HB720 • 2026

PROPERTY/PUBLIC: Provides relative to the tacit dedication of roads

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Neil Riser
Last action: 2026-05-15
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 173
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details, so some aspects like revocation procedures are unclear from the provided source material.

Rules for Public Roads

This act changes the rules about how public roads can be tacitly dedicated and maintained by local governments.

What This Bill Does

Changes when a road is considered officially dedicated to the government based on maintenance over four years.
Requires that once a road is tacitly dedicated, it stays open for public use unless the local government revokes it.
Says that any improvements made in the right-of-way of these roads must stay public unless the local government decides otherwise.
Makes sure that private owners cannot sell parts of publicly dedicated roads.

Who It Names or Affects

Local governments like parishes and municipalities
People who own land next to public roads

Terms To Know

Tacit dedication: When a road is considered officially dedicated to the government without an official agreement, based on how long it has been maintained.
Right-of-way: The area around a public road that is set aside for its use and maintenance.

Limits and Unknowns

Does not explain the process by which local governments should revoke a tacit dedication of a road.
Does not specify what happens if the original donor or their heirs cannot be found.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

House Floor Amendment #2218 Riser Adopted

Adopted

Plain English: HFAHB720 3209 2218 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Riser to Engrossed House Bill No.

HFAHB720 3209 2218 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENTS 2026 Regular Session Amendments proposed by Representative Riser to Engrossed House Bill No.
720 by Representative Riser 1 AMENDMENT NO.
1 2 On page 2, at the end of line 8, insert "This Subparagraph shall include any boat launches, 3 boat landings, and parking areas that have been constructed and maintained by the parish or 4 municipality." Page 1 of 1 CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored are additions.

Bill History

2026-05-15 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-05-15 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 173.
2026-05-13 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-12 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-12 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-11 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-11 S
Read by title, passed by a vote of 36 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-04-28 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-04-27 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-04-22 S
Reported favorably.
2026-03-25 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.
2026-03-24 S
Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-03-23 H
Read third time by title, amended, roll called on final passage, yeas 97, nays 0. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-03-18 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/23/2026.
2026-03-17 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-03-16 H
Reported favorably (14-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.
2026-02-27 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
2026-02-27 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on Transportation, Highways and Public Works.
2026-02-27 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

PROPERTY/PUBLIC: Provides relative to the tacit dedication of roads

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 1732026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 720
BY REPRESENTATIVE RISER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 48:491(B)(1)(c) and (2) and to enact R.S. 48:491(B)(3), relative
3 to tacit dedication of public roadways; to provide for the term of a tacit dedication
4 of a roadway maintained by a parish or municipality; to provide for public works and
5 improvements on tacitly dedicated rights of way; to provide for susceptibility to
6 private sale; to provide for revocation; to provide for retroactive application; and to
7 provide for related matters.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. R.S. 48:491(B)(1)(c) and (2) are hereby amended and reenacted and R.S.
10 48:491(B)(3) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
11 §491. Public roads
12 * * *
13 B.(1)
14 * * *
15 (c) Actual or constructive knowledge is conclusively presumed within all
16 parishes and municipalities, except as otherwise provided by R.S. 48:491(B)(3), if
17 the total period of such maintenance is four years or more, unless prior thereto and
18 within sixty days of such actual or constructive knowledge, the prescription is
19 interrupted or suspended in any manner provided by law.
20 (2)(a) Any tacit dedication of a road or street pursuant to Paragraph (1) of
21 this Subsection shall remain in force and effect and the right-of-way for such public
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HB NO. 720 ENROLLED
1 road or street shall be subject to public use until the parish or municipality who has
2 maintained it formally revokes the dedication.
3 (b) Public works and improvements constructed in the right-of-way of a road
4 or street tacitly dedicated pursuant to Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall likewise
5 remain subject to public use unless disposed of in accordance with applicable law by
6 the parish or municipality. This Subparagraph shall include any boat launches, boat
7 landings, and parking areas that have been constructed and maintained by the parish
8 or municipality.
9 (c) A tacitly dedicated public road or street, and the right-of-way therefore,
10 are not susceptible of alienation through private sale by adjoining landowners or
11 landowners who maintain ownership of the property beneath the public right-of-way.
12 (2) (3) When a local governing authority for any reason decides to dispose
13 of any road, street, or property used for right-of-way purposes which was originally
14 donated or tacitly dedicated to the authority or its ancestor in title, the property shall
15 revert to the original donor or his heirs or assigns. The authority shall notify the
16 donor or his heirs of its intention to donate the property by sending written notice via
17 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the donor or his heirs at his last known
18 address. The notice shall inform the donor or his heirs or his assigns of the
19 authority's intention to have the land revert and provide him ninety days from receipt
20 in which to respond. If, upon the expiration of the ninety-day period, no response
21 has been received by the authority, it shall dispose of the property in accordance with
22 applicable law. In the donation deed from the authority to the donor or his heirs or
23 his assigns, the authority shall reserve rights of passage for landowners who own
24 property contiguous to the property to be reverted.
25 * * *
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HB NO. 720 ENROLLED
1 Section 2. The provisions of this Act are remedial, procedural, and interpretive of
2 existing law and shall be given prospective and retroactive application.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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