24-1-101. Public highways defined and established; creation by adversepossession.
(a) On and after January 1, 1924, all roads within this stateshall be highways, which have been or may be declared by law to be state orcounty highways. It shall be the duty of the several boards of countycommissioners, within their respective counties, prior to said date, todetermine what, if any, such roads now or heretofore traveled but notheretofore officially established and recorded, are necessary or important forthe public use as permanent roads, and to cause such roads to be recorded, orif need be laid out, established and recorded, and all roads recorded asaforesaid, shall be highways. No other roads, except roads located on federalpublic lands prior to October, 1976 which provide access for a privateresidence or agricultural operation shall be highways upon acceptance by theboard of county commissioners of the county where the road is located shall behighways unless and until lawfully established as such by official authority.Except, nothing contained herein shall be construed as preventing the creationor establishment of a public highway right-of-way with reference to state andcounty highways under the common-law doctrines of adverse possession orprescription either prior to or subsequent to the enactment hereof. If any suchboard shall resolve the creation or establishment of a public highwayright-of-way based upon the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription,it shall, following the filing of a plat and accurate survey required inaccordance with the terms and provisions of W.S. 24-3-109, proceed with thepublication of the proposed road for three (3) successive weeks in three (3)successive issues of some official newspaper published in the county, if anysuch there be, and if no newspaper be published therein, such notice shall beposted in at least three (3) public places along the line of the proposed road,which notice shall be exclusive of all other notices and may be in thefollowing form:
To all whom it mayconcern: The board of county commissioners of .... county has resolved thecreation and establishment of a public highway right-of-way under thecommon-law doctrine of prescription in that the road was constructed orsubstantially maintained by the (either the state or county) for general publicuse for a period of (ten years or longer) said road commencing at .... in ....county, Wyoming, running thence (here describe in general terms the points andcourses thereof), and terminating at ....
All objectionsthereto must be filed in writing with the county clerk of said county beforenoon on the .... day of .... A.D., ...., or such road will be establishedwithout reference to such objections.
----------------------- ....
County Clerk
Dated .... A.D.
(b) The county commissioners shall cause a copy of the abovenotice to be mailed by registered or certified mail to all persons owning landsor claiming any interest in any lands over or across which the road is proposedto be created or established. The publication, posting and mailings of suchnotice shall be a legal and sufficient notice to all persons owning lands orclaiming any interest in lands over which the proposed road is to be created orestablished. No viewers or appraisers shall be appointed, nor shall any damageclaims be considered or heard, and the sole objections to be heard by the boardshall be directed against the creation or establishment of such right-of-wayunder the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription. Anyobjector may appeal from the final decision of the board of the countycommissioners to the district court of the county in which the land issituated. Notice of such appeal must be made to the county clerk within thirty(30) days after such decision has been made by the board, or such claim shallbe deemed to have been abandoned. Within ten (10) days after the notice of anappeal is filed in his office, the county clerk shall make out and file in theoffice of the clerk of the district court, in his county, a transcript of thepapers on file in his office, and the proceedings of the board in relation tosuch creation and establishment. The proceedings on appeal shall be governed bythe Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. If the appeal is upheld the appellantshall be reimbursed by the county for all reasonable costs of asserting hisclaim.
(c) Only that portion of the state highways actually used,travelled or fenced, which has been used by the general public for a period often (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to the enactmenthereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully established as such byofficial authority and unavailability of records to show such to have beenlawfully established shall not rebut this presumption.
(d) Only that portion of county highways, not to exceedsixty-six (66) feet in width, which was actually constructed or substantiallymaintained by the county and travelled and used by the general public for aperiod of ten (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to theenactment hereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully establishedas such by official authority.
24-1-102. Location, survey and construction.
(a) Any such highways, and such additional highways inconnection therewith as may be provided for, which are designated as statehighways, shall be located and surveyed under the direction and supervision ofthe director of the department of transportation or his authorized representative,who shall cause plans and specifications of the highways to be prepared, anddesignate the materials to be used in their construction. He shall take intoconsideration the climate, soil and materials to be had in the vicinity, andthe extent and nature of the probable traffic on the highway with a view to themost economical construction consistent with efficiency.
(b) Where any such highways are designated as a county highwaythe same shall be located and surveyed under the direction of the countysurveyor of the county in which such highway is located; said county surveyorshall cause plans and specifications of any such highway to be prepared and theboard of county commissioners of such county shall designate the materials tobe used in their construction. Said board of county commissioners shall takeinto consideration the climate, soil, and materials to be had in the vicinity,and the extent and nature of the probable traffic on said highway with a viewto the most economical construction thereof consistent with efficiency. Theexpense of locating, surveying, and constructing such county highways shall bepaid by the county in which such highway is constructed.
24-1-103. State transportation commission of Wyoming to acquireright-of-way; when right-of-way becomes state property.
Thetransportation commission is hereby authorized, required and may proceed underthe provisions of W.S. 24-2-109(a), to secure the right-of-way for all statehighways presently designated by the transportation commission as part of thestate highway system or in the future to be designated as part of the statehighway system. When any state highway designated by the transportationcommission shall occupy in whole or in part the right-of-way of a formerlyconstructed highway, whether a county highway or a state highway, so much ofthe right-of-way as is occupied in the construction of the new highway orreconstruction of the previously constructed highway shall become the propertyof the state.
24-1-104. Management and control of county roads.
Allcounty roads shall be under the supervision, management and control of theboard of the county commissioners of the county wherein such roads are located,and no county road shall hereafter be established, altered or vacated in anycounty in this state, except by authority of the board of the countycommissioners of the county wherein such road is located, except as isotherwise provided by law.
24-1-105. Width restrictions.
(a) All county roads established under this chapter shall notbe less than sixty (60) nor more than one hundred (100) feet in width, unlessthe board of county commissioners determines that a county road be establishedwith a less width; provided, that for the purpose of providing driveways for livestock,the board of county commissioners may open a road to a width not exceeding fivehundred (500) feet. Provided, however, that state highways may be establishednot to exceed three hundred (300) feet in width unless a greater width isnecessary for parking facilities, maintenance, excavations, embankments, thedeposit of waste materials, or driveways for livestock.
(b) Repealed by Laws 1981, ch. 174, 3.
24-1-106. Closing or restricting use; when necessary.
(a) The department of transportation may restrict the use of,or close, any state highway whenever the department considers the closing orrestriction of use necessary:
(i) For the protection of the public;
(ii) For the protection of the highway from damage during stormsor during construction, improvement or maintenance operations thereon; or
(iii) For a special event or athletic event pursuant tosubsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The department of transportation may authorize the completeor partial closure of designated portions of any state highway for the purposeof conducting a special event or athletic event. The director of the departmentmay use equipment and personnel as necessary. The closure may be authorizedonly if:
(i) A written application for the event is submitted to thedepartment, containing information the department deems necessary and theapplication is approved by the director;
(ii) A county government approves the closure if the closurewould restrict the use of any county road in the unincorporated area of thecounty; and
(iii) The closure is implemented in a manner consistent with therules and regulations of the department and will cause the least inconvenienceto the driving public consistent with the requirements of the special event orathletic event.
(c) If an event calls for closure of a state highway within anincorporated city or town, for which there is no readily accessible alternateroute, the city or town shall request department approval for the closure.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(i) "Special event" or "athletic event"means any event which is held outside the corporate limits of any city or townon a state highway but cannot comply with all applicable traffic statutes orordinances. This shall include, but not be limited to, parades, fairs,exhibitions, motion picture filming, bicycle races and foot races. Thisdefinition does not include an event taking place away from a highway which,due to the number of persons attending the event, creates traffic congestion ona highway before and after the event; and
(ii) "Partial or complete closure of designated portions ofany state highway" means the closing to traffic of any roadway, lane orother portion of a state roadway or highway or any other restriction of thenormal use of a highway.
24-1-107. Closing or restricting use; who may close; notice tocontrolling agency required.
Whenevera dangerous condition is prevailing upon or so near a public highway as tocreate a menace to public health or safety, members of the Wyoming highwaypatrol, police departments or sheriff offices may close any highway to trafficwhen necessary to protect the public from such danger. Whenever such closing ofa highway is done the governmental agency having control over said highwayshall be immediately notified of the reason of such closing and the location.
24-1-108. Closing or restricting use; public notice.
(a) To notify the public that a state highway is closed or itsuse restricted pursuant to this act notification shall be in one (1) or more ofthe following forms:
(i) Erect suitable barriers or obstructions upon such highway;
(ii) Post warnings and notices of the condition of any suchhighway;
(iii) Post signs for the direction of traffic upon it, or to orupon any other highway or detour open to public travel;
(iv) Place warning devices on such highway;
(v) Assign a flagman to warn, detour or direct traffic on suchhighway.
24-1-109. Closing or restricting use; failure to observe signs andmarkers; exceptions.
(a) Any person who willfully fails to observe any sign, marker,warning, notice, or direction, placed or given under W.S. 24-1-108 is guilty ofa misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by any court of competentjurisdiction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than seven hundred fiftydollars ($750.00) or to imprisonment for a period not to exceed thirty (30)days, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) The department or state highway patrol may allow a personto proceed past any sign, marker, warning, notice or other device postedpursuant to W.S. 24-1-108 under the following circumstances:
(i) The person requesting permission to travel upon a closedroad is seeking to travel to a destination beyond the closure point, but in anarea unaffected by the conditions warranting the closure;
(ii) The department or state highway patrol makes adetermination there is no dangerous or hazardous condition which wouldreasonably preclude the ability of the person to travel on the closed portionof the highway; and
(iii) The person making the request shall agree to any conditionsor requirements for traveling on the closed portion of the highway which areimposed by the department or state highway patrol.
