Question: Our family has owned 500 acres in Callaway County for the past 25 year. Most of the property is accessed from the county road. Unfortunately, about 80 acres at the back of the property is on the other side of a large stream and steep bluff.
The only access is by four-wheel drive or walking. Since we have used this land for hunting, this has never been a problem. Now we are planning to sell. If there was a better access to the 80 acres, we could get more money. We found what appeared to be the remnants of an old county road that use to go to the property, but the neighbor had block it with a locked gate. If this used to be a county road, don't we have the right to use it?

Answer: For several years, it was believed that once a road had been established as a county road, it would always be available to the public. The only exception would be if the court officially closed it. But this belief changed about 10 years ago. A title company in Warren County had insured the access to a property over an abandon road because a county plat map showed the road to be in existence 50 years ago. After the purchase, a neighbor placed a lock gate across the road. The landowner took the matter to court. To the surprise of many, the court ruled in favor of the neighbor and against the landowner. The title company had to make a large financial settlement to the landowner. Since then, title companies have become extremely cautious. Here's our experience of how cautious they have become.

In 1997, we sold 300 acres in Callaway County. The land was at the end of a road that was named, numbered, used by four other property owners, and maintained by the county highway department. When the title company could not find the road on the county highway map, they refused to insure access. The closing was delayed until the county officials sent a letter to the title company stating that this was an official county maintained road.

There are several old county roads that are no longer used and/or maintained. The courts closed some, some have been abandoned, and some have been vacated, while some continue to be used but not maintained by the county.

Talk to your lawyer or talk to a lawyer with a title company. Possibly, there may be facts in your case that will allow the road to be open. After all, every situation is different and the factors that affected the Warren County court case may be different in your case.

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