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Chapter 62, SubChapter A, Sec 62.001 is amended to define public road or right-of-ways,

I've gone to the TPWD site and cannot find any definition. Does anyone have the updated code with the definition of right or way?

Thanks
John

Just my personal definition but I believe right of way would be anywhere the public has a right to pass. Now I am wondering if this law might also apply to navagable waterways. Maybe hunting was already illegal on a navagable waterway. I don't know but if it wasn't then maybe it is now. If so you might not be able to hunt ducks from a boat on a navagable waterway anymore because it's a public right of way.

Right-of-way is any property that Txdot (in this case) has acquired to enable it to build and maintain the roadway. In some cases, such as in municipalities, the ROW can extend for hundreds of feet to accomodate interchanges. In rural areas, ROW can also vary widely, but is usually a minimum of around fifty feet, if memory serves.

ROW acquisition is one of the aspects that runs up cost of highway projects, since Txdot doesn't own ROW in an area where a new project is proposed. They first offer to buy the property from the landowners and "market price". If the landowner doesn't want to sell, usually condemnation proceedings ensue. Eventually, the State gets their property and the landowner is compensated. It can be very nasty business.....ask anyone who's been targeted for ROW acquisition.

You'd have better luck finding a legal definition of right-of-way on the Txdot website, but you won't find a hard-and-fast distance, as there's no such thing. In west Texas, the landowner typically fences to the ROW line, though that's not set in stone.

Hope this clarifies.
Mark

That is not what they said.

"Sec. 62.0031. HUNTING FROM PUBLIC ROAD OR RIGHT-OF-WAY
PROHIBITED. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may not hunt a wild animal or bird when the person is on a public road or right-of-way."

The law says you can't hunt on a public right of way. It does not specify a roadway right-of-way.

We need to find a general definition of "right-of-way" in Texas statutes. We may be able to force the enforcement (or another selective enforcement waiver like with the bugs) of this law against a wide variety of activities.

Yet another example of the lack of thought behind this law.

Thank you all for your guesswork and supposition. As stated in my original post it appears that TPWD has defined "rights-of=ways" (their grammatical error, not mine) but said definition does not appear in the TPWD code, so I assume it is defined int he new statuetes which are not yet posted on the TPWD site. What I need is said definition.

SECTION 43. Section 62.001, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
(3) "Public road or right-of-way" means a public street, alley, road, right-of-way, or other public way, including a berm, ditch, or shoulder.

>>That is the some total of their definition. They basically defined a "right-ow-way" as a "right-of-way" then added some other terms. They did not limit the definition to road way right-of-ways. If anything they broadened it by adding "or other public way", then by "including a berm, ditch, or shoulder" but failing to state "limited to".

Now we are back to looking for a general definition of "right-of-way" from Texas statutes. I'm not sure what items beside road way right-of-ways may be included in the "right-of-way" or "public way". These may be quite broad, or not.

so, if we are walking OFF the shoulder and there is no berm or ditch, we are legal.
Good to know.
J

I think they're using "road or right-of-way" in the same sense that you'd talk about your "house or yard", assuming that you're talking about the yard that goes with the house. The "right-of-way" is the easement adjacent to the roadway that's owned and maintained by the State. That's why you see fencelines set back from the roadway....the landowner can't put his fence on the state property so 95% of the time you'll find the fence on the right-of-way line.....the landowner is gonna put his fence on his property line, which is the edge of the right-of-way. They're probably making the assumption that the public realizes "road or right-of-way" means the right-of-way attached to the road in question. Being in the transportation business, it was clear to me, but it obviously could have been worded to make it clearer to the general public.

The bottom line, from a herping perspective, is that in most of west Texas, the ROW extends to private property - generally the fenceline. Or vice versa, depending on your viewpoint.

Mark

Mark:
I'll go by the legal definition, since that is what the laws apply to.

http://dictionary.law.com/default2.asp?selected=1859&bold=||||

Thanks for the clarification.

In addition to that, my understanding of Texas is that if a waterway is permanant and deep enough to navigate in a boat it is also another form of public right of way. I believe Limpia Creek, Devil's River and the Pecos River are considered navagable and the public has the right to be on them. You must launch and exit from public property(or from private property with permission) but once you are on the water you can pass through private property. I was pointing out that this law makes no distinction between TxDOT road right of ways and water right of ways and trying to illustrate how poorly thought out this law was. I think if TPWD hadn't been so sneaky trying to get this passed without public input these things could have been worked out beforehand.

I think this is a more than just one can of worms for TP&W to work with...

Lance