(c) Any permission granted under subsection (b) of this sectionto travel upon a closed road shall be granted by the department or the statehighway patrol on a case-by-case basis, unless otherwise determined by thedepartment or the highway patrol.
24-1-110. Speed or acceleration contest or exhibition on highways.
(a) No person shall engage in any motor vehicle speed oracceleration contest, or exhibition of speed or acceleration on any highwaywithout approval of such use by the governing body in charge of said highway.No person shall aid or abet in any such motor vehicle speed or accelerationcontest or exhibition on any highway, without approval of such use by thegoverning body in charge of said highway.
(b) No person shall for the purpose of facilitating or aidingor as an incident to any motor vehicle speed or acceleration contest upon ahighway, in any manner obstruct or place or assist in placing any barricade orobstruction upon any highway without approval of such use by the governing bodyin charge of said highway.
(c) Any person who violates this section shall upon convictionbe fined not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars($100), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ten (10) daysor both.
24-1-111. County road districts.
Allcounties shall be divided into road districts. The board of countycommissioners of each county shall divide their county into road districts ofas compact form and convenient size as is practicable, and embracing theterritory within an election district, if possible, and may change or altersaid road district from time to time as the public convenience may require.
24-1-112. Construction and repair of fences to be performed bydepartment of transportation.
(a) In the event that fences paralleling state highways, orbuilt on the highway right-of-way need repair or reconstruction to meet legalfence requirements, as set forth in W.S. 11-28-102, the actual work of repairand reconstruction of the fence, including all corresponding labor costs, shallbe performed by the department of transportation.
(b) Where any state highway is reconstructed the newright-of-way fence will be constructed and maintained by the department oftransportation.
24-1-113. Owner of unnatural canal to construct and maintain bridge atroad crossing; subsequent assumption and maintenance by county.
Anyperson, company, corporation or association of persons, operating ormaintaining in whole or in part, either as owners, agent, occupant orappropriator any ditch, canal or watercourse, not being a natural stream, forirrigation or any other, and different purpose, shall put in, construct,maintain and keep in repair at his, her, its or their expense for one (1) year,where the same crosses any public highway or publicly traveled road, a goodsubstantial bridge, not less than fourteen (14) feet in width, over such ditch,canal or watercourse where it crosses such road. Any violation of theprovisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof,the person so offending shall pay a fine in any sum not exceeding one hundreddollars ($100.00) for each day such ditch, canal or watercourse shall beunbridged, insufficiently bridged, or permitted to remain out of repair;provided, that after the expiration of one (1) year, from the construction ofsaid bridge, the road supervisor of the road district in which said bridge islocated, shall upon being notified by the owner or owners of the ditch, canalor watercourse over which said bridge is constructed, at once inspect saidbridge, and if found in a good and lawful condition, shall accept the same forthe county in which it is located, and said bridge shall thereafter bemaintained by the said county.
24-1-114. Bridges between counties.
Wheneverit shall appear to be advantageous to any county or counties to build or repairany bridge or bridges over streams constituting the boundary line of suchcounty or counties, or when such bridge or bridges when built will be partly inone (1) county and partly in another county in this state, or when a bridgewhen built shall be partly in a county of this state and partly in a county ofanother state, it shall be lawful for the county commissioners of any county inwhich part of such bridge has been or is to be erected, to join with the othercounty or counties containing or to contain other parts of the said bridge, inmaking any contract or contracts for the purpose of procuring the erection orrepair of such bridge or bridges on the basis that each of the countiescontracting shall pay one-half of the whole expense of building or repairingsuch bridge or bridges.
24-1-115. Repealed by Laws 1985, ch. 71, 2.
24-1-116. Restrictions upon damming streams; generally.
Noperson or persons, company or corporation, or association of persons, shall bepermitted or allowed to dam the water or waters of any stream or irrigating ormining ditch or any waterway so that the water thus dammed, or any partthereof, shall overflow any public road or highway, or undermine, weaken ordamage any bridge, or any walls or embankment of any road, nor shall anyperson, association or corporation owning or controlling any ditch or irrigatedlands, allow any wastewater from the same to flow across or upon any publicroad or highway. Any person finding a public road or highway or any bridgeflooded or damaged by such wastewater may report the same to the roadsupervisor of the county in which such road, highway or bridge may be located,who shall make an examination and report to the county attorney for the county.If the report of the said road supervisor shows that such damage has occurred,it shall then be the duty of the county attorney to institute proceedingsagainst the party or parties whose negligence has caused such damage.
24-1-117. Restrictions upon damming streams; effect of failure tocomply with W.S. 24-1-116.
Anyperson or persons, company or corporation, violating the provisions of W.S.24-1-116, shall be liable to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars($100.00), and shall also be liable to the party injured for any damagesresulting therefrom.
24-1-118. Construction and maintenance to be performed at expense ofstate.
Exceptingas such work may be performed through mutual agreement with other entities,either public or private, the construction and maintenance of all statehighways, including all bridges, and culverts thereon, shall be performed atthe expense of the state and by and under the supervision of the commission andthe director of the department of transportation or his authorizedrepresentative.
24-1-119. State highway fund created; income and expenditure.
Thereis created a fund known as the state highway fund, to the credit of which thestate treasurer, who is designated as the state official to receive all amountspaid by the United States under the act of congress approved July 11, 1916,shall place all monies previously received for the fund, all money subsequentlyreceived from the United States, under cooperative agreements as authorized, allmoney derived from taxes levied for such purpose or appropriated for the fund,all monies received from the sale of state bonds for highway construction orimprovement, all money received from the counties under cooperative agreementsas hereinbefore authorized, and all other monies received from donations orbequests, which may be accepted by the commission on behalf of the state ofWyoming, or from any source designated by law for that purpose. All monies inthe fund shall be available for the purpose of this act without furtherappropriation and no warrant shall be drawn on the fund excepting on a voucherapproved by the director of the department of transportation or an assistantauthorized by the director and approved by the transportation commission. It isprovided that seventy-five percent (75%) of the amount of any bond issuesubsequently issued by the state of Wyoming for the construction or improvementof state highways, after the payment of overhead expense, shall be apportionedto and spent in each county in the proportion which the assessed valuation ofeach county by the last general assessment bears to the total assessment of thestate.
24-1-120. Administration of provisions; maximum overhead expenses.
Itis hereby provided that all expenses of the maintenance of office, offices,salary, salaries, engineering, surveying, field supervision and other overheadexpenses in connection with the administration of this act, shall not exceedfifteen percent (15%) of the total amount expended each year under theprovisions of this act.
24-1-121. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation; entryof order; notice to be posted.
Theboard of county commissioners of every county, wherein is situated any mountainroad or highway or portion thereof, which would be liable to receive unusualinjury and damage by driving over the same herds of cattle, horses or flocks ofsheep, shall have the power, by order entered in the records of such board ofcommissioners, to designate so much of such road or highway as would be soliable to receive unusual injury and damage, as, not a highway for herds ofhorses, cattle or flocks of sheep, a notice of which designation shall beposted at convenient and conspicuous places along, and in the vicinity of theportion of such road or highway so designated, which notices shall likewisereasonably point out the lieu road or highway laid out as hereinafter provided.
24-1-122. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation ofsubstitute highway.
Incase of such designation it shall be the duty of the board of countycommissioners of such county to provide in lieu of the portion of such highway,so designated, a highway for herds and flocks of cattle, horses and sheep whichshall be reasonably safe and convenient for that purpose and shall be areasonably convenient way of access to the same place that would otherwise bereached by the portions of the road or highway designated as not a highway forcattle, horses or sheep as aforesaid.
24-1-123. Highways subject to injury from cattle; drover's liability.
Anyperson who shall drive any herd of horses, cattle or flock of sheep over anyportion of any road or highway, so designated as not for horses, cattle orsheep as aforesaid, after such designation and the posting of notices asaforesaid, and after the provision of another reasonable highway for cattle,horses and sheep in lieu thereof as aforesaid, shall be liable to the county inwhich is situated such mountain road or highway, for any and all damages done thereto,by driving over the same, such flocks or herds of cattle, horses or sheep.
24-1-124. Livestock crossings; generally.
Thedepartment of transportation may provide suitable livestock crossings on allstate highways, having an oil surface, in the state of Wyoming, at places wherenecessity and convenience require. Ranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers andproducers may file with the board of county commissioners of their county arequest for livestock crossings, and the various boards of county commissionersshall recommend from time to time to the department of transportation suchcrossings as they believe will best suit the necessities and convenience ofranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers and producers in their county.
24-1-125. Livestock crossings; construction; length and width.
Suchlivestock crossings shall be constructed of such material that livestock willreadily cross over the same and shall not be less than sixty (60) feet inlength and the full width of the highway.
24-1-126. Livestock crossings; signs required.
Livestockcrossings shall be indicated by conspicuous signs placed on each side of thehighway.
24-1-127. Speed on city streets designated state highways.
