27 payable out of the state road fund appropriated for such pur

28 purpose.

Sec. 8. The State Road Commission shall be provided by the 2 state with suitable office rooms in the city of Charleston, and its 3 offices shall be open at all reasonable times for the transaction of 4 public business. The said commission shall make a full report 5 each year to the governor of its operations, showing the quantity 6 of earth and stone removed, and material prepared and manu[H. B. No. 523

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factured; the number of miles and location of roads under con8 struction, and the number and location of roads completed, and 9 especially such roads as have been taken over by the Commission 10 for maintenance or construction; the cost of such construction 11 and maintenance, and the materials prepared and used therein; 12 the condition and needed repairs of roads previously constructed 13 and taken over by the commission, together with the result of 14 their investigation respecting previously constructed roads and 15 the materials used therein, and the cost of maintenace thereof; 16 detailed statements of its expenses; and for the purpose of obtain17 ing all necessary and detailed information to be used in the 18 preparation of said report, the said commission may require the 19 several county courts, or local road authorities, in whose counties 20 work is done, or contemplated, to furnish such monthly reports 21 as may be prescribed by said commission; and the commission 22 shall make such other reports concerning the roads of the state, 23 and particularly state roads and the progress of their improve24 ments, as may be proper or required by the governor; and may 25 make such recommendations or reports as in its judgment are 26 beneficial to the general public. The report herein provided to be 27 made to the governor shall be accompanied with a map or maps. H. B. No. 523]

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28 showing the location and improvement of all roads receiving fed29 eral aid up to the time of the completion of said report.

Sec. 9. The attorney general of this state shall be the legal 2 adviser and the representative of said State Road Commission, 3 and shall prepare for it all contracts, forms and other documents, 4 when required by said commission.

Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the commission to keep a full, 2 true and accurate record of all its proceedings, to issue all nec3 essary notices, to keep all books, maps, documents and papers

4 ordered filed by it, and all orders, rules and regulations by it 5 made or approved. It shall be responsible for the safe custody 6 and preservation of all such documents and papers in its office. 7 Each member thereof may administer oaths in all parts of the 8 state, as far as the exercise of such power is properly incidental 9 to the performance of the duties of the commission. It shall 10 issue all licenses, permits, registration certificates, receipts and 11 other official documents provided for by this act; shall publish, at 12 its discretion, the rules and regulations promulgated by it, and 13 keep the proper records thereof. The Commission shall make a 14 full report in duplicate once each week to the treasurer and the 15 auditor of the state and forthwith pay to such treasurer all moneys [H. B. No. 523 16 collected by it from licenses or other fees, and all moneys and 17 funds coming into its hands from any source.

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Sec. 11. The State Road Commission shall cause to be made 2 and kept for its department a general road or highway plan of the 3 state; and compile statistics and collect information relative to 4 the mileage, character and condition of the roads and highways in 5 the counties and magisterial districts of the state. It shall investi6 gate and determine upon the various methods of road construction 7 best adapted to the various sections of the state; and establish 8 standards for the construction and maintenance of roads and 9 highways in various sections, taking into consideration the topo10 graphy of the county, the natural conditions, and the character and 11 availability of road building material, and the ability of the coun12 ties and magisterial districts to build and maintain roads under 13 the provisions of this act. It may at all reasonable times be con14 sulted by county magisterial districts, city or incorporated town 15 officers having authority over roads, highways and bridges, and 16 shall, when required, advise and give information to such officers 17 relative to the construction, repair, alteration and maintenance 18 of such roads, highways and bridges. It shall, at all times, lend 19 its aid in promoting road improvement throughout the state, and H. B. No. 523] 20 shall prepare and compile all useful information relative to road 21 building and maintenance, and shall disseminate such informa22 tion by means of printed bulletins, issued at such times and in 23 such numbers as it may deem best.

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Sec. 12. At the request of the State Road Commission it shall

2 be the duty of the commissioner of agriculture, the dean of the 3 college of engineering of the State University, the director of 4 the experiment station of said University, and the heads of the 5 several departments of science of said institution, to render to 6 said Commission all necessary aid and assistance in the performance of its duties as the requirements of their respective 8 offices and positions will permit, without extra charge or compen9 sation for such service.

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Sec. 13. The State Road Commission is hereby authorized 2 and empowered to make and enforce from time to time such rules, 3 regulations and orders as it may deem necessary, not inconsistent 4 with law or otherwise provided herein, for the preservation of 5 state roads, and to regulate the use of the same by traction en6 gines, wagons and such other vehicles of conveyances as by such 7 uses produce more than an ordinary amount of wear and tear 8 thereon. Every general regulation adopted by the Commission [H. B. No. 523 9 shall state the date on which it takes effect, which shall not be less 10 than ten days after the date of publication. Such rules, regula11 tions and orders when and as promulgated or authorized, shall be 12 printed by the Commission for free distribution to any applicant 13 therefor. A copy of such rules and regulations, duly signed by 14 the chairman and the secretary of the commission, shall be sent 15 by the secretary to each officer and to each county court affected 16 thereby. Any person violating such order or regulation shall 17 be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof 18 shall be fined not less than one, nor more than one hundred dollars, 19 or imprisoned for not less than ten days or more than three 20 months, or both fined and imprisoned, at the discretion of the 21 court or justice trying the case.

