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THE PUBLIC
An Abstract Of the Statutes Of South
Carolina Relating to Roads and

An Abstract or the StatntcS OF SOulh
Carolina Relating to Roads and
Bridges.
Holm s. Vc,ner, Esq, in Keo.rec Courier.l
THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF COUNTY COM
M~ISslONERS. =
Article 4, Section 10, OF the Constitution OF
South Carolina, gives lhe County commits,
sioncrs jurisdiction over Highways, ltoudsald'
Bridges.
HIGHWAYS AND ROADS.
They have power to open new public roads
and to discontinue old ones. In order o open
Il new public road they are required toiip-
point Special commissioners, whose duty LIS
10 nurvcy the route Of The road proposed. To
lay nut the same, and advertise IL inr thrte
months, In the settlement through winch the
intended r0ai Is to plss. For such WORK Spc..
c!Al CuIumLis>ioner>nrc allowed 81 per day nnd
~.rlirusc five cents rcr milc-lor necessary
t:nvel. 18TH Statutes, Page gIo, section Is. .AGt
the decision OF Special Commissioners, In The
same manner aud with like authority, az Is
allowed by law from the itcls OF county tniil'
missioners. Whena road ls so laid out ~ ls 10
he recorded Uy Tie County commissioner
and ordered worked us other roads. section
=. and 3, Chapter ~, Revised Statutcs.
In order to discontinue any piHllc highway,
the commissioners must give three months
public notice In the settlement through which
the rOad to he discontinued passes. IfUtlGed,
That no objection IS made, they Gun Thereafter
discontinue the road SO advertiser. Iutll
there is objection, then the rtua fcmatnsa
public highway until discontinued Ly law.
Section II, Chapter "a. Revised Statutes.
BY the Act approved December -. lSi9, each
township OF the several Counties oi she State
Ia made q highway district.
For each OF these districts the County Com
miSSioners annually appoint one Suptrinteia-
ent to serve one ycHr frofil uiite al MS ap-
p%ointment. The poison appointed Superln-
tend.ut must DC liable 10 rbnd duty and q res.
idcnt Of the district for which he is appointed.
The superintendent has general supervision
of the roads and highways In his district I'M
der the direction OF the commissioners Inc
Commissioner have power to remove super
intsntents! Act December 9th, 1873.
Roads leading from any pnrt OF the State d.
rcctly to Charleston;' Georgetown, ColumbiS
and cit AIRED thirty feet wide by Commission
crs. All other public roads are to be kept
twenty feet wide. SECTION j, Chapter A., Reyi-
scd Statutes. Public roads In each highway
district shall be posted and numbered and at
each fork Of said 70 Ids q pointer must be
n:Gred, declaring the direction OF each rold
Section 6. Chapter Al, Revised Statutes. By
Act of March 18th, 49,, lage 2lH, any failure
Der n place pointers. AS directed. Is rcSnrd-
ed Il misiemeinOr, and upon conviction they
are subject to n fine not exceeding 30 and
imprisonment not exceeding SIX months, ell
liner or both, at The discretion OF the Judge be.
fore whom they IRE tried. In the counties
comprising James Island. Johns Island:
Wadinalaw. Edisto, ST. Helena. Lady's Island
and Hilton Head, The Commissioner" have
puwer 10 permit persons over whose lands
public roads run to erect gates thereon. Such
permission expires Mt the expiration OF Two
years If not renewed; Seciion -, GhHrte n;
owns villages and cities neglect or refuse to
keep in repnlr the highways and streets in
their respective towns, &C.. the County Com
liable to road duty in said town. &C.. to repair
the same. Section IL, Chapter IL, REVISED
Statutes.
The County Commissioners Of Charleston
county have power TO appoint five District
Superintendents OF Roads, whose duty itsllnll
be to take charge OF Rll roads and to eA crrtsc
jurisdiction over bridges not exceeding tftoGn
feet In length In their respective districts.
who assist them In repairing the roads.
Bridges exceeding one hundred dollars In val
NC nre to be let out by contract as provided by
law; when they do not exceed that nil,nnnt
they are let out by the District Supcrin:cnd-
cntin whose bounds the bridge Is located n
private contract. 1t is the duty of Commits.
sioncrs to exercise general SUPERVISION over
the roads in said county. Act December "a,
1873, Page ~.
