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Act to establish a Political Code, approved March 12, 1872, and each and every section of said chapter two, are hereby repealed, and a new chapter two, of title six, of part three, of said Political Code, is hereby enacted and substituted in place of said repealed chapter, to read as follows:

CHAPTER II.

HIGHWAYS.

ARTICLE I. ENUMERATION OF HIGHWAYS.

II. RULES AND RESTRICTIONS RESPECTING THE USE OF HIGHWAYS.

III. POWERS AND DUTIES OF HIGHWAY OFFICERS.

IV. HIGHWAY TAXES.

V. PERFORMANCE OF HIGHWAY LABOR AND COMMUTATION.
VI. LAYING OUT, ALTERING, AND DISCONTINUING ROADS.
VII. ERECTION AND MAINTENANCE OF BRIDGES.

VIII. OBSTRUCTIONS AND INJURIES TO HIGHWAYS.

ARTICLE I.

ENUMERATION OF HIGHWAYS.

Highways defined.

Expiration

of franchise.

Width.

Supervisors shall order.

SECTION 2618. What are highways.

2619. Origin of highways.

2620. Width of highways.

2621. Vacation of highways.

2622. Record of proceedings relating to roads and highways.

2618. In all counties of this State public highways are roads, streets, alleys, lanes, courts, places, trails, and bridges, laid out or erected as such by the public, or if laid out or erected by others, dedicated or abandoned to the public, or made such in actions for the partition of real property.

2619. Whenever the franchise for any toll bridge, trail, turnpike, plank, or common wagon road has expired by limitation or non-user, such bridge, trail, turnpike, plank, or common wagon road becomes a free public highway; and no claim shall be valid against the public for right of way, or for the land, or material comprising such bridge, trail, turnpike, plank, or common wagon road. All public highways, once established, shall continue to be public highways until abandoned by order of the Board of Supervisors of the county in which they are situated, or by operation of law, or judgment of a Court of competent jurisdiction.

2620. The width of all public highways, except bridges, alleys, and lanes, and trails, shall be at least forty feet. The width of all private highways and byroads, except bridges, shall be at least twenty feet; provided, however, that nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to increase or diminish the width of either kind of highways already established or used as such.

2621. A road laid out and worked, and used as provided in this chapter, shall not be vacated or cease to be a highway until so ordered by the Board of Supervisors of the county in which said road may be located; and no route of travel used by one or more persons over another's land, shall hereafter become a public road or byway by use, or until so

declared by the Board of Supervisors or by dedication by the owner of the land affected.

2622. The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors shall Road include in the minutes of the Board of Supervisors all pro- Register. ceedings of the Board relative to each road or road district, including orders for laying out, altering, and opening roads; he must also keep a Road Register, in which must be entered the number and name of each public highway in the county, a general reference to its terminal points and course, also the date of the filing of the petition or other papers, a memorandum of every subsequent proceeding in reference to it, with the date thereof, and the folio, and the volume of the minute book where it is recorded.

ARTICLE II.

RULES AND RESTRICTIONS RESPECTING THE USE OF HIGHWAYS.

SECTION 2631. The public easement.

2632. Adjoining owner may construct sidewalk.
2633. May plant trees.

of right of way.

2631. By taking or accepting land for a highway, the Acquisition public acquire only the right of way, and the incidents nec- way essary to enjoying and maintaining the same, subject to the regulations in this and the Civil Code provided.

and their

2632. Any owner or occupant of land may construct a Sidewalks sidewalk on the highway along the line of his land, subject, protection. however, to the authority conferred by law on the Board of Supervisors and the Commissioners of Highways; and any person using such sidewalk with mule, horse, or team, without permission of the owner, is liable to such owner or occupant in the sum of five dollars for each trespass, and for all damages suffered thereby.

