Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1949 )

Hon. Vernon D. Adcook Opinion No. V-975.
county Attorney
Dewsoa County Re: The euthority of the
Lamesa, Texas Comols~loners ’ court
to cl080 a publio road
in the oounty uuder
Dear Sir: the Ilub8itteQ raota.
Ye refer to your letter from whtih we quote in
pert:
“ltnclosed are copies of prooeedings bed
in oonoeotion with the oloslng of a certain
public reed in Dawson County, whioh had pre-
viously been opened under Article 6703, et
seq., R.C .s. This roed has been used and
maintained by Dawson County for several years.
Lend adjoining the road on one side is owned
by R. F. Berron; land adjoining the road on
the other side ia owned by Urn. R.C Xllgore.
This road when opened was hid out uith one-
half~ the road tsken irom the seid two traots
ot’ land, the divieion line faming the oenter
of’ the road.
“The petition to olose the road use #Egn-
ed b H.P.Barron end other8 but not by Nrr .
R.0 .Hilgore. Mrs. Kllgore Is opposed to the
closing of the road. end oontenda that she had
no notice and did not realize there uaa a pe-
titan pending until eiter the Commissioners’
Court order bed beoa passed olosiug the road.
She contends mlso thet the road ha8 been gred-
ed and s@iotaLned by the oounty during the
16&i three yerm and that it hw been ueed by
her .snd others oontinuou8ly during said period.
“From questlouing members of the Commie-
slonera * Court and the County Judge, It rp-
peara that the order was Wade rite* the Court
heard l&r. B8~on explain to them the reasoM
why he wanted the road olosed.
‘Your opinion is requerted 18 to whether
Hon. Vernon D. Adooak, peg0 2 (V-975)
or sot thir 18 a valid order, and ubthbr It
legally clorer thla road."
The sukaltted oopy of the Petltlan for Clorl6g
Public Road addre88ed to the Comml88looer8~ Court. of
Dawron County, tiled on September 7, 1949, snd rIgn8d b9
li.F.Bmron and ten other8 read8, In 8ub8t8n8er 88 tollow~:
"We, the undersigned oltlnen8, tne-
holdera, realdlng In the preolnots through
whloh the following de8orlbed road doe8 run,
ray that 8 public road of th8 first ola88,
1 0 ieet In width, be olo8ed In said oounby,
b8vIng its point8 of beglnalng 8nd ending
a8 rdi~8:
(describer bound8rles o? entlr8
The rubaltted con ol the Publio Ro8d Rotloe,
Clorlng ROti,
284dlag In 8ub8t8M0, the 88H 88 the
rbovoquoted petition, is doted September 7, 199. It
la signed by It.F.Bar&oa sad the 8bm ten other8.
The 8Ub8lltted aworD. attldrvit read8:
"I, H.F.B8rron, one of the rIgnor of
the wlthiu petition, upon m9 08thr 8tate thet
ootioea o? the Intended 8pplIO8tIOn for the
C1081lQ of raid nev road veXW po8ti8d for at
le88t twenty days before the tlr8t day of the
term of the Cow&ssloners~ Court at whleh thir
petit&on Ir pmmented, exolurite of the day
of PWtiry, 88 iOllbU8, to-Wit:
*Orn 8t the Court House door in Lne88,
DIV~OB Coutkg, Tex88. One at the routh end of
PrOpOSed ro8d to olo8e; end one at the North
end of the proporbd road to oloee, two other
pub110 plum8 in tk rUHinit.yof the route
of the propo8ed nev reed.
H.F .Berron
Subscribed and sworn to before me, thl8 16th
day of November, 1949.
E~l:~F~,"~:;y
(SEAL) Dewson'County, Texas"
The oopy Of the COmmiSSIO~rS' COLWt'8 8CtIOn
IOU. Vernon D. Adoook, Pago 3 (V-975)
b 8ltid pd?itiaO which fOu 8Ubit lW8d8:
0. "lu R B !l%at the Ionoreblo
C0~l8810~0r8 Court ot,Dmon CoOntT, 2eX88,
wt In nguler 80081oa thir the 10 day of
Ootokr, A.D. 199, with the following mu-
bUm pX'48Wlt, to-Wit:
11.1. NRFJDCS, County Jiid@, Pn8idiw.
%a.-, t%Wi88iOllbZ',PMOfMt NO.1.
Y.T.BNRUROVX, CowlL8lowr, Proolnct lo.2.
ALTON ADDISON, C~rrionbt, ?n01not 10.3.
m& o’m, C&&OiOti~; PlVOilh%z6.l).
