Thanks for the great responses. I received the answers I was searching for. Comal County is currently using the road map procedures that was recently enacted by the legislature under Chapter 258 of the Texas Transportation Code. In our procedure, Comal County listed all affected roads that was sent out in the tax statements, but did not provide notice that such roads include the necessary appurtenances, such as drainage, signs, and material that reaches beyond the road for their necessary operation and use. I am assuming the same law would apply in this case; that the County has prescriptive rights to such affected areas along these roads. (public beware) Are any of your counties noticing the public of such appurtenances as an extra safety notice precaution, or are you proceeding the same as Comal County and just merely naming the affected roads in the mapping process?

And on another note, is there any thought to revising the legislation regarding public vs county roads as outlined in Chapter 251 of the Texas Transportation Code or is Chapter 258 intended to clear up this mess. This is the most archaic set of laws I have ever come across with extremely poor definitions. What is the difference between a "county road" and a "public road?" The legislature ingeniously defined a "public road" as a "public road," and then inserted elsewhere the term "county road" with little guidance. I guess Chapter 258 would turn all "public roads" into "county roads."

(for example, "� 251.002. PUBLIC ROADS. A public road or highway that
has been laid out and established according to law and that has not
been discontinued is a public road." and "� 251.057. ABANDONMENT OF COUNTY ROAD. (a) A county
road is abandoned when its use has become so infrequent that one or
more adjoining property owners have enclosed the road with a fence
continuously for at least 20 years. The abandoned road may be
reestablished as a public road only in the manner provided for
establishing a new road.
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) a road to a cemetery; or
(2) an access road that is reasonably necessary to
reach adjoining real property.")

yes--by the way, somewhere I saw some statement that said county road law was a mess that may have worked well in the time of the horse and carriage days, but just was not sufficient for "modern times"--since that statement was written, there has not been any really effective revision--and I think the the statement was written about 1920 or thereabouts--

I agree with what has been said in this and the previous thread. I would only add my response to the title question: What is a county road? Answer: It is a pain in the @#$! engineered for the apparent purpose of promoting litigation regarding ownership, fences and severed utility lines.

County roads are a subset of public roads. THat is to say, all county roads are public, but not all public roads are county roads.

This comes in really handy when landowners want to embroil the county in disputes over gated roads. While there may have been a public easement at one time - or even now - it is not the county's place to enforce it if it isn't our road. The landowners can have their lawsuit, and we'll provide the courthouse!

great---as long as they dance by themselves, but they often invite the county to the party by naming them as a party--and then you hear that commissioner such and such (now deceased)from 1960 to 1989 always maintained this road and said it was a county road, but Mr. New Commissioner says, he lived close by and there never was any county maintenance but then some County employee says he thinks he remembers being on a grader running it up and down a couple of times, is it now a county road,as the county clearly accepted it for maintenance or maybe it did not... etc, etc, etc, etc,
And usually it is not so much over the gate, but the fact that they now want the county to maintain the road....fix the potholes...put down asphalt...and usually a suit is never filed, but they bug the poor Commissioner to death over the road.....

My response on these - and being in a rural county that is becoming a hunting mecca, we have had several - is that if the landowner can prove to me that it was a legitimate county road - accepted and all, then we will take it. Otherwise, go away and leave us alone. Thankfully, my commissioners are pretty good about referring all that to me.