{"id":8485,"date":"2020-02-24T01:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?p=8485"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:20:01","slug":"tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/","title":{"rendered":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6613\" src=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2018\/07\/Top-10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"213\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, issued an opinion in December on an interesting issue related to fence law.\u00a0 Do the statutory estray laws apply in both open and closed range counties?\u00a0 According to the Attorney General, he believes that Texas courts would rule that estray laws apply in all counties, whether open or closed range.\u00a0 [Read full Opinion <a href=\"file:\/\/\/C:\/Users\/tiffany.dowell\/AppData\/Local\/Microsoft\/Windows\/INetCache\/Content.Outlook\/FXIILS4F\/KP-0278.pdf\">here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8486\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8486\" class=\"wp-image-8486 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8486\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo via <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.bellroadbeef.com\/\">Bell Road Beef<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Legal Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are several legal issues important to understanding the AG&#8217;s Opinion.<\/p>\n<p><em>Open versus closed range: <\/em>There are generally two approaches to Texas fence law: open range and closed range. \u00a0Open range provides that there is no obligation on the part of a livestock owner to prevent animals from running at large.\u00a0 Instead, the obligation is on neighboring landowners to fence other&#8217;s livestock out.\u00a0 In a closed range area, the opposite is true and a landowner does have a legal obligation to fence his or her animals in and to prevent them from running at large.\u00a0 Texas generally is an open range state, unless that status has been changed in a particular area by state statute, found in Chapter 143 of the Agriculture Code, which mandates that all State and US Highways are closed range, or local stock law election where voters elect to change an area from open to closed range.\u00a0 [For more information on the basics of fence law,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/11\/Owing-Your-Piece-of-Texas-Key-Laws-Texas-Landowners-Need-to-Know.pdf\">click here<\/a>\u00a0and go to Chapter 6.]<\/p>\n<p><em>Estray law:<\/em>\u00a0 Texas estray law, found in Texas Agriculture Code Section 142, provides a procedure for dealing with stray livestock on the property of another.\u00a0 A landowner upon whose property another&#8217;s livestock are located must call the sheriff as soon as reasonably practical to report stray livestock.\u00a0 The sheriff then searches for the owner and may impound the animal if no owner is found within 5 days.\u00a0 The sheriff must then post notice of the animals in various ways and, eventually, if no owner is found, the sheriff is authorized to sell the animals at public auction.\u00a0 [To read more about the estray law, <a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2016\/10\/24\/questions-tiffanys-desk-stray-livestock-rules\/\">click here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Factual Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Representative Poncho Nevarez requested an opinion from the Attorney General on whether the sheriff in Presidio County has the authority to enforce the statutory estray law in an open range area.\u00a0 Presidio County is an open-range area of Texas.\u00a0 In fact, under the Texas Agriculture Code, Presidio County is prohibited from passing a local stock law to change the standard in the county from open range to closed range, meaning that for cattle, Presidio County is statutorily required to be open range. Thus, as noted above, cattle owners are generally under no obligation to fence animals in or otherwise prevent them from running at large.<\/p>\n<p>The Presidio County Sheriff received conflicting advice about whether the estray statutes apply in an open range county.\u00a0 According to Representative Nevarez&#8217; request, the Presidio County Sheriff believes it is the responsibility of the sheriff\u2019s office to handle stray livestock by virtue the Texas estray law.\u00a0 Conversely, the County Attorney has issued a legal opinion that the estray laws do not apply in an open range county.\u00a0 Judge Dan Mills, an advisor for the sheriff\u2019s association of Texas, agreed with the County Attorney.\u00a0 John Fowlkes, the former County Attorney, interpreted the law in the same way as the Sheriff\u2019s office and believes that the estray laws do apply in an open range county.\u00a0 It was this situation that led to Representative Nevarez submitting his request for an opinion from Attorney General Paxton.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>AG&#8217;s Opinion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, keep in mind that an AG Opinion is not binding law.\u00a0 A Texas court could look to this as persuasive in making an eventual ruling in a case, but courts are not required to defer to these opinions.\u00a0 The value of an AG opinion, however, lies in the fact that it is a way to obtain an answer to a legal question without filing a lawsuit and\/or without having a live controversy.\u00a0 While courts are bound to decide the\u00a0 cases before them based on the specific facts of that case, an Attorney General can speculate on how the law may apply in hypothetical situations or hypothetical cases.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Paxton&#8217;s Opinion contains an instructive discussion on Texas fence law.\u00a0 The AG outlines the history of Texas fence law, noting the open range roots of the state and explaining how state statute and local stock laws have changed much of the state to closed range.\u00a0 Additionally, the AG reviewed the history of the estray statute, which &#8220;dates back to the earliest days of the Republic.&#8221; The estray procedure allows a landowner to contact the sheriff if an owner discovers an estray animal on his or her property.\u00a0 This provision applies whether the owner of the animal is known or unknown.<\/p>\n<p>Next, the Opinion turns to the analysis of the applicability of the estray law in an open range county.\u00a0 First, notes the AG, the test of the estray law does not distinguish between property located in an open range county or a closed range county.\u00a0 &#8220;The estray statutes cannot be construed to contain an exception for open-range areas when such an exception cannot be found in the statutes&#8217; language.&#8221; Second, the AG noted that the estray laws pre-dated the statutory provisions allowing for areas to be changed to closed range, indicating that estray laws were certainly applicable in open range areas for decades.\u00a0 Third, the statutes allowing for local stock laws and providing that State and US highways are closed range do not address the estray laws.\u00a0 This, reasons the Attorney General, indicates that the closed range statues do not restrict the application of the estray laws to only those areas covered by the closed range statutes.\u00a0 &#8220;While the venerable open-range common law controls where it applies, it cannot override the Legislature&#8217;s statutory regulation of estrays.&#8221;\u00a0 Thus, the AG concluded that &#8220;a county sheriff has the authority and responsibility to enforce the estray laws whether the county has adopted a local-option stock law or remains and open-range area.