Legislation § 2635.

1. Enacted March 12, 1872. 2. Repealed by

Stats 1883, p. 5. See ante, Legislation Chapter II.

§ 2636. Naming of highways. The owners of land along any road, highway, avenue, or other public way may petition the board of supervisors of the county in which said road, highway, avenue, or other public way is located, to have a name adopted and applied to the same. The name and a description of the road, highway, or avenue to be named shall be set forth in the petition, which petition shall be signed by three fourths of the owners of land on said road, highway or avenue. The supervisors to whom such petition is presented shall examine the same, and if it conforms to the provisions of this act shall make an order in the minutes of the board granting the petition, and thereafter the said described road, highway or avenue, shall be known by said name. Legislation § 2636. Added by Stats. 1911, p. 1145.

ARTICLE III.

Powers and Duties of Boards of Supervisors and Highway Officers Over Highways.

Road Commissioners.

Powers of supervisors over roads.

§ 2643a. Protection from storm-waters and floods.

§ 2643.

§ 2644.

§ 2645.

§ 2646.

Report of labor on roads must accompany expense claims.
Duties of road commissioners.

Highways in charge of supervisors.

§ 2647. Duties and powers of supervisors respecting roads. Legislation Article III. 1. Enacted March 12, 1872, and was then composed of §§ 2645-2653, and was entitled "Powers and Duties of Boards of Supervisors and Highway Officers over Highways." The section numbers and titles (with amendments, additions, and repeals before 1883) were as follows: § 2645. Counties classified for highway purposes (repealed by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 117; amended by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 67). § 2646. Commissioners of highways (repealed by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 117; amended by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 68). § 2647. Duties of commissioners of highways and boards of supervisors (amended (1) by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 117; (2) by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 68). § 2648. Road districts, how defined and described (amended by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 118; repealed by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 76). § 2649. Overseers notified to give bond, take oath, etc. (amended (1) by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 118; (2) by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 69). § 2650. Duties of road overseer (amended (1) by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 119; (2) by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 69); the first three subdivisions being preserved in § 2645, post. § 2651. Commissioner of highways, duties (repealed by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 120; repealed by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 76). § 2652. Compensation of commissioner of highways (repealed by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 120; repealed by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 76). § 2653 General road fund for general road purposes (amended (1) by Code Amdts. 1873-74, p. 120; (2) by Code Amdts. 1877-78, p. 641; (3) by Code Amdts. 1880, p. 69); compare § 2651, post. 2. Original code Article III repealed by Stats. 1883, p. 5, in repealing the old and substituting a new Chapter II, and a new Article III enacted. See ante, Legislation Chapter II, and compare, generally, titles "Legislation" of the various subdivisions of the chapter.

§ 2641. Road districts. Road commissioners. The board of supervisors of the several counties shall divide their respective counties into suitable road districts, and may change the boundaries thereof, and each supervisor shall be ex officio road commissioner in his supervisor district, and shall see that all orders of the board of supervisors pertaining to the 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 to assign to each member thereof one of such districts, of which he shall be such road commissioner; when not otherwise provided by law he shall receive for his services as such road commissioner twenty cents per mile, one way, for all distances actually traveled by him in the performance of his duties; provided, that he shall not, in any one year, receive more than three hundred dollars. [Amendment approved 1893; Stats. 1893, p. 113.]

Legislation § 2641. 1. Enacted by Stats. 1883, p. 7. 2. Amended by Stats. 1887, p. 77. 3. By Stats. 1891, p. 474. 4. By Stats. 1895, P. 113. See ante, Legislation Chapter II, and Legislation Article III.

§ 2642. Road-overseers. From and after the Monday following the first day of January, A. D. eighteen hundred and ninety-three, the office of road-overseer shall be abolished; provided, that whenever in this code the words road overseer occur, they shall be taken and construed so as to read road commissioner. [Amendment approved 1891; Stats. 1891, p. 474.]

Legislation § 2642. 1. Enacted by Stats. 1883, p. 8. 2. Amended by Stats. 1885, p. 94. 3. By Stats. 1887, p. 78. 4. By Stats. 1891, P. 474. See ante, Legislation Chapter II, and Legislation Article III.

