Chap. 879.—An ACT to provide a road law for Rappahannock county.

Approved March 6, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That for each
magisterial district in the county of Rappahannock, there is hereby
created and established a road board consisting of the supervisor (who
shall be chairman of said board), a commissioner of roads, and one of
the justices of the peace of said district (who shall be ex officio clerk
of said road board), which board shall have exclusive control of the
roads and bridges of said district.

2. That the commissioner of roads and justices of the peace (who
shall be clerk of said district road board) shall be appointed by the judge
of the county court of said county at the May term for the year nine-
teen hundred, whose terms of office shall be for two years, beginning
on the first day of July next succeeding their appointment. They shall
reside in the district for which they are appointed. Each commis-
sioner of roads, and justice of the peace thus appointed, shall qualify
before the county court, and the commissioner shall, at the time of his
qualification, give bond with good security in the penalty of not less
than one thousand dollars.

3. The said commissioner of roads shall receive such compensation
for his services as the board of supervisors shall allow, not to exceed
one dollar and fifty cents per day; and not to exceed thirty-five ($35)
dollars per annum; and the justice of the peace shall receive for his
services ten ($10) dollars per annum, to be paid to him at such times
and in such amounts, by warrants drawn by said board on the treasury
of said county, as said board may, by its order entered on its minutes,
determine. Any vacancy in the office of commissioner or Justice of the
peace shall be filled for the unexpired term by the county court. The said
commissioner and justice of the peace, before entering upon the duties
of their office, shall severally take an oath to faithfully perform the
duties of their offices, which oath shall be filed by the clerk of said
county court.

4. Each commissioner shall, as soon as practicable after his quali-
fication, carefully examine all the public roads of his district, and lay
off and divide them into sections from one to four miles, no single
section to be more than four miles in length.

5. The commissioner of each magisterial district shall let to con-
tract by the year, for the term of one to three years, in the discretion
of the road board, in one or more sections (the sections having been
numbered), to the lowest suitable bidder, having first advertised for
sealed bids, stating clearly in the advertisement the work to be done
on said section of road or bridges therein, in addition to what is speci-
fied and required by section nine hundred and eighty-two of the code,
notice of which letting to contract shall be posted for not less than
ten days at each post-office and other public places in the district. The
bids shall be in writing and signed by the contractor, and the same
shall be delivered under seal to the said road board for their examina-
tion and acceptance or rejection, and at their first meeting thereafter
each contractor shall be required to execute a bond to the county, with
good security, in the penalty of at least double the amount of his bid,
conditioned 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
recovery on said motion 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 road board from the amount due
said contractor on his contract. The attorney for the commonwealth
shall institute and prosecute such motion. The said contracts and
bonds shall be filed with the clerk of said road board.

6. Should there be any section or sections of road upon which there
is no sealed bid, the road commissioner, after advertising as is herein-
before directed, may receive propositions to contract for said section
or sections without requiring said proposals to be sealed, said proposals
to be subject to same requirements in contracting as‘sealed bids.

7. If any section or sections of roads remain unlet by reason of their
being no bid, or for any other reason, the commissioner of roads and
bridges shall appoint or employ an overseer for such roads or sections
of road; said overseer to be paid such compensation per day as may
be agreed upon by the road board. Said overseer shall employ such
labor as may be necessary to keep such road in repair, paying such
prices as are customary in the community.

8. An itemized account of all work done by overseers shall be kept,
and said overseers shall make off and swear to said accounts and submit
same to commissioner of roads, and upon his approval said accounts
shall be presented to the road board, and if found to be correct said
road board shall give their warrant upon the county treasurer for the
amount.

9. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of roads to give personal
supervision to all roads and bridges within their respective districts
and especially require foot bridges to be constructed and maintained
over all streams where necessary, for the convenience of pedestrians.

To see that the contractor is faithfully performing his contract, and
for any failure in carrying it out, the commissioner of the district shall
at once institute, through the attorney for the commonwealth, proceed-
ings for the recovery of damages for the breach of said contract.

10. Overseers appointed or employed under this act, shall be subject
to the same requirements under section nine hundred and eighty-two
of the code, as are contractors.

11. The contractors shall be paid for work done under their con-
tract, semi-annually or oftener as the road board may determine, which
payment shall be made by the warrant of said board upon the county
treasurer, but payment shall be withheld by said board, if, at the
time fixed for such payment, said contractor’s road is not in order,
until the commissioner supervising the same shall report it to be in
condition required by his contract.

12. The county treasurer shall keep the road funds separate from
other tax funds, and the entire funds shall be placed to the credit of
the road fund.

13. All road taxes shall be expended in the district from which thev
are collected.

14. Except as hereinbefore provided, the county treasurer shall here-
after pay out no money collected from road taxes, except on the warrant
of the road board of each of the several magisterial districts. No person
or persons 1n Rappahannock county shall hereafter be compelled to
work on the public roads without compensation.

15. No member of the road board shall be directly or indirectly
interested in any contract made under this act, and any participation
therein by either, shall render the contract null and void.

16. The said county court shall have power, at any time, for good
cause to revoke any appointment made under this act and to fill such
vacancies for the unexpired term.

1%. For the additional services required by this act, the supervisors
of each district shall receive fifteen ($15.00) dollars per annum.

18. The road board of the several districts may sell or dispose of anv
tools or implements, which may be delivered to them by the present
read officials, or may have them used upon the roads of the county, as.
in their discretion, may appear best for the county. Any act required
to be done by said road board under and by virtue of this act may be
done at any meeting thereof.

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ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. 970

19. All applications for new roads or for the change of location of
existing roads shall be made to the county court and proceedings there-
for shall be as now provided by the general law. When any new road
is ordered to be opened or the location of any road changed, the order
so declaring shall he certified to the road board of the district wherein
such road is located, and said board shall proceed to have the work
done by contract, as provided for keeping the roads in order in this
act.

20. The general road law of this state, except so far as in conflict
with this act, shall be in force in the county of Rappahannock.

21. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

22. This act shall be in force from and after the first day of July,
nineteen hundred.