H(IRIPDEIJNPm, Oount9 Olimrk rod Dt-Ottlolo
Clerk of the Catralonen' Court.
Tbo following bu8lIMrr b&q tranrroted:
. . . .
*Petltlon #208, for thb 01081 of b Mb-
110 ro8d ktrsen geotion 6, Blook 3
8ad 8ootlou 1, Blook 35, I r,II.,I. ;.TB:rk
bd ``‘8; 188 ~8Ollt.d to the Co ur t
lnd
thb Coo& voted unmlmourly to cl080 arid
robd, rti the road 18 bon now ordered oloa-
e'd."
ArtiOlb 6704, 1O~OB’O ciril 8tOth.8, mail’.8
'$hd tb 0osi881our8' CotWt 8hd11 Olr881i"f811 pub118
Pbti8 18 tlui? OOollti.8lti mtid.8 ti part 08 fOl1Orn:
"Fine Cl@88 ro8d8 8hdll k olorr 0r all
ob8truot10n8, rnd not be 1088 than forty (40)
foot nor 80x-e then OM hundred (100) foet.ride.'
Artiol8 2351, V.C.S., prorid thrt eeoh oom-
8i88iOUbr8' OOtlX't8h811:,
"3. L8y out 8nd .8tablirh, ahalyr lti
disoontlnu8 pub110 road8 8nd hFghu8y8 . . .'
-ha818 8ddad)
Art.1018 6703, V.C.S., lnaotrr 88 the qnbrtlon
at herd 18 oouoernbd, plWid@r :
"The OIWIIi88iOM~ OOlU’tOh011 Older
. . 8nd dlsoontlnu8 . cry road vhen-
her it shell b8 doe& &dient . . . 8nd
.
mm. verno8 0. Adoook, pege 4 (V-975)
no Ontin Tint or Ss00nd 0168s road shall
be di8OOntinUed OXOOpt upon v8oation or non-
use for a period of three years . . ."
We oonstrue this Stetute to mean that the court
may di8Continub a Food by (1) a vaoatlon older, OT (2)
where there has been a non-uoe of a three-year period.
The thme-yesr llmltatlon applies only to non-we 8nd
not to 8 vaoatlon order.
Article 6705, V.C.S., provide6 In part:
'The ctxnmlsslonem court shall in no ln-
stance great an order on 8n applloatlon for
eny new road, or t0 di8ContinUe on Original
one . . . unless the applicants have given at
leaat twenty days notice by written advertlse-
ment of their intended 8ppllcatlon, posted up
at the court house door of the county and at
two other public place8 in the vlclnltg of
the route of such road. All 8Uch applications
ah811 be by petition to the OOlSU1S81Oll%rS
oourt, signed by at least eight freeholdem
In the precinct in whloh such road Is desired
to ha made or discontinued, speclfgfng In such
ro;;tlon t\e beginning and termlnatlon of such
. . .
Article 6703 empowera the Compll88lonera~ Court
to order the diaoontlnuence of any public road. Article
6705 provldes that 8Wh oourt 8hall in no in8tsnce grant
en order on 8n iCStloR to di8OontfnUe 6 road UtieSS
the notice pro0 or that statute 1s met. so while
ths oommlssioner8~ Court 18 given power to act upon It8
ovn motion (which point 18 not ROW before U8), it ha8
the power to rot upon the 8ppllcatlon of fraeholders to
di8OontiUe a pub110 rosd, Subject, of oour8e, t0 the
provisions of article 6705. Cornpam: Aoblwon v. Uhaley
;~‘;,;:~,T;``6~3.2,7 &;'~;O%t:~!i~
Consideration hasbeen given to that restrlc-
tion In Article 6703 which provides "no entire first . . .
olaas road ahall b8 dlsoontlnued except upon vacation or
non-uee for a period of three year8." Prior to the re-
vlaion of the law8 In 1925, that restrlotlon v8s found In
Artiole 4713, R.C.S., 1895, end in Article 6902, R.C.S.,
1911, but read as follows:
.
lion. Vernon D. Adc'ock, Page 5 (V-975)
'Too entire road of the first . . .
cleaa ah811 hereafter be dlaoontlnued ex-
cept upon vacetlon by ordera of the Cwmls-
sloners court or non-we t lad of
three geer8. lr (JJnderscorl& L$.