Whencity streets are designated as state highways leading into, through, or out ofa town or city, the department of transportation shall regulate the speedlimits on such streets.
24-1-128. Marking of highways.
Allcenter markings and supplementary road shoulder markings on all highways withinthe boundaries of the state of Wyoming completed in asphalt, oil, concrete, orother hard surface shall be maintained with bright yellow lines, whether or notsaid markings be solid or broken yellow lines. The director of the departmentof transportation shall have the duty to enforce the provisions of this sectionand to provide for the effective maintenance of said yellow markings. The statetransportation commission after a hearing may waive the application of this act[this section] to any highway or highway project if necessary to promote a safeand effective utilization of such highway or highway project. The governor andthe president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives ofthe state of Wyoming shall be notified in writing at least five (5) days beforethe hearing.
24-1-129. Marking of bypasses.
Itis declared to be the policy of the state of Wyoming that where the Wyomingdepartment of transportation has by law authorized a bypass to be built aroundany incorporated city or town, or an unincorporated community of the state ofWyoming, regardless of the population of such city, town or unincorporatedcommunity, the officially designated state highway and federal highway markingsshall remain on the existing highway through the incorporated city or town orunincorporated community and the existing highway shall be retained and the newbypass highway shall carry the designation "bypass" or other similarmarkings.
24-1-130. Administration of highway safety provisions and programs.
Thegovernor, in addition to other duties and responsibilities conferred upon himby the constitution and laws of this state is hereby empowered to contract andto do all other things necessary to secure the full benefits available to thisstate under the federal Highway Safety Act of 1966, and in so doing, tocooperate with federal and state agencies, private and public organizations,and with individuals, to effectuate the purposes of that enactment, and any andall subsequent amendments thereto. The governor shall be responsible for and ishereby empowered to administer through such appropriate agency of this state ashe shall designate within thirty (30) days from the date hereof, the highwaysafety programs of this state and those of its political subdivisions, all inaccordance with said act and federal rules and regulations in implementationthereof.
24-1-131. Travel centers.
Thetransportation commission and the director of the department of transportation shall ensure that all buildings owned or controlled by the department oftransportation and utilized as travel centers are directed and operated by one(1) or more agencies appointed by the transportation commission for the bestinterests of all Wyoming people. For purposes of this section an agency may bedefined as a chamber of commerce, or any state or local governmental entity. Ifno agency is appointed, the commission shall direct and operate the travelcenters.
24-1-132. Contracts for county bridge work; bids; exception.
(a) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causeto be prepared comprehensive plans and specifications for the construction ofbridges on any dedicated and maintained county road.
(b) As used in this section a bridge is a structure, includingsupports, erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, highwayor railway, having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other movingloads and having an opening measured along the center of the roadway of morethan twenty (20) feet between undercopings of abutments, or spring lines ofarches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple barrel box culverts. It mayinclude multiple pipes, where the clear distance between openings is less thanone-half (1/2) of the smaller contiguous opening.
(c) When any bridge is to be constructed, which includes eithernew construction or reconstruction of major load carrying bridge components,upon any county road, the estimated cost of which shall exceed twenty-fivethousand dollars ($25,000.00), the construction work shall be competitively bidand the bridge work constructed by contract. No contract shall be divided forthe purpose of avoiding competitive bidding. The construction work may bedescribed in the published call for bids by stating general requirements. Detailed specifications shall be available to prospective bidders at the countycommissioner's office.
(d) All bridges to be constructed shall be designed by aprofessional engineer who holds a valid certificate of registration granted bythe state board of examining engineers of the state of Wyoming. Plans andspecifications shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of W.S.24-2-106.
(e) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causenotices of the contract to be let to be published for two (2) consecutive weeksin a newspaper having general circulation within the state and to take anyother means available to achieve as wide a notice as possible, but in no caseshall any letting of the contract be held within fifteen (15) days of the lastpublished notice.
(f) All contracts shall be awarded by the county commissionersto the lowest responsible bidder. The county commissioners shall reserve theright to reject any and all bids and to waive irregularities and informalitiesin the bidding. No final payment upon any contract shall be made until thebridge is examined and the payment approved by the county commissioners ortheir designees.
(g) Whenever an emergency arises requiring expenditure of fundsfor the repair or rebuilding of bridges or approaches to bridges the board ofcounty commissioners may enter into contract for any building or rebuilding ofbridges or approaches without advertising for the letting of any contract. Anemergency is an occasion requiring repair or rebuilding of a bridge or aportion of a bridge when, on short notice, the bridge has become unsafe orimpassable due to events which are beyond the control of the county.
24-1-133. Posting notice of restrictions to public roads and adjacentlands; restrictions; penalties.
(a) No person shall post a notice purporting to restrict accessover a public road unless the restriction has been approved by the governingbody having jurisdiction over the road.
(b) For purposes of this section "public road" meansany passageway to which there is a duly recorded instrument from the landowneror his predecessor in interest conveying to the public unrestricted legal rightto use the passageway or to which a governing body has acquired unrestrictedlegal right for the public to use the passageway.
(c) The governing body or its authorized representative havingjurisdiction over the public road shall issue a written demand to any personwho unlawfully posts a notice in violation of subsection (a) of this section directingthat the notice be removed within three (3) days following receipt of thenotice. The demand shall be delivered in person by a peace officer or mailed byboth first class mail and certified mail return receipt requested to theperson's last known mailing address. Any person who knowingly posts an illegalnotice or who fails to remove an illegal notice within three (3) days afterreceiving the demand from the governing body is guilty of a misdemeanor. If theperson cannot be personally served because he deliberately made himselfunavailable for service, or refused to accept delivery of the demand bycertified mail, then he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if he fails to removethe illegal notice within five (5) days after the demand was mailed to him bythe governing body. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under this sectionshall be punished by a fine up to six hundred dollars ($600.00) for each daythe person fails to remove the illegal notice. For a second or subsequentoffense, the penalty shall be a fine of not more than six hundred dollars($600.00) per day, and up to six (6) months in jail, or both.
(d) It shall be a defense to any charge under this section,that severe weather or other circumstance not within control of the personcharged prevented removal of the notice.
24-1-101. Public highways defined and established; creation by adversepossession.
(a) On and after January 1, 1924, all roads within this stateshall be highways, which have been or may be declared by law to be state orcounty highways. It shall be the duty of the several boards of countycommissioners, within their respective counties, prior to said date, todetermine what, if any, such roads now or heretofore traveled but notheretofore officially established and recorded, are necessary or important forthe public use as permanent roads, and to cause such roads to be recorded, orif need be laid out, established and recorded, and all roads recorded asaforesaid, shall be highways. No other roads, except roads located on federalpublic lands prior to October, 1976 which provide access for a privateresidence or agricultural operation shall be highways upon acceptance by theboard of county commissioners of the county where the road is located shall behighways unless and until lawfully established as such by official authority.Except, nothing contained herein shall be construed as preventing the creationor establishment of a public highway right-of-way with reference to state andcounty highways under the common-law doctrines of adverse possession orprescription either prior to or subsequent to the enactment hereof. If any suchboard shall resolve the creation or establishment of a public highwayright-of-way based upon the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription,it shall, following the filing of a plat and accurate survey required inaccordance with the terms and provisions of W.S. 24-3-109, proceed with thepublication of the proposed road for three (3) successive weeks in three (3)successive issues of some official newspaper published in the county, if anysuch there be, and if no newspaper be published therein, such notice shall beposted in at least three (3) public places along the line of the proposed road,which notice shall be exclusive of all other notices and may be in thefollowing form:
To all whom it mayconcern: The board of county commissioners of .... county has resolved thecreation and establishment of a public highway right-of-way under thecommon-law doctrine of prescription in that the road was constructed orsubstantially maintained by the (either the state or county) for general publicuse for a period of (ten years or longer) said road commencing at .... in ....county, Wyoming, running thence (here describe in general terms the points andcourses thereof), and terminating at ....
All objectionsthereto must be filed in writing with the county clerk of said county beforenoon on the .... day of .... A.D., ...., or such road will be establishedwithout reference to such objections.
----------------------- ....
County Clerk
Dated .... A.D.
(b) The county commissioners shall cause a copy of the abovenotice to be mailed by registered or certified mail to all persons owning landsor claiming any interest in any lands over or across which the road is proposedto be created or established. The publication, posting and mailings of suchnotice shall be a legal and sufficient notice to all persons owning lands orclaiming any interest in lands over which the proposed road is to be created orestablished. No viewers or appraisers shall be appointed, nor shall any damageclaims be considered or heard, and the sole objections to be heard by the boardshall be directed against the creation or establishment of such right-of-wayunder the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription. Anyobjector may appeal from the final decision of the board of the countycommissioners to the district court of the county in which the land issituated. Notice of such appeal must be made to the county clerk within thirty(30) days after such decision has been made by the board, or such claim shallbe deemed to have been abandoned. Within ten (10) days after the notice of anappeal is filed in his office, the county clerk shall make out and file in theoffice of the clerk of the district court, in his county, a transcript of thepapers on file in his office, and the proceedings of the board in relation tosuch creation and establishment. The proceedings on appeal shall be governed bythe Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. If the appeal is upheld the appellantshall be reimbursed by the county for all reasonable costs of asserting hisclaim.
