Judges: WINSTON BRYANT, Attorney General
Filed Date: 1/16/1992
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Larry Mitchell State Representative P.O. Box 81 Bryant, Arkansas 72022-0081
Dear Representative Mitchell:
This is in response to your request for an opinion on the following question:
Hobby Road in Saline County, off Chicot Road, has been used and maintained by Saline County for the past ten years. Does this justify Hobby Road as being a County Road?
It is my opinion that the answer to your question is "no," maintenance alone does not designate a road as a county road.
In Arkansas Game Fish Commission v. Lindsey,
County roads, as distinguished from public roads by prescriptive right, may be created in either of three ways. First, the landowners can dedicate the right-of-way to the county. See [A.C.A. §§
27-66-207 and -208]. There was no dedication of either the old or the new rights-of-way in this case. Second, a county may condemn and pay for the right-of-way. See [A.C.A. §§14-298-101 to -125]. There was no condemnation action in this case. Third, the County Judge may enter an order, after notice, declaring a mail route or a school bus route a county road. [A.C.A. §§27-66-205 and -206]; Johnson v. Wylie,284 Ark. 76 ,679 S.W.2d 198 (1984). No such order was ever entered. . . .
The statutes referred to above which allow landowners to dedicate a right-of-way to the county and those which allow the county judge to declare a mail or school bus route a county road, each involve an element of discretion with the county judge. Each of these statutes (A.C.A. §§
Absent any action of the county judge in this regard, or any condemnation proceedings, it is my opinion that maintenance alone does not create a "county road."
The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Elana L. Cunningham.
Sincerely,
WINSTON BRYANT Attorney General
ELC/WB:cyh
Enclosures