CHAP. 162.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved March 5, 1900, en-
titled “an act to provide for the establishment, alteration, discontinuance, and
working and keeping in repair the roads and bridges of Giles county, and to
punish obstructions of the road commissioners in the discharge of their duties,”
and also to punish road officials of Giles county for any neglect of their official
duties.

Approved March 14, 1904.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That for the
purpose of establishing, altering, discontinuing, working, and keeping in
order the roads and bridges of Giles county, and for all supervision and
control of same, there shall be, and is hereby, created for each magisterial
district in said county, a board of road commissioners, to be composed
of an officer known as the superintendent of roads for the county, who
shall ex-officio be a member of the road commission for each magisterial
district, the supervisor of said district, and a road commissioner for said
district. The said superintendent of roads for Giles county shall be ap-
pointed by the circuit court of Giles county, or by the judge thereof in
vacation, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, and who shall
hold said office from the date of his appointment until the thirty-first day
of December, nineteen hundred and seven, and in the month of November
or December, nineteen hundred and seven, and every four years there-
after, the said court, or judge thereof in vacation, shall appoint a road
superintendent for Giles county, whose term of office shall be four years,
to commence on the first day of January next succeeding his appoint-
ment. At the November election, nineteen hundred and seven, and every
four years thereafter, there shall be elected for each magisterial district
in Giles county a road commissioner, whose terms of office shall com-
mence on the first day of January next succeeding their election, and
shall be for four years. The road commissioners for the several magis-
terial districts in Giles county elected at the November election, nine-
teen hundred and three, shall continue in office until the thirty-first day
of December, nineteen hundred and seven.

%. That the supervisor and road commissioners hereby provided for
shall receive as compensation two dollars for each day actually engaged
in the duties devolving upon them under the provisions of this act, not
exceeding, however, twenty-five dollars for one year, except the regu-
larly elected district road commissioner may receive such additional
allowances as is hereinafter provided for; said sums to be paid out of the
district road funds for their respective districts.

3. Each and every road commissioner elected under this act shall
qualify as other district officers are required by law to qualify, and upon
his qualification shall execute a good and sufficient bond before the court
or judge or clerk before whom he qualifies, with sureties to be approved
by such court or judge or clerk in the penalty to be prescribed by said
officer. Such bond shall be payable to the board of supervisors of Giles
county, with condition for the faithful accounting for all moneys that
shall come into the county or district road fund under his control, and
for the faithful discharge of his duties as such commissioner. That
application for a new road, or changing or discontinuing an existing
road, must be upon written petition addressed to the district board of
road commissioners in which such road is now or is asked to be located,
in which a part thereof is, stating specifically the change, the continu-
ance, or route of the new road from point to point, also stating the
names of the land-owners through whose lands the proposed new road
or alteration extends, which shall be signed by the petitioner or his
counsel and forwarded to the clerk of the circuit court of Giles county,
who shall forthwith issue a summons to the members of the road com-
mission in whose district the proposed road, alteration, or discontinu-
ance is; and if in more than one district, then also to the members of the
commission of any other district affected thereby, to appear at a point on
the proposed road, change, alteration, or discontinuamce to be named in
the summons at the time named therein, and not more than thirty days
from the issuance thereof, and together they shall view said route for
the new road, change, or discontinuance, and hear such evidence relevant
thereto as may be offered them, amd cause said change, new road, or dis-
continuance to be made in accordance with said application; or, if such
road commissions, upon a view of such proposed route, are of opinion
that a better location for such proposed new road or change can be ob-
tained by reviewing another route, then in that event the said commis-
sion may cause such change to be made, or new road to be opened, and
in their report give the reasons for the alteration made by it from the
location specified in the petition, stating clearly and specifically the
change of route of the new road from point to point, also stating the
names of the land owners through whose lands the proposed new road
or alteration extends, or report adversely, according to their judgment.
They, or any one of the commissioners attending, may adjourn the pro-
ceedings from time to time and place to place, and shall have the same
power to summon and compel the attendance of witnesses that the courts
now have, may employ a competent surveyor when necessary, and a
majority of said board of road commissioners shall decide all questions.
The clerk of the circuit court of Giles county will, at the time of issuance
of the summons to the members of the road commission, issue a sum-
mons to the land-holders named in said petition to appear at the same
time and place named in the summons to the road commission, to show
cause against the establishment, alteration, or discontinuance, and should
said petition omit any land-owner interested, the summons to said in-
terested land owner may be issued on the application of any party in
interest, either by said clerk or by any one of said road commission, and
said summons may be served in any manner that notices under the law
may be now served, or in any manner that the general law allows notices
to land-owners to be served under the general road law.

