CHAP. CXIV.-An Act to authorize the Board of Supervisors of Sonoma County to appropriate money for a Map. [Approved March 28, 1863.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. The Board of Supervisors of the County of Sonoma are hereby authorized and empowered, and it is hereby made their duty, to contract with A. B. Bowers for the completion and publication of his map of said county, and to pay for the same the sum of five thousand dollars, on or before the delivery to them of twenty copies of the aforesaid map. SEC. 2. This Act shall take effect immediately. Public Act CHAP. CXV.-An Act concerning Roads and Highways in the Counties of Shasta and Trinity. [Approved March 28, 1863.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. All roads in the Counties of Shasta and Trinity are hereby declared to be public highways which are now used as such and have been declared such by order of the Court of Sessions, or Board of Supervisors, or which may hereafter be declared such by said Board, in accordance with the provisions of this Act. SEC. 2. The sections from one to twelve, inclusive, of an Act applicable. entitled an Act to provide for the establishment, maintenance, and protection of public and private roads, approved May sixteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, are hereby made applicable to the Counties of Shasta and Trinity, and the said counties are hereby exempted from the operation of the remaining sections of said Act. Road Road SEC. 3. For all purposes of this Act, the townships as now established shall be Road Districts, within the meaning of this law, and they may be changed, divided, created, or more distinctly defined, by the Board of Supervisors, at any time considered necessary, and every such Road District shall have one Road Overseer. SEC. 4. Such Road Overseers shall be elected at the general election in the year eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and at the general election every two years thereafter, who shall qualify and take their office on the first Monday in November subsequent to their election, and shall hold the same for the period of two years from the date of their qualification, and the Board of Supervisors shall have power and it shall be their duty to fill by appointment any vacancy that may occur in the office of Road Overseer in any District of said counties for either fractional or full term. Overseers. SEC. 5. Any person appointed or elected Road Overseer, Bond and before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and sub- oath of scribe the usual oath of office, and shall execute a bond to The People of the State of California, with two or more sufficient sureties, in a sum not less than double the probable amount of road money that will come into his hands, to be fixed on by the Board of Supervisors, and shall be conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of the office, and the payment into the County Treasury of such money as he shall be required to do by the provisions of this Act. SEC. 6. At the session of the Board of Supervisors for levy- Road ing State, county and other taxes, the said Board shall levy poll tax. upon all able bodied male persons, except Indians, between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years, a road poll tax of not less than two, nor more than four dollars per annum, which tax shall be paid in labor, as hereinafter provided, at the rate of two dollars per day; provided, that any person liable to perform road duty, may pay the same, when called upon by the Road Overseer, in cash; and said Board of Supervisors shall at the same session levy a property tax for road purposes, upon all taxable property in said counties, of not less than five nor more than twenty cents on each one hundred dollars, which said property tax shall be assessed and collected at the same time, and in the same manner, and by the same officers, as other property taxes; provided, that when any person shall perform Proviso. more labor on the highways in any one year than is required by this Act, the Overseer of the District in which said labor shall be peformed, shall receipt to such person for the extra amount of labor so performed, and said receipt shall be good and receiv able for road dues for any subsequent year. Collector. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the Collector to keep a sepa- Duty of rate account of the road tax collected in each Road District; and of the Treasurer to keep the moneys so collected in the several Districts in separate Funds. These Funds of the several Road Districts shall be under the control of the Board of Supervisors, who may disburse the same for the construction of bridges, the opening or improvement of roads of general utility to such counties, or may in their discretion transfer them to the Road Overseers, to be expended by them in the improvement of the roads; each Fund in the District where it was collected. The Board of Supervisors shall draw money from the Duties of Road Fund by drawing their order on the Treasurer, and said Supervisors orders shall specify the particular Fund from which they are to be paid; provided, that in no instance shall the Board of Supervisors draw their orders to exceed the amount in the Road Fund upon which said orders are drawn. Overseers. SEC. 8. The Road Overseers shall warn and require all per- Duties of sons in their respective Districts who by this Act are liable to road duty, to perform such labor on the roads and highways of the Districts as is herein required, and they shall notify such persons of the time when, and the place where, such service must be performed, and shall superintend and direct such labor; and the Overseers shall cause all the roads and highways of Duties of Overseers. Receipts for taxes. Duties of their respective Districts to be kept clear of obstructions, and in good repair; shall cause banks to be graded, bridges and causeways to be made, and the same to be kept in condition for the accommodation of travel, and shall cause guide boards to be erected at the intersections of roads, where the convenience of the travelling public may require the same; and shall have full power to contract for labor and material necessary and proper for accomplishing these objects; provided, that his expenditures shall not exceed the means at his command to pay for the same. SEC. 9. To enforce the collections of the tax due from any person who, on the requirement of the Road Overseer, shall have neglected, failed, or refused to do the labor or pay the money, as required by this Act, the Overseer may seize so much of any and every species of property, right, possession, or claim whatever, belonging to such person so liable and neglecting or refusing to pay such road tax, as will be sufficient to pay the same and cost of seizure, which shall be as hereinafter provided, and may sell the same at any time and place, on giving verbal notice one hour previous to such sale; and any person indebted to another liable to road tax, who shall neglect or refuse to pay the same, shall be liable for the tax of such other person, after service on him by the Overseer of a notice stating the name of the person so liable and owing road tax, and may deduct the amount thereof from such indebtedness. The Overseer, after deducting the tax for which such property was sold, and the costs of sale, which shall be three dollars in each