By Keffer H.B. No. 340
77R2818 MI-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the acquisition by a county of a public interest in
1-3 certain roads.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 6, Transportation Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 258 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 258. ACQUISITION OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN
1-8 ROAD BY ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP
1-9 Sec. 258.001. ACQUISITION OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN ROAD.
1-10 Notwithstanding Chapter 281, a county may acquire a public interest
1-11 in a road as provided by this chapter.
1-12 Sec. 258.002. ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP. (a) The
1-13 commissioners court of a county may propose a county road map that
1-14 includes each road in which the county claims a public interest:
1-15 (1) under Chapter 281 or other law; or
1-16 (2) as a result of having continuously maintained the
1-17 road with public funds beginning before September 1, 1956.
1-18 (b) A commissioners court that proposes a county road map
1-19 under this section shall hold a public meeting at which a person
1-20 asserting a private right, title, or interest in a road in which
1-21 the county has claimed a public interest may appear before the
1-22 commissioners court to protest the county's claim.
1-23 (c) The commissioners court shall publish at least once a
1-24 week in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for at
2-1 least four consecutive weeks preceding the date of the public
2-2 meeting a notice:
2-3 (1) advising the public that the commissioners court
2-4 has proposed a county road map including each road in which the
2-5 county claims a public interest;
2-6 (2) identifying a location at the courthouse at which
2-7 the proposed map will be available to the public during regular
2-8 business hours; and
2-9 (3) stating the date and location of the public
2-10 meeting.
2-11 (d) The commissioners court shall display the proposed map
2-12 at the location and during the time described in the notice from
2-13 the date on which notice is first published through the date on
2-14 which the commissioners court formally adopts the proposed map.
2-15 The map must be legible and not less than one inch equals 2,000
2-16 feet in scale.
2-17 (e) The commissioners court may formally adopt the proposed
2-18 map, as revised after public comment, only at a meeting held before
2-19 the 60th day following the date of the public meeting.
2-20 (f) The county clerk shall keep a county road map adopted
2-21 under this section in a place accessible to the public.
2-22 (g) The failure to include on a county road map adopted
2-23 under this section a road in which the county has previously
2-24 acquired a public interest by purchase, condemnation, dedication,
2-25 or a court's final judgment of adverse possession does not affect
2-26 the status of the omitted road.
2-27 Sec. 258.003. CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE. Except as provided by
3-1 Section 258.004, a county road map adopted under Section 258.002 is
3-2 conclusive evidence of:
3-3 (1) the public's right of access over a road included
3-4 on the map; and
3-5 (2) the county's authority to spend public money to
3-6 maintain a road included on the map.
3-7 Sec. 258.004. CONTEST. (a) A person asserting a private
3-8 right, title, or interest in a road in which a public interest is
3-9 asserted under this chapter may contest the inclusion of the road
3-10 in the county road map by filing a suit in a district court in the
3-11 county in which the road is located not later than the second
3-12 anniversary of the date on which the county road map including the
3-13 road was adopted.
3-14 (b) To prevail in the suit, the person contesting the
3-15 inclusion of the road must prove that the county did not have
3-16 substantial evidence to claim a public interest in the road.
3-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.