Chap. 355.—An ACT to provide for a rcad law for Stafford county.

Approved February 15, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the board
of supervisors for Stafford county shall annually levy a tax on all real
estate and personal property in said county, not to exceed thirty cents
on the one hundred dollars’ value thereof: provided, however, that not
more than twenty cents on the one hundred dollars shall be used to
defray the expense of keeping in repair the roads and bridges of said
county, and where in any district the board of supervisors shall elect to
fix the levy, under this law, in excess of twenty cents on the one hundred
dollars, the income derived from such levy over and above twenty cents
shall be used to create a sinking fund to liquidate any indebtedness the
said district may now owe, on account of roads and bridges, and for no
other purpose.

This tax shall be known as the road tax, and the amount collected in
each magisterial district shall be expended in the district from which
it is derived, and shall be collected and accounted for as other county
levies, and paid out on the warrant of the board of supervisors as here-

inafter provided.
2. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors, as soon as prac-
ticable after the passage of this act, to nominate to the county court of
said county one suitable person for every voting precinct in said county
as overseer of all public roads in said precinct, and it shall be the duty
of the judge of said court to appoint the person so nominated if he
approves the same. The said overseers so appointed shall enter into a
bond in the penalty of one hundred dollars each, with good security,
for the faithful performance of their duties, and shall hold office until
the first general county election, when their successors shall be elected
for a period of two years.

3. ‘he said road overseers shall reside within the voting precinct in
which their roads are located, and it shall be the duty of said overseers
to work and keep in repair all roads and bridges in their respective road
districts, and where a public road is the dividing line between two road
districts, the overseers of the adjoining road districts shall keep it in
repair: provided, that the board of supervisors shall have the right to
let to the lowest bidder, such bridges of the said county as they may
see fit. Such overseers shall have a right to take from adjacent lands
such materials as they would be authorized to use under the general road
laws of the state, for the benefit of public highways, and to purchase
such materials as may be necessary to repair roads and bridges, and
purchase such tools by order of the board of supervisors as may be
necessary to work the same, to be paid for by warrant of the board of
supervisors, upon proper evidence of said purchase. And it shall be
the duty of the board of supervisors, to keep a record of all tools pur-
chased by said overseers, and to see that the said tools are turned over
to their (the overseer’s) successors in office, or otherwise properly ac-
counted for. The said overseers shall have authority at any time to
employ such teams and wagons, at not exceeding one dollar and fifty
cents per day for a two horse team, and such hands at not excceiling
seventy-five cents per day, to carry on the work, who shall work from
sun to sun, and all hands employed shall be of age. Said overseers shall
individually make quarterly reports to the board of supervisors of all
tools and materials purchased, and for all labor and teams employed.
Said reports shall contain an itemized account, which shall give the
names of persons employed, and the names of owners of teams employed,
and shall show the time made by each person and team so emploved,
and the said report shall be sworn to. The board of supervisors shall,
when satisfied that the said reports and the accounts are correct, issue
their warrants for the work so done and the teams so employed, directly
to the persons entitled to compensation. Said overseers shall not be
paid more than one dollar per day each, for their services, while engaged
in work on said roads and bridges.

4, It shall be the duty of the supervisor of each magisterial district
at the beginning of each fiscal year to notify in writing each overseer
in his magisterial district of the amount of money to be expended
his road district for the ensuing year, and the overseers so informed,
shall not in said year exceed the amount so indicated.

5. It shall be the duty of the county judge of said county as soon
after the passage of this act as practicable, and annually thereafter, to

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point a suitable person in each magisterial district, whose duty it
all be to personally inspect the roads in the magisterial district in
hich he resides twice annually, and to report the condition of the same
)the court. And the said inspectors shall each be allowed one dollar
r day for their services: provided, however, they shall not receive each
| any one year more than eight dollars.

. The overseers may be removed by the county court for incompe-
nce or neglect of duty, and a recovery may be had in the name of the
yunty for the benefit of the road fund, in the county court, by motion,
ter ten days’ notice to the overseer and his sureties.

7. Such provisions of the general road law of the state as do not
ynflict with this act, shall continue in force in Stafford county.
8. This act shall be in force from its passage.