(c) Only that portion of the state highways actually used,travelled or fenced, which has been used by the general public for a period often (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to the enactmenthereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully established as such byofficial authority and unavailability of records to show such to have beenlawfully established shall not rebut this presumption.
(d) Only that portion of county highways, not to exceedsixty-six (66) feet in width, which was actually constructed or substantiallymaintained by the county and travelled and used by the general public for aperiod of ten (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to theenactment hereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully establishedas such by official authority.
24-1-102. Location, survey and construction.
(a) Any such highways, and such additional highways inconnection therewith as may be provided for, which are designated as statehighways, shall be located and surveyed under the direction and supervision ofthe director of the department of transportation or his authorized representative,who shall cause plans and specifications of the highways to be prepared, anddesignate the materials to be used in their construction. He shall take intoconsideration the climate, soil and materials to be had in the vicinity, andthe extent and nature of the probable traffic on the highway with a view to themost economical construction consistent with efficiency.
(b) Where any such highways are designated as a county highwaythe same shall be located and surveyed under the direction of the countysurveyor of the county in which such highway is located; said county surveyorshall cause plans and specifications of any such highway to be prepared and theboard of county commissioners of such county shall designate the materials tobe used in their construction. Said board of county commissioners shall takeinto consideration the climate, soil, and materials to be had in the vicinity,and the extent and nature of the probable traffic on said highway with a viewto the most economical construction thereof consistent with efficiency. Theexpense of locating, surveying, and constructing such county highways shall bepaid by the county in which such highway is constructed.
24-1-103. State transportation commission of Wyoming to acquireright-of-way; when right-of-way becomes state property.
Thetransportation commission is hereby authorized, required and may proceed underthe provisions of W.S. 24-2-109(a), to secure the right-of-way for all statehighways presently designated by the transportation commission as part of thestate highway system or in the future to be designated as part of the statehighway system. When any state highway designated by the transportationcommission shall occupy in whole or in part the right-of-way of a formerlyconstructed highway, whether a county highway or a state highway, so much ofthe right-of-way as is occupied in the construction of the new highway orreconstruction of the previously constructed highway shall become the propertyof the state.
24-1-104. Management and control of county roads.
Allcounty roads shall be under the supervision, management and control of theboard of the county commissioners of the county wherein such roads are located,and no county road shall hereafter be established, altered or vacated in anycounty in this state, except by authority of the board of the countycommissioners of the county wherein such road is located, except as isotherwise provided by law.
24-1-105. Width restrictions.
(a) All county roads established under this chapter shall notbe less than sixty (60) nor more than one hundred (100) feet in width, unlessthe board of county commissioners determines that a county road be establishedwith a less width; provided, that for the purpose of providing driveways for livestock,the board of county commissioners may open a road to a width not exceeding fivehundred (500) feet. Provided, however, that state highways may be establishednot to exceed three hundred (300) feet in width unless a greater width isnecessary for parking facilities, maintenance, excavations, embankments, thedeposit of waste materials, or driveways for livestock.
(b) Repealed by Laws 1981, ch. 174, 3.
24-1-106. Closing or restricting use; when necessary.
(a) The department of transportation may restrict the use of,or close, any state highway whenever the department considers the closing orrestriction of use necessary:
(i) For the protection of the public;
(ii) For the protection of the highway from damage during stormsor during construction, improvement or maintenance operations thereon; or
(iii) For a special event or athletic event pursuant tosubsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The department of transportation may authorize the completeor partial closure of designated portions of any state highway for the purposeof conducting a special event or athletic event. The director of the departmentmay use equipment and personnel as necessary. The closure may be authorizedonly if:
(i) A written application for the event is submitted to thedepartment, containing information the department deems necessary and theapplication is approved by the director;
(ii) A county government approves the closure if the closurewould restrict the use of any county road in the unincorporated area of thecounty; and
(iii) The closure is implemented in a manner consistent with therules and regulations of the department and will cause the least inconvenienceto the driving public consistent with the requirements of the special event orathletic event.
(c) If an event calls for closure of a state highway within anincorporated city or town, for which there is no readily accessible alternateroute, the city or town shall request department approval for the closure.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(i) "Special event" or "athletic event"means any event which is held outside the corporate limits of any city or townon a state highway but cannot comply with all applicable traffic statutes orordinances. This shall include, but not be limited to, parades, fairs,exhibitions, motion picture filming, bicycle races and foot races. Thisdefinition does not include an event taking place away from a highway which,due to the number of persons attending the event, creates traffic congestion ona highway before and after the event; and
(ii) "Partial or complete closure of designated portions ofany state highway" means the closing to traffic of any roadway, lane orother portion of a state roadway or highway or any other restriction of thenormal use of a highway.
24-1-107. Closing or restricting use; who may close; notice tocontrolling agency required.
Whenevera dangerous condition is prevailing upon or so near a public highway as tocreate a menace to public health or safety, members of the Wyoming highwaypatrol, police departments or sheriff offices may close any highway to trafficwhen necessary to protect the public from such danger. Whenever such closing ofa highway is done the governmental agency having control over said highwayshall be immediately notified of the reason of such closing and the location.
24-1-108. Closing or restricting use; public notice.
(a) To notify the public that a state highway is closed or itsuse restricted pursuant to this act notification shall be in one (1) or more ofthe following forms:
(i) Erect suitable barriers or obstructions upon such highway;
(ii) Post warnings and notices of the condition of any suchhighway;
(iii) Post signs for the direction of traffic upon it, or to orupon any other highway or detour open to public travel;
(iv) Place warning devices on such highway;
(v) Assign a flagman to warn, detour or direct traffic on suchhighway.
24-1-109. Closing or restricting use; failure to observe signs andmarkers; exceptions.
(a) Any person who willfully fails to observe any sign, marker,warning, notice, or direction, placed or given under W.S. 24-1-108 is guilty ofa misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by any court of competentjurisdiction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than seven hundred fiftydollars ($750.00) or to imprisonment for a period not to exceed thirty (30)days, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) The department or state highway patrol may allow a personto proceed past any sign, marker, warning, notice or other device postedpursuant to W.S. 24-1-108 under the following circumstances:
(i) The person requesting permission to travel upon a closedroad is seeking to travel to a destination beyond the closure point, but in anarea unaffected by the conditions warranting the closure;
(ii) The department or state highway patrol makes adetermination there is no dangerous or hazardous condition which wouldreasonably preclude the ability of the person to travel on the closed portionof the highway; and
(iii) The person making the request shall agree to any conditionsor requirements for traveling on the closed portion of the highway which areimposed by the department or state highway patrol.
(c) Any permission granted under subsection (b) of this sectionto travel upon a closed road shall be granted by the department or the statehighway patrol on a case-by-case basis, unless otherwise determined by thedepartment or the highway patrol.
24-1-110. Speed or acceleration contest or exhibition on highways.
(a) No person shall engage in any motor vehicle speed oracceleration contest, or exhibition of speed or acceleration on any highwaywithout approval of such use by the governing body in charge of said highway.No person shall aid or abet in any such motor vehicle speed or accelerationcontest or exhibition on any highway, without approval of such use by thegoverning body in charge of said highway.
(b) No person shall for the purpose of facilitating or aidingor as an incident to any motor vehicle speed or acceleration contest upon ahighway, in any manner obstruct or place or assist in placing any barricade orobstruction upon any highway without approval of such use by the governing bodyin charge of said highway.
(c) Any person who violates this section shall upon convictionbe fined not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars($100), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ten (10) daysor both.
24-1-111. County road districts.
Allcounties shall be divided into road districts. The board of countycommissioners of each county shall divide their county into road districts ofas compact form and convenient size as is practicable, and embracing theterritory within an election district, if possible, and may change or altersaid road district from time to time as the public convenience may require.
24-1-112. Construction and repair of fences to be performed bydepartment of transportation.
(a) In the event that fences paralleling state highways, orbuilt on the highway right-of-way need repair or reconstruction to meet legalfence requirements, as set forth in W.S. 11-28-102, the actual work of repairand reconstruction of the fence, including all corresponding labor costs, shallbe performed by the department of transportation.
(b) Where any state highway is reconstructed the newright-of-way fence will be constructed and maintained by the department oftransportation.
24-1-113. Owner of unnatural canal to construct and maintain bridge atroad crossing; subsequent assumption and maintenance by county.
Anyperson, company, corporation or association of persons, operating ormaintaining in whole or in part, either as owners, agent, occupant orappropriator any ditch, canal or watercourse, not being a natural stream, forirrigation or any other, and different purpose, shall put in, construct,maintain and keep in repair at his, her, its or their expense for one (1) year,where the same crosses any public highway or publicly traveled road, a goodsubstantial bridge, not less than fourteen (14) feet in width, over such ditch,canal or watercourse where it crosses such road. Any violation of theprovisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof,the person so offending shall pay a fine in any sum not exceeding one hundreddollars ($100.00) for each day such ditch, canal or watercourse shall beunbridged, insufficiently bridged, or permitted to remain out of repair;provided, that after the expiration of one (1) year, from the construction ofsaid bridge, the road supervisor of the road district in which said bridge islocated, shall upon being notified by the owner or owners of the ditch, canalor watercourse over which said bridge is constructed, at once inspect saidbridge, and if found in a good and lawful condition, shall accept the same forthe county in which it is located, and said bridge shall thereafter bemaintained by the said county.
24-1-114. Bridges between counties.
