into
the gutters at sides of road, so as to prevent the middle of road-bed
from washing away; and such other public roads in said county as art
most important to the general traveling public shall also, as soon a:
practicable, be worked and repaired in the same manner hereinabove
provided for repairing the turnpikes.

“Each of said commissioners shall keep in a substantially bounc
book an itemized account of all purchases and expenditures made by
them; and also an itemized statement of the number of days of service
rendered by himself, and of each and every team and laborer employec
by him, which book shall at all times be open to the inspection of any
citizen of said county, and which shall be preserved and delivered te
their successors.”

$5. Whenever it seems advantageous and is practicable for the im-
provement of grades, and for economy in keeping the roads in repair,
the said road commissioners shall, in their discretion or with the advice
of the road inspector of that district, or upon petition of ten or more
interested freeholders of said district, cause chanees of road-heds to
be made in their respective districts, and said commissioners are em-
powered to condemn lands for such changes and to appraise the damages.
if any, to the property through which such changes are made, which
damages shall be fixed at a fair and reasonable sum, to be paid out
of the road fund herein provided for; but any party through whose land
such changes shall be made, shall have the right, by petition, to appeal
from the decision of said commissioners to the county court of said
county. |

§ 6. Said commissioners and inspectors, a majority of whom may
act, shall provide, by purchase or otherwise,as many as two road machines
and such other tools and implements as are necessary for properly work-
ing and keeping in repair the roads in said county as contemplated by
this act. They shall also purchase or hire the necessary teams or trac-
tion engines to properly operate said road machines, and shall fix a
schedule of prices for labor. “And they shall keep in a substantially
bound book a true and correct record of all] their acts, which shall he
preserved and delivered to their successors in office.” For any neces-
sary expenditures for the purchase of road machines, tools, implements,
hire of labor, or otherwise, except as hereinafter provided, the said com-
missioners are hereby directed to draw their warrants on the treasurer
of said county, and said treasurer is hereby directed to pay said warrants
out of any funds in his hands for road purposes belonging to said com-
missioner’s respective districts, as hereinafter provided. Said com-
missioner shall report under oath to said inspectors every three months,
or oftener if required to do so by the chairman of said board of inspec-
tors, stating fully the work done, naming the roads repaired, the num-
her of davs employed on said roads, the amount expended for machines,
tools, implements, teams, hire of labor. or otherwise, and shall return
therewith vouchers for all their expenditures mentioned in said reports.

8%. Where the width of any road except turnpike roads has not heen
specifically fixed by order of the county court, the several road inspectors
under this act, each acting in his own district may, upon the written
request of the road commissioner for his district, or upon the petition
in writing of three or more frecholders in such district, proceed to fix
the width of such road or roads; and in every case the road inspector
will make a report of his action in writing, and file the same with the
road commissioner for the district, who may hold such report sixty
days, and shall then return it to the clerk’s office of the county court;
and said road inspector may from time to time, upon like application
or petition, review their work and make such changes as may be neces-
sary and expedient, and report as above directed; but nothing herein
contained shall prevent the width which all roads, except turnpike
roads, shall be worked and kept in order, from being fixed by the county
court; but in all such motions before the court, if the width of the
road has heretofore been fixed by an inspector, such inspector and the
road commissioner for the district shall be notified of such motion
before it is heard and determined.

$8. As soon as said reports are made it shall then be the duty of

said inspectors each, in their respective districts, to go over and care-
fully examine the roads reported to have been repaired, except as to the
turnpikes and other important roads herein specially required to be
repaired which they will inspect and examine as a board, a majority of
whom may act. They will then examine said reports and vouchers
returned therewith, and report to the next term of said county court
whether or not the work reported to have been done is in accordance
with the provisions of this act, and whether the expenditures therefor,
and for machines, tools, implements, teams, and otherwise, are just,
reasonable and proper.

§ 9. Said conmissioners’ reports shall lie over for one month, and if
they have been approved by said inspectors and the county court, whose
duty it shall be to examine said reports and vouchers, finds no error
therein, an order shall then be entered by said court confirming said
reports. At any time before said reports are confirmed, any citizen,
frecholder, and tax-payer, may, by motion, after ten days’ notice in
writing to said commissioners, ohject to the confirmation of said re-
ports, ‘stating fully the objections thereto. It shall then be the duty
of said court to hear any testimony offered by either party. Should the
court be of the opinion that said report is correct and should be con-
firmed, it shall so enter of record, and may award judgment for costs
in favor of the commissioners against the objector, otherwise the com-
missioners shall pay the cost, which may be deducted from his compen-
sation under this act, or recoverable on his bond upon motion, or action,
as now provided by law, for the recovery of debts. But either party
fecling himself aggrieved may of right appeal from the judgment and
opinion of the county court of said county, but such appeal shall be
subject to the provisions of section thirty-four hundred and seventy of
the code of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. The county judge shall
have power at anv time for good cause, to revoke the appointment of anv
commissioner or inspector of roads and appoint his successor to fill his
unexpired term, and to fill any vaeanev occurring in the office of the
commissioner of roads by death or otherwise.

$10. Said commissioners shall receive as compensation for their ser-
vices under this act, two dollars per dav for the time actually emploved
by them in supervising and working the roads, not to exceed. however,
one hundred and fifty davs in any one vear. to he allowed by the county
court of said county, but no allowance shall be madg for compensation
until after their reports have been confirmed, as herein provided for; and
said road inspectors shall receive one dollar each per day for the time
actually employed by them in examining the roads, as herein provided
for, which shall also be allowed by said county court upan the said
inspectors presenting their account ‘verified by allidavit.

$11. The several contractors in said county now acting under and
by virtue of the act hereby amended and re- -enacted, shall have the right
to surrender their contracts to said commissioners, receiving pay ‘for
the work then actually done as shown by the warrants of stipervisors
upon the treasurer. Should said contractors decline to surrender their
contracts, then said commissioners shall have the same powers to enforce
the performance of said contracts as are now vested in the board of
supervisors, and the supervisors of their respective districts.

$12. The board of supervisors shall annually levy, along with the
county levy, a tax upon the property, real and personal, assessed for
taxation in said county, which shall be applied to purchasing necessary
road machines, tools, implements, teams, working and keeping in order
the public roads and bridges, and the compensation of the commis-
sioners and inspectors under the provisions of this act. Such tax shall
not be less than twenty-five cents nor more than fifty cents on every
one hundred dollars of such property, and the same shall be collected
and accounted for as if it were a county levy, except that the levy for
the two road districts herein provided for shall be kept separate, and
known as the eastern road fund and the western road fund, and the
same paid out on the warrant of each commissioner for his respective
district, and the amount collected in each of said districts shall be ex-
pended therein.

§ 13. The board of supervisors shall, at its next annual meeting, set
apart and merge in the road fund four thousand dollars of the surplus
fund for general county purposes now in the hands of the treasurer of
said county, one-half of which shall belong to the eastern road fund
and the other half to the western road fund.

§ 14. For any services rendered by the clerk of said county court
under the provisions of this act he shall receive the same fees as are now
allowed by law for like services.

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

$16. This act shall be in force from its passage.