Lawsuits Claim Locked Gate Strands Residents During Floods

SAN ANGELO, TX — A Tom Green County resident has filed two lawsuits alleging a locked gate on Kenley Road blocks the only safe escape route for him and more than 50 other property owners whenever the Mineral Wells low-water crossing floods. 

Colton D. Conner of Christoval claims in court documents that the gate has devalued his property by more than 25%, created life-threatening emergencies and amounts to an uncompensated taking. He seeks court declarations that Kenley Road is a public road or easement, permanent injunctions keeping it open, damages exceeding $250,000, attorney fees and jury trials. 

In Cause No. A250047C in the 51st Judicial District Court, Conner sued Kevin M. Hirt individually and Flat Rock Hirt Ranch LLC. His third amended petition states the defendants acquired the surrounding 2,000-plus-acre ranch in 2015 and locked the gate in 2016 on the roughly two-mile unpaved section of Kenley Road running from near Mineral Wells Road north to FM 2335. 

Conner says he used the road as a child to reach his family’s former home and bought his current property on River Road on July 10, 2023. Court papers contend Kenley Road has long provided alternate access around the Mineral Wells crossing. When that crossing floods, residents of the Mineral Wells Crossing community have no safe way in or out, the petition states. 

Documents further allege Tom Green County listed Kenley Road on its inventories for years and that a 1969 recorded instrument recognized it as a public road already used for more than 50 years, dating the public use to about 1919. Conner claims the county never properly abandoned the road and that the locked gate, combined with county inaction, violates the Texas Constitution and related statutes. 

Hirt and the ranch denied the claims in their answer, raising statute of limitations, estoppel and arguments that Hirt is not a proper party. They also filed special exceptions, arguing the petition lacked a specific statement of relief, failed to adequately allege probable injury or imminent harm for the injunction claim, and did not plead sufficient facts about the claimed damages.

In a separate suit, Cause No. C250299C filed in August 2025 in the 340th Judicial District Court, Conner sued only Tom Green County on the same core facts. He alleges the county treated the road as abandoned without required notice or hearing, ratified the locked gate and failed to maintain public access, producing the same damages and safety risks. 

The county’s answer includes a general denial, special exceptions demanding more precise Transportation Code citations, and defenses based on the statute of limitations and a 180-day filing deadline under the Private Real Property Rights Preservation Act. Conner responded by citing specific sections of the Transportation Code on county road abandonment procedures and the Declaratory Judgments Act for fees. 

Both petitions state that before 2016 the public used Kenley Road openly and continuously, as reflected on 1940 Texas General Land Office maps, and that an adjacent landowner has recognized Conner’s access while the Hirt defendants have not.

On Aug. 14, 2026, the court denied Conner’s motions to consolidate the two cases. The court ordered the parties to file an agreed scheduling order by Aug. 28, 2025. Tom Green County’s combined motion for traditional and no-evidence partial summary judgment is set for hearing at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23, 2026. A hearing on the Hirt defendants’ motion to abate is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 19, 2026.