Wheneverit shall appear to be advantageous to any county or counties to build or repairany bridge or bridges over streams constituting the boundary line of suchcounty or counties, or when such bridge or bridges when built will be partly inone (1) county and partly in another county in this state, or when a bridgewhen built shall be partly in a county of this state and partly in a county ofanother state, it shall be lawful for the county commissioners of any county inwhich part of such bridge has been or is to be erected, to join with the othercounty or counties containing or to contain other parts of the said bridge, inmaking any contract or contracts for the purpose of procuring the erection orrepair of such bridge or bridges on the basis that each of the countiescontracting shall pay one-half of the whole expense of building or repairingsuch bridge or bridges.
24-1-115. Repealed by Laws 1985, ch. 71, 2.
24-1-116. Restrictions upon damming streams; generally.
Noperson or persons, company or corporation, or association of persons, shall bepermitted or allowed to dam the water or waters of any stream or irrigating ormining ditch or any waterway so that the water thus dammed, or any partthereof, shall overflow any public road or highway, or undermine, weaken ordamage any bridge, or any walls or embankment of any road, nor shall anyperson, association or corporation owning or controlling any ditch or irrigatedlands, allow any wastewater from the same to flow across or upon any publicroad or highway. Any person finding a public road or highway or any bridgeflooded or damaged by such wastewater may report the same to the roadsupervisor of the county in which such road, highway or bridge may be located,who shall make an examination and report to the county attorney for the county.If the report of the said road supervisor shows that such damage has occurred,it shall then be the duty of the county attorney to institute proceedingsagainst the party or parties whose negligence has caused such damage.
24-1-117. Restrictions upon damming streams; effect of failure tocomply with W.S. 24-1-116.
Anyperson or persons, company or corporation, violating the provisions of W.S.24-1-116, shall be liable to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars($100.00), and shall also be liable to the party injured for any damagesresulting therefrom.
24-1-118. Construction and maintenance to be performed at expense ofstate.
Exceptingas such work may be performed through mutual agreement with other entities,either public or private, the construction and maintenance of all statehighways, including all bridges, and culverts thereon, shall be performed atthe expense of the state and by and under the supervision of the commission andthe director of the department of transportation or his authorizedrepresentative.
24-1-119. State highway fund created; income and expenditure.
Thereis created a fund known as the state highway fund, to the credit of which thestate treasurer, who is designated as the state official to receive all amountspaid by the United States under the act of congress approved July 11, 1916,shall place all monies previously received for the fund, all money subsequentlyreceived from the United States, under cooperative agreements as authorized, allmoney derived from taxes levied for such purpose or appropriated for the fund,all monies received from the sale of state bonds for highway construction orimprovement, all money received from the counties under cooperative agreementsas hereinbefore authorized, and all other monies received from donations orbequests, which may be accepted by the commission on behalf of the state ofWyoming, or from any source designated by law for that purpose. All monies inthe fund shall be available for the purpose of this act without furtherappropriation and no warrant shall be drawn on the fund excepting on a voucherapproved by the director of the department of transportation or an assistantauthorized by the director and approved by the transportation commission. It isprovided that seventy-five percent (75%) of the amount of any bond issuesubsequently issued by the state of Wyoming for the construction or improvementof state highways, after the payment of overhead expense, shall be apportionedto and spent in each county in the proportion which the assessed valuation ofeach county by the last general assessment bears to the total assessment of thestate.
24-1-120. Administration of provisions; maximum overhead expenses.
Itis hereby provided that all expenses of the maintenance of office, offices,salary, salaries, engineering, surveying, field supervision and other overheadexpenses in connection with the administration of this act, shall not exceedfifteen percent (15%) of the total amount expended each year under theprovisions of this act.
24-1-121. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation; entryof order; notice to be posted.
Theboard of county commissioners of every county, wherein is situated any mountainroad or highway or portion thereof, which would be liable to receive unusualinjury and damage by driving over the same herds of cattle, horses or flocks ofsheep, shall have the power, by order entered in the records of such board ofcommissioners, to designate so much of such road or highway as would be soliable to receive unusual injury and damage, as, not a highway for herds ofhorses, cattle or flocks of sheep, a notice of which designation shall beposted at convenient and conspicuous places along, and in the vicinity of theportion of such road or highway so designated, which notices shall likewisereasonably point out the lieu road or highway laid out as hereinafter provided.
24-1-122. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation ofsubstitute highway.
Incase of such designation it shall be the duty of the board of countycommissioners of such county to provide in lieu of the portion of such highway,so designated, a highway for herds and flocks of cattle, horses and sheep whichshall be reasonably safe and convenient for that purpose and shall be areasonably convenient way of access to the same place that would otherwise bereached by the portions of the road or highway designated as not a highway forcattle, horses or sheep as aforesaid.
24-1-123. Highways subject to injury from cattle; drover's liability.
Anyperson who shall drive any herd of horses, cattle or flock of sheep over anyportion of any road or highway, so designated as not for horses, cattle orsheep as aforesaid, after such designation and the posting of notices asaforesaid, and after the provision of another reasonable highway for cattle,horses and sheep in lieu thereof as aforesaid, shall be liable to the county inwhich is situated such mountain road or highway, for any and all damages done thereto,by driving over the same, such flocks or herds of cattle, horses or sheep.
24-1-124. Livestock crossings; generally.
Thedepartment of transportation may provide suitable livestock crossings on allstate highways, having an oil surface, in the state of Wyoming, at places wherenecessity and convenience require. Ranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers andproducers may file with the board of county commissioners of their county arequest for livestock crossings, and the various boards of county commissionersshall recommend from time to time to the department of transportation suchcrossings as they believe will best suit the necessities and convenience ofranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers and producers in their county.
24-1-125. Livestock crossings; construction; length and width.
Suchlivestock crossings shall be constructed of such material that livestock willreadily cross over the same and shall not be less than sixty (60) feet inlength and the full width of the highway.
24-1-126. Livestock crossings; signs required.
Livestockcrossings shall be indicated by conspicuous signs placed on each side of thehighway.
24-1-127. Speed on city streets designated state highways.
Whencity streets are designated as state highways leading into, through, or out ofa town or city, the department of transportation shall regulate the speedlimits on such streets.
24-1-128. Marking of highways.
Allcenter markings and supplementary road shoulder markings on all highways withinthe boundaries of the state of Wyoming completed in asphalt, oil, concrete, orother hard surface shall be maintained with bright yellow lines, whether or notsaid markings be solid or broken yellow lines. The director of the departmentof transportation shall have the duty to enforce the provisions of this sectionand to provide for the effective maintenance of said yellow markings. The statetransportation commission after a hearing may waive the application of this act[this section] to any highway or highway project if necessary to promote a safeand effective utilization of such highway or highway project. The governor andthe president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives ofthe state of Wyoming shall be notified in writing at least five (5) days beforethe hearing.
24-1-129. Marking of bypasses.
Itis declared to be the policy of the state of Wyoming that where the Wyomingdepartment of transportation has by law authorized a bypass to be built aroundany incorporated city or town, or an unincorporated community of the state ofWyoming, regardless of the population of such city, town or unincorporatedcommunity, the officially designated state highway and federal highway markingsshall remain on the existing highway through the incorporated city or town orunincorporated community and the existing highway shall be retained and the newbypass highway shall carry the designation "bypass" or other similarmarkings.
24-1-130. Administration of highway safety provisions and programs.
Thegovernor, in addition to other duties and responsibilities conferred upon himby the constitution and laws of this state is hereby empowered to contract andto do all other things necessary to secure the full benefits available to thisstate under the federal Highway Safety Act of 1966, and in so doing, tocooperate with federal and state agencies, private and public organizations,and with individuals, to effectuate the purposes of that enactment, and any andall subsequent amendments thereto. The governor shall be responsible for and ishereby empowered to administer through such appropriate agency of this state ashe shall designate within thirty (30) days from the date hereof, the highwaysafety programs of this state and those of its political subdivisions, all inaccordance with said act and federal rules and regulations in implementationthereof.
24-1-131. Travel centers.
Thetransportation commission and the director of the department of transportation shall ensure that all buildings owned or controlled by the department oftransportation and utilized as travel centers are directed and operated by one(1) or more agencies appointed by the transportation commission for the bestinterests of all Wyoming people. For purposes of this section an agency may bedefined as a chamber of commerce, or any state or local governmental entity. Ifno agency is appointed, the commission shall direct and operate the travelcenters.
24-1-132. Contracts for county bridge work; bids; exception.
(a) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causeto be prepared comprehensive plans and specifications for the construction ofbridges on any dedicated and maintained county road.
(b) As used in this section a bridge is a structure, includingsupports, erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, highwayor railway, having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other movingloads and having an opening measured along the center of the roadway of morethan twenty (20) feet between undercopings of abutments, or spring lines ofarches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple barrel box culverts. It mayinclude multiple pipes, where the clear distance between openings is less thanone-half (1/2) of the smaller contiguous opening.
(c) When any bridge is to be constructed, which includes eithernew construction or reconstruction of major load carrying bridge components,upon any county road, the estimated cost of which shall exceed twenty-fivethousand dollars ($25,000.00), the construction work shall be competitively bidand the bridge work constructed by contract. No contract shall be divided forthe purpose of avoiding competitive bidding. The construction work may bedescribed in the published call for bids by stating general requirements. Detailed specifications shall be available to prospective bidders at the countycommissioner's office.
