Chapter 3 - Establishment, Vacation Or Alteration Of County Highways
CHAPTER 3 - ESTABLISHMENT, VACATION OR ALTERATION OF COUNTYHIGHWAYS
ARTICLE 1 - IN GENERAL
24-3-101. Resolution by county commissioners; petition of countyelectors; alteration authority specified.
(a) The board of county commissioners of any county, may, onits own motion by resolution duly adopted, where it deems the public interestso requires, initiate the procedure for the establishment, vacation oralteration of a county highway, as the case may be, by setting forth in suchresolution the point of commencement, the course and the point of terminationof said road to be established, altered or vacated, as the case may be, andthereafter following out the provisions of article 2, chapter 52, WyomingRevised Statutes, 1931, not inconsistent therewith. If the motion specifiesvacation of a county road, alley or highway located within one and one half (1 ) miles of the boundary of a city or town, the board shall notify thegoverning body of the city or town.
(b)(i) Any person desiring theestablishment, vacation or alteration of a county highway shall file in theoffice of the county clerk of the proper county, a petition signed by five (5)or more electors of the county residing within twenty-five (25) miles of theroad proposed to be established, altered, or vacated, in substance as follows:To the Board of County Commissioners of .... County. The undersigned ask that acounty highway, commencing at .... and running thence .... and terminating at.... be established (altered or vacated as the case may be).
(ii) With said petition shall be filed a list containing thenames and also the known post office address of each person owning or having aninterest in any land over which the proposed establishment, vacation oralteration of a county highway is to be made.
(c) In altering any county highway under this article or anyother road dedicated by recorded plat as a public road, a board of countycommissioners may change the designation of any road to a private road. If aboard alters any road, it shall reserve the access rights of the arealandowners and permit governmental agencies to retain access to that road forperforming essential public services. It may also designate a nongovernmental entityto be responsible for the maintenance of any road altered pursuant to thissection.
24-3-102. Requiring deposit by petitioners.
Theboard of the county commissioners may require, in their discretion, that thepetitioners for the establishment, alteration or vacation of a public road,shall deposit with the county clerk, a sufficient sum of money to defray theexpenses of laying out, vacating or altering such road, and such expense, whenso incurred, shall be paid out of such deposit. If the road is finallyestablished, altered or vacated, the money so deposited shall be returned tothe person who deposited the same.
24-3-103. Viewer; appointment, qualifications and duties generally.
Uponfiling of the petition the board of the county commissioners at a regular orspecial meeting, or the chairman of the board, if in his judgment an emergencyexists, shall appoint a suitable and disinterested person, who may be a memberof the board of county commissioners, to examine into the expediency of the proposedroad, alteration or vacation thereof, and to report immediately.
24-3-104. Viewer; oath; scope of investigation.
Theperson so appointed shall be termed a viewer, and he shall be sworn by someperson or officer authorized by law to administer oaths, before entering uponhis duties, to faithfully and impartially discharge his duties, and he shallfile his oath in the office of the county clerk. He shall not be confined tothe precise matter of the petition, but may inquire or determine whether that,or any road, in the vicinity of the proposed or altered road, answering thesame purpose is required.
24-3-105. Viewer; factors to be considered.
Informing his judgment the viewer shall take into consideration both the publicand private convenience, and also the expense of the proposed road.
24-3-106. Viewer; report.
Thesaid viewer shall report in writing to the board of the county commissioners,whether or not in his judgment, said proposed road is practicable, and ought orought not be established, altered or vacated, as the case may be, stating theprobable expense of the same, including damages to the property owners alongthe line thereof, the benefits thereto, and such other matters therein as shallenable the said board to act understandingly in the premises.
24-3-107. Viewer; compensation.
Theboard of the county commissioners shall allow the said viewer such reasonablecompensation for his services as they shall determine and fix upon.
24-3-108. Roads established by consent of landowners.
Publicroads shall be established without the appointment of a viewer, or without anyother proceeding, than the order of the board of county commissioners;provided, that the written consent of all the owners of the land to be used forthat purpose, be first filed in the office of the county clerk, and when it isshown to the satisfaction of the said board that the said road is of sufficientimportance to be opened and traveled, they shall make an order establishing thesame. The board of the county commissioners, when in their judgment such actionshall be in the interests of economy or the public good, may purchase orreceive donations or rights-of-way for a public road, or any alterationthereof, or any part thereof, from any and all persons along the route thereof,and declare the same opened, whenever the consent of the owners of the landthrough which said proposed road or alteration shall run, has been obtained,either by the donations of land or when an amicable adjustment of the amount tobe paid therefor has been made between such landowners and said board; and allroads or parts of roads or alteration of roads heretofore opened or made, byconsent or adjustment of damages, without recourse to other proceedings, arehereby declared to be public roads, the same as if such roads had been legallyopened, or said alterations legally made.
