2005 Texas Transportation Code CHAPTER 258. CLARIFICATION OF EXISTENCE OF PUBLIC INTEREST IN ROAD BY ADOPTION OF COUNTY ROAD MAP

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.