(d) All bridges to be constructed shall be designed by aprofessional engineer who holds a valid certificate of registration granted bythe state board of examining engineers of the state of Wyoming. Plans andspecifications shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of W.S.24-2-106.
(e) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causenotices of the contract to be let to be published for two (2) consecutive weeksin a newspaper having general circulation within the state and to take anyother means available to achieve as wide a notice as possible, but in no caseshall any letting of the contract be held within fifteen (15) days of the lastpublished notice.
(f) All contracts shall be awarded by the county commissionersto the lowest responsible bidder. The county commissioners shall reserve theright to reject any and all bids and to waive irregularities and informalitiesin the bidding. No final payment upon any contract shall be made until thebridge is examined and the payment approved by the county commissioners ortheir designees.
(g) Whenever an emergency arises requiring expenditure of fundsfor the repair or rebuilding of bridges or approaches to bridges the board ofcounty commissioners may enter into contract for any building or rebuilding ofbridges or approaches without advertising for the letting of any contract. Anemergency is an occasion requiring repair or rebuilding of a bridge or aportion of a bridge when, on short notice, the bridge has become unsafe orimpassable due to events which are beyond the control of the county.
24-1-133. Posting notice of restrictions to public roads and adjacentlands; restrictions; penalties.
(a) No person shall post a notice purporting to restrict accessover a public road unless the restriction has been approved by the governingbody having jurisdiction over the road.
(b) For purposes of this section "public road" meansany passageway to which there is a duly recorded instrument from the landowneror his predecessor in interest conveying to the public unrestricted legal rightto use the passageway or to which a governing body has acquired unrestrictedlegal right for the public to use the passageway.
(c) The governing body or its authorized representative havingjurisdiction over the public road shall issue a written demand to any personwho unlawfully posts a notice in violation of subsection (a) of this section directingthat the notice be removed within three (3) days following receipt of thenotice. The demand shall be delivered in person by a peace officer or mailed byboth first class mail and certified mail return receipt requested to theperson's last known mailing address. Any person who knowingly posts an illegalnotice or who fails to remove an illegal notice within three (3) days afterreceiving the demand from the governing body is guilty of a misdemeanor. If theperson cannot be personally served because he deliberately made himselfunavailable for service, or refused to accept delivery of the demand bycertified mail, then he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if he fails to removethe illegal notice within five (5) days after the demand was mailed to him bythe governing body. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under this sectionshall be punished by a fine up to six hundred dollars ($600.00) for each daythe person fails to remove the illegal notice. For a second or subsequentoffense, the penalty shall be a fine of not more than six hundred dollars($600.00) per day, and up to six (6) months in jail, or both.
(d) It shall be a defense to any charge under this section,that severe weather or other circumstance not within control of the personcharged prevented removal of the notice.
24-1-101. Public highways defined and established; creation by adversepossession.
(a) On and after January 1, 1924, all roads within this stateshall be highways, which have been or may be declared by law to be state orcounty highways. It shall be the duty of the several boards of countycommissioners, within their respective counties, prior to said date, todetermine what, if any, such roads now or heretofore traveled but notheretofore officially established and recorded, are necessary or important forthe public use as permanent roads, and to cause such roads to be recorded, orif need be laid out, established and recorded, and all roads recorded asaforesaid, shall be highways. No other roads, except roads located on federalpublic lands prior to October, 1976 which provide access for a privateresidence or agricultural operation shall be highways upon acceptance by theboard of county commissioners of the county where the road is located shall behighways unless and until lawfully established as such by official authority.Except, nothing contained herein shall be construed as preventing the creationor establishment of a public highway right-of-way with reference to state andcounty highways under the common-law doctrines of adverse possession orprescription either prior to or subsequent to the enactment hereof. If any suchboard shall resolve the creation or establishment of a public highwayright-of-way based upon the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription,it shall, following the filing of a plat and accurate survey required inaccordance with the terms and provisions of W.S. 24-3-109, proceed with thepublication of the proposed road for three (3) successive weeks in three (3)successive issues of some official newspaper published in the county, if anysuch there be, and if no newspaper be published therein, such notice shall beposted in at least three (3) public places along the line of the proposed road,which notice shall be exclusive of all other notices and may be in thefollowing form:
To all whom it mayconcern: The board of county commissioners of .... county has resolved thecreation and establishment of a public highway right-of-way under thecommon-law doctrine of prescription in that the road was constructed orsubstantially maintained by the (either the state or county) for general publicuse for a period of (ten years or longer) said road commencing at .... in ....county, Wyoming, running thence (here describe in general terms the points andcourses thereof), and terminating at ....
All objectionsthereto must be filed in writing with the county clerk of said county beforenoon on the .... day of .... A.D., ...., or such road will be establishedwithout reference to such objections.
----------------------- ....
County Clerk
Dated .... A.D.
(b) The county commissioners shall cause a copy of the abovenotice to be mailed by registered or certified mail to all persons owning landsor claiming any interest in any lands over or across which the road is proposedto be created or established. The publication, posting and mailings of suchnotice shall be a legal and sufficient notice to all persons owning lands orclaiming any interest in lands over which the proposed road is to be created orestablished. No viewers or appraisers shall be appointed, nor shall any damageclaims be considered or heard, and the sole objections to be heard by the boardshall be directed against the creation or establishment of such right-of-wayunder the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription. Anyobjector may appeal from the final decision of the board of the countycommissioners to the district court of the county in which the land issituated. Notice of such appeal must be made to the county clerk within thirty(30) days after such decision has been made by the board, or such claim shallbe deemed to have been abandoned. Within ten (10) days after the notice of anappeal is filed in his office, the county clerk shall make out and file in theoffice of the clerk of the district court, in his county, a transcript of thepapers on file in his office, and the proceedings of the board in relation tosuch creation and establishment. The proceedings on appeal shall be governed bythe Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act. If the appeal is upheld the appellantshall be reimbursed by the county for all reasonable costs of asserting hisclaim.
(c) Only that portion of the state highways actually used,travelled or fenced, which has been used by the general public for a period often (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to the enactmenthereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully established as such byofficial authority and unavailability of records to show such to have beenlawfully established shall not rebut this presumption.
(d) Only that portion of county highways, not to exceedsixty-six (66) feet in width, which was actually constructed or substantiallymaintained by the county and travelled and used by the general public for aperiod of ten (10) years or longer, either prior to or subsequent to theenactment hereof, shall be presumed to be public highways lawfully establishedas such by official authority.
24-1-102. Location, survey and construction.
(a) Any such highways, and such additional highways inconnection therewith as may be provided for, which are designated as statehighways, shall be located and surveyed under the direction and supervision ofthe director of the department of transportation or his authorized representative,who shall cause plans and specifications of the highways to be prepared, anddesignate the materials to be used in their construction. He shall take intoconsideration the climate, soil and materials to be had in the vicinity, andthe extent and nature of the probable traffic on the highway with a view to themost economical construction consistent with efficiency.
(b) Where any such highways are designated as a county highwaythe same shall be located and surveyed under the direction of the countysurveyor of the county in which such highway is located; said county surveyorshall cause plans and specifications of any such highway to be prepared and theboard of county commissioners of such county shall designate the materials tobe used in their construction. Said board of county commissioners shall takeinto consideration the climate, soil, and materials to be had in the vicinity,and the extent and nature of the probable traffic on said highway with a viewto the most economical construction thereof consistent with efficiency. Theexpense of locating, surveying, and constructing such county highways shall bepaid by the county in which such highway is constructed.
24-1-103. State transportation commission of Wyoming to acquireright-of-way; when right-of-way becomes state property.
Thetransportation commission is hereby authorized, required and may proceed underthe provisions of W.S. 24-2-109(a), to secure the right-of-way for all statehighways presently designated by the transportation commission as part of thestate highway system or in the future to be designated as part of the statehighway system. When any state highway designated by the transportationcommission shall occupy in whole or in part the right-of-way of a formerlyconstructed highway, whether a county highway or a state highway, so much ofthe right-of-way as is occupied in the construction of the new highway orreconstruction of the previously constructed highway shall become the propertyof the state.
24-1-104. Management and control of county roads.
Allcounty roads shall be under the supervision, management and control of theboard of the county commissioners of the county wherein such roads are located,and no county road shall hereafter be established, altered or vacated in anycounty in this state, except by authority of the board of the countycommissioners of the county wherein such road is located, except as isotherwise provided by law.
24-1-105. Width restrictions.
(a) All county roads established under this chapter shall notbe less than sixty (60) nor more than one hundred (100) feet in width, unlessthe board of county commissioners determines that a county road be establishedwith a less width; provided, that for the purpose of providing driveways for livestock,the board of county commissioners may open a road to a width not exceeding fivehundred (500) feet. Provided, however, that state highways may be establishednot to exceed three hundred (300) feet in width unless a greater width isnecessary for parking facilities, maintenance, excavations, embankments, thedeposit of waste materials, or driveways for livestock.
(b) Repealed by Laws 1981, ch. 174, 3.
24-1-106. Closing or restricting use; when necessary.
