(a) The county court of each county acting through the county judge is given the authority in times of emergency caused by unusually heavy or long-continued rainfalls or by freezes, thaws, snows, and other unusual conditions caused by the elements to prohibit vehicles having a net load of more than three thousand five hundred pounds (3,500 lbs) from operating on or over the county highways whereon such conditions exist until the time that the county judge shall determine that the emergency has passed.

(b) Whenever, in the judgment of the county judge, an emergency arises in his or her county, as described in subsection (a) of this section, he or she shall cause notice to be posted in the county courthouse to the effect that until further notice the operation of vehicles having a net load of more than three thousand five hundred pounds (3,500 lbs) over the highways described in the notice is prohibited. Notice shall also be posted in at least ten (10) of the most prominent and public places in the county and be published in a newspaper in the county if practicable. Notice may also be given by mail, telephone, or personal contact to persons operating vehicles, and notice by mail, telephone, or personal contact shall be sufficient notice for the purposes of this section.

(c) If any person, after having knowledge that the operation of vehicles over the county highways or any designated part thereof having a net load of more than three thousand five hundred pounds (3,500 lbs) has been prohibited by the county judge during an emergency as described in this section, violates this section by using the roads contrary to the order of the county judge, the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. Upon conviction, he or she shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200).