That the governor shall, immediately after the passage of this act, appoint five commissioners for said County of “Dare” who shall, according to section three, article seven of the constitution, perform the duties therein required of county commissioners, and report to the next session of the general assembly, and shall hold and exercise all the powers and authorities, and be subject to the same penalties that county commissioners of the several counties in this state are subject to, and said commissioners shall hold their offices till the first Thursday in August in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, and until their successors shall have qualified: Provided, that before the governor makes such appointment he shall, at such time as he may deem proper and in such way as he may deem best, submit to the qualified voters embraced in the County of “Dare,” whether they wish said County of “Dare” to be established. If a majority of the votes be cast for “Dare,” then he shall at once organize the county as provided in this act: Provided further, that that portion of the citizens taken from the County of Currituck and attached to the County of “Dare,” shall not be released from their proportions of the outstanding county debt contracted for public improvement before the passage of this act, to be determined by the county commissioners of Currituck and “Dare” Counties.
(Pub. Laws 1869-70, ch. 36, § 4.)