24-3-109. Survey of proposed location for new road; recordationrequired.
If,upon considering and acting upon the report of the viewer, or otherwise, theboard of the county commissioners shall decide to lay out such road, they shallcause the county surveyor to make an accurate survey thereof, if such survey isdeemed necessary, and to plat and record the same in the book provided by thecounty for such purpose; and a copy of said plat and notes of survey shall,without unnecessary delay, be filed in the office of the county clerk.
24-3-110. Notice of location of road to be published or posted; noticeby mail to property owners.
(a) Notice shall be published of the proposed location oralteration of any road for three (3) successive weeks in three (3) successiveissues of some official newspaper published in the county, if any such therebe, and if no newspaper be published therein, such notice shall be posted in atleast three (3) public places along the line of said proposed or altered road,which notice may be in the following form:
To all to whom it may concern: The Board ofCounty Commissioners have decided to locate (or alter, as the case may be) aroad commencing at .... in .... County, Wyoming, running thence (here describein general terms the points and courses thereof), and terminating at .... .
All objections thereto or claims fordamages by reason thereof must be filed in writing with the county clerk ofsaid county, before noon on the .... day of .... A.D. .... or such road will beestablished (or altered) without reference to such objections or claims fordamages.
-------------------------- County Clerk
Dated .... A.D.
(b) The county commissioners shall cause a copy of the abovenotice to be mailed by registered mail to all persons owning lands or claimingany interest in any lands over or across which said road is proposed to belocated or altered. The publication and posting of such notice shall be a legaland sufficient notice to all persons owning lands or claiming any interest inlands over which the proposed road is to be located or altered.
24-3-111. Objections and claims for damages; when filed.
Ifthe board of the county commissioners shall determine to establish, lay out oralter any road, they shall appoint a day, not less than thirty (30) days aftersuch determination, on or before which day all objections to the establishment,alteration or vacation of the proposed road, and claims for damages by reasonthereof, shall be filed with the county clerk.
24-3-112. Objections and claims for damages; when barred.
Noobjections or claims for damages shall be filed or made after the noon of theday fixed for filing the same, and if no objections or claims for damages arefiled, on or before noon of the day fixed for filing the same, they shall bedisregarded, and not considered, and shall be deemed to have been waived andbarred.
24-3-113. Objections and claims for damages; continuance of hearing uponfiling.
Ifobjections to the establishment, altering or vacating of the road, or if anyclaims for damages shall be filed, the further hearing of the application maybe continued by the board until the matter can be properly disposed of.
24-3-114. Appraisers; number; appointment; qualifications; dutiesgenerally; report.
Whenclaims for damages are filed, at the next regular meeting or special meeting ofthe board of the county commissioners, or as soon thereafter as may bepracticable and convenient, the said board shall appoint three (3) suitable anddisinterested electors of the county as appraisers, to view the ground, on aday fixed by said board, and they shall report their doings in the matter andfile their report in writing with the county clerk within thirty (30) daysafter the date of their appointment, fixing the amount of the damages sustainedby the claimants.
24-3-115. Appraisers; notification of appointment required; contents.
Thecounty clerk shall cause each of the said appraisers to be notified in writing,of his appointment, stating in said notice, first, the names of all appraisers,second, the names of all claimants for damages, on account of the location oralteration of the said road, with the amount of damages asked by each claimant,third, stating when their report must be filed, and fourth, the law relating totheir duty as found in W.S. 24-3-116. The county clerk shall prepare suitableblanks, for such notice, for the oath of the appraisers and for the report, aproper number of which shall be forwarded by him to them.
24-3-116. Appraisers; specific duties enumerated; compensation.
