Establishment of public roads.

WORKING DRAFT
2005
STATE OF WYOMING
05LSO-0196

HOUSE BILL
NO.
HB0240

Establishment of public roads.

Sponsored by:
Representative(s) Olsen and Luthi and Senator(s) Cooper

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to the establishment of highways; exempting roads on public lands from procedure; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.
W.S. 24
‑
1
‑
101(a) is amended to read:

24
‑
1
‑
101.

Public highways defined and established; creation by adverse possession.

(a)

On and after January 1, 1924, all roads within this state shall be highways, which have been or may be declared by law to be state or county highways. It shall be the duty of the several boards of county commissioners, within their respective counties, prior to said date, to determine what, if any, such roads now or heretofore traveled but not heretofore officially established and recorded, are necessary or important for the public use as permanent roads, and to cause such roads to be recorded, or if need be laid out, established and recorded, and all roads recorded as aforesaid, shall be highways. No other roads
, except roads located on federal public lands prior to October, 1976,
shall be highways unless and until lawfully established as such by official authority. Except, nothing contained herein shall be construed as preventing the creation or establishment of a public highway right-of-way with reference to state and county highways under the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription either prior to or subsequent to the enactment hereof. If any such board shall resolve the creation or establishment of a public highway right-of-way based upon the common-law doctrines of adverse possession or prescription, it shall, following the filing of a plat and accurate survey required in accordance with the terms and provisions of W.S. 24
‑
3
‑
109, proceed with the publication of the proposed road for three (3) successive weeks in three (3) successive issues of some official newspaper published in the county, if any such there be, and if no newspaper be published therein, such notice shall be posted in at least three (3) public places along the line of the proposed road, which notice shall be exclusive of all other notices and may be in the following form:

To all whom it may concern: The board of county commissioners of .... county has resolved the creation and establishment of a public highway right-of-way under the common-law doctrine of prescription in that the road was constructed or substantially maintained by the (either the state or county) for general public use for a period of (ten years or longer) said road commencing at .... in .... county, Wyoming, running thence (here describe in general terms the points and courses thereof), and terminating at ....

All objections thereto must be filed in writing with the county clerk of said county before noon on the .... day of .... A.D., ...., or such road will be established without reference to such objections.

...........
....

County Clerk
Dated .... A.D.

Section 2.

This act is effective July 1, 2005.

(END)

1
HB0240