CHAPTER 12 An act to provide for working the public roads and highways of Macon county. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: roads. SECTION 1. That all roads that have been laid out, appointed Roads establishor established by virtue of any act of the Assembly, or any sembly or order ed by act of asorder of court are hereby declared to be public roads. And the of court public Justices of the peace in each township shall meet annually in some place to be agreed upon by themselves on the first Saturday in May and elect three of their number to have supervision Justices to elect Supervisors anand control of the public roads in their respective townships, nually. who are hereby incorporated, and the Board of Trustees of such Supervisors incorporated. township shall be their corporate name. They shall have the right to sue and to be sued ; plead and be impleaded in any of the Corporate name. courts of this State. The Board of Township Trustees and the Board of County Commissioners, as hereinafter set forth in this chapter, shall have full power and authority to appoint and settle ferries, and to order the laying out and repairing of public roads when necessary; to appoint where bridges or bridges and fords shall be made; to discontinue such roads and ferries as shall be found useless and to alter roads so as to make them more useful. Joint powers of Justices and sioners. Trustees. Record to be kept and chair man elected. Exempt from 4 days work on road. SEC. 2. The Board of Township Trustees shall meet in some Meetings of place in their respective Townships to be agreed upon by themselves, or in the absence of such agreement to be named by their chairman on the first Saturday of May and November, and at such other times as a majority of them may deem advisable. They shall keep a record of their proceedings, and shall annually at their meeting elect one of their number chairman. The Board of Trustees shall be exempt from four days labor on the public roads. It shall be the further duty of the Trustees to examine into the condition of the public roads and highways Further duty of of their respective townships, at least twice in each year, and make a report of the condition of said roads and highways, and present said report at the Spring and Fall Terms to the Judge of the Superior Court, who shall transmit said report to the Solicitor, with such instructions as he may deem proper; that each and every chairman of County Commissioners, Board of County Commissioners, Justices of the Peace or Board of Township Trustees or Supervisor who shall neglect or refuse to per. form the several duties injoined by this act shall be guilty of a Trustees. Misdemeanor. Duty of Solicitor. Proviso. Supervisor to be elected for each misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be fined or imprisoned, or both in the discretion of the court, and it is hereby made the duty of the Solicitor to prosecute said offense. SEC. 3. That the Township Trustees of the several Townships in the County of Macon shall on the first Saturday of May Townships to be next, or within twenty days thereafter, divide their respective divided into road districts. townships into suitable road districts, of not less than twenty miles, unless in their judgment smaller road districts would be more advantageous, and annually thereafter may make such alteration therein as they may deem proper and cause a brief discription thereof to be made on the township records, and also furnish each Supervisor with a plot of his road district; Provided, There shall be at least one Supervisor to each township. The Trustees of each township, at their May meeting, and annually thereafter, shall elect one Supervisor for each road district, and each Supervisor who refuse or neglect to qualify and serve shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten dollars and costs to be collected by the Township Trustees in action of debt. Money so collected shall go into the road fund of the township, and be credited to the proper road district. That when any vacancy shall occur in the office of Supervisor by death, resignation or otherwise, the Trustees of the township, wherein such vacancy occurs shall appoint some suitable person to fill the vacancy. district. Penalty for failure to qualify and serve. How penalty disposed of. Vacancies. Road bed. Grade. Civil engineer to be employed. Proviso. No grade to ex- Duties of super- Powers of supervisors. SEC. 4. The road bed shall not be less than twelve feet wide, and when practicable shall be at least sixteen feet wide, and in opening new roads not more than five jurors shall be summoned or required, and no road hereafter laid out or established shall be a greater grade than six feet in one hundred, unless in case the jury appointed shall not be able to determine such grade for the road proposed; then it shall be the duty of the chairman of the Board of Township Trustees to employ a competent civil engineer to assist the jury in laying out such road; and if in his judgment such grade is not practicable, they shall proceed to make the best grade possible, provided, no public road shall be laid out, or established of a grade exceeding eight feet to the hundred; and it shall be the duty of each and every Supervisor to open or cause to be opened all public roads and highways which shall have been, or may hereafter be laid out and established in his road district; to keep the same in repair, and remove or cause to be removed all obstructions that may from time to time be found therein; for which purpose the Supervisors are hereby authorized to enter upon any uncultivated lands or improved lands unencumbered by crops, near to or adjoining such roads, to cut and carry away timber, except trees as grown on improved land, planted or left for ornament or shade; to dig or cause to be dug and carried away any gravel, sand or stone, which may be necessary to make, improve or repair said road, and to enter on any lands adjoining or lying near the road, to make such drains or ditches through the same as he may deem necessary for the benefit of the road, doing as little injury to said lands or the improvements thereon, and timber as the nature of the case and the public wil permit; and the drains and ditches so made shall be conducted to the nearest water course or waste ground, and shall be kept open by such supervisor, and shall not be obstructed by the owner, or occupier of said Land owners not lands, or any other person or persons having the same in charge, ditches. under the penalty of forfeiting a sum not exceeding ten dollars Penalty. for each and every offense, to be collected by the Supervisor, and paid over by him to the Township Trustees and applied by them to the road fund of the township. to obstruct road duty SEC. 5. That all able-bodied male persons, and male persons Persons liable to able to perform, or cause to be performed the labor herein required between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except persons permanently disabled in the military service of this State and exempted by the County Commissioners and Board of Township Trustees of the Township in which he resides, shall be liable annually to do and perform six days' labor on the public roads and highways under the direction of the Supervisor of the road district in which he shall reside, provided, further, that