Bridges are TO he built and repaired under
the supervision o. the County commissioners
If the WORK to b. done on oil or new bridges
exceed one hundred dollars then 1t Is TO be
performed BY contract, with the lhwrSt re-
sponsiblc bidder; when H. does not exceed
that amount the Commissioners have lower
TO let out the work ut lrivat. cohtiN't: men
the work exceeds one hundred t!o:lais The
Commissioners shall i've fftec!i days, nitirc
in the county paper AID In writing duly post
cd In the ncisiIborhoud in which such work j.
to DC performed, giving notice that the ON
missioner OF the section in which suGll work
Is TO be performed will he ut such q place, on
such Il day and hour, with suitable sleciilca-
lions, to let out such work to the lowest bid-
der, and to take from the successful bidder
sufficient bond for the faithful rcrioriha zee OF
his duty. When the work is done it sll,tll be
inspected by tho Commissioner letting II out,
who's duty 1t should be to report the result
Of his investigation to the full Board, who
shall accept or reject the same, uecornihg ~
~struct0r has or has not complied with the
Terms Of his contract.
lfany bridgcotc or waters In this State. which
constitute Il boundary line between counties,
shall be- necessary " be erected W repaired, II
shall he the duty Of County Commissioners OF
such counties 10 cause The same IL be erected
or repaired, IN the manner aforesaid, each
COUNTY Geatlng an equal share Of TIC expense
so incurred. And when ANY such bridge ~.
really exists, or shall he hereafter built, II
shall be tho duty Of said Commissioner to d.
vide the same, by measurement from tae cen.
Ter. and euch Board shall be responsible for
the good condition OF half next adjoining the
county in which they exercise the function of
office. And when 1t becomes necessary tn
build n new bridge, or to entirely replace nm
old ono which has been carried away or de-
stroyed, 1t shall be the duty OF the Boards OF
the counties to do the same as Aforesaid. Act
~amcndatory to Chapter ~. Revised statutes
Section l2, Volume Is, General Statutes. Page
7SI, Volume Is, General Statutes, Page 2l5'
March 18th, 1872.
If any person receive injury from any defect
In causcway, highway or bridge, they have
right OF action against the county In which
such injury occurs. The commissioner In
such cases are required to tender an amount
sufficient to cover the injury sustained. III
the person Injured refuses 10 receive the
larger amount than that rendered by the Com
missioncrs. then he shall pay the costs OF the
Defendant. Act March 18th, 1874, Sections U
and !, Page 7s5, Volume u, General Statutes.
Any neglect by commissioners TO repair
bridges and highways, &c, Is regarded as u
misdemeinOr, and upon conviction thereof.
they ore liable to n Zinc Of not less than SIM
nor more than sou. In the discretion OF INC
Judge before whom they nre tried; Act 18th
March, 1874, Section 7, Volume 10, Page 1so. OF
the General Statutes.
DUTIES, POWERS y PRIVILEGES or SUPER
INTENDESTs OF HIGHWAY DISTRICTS.
The superintendent have general surcrvls-
lon, under the direction Of County Commits
slonef h'. Of 5 roads Mss ana nnn niE1 sh's In Tic uis'r'c'
The superintendent, by reason OF their Of
fee, arc exempt from road duty. He must re-
port every three months In writing to County
Commissioners the condition OF roads and
bridges In his district.
The Superintendent shall divide the roads
In his district into convenient sections OF not
less than two nor morclhnn live miles. For
each Of said sections 1t Is his duty to appoint
an overseer and to each ovcrseer he assigns u
company of hands. AS far as practicable the
hands nrc to be assigned hy Superintendents
to road nearest the residence OF the hand.
Whenever the superintendent deems u ncces-
sary to have rOnds worked or repairs done on
bridges, which hands can do, he may order
the overseer to call out his hands ON twelve
hours notice, requiring each hand To bring
with him q hoe. axe or othertool. The Super.
intcndent determines the tool each hand shall
work with and the number of days at each
working: Froridcd, That no hand can be work
ed more than twelve days In one year.
Roads along the line Of highway districts
are to be divided into sections and worked by
such hands of either district ms the the Super
%Intendent OF such adjoining districts may d.
The superintendent mustAusc his ovorscer
to lock after and repair all bridges In their
several districts that can be conveniently re-
paired by road hands. IT bridges cannot he
conveniently repaired by road hands, then
the Superintendent must report the same to
the Commissioners, TO be let out by them &C
cording to law.
IftheS Superintendent neglects to work roads
In his district when ordered by Commission
ers, hcshall be deemed guilty OF a misdemean-
or, and, on conviction before Il Trial Justice,
he shall be fined not less than ten nor more
than fifty dollars.
DUTIES AND POWERS OF OvERSEERS OF HOB
WAY SECTIONS.
Overscers are appointed by the Superintend.
ent for each section, and they nave control OF
the working or the section for which they orc
appointed. Act 1879.
II is the duty OF The overseer to have persons
liable to road duty warned out to work said
roads, whenever ordered by the Superintend-
ent. Act lS7a.
If the overseer OF the section for which he is
appointed ncglCcts to work the road in his scc-
ton when ordered by the Superintendent