Five producers asked the county to improve a one-mile section-line route to access 640 acres of Badlands pasture after the access became blocked, but county counsel told the commission the matter likely requires a civil action and formal easement definition before the county should expend public funds.

Roger Katamus, representing himself and five other producers, described the site and showed roadway video. He told commissioners the property was landlocked after a gate was closed on the route and that the only access into the parcel is a one-mile section-line path: “Our only access into this property is the Hundred And Eleventh Avenue section line.” He described steep gullies, culverts, dense brush and places he called “untravelable with a stock trailer,” and asked the county to use heavy equipment or culverts to create trailer access.

County members and staff inspected portions of the line; Commissioners expressed concern about setting a precedent if the county performs work on historic section-line routes without documented easements. Commissioner Kliman said he was “really struggling” with asking the county to intervene because of precedent risks. Pat (county attorney) explained options and limitations, telling the board that establishing prescriptive easements is “a long and arduous process” and that “these folks are gonna have to go in and get a civil action going, some sort of quiet title action or declaratory judgment to clarify whether or not it is” a public route. Pat advised that the county lacks documentation proving a continuous public right-of-way for the contested portions.

Some landowners said historical use and remnants (concrete culverts, an earlier bridge and stock pens) show the route’s prior function. Commissioners suggested private remedies and noted the sheriff’s office would not resolve private easement title disputes.

No formal county-funded construction on the disputed segment was approved. Commissioners and staff said they could consider limited assistance (e.g., supplying culverts) but that full grading or use of county equipment should wait until the legal status of the route is clarified and formal easements are in place.