24 BULLETIN 387, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



or to have it done by free labor. Of the total cost of all State-aid 

 road work, the State pays one-half, if the funds available are suffi- 

 cient, and the parish, city, town or village wherein such work of 

 improvement is located is required to pay th.e remaining portion. The 

 State highway engineer is required to maintain all roads improved 

 with the aid of the State, and the cost of such maintenance is borne 

 one-half by the State and one-half by the parish, city, town or village 

 in which such road may be located. A State highway fund is created 

 to consist of the State road tax levy of one-fourth mill on each $1 of 

 the assessed value of all property assessed for State taxation. 



Jurisdiction over all road matters in the various parishes of the 

 State is vested in the pohce juries, which are authorized to pass all 

 such ordinances as they may deem necessary relative to roads, bridges 

 and ditches, and to impose fines and penalties for failure to observe 

 their orders. They are required to divide parishes into as many dis- 

 tricts as they may think proper for the appointment of overseers of 

 roads and shall appoint one overseer for each such district. - 



The poH'se juries are authorized to have the work of opening and 

 repairing roads and building and repairing bridges done by contract. 

 They may, and on petition of not less than 25 per cent of the property 

 owners, resident and nonresident, shall divide their parishes into one 

 or more road districts. When petitioned by 50 per cent of the land 

 owners, resident and nonresident, they may divide road districts into 

 subroad districts. On request of 50 per cent or more of the property 

 owners, resident and nonresident, in a road district, the pohce jury 

 is required to appoint for such district a supervising board of five 

 property owners, to have charge and supervision over the road im- 

 provement work to be undertaken therein. Otherwise, the police 

 jury is the board of administration or the governing body for the road 

 districts and subroad districts in their respective parishes. Whenever 

 any road construction exceeds $2,000, the plans and specifications 

 shall be prepared and submitted for approval to the State board of 

 engineers. 



Of the tax levy of 10 mills on the $1 authorized by the constitution 

 for all county purposes, the pohce juries may set aside at least 1 mill 

 per annum for the purpose of constructing, maintaining, and repair- 

 ing the pubhc roads and bridges of their respective parishes. For a 

 hke purpose they may impose a per capita tax of $1 upon each able- 

 bodied male between 18 and 55 years of age, and may levy an annual 

 graduated hcense tax of not less than 25 cents nor more than $1 upon 

 each vehicle, including bicycles, kept within the parish or municipal- 

 ity thereof and used on the pubhc roads. 



Parishes and road districts, through the pohce juries, may issue 

 road bonds not to exceed in the aggregate 10 per cent of the assessed 

 property valuation of the parish or road district, when authorized by 



