H. B. No. 575.] CHAPTER 122.

An Act to establish a more efficient road system for Marion County.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas: That at the first annual meeting of the Commissioners' Court in February, the court of Marion County shall appoint, from among the citizens of the county, a county road superintendent of public roads, who shall possess -a practical knowledge of draining, leveling, grading, sufficient to be able to lay out all necessary work to be done by the overseers of the roads, to the end that good public roads may be established in said county.

Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of said county superintendent, twenty days before the regular periods of working the public roads (as hereinafter provided) of the county, to go over each road precinct of his county and carefully inspect the same, armed with such necessary-implements, tools, levels, etc., as will enable him to properly lay out any and all work to be done, viz.: grading, draining, leveling, direction, length, depth and fall of drainage, elevation, and grading road bed. He shall provide himself with a blank book in which he shall record in a plain hand a description of all work necessary to be done, numbering the road precinct and plainly designating the places or points in said roads where the work is to be done, and said county road superintendent shall deliver to each road overseer a plainly written copy of the record of his memoranda of the work to be done, three days before the regular times of working the roads (Sundays excluded).

Sec. 3. And it shall be the duty of the overseers of the public roads of the county to faithfully execute the work set forth and described in the copy of memoranda delivered to him by said county superintendent; and on failure upon the part of the overseer to execute the instructions- so delivered to him, without reasonable cause shown, he shall be fined not less than ten nor more than twenty-five dollars for each offense, upon complaint of the county road superintendent or any citizen using the road on which said neglect or disregard of duty may occur, before the nearest justice of the peace to the road precinct where such failure to comply with said instructions may occur.

Sec. 4. The county road superintendent herein provided for shall at any and all times keep a strict supervision over all the public roads of his county, and shall have authority to call out the overseers or overseer by a three days notice at any time to build or repair any road or section of road that may need work or repairs; provided, that he shall not compel the overseers to work more than ten days in one year. And the said- county road superintendent shall receive for his services as herein provided annually the sum now paid to the commissioners as road reviewers, and in addition such sum as the Commissioners' Court of the county may deem just, out of the road and bridge fund, not to exceed two hundred dollars, to be paid quarterly as other county officers are paid their ex officio, and he shall be required to give a bond with approved security to the county judge and his successors in office as the County Commissioners' Court may deem just and right for faithful discharge of duty.

Sec. 5. There shall be three road working periods in the year, of three days each, except the first, which shall be four days, beginning on the first Mondays of November, March, and July, of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible; provided, it shall be optionary with the overseer, with the consent of the superintendent as to the number of days that may be expended upon the road at any one of the above mentioned periods; the superintendent being responsible to the county for the conditions of the roads.

Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of the overseers of the public roads of the county in warning his hands, which shall be three days before the day designated to begin the work (Sundays excluded), to definitely designate the character and conditions of the tool or tools that each hand is required to bring upon the road, and if said hand shall disregard the requirement or order of the overseer or his lawful agent and shall bring upon the road another or inferior tool, one that he can not do a fair day's work with, the overseer shall not receive or accept such hand on the road, but shall proceed against him as the law directs as though said hand had not appeared upon the road at all, before the nearest justice of the peace; provided, the overseer may give to said hand one hour to comply with the order of the overseer when summoned to work the road. Overseers shall receive no substitute for able bodied men who are not able to do a full and satisfactory day's work, and a majority of the hands, by vote. may reject a substitute for cause or disability.

Sec. 7. The county shall furnish all teams, plows, and scrapers; provided, the overseers may make such deal with any of the hands as will be to the advantage of the county.

Sec. 8. It shall also he the duty of the county road superintendent as provided in this act to inspect all bridges in his county and report the condition of said bridges to the commissioners at any call or regular meeting of same, and in said report he shall state the condition of the bridge or bridges with a statement of the work necessary to be done on the bridge or bridges and the probable cost of the same.

Sec. 9. And it is herein further provided, that at the first regular meeting of the County Commissioners' Court, after this act shall take effect and become a law, said court shall appoint the county road superintendent as provided for by this act, who shall hold his office and perform all duties made incumbent upon him by this act until the first regular meeting of said court in February, A. D. 1898, at which meeting of the court a regular road superintendent, as herein provided, shall be appointed. This act to take effect and become a law ninety days after its passage, and all laws and parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.

[note.—The foregoing act was presented to the Governor of Texas for his approval, on Friday, the seventh day of May, A. D. 1897, but was not signed by him nor returned to the House in which it originated with his objections thereto within the time prescribed by the Constitution, and thereupon became a law without his signature.—J. W. MadDen, Secretary of State.]

Takes effect 90 days after adjournment.