Thesaid appraisers shall, within ten (10) days after receiving notice of theirappointment, meet at some convenient place, on the line of said proposed oraltered road, and take and administer to each other, an oath or affirmation tofaithfully and impartially discharge their duties. They shall then view theground, so far as they shall deem it necessary, and fix the amount of damagessustained by each claimant, after allowing for all benefits that may accrue toeach claimant, by reason of the location or alteration of the said proposedroad. They, or a majority of them, shall as soon as practicable, afterperforming their said duties, make a report in writing to the county clerk oftheir doings, stating that they were so sworn or affirmed as aforesaid, beforeperforming their duties and fixing the amount of damages, if any, sustained byeach claimant, after allowing and deducting for benefits, and where they havedisallowed claims for damages, they shall so state in their report, and theyshall immediately transmit their report, when made, to the county clerk. Theyshall, whenever they can conveniently do so, notify the claimants or their agents,of the place of their meeting and may hear such evidence as they may deemnecessary in determining the amount of damages fixed by them. They are herebyauthorized to administer oaths to each other and to such witnesses as they mayhear. If any one (1) of them shall fail or refuse to perform his duty, theother two (2) appraisers shall serve and shall appoint a suitable anddisinterested elector in his place, who shall be within easy access, and heshall be sworn or affirmed in like manner as the other two (2) appraisers, andthe facts of such appointment and qualification shall be stated in said reportto the county clerk. The said appraisers shall each receive for hiscompensation such reasonable sum as the board of county commissioners shallallow.
24-3-117. Neglect of duty by appraiser or viewer.
Ifany viewer or appraiser shall refuse or neglect to perform any of the dutiesrequired by law or shall fail to act after his appointment, without asatisfactory excuse for such refusal or neglect, he shall be fined in any sumnot exceeding fifty dollars ($50.00), upon his conviction thereof in any courtof competent jurisdiction, and such fine when collected shall be paid into thecounty treasury for the benefit of the road fund.
24-3-118. Hearing before county commissioners; determination andpayment of damages; entry on land; abandonment prohibited; records; surveys.
(a) At the next meeting of the county commissioners after thereport of the appraisers has been filed, or as soon thereafter as may bepracticable, the said board may hear testimony and consider petitions for andremonstrances against the establishment or alteration, as the case may be ofany road, or may establish or alter any road or may refuse so to do, as in thejudgment of the said board, the public good may require, but in case thereshall be no claim for damages filed, they shall act as speedily as possible inthe matter. Said board may increase or diminish the damages allowed by theappraisers, and may make such establishment or alteration of any road,dependent or conditioned upon the payment, in whole or in part, of the damagesawarded or expenses incurred in relation thereto by the petitioners for suchroad or such alteration of any road.
(b) The amount of damages awarded, if any, shall immediately bepaid to the person or persons entitled thereto or deposited with the countyclerk for delivery to such person or persons, which payment shall be withoutprejudice to the right of such person or persons to appeal to the district courtas provided by law.
(c) When the road has been established and the award has beenpaid by the board of county commissioners or by the department oftransportation, to the person or persons entitled, or deposited with the countyclerk, the highway authorities and their contractors and employees may takepossession and exercise full control of the land within the right-of-way of theroad so established.
(d) After the county or the department of transportation hastaken possession of the right-of-way, there shall be no abandonment of theestablishing of the highway, and in the event of an appeal by an owner of realestate affected to the district court from the award finally made by the boardof county commissioners, the board shall pay the amount finally determined tobe due.
(e) A certificate, authorized by the board of countycommissioners and signed by its chairman, setting forth the legal descriptionof the property taken shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk, andindexed in like manner and with like effect as if it were a conveyance of theeasement or right-of-way from said owners to the county.
(f) If, upon considering and acting upon the report of theviewers or otherwise, the board of county commissioners shall decide to lay outor alter any road, they shall cause the county surveyor to make an accuratesurvey thereof, if such survey is necessary, and to plat the same in books tobe provided by the county for such purpose, and the county clerk shall recordin the same books opposite or near to such plat so that the same may be easilyascertained to be concerning the platted road, the proceeding of the said boardin relation to the location, establishment or alteration of said road, in orderto keep in a separate book a record of all the county roads of that county.
24-3-119. Appeals from decisions of county commissioners; notice; bondrequired.
Anyapplicant for damages claimed, or caused by the establishment or alteration ofany road, may appeal from the final decision of the board of the countycommissioners to the district court of the county, in which the land lies, forthe taking of which for a public road, damages are asked; but notice of suchappeal must be made to the county clerk, within thirty (30) days after suchdecision has been made by the said board, or such claim shall be deemed to havebeen abandoned. No appeal shall be allowed, unless a good and sufficient bondbe given by the party appealing, in a sum not less than fifty dollars ($50.00)to cover costs, said bond to be approved by the clerk of the district court.
24-3-120. Appeals from decisions of county commissioners; duties ofcounty clerk.