2633. Any owner or occupant of land adjoining a high- Tree way not less than three rods wide, may plant trees in and planting. along said highway on the side contiguous to his land. They must be set in regular rows, at a distance of at least twenty feet from each other, and not more than six feet from the boundary of the highway. If the highway is more than eighty feet wide the row must not be less than six nor more than twelve feet from the boundary of the highway. Whoever willfully injures any of them is liable to the owner, or to the occupant, for the damage which is thereby sustained.

ARTICLE III.

POWERS AND DUTIES OF HIGHWAY OFFICERS.

SECTION 2641. Road districts.

2642. Road Overseers.

2643. Duties of Supervisors respecting roads.
2644. Overseers to give bond and take oath.
2645. Duties of Road Overseer.

ex officio

2641. The Board of Supervisors of the several counties Supervisors shall divide their respective counties into suitable road dis- Road Comtricts, and may change the boundaries thereof, and each missioners.

Appoint

ment of Roadmaster.

Supervisor shall be ex officio Road Commissioner of the several road districts in his Supervisor District, and shall see that all orders of the Board of Supervisors pertaining to roads in his district are properly executed; provided, when in any county the members of the Board of Supervisors thereof are not elected by districts, it shall be the duty of such Board, by proper order to be entered in its records, to divide such county into Supervisor Districts, to correspond with the number of members of such Board, and assign to each member thereof one of such districts of which he shall be such Road Commissioner. Said Road Commissioner shall receive no compensation for performing the duties imposed on him by this Act.

2642. The Board of Supervisors of each county shall, upon the presentation of a petition signed by a majority of the taxpayers of said road district, appoint one Road Overseer or Roadmaster for each or any road district in their respective counties, such Overseer to be an elector of the district for which he is appointed, who shall hold office for and during the pleasure of the Board, not to exceed two years, and who shall, under the direction of the Road Commissioner of his district, perform the duties hereinafter in this chapter specified. And if a vacancy at any time occurs in any district, the Supervisors may appoint without any petition for the unexpired term. If the Board does not appoint Road Overseers, the Road Commissioners within their respective districts shall perform the duties imposed on Road Overseers by the provisions of this chapter; provided, that all Road Overseers, Roadmasters, or Road Commissioners now in office by election, must hold office and exercise the duties thereof for the terms for which they were elected. 2643. The Boards of Supervisors of the several counties Supervisors. of this State shall have general supervision over the roads within their respective counties. They must, by proper ordinance:

Powers of

1. Cause to be surveyed, viewed, laid out, recorded, opened, and worked, such highways as are necessary for public convenience, as in this chapter provided.

2. Cause to be recorded as highways such roads as have become such by usage or abandonment to the public. Also all such streets and roads as have been or may be declared such under section seven hundred and sixty-four of the Code of Civil Procedure.

3. Abolish or abandon such as are not necessary.

4. Contract, agree for, purchase, or otherwise acquire the right of way over private property for the use of public highways, and for that purpose institute, or require the District Attorney to institute proceedings under title seven, part three, of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to pay therefor from the District Road Fund of the particular district.

5. In their discretion, let out by contract the construction, maintenance, and improvement of the highways, and the construction, maintenance, and repair of bridges, or other adjuncts of highways, when the amount of work to be done exceeds two hundred dollars.

6. Levy a property road tax.

7. Order and direct Overseers specially in regard to work to be done on particular roads in their districts.

8. In their discretion, cause to be erected and maintained on the highways they may designate, mile-stones, or posts, and guide-posts, properly inscribed.

9. Cause the road tax collected each year to be apportioned to the several road districts entitled thereto, and kept by the Treasurer in separate funds.

10. Audit all claims on the funds of the respective road districts when required to pay for right of way, or work, or improvements thereon.

