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AUSTIN — Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, ruled Tuesday that no vacancy exists in a 992-acre disputed area near the Sand Flat and Red Springs communities of Smith County. Patterson made the announcement near a mound said by the applicant to mark a survey corner crucial to his claim that a vacancy exists. A vacancy is land that never legally left the state's ownership, usually due to old survey errors that left gaps between properties. "The Land Office gives all sides a fair hearing in vacancy applications," Patterson said. "We studied this in exhaustive detail and there wasn't enough evidence to support the applicant's argument that a key monument was in a certain location. It wasn't, and I made my ruling on that basis." The surveyor for Forrest Williams, the applicant, claimed to have found the original northeast corner of a block of four surveys. If the corner were in the location cited by the applicant, it would lend validity to his claim of a vacancy. However, Patterson doesn't believe the applicant proved his case. According to the original field notes of the surveyor who did the 1835 survey in question, a stake placed in a mound of rocks marked the northeast corner. The applicant's claim hinged upon the northeast corner being where he alleged, because he offered no other means of determining the boundaries of the survey in question. "You have to have a really good reason to break apart two adjoining surveys, and the applicant did not meet that standard," Patterson said. Case law states that if one corner of an original survey can be found, it can be used to reconstruct the boundary lines. If an original corner cannot be found, and in the absence of other authenticated monuments, lines of occupation — chiefly the fencelines of property owners — may be considered the best alternative evidence of the boundary. Prompted by the recent spate of vacancy claims in Northeast Texas, Patterson stands behind efforts to find a legislative fix. Later this year, Patterson will work with regional legislators and local leaders to hold a town hall meeting on vacancies in preparation for the upcoming legislative session. Patterson's ruling comes one month after a public hearing in Austin about the claimed vacancy in Smith County. The hearing was also shown live over the Internet and at teleconferencing facilities at The University of Texas at Tyler. Approximately 220 surface owners and mineral or royalty interest owners are affected by the claimed vacancy. The hearing was conducted by a three-person panel of Land Office professionals acting in the role of finders of fact. On the basis of technical and factual evidence presented by both sides in the issue, relevant materials on file at the Land Office and a visit to the alleged northeast corner of the survey, the panel determined no vacancy exists and recommended Patterson rule accordingly. Although Patterson's ruling effectively ends Land Office participation in the Smith County vacancy issue, those who claim a vacancy exists have the option of appealing the ruling to district court in Smith County. More information is available at the GLO website set up specifically for the Smith County claimed vacancy at www.glo.state.tx.us/smithcounty. |
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