R. S. 3031-Act 83, 1892 Boards. That on the refusal or failure of any person to answer under oath when thus required, the sheriff shall make a written statement estimating the amount of the special assessment or forced contribution for which such person is liable on produce raised by him, and shall send a copy thereof to the president of the Levee Board to which the same is due. Such written statement of the sheriff shall be prima facie evidence in any judicial proceeding instituted for the collection of such special assessment or forced contribution of the amount due therefor, and the defendant who has thus refused or failed to answer shall be made to pay the costs of such judicial proceedings regardless of the issue thereof, together with fifteen dollars attorney's fees in each case, to be taxed as costs. [Manner of Collecting Tax.] SEC. 10. That the sheriff is hereby prohibited from entrusting the collection of the produce tax to any person who is not sworn as a deputy sheriff; and that for any violation of this law the sheriff shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars; that deputy sheriffs charged with the collection of the produce special assessment or forced contribution shall make written returns at the end of each month showing the names of persons from whom, and the description of articles on which the special assessment or forced contribution has been collected the amount of tax collected from each person, and the dates of collection, and by what carrier the produce has been shipped, and the date of shipment. Said returns shall be sworn to, and shall be kept and preserved by the sheriff. Act No. 83, 1892, p. 108. CONCURRENT RESOLUTION. That the Auditor of the State be and he is hereby authorized to warrant against the various District Levee Funds created and to be created, for an amount necessary to pay the additional expense of auditing, keeping and paying said accounts of said funds, provided that said additional expense shall not exceed thirty-four hundred dollars per annum and that this sum shall be equally distributed between the Auditor and Treasurer offices and no other compensation for such. additional work shall be allowed. Act 20, 1884, p. 25, prohibits the collection of District Levee Taxes in Algiers, except those that became due prior to January 1, 1884. Abascal vs. Bouny, 37 An. 538. See Act 36, 1890, p. 30. Register of Conveyances for Orleans prohibited from reporting on certificates any adjudication to the State for Levee Taxes of 1880 and 1881 on real estate in Algiers. R. S. 3031-Act 33, 1879 STATE BOARD OF ENGINEERS. Act 33, 1879, p. 51. AN ACT to repeal Act No. 5 of the extra session of 1878; to create a Board of State Engineers; to define their powers and duties; to levy a tax of one mill for levee and public improvement purposes; to divide the State into levee districts; to provide for the appointment of boards of levee commissioners therefor; and to prescribe their duties and powers; to authorize the imposition of a district levee tax, not to exceed five mills, on real estate and taxable property; to vest the control of levees and completed public works throughout the State in police juries; and to impose certain duties on the Governor of the State. [Repeal of Act 5, E. S. 78.] SECTION 1. That an Act entitled "An Act to create a Board of State Engineers," approved March 26, 1878, be and the same is hereby repealed. [Appointment, Term, Salary of Board.] SEC. 2. That the Governor of the State of Louisiana shall be authorized to appoint three engineers, one of whom shall be known as Chief Engineer, and two assistant engineers, whose term of office shall be four years from the day of their appointment. The Chief Engineer shall receive a salary of three hundred dollars per month, and the assistants two hundred and fifty dollars each. It shall be the duty of said engineers to make a careful survey of water courses and public works and levees of the State; said survey to be completed as soon after the subsidence of high water as practicable, in order that the contracts for work may be let out and commenced at the earliest moment possible. They shall report to the Governor of the State the improvements necessary and the levees to be constructed which are of prime importance to the State at large, and are beyond the means of parochial authorities. They shall, also, in said report, furnish estimates and specifications of work necessary to be done. [Duties of Board, of Governor-Award of Contracts.] of the State Engineers, with estimates and specifications, as provided of the report by the preceding section, shall' advertise for proposals to make such improvements and construct such levees as are recommended by the said report, and shall award the contracts to the lowest responsible bidders, who shall give such bonds for the performance of their contracts as shall be required by the Governor; provided, that the total amount of levee work contracted for under the provisions of this act shall not exceed the amount of the tax hereinafter provided. And R. S. 3031-Act 33, 1879 in the event this amount shall not be sufficient to pay for the work recommended to be done by said engineers, the Governor shall contract for such work recommended by them as he shall consider of the greatest importance. The said engineers shall report to the police juries of each parish in which surveys of levees are made, the extent of repairs necessary to be made by said police juries, with estimates and specifications; and shall, in addition to their duties as State Engineers, make such surveys and perform such services as may be required by parochial authorities in the repair and construction of levees and other public works. [Work Contracted for, Examination, Payment.] SEC. 4. That the works executed under contract, made as aforesaid, shall, when completed, be examined and measured by the State Engineer in charge of said work, who shall, if their work has been executed according to contract, issue to the contractors his certificate showing the amount of work done according to contract, and upon presentation of such certificate, approved by the Governor, the Auditor of Public Accounts shall draw his warrant for payment therefor, out of the General Engineer Fund or out of the Levee Fund of the District in which the work for which it is issued may have been done, as called for by the engineer's certificate; and the State Treasurer is hereby required to receive all such warrants from State tax collectors in settlement of their accounts for levee taxes. [Records