The action of the board of road commission in establishing, changing,
or discontinuing such road, or refusing to establish, alter, change, or dis-
continue the same shall be final, except as to the amount of damages, for
which an appeal may be had as hereinafter provided, “unless the inten-
tion, to appeal from such action be filed with the chairman of the road
commission within five days from the day such action or decision is made,
and if so noted an appeal may be taken to another commission composed
of two supervisors and one road commissioner from other districts: pro-
vided, that no supervisor or road commissioner from whose action an
appeal is taken shall be a member of the commission hearing such appeal.
When such appeal is taken, the chairman of the commission whose action
or decision is appealed from shall at once notify the clerk of the circuit
court, who shall summons two supervisors and ome road commissioner
from other districts to hear such appeal, and the said commission shall
hear and decide the matter as if they were hearing it originally, and shall
enter their decision upon the merits of the case, giving due regard to the
interests of applicants and land-owners as well, and from the decision of
such commission there shall be no appeal except in the matter of dam-
ages as herein provided.”

When the members of such district road commission, or either of them,
is personally interested in the opening or location of such road, or is the
owner of, or has any interest in the lands or any portion thereof, or is
related to any person so interested in the third degree, or is so situated
in his opinion as to render it improper for him to pass upon the question
of the opening or location of such road, change, or discontinuance, then
the clerk of the circuit court of Giles county shall summons from some
other road district in said county some other member of road commis-
sion, who will act in his place and stead.

4, Should said commission establish a road or make any change or
alterations in same, they shall assess the damage to the land-owners, and
file in the clerk’s office of the circuit court of Giles county a report of
their action, with a full description of the road established, alteration
made, or road discontinued, stating the width and degree of the road
established and alterations made, and said report shall be recorded by the
clerk of said court in a book kept for the purpose, and shall notify the
attorney for the Commonwealth of all damages allowed against the
county, and such damages shall not be payable until the Commonwealth’s
attorney has been so notified and such notice entered on the record book
of the board of supervisors; and said report made by said commission
establishing a road or making any changes or alterations in an existing
road shall be final, except as hereinbefore provided ; but any land-owner
damaged or the Commonwealth’s attorney or board of supervisors in
behalf of the county shall have the right to appeal to the circuit court,
if the sum reported by the commission or commissions is deemed by him
or any of them insufficient or excessive. If any land-holder damaged
desires to appeal to the circuit court on the question of damages, he may,
within thirty days after said report is filed in the clerk’s office of the
circuit court, apply to said circuit court, or to the judge thereof in vaca-
tion, for an appeal on said question of damages, or the Commonwealth’s
attorney may, in the same manner, when he thinks the damages allowed
excessive, take such appeal for the county or the board of supervisors
may direct the Commonwealth’s attorney to take such appeal, and no
bond shall be required in any case where the county is appellant; and
the same shall be allowed by said court or judge, and the cause placed on
the docket for trial at the next term of the circuit court. No appeal shall
be allowed a land-owner after the expiration of the said thirty days, but
the Commonwealth’s attorney may, on his own motion, or upon direction
of the board of supervisors, take such appeal within thirty days from the
time the Commonwealth’s attorney has been notified of the award of
damages against the county in any case.

