Fannin County residents have had an ongoing disagreement about whether the county is closed range or open range.  The District Attorney, Richard Glaser, sought an opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to answer this question. As Mr. Glaser explained, “In what has recently become an annual Fannin County tradition, this office has been repeatedly asked whether Fannin County is currently an open- or closed-range county.” According to Mr. Paxton’s opinion, Fannin County is, indeed, a closed range county and livestock owners may not allow their animals to… Read More →

For those of you who may have missed the Texas Fence Law webinar hosted a couple of weeks ago by the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, we’ve got you covered!  Stacy Fox was kind enough to record the presentation given by Jim Bradbury and me and it may be viewed by clicking here. I’d like to thank Stacy, Tim, and everyone at TSCRA for hosting this webinar and for their interest in our fence law book, Five Strands: A Landowner’s Guide to Fence Law in Texas To… Read More →

Earlier this year, I wrote an article for Progressive Cattleman addressing the question of whether a livestock owner could face liability is his or her animals got onto the roadway and were hit by a motorist.  As with most legal questions, the answer is “it depends.”  To read my article, click here. For more information about the Texas law on this topic, check out a prior blog series I did on fencing laws.  You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.    

Question:  We recently moved to rural Texas and I keep seeing purple paint on trees and fence posts.  What’s with the purple paint? Answer:  In Texas, as well as several other states (Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, Arkansas), purple paint is a method of prohibiting trespassing.  Basically, the purple paint is one alternative to posting “No Trespassing” signs. The Texas Penal Code 30.05 provides that a person commits criminal trespass if he or she (1) enters or remains on the property of another; (2) without effective consent; and (3)… Read More →

*This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.* Today we have Part 2 in this series providing an overview of Texas fence laws.  Last Monday, we walked through the laws pertaining to fence law and liability in Texas.  Today, we will look at examples of how these laws are applied.  How Does This All Work? Let’s use a hypothetical example to help explain how the law works in the different areas.  Assume that a horse was grazing in a pasture next to a roadway… Read More →

*This article is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.* Most Texans are quick to note that Texas is an “open range” or a “fence out” state, meaning that a livestock owner does not have a legal duty to prevent animals from getting onto the roadway.  Technically, this is a true statement of the common law in Texas.  There are, however, two major exceptions to this rule that are extremely important for livestock owners to be aware of. Today, we will review the general fence law in Texas and the… Read More →