and Archives; Salaries, How Paid.] SEC. 5. That the Board of State Engineers, created under the provisions of this act; shall take charge of and preserve the records and archives of the present State Engineer Department. Their salaries and all office and contingent expenses shall be paid monthly, out of the General Engineer Fund, on their own warrants, approved by the Governor, and the State Treasurer is hereby required to receive all such warrants from State tax collectors in settlement of their accounts for levee taxes. [Special Tax Levied.] SEC. 6. That in order to provide funds for the works herein contemplated and contracted for under Act No. 5, extra session of 1878, the Auditor is hereby directed to levy upon the assessment rolls of 1878, and annually thereafter, a tax of one mill upon all taxable property of the State for levee purposes, the same to constitute and be known as the General Engineer Fund, and to be collected in the same manner as is provided for the collection of other taxes of the State: it being the intention of this act that the only general tax levied or collected shall be the one mill tax already levied in the general revenue or other laws. R. S. 3031-Act 33, 1879 [Division of State Into Districts.] SEC. 7. That the State shall be divided, for levee purposes, into six levee districts, composed of the alluvial lands within the following limits, to-wit: The limits of the various Districts are omitted, because the Levee Districts established by later acts supersede the Districts here established. See "Levee Districts," p. 1410. [Police Jury as Levee Commissioners.] Provided, That for the parishes of Caddo, Bossier, Red River, DeSoto, Grant, Rapides, Ouachita, West Carroll, Morehouse, Caldwell, Catahoula, Richland and Franklin, no Board of Levee Commissioners shall be appointed, but each of said parishes shall form a separate subdistrict; and in each of these sub-districts the police jury shall discharge separately, for their own parish, the duties assigned to the Board of Levee Commissioners in other districts; and they are hereby empowered to act separately or jointly, as they may decide. See acts establishing Levee Districts, printed at p. 1410. [Levee Commissioners, Appointment, etc.] missioners so SEC. 8. That the Governor shall appoint a Board of Levee Commissioners for each of these districts, to be composed of one member from each parish comprised wholly or in part within the district. The comappointed shall hold office for the term of two years, and shall serve without compensation, other than actual expenses, while engaged upon the public duties required of them under this act. This compensation shall be paid upon their own warrants, accompanied by an account certified by the president of the Board, out of the District Levee Fund to which they belong. These Boards shall assemble annually, at a point within their respective districts indicated by the Governor, on or before the first day of September, and at such other times as the Governor shall call extra meetings. A majority of the members comprising each of these Boards shall form a quorum, and this quorum is authorized, beyond the power of organization and transacting their other prescribed duties, to impose and collect a fine of not less than two hundred and fifty dollars upon any absent members who shall have signified acceptance of the appointment. The president of the police jury of any parish whose district levee commissioner is absent, shall appoint a citizen from that parish to temporarily fill the vacancy. At each of these meetings, the Board of State Engineers shall present an estimate of the levee work required in that district, setting forth at the same time the amount of the General Engineer Fund which will be available therefor. The District Board of Commissioners shall then proceed to levy a tax on all real estate and taxable property, payable on the assessment rolls of 1878, and of subsequent years, sufficient to R. S. 3031-Act 33, 1879 cover the estimate of levee work required in the district, as presented by the Board of State Engineers, which shall not be more than five mills, except by a unanimous vote of the Levee District Commissioners; provided, that in the Fifth Levee District a majority vote shall be sufficient to levy a tax of not more than ten mills. The compensation of the tax collectors and assessors shall be the same under this act as for all other State taxes; provided, that in parishes which are not wholly comprised in one levee district the assessor shall make separate rolls for each part of the parish included in any district. [District Levee Tax.] SEC. 9. That the tax on property thus levied and collected shall be paid into the State Treasury, and shall be known as the "District Levee Fund." The amount raised in each district shall be kept separate, and shall be expended only on works within the district in which it was collected, unless otherwise ordered by the levee commissioners of that district; provided, that any balance remaining unexpended for the year in which it was raised shall be passed to the credit of the district in which it was raised for future years. [Management of Levees by Police Juries.] SEC. 10. That the police juries of the several parishes of the State are hereby invested with the management and control of all public levees of the State, and of all completed public works which may require public care for protection or preservation; and they are hereby authorized and required to make such regulations as are necessary and proper for their repair, preservation and protection. [General Engineer Fund, How Expended.] SEC. 11. That both the General Engineer Fund, and the District Levee Fund, shall be expended by the Governor under the provisions of this act; provided, that in case any district shall refuse to comply with the estimates of the Board of Engineers, then the said district shall not be entitled to any portion of the General Engineer Fund. [Duty of Auditor to Assess Tax, When.] SEC. 12. That in case the levee commissioners provided for in this act neglect or refuse to assess the tax provided for in this act, then the Auditor of Public Accounts shall assess a tax not to exceed five mills, for levee purposes only, in the district.or districts in which the commissioners have refused or neglected to assess the tax, as provided in this act. [Collection of Taxes Under Previous Acts.] SEC. 13. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage, and that all laws and parts of laws in conflict therewith shall be and |