TRANSPORTATION CODE
CHAPTER 258. CLARIFICATION OF EXISTENCE OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN ROAD
BY ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP
§ 258.001. CLARIFICATION OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN ROAD.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
Notwithstanding Chapter 281, a county may clarify the
existence of a public interest in a road as provided by this
chapter.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.002. ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
(a) The commissioners court of a county may propose a county
road map that includes each road in which the county claims the
existence of a public interest:
(1) under Chapter 281 or other law; or
(2) as a result of having continuously maintained the
road with public funds beginning before September 1, 1981.
(b) A commissioners court that proposes a county road map
under this section shall hold a public meeting at which a person
asserting a private right, title, or interest in a road in which the
county has claimed the existence of a public interest may appear
before the commissioners court to protest the county's claim. A
person asserting a private right, title, or interest in a road may
also file a written protest with the county judge at any time before
the public meeting. The commissioners court shall appoint a jury of
view consisting of five property owners who have no interest in the
outcome of the protest to determine, by a majority vote after a
public hearing and an examination of the county's road maintenance
records and other information, the validity of the county's claim
of the existence of a public interest in the road. A county has a
valid claim of the existence of a public interest in a road if it
provides written records or other information documenting the
county's continuous maintenance of the road beginning before
September 1, 1981. The determination of the jury of view is binding
on the commissioners court, and the commissioners court shall
revise the proposed county road map accordingly.
(c) The commissioners court shall publish at least once a
week in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for at
least four consecutive weeks preceding the date of the public
meeting a notice:
(1) advising the public that the commissioners court
has proposed a county road map including each road in which the
county claims the existence of a public interest;
(2) identifying a location at the courthouse at which
the proposed map will be available to the public during regular
business hours; and
(3) stating the date and location of the public
meeting.
(d) The commissioners court shall display the proposed map
at the location and during the time described in the notice from the
date on which notice is first published through the date on which
the commissioners court formally adopts the proposed map. The map
must be legible, and the map scale must be that not less than one
inch equals 2,000 feet.
(e) The commissioners court may formally adopt the proposed
map, as revised after public comment and a determination by the jury
of view, only at a public meeting held before the 90th day following
the date of the initial public meeting required by Subsection (b).
(f) The county clerk shall keep a county road map adopted
under this section in a place accessible to the public.
(g) The failure to include on a county road map adopted
under this section a road in which the county has previously
acquired a public interest by purchase, condemnation, dedication,
or a court's final judgment of adverse possession does not affect
the status of the omitted road.
(h) In this section, "continuous maintenance" means grading
or other routine road maintenance beginning before September 1,
1981, and continuing until the date of protest.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.003. CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
Except as provided by Section 258.004, a county road map
adopted under Section 258.002 is conclusive evidence of:
(1) the public's right of access over a road included
on the map; and
(2) the county's authority to spend public money to
maintain a road included on the map.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.004. CONTEST.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
(a) A person asserting a private right, title, or interest
in a road in which the existence of a public interest is asserted
under this chapter may contest the inclusion of the road in the
county road map by filing a suit in a district court in the county in
which the road is located not later than the second anniversary of
the date on which the county road map including the road was
adopted.
(b) The county has the burden of proving that the county has
continuously maintained, as that term is defined by Section
258.002, the road in question.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.005. TRANSFER OF INTEREST.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
(a) The commissioners court shall include a notice of its
intention to consider adoption of the county road map with the ad
valorem tax statements for the year before the adoption of a county
road map under Section 258.002. The notice must include a list of
all roads in which the county will claim the existence of a public
interest by adoption of the map, the date the commissioners court
will hold the public meeting required by Section 258.002(b), and a
statement that a landowner has a right to protest under Section
258.002(b). If a property owner tenders a warranty deed to the
county for property included in the right-of-way of a county road,
the commissioners court shall accept and file the warranty deed.
(b) The commissioners court shall include a notice of the
adoption of the county road map with the ad valorem tax statements
for the year after the year in which the county adopts a map under
Section 258.002. The notice must include a list of all roads in
which the county has claimed the existence of a public interest by
adoption of the map, the date of the adoption, and the date on which
the statute of limitations will bar a landowner from filing a suit
in district court to dispute the county's claim.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.006. TAX ABATEMENT; REVERSION OF INTEREST.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
(a) A private right, title, or interest, other than a
mineral interest, held by a person in land underlying a road in
which the county has successfully asserted the existence of a
public interest under this chapter is exempt from ad valorem
taxation by any taxing authority.
(b) A right, title, or interest described in Subsection (a)
reverts completely to the person who held the right, title, or
interest at the time the county successfully asserted the existence
of the public interest in the land if the county ceases to maintain
the road, and the person is liable for all ad valorem taxes levied
on that right, title, or interest on or after the reversion.
(c) To levy and collect an ad valorem tax on a right, title,
or interest described in Subsection (a) that has reverted to the
landowner under Subsection (b), the taxing authority must obtain
from the county an order stating that the county has ceased to
maintain the road. The owner of the right, title, or interest will
be liable for any ad valorem tax levied on the right, title, or
interest on or after the date of the county's order.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
§ 258.007. EXPIRATION OF CHAPTER.
Text of section effective until September 1, 2009
This chapter expires September 1, 2009.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 236, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