case, shall return the surplus, if any, to the owner of the property. A delivery of the possession of the property by the Overseer, to any purchaser at any such sale, shall be a sufficient title in the purchaser, without the execution of a deed therefor by the Overseer. SEC. 10. The Board of Supervisors shall cause proper blank receipts for road taxes to be printed, and shall require the Clerk of the Board to sign a number equal to the probable number of persons in the county liable to pay road poll tax, and to issue the same to the Overseers of the Road Districts of the county; and the Clerk of the Board shall charge to the Overseers, in a book kept for that purpose, the receipts which he shall deliver to them respectively; and when any person shall perform the labor on the highways, or in lieu thereof shall pay the money as required by this Act, the Road Overseer of the District shall deliver to him a road poll tax receipt, with the blanks properly filled, thereby showing whether such tax was paid in labor or cash. SEC. 11. On the first Monday in November in each year, the Road Overseers shall file their accounts, duly verified, with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, for settlement; said accounts shall contain a list of the names of all persons in their respective District liable to perform service on the roads, the names of the persons who have performed such labor, and of those who, in lieu thereof, have paid the amount of their poll tax in cash. They shall also contain a statement of the sums of money paid out, to whom paid, and for what purpose; and each Overseer shall state in his account the number of days he has been occupied in the discharge of the duties of his office; and all moneys 1 still remaining in his hands, after deducting his per diem, he of county. When any Road Overseer shall pay any money into of Treasurer the County Treasury, it shall be the duty of the Treasurer to place it to the credit of the District of which the person so paying is Overseer; and the Treasurer shall pay money out of the Road Funds on orders drawn by the Board of Supervisors. penalties. SEC. 13. Road Overseers shall receive pay for their services Pay of on the roads at the rate of four dollars per day, and for the col- Overseers. lecting of the road tax from persons who refuse or neglect to work on the roads, ten per cent on the amount collected; provided, that for the time spent in seizing and selling property for the forcible collection of said tax, the Overseer shall not receive pay per diem. And the Board of Supervisors may draw their orders on the Treasurer, in favor of any Overseer who may have a balance due him on settlement, for the amount of such balance, payable out of the Fund of the Districts of which such person is Overseer. Any Overseer neglecting, failing, or refusing Neglect of to perform any of the duties prescribed by this Act, besides be- duty and ing liable to be removed, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof before any Justice of the Peace in the county, shall be fined in any sum not exceeding two hundred dollars, for which fine his official bond shall be liable, and when collected shall be paid into the County Treasury, and placed in the Road Fund of his District; provided, that if, through the negligence of any Road Overseer, the road poll tax of any person, liable to pay the same, shall not be collected, said Overseer's official bond shall be liable for said tax; and it shall be the duty of the Board of Supervisors to collect the same, and pay it into the Treasury, and the Treasurer shall place the same with the Road Fund of the District for which said person is Overseer. SEC. 14. Any person or persons, company, or corporations, Obstructing who shall obstruct any public highway, either by placing an highways. obstruction therein, or by digging a canal or ditch, or deepening the waters of any stream, and not bridge the same the full width of the road within twelve hours, or sooner, if possible, by placing good and substantial timbers across the same, not exceeding six feet apart, and planking the same with plank, not less than three inches in thickness, unless permission shall have been granted by the Road Overseer of the District to build the bridge of a less size, but in no case to be less than sixteen feet in width, or shall neglect or refuse to keep such bridge across such ditch, canal, or stream, in good repair, shall be liable to prosecution for a misdemeanor; and it shall be the duty of the Road Overseer of the District to prosecute for such offence on behalf of Penalties. the county; and the party offending, on conviction, shall be liable to a fine of not less than ten nor more than two hundred dollars, with costs of suit, to be collected as other fines; and he or they shall be further liable, at the suit of the Road Overseer of the District, in the sum of five dollars for each day such obstructions remain after being notified to remove or remedy the same; and whenever any public highway is injured by the breaking of any water ditch, or canal, the owners thereof shall be liable for all damages occasioned to said road by said breaking; and it is made the duty of the Road Overseer in said District to prosecute said owners for all such damages; and all moneys collected under the provisions of this section shall be paid into the Road Fund of said District where such obstruction has been placed. SEC. 15. All Acts and parts of Acts in conflict with this Act, so far as they apply to the Counties of Shasta and Trinity, are hereby repealed Commissioners. Bonds. Powers CHAP. CXVI.-An Act to provide for the construction of a Wagon [Approved March 31, 1863.] The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and SECTION 1. There shall be chosen by the Boards of Supervisors of the Counties of Mono, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin, as hereinafter provided in section twenty and twentyone, Commissioners, to be known and designated as the "Sonora and Mono Road Commissioners;" the persons so chosen as Commissioners shall have and exercise the powers hereinafter conferred upon them, and shall hold their office during the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors by whom they may have been respectively chosen. Before entering upon the duties of their office, each of said Commissioners shall enter into a bond in the sum of five thousand dollars, with two or more sufficient sureties, that he will faithfully perform all the duties required of him under the provisions of this Act, and will, immediately after his receipt of the same, pay over and deliver to the person or persons entitled thereto, any money or bonds which may come into his possession or under his control as Commissioner. Said bonds shall be approved by the Board of Supervisors appointing the Commissioner, and shall be filed in the office of the County Clerk. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of said Road Commissioners to cause to be located, improved, and constructed, a wagon road, from the City of Sonora, in the County of Tuolumne, passing thence, by way of Strawberry Flat, across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, to Aurora, in the County of Mono. Said Commissioners shall have full power, and they are hereby authorized to employ such Surveyor, or Engineer, and other assistants, as they may deem advisable to advance the economical construc |