Court Opinion

ID: 9787175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:11:56.979626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:53.005740
License: Public Domain

Justice EISMANN
Specially Concurring.
I concur in the majority opinion, but write only to comment further upon the findings that must be made by the Commissioners if they are to include the disputed roads on the county highway map.
Idaho Code § 40-202(3) sets forth three classifications of highways that are to be included on the highway map:
(1) Highways that are “laid out, recorded and opened”;
(2) Highways that are “located and recorded by order of the board of commissioners,” but not opened; and
(3) Highways that were “used for a period of five (5) years, provided they shall have been worked and kept up at the expense of the public.”
The highways in the first two categories will have a recorded “deed or other document” establishing that Teton County has acquired an interest in the property for public right-of-way purposes. A copy of such recorded document should be sufficient. Highways in the third category will require evidence showing that the road was used for a period of five years and worked and kept up at the expense of the public.2
As the majority states, Idaho Code § 40-202 does not authorize a board of county commissioners to adjudicate the status of any road as public or private. The inclusion of a private road on the highway map does not constitute an adjudication that the road is public. It could have other consequences, however, because members of the public may assert their right to use the road in reliance upon the highway map, leading to conflicts with the landowner.

. Prior to 1893, a road could be established by public use for a period of five years, without any requirement that it was worked and kept up at public expense. Ross v. Swearingen, 39 Idaho 35, 225 P. 1021 (1924).