House Bill 156

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 65-7-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY COUNTY JURISDICTION OVER ROADS ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED AS A STATE HIGHWAY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 65-7-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

65-7-1. (1) The board of supervisors of each county shall have full jurisdiction over all matters relating to the public roads of the county, including the establishment, laying out, opening, abandonment, altering, changing, working and maintaining of such roads, except as otherwise provided by Section 170 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890.

(2) All roads now laid out and opened or hereafter laid out and opened according to law shall be deemed public roads and highways and shall be opened and worked at least sixteen (16) feet wide, wherever practicable, and in any case not less than twelve (12) feet, and any greater width that may be necessary. Ditches and borrow pits shall be kept open or connected so as to drain off the water from the road bed, as far as practicable.

(3) * * * ~~From and after July 1, 2000,~~No road, whether originally constructed as a state highway or not, shall be included as a part of the county road system until and unless the board of supervisors, by appropriate action spread on its minutes, has established or accepted such road and caused the road to be included in the official record of the county road system as provided in Section 65-7-4.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.