McCarty v. Clark County
Supreme Court of Missouri
Ejectment may be brought against a county to recover land claimed by the county to have been dedicated to a public use, and this is what Clark county sets up as a defense in her answer.
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Ejectment may be brought against a county to recover land claimed by the county to have been dedicated to a public use, and this is what Clark county sets up as a defense in her answer. Sedgwick and Wait’s Trial of Title to Land [2 Ed.] 174, sec. 251; Barry v. Sonoma County, 43 Cal. 217 ; Lyell v. Supervisors, 3 McL. 580; Armstrong v. St. Louis, 69 Mo. 303 ; Strong v. City of Brooklyn, 68 N. Y. 1. Sedgwick & Wait’s Act. & Def., sec. 252. A county is considered a quasi corporation capable of suing and being sued, of owning land and instituting ejectment therefor. California v. Howard, 78 Mo.…
1Opinion of the CourtBlack, J.
There are two counts in the petition; the second is ej ectment for a strip of land, one hundred and sixty rods in length by sixty feet in width. The county defends under proceedings had in 1872 for the opening of a public road. The court found for the defendant. As the record stands, the important questions arise over the following instructions given by the court of its own motion :
The right of the public to travel over and use the public road in question cannot be tested by an action of ejectment against the county.
The evidence does not show that the county is in possession of the lands over…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Reardon v. St. Louis CountySupreme Court of Missouri · 1865
- Clark v. Adair CountySupreme Court of Missouri · 1883
- Swineford v. Franklin CountySupreme Court of Missouri · 1880
- Armstrong v. City of St. LouisSupreme Court of Missouri · 1879
3Cited by7 opinions
- Union Elevator Co. v. Kansas City Suburban Belt RailroadSupreme Court of Missouri · 1896
- Hicks v. City of BluefieldWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1920
- Luttrell v. State Highway CommissionMissouri Court of Appeals · 1964
- Greene v. St. Louis CountySupreme Court of Missouri · 1959
- Flynn v. Beaverhead CountyMontana Supreme Court · 1914
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