5. A trial of said appeal shall be by jury, unless the same be waived
by all parties and without formal pleading, and shall be final, except to
appeal as to points of law. In all questions of damages, the question of
compensating advantages shall be fully considered in awarding damages
for the opening, changing, or exteyding any road, and in case of every
appeal and every other matter connected with this act, the road com-
mission shall be represented by the Commonwealth’s attorney of Giles
county.

6. Whether any such appeal on the question of damages shall be taken
or not, the board of road commissioners for the district or districts in
which such road shall be located on paying into the circuit court of
Giles county the sum ascertained by the commissioners locating the same,
as shown by their report returned to said clerk’s office, may, notwith-
standing the pendency of proceedings, enter into and construct their
work upon or through that part of the land described in such report, and
no order shall be made or any injunction awarded by any court or judge
to stay the proceedings of such board of road: commissioners in the prose-
cution of their work, unless it be made manifest that they, their offices,
agents, or servants are transcending their authority, and that the inter-
position of court is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be adequately
compensated in damages.

?. When, after such payment into court, upon appeal taken from such
report, if the sum thereby ascertained exceed what was so paid, judgment
shall be given against the county for the amount of such excess, and if
what was so paid exceed the amount of the sum ascertained upon such an
appeal, the excess shall be paid back to the county road fund, and judg-
ment therefor and for the cost of appeal shall be rendered against the
appellant.

8. When an appeal is taken and the money paid into court, the court
shall disburse the same to the parties entitled thereto, and where no
appeal is taken the same sha]l be disbursed to the parties entitled theretc
by the commissions.

9. Wherever any of the land-owners are infants or suffering under any
legal disability the proceedings shall not be stayed, but the clerk of the
circuit court of Giles county shall appoint for such persons a guardian ad
litem in the same manner as he is authorized to appoint a guardian ac
litem for infant defendants, and said guardian ad litem shall represen’
said infant, or such persons under, legal disabilities, and shall receive
the same compensation, payable in the same manner and from the same
source, had the matter been pending in the court, the amount to the
guardian ad litem’s fee to be determined by the circuit court of Gile
county, and all notices and summons may be served bv the sheriff or hi:
deputies, and their compensation, and the compensation for the clerk o
Giles circuit court, shall be the same as allowed said officers for simila:
services, and any road commissioner in the discharge of his duties unde
this act, wherever the same may be necessary, is empowered to adminis
ter an oath.
10. The district road commission, in establishing a road, may direct
that it be opened and kept in order by persons for whose convenience the
same is desired, and the same shall not be an established road until the
person or persons so designated in the commission’s report shall file with
the chairman of the district in which the road is an agreement that he
er they will open same and keep the same in order.

11. That all new roads established, changes and alterations made shall
be of the width and grade to be determined by the road commission view-
ing, establishing, or changing same, and the same shall be estab-
lished with or without gates, as they deem best, and in case they report
adversely upon any petition, the petitioners shall pay into the county road
fund all costs accruing through said petition and view, unless said com-
mission in their discretion relieve said petitioner from such costs, and
the same may be recovered from netitioner by suit at law or warrant be-
fore a justice in the name of the board of supervisors of Giles county.

12. For the purpose of opening, changing, and working and keeping
in repair, for the purpose of building or repairing the bridges and foot-
ways in said county, it shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of
said county to levy an annual tax, not exceeding twenty-five cents on the
one hundred dollars’ worth of all taxable property in said county, both
real and personal. The amount from each magisterial district shall be
kept separate, and shall be known as the district road fund, twenty per
centum to be annually expended in macadamizing and making other
permanent improvements thereon in such a manner and at such points as
the commissioners may think fit.

13. The district board of road commission for each district shall meet
annually at the courthouse of Giles county, on first Monday in January,
the first Monday in April, the fourth Monday in July, the first Monday
in November, and at such other times as they deem proper, and shall
keep a regular record of their proceedings, which said record shall be left
with the clerk of the circuit court of Giles county, who shall be ex-officio
clerk of said board, and open for inspection. The said district board of
road commission for each district shall have the entire charge and man-
agement of the manner of working and keeping in repair all the roads of
said county, and also building a new road, or changes in a road after any
road has been established or changed as hereinbefore provided. The
said opening and changing and keeping in repair of said roads shall be
by the appointment of road overseers and employment of hands, teams,
and so forth, or by chain-gang labor, or by letting to contract as to all
or any part of said roads in their respective districts. The building or
repairing of any bridge or footway in said county shall be directed by the
commissions of the respective districts, after any bridge shall have been
directed to be built as now prescribed by law.

