Franklin Co. voters close gate on roaming cattle

From Staff Reports

October 30, 2003 -- A local election in Franklin County has shut the gate on free-roaming cattle.

On Sept. 13, 611 voters agreed to close the range, and 135 voted for keeping it open, according to information in the Oct. 13 Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association newsletter.

Franklin County Judge Gerald "Jerry" Hubbell said in the early 1980s the county passed a law to prohibit the free roaming of other livestock, but cattle, specifically, were not included because they were named in a separate section in the county's code.

"There have been some complaints" about cattle running at large, Hubbell said from his office in Mount Vernon on Oct. 22. "This was a finger-in-the-hole-of-the-dike kind of deal," Hubbell said.

According to the TSCRA newsletter, Texas has historically been a free range state, meaning cattle can roam freely unless specifically prohibited by a local election. The Texas Supreme Court reaffirmed the state's free range law in a 1999 decision, specifically leaving it a matter of local option.

The closing of the range in Franklin County has implications for cattle owners in the county who would be liable for damages caused by stray cattle if they get outside their fences, including those bordering farm-to-market roads.

Hubbell said each case of free-roaming cattle would be left to the discretion of the county's sheriff. "I believe it is a Class C misdemeanor, which would carry a fine only," the judge said. The sheriff would take into consideration whether the cattle are "habitually out" of their fences, and whether the cattle have destroyed property.