Show POWERS OF COUNTY comais ARE DEFINED powers of county commissions to change or abandon public highways are defined by assistant attorney general S D huffaker in an opinion ion sent to francis E bray coun county ty attorney of morgan county this week he explained that commiss commissions lons have authority to determine widths of roads outside of cities and towns but before roads can be abandoned entirely petitions must be filed signed by at least a majority of the property owners within the precincts where the are to take place mr air huffaker said it la is his opinion however that petitions would no not be necessary where commissioners propose to abandon only a small portion of the highways and particularly where reasonably wide highways remain for use of the public the assistant attorney general said that state highways may not be abandoned in whole or in part without an act of the legislature but the county and the state road commission have the power to abolish encroachments encroach ments upon public highways and a private person may seek redress when the encroachment materially interferes with his ingress and egress but when such encroachment does not materially interfere then a pa private I 1 person would have no authority to complain |