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 previously 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 onehalf~ 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 #Egned 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 petitan pending until eiter the Commissioners’ 

Court order bed beoa passed olosiug the road. 

She contends mlso thet the road ha8 been greded 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 Commieslonera * Court and the County Judge, It rppeara 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, tneholdera, 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.y of 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 8 l tid 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 mubUm 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(IRIPD EIJNPm, Oount9 Olimrk rod Dt-Ottlolo 

Clerk of the Catralonen' Court. 

Tbo following bu8lIMrr b&q tranrroted: 

. 

. . . 

*Petltlon #208, for thb 01081 

3 

of b Mb110 ro8d ktrsen geotion 6, Blook 

8ad 8ootlou 1, Blook 35, I r, II., I. ;.TB:rk 

bd ~~‘8; 188 ~8Ollt.d to the Co ur t l nd 

thb Coo& voted unmlmourly to cl080 arid 

robd, rti the road 18 bon now ordered oloae'd." 

ArtiOlb 6704, 1O~OB’O ciril 8tOth.8, mail’.8 

'$hd tb 0osi881our8' CotWt 8hd11 Olr881i"f 811 pub118 

Pbti8 18 tlui? OOollti.8 l ti 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 oom8i88iOUbr8' OOtlX't 8h811:, 

"3. L8y out 8nd .8tablirh, ahalyr l ti 

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’t Oh011 Older 

. . 8nd dlsoontlnu8 . cry road vhenher 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 nonuse 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 lnstance 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 advertlsement 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 restrlction 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 revlaion 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 except upon vacetlon by ordera of the Cwmlssloners court or non-we t lad 

(JJnderscorl& L$. 

of 

three geer8. lr 

Bxceptlng the undencored vorda, that entire 

statute wse looorporated in Art1018 6703, R.C.R., 1925, 

$ T 

with Arti 6860-1-2-76 B.C.8 

lrst sentence of Article 6f03 88 &%*ln% 

authorlzed.the Commlasloners~ Court to o 

4?= 

the dlroontlnuenaa of roada, we think that for the rea8on alone 

the word8 "by ordera of the commls8loners Court" tollowlng 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 precinct 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 Artl018 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. 

$03 to diacontlnue 

However, further with respec~t to the power of 

a Conznlaslonera~ Court under Article f 

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 (Commlsaloners') court by Article ti 703 of our Revised 

Statute8 to disoontinu8 a~ public road OOnWt 

be oowtrued 88 8uthorlzlng the 0108ing or obstruction of a roadway In the we of whloh re8identO the-on have 8 n8ted Pl'OPerty right; 
own the Legl~lrturo or tbir bfrto hrr no 

OUOhpO'VOl,. 

%b 

oontorrbd 

mr to diroontinw a publio mad 

fG th. Oibd Ot&Ut@ 18 ~OtriOted 

to rbendgluent 

% 

th0 OVWtJ Of it8 D~iKhtO- 

'MOO0 aa 8UOh pu 110 hlgbvey, Ord d008 not lnolude thb right to den7 it8 u80 to the owner8 

Wer~an.‘ (Word in par’ 

Thi8 holding 18 followed in $eoFerleaa vi Da*@, 147 s.y. 

.2d 528 (Tox.Clr.A~.l~l). 

Themtom, in tb light of ~rtlole 6703 aa ooartrubd In the alab Cm80 the offoot of the order ot the 

COWi88iUl~PO ' %iiih&waon County in queatlon wee an 

rb;endonment br the oounty of the m8lntenenoe of auoh entire flr8t-olaar pub110 road, to rollate the pnbllo from 

oharge bf ralntalnlng the roti dl8OmtlIUWd la l oooxdaaoe 

rlth the DrOri8iOllO of h't10108 6705 l nd 6703. 

20x88 Co. v. Te%erkano I8oh.bhoD8, 18.W.2d 928 3 &%%f 

? road In the 8enne that 

f&&B8'Lt. tie to perOOn8 tltl0 m89 h8vb TOOtbd ~Z'ight8 

. 3 

Tour aeoond qwatlon ~lnrolre8 mtter8 oowerniag prlrrte righta, the dstealnrtlon of whloh doe8 not 

110 vlthln %a proiino~ 0r thlr 0??100. 

I 

I 

i . 

. . ==kg 

*_ :. ?hidh 8Ub8ittbd &t., th. Ol'dW Of 8 

Qbmmlr8lonen' Court 'to dirOo&iluw an en- 

-tlrb ffl%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 8b8ni;ykay iald oouut 

. It did no t 

~of thb 88lntenbnoe of 

deuy it8 u8e to mrbona tie W89 hare had TBated Flight8 therein. 

cmlaslonerr' Court T. Xairer 23 b.W.2d 

82pj JieoFarlrne T. DOTtO. 147 b.Y.2d 528. 

-. ,. 

Your8 Tbry tmlf, 1