Chap. 363.—An ACT to allow the voters of union hall magisterial district, in
Franklin county, to vote upon the question of the no-fence law, and to fix
the rights of all parties concerned, should it be adopted.

Approved February 15, 1900.

Whereas the voters of Union hall magisterial district in the county
of Franklin have petitioned to be allowed to vote upon the question
of the no-fence law in said district; and

Whereas it is proper that opportunity should be extended to them for
determining this question by their own votes; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall
be the duty of the county court for the county of Franklin, or the
judge thereof in vacation, not later than March twenty-ninth, nineteen
hundred, to submit to the qualified voters of said district the question
whether there shall or shall not be a fence law in said district, said elec-
tion to be held and conducted at the time fixed by the said court or
judge, under the existing election laws of the state provided
for holding elections when no party nominations are made. A
writ of election shall be issued to the sheriff of said county and deliv-
ered to said sheriff at least twenty days before the time designated for
holding said election, and said sheriff shall give notice of the time of
holding said election by posting printed hand bills at the voting places
in the said district, and at such other public places in said district as
the sheriff may deem necessary to give publicity thereto.

Ballots shall be provided upon which shall be printed or written
fence law and no-fence law. If the voter desires to vote for the fence
law, he shall erase no-fence law, written or printed on the ballots, by
running a mark with a pen, or pencil, through two-thirds of the words
““ no-fence law;” if he desires to vote for the no-fence law, he shall in
like manner run a line with pen, or pencil, through two-thirds of the
words “ fence law.” The vote so taken shall be counted, certified, and
returned to the office of the clerk of the county court for said county,
and the commissioners of election shall meet on the second day after
the said election, at the clerk’s office and ascertain the result of said
election in the manner prescribed by law, and the result so ascertained
shall be certified to the county court on the first day of the next term
thereof; and the said court shall declare the result of the election by
an order entered in the order book. If it shall appear from these re-
turns that a majority of the voters in said district is in favor of a no-
fence law then it shall not be lawful, after June first, nineteen hun-
dred, for the owner of any horse, mule, sheep, goat, hog, or cattle of
any description, to run at large beyond the boundaries of his own land.

If any of the animals above enumerated, the property of any citizen
of said district, after the date last above given is found at large upon
the lands of any other citizen in said district, then the owner of or
manager of said animals shall be liable for all damage or injury done by
said animals to the owner or owners of said lands, or crops upon which
they trespass, and shall be subject to the provisions of section two thou-
sand and twenty-two of the code of Virginia. In the event, any of the
above animals come from beyond the limits of the above district and
trespass on the lands within said district, the owner or manager of the
lands on which the animals are found, shall have the right to put the
same up in some convenient place. He shall thereupon notify the owner
of said animals, and unless said owner forthwith sends for the same,
he shall be liable to the person having them in custody in the sum of
one dollar per day from the time they were first taken up until they
are finally delivered to the owner or his agent. In the event this pen-
alty is incurred, the party having the stock in custody shall have the
right to hold them until the full amount of the penalty is paid. While
the stock are in custody, the person holding them shall provide them,
at his expense, with food and water.
If the animals are delivered to the owner or his agent, he shall remove
them beyond the limits of the district included in this act, and if they
thereafter return to the premises upon which they have once been found,
the owner or manager and the stock shall be liable just as if they were
the property of some resident of the district. But these provisions
shall not apply to stock coming into said district from beyond the limits
of the county of Franklin; they shall be treated like stock belonging
to residents of the district, and the owners of or managers of this stock
shall be subjected to all the provisions of this act applying to said resi-
dents whose stock is found trespassing within the boundary lines of said
district upon the lands of other residents.

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