Thecounty clerk shall, within ten (10) days after the notice of an appeal asprovided for in W.S. 24-3-119 is filed in his office, make out and file in theoffice of the clerk of the district court, in his county, a transcript of thepapers on file in his office, and the proceedings of the board in relation tosuch damages.
24-3-121. Appeals from decisions of county commissioners; recovery ofdamages; court costs.
Theamount of damages to which the claimant shall be entitled on such appeal shallbe ascertained in the same manner as in a civil action, and the amount soascertained, if any, shall be entered of record, but no judgment shall beentered therefor. The amount thus ascertained shall be certified by the clerkof the court to the county clerk who shall thereafter proceed as if such amounthad been allowed by the board of the county commissioners to the claimant asdamages. If the appellant shall fail to recover an amount exceeding fiftydollars ($50.00) above the amount allowed to him by the board of the countycommissioners, he shall pay all costs of the appeal.
24-3-122. Condemned land tax free during use by state.
Notaxes covering the real estate taken by the county or the department oftransportation for rights-of-way shall be assessed, or charged against the landowner or owners during the time that rights-of-way are being used for thepurposes for which they were established.
24-3-123. Effect of location of new road on route of previous road.
Theestablishment of a new road on the route of a road already establishedaccording to law, shall not vacate any road previously established, unless suchvacation shall be ordered by the board of the county commissioners.
24-3-124. Removal of fences on right-of-way.
Whenevera public road is ordered to be established or altered, according to theprovisions of this act, which shall pass through, or on enclosed lands, theroad overseer, or other proper officer, shall give the owner, agent or occupantof such lands, notice in writing to remove the fences thereon, and if suchowner, agent or occupant shall not move his fence, within thirty (30) days thereafter,the same may be removed by the proper officer, and the road opened and worked;and such owner shall forfeit and pay twenty dollars ($20.00) for each day heshall permit his fence to remain after said thirty (30) days, and shall pay allnecessary cost of removal, to be collected by the proper officer, in any courtof competent jurisdiction, for the use and benefit of the general county roadfund.
24-3-125. Streets in unincorporated towns or villages declared publicroads; working.
Allpublic streets of towns or villages, not incorporated, are a part of the publicroads, and all road overseers, or persons having charge of the same, in theirrespective districts or counties, shall work the same as provided by law orordered by the board of the county commissioners of the proper county.
24-3-126. Abandonment of portion of highway upon reconstruction orrelocation of existing highway; relinquishment to county or city in lieu ofabandonment.
(a) The transportation commission may abandon or relinquish anyportion of state highways upon the reconstruction or relocation of any portionof an existing state highway.
(b) Prior to abandonment of any portion of a state highway, thetransportation commission shall offer the highway to the governing body of anycounty or city in which the highway is located. Upon being notified of thetransportation commission's intent to abandon any portion of a state highway,the governing body of the county or city shall comply with the proceduresprovided for in paragraph (c)(ii) of this section in order to initiate transferof the state highway.
(c) The abandonment or relinquishment of any portion of statehighways shall be conclusively evidenced by the resolution entered in theminute record of the commission. A certified copy of the resolution shall berecorded by the secretary of the transportation commission in the office of thecounty clerk of any county in which abandoned or relinquished highwayright-of-way is located. Abandonment or relinquishment shall not affect therights of corporations or their successors in interest acquired under theprovisions of W.S. 1-26-813 to continue the operation and maintenance oftransmission and distribution lines constructed upon the right-of-way and shallnot affect the rights of any corporation or successors in interest to continueto maintain any facility lawfully in the highway right-of-way at the time ofany abandonment or relinquishment. Corporations shall have the right to go uponthese lands for the purposes associated with maintenance or use of theirfacility. Specific rules regarding relinquishment and abandonment are:
(i) Upon the entry of the resolution of abandonment in theminute record of the commission, all title and interest, except as hereinprovided, to the highway right-of-way shall pass to and vest in the presentadjacent landowner according to the portion contributed by adjacent landowneror his predecessor in interest;
(ii) Instead of abandonment, the transportation commission may,upon written request, relinquish to any county or city any portion of a statehighway within the county or city proposed to be removed from the state highwaysystem. The request shall be in the form of a resolution adopted by thegoverning body of the county or city, indicating that the portion of the statehighway sought by the governing body will be used for a local public purposeenumerated in the resolution and expressing the agreement of the county or cityto assume all responsibility with regard thereto. Relinquishment by thetransportation commission shall be by entry of the resolution of relinquishmentin the minute record of the commission and by quitclaim deed effective uponrecordation in the office of the county clerk and recorder of any county inwhich the real property is located.
