Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0359 Page: 2 of 5
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The Honorable Mark E. Price - Page 2
road is not necessarily part of the county road system, however, as we will explain. See Comm 'rs
Court v. Frank Jester Dev. Co., 199 S.W.2d 1004, 1007 (Tex. Civ. App.-Dallas 1947, writ ref'd
n.r.e.); Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0139 (2004) at 4.
Chapter 232, subchapter A of the Local Government Code sets out general procedural
requirements for dedicating subdivision roads to public use. See TEX. Loc. Gov'T CODE ANN. ch.
232, subch. A (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2004-05). A landowner who divides a tract of land into two
or more parts must prepare a plat to lay out the subdivision, lots, or streets and alleys "intended to
be dedicated to the public use." Id. 232.001(a) (Vernon Supp. 2004-05). By an order entered in
its minutes, the county commissioners court must approve a plat that meets legal requirements and
for which a proper bond has been filed. See id. 232.002(a). After approval, the plat must be filed
with the county clerk of the county in which the subdivision is located. See id. 232.001(d). Streets
and roads on the approved plats that are dedicated to the public are then public roads, but they are
not county roads unless the commissioners court has accepted the roads into the county road system.
See Miller v. Elliott, 94 S.W.3d 38, 45 (Tex. App.-Tyler 2002, pet. denied); Frank Jester Dev. Co.,
199 S.W.2d at 1007; Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. GA-0139 (2004) at 4; see also TEX. TRANSP. CODE
ANN. 281.002 (Vernon 1999) (listing means by which a county with a population of 50,000 or less
may acquire a public interest in a private road).
You first ask about a county commissioner' s authority "to accept road material from residents
[of] a subdivision and use County employees to repair the subdivision road." Request Letter, supra
note 1, at 1. You indicate that a "local subdivision was created and properly filed .... The roads
have been dedicated to public use but not accepted as county roads." Id. Subdivision residents
"have proposed to the precinct commissioner that the residents will purchase road material and have
the precinct road crews perform the routine regular maintenance on the roads with this material."
Id. If the county is authorized to repair the subdivision road, you are concerned that the road will
become a county road and thereafter be subject to county maintenance. See id.
We consider preliminarily the extent of an individual county commissioner's authority to
accept donated road materials and to direct the repair of a public subdivision road. We understand
the County has adopted an ex officio road commissioner system, under which each county
commissioner is the ex officio road commissioner of the commissioner's precinct; hence, you use
the term "precinct commissioner."3 See TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. 252.003 (Vernon 1999). An
ex officio road commissioner's powers are limited: a commissioner independently may not accept
a donation, for example. See Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JM-1 155 (1990) at 2 (determining that an ex
officio road commissioner may not accept donations without the commissioners court's approval);
cf TEX. TRANSP. CODE ANN. 252.109 (Vernon 1999) (authorizing a county that has adopted a road
commissioner system to accept donations "to aid in building or maintaining roads in the county");
id. 252.214 (authorizing a county that has adopted a road superintendent system to accept
donations "to aid in building or maintaining roads in the county"). Nor may an individual
commissioner unilaterally bind the county by accepting a new road into the county system. See
3See Telephone Conversation with Brian Bartko, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, San Jacinto County (Apr.
19, 2005).(GA-0359)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0359, text, September 26, 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275255/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.