Bill Text: TX HCR141 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Granting William James Stroman, Jr., permission to sue the State of Texas and the board of regents of The University of Texas System.

Sponsorship: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-19 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HCR141 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HCR141-Comm_Sub.html

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82R28573 CAC-F
By: Craddick, Howard of Travis H.C.R. No. 141
Substitute the following for H.C.R. No. 141:
By: Jackson C.S.H.C.R. No. 141

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, William James Stroman, Jr., individually and as the
independent executor of the estate of William James Stroman and
attorney-in-fact for Cleo Lane Stroman (collectively referred to as
"Stroman"), alleges that:
(1) the State of Texas, through the board of regents of
The University of Texas System ("the board"), owns university
blocks 23, 24, and 26 ("university lands") located in Pecos County,
Texas, and exercises sole and exclusive management and control of
the lands set aside and appropriated to or acquired by the permanent
university fund, which was created and is governed by Sections 10,
11, 15, and 18, Article VII, Texas Constitution;
(2) Stroman owns property adjoining the west line of
the university lands, referred to as the Stroman Ranch;
(3) during the year 2008, the board began removing a
fence located on or about the true boundary of the university lands
and began constructing a new fence west of the true boundary of the
university lands and entered the Stroman Ranch without consent and
staked a new fence line west of the true boundary of the university
lands;
(4) the board informed Stroman that it would be
constructing a new fence on the new staked fence line and stated
that the location of the new fence was based on a survey performed
by Frank F. Friend, the field notes of which were filed in the
General Land Office in 1939;
(5) the university lands were originally surveyed in
1879 by R. M. Thomson, and Friend later resurveyed the university
lands in 1936, purportedly under the authority of Section 66.41,
Education Code, which called for lands to be resurveyed when it was
impracticable to establish lines and corners as originally
surveyed;
(6) the Friend survey placed the western boundary of
the university lands west of the previously established line and
clearly on the Stroman Ranch;
(7) Stroman informed the board of the error in the
location of the western boundary line; however, the board did not
correct the error and stated that the board disputed Stroman's
claim of ownership;
(8) in an attempt to resolve the dispute, Stroman
hired J. Stan Piper, a licensed state land surveyor, to establish
the proper western boundary of the university lands, and Piper
located the correct boundary between the university lands and the
Stroman Ranch, based on the original 1879 R. M. Thomson survey and
field notes, as well as subsequent surveys;
(9) Piper's conclusive findings, including locations
of monuments from the original R. M. Thomson survey, establish the
true boundary between the university lands and the Stroman Ranch
and demonstrate that the Friend survey was unnecessary and did not
establish the proper boundary; and
(10) the board intends to complete the fence along the
incorrect boundary between the university lands and the Stroman
Ranch, thereby trespassing on Stroman's property and denying
Stroman access to the property; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That
William James Stroman, Jr., individually and as the independent
executor of the estate of William James Stroman and
attorney-in-fact for Cleo Lane Stroman, is granted permission to
sue the State of Texas and the board of regents of The University of
Texas System subject to Chapter 107, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That Stroman may not seek recovery of monetary
damages from the state, but may only seek a determination of the
boundary of Stroman's property and a determination of Stroman's
rights through a court order that fixes and determines the true
boundary between the university lands and the Stroman Ranch; and,
be it further
RESOLVED, That the suit authorized by this resolution may be
brought in Pecos or Travis County; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the relief awarded in the suit authorized by
this resolution is limited to the relief authorized under Chapter
37, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or Chapter 22, Property Code,
or both; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the secretary of the board of regents of The
University of Texas System be served process as provided by Section
107.002(a)(3), Civil Practice and Remedies Code.