(a) The department of transportation may restrict the use of,or close, any state highway whenever the department considers the closing orrestriction of use necessary:
(i) For the protection of the public;
(ii) For the protection of the highway from damage during stormsor during construction, improvement or maintenance operations thereon; or
(iii) For a special event or athletic event pursuant tosubsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(b) The department of transportation may authorize the completeor partial closure of designated portions of any state highway for the purposeof conducting a special event or athletic event. The director of the departmentmay use equipment and personnel as necessary. The closure may be authorizedonly if:
(i) A written application for the event is submitted to thedepartment, containing information the department deems necessary and theapplication is approved by the director;
(ii) A county government approves the closure if the closurewould restrict the use of any county road in the unincorporated area of thecounty; and
(iii) The closure is implemented in a manner consistent with therules and regulations of the department and will cause the least inconvenienceto the driving public consistent with the requirements of the special event orathletic event.
(c) If an event calls for closure of a state highway within anincorporated city or town, for which there is no readily accessible alternateroute, the city or town shall request department approval for the closure.
(d) For purposes of this section:
(i) "Special event" or "athletic event"means any event which is held outside the corporate limits of any city or townon a state highway but cannot comply with all applicable traffic statutes orordinances. This shall include, but not be limited to, parades, fairs,exhibitions, motion picture filming, bicycle races and foot races. Thisdefinition does not include an event taking place away from a highway which,due to the number of persons attending the event, creates traffic congestion ona highway before and after the event; and
(ii) "Partial or complete closure of designated portions ofany state highway" means the closing to traffic of any roadway, lane orother portion of a state roadway or highway or any other restriction of thenormal use of a highway.
24-1-107. Closing or restricting use; who may close; notice tocontrolling agency required.
Whenevera dangerous condition is prevailing upon or so near a public highway as tocreate a menace to public health or safety, members of the Wyoming highwaypatrol, police departments or sheriff offices may close any highway to trafficwhen necessary to protect the public from such danger. Whenever such closing ofa highway is done the governmental agency having control over said highwayshall be immediately notified of the reason of such closing and the location.
24-1-108. Closing or restricting use; public notice.
(a) To notify the public that a state highway is closed or itsuse restricted pursuant to this act notification shall be in one (1) or more ofthe following forms:
(i) Erect suitable barriers or obstructions upon such highway;
(ii) Post warnings and notices of the condition of any suchhighway;
(iii) Post signs for the direction of traffic upon it, or to orupon any other highway or detour open to public travel;
(iv) Place warning devices on such highway;
(v) Assign a flagman to warn, detour or direct traffic on suchhighway.
24-1-109. Closing or restricting use; failure to observe signs andmarkers; exceptions.
(a) Any person who willfully fails to observe any sign, marker,warning, notice, or direction, placed or given under W.S. 24-1-108 is guilty ofa misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof by any court of competentjurisdiction, shall be subject to a fine of not more than seven hundred fiftydollars ($750.00) or to imprisonment for a period not to exceed thirty (30)days, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) The department or state highway patrol may allow a personto proceed past any sign, marker, warning, notice or other device postedpursuant to W.S. 24-1-108 under the following circumstances:
(i) The person requesting permission to travel upon a closedroad is seeking to travel to a destination beyond the closure point, but in anarea unaffected by the conditions warranting the closure;
(ii) The department or state highway patrol makes adetermination there is no dangerous or hazardous condition which wouldreasonably preclude the ability of the person to travel on the closed portionof the highway; and
(iii) The person making the request shall agree to any conditionsor requirements for traveling on the closed portion of the highway which areimposed by the department or state highway patrol.
(c) Any permission granted under subsection (b) of this sectionto travel upon a closed road shall be granted by the department or the statehighway patrol on a case-by-case basis, unless otherwise determined by thedepartment or the highway patrol.
24-1-110. Speed or acceleration contest or exhibition on highways.
(a) No person shall engage in any motor vehicle speed oracceleration contest, or exhibition of speed or acceleration on any highwaywithout approval of such use by the governing body in charge of said highway.No person shall aid or abet in any such motor vehicle speed or accelerationcontest or exhibition on any highway, without approval of such use by thegoverning body in charge of said highway.
(b) No person shall for the purpose of facilitating or aidingor as an incident to any motor vehicle speed or acceleration contest upon ahighway, in any manner obstruct or place or assist in placing any barricade orobstruction upon any highway without approval of such use by the governing bodyin charge of said highway.
(c) Any person who violates this section shall upon convictionbe fined not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one hundred dollars($100), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than ten (10) daysor both.
24-1-111. County road districts.
Allcounties shall be divided into road districts. The board of countycommissioners of each county shall divide their county into road districts ofas compact form and convenient size as is practicable, and embracing theterritory within an election district, if possible, and may change or altersaid road district from time to time as the public convenience may require.
24-1-112. Construction and repair of fences to be performed bydepartment of transportation.
(a) In the event that fences paralleling state highways, orbuilt on the highway right-of-way need repair or reconstruction to meet legalfence requirements, as set forth in W.S. 11-28-102, the actual work of repairand reconstruction of the fence, including all corresponding labor costs, shallbe performed by the department of transportation.
(b) Where any state highway is reconstructed the newright-of-way fence will be constructed and maintained by the department oftransportation.
24-1-113. Owner of unnatural canal to construct and maintain bridge atroad crossing; subsequent assumption and maintenance by county.
Anyperson, company, corporation or association of persons, operating ormaintaining in whole or in part, either as owners, agent, occupant orappropriator any ditch, canal or watercourse, not being a natural stream, forirrigation or any other, and different purpose, shall put in, construct,maintain and keep in repair at his, her, its or their expense for one (1) year,where the same crosses any public highway or publicly traveled road, a goodsubstantial bridge, not less than fourteen (14) feet in width, over such ditch,canal or watercourse where it crosses such road. Any violation of theprovisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof,the person so offending shall pay a fine in any sum not exceeding one hundreddollars ($100.00) for each day such ditch, canal or watercourse shall beunbridged, insufficiently bridged, or permitted to remain out of repair;provided, that after the expiration of one (1) year, from the construction ofsaid bridge, the road supervisor of the road district in which said bridge islocated, shall upon being notified by the owner or owners of the ditch, canalor watercourse over which said bridge is constructed, at once inspect saidbridge, and if found in a good and lawful condition, shall accept the same forthe county in which it is located, and said bridge shall thereafter bemaintained by the said county.
24-1-114. Bridges between counties.
Wheneverit shall appear to be advantageous to any county or counties to build or repairany bridge or bridges over streams constituting the boundary line of suchcounty or counties, or when such bridge or bridges when built will be partly inone (1) county and partly in another county in this state, or when a bridgewhen built shall be partly in a county of this state and partly in a county ofanother state, it shall be lawful for the county commissioners of any county inwhich part of such bridge has been or is to be erected, to join with the othercounty or counties containing or to contain other parts of the said bridge, inmaking any contract or contracts for the purpose of procuring the erection orrepair of such bridge or bridges on the basis that each of the countiescontracting shall pay one-half of the whole expense of building or repairingsuch bridge or bridges.
24-1-115. Repealed by Laws 1985, ch. 71, 2.
24-1-116. Restrictions upon damming streams; generally.
Noperson or persons, company or corporation, or association of persons, shall bepermitted or allowed to dam the water or waters of any stream or irrigating ormining ditch or any waterway so that the water thus dammed, or any partthereof, shall overflow any public road or highway, or undermine, weaken ordamage any bridge, or any walls or embankment of any road, nor shall anyperson, association or corporation owning or controlling any ditch or irrigatedlands, allow any wastewater from the same to flow across or upon any publicroad or highway. Any person finding a public road or highway or any bridgeflooded or damaged by such wastewater may report the same to the roadsupervisor of the county in which such road, highway or bridge may be located,who shall make an examination and report to the county attorney for the county.If the report of the said road supervisor shows that such damage has occurred,it shall then be the duty of the county attorney to institute proceedingsagainst the party or parties whose negligence has caused such damage.
24-1-117. Restrictions upon damming streams; effect of failure tocomply with W.S. 24-1-116.
Anyperson or persons, company or corporation, violating the provisions of W.S.24-1-116, shall be liable to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars($100.00), and shall also be liable to the party injured for any damagesresulting therefrom.
24-1-118. Construction and maintenance to be performed at expense ofstate.
Exceptingas such work may be performed through mutual agreement with other entities,either public or private, the construction and maintenance of all statehighways, including all bridges, and culverts thereon, shall be performed atthe expense of the state and by and under the supervision of the commission andthe director of the department of transportation or his authorizedrepresentative.
24-1-119. State highway fund created; income and expenditure.
Thereis created a fund known as the state highway fund, to the credit of which thestate treasurer, who is designated as the state official to receive all amountspaid by the United States under the act of congress approved July 11, 1916,shall place all monies previously received for the fund, all money subsequentlyreceived from the United States, under cooperative agreements as authorized, allmoney derived from taxes levied for such purpose or appropriated for the fund,all monies received from the sale of state bonds for highway construction orimprovement, all money received from the counties under cooperative agreementsas hereinbefore authorized, and all other monies received from donations orbequests, which may be accepted by the commission on behalf of the state ofWyoming, or from any source designated by law for that purpose. All monies inthe fund shall be available for the purpose of this act without furtherappropriation and no warrant shall be drawn on the fund excepting on a voucherapproved by the director of the department of transportation or an assistantauthorized by the director and approved by the transportation commission. It isprovided that seventy-five percent (75%) of the amount of any bond issuesubsequently issued by the state of Wyoming for the construction or improvementof state highways, after the payment of overhead expense, shall be apportionedto and spent in each county in the proportion which the assessed valuation ofeach county by the last general assessment bears to the total assessment of thestate.
