Hector Township Road

Citations

• 19 Pa. Super. 124
• 1902 Pa. Super. LEXIS 44

Syllabus

<p>Road law — Opening road — Duty of supervisors — Termini.</p> <p>No duty devolves on supervisors to open a road until the order to open the road issues. Their functions are purely ministerial, not discretionary; they must open the road where the court has located it. The means of identifying the road must be found in the report. There must, therefore, be certainty in the description, at least, so much certainty that the description will not answer equally well for two distinct roads. The court has no authority to confirm a report, and order a road to be opened where there is nothing on the record to fix its location.</p> <p>The report of a jury of view described a road as follows: “ Beginning in the Genesee Fork road near Matthias Persings, thence, by given courses and distances to the Moore Hollow road near B. G. Joseph, a plot of which is hereto annexed.” The plot referred to showed that the road began in the Genesee Fork Road on land of Persings and following the courses and distances mentioned in the report ended in the Moore Hollow road. There was nothing to indicate whether the terminus was on the lands of Joseph or near his residence. The draft in connection with the report showed that the first course ended at a point in the boundary line between Per-sings and a neighbor, but there was nothing to indicate where this point in the boundary line was located. Held, that the road could not be located, and that the proceedings should be quashed.</p> <p>Road law — Practice, Q. S.</p> <p>Where the proceedings in a road case show that the termini of the road cannot be located, the court may open the confirmation of the report of the jury of view, and permit an exception to be filed nunc pro tunc, and upon the filing of the appropriate exception, order that the proceedings shall be quashed.</p>