Chap. 346.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to amend and
re-enact an act approved March 5, 1900, entitled 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. :

Approved March 14, 1908.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act en-
titled “an act to amend and re-enact an act approved March fifth, nineteen
hundred, entitled 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 four-
teenth, nineteen hundred and four, be amended and re-enacted so as to
read as follows:

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 .commis-.
sioners, to be composed of the supervisors of said district, and a road
commissioner for said district. At the November election, nineteen
hundred and eleven, and every four years thereafter, there shall be
elected for each magisterial district in Giles county a road commissioner,
whose terms of office shall commence on the first day of January next
succeeding their election, and shall be for four years. The road commis-
sioners for the several magisterial districts in Giles county elected at the
November election, nineteen hundred and seven, shall continue in office
until the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and eleven.

2. 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
regularly 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 pre-
scribed 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 dis-
continuing 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 continuance, 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 mem-
bers of the road commission in whose district the proposed road, alteration
or discontinuance 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 discon-
tinuance to be named in the summons at the time named therein, and
hot 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, and cause
said change, new road or discontinuance to be made in accordance
with said application; or, if such road commission, upon a view of
such proposed route, is of opinion that a better location for such pro-
posed new road or change can be obtained by reviewing another route,
then in that event the said commission 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 landowners through whose
lands the proposed new road or alteration extends or report adversely,
according to their judgment. They, or either of them, attending, may
adjourn the proceedings 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 neces-
sary, and if the said commission fail to agree on any question, then
their disagreement on such question shall be submitted by them to
the county surveyor as arbitrator, and when so called, he shall become
a member of the road commission for such purposes, and for such pur-
poses only, and the subject of disagreement and the decision of the
said arbitrator shall be made a part of the record, and the said arbi-
trator, when so called, shall receive the same compensation as other
members of the road commission, and a majority of said board of road
commissioners, as so constituted, 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 summons 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
interested 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
discontinue the same shall be final, except as to the amount of damages,
for which an appeal may be had as hereinafter provided, “unless the
intention 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: provided, 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 one 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 damages 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 there-
of, 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 commission, 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 exist-
ing 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 countv shall have the right to appeal to the circuit court,
if the sum reported bv the commission, or commissions, is deemed by
him or any of them insufficient or excessive. If any land-holder damaged
d sires 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 va-
cation, for an appeal on said question of damages, or the Common-
wealth’s attorney may, in the same manner, when he thinks the damages
allowed excessive, taxe such appeal for the county or the board of super-
visors 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, | ut 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 no-
tified 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 dam-
ages for the opening, changing, or extending any road, and in case of
every appeal and every other matter connected with this act, the road
commission shall be represented by the Commonwealth’s attorney of
Giles county. ‘

6. Whether any such appeal on the question of damages shall he
taken or not, the board of road commissioners for the district or dis-
tricts in which such road shall be located on paying into the circuit
court of Giles county in term or to the clerk of said court in vacation
the sum ascertained by the commissioners locating the same as shown
by their report returned to said clerk’s office, may, notwithstanding 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 prosecution
of their work, unless it he made manifest that they, their officers, agents,
or servants are transcending their authority, and that the interposition’
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, judg-
ment 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 judgment 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 shall be disbursed to the parties entitled
thereto by the commissions.

9. Whenever 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 ad litem for infant defendants, and said guardian ad litem
shall represent 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 Giles county, and all notices and summons may be served by
the sheriff or his deputies, and their compensation, and the compensation
for the clerk of Giles circuit court, shall be the same as allowed said
officers for similar services, and any road commissioner in the discharge
of his duties under this act, wherever the same may be necessary,
is empowered to administer 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 agreemetit
that he or they will open same and keep the same in order.

11. That all new roads established, changes and alterations mngils
shall be of the width and grade to be determined by the road commission
viewing, 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
commission in their discretion relieve said petitioner from such costs,
and the same may be recovered from petitioner by suit at law or warrant
before 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, the roads of Giles county and for the purpose of building or
repairing the bridges and footways 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 of which to be annually
expended in macadamizing and making other permanent improvements
thereon in such a manner and at such points as the commission for the
several districts may think fit.

13. The 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 each board, and open for inspection. The said road commission for
cach district shall have the entire charge and management of the manner
of working and keeping in repair all the roads of said district, and also
building a new road, or changes in a road after any road has been estab-
lished or changed as hereinbefore provided. The said opening and
changing and keeping in repair of said roads shall be by the appoint-
ment of road overseers and employment of hands, teams, and so forth,
or by chain-gang or convict 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 respective district road commis-
sioners, and payable by the treasurer of Giles county our of the road
funds for the respective districts.

15. The district road board shall, in the record of their proceedings
directed to be kept, prescribe the manner of working and keeping in
repair the roads of their respective districts, and whether the same shall
‘be done by letting to contract or appointment of overseers, et cetera,
and shall further prescribe the amount of funds to be expended 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 hoard of supervisors
of Giles county of all moneys expended under this act, and by whom
expended, and upon what road expended, and for what purpose, the
amount due, and to whom. Such reports shall be verified by 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, show-
ing all money that came into their hands and disbursement thereof.

17%. No 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 sanction of the supervisor of his district,
any work on any road in his district, and receive such additional com-
pensation therefor as the said supervisor and himself 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-piles, 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. If the supervisors, or road commissioners, or either of them,
negligently 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 hundred dollars for
each offense, and may be removed from office by the circuit court of
Giles county. All the prosecutions for the violations of this act shall be
in the circuit court of Giles county, and shall be by indictment. And
it shall be the duty of the judge of the circuit court of Giles county to
charge every regular grand jury as to the provisions of this act, and to
require the road commissioners, elected as aforesaid, to be sent before
every grand jury as witnesses.

20- By reason of the necessary changes to be made in the Giles county
road law, an emergency exists, and this act shall be in force from its
passage.