24-3-127. Cooperative agreements with federal agencies to construct,maintain and use roads within county.
Theboard of county commissioners of any county of this state may, in itsdiscretion, enter into cooperative agreements with the forest service of theU.S. department of agriculture or other federal agency to provide for the jointconstruction, maintenance and use of roads located within the boundaries of thecounty, where such roads are used by the forest service or other federal agencyin the protection, administration and utilization of the national forests andnational recreation areas or other federal lands and are also used bycommunities or persons within or adjacent to such national forests or otherfederal lands in the use and development of the resources thereof or where suchroads otherwise serve the needs of the public.
ARTICLE 2 - IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTY ROADS
24-3-201. Purpose of procedure.
Thelegislature finds that due to inaccurate and inconsistent records, there existroads which are seldom used, not maintained and are not identified as orbelieved by the public to be county roads but are, in fact, county roads.Recognizing the numerous difficulties resulting from the existence of suchcounty roads, the legislature finds it in the best interest of the public tocreate a procedure to identify county roads, thereby altering and vacatingthese abandoned or unnecessary county roads without survey.
24-3-202. Definitions.
(a) As used in this act:
(i) "Board" means the board of county commissionersof any county;
(ii) "This act" means W.S. 24-3-201 through 24-3-206.
24-3-203. Board may identify county roads through specified procedure;resolution; terms; limited to not more than 1 per area.
(a) Notwithstanding W.S. 24-1-102 and 24-3-101 through24-3-127, when it finds the public interest so requires, the board may initiatethe identification procedure under this act for county roads in the county byadopting a resolution to which maps shall be incorporated by reference whichshall indicate a general description of all county roads in the area describedin the map which shall be unaffected by identification under the resolution. Nocounty road shall be listed as unaffected by a resolution under this act unlessit was established under other law. No map incorporated into the resolutionshall describe an area of less than six hundred forty (640) acres.
(b) The board shall not adopt more than one (1) resolutionidentifying county roads under this act in any area of the county.
(c) No road shall be vacated or altered under this act if it iscurrently identified and maintained as a county road. The identificationprocedure under this act shall not be used to establish a county road which wasnot previously established under other law.
24-3-204. Notice of identification to be published.
(a) Prior to adoption of a resolution identifying county roadsin any area in the county, notice of the proposed identification shall bepublished for four (4) successive weeks in four (4) successive issues in anewspaper of general circulation in the county in substantially the followingform:
NOTICEOF IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTY ROADS UNDER W.S.
24-3-201THROUGH 24-3-206
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Board ofCounty Commissioners intends to identify county roads in the following areas of.... (name of county) county under the identification procedure contained inW.S. 24-3-201 through 24-3-206: (general description of areas described in themap, i.e. USGS Quad map, section, township, range, etc.)
The only county roads in the township whichshall exist after this identification procedure are described as follows:
(Roadname, road number or petition number)
All other county roads within the areaidentified in the map which are not described above shall be accordinglyvacated upon adoption of the resolution for identification. All objections toor claims for damage by reason of this identification procedure shall be filedin writing with the county clerk of this county before 12:00 noon on the ....day of .... (not less than thirty (30) days after publication of the fourthnotice) or the county roads will be vacated as indicated without reference tothe objections or claims.
(b) The notice shall include a map of each area affectedindicating the approximate location of county roads which shall exist after theproposed identification action.
24-3-205. Objections and claims for damages; when filed; when barred;procedure for considering.
(a) If the board initiates identification of county roads underthis act, the board shall establish a date not less than thirty (30) days afterthe fourth notice is published, by which all objections to and claims fordamages by reason of the identification shall be filed with the county clerk.
(b) Objections to or claims for damages by reason ofidentification under this act filed after 12:00 noon on the date established insubsection (a) of this section shall not be considered by the board and aredeemed waived.
(c) If claims for damage are filed under this section, theclaims shall be considered in the same manner as provided under W.S. 24-3-114through 24-3-121.
24-3-206. Effect of identification.
Ifthe board identifies roads under this act, the roads designated as county roadsin the identification action shall be the only county roads within the areaidentified and all other county roads within the area identified areaccordingly altered or vacated. The board shall direct the county clerk to andthe county clerk shall record the identification as an entry in the abstract oflands books as if it were a conveyance of rights from the county to the landsaffected. Roads identified as county roads under this act, shall not be countyroads unless the county has a valid title or recorded easement to theright-of-way.