Olsson v. Lawrence Township

Citations

• 99 Kan. 42
• 160 P. 995

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>1. Highway — Defective Bridge on County Line — Damages—-Liability of Adjacent Townships. Under sections 658 and 659 of the General Statutes of 1909, in order to hold a county or township responsible for a defective bridge or for failure to maintain guard rails, such bridge must have been wholly or partially constructed by such county or township or erected by some township or road district thereof; mere assumption of responsibility for such bridge after its construction will not work such liability.</p> <p>2. Same — Former Decision Modified. The former decision herein, Olsson v. Lawrence Township, 93 Kan. 440, 144 Pac. 997, is modified as indicated in the preceding paragraph.</p> <p>3. Same — Bridge Built by Township Trustee — Inference of Authority. Proof that a bridge was built by a township trustee bears the fair inference that he was acting for the township.</p> <p>4. Defective Bridge — Road District Boundaries — Township Records — Competent Evidence. Township records of the boundaries of its road districts, showing the place of the injury to be within one of such districts, were competent for the purpose of indicating for whom the trustee was acting when he built the bridge.</p> <p>5. Same — County Building Bridge — Knowledge of County Clerk — Competent Evidence. The knowledge of the county clerk as to whether Cloud county had ever contributed anything towards the building of the bridge was proper to be shown by competent evidence.</p>