Road Dispute
By Eugenia Jones
In a complaint initially filed in McCreary County Circuit Court on January 16, 2018 by Ronnie and Cleda Ross against McCreary County and McCreary County Fiscal Court, the plaintiffs claim to own a parcel of land in McCreary County currently known as Ronnie Ross Road. They further contend that the defendants (McCreary County, KY/McCreary County Fiscal Court) unlawfully took, used, and utilized their property/road with no right to do so, treating the road as a part of the county road system, and placing a road sign referring to the area as “Ronnie Ross Road.”
In the complaint, the plaintiffs allege the land in question (of which plaintiffs state they have clear title and possession) does not meet the criteria of being a county road because of failure to meet two main criteria. First, plaintiffs allege the property has never been laid-off as a public way or used without restriction on a continuous basis by the general public for fifteen consecutive years, and secondly, has never been formally accepted as a county road by the McCreary County Fiscal Court. Thus, plaintiffs allege the County has unlawfully used the property since approximately sometime in 2009.
Additionally, plaintiffs allege the County caused water damage to an apartment building of theirs as a result of work conducted by County workers on the disputed property. The Ross’s are asking the Court to grant relief as follows: (1) A judgment that the “Ronnie Ross Road” is not a county road nor a public road (2) that they be given a quiet title of the property and all claims by the Defendants are released (3) money damages to recover the costs of prosecuting this suit including a reasonable attorney fee and (4) compensation for the damages caused to the property as a result of the Defendants’ acts.
County Judge-Executive Jimmie ‘Beevo’ Greene would not comment on the pending law suit as it is ongoing litigation.
According to Ross’s attorney, during the last court appearance on January 10, 2022, the two parties reached an agreement allowing the County to have an additional thirty days to produce items requested as part of discovery. At this time, a date for the next court appearance has not been set.