24-1-120. Administration of provisions; maximum overhead expenses.
Itis hereby provided that all expenses of the maintenance of office, offices,salary, salaries, engineering, surveying, field supervision and other overheadexpenses in connection with the administration of this act, shall not exceedfifteen percent (15%) of the total amount expended each year under theprovisions of this act.
24-1-121. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation; entryof order; notice to be posted.
Theboard of county commissioners of every county, wherein is situated any mountainroad or highway or portion thereof, which would be liable to receive unusualinjury and damage by driving over the same herds of cattle, horses or flocks ofsheep, shall have the power, by order entered in the records of such board ofcommissioners, to designate so much of such road or highway as would be soliable to receive unusual injury and damage, as, not a highway for herds ofhorses, cattle or flocks of sheep, a notice of which designation shall beposted at convenient and conspicuous places along, and in the vicinity of theportion of such road or highway so designated, which notices shall likewisereasonably point out the lieu road or highway laid out as hereinafter provided.
24-1-122. Highways subject to injury from cattle; designation ofsubstitute highway.
Incase of such designation it shall be the duty of the board of countycommissioners of such county to provide in lieu of the portion of such highway,so designated, a highway for herds and flocks of cattle, horses and sheep whichshall be reasonably safe and convenient for that purpose and shall be areasonably convenient way of access to the same place that would otherwise bereached by the portions of the road or highway designated as not a highway forcattle, horses or sheep as aforesaid.
24-1-123. Highways subject to injury from cattle; drover's liability.
Anyperson who shall drive any herd of horses, cattle or flock of sheep over anyportion of any road or highway, so designated as not for horses, cattle orsheep as aforesaid, after such designation and the posting of notices asaforesaid, and after the provision of another reasonable highway for cattle,horses and sheep in lieu thereof as aforesaid, shall be liable to the county inwhich is situated such mountain road or highway, for any and all damages done thereto,by driving over the same, such flocks or herds of cattle, horses or sheep.
24-1-124. Livestock crossings; generally.
Thedepartment of transportation may provide suitable livestock crossings on allstate highways, having an oil surface, in the state of Wyoming, at places wherenecessity and convenience require. Ranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers andproducers may file with the board of county commissioners of their county arequest for livestock crossings, and the various boards of county commissionersshall recommend from time to time to the department of transportation suchcrossings as they believe will best suit the necessities and convenience ofranchmen, farmers and livestock raisers and producers in their county.
24-1-125. Livestock crossings; construction; length and width.
Suchlivestock crossings shall be constructed of such material that livestock willreadily cross over the same and shall not be less than sixty (60) feet inlength and the full width of the highway.
24-1-126. Livestock crossings; signs required.
Livestockcrossings shall be indicated by conspicuous signs placed on each side of thehighway.
24-1-127. Speed on city streets designated state highways.
Whencity streets are designated as state highways leading into, through, or out ofa town or city, the department of transportation shall regulate the speedlimits on such streets.
24-1-128. Marking of highways.
Allcenter markings and supplementary road shoulder markings on all highways withinthe boundaries of the state of Wyoming completed in asphalt, oil, concrete, orother hard surface shall be maintained with bright yellow lines, whether or notsaid markings be solid or broken yellow lines. The director of the departmentof transportation shall have the duty to enforce the provisions of this sectionand to provide for the effective maintenance of said yellow markings. The statetransportation commission after a hearing may waive the application of this act[this section] to any highway or highway project if necessary to promote a safeand effective utilization of such highway or highway project. The governor andthe president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives ofthe state of Wyoming shall be notified in writing at least five (5) days beforethe hearing.
24-1-129. Marking of bypasses.
Itis declared to be the policy of the state of Wyoming that where the Wyomingdepartment of transportation has by law authorized a bypass to be built aroundany incorporated city or town, or an unincorporated community of the state ofWyoming, regardless of the population of such city, town or unincorporatedcommunity, the officially designated state highway and federal highway markingsshall remain on the existing highway through the incorporated city or town orunincorporated community and the existing highway shall be retained and the newbypass highway shall carry the designation "bypass" or other similarmarkings.
24-1-130. Administration of highway safety provisions and programs.
Thegovernor, in addition to other duties and responsibilities conferred upon himby the constitution and laws of this state is hereby empowered to contract andto do all other things necessary to secure the full benefits available to thisstate under the federal Highway Safety Act of 1966, and in so doing, tocooperate with federal and state agencies, private and public organizations,and with individuals, to effectuate the purposes of that enactment, and any andall subsequent amendments thereto. The governor shall be responsible for and ishereby empowered to administer through such appropriate agency of this state ashe shall designate within thirty (30) days from the date hereof, the highwaysafety programs of this state and those of its political subdivisions, all inaccordance with said act and federal rules and regulations in implementationthereof.
24-1-131. Travel centers.
Thetransportation commission and the director of the department of transportation shall ensure that all buildings owned or controlled by the department oftransportation and utilized as travel centers are directed and operated by one(1) or more agencies appointed by the transportation commission for the bestinterests of all Wyoming people. For purposes of this section an agency may bedefined as a chamber of commerce, or any state or local governmental entity. Ifno agency is appointed, the commission shall direct and operate the travelcenters.
24-1-132. Contracts for county bridge work; bids; exception.
(a) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causeto be prepared comprehensive plans and specifications for the construction ofbridges on any dedicated and maintained county road.
(b) As used in this section a bridge is a structure, includingsupports, erected over a depression or an obstruction, such as water, highwayor railway, having a track or passageway for carrying traffic or other movingloads and having an opening measured along the center of the roadway of morethan twenty (20) feet between undercopings of abutments, or spring lines ofarches, or extreme ends of openings for multiple barrel box culverts. It mayinclude multiple pipes, where the clear distance between openings is less thanone-half (1/2) of the smaller contiguous opening.
(c) When any bridge is to be constructed, which includes eithernew construction or reconstruction of major load carrying bridge components,upon any county road, the estimated cost of which shall exceed twenty-fivethousand dollars ($25,000.00), the construction work shall be competitively bidand the bridge work constructed by contract. No contract shall be divided forthe purpose of avoiding competitive bidding. The construction work may bedescribed in the published call for bids by stating general requirements. Detailed specifications shall be available to prospective bidders at the countycommissioner's office.
(d) All bridges to be constructed shall be designed by aprofessional engineer who holds a valid certificate of registration granted bythe state board of examining engineers of the state of Wyoming. Plans andspecifications shall be prepared in accordance with the provisions of W.S.24-2-106.
(e) The board of county commissioners of any county shall causenotices of the contract to be let to be published for two (2) consecutive weeksin a newspaper having general circulation within the state and to take anyother means available to achieve as wide a notice as possible, but in no caseshall any letting of the contract be held within fifteen (15) days of the lastpublished notice.
(f) All contracts shall be awarded by the county commissionersto the lowest responsible bidder. The county commissioners shall reserve theright to reject any and all bids and to waive irregularities and informalitiesin the bidding. No final payment upon any contract shall be made until thebridge is examined and the payment approved by the county commissioners ortheir designees.
(g) Whenever an emergency arises requiring expenditure of fundsfor the repair or rebuilding of bridges or approaches to bridges the board ofcounty commissioners may enter into contract for any building or rebuilding ofbridges or approaches without advertising for the letting of any contract. Anemergency is an occasion requiring repair or rebuilding of a bridge or aportion of a bridge when, on short notice, the bridge has become unsafe orimpassable due to events which are beyond the control of the county.
24-1-133. Posting notice of restrictions to public roads and adjacentlands; restrictions; penalties.
(a) No person shall post a notice purporting to restrict accessover a public road unless the restriction has been approved by the governingbody having jurisdiction over the road.
(b) For purposes of this section "public road" meansany passageway to which there is a duly recorded instrument from the landowneror his predecessor in interest conveying to the public unrestricted legal rightto use the passageway or to which a governing body has acquired unrestrictedlegal right for the public to use the passageway.
(c) The governing body or its authorized representative havingjurisdiction over the public road shall issue a written demand to any personwho unlawfully posts a notice in violation of subsection (a) of this section directingthat the notice be removed within three (3) days following receipt of thenotice. The demand shall be delivered in person by a peace officer or mailed byboth first class mail and certified mail return receipt requested to theperson's last known mailing address. Any person who knowingly posts an illegalnotice or who fails to remove an illegal notice within three (3) days afterreceiving the demand from the governing body is guilty of a misdemeanor. If theperson cannot be personally served because he deliberately made himselfunavailable for service, or refused to accept delivery of the demand bycertified mail, then he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor if he fails to removethe illegal notice within five (5) days after the demand was mailed to him bythe governing body. Any person convicted of a misdemeanor under this sectionshall be punished by a fine up to six hundred dollars ($600.00) for each daythe person fails to remove the illegal notice. For a second or subsequentoffense, the penalty shall be a fine of not more than six hundred dollars($600.00) per day, and up to six (6) months in jail, or both.
(d) It shall be a defense to any charge under this section,that severe weather or other circumstance not within control of the personcharged prevented removal of the notice.