§ 2643. Powers of supervisors over roads. The boards of supervisors of the several counties of the state shall have general supervision over the roads within their respective counties. They must by proper order: 1. Cause to be surveyed, viewed, laid out, recorded, opened, and worked, such highways as are necessary to public convenience, as in this chapter provided.

2. Cause to be recorded as highways all highways which have become such by usage, dedication or abandonment to the public, or by any other means provided by law, and to prepare and record proper deeds and titles thereto.

3. Abolish or abandon such as are not necessary.

4. Acquire the right of way over private property for the use of public highways, and for that purpose require the district attorney to institute proceedings, under title 7, part 3, of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to pay therefor from the general road fund or the district road fund of the county.

5. Levy a property tax for road purposes.

6. Cause to be erected and maintained, at the intersection and crossings of highways, guide-posts, properly inscribed.

7. Cause the road-tax collected each year to be apportioned to the several road districts entitled thereto, and kept by the county treasurer in separate funds.

8. Audit all claims on the funds set apart for highway purposes, and specify the fund, or funds, from which the whole or any part of any claim, or claims, must be paid.

9. In their discretion, they may 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 violating 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. 10. For the purpose of sprinkling the roads in any part of the county with oil or water, the board of supervisors may erect and maintain waterworks and oil tanks and reservoirs, and for such purposes may purchase or lease real or personal property. The costs of such waterworks, oil tanks and reservoirs and the sprinkling of said roads with oil or water may be charged to the general county fund, the general road fund, or the district fund of the district or districts benefited.

Whenever it is determined by a four-fifths vote of the board of supervisors of any county that the public convenience and necessity demand the acquisition or construction of a road in excess of three miles in length, the cost of which will be too great to pay out of any of the road funds of the county, the board of supervisors may, by resolution passed by a four-fifths vote of said board, determine to acquire or construct such road, and may therefore, proceed to acquire or construct such road and if the cost of such road, when constructed, shall exceed five thou sand dollars, such cost may be charged to the general county fund, the general road fund or the district fund of the district or districts benefited.

And provided, however, that whenever it is determined by a fourfifths vote of the board of supervisors of any county that it will cost less to repair, reconstruct or rebuild any existing main line road in said county, which is in excess of three miles in length and the cost of the repairing, reconstruction or rebuilding of which will exceed five thou sand dollars, than it will to acquire or construct a new road between the same points, the said board of supervisors may, by resolution passed by a four-fifths vote of said board, determine to repair, reconstruct or rebuild such road and the cost thereof may be charged to the general county fund, the general road fund or the district fund of the district or districts benefited.

11. Whenever it shall be determined that any grading, graveling, macadamizing, ditching, sprinkling, or other work upon highways is necessary, and is to be done, and where the estimated cost of such work amounts to three hundred dollars, the board of supervisors must, by proper order, direct the county surveyor to make definite surveys of the proposed work, and to prepare profiles and cross-sections thereof, and to submit the same with the estimate of the amount or amounts of work to be done, and cost thereof, and with specifications thereof. Said report shall be prepared in duplicate, one copy to be filed in the surveyor's office, and the other to be filed with the clerk of the board of supervisors. The board upon receipt of such report must advertise for bids for the performance of the work specified. Such advertisement for bids must be published for two weeks in two newspapers, one pub

lished at the county seat and the other at a point nearest the proposed work.

Such advertisement must be in the following form:

"Office of the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors.

Specifications for this work are on file in the office of the said board, to which bidders are hereby referred.

