Opinion ID: 1768496
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Possession of the Premises

Text: The County argues that it cannot be subjected to a premises-liability claim within the Act's immunity waiver because it neither owned nor exercised exclusive control over the causeway or its streetlight system. See Wilson, 8 S.W.3d at 635. But a premises-liability defendant may be held liable for a dangerous condition on the property if it assum[ed] control over and responsibility for the premises, even if it did not own or physically occupy the property. Van Page, 701 S.W.2d at 835; see also Wilson, 8 S.W.3d at 635. The relevant inquiry is whether the defendant assumed sufficient control over the part of the premises that presented the alleged danger so that the defendant had the responsibility to remedy it. Cf. Van Page, 701 S.W.2d at 833-34 (concluding that the city did not assume control over a storage building, which was on plaintiff's lot and which housed the alleged dangerous condition). Here, the plaintiffs allege that the County maintained the [causeway] pursuant to a contract with the State. And it is undisputed that the County assumed certain maintenance responsibilities over the causeway's streetlight system. Construing the pleadings in the plaintiffs' favor, we conclude that they adequately allege the first element of a premises-liability claimthat the County possessed the property. See id.