§17-10-9. Same -- Opening bids; award or rejection of bids; contractor's bond; publication of information as to bids; reserving portion of payment for work; penalties for unlawful conduct as to bids.

All bids for work to be done by contract on roads and bridges under the control of the county court shall be received at the courthouse of the county at the time specified in the advertisement, and shall be opened only in open court, and the amount and items comprising each bid shall be publicly announced, and the contract, if let, shall be awarded to the lowest bidder for the type of construction selected. The contractor shall give bond with security to be approved by the court in an amount equal to fifty percent of the contract price, conditioned for the faithful performance of the contract.

After such bids have been opened the county court shall publish immediately the names of all persons bidding on such contract, together with the itemized amount of their respective bids, designating the person to whom such contract was awarded, if awarded, together with the amount of his bid. Such information shall be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty- nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county.

The court may reject any and all bids, and may thereafter have the work done in any other manner that it may deem advisable. If there be two bids of the same amount for any section of road, or for any other improvement thereon, the court shall have the power to accept either of such bids.

The court may reserve from payment not more than twenty percent of the amount accruing on the contract until the work has been completed and approved.

Any person who shall open any of the bids at any other time or place than herein provided, or shall make known the name of the bidder, or the amount of his bid, otherwise than as herein provided, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $200, and be imprisoned in the county jail not less than one nor more than six months. Any member of the county court who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall in addition to the penalties provided above forfeit his office.