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Take Aways<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>First, this is just another in a long list of reminders from this blog that Texas fence law is not always straight-forward.\u00a0 Although the general rule is that Texas is open range, there are a number of statutory provisions that can change areas to closed range and additional provisions, such as the estray law, that apply to fence law issues as well.<\/p>\n<p>Second, for open range counties, this opinion addresses a practical question&#8211;what authority do the sheriffs have to act under the estray laws in the county?\u00a0 Numerous counties have struggled with this issue and this opinion indicates that, at least as the AG interprets the law, they do have the authority to act if animals are on the property of another even though the animal owner has no obligation to prevent the animals from running at large.<\/p>\n<p>Third, from a practical standpoint, the result of this Opinion may be a bit difficult to apply.\u00a0 In an open range county, where an animal owner has no obligation to fence his or her animal in, if the neighbor can simply call the sheriff to come remove the animal under the estray law each time the animal enters the neighbor&#8217;s property, does that essentially treat the animal owner as though the area were closed range?\u00a0 Would there be a distinction on what the sheriff might do if the neighboring landowner had a fence and the animals continued to get in through that fence, versus if the neighboring landowner had no fence despite the neighbor&#8217;s obligation to fence animals out?\u00a0 These questions remain unanswered.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see if this issue is ever brought before a court under various factual circumstances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, issued an opinion in December on an interesting issue related to fence law.\u00a0 Do the statutory estray laws apply in both open and closed range counties?\u00a0 According to the Attorney General, he believes that Texas courts would rule that estray laws apply in all counties, whether open or closed range.\u00a0 [Read full Opinion here.] Legal Background There are several legal issues important to understanding the AG&#8217;s Opinion. Open versus closed range: There are generally two approaches to Texas fence law: open range and&#8230; <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2444,"featured_media":8486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fence-law"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, issued an opinion in December on an interesting issue related to fence law.\u00a0 Do the statutory estray laws apply in both open and closed range counties?\u00a0 According to the Attorney General, he believes that Texas courts would rule that estray laws apply in all counties, whether open or closed range.\u00a0 [Read full Opinion here.] Legal Background There are several legal issues important to understanding the AG&#8217;s Opinion. Open versus closed range: There are generally two approaches to Texas fence law: open range and... Read More &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas Agriculture Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tiffany.dowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tiffdowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tiffdowell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tiffany.dowell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tiffany.dowell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73\"},\"headline\":\"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1304,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/Britt-cow.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Fence Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/\",\"name\":\"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/Britt-cow.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/Britt-cow.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/Britt-cow.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/24\\\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\",\"description\":\"Teaching, Research, Extension and Service\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Texas Agriculture Law\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/texasaglaw\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/tiffdowell\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/tiffany-dowell-lashmet-0a718778\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73\",\"name\":\"tiffany.dowell\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/agrilife.org\\\/texasaglaw\\\/author\\\/tiffany-dowell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law","og_description":"Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, issued an opinion in December on an interesting issue related to fence law.\u00a0 Do the statutory estray laws apply in both open and closed range counties?\u00a0 According to the Attorney General, he believes that Texas courts would rule that estray laws apply in all counties, whether open or closed range.\u00a0 [Read full Opinion here.] Legal Background There are several legal issues important to understanding the AG&#8217;s Opinion. Open versus closed range: There are generally two approaches to Texas fence law: open range and... Read More &rarr;","og_url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/","og_site_name":"Texas Agriculture Law","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw","article_published_time":"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tiffany.dowell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@tiffdowell","twitter_site":"@tiffdowell","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tiffany.dowell","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/"},"author":{"name":"tiffany.dowell","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/person\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73"},"headline":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties","datePublished":"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/"},"wordCount":1304,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg","articleSection":["Fence Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/","name":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties - Texas Agriculture Law","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-24T07:00:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-17T20:20:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2020\/02\/Britt-cow.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/2020\/02\/24\/tx-attorney-general-opinion-estray-laws-apply-in-all-counties\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TX Attorney General Opinion: Estray Laws Apply in All Counties"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/","name":"Texas Agriculture Law","description":"Teaching, Research, Extension and Service","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#organization","name":"Texas Agriculture Law","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2023\/12\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/files\/2023\/12\/TZIFRg5K_400x400.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Texas Agriculture Law"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/texasaglaw","https:\/\/x.com\/tiffdowell","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/tiffany-dowell-lashmet-0a718778\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/#\/schema\/person\/f44cbb97df9edaa18011b5258d733f73","name":"tiffany.dowell","url":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/author\/tiffany-dowell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agrilife.org\/texasaglaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}