14. The road commissioner for each magisterial district shall keep an
accurate account of all work done on the various roads and bridges in
their respective districts, by whom done, the amount due therefor, and
to whom due, and shall report the same to the district road boards at
their stated meetings hereinbefore provided for, who shall audit the same
and allow all proper accounts, for which drafts shall be issued by the
clerk, and countersigned by the county superintendent, who shall at all
times be chairman of said boards, and payable by the treasurer of Giles
county out of the road funds for the respective districts.

15. The district board shall, in the record of their proceedings
directed to be kept, prescribe the manner of working and keeping in
repair the roads of said county, and whether the same shall be done by
letting to contract or appointment of overseers, et cetera, and shall fur-
ther prescribe the amount of funds to be exnended on each road; and it
shall be the duty of the road commissioner from each district to execute
and carry into effect the orders of said district board, and it shall be a
violation of his official duty to attempt to work and keep in repair said
roads in any other manner than that prescribed by road board.

16. Each board of road commissioners shall, on the first day of July
of each year file a written report addressed to the board of supervisors
of Giles county of all moneys expended under this act, and by whom ex-
pended, and upon what road expended, and for what purpose, the amount
due, and to whom. Such reports shall be verified bv affidavit, and with
the further affidavit that no member of such commission was interested
either directly or indirectly in any of the claims or payments set forth in
said report, except the per diem allowed by this act. And in addition
to said report they will, in the month of January and in the month of
July, make a settlement with the board of supervisors, showing all money
that came into their hands and disbursement thereof.

17. No superintendent, supervisor, road commissioner, or overseer
shall be interested, either directly or indirectly, in any contract given
under the provisions of this act, except any said road commissioner,
elected as aforesaid, may superintend in person, with the jomt sanction
of the board of supervisors and superintendent of roads, any work on
any road in his district, and receive such additional compensation there-
for as the board of supervisors and superintendent may jointly agree on.

18. The said road commissioners, elected as aforesaid, shall have the
right, after giving reasonable notice to the parties in interest, to remove
any fences, wood-viles, or other obstructions which are in said road, and
any person who may threat, force, or otherwise shall attempt to hinder,
delay, or prevent the said commissioner from performing his duty, shall
be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and fined not less than twenty dollars
nor more than one hundred dollars, or be confined in the county jail not
exceeding six months, or both.

19. It shall be the duty of the superintendent of roads to see that all
the provisions of this act are complied with, and that the several road
commissioners promptly and: properly execute the orders of the district
road boards, and to that end he shall make inspections of the various
roads in the county at suitable intervals, and to report to the prose-
cuting attorney of Giles county any violations of this law. He shall
receive two dollars per day for every day he is engaged in performing
his duties under this act, except the board of supervisors may limit, in
their discretion, the number of days in each year for which he shall re-
seive pay for inspecting roads.

20. If the superintendents, supervisors, or road commissioners, or
either of them, negligent] violate any of the provisions of this act, or
negligently fail to perform any of the duties required by this act, they
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall on conviction be
punished by fine of not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hun-
dred dollars for each offence, and may be removed from office by the cir-
euit court of Giles county. All the prosecutions for the violation of this
act shall be in the circuit court of Giles county, and shall be by indict-
ment. And it shall be the duty of the judge of the circuit court of Giles
county to charge every regular grand iury as to the provisions of this
act, and to require the superintendent of roads to be sent before every
erand jury as a witness. |

21. All acts in conflict herewith are repealed.

22. By reason of the abolition of the county court of Giles county,
and the necessary changes to be made in the Giles county road law to con-
form to the new system of courts, an emergency exists, and this act
shall be in force from its rassage.