Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-842 Page: 1 of 5
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THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
January 12, 1988
JIM MATTOX
AORNEY GENERAL
Honorable Charles W. Chapman Opinion No. JM-842
Criminal District Attorney
Courthouse, Room 208 Re: Retroactivity of the
San Marcos, Texas 78666 1985 amendment to article
6812h, V.T.C.S., relating
to the acquisition of a
public interest in private
roads in certain counties
(RQ-1180)
Dear Mr. Chapman:
You ask whether a 1985 legislative amendment to
article 6812h, V.T.C.S., gives the statute retroactive
effect. We answer your question in the negative.
You inform us that in April of 1987 a county commis-
sioner of Hays County directed a work crew to remove a
cattle guard and part of a fence in the area of a road
known as McCarty Lane but also designated as County Road
233. After this work was completed, an attorney repre-
senting owners of land through which the road allegedly
runs appeared before the commissioners court and claimed
the road was a private road and the fence stood on private
property. He also requested that the county return the
cattle guard and fence to their original locations. The
commissioner who ordered their removal indicated that the
county maintained the road prior to the effective date of
article 6812h, and has maintained it continuously since.
You suggest that the county acquired a public
interest in the road under the doctrine of implied dedica-
tion prior to 1981. Article 6812h, you add, eliminated
the doctrine of implied dedication as of its effective
date, August 31, 1981. You do not ask, and we do not
consider, whether in fact the county acquired a public
interest in the road. The resolution of this issue
requires factual determinations which this office cannot
make in an Attorney General Opinion. Se Las Vegas Pecan &
Cattle Co., Inc. v. Zavala County, 682 S.W.2d 254, 256
(Tex. 1984) (elements of implied dedication).p. 4064
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JM-842, text, January 12, 1988; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth273280/m1/1/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.