Clerk of the board of supervisors of the county of

And such advertisement must also be posted, for at least two weeks prior to the opening of the bids for the proposed work, in three conspicuous places in the district or districts in which the proposed work lies, and one at the site of the proposed work. Bids must be inclosed in sealed envelope, addressed to the clerk of the board of supervisors, and must be indorsed, "Bids for," and must be delivered to said clerk prior to the hour specified in the advertisement. The board shall publicly open and read such bids as may be submitted, and must award the contract for the work to the lowest bidder; unless it shall appear to the board that the bids are too high, and the work can be done more cheaply by day labor, in which case the bids must be rejected, and the work ordered done by the road commissioner, or commissioners, in whose district or districts the work may be situated. In case the work shall be let by contract, monthly or quarterly payments may be made thereon upon the receipt of a certified estimate by the county surveyor of the amount or work done during the preceding month or quarter, to the extent of seventy-five per cent of the value of said work, the remaining twenty-five per cent being due on the completion of the work. The services of the surveyor in making such partial estimates must be paid for by the contractor. Upon the completion of the work, the county surveyor must examine the same, and if completed in accordance with the specifications thereof, he must submit to the board of supervisors a certificate over his signature and official seal to the effect that such work by the contractor therefor, has been completed in accordance with the specifications therefor, and recommending its acceptance. The board shall thereupon audit the same and direct its payment out of the proper fund or funds.

12. In their discretion, they may set apart on any public road or highway a strip of land (for a side path), and make an order designating the width of such path and cause the lines separating the path from the road to be located and marked by stakes or posts, placed at such distances apart as they shall deem proper. After said paths have been set apart, and the lines separating the same from the road have been located and marked, as aforesaid, the use of the same is hereby restricted to pedestrians and riders of bicycles and other vehicles propelled solely by the power of the rider.

Expense of erecting and maintaining such path may be charged to the general county fund, the general road fund, and the district fund Pol. Code-43

of the district or districts benefited. [Amendment approved 1911; Stats. 1911, p. 1151.]

Subd. 6. Guide-posts, erection of: See post, § 2738.

Legislation § 2643. 1. Enacted by Stats. 1883, p. 8. 2. Amended by Stats. 1891, p. 474. 3. By Stats. 1893, p. 114. 4. By Stats. 1897, p. 248. 5. By Stats. 1901, p. 661. 6. By Stats. 1903, p. 70. 7. By Stats. 1911, p. 1151. See ante, Legislation Chapter II, and Legislation Article III.

§ 2643a. Protection from storm-waters and floods. Whenever any public road or highway is in danger of being damaged by storm-waters or floods on the same, the board of supervisors shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to prevent such damage, and may, by ordinance, establish a district, adopt a general plan of protection from storm-waters and floods therein, and may cause a part or all of the roadtaxes collected in such district to be apportioned to a fund and expended for such purpose, and they may also apportion to such fund and expend for such purpose an amount not exceeding ten per centum of the general road fund of the county, or they may at the time of levying taxes for general county purposes levy a special tax for such purpose, not exceeding fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of the taxable property in the district as shown by the last assessment-roll, but no such special tax shall be levied upon any district until the proposition to levy the same has been submitted to the qualified electors of the district and received a majority of all the legal votes cast on said proposition.

Legislation § 2643a. Added by Stats. 1903, p. 80.

§ 2644. Report of labor on roads must accompany expense claims. No claim for labor performed in any road district shall be allowed by the board of supervisors unless the same be accompanied by a report showing where the labor was performed, the nature of the same, and the number of animals and the kind of implements used. But if said labor shall be performed under the direction of a foreman or timekeeper, said foreman's or timekeeper's report shall cover all work performed under his direction, and shall be sufficient to warrant the payment of all claims for labor so performed. The board of supervisors shall have power, and it is hereby made its duty, to prescribe rules and blank forms, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, for the making of the reports herein required.

Legislation § 2644. Added by Stats. 1897, p. 241. The original § 2644, entitled "Oath and bond of overseers,' was enacted by Stats. 1883, p. 9. amended by Stats. 1887, p. 78, and repealed by Stats. 1891, p. 476. See ante, Legislation Chapter II, and Legislation Article III.

§ 2645. Duties of road commissioners. Road commissioners, under the direction and supervision and pursuant to orders of the board of supervisors, must:

1. Take charge of the highways within their respective districts, and shall employ all men, teams, watering-carts, and all help necessary to do the work in their respective districts when the same is not let by contract: provided, that no road commissioners shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract or work to be done in the road district under his charge and control.