Bxceptlng the undencored vorda, that entire
statute wse looorporated in Art1018 6703, R.C.R., 1925,
with Arti 6860-1-2-76 B.C.8
$ T lrst sentence of Article 6f03 88 &%*ln%
authorlzed.the Commlasloners~ Court to o the dlroon-
tlnuenaa of roada, we think that for the 4?= rea8on alone
the word8 "by ordera of the commls8loners Court" tollow-
lng the word "vacation" In Artlole 6703 were deleted in
the revision. In 8hort, we an of the opinion that the
three-year provision In thet r88trlctlve olause doe8 not
restrict the power of the Commlssloner8' Court to pass
a vacation order whenever it shell ba deemed expedient.
Ye view the order granted in the proceedings sub8Iltted
as being in substanoe and leg81 effect suah a vaoatlon.
Under the teats sut$uitted it ap or8 that the
road In question we8 4n entire public roa r , cl688ltied
88 tlrst-cle88; that the petltlon to 01080 the entlra
road wea signed by at least eight fr8eholders In the pre-
cinct In whloh 8uCh rood ~88 desired to be discontinued;
and that epplloents hed given et lerrt the twenty daya
notice end posted 800, all ma required by Article 6705.
There having been oompllance with the provl8lona of Artl-
018 6705, It 18 our opinion th8t the Corl88lorWa' Court
ecting under that atetute end its authority granted in
Article 6703, had the power to grent the order In question
in the manner and at the time it did. A.G.Cplnlon V-443.
The low doe8 not require thrt per8onal notice shall have
been mamod on anyone, it provider only for posting of
three public notices for at least twenty days.
However, further with respec~t to the power of
a Conznlaslonera~ Court under Article f $03 to diacontlnue
or oloae any public road, we quote fropl Co1uzis8loners~
Court V. KSise 223 S.W.2d 840 (Tox.C~V.APP.``~ , error
m. 1 *t Pw :
"The pow& conferred u on th8t (Commls-
aloners') court by Article 703 of our Revised
ti
Statute8 to disoontinu8 a~ public road OOnWt
be oowtrued 88 8uthorlzlng the 0108ing or ob-
struction of a roadway In the we of whloh re-
8identO the-on have 8 n8ted Pl'OPerty right;
own the Legl~lrturoor tbir bfrto hrr no
OUOhpO'VOl,.
%b mr to diroontinw a publio mad
oontorrbd fG th. Oibd Ot&Ut@ 18 ~OtriOted
to rbendgluent th0 OVWtJ Of it8 D~iKhtO-
% 110 hlgbvey, Ord d008 not ln-
'MOO0 aa 8UOh pu
olude thb right to den7 it8 u80 to the owner8
Wer~an.‘ (Word in par’
vi Da*@, 147 s.y.
Thi8 holding18 followedin $eoFerleaa
.2d 528 (Tox.Clr.A~.l~l).
Themtom, in tb light of ~rtlole 6703 aa ooa-
rtrubd In the alab Cm80 the offoot of the order ot the
COWi88iUl~PO '%iiih&waon County in queatlon wee an
rb;endonmentbr the oounty of the m8lntenenoe of auoh en-
tire flr8t-olaar pub110 road, to rollate the pnbllo from
oharge bf ralntalnlng the roti dl8OmtlIUWd la loooxdaaoe
rlth the DrOri8iOllOof h't10108 6705 lnd 6703.
20x88 Co. v. Te%erkano I8oh.bhoD8, 18.W.2d 928 3 &%%f
? roadIn the 8enne that
f&&B8'Lt. m89 h8vb TOOtbd ~Z'ight8
tie to perOOn8 tltl0
. 3
Tour aeoond qwatlon ~lnrolre8mtter8 oowern-
iag prlrrte righta, the dstealnrtlonof whlohdoe8 not
110 vlthln%a proiino~ 0r thlr 0??100.
.. ==kg
*_ :. ?hidh 8Ub8ittbd&t., th. Ol'dWOf 8
Qbmmlr8lonen' Court'todirOo&iluw an en-
-tlrbffl%t-ol@OO pub110 lWd, gl88Od WdOr
ruthorlty of Artlole 6703, V.C.L, and lu
~tM&f"' with Art1010 6705, Y.O.S., woo
Thb bt?Oot of ruoh O&Or ma8 On 8b8n-
i;ykay iald oouut ~of thb 88lntenbnoe of
. It did not deuy it8 u8e to mr-
bonatie W89 hare had TBated Flight8therein.
cmlaslonerr' Court T. Xairer 23 b.W.2d
82pj JieoFarlrneT. DOTtO. 147 b.Y.2d 528.
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Your8 Tbry tmlf, 1
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