11. They may also, in their discretion, provide for the establishment of gates on the public highways in certain cases, to avoid the necessity of building road fences, and prescribe rules and regulations for closing the same, and penalties for a violation of said rules; provided, that the expense for the erection and maintenance of such gates shall in all cases be borne by the party or parties for whose immediate benefit the same shall be ordered.

bond of

2644. When Overseers of road districts receive notice of Oath and their appointment from the Board of Supervisors, they must, overseers. within ten days thereafter, give the official bond required by said Board, and take the usual oath of office. The notice and certificate that the bond has been approved and filed, and the oath taken and indorsed thereon, or a certified copy thereof, constitute a commission, and authorizes the person named therein and holding the same to discharge the duties of Overseer until superseded. The bond must be approved by Judge of the Superior Court.

Overseers.

2645. Road Overseers, under the direction and super- Duties of vision of the Road Commissioners, and pursuant to orders of the Board of Supervisors, must:

1. Take charge of the highways within their respective districts.

2. Keep them clear from obstructions, and in good repair, and destroy, or cause to be destroyed, at least once a year, all thistles, Mexican cockleburs, or cockleburs of any kind, and all noxious weeds growing or being on any portion of the public highways or public roads in their respective districts.

3. Cause banks to be graded, bridges and causeways to be made where necessary, keep the same in good repair, and renew them when destroyed.

4. Make quarterly reports under oath of the number of days they have been employed during the preceding three months, the number of days' labor performed on the roads and highways in their respective districts, by whom performed, and the wages paid per day; filing therewith a receipt or receipts, signed by each or all persons who have performed labor, stating the number of days of labor performed and the amount received for the same; also the amount and value of the materials and kind thereof.

tion of

5. Receive for his services, from money in the treasury Compensabelonging to his road district, a sum not to exceed three dol- overseers. lars per day for each day's service performed by him, not

to exceed one hundred days in any one year, to be audited and ordered paid by the Board of Supervisors. Road Overseers shall receive fifteen per cent on all moneys collected by them as road poll tax; provided, they shall have first paid into the county treasury the sum of all moneys so collected; and no per diem for the time spent in making collections shall be allowed said Road Overseers.

ARTICLE IV.

General

Road Fund.

All contracts in violation null and void.

HIGHWAY TAXES.

SECTION 2651. General road fund.

2652. Road poll tax.

2653. Property highway tax.

2654. Assessment and collection of property highway tax.
2655. Taxes to be expended in districts.

2651. The Board of Supervisors may annually set apart from the property road tax collected from all sources, a sum not exceeding thirty-five per cent of the aggregate, for general county road purposes, to be known as the General Road Fund of the county, from which sum so set apart they may direct such amounts to be paid as may be found necessary for such general county road purposes in which the inhabitants of all the districts within the county are more or less interested, or to assist weak or impoverished districts in keeping their roads in repair, to be applied as the said Board may order or direct; provided, that the Boards of Supervisors in the several counties shall have no power to create a debt on any road district in excess of the estimated amount of receipts from said district for the current year.

2. All contracts, authorizations, allowances, payments, and liabilities to pay, made or attempted to be made in violation of this Act, shall be absolutely void, and shall never be the foundation or basis of a claim against the treasury of such county. And all officers of said county are charged with notice of the condition of the treasury of said county, and the extent of the claims against the same.

Liability of 3. All Supervisors, and any other officer authorizing, or Supervisors, aiding to authorize, or auditing, or allowing any claim or

Road poll

tax.

demand upon or against said treasury, or any fund thereof, in violation of any of the provisions of this Act, shall be liable in person, and upon their several official bonds, to the person or persons damaged by such illegal authorization, to the extent of his loss by reason of the non-payment of his claim.

4. The Treasurer paying any claim authorized, allowed, or audited in violation of this provision, shall be liable on his official bond to refund the same to the county treasury.

2652. The Board of Supervisors may annually, at any regular meeting held between the first days of January and March of each year, levy upon each male person over twentyone and under fifty-five years of age, found in each road district during the time for the collection of road poll taxes for that year, an annual road poll tax not exceeding three dollars; and every such person in a road district who has

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