4?ÿ |?ÿ 1
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3 ?ÿ| ?ÿ2
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Four properties meet at a corner. Two are private land (# 1 & 3), and two are public land (#2 & 4). The public land parcels are kitty corner to one another. One of the parcels of public land (say #2) is surrounded by private land except at this common corner (with #4).?ÿ
Can someone, not necessarily a land surveyor, cross this corner from #4 to #2 legally? If so, or if not so, is this codified, common law, or case law anywhere??ÿ
(I suspect this is a thread already somewhere, but I cannot seem to find the correct search term).?ÿ
So if #1 and #3 add in fences up to their common corner blocking this path then someone couldn't travel between 2 and 4 and I would think would need an easement to make that move.?ÿ Now if it's out in the woods and easy to make that "jump" then people will do it and may gain prescriptive easement rights over time over the private land.?ÿ
This is a common problem that no one seems to want to address. I've often argued; if I'm doing a survey for #1 and I set the corner common to 1,2,3 and 4, only 1/4 of that corner is on my clients property. What if the other 3 don't want it there? Am I encroaching onto the other 3? I asked this question of an attorney and he told me that a judge would throw this out as trivial and a waste of the courts time. I agreed with him.
So, to answer your question; technically, it is trespass, but only of the airspace...
There was a lengthy local court case and the result was that the public cannot create a prescriptive easement over private land for access purposes, in that case there were other ways to access the public lands instead of the old roadway across private land. So of course every case is different.
If the person straddled the corner marker, then it would not technically be trespassing in Texas.
Sec. 30.05?ÿ (b)?ÿ (1)?ÿ
"Entry" means the intrusion of the entire body.
It might be harder to prove if 1 and 3 were both owned by the same private individual.
I have also seen it described as the entire torso, meaning you can't stick just one finger or hand outside the property and be clear.
From https://www.blm.gov/press-release/access-tips-hunting-blm-lands
"It is illegal to cross public land at corners. Some areas in the West are ??checker-boarded? with public and private lands, or otherwise have sections of public land that are difficult to reach. When the only place tracts of public land touch is at a corner, it may seem like a logical thing to step over the corner from one piece of public land to another. Every year hunters armed with GPS units and maps give it a try. Unfortunately, it is illegal to cross at boundary corners."
Local court cases often have only local consequences. Public prescriptive easements for access to public land are very commonplace in some states. The are many that are even maintained as part of state highway systems,
So Texas is very specific in their law on trespass. I guess that allows you to dig for a monument as long as most of you is in the ROW or on your clients property. I guess that goes the same for the general public.?ÿ
The only land that the BLM owns in Texas is the land that they bought just like everyone else.
What does Texas have to do with this? There is no public land in Texas, just government owned land
I remember this in the news a few years back.?ÿ this is a pretty good article and link to court case:
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Many states include 'over' as part of the definition. In Idaho digging escalates it to criminal trespass.
You can solve that problem for surveying by providing notice but not for simple access. Given the stand your ground statutes here I would look to the demeanor of the owner more than appeals decisions.?ÿ
