By Tim Brown, Operations Manager, County Information Project

Types of Road Systems Used by Texas Counties

Currently there are a number of different types of road systems that counties may use based on Chapter 252 of the Texas Transportation Code. Generally counties may operate under four systems for maintaining county roads, including under the county road department system aka the “unit road system” (Subchapter D). Every year the County Information Project (CIP) receives numerous inquiries about the unit road system. Sometimes the questions are from county officials, but often the questions come from the public. Usually we respond to those inquiries with our published reports.

In 1985, the Texas Department of Highways and Transportation published a survey that identified those counties that were operating under one of five systems:

1. The Unit System under the Optional Road Law of 1947;

2. Unit operation with an Engineer but not under the Optional Road Law of 1947;

3. Unit operation without an Engineer;

4. Precinct operation with an Engineer; or

5. Precinct operation without an Engineer.

The survey listed the names of the counties under each of the first four systems listed. Since the fifth system listed is the default model for counties, it was assumed that the author intended that the counties that were not listed under one of the first four systems would be categorized as the latter.

In 1998, the CIP published a report showing those Texas counties that were known to be using the unit road system, based largely on the 1985 report. In 2003, the CIP conducted an unrelated survey on which there was a question asking each county judge if the county had a unit road or precinct system. The reports from both 1998 and 2003 are available on the TAC Web site at www.county.org/resources/countydata/products.asp#roads. The accompanying map shows counties that were using a unit road system based on the 2003 report.

As this issue of County is being finalized, the CIP is partnering with the Texas Association of County Engineers and Road Administrators (TACERA) to prepare a short survey that will be sent to county judges and road administrators to ask if they have a precinct or unit road system in their counties. The survey will not be sent to county commissioners, given the difficulty in choosing which of the four commissioners would receive the survey in each county.