Delaware § 1303 - Fence-viewers; appointment; powers; quorum; compensation.

§ 1303. Fence-viewers; appointment; powers; quorum; compensation.

(a) The Superior Court shall annually appoint not more than 8 nor less than 5 persons in each hundred to be fence-viewers. The fence-viewers shall be the sole judges of the sufficiency of any fences, of the charges of making or repairing partition or other fences, and how borne, and of damages by animals trespassing.

(b) Any 3 of the fence-viewers may act, and the majority of those acting may decide any pertinent matter.

(c) The person whose name heads the list of fence-viewers in the respective hundreds shall act as chair, and in that person’s absence the second person so listed shall be chair, and in that second person’s absence the chair shall be the next in order of the names listed. The chair shall make a record of the terms of settlement in each dispute and shall keep such records available until all terms of settlement have been complied with. One month before the date of appointing fence-viewers for the ensuing year, the chair shall submit to the prothonotary of the respective counties the names of any present members who desire their names to be removed from the list of fence-viewers, stating the reasons therefor.

(d) The fence-viewers shall be allowed $8.00 per day and 7 cents per mile for travel to and from the point of dispute. The chair shall receive in addition to fees received by other members the further sum of $1.00 for each day as stated. The fees and mileage allowances shall be paid for each necessary trip made in connection with a dispute.

(e) The chair shall submit and certify to the Levy Court or County Council of the county in which services as fence-viewers have been performed a list of the names of those fence-viewers who have acted in each case specifying the amount of fees due to each fence-viewer. The Levy Court or County Council of the county in which such list is submitted, properly certified to as aforesaid, shall make payment of the amount of money shown to be due thereon to each fence-viewer out of any moneys in the county treasury not otherwise appropriated.

Code 1852, §§  1002-1004;  Code 1915, §  3626;  Code 1935, §  4175;  48 Del. Laws, c. 318, §  1;  25 Del. C. 1953, §  1303;  55 Del. Laws, c. 85, §  37;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;