Null v. Board of Com'rs., Latimer Co.

1924 OK 247, 224 P. 159, 98 Okla. 16, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 1114
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 26, 1924
Docket13032
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1924 OK 247 (Null v. Board of Com'rs., Latimer Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Null v. Board of Com'rs., Latimer Co., 1924 OK 247, 224 P. 159, 98 Okla. 16, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 1114 (Okla. 1924).

Opinion

Opinion by

THREAD GILL, C.

The plaintiff in error, plaintiff below, commenced 'his action in the district court of Latimer county aganst the defendants in error, defendants in that court, to restrain them from entering upon and constructing a public road 40 feet wide along the central line of the section, north and south, and across the west end of lots numbered 09 and 41, respectively, of number 7, town-site addition in Latimer county, according to ■ government survey and plat thereof.

Plaintiff contends that he bought two lots from the government under section 9 of the act of Congress of February 18, 1912, 37 Statutes at L., and patents were issued to him for same, dated April 25, 1917, and January 18, 1918, respectively, each tract containing 4.98 acres more or less. It appears there was a roadway 40 feet wide through the center of the section from north to south provided for and dedicated by the government as a roadway in the official survey and plat of said town-site addition. The plaintiff contended that this roadway was west of his lots and the 20 feet on the east side of the central line was no part of his tracts Or lots; that the survey made by the county to locate the central line and the 20 feet on either side was too far to the east, and took a part of the west end of liis lots, and would cause him to lose 'a part of his land, and to remove his fence at the west end of the lots; that they were trespassing on his propei-ty in entering upon his land with the intention of talking possession and to remove his improvements without any settlement with or notice to him.

The defendants contended that the 40 feet was dedicated by the government for a roadway and they had a right to open .the road to the public without notice to the plaintiff ; that the central line had been located by the county surveyor, and the 20 feet on each side had been laid off by motes and bounds, and denied that the plaintiff had any right to restrain them from constructing the roadway. The issues were tried to the court on January 7, 1922, and the court rendered jujdgmenlt agairist the plaintiff denying hljm. a permanent injunction as prayed for, -but continuing the temporary restraining order in force to be dissolved by the defendant’s giving the plaintiff 30' days’ notice to remove his fence, and assessing the costs against the plaintiff. The judgment of the court, omitting the caption, was as follows :

■ ‘‘Now on this the 7th day of January, 1922, this cause coming on for hearing before the court, and the petitioner being present in person and by his attorneys, C. O. Null and B. S. Null, and the respondents being present in the person of K. Hudson and by their attorney Claud Briggs, county attorney, and both petitioner and respondent announcing ready for trial the cause progresses. And the cause having been submitted to the court upon proof of both petitioner and respondent, and the court being fully advised in the premises finds that the highway sought to be opened by respondents herein does not run across or onto petitioner’s land and premises but that the same was by the United States government reserved from the sale of the said town-site addition and the lots thereof as and for the purpose of a public highway and that petitioner has no right, title or interest in and to the same and further finds that petitioner’s fence is upon and obstructing the said public highway, but that respondents herein have failed to give 30 days notice as required by law to remove the same from said public highway.
“It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed by the court that the permanent injunction prayed for by the petitioner herein is denied, but that respondents are restrained from opening and removing said obstructing fence, until the 30 days’ notice-as required by statute is served upon the petitioner herein, and it is further ordered, adjudged and decreed by the court that upon proof being made to. the court that service of said notice has been made upon said petitioner, notifying him to remove the said obstructing fence from said public highway, that the injunction herein granted shall be set aside, dissolved and held for naught, and further that respondents herein have and recover from the petitioner herein their costs in this action expended.”

The plaintiff filed motion for new trial which being overruled he has appealed to this court by petition in error and case-made.

It is undisputed that the road was provided for and dedicated for that purpose in the survey and plat of the town-site addition. The only question in the determination of the controversy is whether or not the central line of the roadway and the 20 feet on each side are correctly located by the defendants.

1. We think this question is settled by the evidence. The county surveyor testified that he correctly located the central line through the section and in conformity with the government survey and plat of the said town-site addition, and he laid off the 20 feet on the east side along the west end of *18 plaintiff’s lots, and explained liis field notes and plats, dated December 13, 1921, and this testimony was sufficient to meet the very indefinite testimony of the plaintiff. Section 5928, Comp. Stat. 1921, provides as follows:

“Any survey made by the county surveyor, under the order of the board of county commissioners, in laying out any road or highway along any section or subdivision line of a section, if not appealed from by the land owners whose lands are bounded or limited by .the line or lines surveyed and corners established or re-established in the time and manner provided by the statutes of Oklahoma for appeals, by aggrieved persons, from orders made by the board of county commissioners, shall be recorded by the county surveyor in his record of permanent surveys, when the order of the board establishing said road or highway shall become final, and the boundary lines and corners of the lands, by such survey established, shall be held and considered as permanently established and shall not thereafter be changed.”

The testimony of the road overseer was that the 20 feet of land on the east side of the central line designated by the county surveyor was the land he was trying to open under the order of the county commissioners as a part of the roadway.

2.The defendants introduced a certified .copy of the official survey and plat of the town-site addition showing the central line through the section north and south and the designated roadway and the plaintiff’s lots extending east from the said central line and described on the plat as follows:

“Lots 39, 330 feet on the - east side, 657, 9 feet on south side, 33.1 feet on west side and 658 feet on the north side and lot 41, 330 feet on east side, 657.9 on south side, 33.2 feet on east side and 657.9 on the north side, containing approximately 4.98 acres in each tract or lot.”

This testimony was competent under section 638, Comp. Stat. 1921, which reads as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1924 OK 247, 224 P. 159, 98 Okla. 16, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 1114, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/null-v-board-of-comrs-latimer-co-okla-1924.