Sec. 14. As soon as may be practicable after the passage of this 2 act the State Road Commission shall locate and establish, by sur3 vey or otherwise, a system of roads connecting at least the various 4 county seats of the state with each other and with the adjoining 5 states, and for that purpose shall establish as a basis for such 6 system the roads which are known as Class A roads and routes 7 as of the date of the passage of this act; provided, the said Com8 mission is hereby authorized and empowered to locate and estabH. B. No. 523] 17

9 lish state roads wherever in its opinion it can thereby improve

10 the alignment or grade, or provide a more direct route conect11 ing the county seats of the state with each other and with the 12 adjoining states. The roads so located and established by the 13 Commission shall be designated and known as "The State Road 14 System."

Sec. 15. The State Road Commission as soon as practicable 2 after it has located and established a system of state roads, as 3 provided in the preceding section, shall furnish to the clerks of 4 the county courts of the several counties of the state road maps 5 of their several counties, respectively, showing the state routes 6 designated by said Commission constituting the state road system. ↑ As sections of such routes are taken over by the State Road Com8 mission for maintenance or are constructed the Commission shall 9 deliver to the clerk of the county court of each county in which 10 such roads so taken shall lie, complete record plans of such roads, 11 together with accurate descriptions by metes and bounds of the 12 rights of way thereof, and the said clerk shall file in his office such 13 record plans as record such descriptions of rights of way in the 13 road record book in his office.

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Sec. 16. No bridge hereafter constructed on any state road, [H. B. No. 523 All state roads shall occupy

2 shall be less than eighteen feet wide. 3 a right of way not less than forty feet, exclusive of slopes for cuts 4 and fills, unless the Commission shall make an order for a different 5 width, which order shall be recorded in the office of the Commis6 sion, and a duly certified copy thereof shall be delivered by the 7 Commission to the clerk of the county court of the county in 8 which such roads shall lie, and the same shall be recorded by the 9 said clerk in the road record book in his office.

Sec. 17. As soon as may be after the passage of this act, and 2 when funds are available for that purpose, the State Road Com3 mission shall, by an order entered of record and by the proclamation 4 of the governor, take over and assume charge of the further con5 struction, reconstruction and maintenance of all roads, or sections 6 of roads on the state routes in the several counties which have 7been improved with a hard surface, and which in the opinion of the 8 Commission shall have been constructed and maintained in ac9 cordance with approved methods, or in accordance with recognized 10 standard plans and specifications, and said Commission shall also 11 in like manner take over and assume charge of the further main

12 tenance of all graded earth roads on state routes which have been 13 constructed with the aid of the state or federal moneys; provided, H. B. No. 523]

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14 that no roads lying within any incorporated town or city having 15 a population of over two thousand five hundred persons shall be 16 so taken over by the Commission; provided, further, that certified 17 copies of the order required herein to be entered by the Commis18 sion shall be delivered by it to the clerks of the county courts of 19 the several counties in which the roads to be taken over as pro20 vided by this section shall lie; and each of said clerks shall record 21 in the road record books in his office, the copies so delivered to him. Sec. 18. The State Road Commission is hereby empowered and 2 directed to construct or improve and thereafter to maintain and 3 repair at the cost and expense of the state, the roads forming the 4 state road system in the several counties of the state, as soon as 5 such roads shall have been taken over by it, and such work of 6 improvement and maintenance shall be done according to specifi7 cations to be prepared by the State Road Commission as regards 8 the construction and material to be used, and the said work shall 9 be done under the direction and supervision of the Commission. 10 The expense of the construction, improvement and maintenance of 11 state roads provided for by this act, when properly certified by the 12 State Road Commission, shall be audited by the secretary and 13 when audited and allowed shall be paid out of moneys specifically [H. B. No. 523 14 appropriated for that purpose by warrants drawn therefor by the 15 secretary upon the state treasurer.

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Sec. 19. The State Road Commission, in addition to the power 2 conferred upon it by this act, shall enjoy and possess, in the con3 struction and maintenance of the roads constituting a part of the 4 state road system, all the rights and powers conferred by this act 5 on county courts in the construction or maintenance of county6 district roads.

Sec. 20. All roads constituting parts of the State Road Sys2 tem, as designated and established by the Commission, not yet 3 constructed, or not embraced in the state road system required 4 to be taken over by the said Commission by the next preceding 5 section, shall be taken over in part from time to time, in the 6 manner herein before provided, as the Commission shall be pre7 pared to proceed with construction work thereon, until the whole