if any person who shall be liable to do, Proviso. Commutation. or perform said six days labor as herein provided shall pay to the Supervisor in whose district he may reside, the sum of four dollars and fifty cents ($4.50), the same shall be received in lieu of the six days labor, and shall be applied by the Supervisor receiving the same to the informant of the roads of his district, and accounted for as hereinafter provided. SEC. 6. That it shall be the duty of every Supervisor to order Supervisors to order out road out every such person resident as aforesaid, between the fifhands. teenth day of January, and the fifteenth day of December, annually, to do and perform the work aforesaid on the public roads within the district, and if any such resident being personally warned by such Supervisor, or by leaving a written notice at his usual abode shall refuse or neglect, having had at least two days' notice, to attend by himself, or an able-bodied substitute acceptable to the Supervisor with such tools as the Supervisor may direct or having attended shall refuse to obey the directions of the Supervisor, or shall spend the time in idleness, Penalty for failor inattention or neglect of duties assigned him, every such ure to attend and delinquent shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar for every work. Misdemeanor, Penalty. such offense, and shall further be liable in all cases of non ́ attendance to the amount of six days work, to be recovered by action before any Justice of the peace of the proper township, at the suit of the Supervisor, within whose district he may reside, and also be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not exceeding five dollars, nor less than two dollars and all costs of action, or imprisoned not exceeding five days, nor less than two days, at the discretion of the court and the money so colPenalties applied lected shall be applied by said supervisor to the improvement to road improve- of the roads in his district, and accounted for by him at the annual settlement with the township Trustees, provided, that no person shall be released from the performance of labor on the public roads and highways by reason of the neglect of any Supervisor to order out such person, on or before the fifteenth day of December as hereinafter provided. ment. Proviso. Road hands not released by neglect of supervisor. Persons remov work already done. SEC. 7. That in case any person shall move from one district ing from one dis- to another, who has prior to such removal performed the whole trict to another credited with or any part of the labor aforesaid, or in any other way whole or any part of the amount aforesaid in lieu of such labor, and shall produce the certificate of the same from the Supervisor of the proper district, and such certificate shall be a complete discharge for the amount therein specified. Persons liable to road duty to appear and work. Proviso. Day's work. Residence defined. Supervisors to collect fines, forfeitures and penalties. Judgments. SEC. 8. That any person called upon to perform any labor upon the public road under any of the provisions of this act, shall by himself or substitute appear at the time and place appointed by the Supervisor, with the implements directed, and shall work as required by this act, provided, That no hand shall be required to work for a less time than eight hours, nor a longer time than ten hours for a day's work. SEC. 9. That for the purpose provided for in the preceeding section of this act, the residence of any person, who has a fanily shall be held to be where his family resides, and the residence of any other person shall be held to be where he boards, in any road district in the county embraced in this act. SEC. 10. That the several Supervisors within their respective districts shall collect by suit or otherwise, all fines, forfeitures and penalties arising and accruing under the provisions of this act, unless the collection thereof is otherwise herein provided for, and they are hereby authorized and required before their settlement with the Township Trustees to prosecute to final judgment all persons neglecting or refusing to comply with the provisions of this act, from whom such fines, forfeitures or penalties, in the opinion of the Supervisor can be collected by execution, and the said judgments if not paid, together with the costs thereon, shall remain and be in force against the judgment debtor as other judgments at law. SEC. 11. That the several Supervisors shall expend all mon- Supervisor to expend collections. eys by them collected for the benefit of the roads and highways in their respective districts, and every Supervisor is hereby required to account to the township Trustees at the annual set- To account and report annually. tlement for all moneys expended under this act, and they shall also return a full and true list and statement of the names of all persons within their respective districts who have been ordered out to perform the six days labor as required by this act, and of those who have refused or neglected to perform the same; and all fines and forfeitures sued for and recovered under the provisions of this act shall be paid over on demand by the Justice of the peace or constable collecting the same to the Supervisor of such road district wherein such fines or forfeitures accrued; and the several Supervisors shall also render an account to the township Trustees at the annual settlement of all moneys that remain in their hands at the time of the settle'ment; also all judgments that remain unpaid, and the name of the judgment debtor, and the Justices of the peace before whom such judgments were obtained with the amount thereof, and the township Trustees shall make such order as to the prosecution of the suits by the Supervisor of the proper district against such delinquent as in the judgment of the Trustees the interest of the Township may require or demand. supervisor to pay the money remaining on hand SEC. 12. That all the moneys that remain in the hands of the Supervisor at the time of the annual settlement with the Trustees shall be paid over to his successor in office, as soon as such successor shall be elected and qualified, taking a receipt there for, and deposit said receipt with the township Trustees. It to successor. shall be lawful for any Supervisor to sue out executions on any Supervisors may judgment that remains unpaid within his proper district, at any tions. time when in his opinion the same can be collected and the money so received and collected shall be expended as provided in the foregoing section. sue out execu SEC. 13. That the Supervisors of roads and highways, in Foot bridges. the county named in this act, be and they are hereby author ized to construct foot bridges over streams of water on said highways. SEC. 14. That each Supervisor within his district shall erect Guide boards. and keep up at the expense of the township at the forks of roads or cross roads of every State and county road, a post and guide or finger board containing an inscription in legible letters, directing the way and distances to the town or towns or public place or places situated on each road respectively. SEC. 15. That if any person shall wilfully demolish, throw Penalty for down, alter or deface any guide or finger board, every person so injury to guide boards. |