CHAPTER 469

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 53-109 of the 1950 Code, relating to
the use of convict road force in construction and maintenance
of highways; acquisition, preparation and disposition of road
material; and providing for payment for such convict labor
when employed on State highways by State Highway Com-

Mission.
[S 265]
Approved April 7, 1950
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 53-109 of the 1950 Code be amended and reenacted as
follows:

§ 53-109. Use of convict road force in construction and mainte-
nance of highways; acquisition, preparation and disposition of road
material.—The State convict road force as now or hereafter consti-
tuted shall, so far as practicable, be employed in the construction
and maintenance of the State Highway System, and secondary
system of State highways, and to this end may be used in rock
quarries, gravel pits and other plants in the preparation of materials
for construction and maintenance of roads.

The State Highway Commission may acquire out of the pro-
ceeds of the money, now or hereafter available for construction and
maintenance of the State Highway System, and secondary system,
such quarries, gravel pits or plants as may in its opinion be neces-
sary for such work; and the highway commission shall on the
request of any county road authorities allow such county road
authorities to take from such quarries or gravel pits or shall
sell to such county road authorities at cost of production such
materials as may be required to be used for the construction and
maintenance of county roads; but this arrangement must in no
way interfere with the furnishing of materials by the highway
commission for the maintenance or construction of the State High-
way System and secondary system.

The State Highway Commission shall make requisition, from
time to time, upon the Director for such number of the convict
road force as it may deein necessary for the work on the State
Highway System, or secondary system, or for the preparation of
road material for road construction and maintenance. The number
of convicts so requisitioned shall not be less than sixteen hundred
for each day convicts are used by the Commission, exclusive of its
prisoners employed in the operation and maintenance of the State
Road Force prison camps. Thereupon the Director shall send to
the place designated by the commissioner the number of such convict
road force so required, and all of the provisions of this chapter
and §§ 53-58 and 53-221 shall apply.

The State Highway Commission shall pay to the Director
monthly for the hours convicts are employed on the State Highway
Primary System and Secondary System and work incidental thereto,
including relocation and moving of convict road camps, for each
hour such convict 18 so employed not more than the local hourly
rate for similar type of labor in the area in which such convicts
are employed and not less than ninety percent of such local hourly
rate for similar type of labor in the area where such convicts are
employed as evidenced by the payrolls of the Department of High-
ways in such area. Such monthly payment by the Commission to
the Director shall be made not later than the 15th day of the suc-
ceeding month after the work or labor has been performed for the
Commission, provided, however, that the State Highway Commis-
sion shall allocate the sum of three hundred thousand dollars an-
nually to the Director for the State Convict Road Force to be used
as an advance against said monthly payments.

In addition to the payments as hereinbefore provided, the State
Highway Commission shall pay to the Director from the special
Motor Vehicle fuel tar fund such sums as are necessary for capital
outlay projects. Such capital outlay projects shall tnelude the
cost of purchase of permanent camp sites, construction of buildings
and other improvements which are necessary for the operation of
the camps, and the care and handling of the prisoners confined
therein, subject to the approval of the State Highway Commission.
Any land so acquired for such buildings and improvements shall
be by the State Highway Commission and title to such lands and
improvements shall vest in the Commonwealth of Virginta—Depart-
ment of Highways.

All convicts in the State convict road force who are, in the
judgment of the chairman of the State Highway Commission, not
needed for work on the State Highway System, or secondary
system, or in the preparation of materials for construction and
maintenance, shall be used in accordance with the provisions of
§§ 53-58 and 53-61.